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UK investors still keen on Philippines

THE British Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (BCCP) is retaining and attracting new members in the Philippines throughout the lockdown, with new investments possibly materializing in the long term.

None of their existing member companies have withdrawn their investments, BCCP Executive Director Chris Nelson said in a television interview on Monday.

“We’ve actually had some new members join during this time,” he said. “People are not leaving. In fact, where I would like to give slight encouragement is we’re actually getting inquiries and interest in the Philippines.”

In a separate phone interview, Mr. Nelson said the interested companies are in the energy, automotive, beverage, and food industries.

While the chamber has been engaging with the companies online, there may be some investment delays as the companies wait for restrictions on business travel to ease.

“Our understanding is that it’s quite restricted in terms of foreign visitors, and that’s important as well because we’re getting interest from business people about opportunities in the Philippines,” Mr. Nelson said.

The discussions are about long-term projects, with many possibly materializing after at least a year as the health crisis is still ongoing.

“Companies that we’re trying to deal with are looking long term. While of course this crisis is immediate and hopefully we’ll get a handle on it and move forward across the world, companies are thinking long term and want to build businesses over a number of years. They look at it in that perspective and that’s why I believe the Philippines is still attractive,” Mr. Nelson said.

‘ON HOLD’
The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) sees major investment decisions will be on hold.

“Given the significant impact of COVID-19 on businesses, majority of our members are inclined to maintain status quo or put on hold major investment decisions in order to focus on their post-COVID-19 recovery plans to ensure business continuity in the short- to medium-term,” ECCP President Nabil Francis said in a mobile message.

“Nonetheless, further liberalizing key economic activities must also be on top of the agenda of the Philippine government’s policy priorities to create an attractive investment and business environment,” he added, saying that other Southeast Asian countries have already started unveiling incentives and lowering corporate income tax rates to be more competitive.

Mr. Francis said the negative trend in foreign direct investments is not encouraging.

The Board of Investments reported a 71% decline to P84.1 billion in approved investments in the first four months of 2020 after the pandemic disrupted economic activity, with foreign investments dropping 80% to P13.4 billion.

Mr. Nelson said the chamber is supporting a move towards a more relaxed lockdown in Metro Manila, with localized strict lockdowns in higher-risk areas.

“People (in other countries) are now much more focused on localized lockdowns on specific areas, even on building sites… we think that’s the way forward,” he said.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) had recently requested the easing of travel restrictions, supporting the aviation industry in its request to gradually phase out the quota for international passenger arrival, resume international business travel, and allow some local air travel.

The BCCP continues to support the Accelerate Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy (ARISE) bill, a P1.3-trillion three-year economic stimulus.

More than 40 business groups, including other foreign chambers, backed the stimulus bill in June, saying that it will support the recovery of small businesses. — Jenina P. Ibañez

COVID-19 or no COVID-19, PhilPop will go on

Song tilt partners with Warner Music for promotion

DESPITE an ongoing global pandemic, the biennial songwriting competition PhilPop Music Festival will continue to “break borders” to push Philippine music forward to the global stage, partnering with music label Warner Music Philippines to promote the songs of the competition.

“[W]e are an international major record label. We do have a network of A&R and marketing people all around the world. In terms of judging and production process, we’ll bring that unique value of this presence to the project. We share this ambition to elevate the Filipino artist to a global stage. It’s a difficult path, but I think with our partnership, we can improve the odds,” Ian Monsod, managing director of Warner Music Philippines, said during a July 2 digital briefing held via Zoom.

Warner Music Philippines is part of the multinational music label Warner Music Group, considered one of the biggest music labels in the world alongside Universal Records and Sony Music Entertainment. Locally, the label has signed artists such as Keiko Necesario, Ben&Ben, the rapper Quest, and many others.

Now on it’s eighth installment, the songwriting competition — fashioned after the defunct Metro Manila Popular Music Festival or Metropop which was held annually from 1978 to 1985 — is continuing its focus on “decentralizing the monopoly of support to Metro Manila [artists]” by “giving equal opportunity to the next generation of singer-songwriters based in other cities and provinces, regardless of their identity, language and cultural affiliation,” said Dinah Remolacio, PhilPop Music Fest Foundation executive director, during the same briefing.

During the 2018 competition, the festival’s organizers — which include National Artist for Music Raymundo “Ryan” Cayabyab and folk singer Noel Cabangon — reported that they had seen a marked increase in submissions from the Visayas and Mindanao after the competition shifted from being an annual one as it had been from 2012 to 2016, to biennial in 2017, using the gap year to hold songwriting camps to better encourage and teach aspiring artists from around the country.

