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International art fairs go online amidst virus outbreak

By Michelle Anne P. Soliman, Reporter

WHEN COVID-19 started to spread across the globe early this year, big public events in the arts industry were either postponed or canceled. As much of the world went under quarantine, the arts moved online with performers, musicians, theater and entertainment companies offering shows via streaming. This led international art fairs, such as this year’s edition of Art Basel Hong Kong and Art Dubai, to cancel the physical fairs but to push through via their respective virtual viewing platforms.

VIRTUAL ENGAGEMENT
After canceling its scheduled fair at the Hong Kong Convention Centre on March 19 to 21, the 8th edition of Art Basel Hong Kong launched its Online Viewing Rooms which were open from March 20 to 25. The Online Viewing Rooms debuted with an international lineup of 235 leading galleries from 31 countries presenting over 2,000 artworks.

“We have brought forward the launch of the first edition of the Online Viewing Rooms in an effort to provide our Art Basel Hong Kong 2020 exhibitors with an alternative platform and opportunity to showcase the works of art they were planning to bring to Hong Kong at no cost,” Adeline Ooi, Director Asia for Art Basel in Hong Kong, told BusinessWorld in an e-mail.

The pieces in the recently concluded virtual exhibition had an estimated value of $270 million, with 70 items priced at over $1 million.

“As the art market continues to evolve, Art Basel is continually investing into new technologies and opportunities to support its galleries and to foster a healthy art world ecosystem. Art Basel’s Online Viewing Rooms is designed to provide an additional platform for galleries to engage with the highest caliber of audiences worldwide — including Art Basel’s global network of patrons, as well as new collectors and buyers — and promote their artists,” Ms. Ooi wrote.

Meanwhile, the 14th edition of Art Dubai — which was originally scheduled to run from March 25 to 28 at the Madinat Jumeirah resort — also launched a digital program on March 24. This year, it’s programs took a total shift to the digital space with the 2020 Online Catalogue of artworks of more than 500 works, a Global Art Forum live broadcast, and an online performance program curated by Marina Fokidis.

RECEPTION TO GOING DIGITAL
Art Basel Hong Kong’s Online Viewing Rooms were attended by more than 250,000 visitors from across the globe within its seven-day duration (including VIP previews). In 2019, it attracted 88,000 visitors.

Despite limitations, Ms. Ooi noted that the online platform received a positive reception.

“While the Online Viewing Rooms cannot replace the physical fair, we received positive feedback from galleries across all levels of the market in terms of sales and the ability to stay connected with existing and new contacts. For small and mid-sized galleries, the platform provided them with the opportunity to explore the concept of an online viewing room, to cultivate new relationships and to generate positive business leads,” Ms. Ooi wrote.

As online viewing explores other methods of viewing art, Ms. Ooi stressed the value of face-to-face interaction. “Collectors don’t come to fairs exclusively to buy work, just as gallerists don’t solely participate to sell the works on display. Both collectors and gallerists attend our shows to exchange ideas, deepen existing relationships, and to develop new connections and new projects. In a market built on trust, face-to-face interaction remains essential.”

In an e-mail to BusinessWorld, International Director of Art Dubai Chloe Vaitsou noted that during the art fair’s first week, “more than 300 sales enquiries were received for individual works with a number of sales confirmed” and that the 2020 Online Catalogue has received “close to three times more traffic compared to 2019, with over 40,000 views” since its launch on March 24.

Likewise, Ms. Vaitsou agreed that the digital fair “cannot fully replace the physical encounter of attending and experiencing an art fair in person.”

“We already had an Online Catalogue ready to be launched so this didn’t prove challenging. Changing the live physical conference format of the Global Art Forum to a live streamlined experience required the application of relevant technologies and a shift in coordination tactics, which we were quick to achieve. The Performance Program organically shifted to online artist projects, with both existing works and new works created to be available publicly through widely used platforms. We are in ongoing discussions to evolve our digital scope, which will require different solutions and approaches,” she wrote.

The Philippines’ Silverlens Galleries, which had participated in previous Art Basel fairs previously, participated in both art fairs’ online iterations. It featured works by Southeast Asian artists Santiago Bose, Patricia Perez Eustaquio, Mit Jai Inn, Gary-Ross Pastrana, Maria Taniguchi, and Yee I-Lann at Art Basel Hong Kong; while Pio Abad, James Clar, and Nicole Coson were featured in Art Dubai.

“We had about the same number of inquiries on both Art Basel and Art Dubai. Confirmed purchases were by clients already familiar with the artists’ works,” Silverlens Galleries co-founder Isa Lorenzo told BusinessWorld in an e-mail, on their participation this year.

