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Pag-IBIG mortgage disbursements down 38% in first 9 months

The Home Development Mutual Fund, which operates under the trade name Pag-IBIG Fund, said home loan disbursements declined 38% to P36.43 billion the nine months to September, with the housing market hindered by the lockdown.

In a briefing Friday, the fund reported that its mortgages in the nine months funded 35,938 housing units, well below the targeted 100,000 units and mortgage volume of P100-billion.

“The restrictions themselves imposed to contain (the coronavirus) had a huge impact on our operations. For our partner developers, you know how difficult it was to conduct borrower validations and credit investigations,” Pag-IBIG said.

Loan releases peaked at P6.1 billion in February before hitting a low of P0.88 billion in April, at the height of the lockdown. In September, loan releases rebounded to P6.53 billion from P4.21 billion in August.

Pag-IBIG’s net profit was P21.65 billion in the nine months to September. In 2019, its profit was P34.37 billion, the highest in seven years. — Kathryn Kristina T. Jose

Philippines cited for ASEAN green-finance leadership

The Philippines was cited as a regional leader in sustainable finance thanks to the combined efforts of the government, banks, and businesses, according to a report issued by the international non-profit Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI).

“The Philippines is a leader in green finance in ASEAN. (It) has been increasingly exploring the use of green debt as well as equity instruments and has been expanding credit enhancement mechanisms and risk sharing options,” according to the Green Infrastructure Investment Opportunities (GIIO) Report 2020.

It cited Philippine initiatives in green bonds, green loans, and funds for green infrastructure and renewable energy, among others.

The report said the Philippine government helped develop “national and regional policies for facilitating further growth in green finance.”

“In 2019, the Philippines became members to the new Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action and its Helsinki Principles, which promote national climate action through fiscal policy and the use of public finance. Prior to this commitment, the government and regulators had long been moving in this direction,” according to the GIIO Report.

The Department of Finance (DoF) said it is working on leading an inter-agency group called the Green Force to help coordinate green policy and regulations, Finance Assistant Secretary Paola A. Alvarez said during the GIIO report’s virtual launch Thursday.

“What we wanted to do is to harmonize definitions so that when investors come in, and they talk about green projects or sustainable projects, whatever government department they talk to- the Department of Energy, Public Works, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Central bank or other banks….All of us would be talking about the same thing,” Ms. Alvarez, the Head of the Green Force, said.

According to the CBI, the Philippines had the third-most investments in the region in the green bond market, at around $2.6 billion as of August. Singapore invetment totaled $6.20 billion, and Indonesia $2.88 billion.

“To date, four domestic banks, the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), China Bank and BDO Unibank, have issued green bonds in three currencies: dollar, peso and Swiss Franc, with issuance in each currency amounting to $600 million, P15 billion, and CHF100 million ($108.6 million) worth of green bonds,” it wrote.

Meanwhile, eight firms- including Ayala Corp., Manila Water and Aboitiz Equity Ventures- have also issued green bonds to finance their various projects, according to the CBI Green Bond Database.

“The largest issuer of green bonds in the Philippines is (Ayala unit) AC Energy, with four green bonds outstanding, ranging in size from $ 75 million to $ 400 million,” according to the GIIO.

During the report’s launch, State Street Asia-Pacific Head of Fixed Income Kheng Siang Ng pointed out that the “supply of green bonds in the market is currently less than the demand.”

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Ephyro Luis B. Amatong said green bond issuers need to do more to assure invstors that they “adhere to international best practices.”

“There is no doubt that the investor appetite is there, and the funds are there, but… there is a requirement, there is some assurance that the issuers adhere to international best practice, (such as) having bonds certified by Climate Bonds Initiative. Another way is for the bonds to carry the ASEAN Green Social Sustainability Label (which) shows adherence to the ASEAN standards based on the green bond principles,” Mr. Amatong said.

Launched on Thursday, the CBI report was prepared with the support of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance Facility. — Angelica Y. Yang

AIA Philam Life launches investment fund targeting overseas stocks

AIA Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. Inc. (Philam Life) said it launched Friday an investment fund geared towards overses stock markets.

The firm’s Elite Fund Portfolios Range invests in foreign markets with investment strategies tailored to clients’ risk appetite with the aid of group company AIA Investment Management Pte. Ltd. The strategies are classified as aggressive or adventurous, balanced, and conservative.