The 2018 installment saw Davao songwriter Chud Festejo win the grand prize for the song “Nanay Tatay.”

“When we had [a] major pivot… the first thing that we did [was] to make the festival biennial. In between those years, we mounted all these songwriting workshops in different parts of the country to empower other songwriters in the region, so that they could submit entries to PhilPop. We want to diversify the winning entries in every festival,” Ms. Remolacio said.

This year, submissions will be grouped into four regions: Metro Manila, South Luzon, North Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Of the “thousands of songs submitted,” according to a release, only three songwriters will be chosen to represent each region “through [a] rigorous adjudication process spearheaded by Warner Music Philippines and PhilPop.”

The top 15 will be working with Warner Music to polish their songs and compete in the finals scheduled on Nov. 14, though no announcement has been made whether there will still be a live finals concert or will it be only a digital finals’ night because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The finalists for each region will be announced starting Oct. 2 in Mindanao until Oct. 30 for Metro Manila.

The winner of the PhilPop music festival will get P1 million (tax-free) while the first runner up will get P500,000 and the second runner-up P250,000. — Zsarlene B. Chua

Production cliff-edge forces TV industry to plunder the past

BROADCASTERS are having a hard time trying to replace canceled sporting events and live-action TV with something people want to watch.

Their plight will only worsen in coming months, when documentaries and scripted programs that couldn’t be made because of the coronavirus would normally begin to hit screens. Some filming has resumed, but most of the industry is still in limbo because producers can’t get insurance for shoots and many crews and actors can’t or won’t travel.

So network commissioners are heading back in time — piecing together new shows out of clips from old programs and movies, newscasts, interviews, documentaries, footage of major events, and random shots of people and places.

Producer Dan Sharp was about to begin shooting a follow-up season of Disasters Engineered when the UK went into lockdown. Suddenly, his production company SWR Media could no longer travel the globe in search of material for the show about high-profile engineering projects that went wrong.

“We needed a solution to still get this thing done and fundamentally get it done at the same quality level, not some coronavirus version of the season,” said Mr. Sharp.

One result is that season two relies more heavily than the first on material from Getty Images, owner of the world’s biggest commercial film archive.

Another problem was finding a way to do interviews in other countries while in lockdown: Zoom or Skype won’t make the cut for shows likely to be aired after the pandemic subsides.

As Sharp’s team couldn’t jump on a plane, they decided to hire local crews with professional equipment, dressing them in personal protective equipment and directing each interview over a laptop. It’s an innovation he hopes will become permanent.

“Last Friday I did five interviews — one in Japan, two in Chicago and two in Florida,” said Mr. Sharp. “I said to myself ‘That would have been a week’s work with all the traveling and all we’re doing is dialing in and dialing out.’”

NOSTALGIA VIEWING
Getty Images is working with several TV companies that have pivoted to using more archive content, said Paul Davis, its senior EMEA sales director.

“We’ve become almost an extension to the creative teams at production companies to help them create dramatic and inspiring narratives,” he said.

ITV Plc, Britain’s biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster, developed a program that spotlights former stars of Coronation Street, the country’s longest-running TV soap opera, using interviews and clips from old episodes.

STV Productions made a series for Channel 5 about the British royal family’s fractious relationship with the tabloid media that relied on licensed archive and news footage from the past 60 years and fresh interviews conducted remotely using iPhones.

A+E Networks UK, which owns channels including Sky History and Blaze, got producer CIC Media to turn a show commemorating the 75th anniversary of the allied victory in Europe into Race to Victory, a six-part series about the relationship between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin filled out with reams of archive material.

“What’s interesting about lockdown viewing is there’s a clear appetite for nostalgia viewing and escapism,” said Dan Korn, vice-president of programming at A+E Networks UK.

A+E Networks has even dipped into social media in search of material, commissioning a show about Alec Steele, a 22-year-old English blacksmith who took his business to the wilds of Montana. The producer of Forged With Steele, Studio 71, repackaged footage from Steele’s mostly self-filmed YouTube show.

While broadcasters are keen to turn a page on the pandemic, partly under pressure from advertisers looking for more upbeat content, the mood across UK TV production is still desperate. Government furlough support is starting to wind down and around 1,000 visual effects workers — about an eighth of that sector’s entire workforce — are at risk of redundancy by August, according to Neil Hatton, chief executive officer at the UK Screen Alliance.