In Art Basel’s Online Viewing Room, exact or price ranges per artwork were presented. “Research shows that works online with price information are exponentially more likely to be sold. We have had great feedback from collectors who appreciated the price transparency,” Ms. Ooi wrote.

“The inclusion of prices provides transparency,” Ms. Lorenzo wrote. “In the primary market, it protects the artists from unscrupulous dealers.”

Ms. Lorenzo also noted, however, that the experience of a virtual and actual art fair cannot compare to the real thing as there are “a lot of casual browsers online” and that most of their previous Art Basel Hong Kong sales were made “on the floor with the clients standing in front of the artwork.”

ART FAIRS POST COVID-19
Ms. Ooi and Ms. Vaitsou remains optimistic about the art fair’s future endeavors, despite uncertainties thanks to the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Originally scheduled in June, the 2020 edition of Art Basel has been rescheduled on Sept. 17 to 20, 2020 at the Messe Basel.

“The decision to move the show to September was made in close consultation with a wide range of gallerists, collectors, partners, and external experts. While it is impossible to predict precisely what the situation will be in September, we are currently moving forward with our planning,” Ms. Ooi wrote. “Similarly, we are still planning to host our Miami Beach show from Dec. 3 to 6, 2020.”

Meanwhile, the 15th Art Dubai will be held on March 17 to 20, 2021.

“We have to be realistic about the impact the current situation and the ripple effects it will have globally and across industries. The art market is not immune to this. The majority of cultural events around the world are not going forward which will no doubt have implications to trade and industry as a whole at this moment,” Ms. Viatsou wrote. “However, it is inevitable that there will also be adaptation and we are optimistic that the future will see the art market adjust and continue diversifying and growing.”

DTI’s Lopez to firms: shoulder your staff’s virus test

TRADE Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said companies must pay for the testing of their employees for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which he said will be included in new business health protocols.

“Hindi po sagot ng gobyerno subalit ‘yun na rin po ang magiging practice ng mga kumpanya na gusto masigurado,” he said in a television interview on Tuesday.

(The government will not shoulder the testing cost, but that will become the practice of companies that want to be certain).

He said companies can ask employees to fill out health declaration forms noting travel and contact history, adding that those who have possible COVID-19 symptoms or who have had contact with patients can be prioritized for the PCR test.

The PCR or polymerase chain reaction test checks for the presence of the virus in individuals, unlike rapid tests that check for the presence of antibodies.

“Ine-encourage po ‘yung PCR test, pero ‘yun po ay limitado ang gamit sa ngayon — du’n lang sa may symptoms o kaya PUIs at PUMs,” Mr. Lopez said.

(We encourage using the PCR test but its use is limited to those who have symptoms or are persons under investigation or monitoring).

Mr. Lopez over the weekend said the private sector can set up testing facilities, with the guidance of the Health department.

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey A. Concepcion had launched Project ARK (Antibody Rapid test Kits), a private sector-led project to increase COVID-19 testing.

Mr. Lopez said in the same interview on Tuesday that while some mall operations are now allowed in moderate or low-risk areas under the more relaxed general community quarantine (GCQ), senior citizens and young people under 20 may be given a window or time period during the day when they will be allowed to leave their homes. Those groups are not allowed to leave their homes under current GCQ guidelines.

He said barber shops and salons are allowed to operate under the GCQ, with “very strict health standards.”

He added that there will be guidelines on minimum health protocols, including the wearing of masks and the use of sanitation stations. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Kominers’s Conundrums: The Warden Has a Brainteaser

By Scott Duke Kominers, Bloomberg Opinion

SOME puzzles are solvable in a blink (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SWgSZdSBjc). Others require deeper dives (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-27/eyos-submarine-dive-to-challenger-deep-bottom-mariana-trench). The tale of the prisoners and the light switch is a classic brainteaser that takes several steps to unravel. Are you ready?

One hundred people are being held prisoner. The warden, who is slightly benevolent — and also a mathematician — proposes to have the prisoners play a game in exchange for their freedom. He shows them a room with a single light switch, and explains: “Each day, I’m going to choose one of you at random and bring you into this room. When the first prisoner walks into the room, the switch will be ‘off.’ While you’re in the room, you can flip the switch if you want, and I’ll leave it however you set it for the next prisoner. Any one of you can declare at some point that all the prisoners have been in the room at least once; if you’re right, all of you go free; and if you’re wrong, you stay here until I come up with an idea for a new puzzle!”