Philam Life said the fund will target industries such as technology, allowing investors to shift in and out of markets in various stages of growth across the world.

“By giving them more investment options, we are empowering them to achieve their long-term savings objective, thus bringing to life our brand purpose of helping Filipinos live healthier, longer and better lives,” AIA Philam Life Chief Investment Officer Arleen May S. Guevara said.

Separately, it said it has hit 67% of its target of 110,000 insured customers this year. While Philam Life said potential growth was dragged down by the pandemic, it plans to upgrade its digital channels to continue to deliver services during the pandemic.

“With our digitally enabled agency force, we are ready to continue addressing the protection needs of Filipinos, now at a faster rate. As we continue to adapt to the situation, this also means technology, digital and analytics will be at the center, becoming our enablers in the fulfillment of our mission,” AIA Philam Life Chief Executive Officer Kelvin Ang said.

“We remain confident of the opportunities ahead, with the low insurance penetration rate, and our strategy coupled with an increased awareness of health risks and the value of protection following the pandemic,” AIA Philam Life Chief Financial Officer Gary Ogilvie said.

The AIA Group serves 18 markets in the Asia-Pacific, including China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Australia, and New Zealand. — Kathryn Kristina T. Jose

Peso strengthens after BoP, exports data

The peso continued to strengthen against the dollar Friday, buoyed by balance of payments and gross international reserves data.

The peso closed at P48.06 against the dollar, against its P48.115 finish Thursday, according to the Bankers Association of the Philippines.

The peso opened the session at P48.13, its low for th day. The high was P48.055.

Trading volume was $783.4 million, against $575.71 million Thursday.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the peso further strengthened after the central bank on Thursday released October balance of payments (BoP) data.
“The peso was stronger after the highest BoP surplus in nearly a decade which supports new record high GIR (gross international reserves) at $103.8 billion and provides greater support for the peso exchange rate,” he said in a text message.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that the Philippines posted a BoP surplus of $3.44 billion last month, up significantly from the year-earlier $163 million and up 63% compared with September.

This was the biggest monthly surplus since the $3.95 billion recorded in November 2010.

Contributing to the October surplus were the BSP’s income from investments overseas, inflows from its foreign exchange operations and foreign currency deposits of the national government held with the central bank, the central bank said in a statement.

The BSP expects a BoP surplus of $8.1 billion by year’s end which is equivalent to 0.6% of gross domestic product.

The BSP also said GIR rose to $103.8 billion at the end of October from $100.44 billion a month earlier. The bank said the October tally was equivalent to about 10 months worth of imports and services payments which can serve as a buffer against external risk.

A trader said the BoP data increased demand for the peso while pointing to growing exports during the pandemic.

The Philippine Statistics Authority said September exports grew 2.2% to $6.22 billion, the first month of expansion since February. Meanwhile, imports declined 16.5% to $7.92 billion. — Kathryn Kristina T. Jose

Gov’t panel approves clinical trials for Clover vaccine

An expert panel from the Science and Technology department has approved Chinese drug maker Clover Biopharmaceuticals’ application for clinical trials of its coronavirus vaccine, the agency said on Friday.

A separate ethics review committee and the local Food and Drug Administration must also approve the application, Jaime Montoya, executive director of the agency’s Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, told an online news briefing.

This is the second application approved by the Science and Technology department’s expert panel, aside from Sinovac Biotech Ltd.

Mr. Montoya said the clinical trials for both companies might start by late December at the earliest. Their applications have been forwarded to the local FDA for regulatory review, he added.

Mr. Montoya said three other drug makers have applied for clinical trials — Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca.

Gamaleya is still completing some documents while the panel is still reviewing responses from Janssen. AstraZeneca was the last to submit an application, he said.

Meanwhile, Misamis Oriental Rep. Juliette T. Uy said the Phividec Industrial Estate Authority can lead the local production of vaccines under license from original manufacturers.

The country would also need safe places where enough vaccines and supplies can be stored for future needs, he said.
Ms. Uy urged the Department of Trade and Industry to “find ways to manufacture the vaccines and cold containers on a massive scale, along with the production of tens of millions of syringes and other supplies needed.”