“Everything I hear from most production companies is that it’s just your worst nightmare,” said Alex DeGroote, an independent media consultant and analyst. “There’s a sense that some aspects of the production industry cycle are beginning to normalize, but it feels fragile. Another coronavirus spike in the US in particular could put everything into reverse.” — Bloomberg

Meralco to refund electricity bills paid by customers wanting installment plan

By Adam J. Ang

MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) will be issuing refunds to customers who wanted to pay their bills incurred during the lockdown period in installments but have already paid these in full last month.

The power utility giant was further grilled by legislators during the Senate energy committee hearing on Monday about the mounting complaints on its “confusing” electricity bills since the lockdown started.

“Sa mga nagbayad in-full ng kanilang mga bills, bagamat sila ay entitled sa installment plans, mayroon din kaming advisory na kung nagbayad kayo at gusto ninyo ng installment plan, ire-refund ng Meralco lahat ng binayad ninyo at makakatanggap kayo ng installment letters para i-itemized ang installment plan ninyo,” Meralco President and Chief Executive Officer Ray C. Espinosa told senators.

(We have stated in an advisory that if you have fully paid your bills but you intend to pay in installments, Meralco will be refunding your payment. You will later receive a letter specifying your installment plan.)

The apparent confusion on last month’s twin bills showing the installment plan and the actual June bill may have pushed consumers to fully settle their accrued bills between March and May by end-June, which is actually the due date for last month’s bill.

“Nakalagay sa June bill ng Meralco na hindi na ito kasama sa installment plan na pinapayagan ng pamahalaan, kaya dapat daw fully paid na by June 30. Hindi rin malinaw kung estimate amount lang ‘yung chinarge nila from February to April, or actual meter reading na siya,” Sen. Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel said.

(Based on Meralco, the June bill is no longer covered in the installment plan as mandated by the government, that’s why it was taken as if consumers have to pay their unpaid bills by June 30. It was not also clear if the bill is the estimated amount between February and April or the amount from actual meter reading of consumption.)

In June, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) filed a show-cause order to the listed utility for its alleged violation of the regulator’s advisories during the quarantine period. Among others, it was accused of supposedly breaching its rules on estimated billing.

Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate energy committee, urged the regulator to order the refund of payments for those customers whose bills will be found overestimated.

In its May 22 advisory, the ERC ordered the staggered payment of bills during the lockdown period. For customers with 200 kilowatt-hours of consumption and below in February, they are allowed to pay their bills in six portions, while those with 201 kilowatt-hours and above will have to settle their bills in four installments.

The installment bills are supposed to be paid every 15th day of the month.

Further, Meralco vowed to clarify anew how it came up with customers’ bills in the past four months by sending out personal clarificatory letters this July.

“I believe there has been basically a failure on our part to clarify to our customers what is actual and what is estimated. For that, I wish to apologize to you and to all similarly situated customers,” Mr. Espinosa said.

“It is not Meralco’s business to charge customers beyond what they consume,” he added.

The letter is particular for power users whose meters were read in May but whose bills contain a “previous reading” that is based on estimated consumption in March and/or April.

Meanwhile, Mr. Espinosa promised to waive the P47-convenience charge levied to customers paying their bills online during both the enhanced community quarantine and the latter general quarantine phase.

These additional fees, according to Meralco, are charged by PayMaya, its sister company, and are not remitted to the utility company.

PROBE SOUGHT ON POWER UTILITIES’ NON-COMPLIANCE
Mr. Gatchalian also ordered the ERC to investigate electric utilities across the country that may not be complying with its advisories, especially on the suspension of the collection of some components of the electricity bill.

In his presentation, the Senate energy committee head cited some electric cooperatives that have been charging universal charges for environmental charge, the collection of which was suspended in the June billing month, and feed-in-tariff allowances, which were not supposed to be collected between March and April.

When asked about this, ERC Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer Agnes VST Devanadera said: “Marami pong nag-violate dito. At ‘yan ang basis namin ng pag-issue ng show-cause orders sa [mga] distribution utilities at electric cooperatives.”

(Many have violated these directives, and this is our basis for issuing show-cause orders to them.)

The ERC, which reported to be handling over 47,000 consumer complaints, asked Mr. Gatchalian to give it more time in addressing various power utility issues.

“I really have to ask [for] your patience because right now we are also organizing our people to be able to respond to the 47,000 [complaints],” Ms. Devanadera said.

Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

YouTube slammed by Grammy winner for not protecting copyrights

AN Grammy-award winning composer sued YouTube for failing to protect her and other “ordinary creators” from unauthorized copying and use of their work on the giant video-sharing platform.

Maria Schneider, who has won five Grammy Awards, most recently in 2015 in the category of Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, says YouTube’s system for policing copyright infringement protects the “behemoths of the creative industry,” such as large movie studies and record labels, but leaves small producers to essentially fend for themselves.

YouTube’s digital tool Content ID ferrets out unauthorized use of copyrighted material. But the tool is only provided to large content providers, according to Ms. Schneider.

Others, including herself, “are relegated to vastly inferior and time-consuming manual means of trying to police and manage their copyrights, such as scanning the entirety of YouTube postings, searching for keywords, titles, and other potential identifiers,” according to the complaint filed last week in federal court in San Jose, California. The suit also names Google and Alphabet Inc. as defendants.

YouTube declined to comment on the suit. But the company maintains that it’s committed to protecting intellectual property rights and stopping privacy.

Ms. Schneider is asking for monetary damages and an order forcing Google to give content providers better tools to police copyright infringement. She is also asking for the court to certify the lawsuit as a class-action to represent other YouTube content providers.

“A vast library of pirated content draws users to the site, and the growth in users incentivizes the posting of more content on YouTube, which in turn enables defendants to reap more advertising revenue,” according to the complaint. — Bloomberg

SEC warns investors about Wealthness Global scheme

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is warning the public against participating in investment opportunities offered by a certain Wealthness AM Global Corp. (Wealthness Global).

In a notice on its website, the country’s corporate regulator said Wealthness Global is unauthorized to solicit investments from the public.

It said it has investigated the group and found that it was offering several investment packages to the public priced from P270 to as much as P3,600 in exchange for opportunities to earn through captcha typing.

Once registered, a member will be given captchas to solve that will earn them points that may be converted to cash.

The group also offers other earning methods such as by direct selling of products, which are health capsules and soaps, by recruiting new members, and by having the recruited members recruit more new members.

The SEC said Wealthness Global’s operations involve schemes that are equivalent to selling securities to the public. For such an operation to be authorized, the SEC requires that a company obtains a secondary license from the commission for this specific purpose.

However, Wealthness Global’s registration with the SEC is as a corporation engaged in buying, selling and importing food supplements, cosmetics and electronic gadgets.

The SEC noted the company was told not to solicit, accept or take investments/placements from the public nor issue investment contracts.

Doing so is a violation of the Securities Regulation Code, which spells penalties for those who acted as salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents for Wealthness Global: a fine of up to P5 million, imprisonment of up to 21 years, or both.

“The public is advised not to invest or stop investing in any investment scheme being offered by any individual or group of persons allegedly for or on behalf of Wealthness Global and to exercise caution in dealing with any individuals or group of persons soliciting investments for and on behalf of it,” the SEC said.

Wealthness Global was sought for comment but did not respond as of press time. — Denise A. Valdez

Britain says to put nearly $2 billion into arts to help survival

LONDON — Britain will invest nearly $2 billion in cultural institutions and the arts to help a sector that has been crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday.

Theaters, opera houses, and ballet companies have been left without a live audience for months.

Though English museums and cinemas can re-open with strict social distancing in the latest easing of lockdown which began on Saturday, guidelines still dictate no live performances at theaters or concert halls.

That has created an existential crisis for much of the sector, which has been vocal in calling on the government for support.

“This money will help safeguard the sector for future generations, ensuring arts groups and venues across the UK can stay afloat and support their staff whilst their doors remain closed and curtains remain down,” Mr. Johnson said in a statement.

The government said the 1.57-billion pound ($1.96 billion) investment was the biggest ever in Britain’s culture sector.

It said that Britain’s museums, art galleries, theaters, independent cinemas, heritage sites, and music venues would be protected through emergency grants and loans.

The government will consult with figures from Arts Council England, the British Film Institute and other specialist bodies on awarding grants, while it said repayable finance would be issued on affordable terms. — Reuters

ICTSI subsidiary Royal Capital sets tender offer for perpetual securities

INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) announced on Monday that its subsidiary Royal Capital B.V. is offering cash for the $450 million worth of senior guaranteed perpetual securities as part of its strategy to manage the profile of its existing financings.

ICTSI also announced in a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday plans of Royal Capital to issue new senior perpetual securities.