Being bizarre, but fair, the warden lets the prisoners confer beforehand to agree upon a strategy — but once the game has started, the prisoners have no way to communicate except (possibly) by flipping the switch.

Can you figure out a strategy that guarantees the prisoners their freedom?

The word “guarantees” is important in this puzzle: It means that the full solution is not just a strategy the prisoners should use, but also a logical argument (a “proof”) convincing us that the strategy will work for every sequence of room entries that might arise.

(If you want to try the problem yourself without any hints or guidance, stop reading here for now.)

So how to even start figuring this out? First, try making the problem smaller. If there’s only one prisoner, they can just declare victory upon entering the room for the first time. If there’s two, the problem becomes more subtle: Each prisoner knows when they’ve been in the room, but nothing else.

(Again, perhaps pause here and try to work it out for yourself.)

But what if the prisoners decided beforehand that one would flip the switch as soon as he or she entered the room while the other would merely wait until that happened? This strategy might take a long while to work. But there’s no time limit in this game. At some point, the first prisoner will enter the room, and sometime after that, the second prisoner will enter and learn that the first prisoner has already been there.

This is- the first major logical leap in solving the puzzle: Prisoners can have different roles.

So what happens with three prisoners? And can we get from saving three prisoners to 100? Brett Berry of Math Hacks has a beautiful write-up (https://medium.com/i-math/100-prisoners-and-a-light-bulb-573426272f4c) of a solution (along with a slightly different approach to solving).

For a modern — and very nearly post-modern — version of the puzzle, here’s one from my personal vault. In 2008, Paul Kominers (my brother), Justin Chen and I asked what happens when the warden gets a prison so large it feels like something out of a Greek myth:

Now the warden has a labyrinthine prison with 111 indistinguishable rooms, each of which has the same number of light switches in them — and all the switches in all the rooms start “off.”

He’s going to lead his 100 prisoners into the rooms at random (one at a time, like before) and the prisoners win their freedom if — and only if — one of them correctly declares that each prisoner has been in each of the 111 rooms at least 17 times each.

The question is: How many switches do the prisoners need to have per room in order to find a strategy guaranteeing them their freedom?*

As before, the solution will involve developing a strategy and a proof that the strategy works. But now there’s the additional wrinkle that you can adjust the number of switches to make the game easier or harder for the prisoners.

Give it a try. We’ll go over the solution next week.

In the meantime, if you come up with something — even partial progress — please let me know at skpuzzles@bloomberg.net before midnight EDT on Wednesday, April 29. (If you’re stuck, there’ll be a hint announced in Bloomberg Opinion Today on Tuesday, April 28. Sign up here.)

LAST WEEK’S CONUNDRUM
The Fudd was the word. Our foray into wordplay included two puzzles challenging readers to fill in the blanks with words that are spelled the same way but have different meanings. First, we were “BEFUDDLED” that any hunter would want to “BE FUDD-LED” — Elmer Fudd from Looney Tunes never quite manages to catch the wascally wabbit, irrespective of whether it is rabbit or duck season.

Then, I challenged you to find a seven-letter word that could fill in both blanks in a second verse:

Stuck at home another week:

a child past SEVEN?

“Not at all,” he said to me,

“I’ve got my game SEVEN!”

In total, 13 people came up with the intended solution, “CONSOLE.”** Zoz and James Flynn were first — within minutes of each other, and less than two hours after the column hit the web. Other solvers (selected randomly***) included Matthew Dickstein, Nancy Glaeser, Alex Newman-Smith, and Rianne Rowlands.****

THE BONUS ROUND:
MORE PUZZLES AND PASTIMES

A perpetual energy paradox puzzle (https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-to-design-a-perpetual-energy-machine-20200401/). You can turn colored pencils into a gigantic doughnut (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0aNETdn6sw) and/or subdivide certain right triangles into more right triangles (https://twitter.com/AlgebraFact/status/1252573276867624961?s=03). Try your hand at Roy Leban and Emily Dietrich’s Almanaq adventures (https://www.almanaq.com/), or this sudoku with only four given digits (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAyZ9K2EBF0). Celebrate Sondheim’s birthday (https://www.broadway.com/buzz/199128/jaw-dropping-lineup-of-stars-to-salute-stephen-sondheim-in-broadwaycom-birthday-concert-event/) (hat tip: Ellen Kominers); dance with Tabla Maestro Sandeep Das (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE78dVzV2SM); or watch a world-class Julie Andrews impersonator perform SuperBadTransmittableContagiousAwfulVirus (https://web.facebook.com/watch/?v=832790830549840). Explore Quanta Magazine’s map of mathematics (https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-map-of-mathematics-20200213/), or just have some fun at home with dominoes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5ZVMVyN6Bc). And inquiring minds want to know: Did supernovas really kill off the megalodon? (https://www.quantamagazine.org/did-supernovas-kill-off-the-monster-shark-megalodon-20190115/)

*As in the one-room puzzle, the prisoners can confer beforehand to agree upon a strategy.