“We must anticipate vaccination of migrant workers, returning overseas Filipino workers, foreign tourists, and crews of international airlines, passenger ships, cargo ships, personnel of foreign embassies and international regional headquarters, and visiting foreign troops,” she said. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas and Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

COVID-19 infections nearing 430,000

The Department of Health (DoH) reported 1,631 coronavirus infections on Friday, bringing the total to 425,918.
The death toll rose by 46 to 8,255, while recoveries increased by 370 to 387,616, it said in a bulletin.

There were 30,047 active cases, 84.3% of which were mild, 8.3% did not show symptoms, 4.7% were critical, 2.5% were severe and 0.26% were moderate.

Quezon City reported the highest number of cases at 116, followed by Rizal at 101, Davao City at 95, Laguna at 89 and Manila at 65.

Ten duplicates were removed from the tally, while 25 cases reported as deaths were reclassified as active cases. Eight previous deaths were also tagged as recoveries, the agency said.

Thirteen cases reported as recoveries were reclassified as deaths. Ten laboratories failed to submit their data on Nov. 26, DoH said.

The coronavirus has sickened about 61.4 million and killed 1.4 million people worldwide, according to the Worldometers website, citing various sources including data from the World Health Organization.

About 42.4 million people have recovered, it said.

Meanwhile, the private sector under Go Negosyo, the government, and UK-based drug maker AstraZeneca signed a deal for the purchase of 2.6 million doses of vaccines the company is developing.

Half of the vaccines would be alloted to the private sector and the other half will be donated to the government, Joey A. Concepcion, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship and founder of Go Negosyo, told an online news briefing on Friday.

“Through this partnership, we’re thinking and acting ahead of the virus,” Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. told the same briefing.

He said they are negotiating with AstraZeneca for a million more orders of the vaccines. AstraZeneca is applying for clinical trials in the country. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Senators back physical classes amid pandemic

Three senators on Friday urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to consider opening schools for face-to-face classes to improve learning amid a coronavirus pandemic.

“Educators can work safely in schools and schools can actually be the safest place for children during a pandemic,” Senator Imee R. Marcos said, citing data from other countries.

“Infection levels in schools merely reflect infection levels in their communities,” she told a hearing of the Senate committee on basic education.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte earlier banned face-to-face classes until a vaccine for the coronavirus is found. Virtual classes in both private and public schools started in September and October.

Ms. Marcos said online classes have caused learning gaps, not to mention the effects on student’s mental health, and the added burden on working parents.

She said school boards or Education authorities of local governments should decide whether to allow face-to-face classes.

Senator Maria Lourdes Nancy S. Binay backed face-to-face classes in some areas, noting that even the government had allowed travel to tourist destinations such as Boracay and Baguio.

“At the moment, students can travel and we allow them to go to Boracay, we allow them to go to Baguio, yet we don’t allow them to go to schools,” she told the hearing in mixed English and Filipino.

Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who heads the committee, pushed for face-to-face classes at least in communities without COVID-19 cases.

Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno A. Malaluan said they would consider the recommendations when it submits its next report to the President.

Education Secretary Leonor M. Briones said face-to-face learning would remain limited and would depend on the advice of the Health department and the inter-agency task force.

“We will report to the President what has been our experience with the opening of classes on Oct. 5 and what issues came out,” she told a separate online news briefing in mixed English and Filipino. “One of these is the possibility of limited face-to-face classes,” she added. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Travel rules for Filipino kin eased further

Foreign spouses and children of Filipinos traveling with them will now be allowed to enter the country starting Dec. 7, according to an order issued an inter-agency task force.

Former Filipino citizens may also come to the Philippines as long as they have pre-booked a quarantine facility and undergo coronavirus testing, the task force said in a resolution.

“They, too, must be subject to the maximum capacity of inbound passengers at the port and date of entry,” presidential spokesman Harry L. Roque said in a statement on Friday.

The task force ordered the Bureau of Immigration to come up with the rules for its enforcement, while the Tourism department must issue guidelines on accommodations.

It also allowed some companies to increase their shuttle services for employees as long as passengers are a seat apart. The Labor and Trade departments will come up with protocols for private shuttles.

The task force also adopted the StaySafe.ph app for contact-tracing and asked private companies to use it as well. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Farmers get P8.5B in typhoon aid

The Agriculture department has distributed P8.5 billion worth of crop inputs and other aid to farmers and fisherfolk affected by typhoons that hit the Philippines in October and November
.
Cagayan Valley got the biggest help at P2.34 billion, followed by the Bicol region at P1.07 billion, the agency said in a statement on Friday.