Royal Capital is offering cash to the holders of its outstanding $450 million 5.5% senior guaranteed perpetual capital securities. The tender offer will end on July 14 at 5:00 p.m., Central European summer time.

Results of the tender offer will be announced on or about July 15, ICTSI said. Settlement or payment of the tender consideration will take place the following day.

As for the new securities offer, the listed company said the final terms and conditions, including the issue amount and interest rate, will be determined and approved by the respective boards of directors of both ICTSI and Royal Capital “in the coming weeks, subject to market conditions.”

The said transactions were approved and ratified by ICTS’s board of directors at a meeting held on Monday.

They also approved the appointment of Citigroup Global Markets Ltd., The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd., and Standard Chartered Bank as joint lead managers for the new securities offer and as dealer managers for the tender offer.

Morrow Sodali Ltd. was appointed as tender and information agent for the tender offer.

Shares in ICTSI on Monday closed 1.16% higher at P105 apiece. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Hotel chain to convert some rooms into office space

By Zsarlene B. Chua, Reporter

ROBINSONS HOTELS and Resorts (RHR) is turning some of its hotel rooms into private office spaces and offering long-stay services in several Go Hotels, as it addresses changing consumer demand amid the pandemic.

The hospitality arm of Robinsons Land Corporation launched its Work-To-Go program at two Go Hotels and two Summit Hotels.

Long stay services under the Home-to-Go program are being offered at three Go Hotels: Go Hotels Otis-Manila, Go Hotels Ortigas Center, and Go Hotels Mandaluyong.

The group has been planning to offer long stays or dormitory services, but this was pushed forward because of the pandemic, Arthur D. Gindap, senior vice-president and business unit general manager at RHR, said in a digital briefing on July 1.

“Our five-year plan is to actually add about eight to ten dorms countrywide. So [Home-to-Go] is already a product we were working on and we just advanced its [implementation] because of the current situation, and the need, and the demand. The request to have this product is simply from a transportation perspective,” Mr. Gindap said.

RLC is set to open its first dormitory within its Bridgetowne township in Quezon City by late-2021. The property will have 640 rooms and over 2,000 beds.

“We are also looking into offering [private offices] in our properties in the Visayas and Mindanao GoHotels and all our different Summit properties,” Joy de Mesa, group director of sales and marketing at RLC, said in the same briefing.

So far the Work-To-Go program is available at Go Hotels properties in Ortigas and Mandaluyong, and Summit Hotel Magnolia (Quezon City) and Greenhills. Around 30% of the rooms at these hotels will be converted into private offices for rent.

Go Hotels Ortigas has 198 rooms, Go Hotels Mandaluyong has 223 rooms, Summit Magnolia has 82 rooms, and Summit Greenhills has 100 rooms.

In total, budget hotel brand Go Hotels has 15 locations while the more upscale Summit Hotels has six hotels in its portfolio.

To date, Ms. De Mesa said Go Hotels Ortigas has “30 to 40 rooms” occupied under the Home-to-Go program. They are set to ink contracts for the Work-to-Go program.

“The reason why the product is very, very attractive to the desired market is because of the proximity of the location of the properties. Most or all of them are actually located beside shopping malls,” Roseann Coscolluela-Villegas, director of corporate public relations at RLC, said in the same briefing.

The Work-to-Go program’s monthly rates start at P16,200 net for an 18 square meter (sq.m.) unfurnished private office for two people, up to P48,000 for a 56 sq.m. room. The rate includes Wi-Fi access, weekly cleaning services, utilities, and access to a common pantry area. A setup with office furniture will incur additional charges.

Long-stay services under the Home-to-Go program are priced starting at P18,000 a month for two people. The rate includes basic utilities and Wi-Fi access. The rate is available until December 31.

“We would like to be able to have this offer available whenever we think that the market is still very much responsive to it… given the very positive response of the market to our programs, we see this to be a part of our offerings that we sell out to the market on a daily basis,” Ms. De Mesa said.

FUTURE OF HOSPITALITY
During the briefing, Mr. Gindap noted that he foresees recovery and return to the company’s pre-COVID-19 numbers to take “as much as 12 months and might even be up to 12 to 18 months.”

“So I say to all our associates we need to be optimistic but we also need to be realistic,” he said before adding that expansion plans will be “slightly delayed.”

“Even if we went full blast and we were to open in six months’ time, there just wouldn’t be people there to take our new hotels. So we are proceeding [to open] seven hotels between this and next year,” Mr. Gindap said.