The Mimaropa region consisting of the provinces of Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan got P914 million, while Calabarzon — Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon got P736 million.

The Cordillera Administrative Region received P382 million in aid, while the Ilocos region got P313.8 million. Central Luzon received P281.5 million.

Agriculture Undersecretary Ariel T. Cayanan said the farmers also received rice, corn and vegetable seeds, cassava seed pieces, fertilizers, farm machinery and equipment and ready-to-lay chicken.

Farmers got P4.06 billion worth of rice, corn, and high-value crop inputs, cash aid worth P1.33 billion and P1 billion in insurance payments from the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., the Agriculture department said.

Farmers and fisherfolk likewise received P800 million in emergency and livelihood loans, P670 million from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, as well as P641.82 million in quick-response funds.
Crop damage from seven typhoons have reached P12.8 billion, it said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

The devil is in the data: balancing privacy and healthcare

By Patricia B. Mirasol

Data is crucial in effective decision-making, especially when tackling healthcare issues such as the novel coronavirus. Getting individuals to participate in an ecosystem of sharing data, however, is not that simple. To gain public trust, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) implemented key principles to protect the citizens’ data privacy.

“They announced that they collect only the minimum data needed and then deleted it afterwards,” said Tai Myoung Chung, a professor in South Korea’s Sungkyunkwan University, in a recent discussion on healthcare data. “Secondly, prior approval is needed before investigators can access private data. Thirdly, a security clearance is necessary for officials of both the KCDC and local government. Lastly, they use all kinds of model security solutions by security experts.”

South Korea, he added, invested US$240 million in a Data Dam project that collects and integrates information provided by both public and private sectors to manufacture useful data that can be shared via 5G networks. More than 5,000 companies and organizations are part of the project. 

ADDRESSING DATA CONCERNS

Healthcare analytics has the potential to reduce the cost of treatment, predict outcomes of epidemics, and minimize the incidence of preventable diseases. From filing systems to smart wearables, the data the world collects slowly paint future forms of healthcare. Apart from data privacy, additional questions about data accuracy, standardization of data collection, and collaboration across borders need to be addressed in order to maximize this resource. 

Gourish Singla, co-founder of London-based bioinformatics and data discovery platform Shivom, said that COVID-19 made everyone more open to collaborate and share data and resources. “One good thing that came out from this pandemic is that it brought the world together for sure. Everyone understands that [collaboration] will help us expedite solutions,” said Mr. Singla.

Shivom, which operates at the intersection of healthcare and blockchain technology, had to figure out how to aggregate genetic data—a difficult undertaking because of the privacy aspect. “Aggregating data was fragmented because biobanks and companies were reluctant to retain control of their data. We use blockchain, which is a revolutionary technology that allows you to share data as well as retain control of it. That has been a game changer.” 

THE INTEROPERABILITY QUESTION

Both resource persons agreed on the importance of the government’s role in data access and management. “There’s so much data lying in government hospitals,” Mr. Singla said. “I think the first step will be digitizing the data and establishing protocols to determine its accuracy. The government is a key stakeholder. Interoperability will also be a key part. It’s the next step after the digitization of data.”

Sungkyunkwan University’s Mr. Chung, whose research is focused on data security and digital therapeutics, said that sharing data is beneficial but that an earnest discussion is necessary before interoperability across country borders can be realistically implemented. 

“If we have a standard for data collection interoperability, will it be freely accessible to anonymous stakeholders? Data itself is the money,” he said. “Are countries willing to exchange data with other countries? We have an open-source community but I don’t see any open-data community yet.” 

Viber rolls out in-chat payment service, allows users to make purchases through the app

Rakuten Viber is introducing new features such as Chatbot Payments, through a partnership with Google Pay and Apple Pay, as part of its tenth anniversary. The service allows users to purchase products and services, and to accept payments directly through the app, marking Viber’s move towards fintech. 

In the Philippines, this feature will be rolled out soon through partnerships with telcos like Globe. Filipino users will be able to check out and order from small food businesses through the soon-to-be-launched FoodPH bot. Users will also be able to pay for their orders via in-chat payments. 

“Small businesses that don’t have money and knowledge to create a mobile app can go to Viber and create chatbots to serve their customers,” said Anna Znamenskaya, the platform’s chief growth officer. 

Sending money through Viber is as simple as sending messages, said Viber Chief Executive Officer Djamel Agaoua. “We want to democratize and disrupt [payments], and make it efficient in cost and convenient to use,” he said.

Mr. Agaoua added that user privacy remains a priority. He cited Viber’s history, and how it cut business ties with Facebook for mishandling their user data for profit. The messaging app, which considers security as one of its core strengths, earlier this year pulled out all its ad spending on the social media platform and removed the Facebook Connect and GIPHY features within the app.

“Against our own monetization potential, we decided to prioritize our consumers first,” Mr. Agaoua said during a recent media roundtable. “If you said, ‘I love you,’ how do you know that thousands of engineers weren’t reading your message? It’s not a world we want to live in. We saw that by choosing to prioritize security, we needed to be creative when it comes to monetizing.” 

Viber, whose advertising income is less than 20% of its total revenue, aims to be a sustainable alternative to Facebook. 

“Our research says that people like Viber because it’s simple,” said Ms. Znamenskaya. “On Facebook, you’re overwhelmed. You want to have more intimacy. If you just want to send a message, you don’t want to read all these other things you didn’t ask for.”

Viber started out in 2010 with a simple goal to offer free calls to iPhone users. It has since evolved into a communication platform offering a suite of features like messaging, group chats, video calls, and chatbots, all protected by end-to-end encryption. Viber noted a 129% increase in community views and a 208% growth in messages sent to Communities in the first half of 2020 versus the same period last year. There was also an increase in the following during the quarantine: 43% in daily activations, 17% in monthly active users, 18% in daily active users, 22% in outgoing calls, and 35% in incoming answered calls. — Patricia B. Mirasol

To avoid extinction, companies must adapt to disruptive forces — author

Understanding disruptive forces such as artificial intelligence (AI), digital natives, and the gig economy will strengthen the future of any business, said entrepreneur, serial investor, and public speaker Maulik Parekh in his book, Futureproof Your Company and Career.

“In this rapidly changing world, we have a choice to make—either we future-proof ourselves or we risk becoming extinct,” Mr. Parekh said.

It was during his leadership in outsourcing companies like Inspiro and SPi Global that he began to recognize these disruptive forces and gleaned insights on how to future-proof companies and careers. 

At the virtual book launch, Mr. Parekh said that AI can do jobs that are repetitive, boring, predictable, and have defined objectives. Investing in becoming a better human by inspiring and leading, on the other hand, will insulate you from the risk of AI automation for the next 10 years at least.

Digital natives, meanwhile, have the potential to disrupt the status quo of any company. To partner with Gen Zers and millennials, it is important to know what their values and motivations are. Equally important is optimizing their skillsets.

Laura Butler, senior vice-president for people and culture at Workfront, an enterprise work management company based in Utah, said that purpose is the connective tissue that connects the four generations (from baby boomers to Gen Zers) in the workforce. “People are more engaged if they feel a purpose in their work,” she said. “That’s not something unique to millennials. Everyone feels that.”

Ms. Butler was a guest at the virtual launch along with Paula Vogliazzo, founder of management consulting firm Scale Up Business in Buenos Aires; and Manuel V. Pangilinan, managing director and chief executive of Hong Kong-listed First Pacific Co. Ltd.  

Being adaptable to changes in workforce trends was also a recurring theme throughout the event.

The rise of the gig economy is all about humanity’s innate desire for freedom, said Mr. Parekh. “I know some Harvard graduates who have left traditional employment and said ‘freedom is what I’m after’ … One left his law firm and became a freelancer servicing clients from around the world,” he added.

Ms. Vogliazzo advised companies to start planning their businesses to make them attractive to these professionals. “Freelancers will collaborate with your company but not on a full-time basis.”

A crucial point taken up at the aforementioned event was the reminder that the future belongs to those who are humble, curious, and learnable.  

Mr. Pangilinan quoted Winston Churchill’s aphorism: “Success is never final. You’re only as good as your last deal, your last quarterly results—and then the world expects more and more of you. Savor your success because guess what? Tomorrow, people expect more from you.” He said, too, that failure is part of the rich tapestry of life: “Failure is not fatal. Don’t feel impervious to failure. Know that it’s a fleeting moment—whether it’s success or failure.” — Patricia B. Mirasol

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