These seven hotels are: Summit Hotel Naga, Go Hotel Naga, Go Hotel Tuguegarao, Westin Sonata, Summit Gensan, H2G Bridgetown, and Fili Hotel in Bridgetown.

Mr. Gindap said he also expects consumers to tighten their purses in the near-term, and domestic tourism to lead recovery.

With RHR’s portfolio of budget brands like Go Hotels and more upscale brands like Summit and Dusit Thani, he believes they are in “a great position to handle the business.”

Cinemalaya 2020 announces short films finalists

THE Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival has announced the 10 finalists who will compete in the Short Film Category.

The finalists are: Ang Gasgas na Plaka ni Lolo Bert by Janina Gacosta and Cheska Marfori; Ang Pagpakalma sa Unos (To Calm the Pig Inside) by Joanna Vasquez Arong; Excuse Me Miss Miss, Miss by Sonny Calvento; Fatigued by James Robin M. Mayo; Living Things by Martika Ramirez Escobar; Quing Lalam ning Aldo (Under the Sun) by Reeden Fajardo; Pabasa Kan Pasyon by Hubert Tibi; Tokwifi by Carla Pulido Ocampo; Utwas by Richard Jeroui Salvadico and Arlie Sweet Sumagaysay; and The Slums by Jan Andrei Cobey.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s biggest independent film festival will transition to virtual theater via Vimeo. This year’s festival will focus on Short Films in Competition, Gawad CCP Para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video, Cinemalaya Retrospectives, Short Films in Exhibition and many more.

Co-produced by the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Cinemalaya Foundation, Cinemalaya 2020 will run from Aug. 7 to 16.

Benguet Corp. swings to profitability

BENGUET Corp. reported a turnaround in its first-quarter with a net income of P56.7 million after the mining company recorded a marked improvement in its revenues during the period.

In the same quarter last year, the company registered a net loss of P60.56 million.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, the company said its revenues rose 119% to P408.46 million versus P186.52 million.

Benguet Corp. credited the higher revenues in the first quarter to the sale of three boatloads of nickel ore with an aggregate volume of 158,650 tons valued at P205.2 million.

The company’s Acupan gold project milled 10,114 tons of ore, which produced 1,979 ounces of gold.

The average grade of ore milled fell to 6.09 grams of gold per ton compared with 6.94 grams of gold per ton during the same quarter in 2019. “Milling rate improved by 16% to 111 tons per day during the quarter compared to 96 tons per day in the same period last year,” the disclosure said.

The company’s Sta. Cruz nickel project under its wholly owned subsidiary Benguetcorp Nickel Mines, Inc. has posted net earnings of P20.07 million for the quarter.

Meanwhile, Benguet Corp. said its Irisan lime project posted pre-tax earnings of P3.3 million for the quarter, lower than the P8.8 million it earned in the same period last year, due to lower sales volume at 1,647 tons.

“The company will continue to be affected by the government’s imposed lockdown due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection which caused disruption of operations,” the disclosure said.

However, Benguet Corp. said it had implemented precautionary strategies and protocols to address the risks from COVID-19 and provided alternative work schemes such as skeletal manpower to ensure continued business operations.

“The company is confident that its wholly owned subsidiary, BNMI will continue to market its saleable stockpiled nickel ores,” the disclosure said.

The company’s total assets increased 0.9% to P6.98 billion while its total consolidated liabilities were at P2.51 billion for the quarter.

On Monday, shares in Benguet Corp. “A” fell 4.29% or P0.06 to close at P1.34 per share while Benguet Corp. “B” retreated 4.67% or P0.07 to end at P1.43 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Tranquil residential haven in Antipolo

MEGAWORLD Corp. subsidiary Global-Estate Resorts, Inc. (GERI) is developing the 640-hectare integrated lifestyle community Eastland Heights in Antipolo City.

Described as a “tranquil slice of residential haven,” Eastland Heights offers views of the Sierra Madre mountains.

Architect JJ Acuna was quoted as saying in a statement that people now long for “more ventilation, more daylight, access to greenery, and indoor-outdoor spaces at home” amid the pandemic. Lots at Eastland Heights range from 300 square meters (sq.m.) to 2,000 sq.m.

The community also hosts a 36-hole Forest Hills Golf Course, and Springs — a Bali-inspired water leisure park. Other amenities include a fitness center, tennis and basketball courts, pocket gazebos, picnic tables, a pool bar, and an event pavilion.

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