**Admittedly, I took a bit of poetic license in the second line.

***If you don’t see your name listed here, please don’t despair — we’re keeping track of all the solvers and will feature callouts to both new and recurring solvers as Conundrums continues.

****Ross Berger came up with an alternate solution — “CONTENT” — which doesn’t fit the verse quite as well but isn’t too far off.

In addition to solutions, please send paradoxes, paraphernalia and/or your favorite puzzles to skpuzzles@bloomberg.net.

MVP Group, partners build quarantine center at Philippine Arena

MVP Group of Companies, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and religious group Iglesia ni Cristo have partnered to complete a 300-bed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) quarantine center at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, NLEX Corp. said.

“Under the leadership of DPWH Secretary Mark A. Villar and Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, the latest large-scale health and safety initiative made available by the Iglesia Ni Cristo in Ciudad de Victoria, Bocaue, Bulacan, will be completed on schedule by Wednesday, April 29, as part of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s Bayanihan to Heal as One Act,” NLEX Corp. said in a statement on Tuesday.

The quarantine center intended for returning overseas Filipino workers will be turned over to the Inter Agency Task Force on COVID-19 (IATF) medical teams once completed, NLEX Corp. added.

Mr. Pangilinan, who heads the business group, was quoted as saying: “This is another testament to the effective collaboration among the public and private sectors. Our group will continue to support the government’s COVID-19 emergency response programs and help the country recover from this pandemic. During this health crisis, everyone must pitch in.”

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) and NLEX Corp. also vowed to provide “special and exclusive access” along the North Luzon Expressway to the Philippine Arena quarantine center for the IATF quarantine teams and medical support groups.

NLEX Corp. said the North Luzon Expressway will be toll-free for medical frontliners, ambulances, medical service vans and buses of the Health department.

The center will be managed by the government with personnel from the Health department, Armed Forces, and the National Police, NLEX Corp. said.

“The MVP Group is the country’s leading conglomerate of infrastructure utilities with diverse assets in power, electricity distribution, water supply, logistics, tollways operations and management, telecommunications and digital services,” it also noted.

NLEX Corp. is under MPTC., a unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is one of the three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd. The two others are PLDT, Inc. and Philex Mining Corp.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., maintains interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Arjay L. Balinbin

PETA launches YouTube channel

THE Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) has launched its YouTube Channel featuring works by and inspired by English poet and playwright William Shakespeare.

Shakespeare in the Time of COVID is online series celebrating the works of William Shakespeare, in commemoration to the renowned poet and playwright’s 404th death anniversary on April 23, 1616.

The series includes Sonnets & Songs, a reading of Shakespeare’s sonnets and their reimagining into Filipino songs. Participating artists include Michael Williams, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, Noel Cabangon, Myke Salomon, and Bituin Escalante. The series culminates with the streaming of Ron Capinding’s 2011 play William, directed by Maribel Legarda.

Set in a high school in Metro Manila, the story focuses on five young students who are forced to study Shakespeare’s plays by their terror class adviser. While studying, the students realize the beauty of Shakespeare’s works and also re-discover themselves through the Bard’s characters.

The show features 10 original rap songs composed by Jeff Hernandez and choreographed by John Tan.

William won Outstanding Play, Outstanding Ensemble Performance in a Play, and Outstanding Original Script at the 2011 Philstage Gawad Buhay Awards.

Viewers can access the free 72-hour livestream of William on PETA’s YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/petatheateronline) starting April 26, 7 p.m.

Sessions of PETA’s Let Get Creative! online workshops, which stream live every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and highlights of #TalkTuesdays, which stream live every Tuesday on PETA’s Facebook page, will be available after the livestreams at the PETA YouTube channel.

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/PETATHEATER/. — MAPS

Pryce’s first quarter profit up 9.4%

PRYCE CORP. on Tuesday said it saw its net income rose by 9.4% to P396.36 million in the first quarter, driven by the increase in sales of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) products.

In a disclosure sent to the stock exchange, the listed firm noted that its consolidated revenues went up 24.2% to P3.18 billion in the January–March period, compared to P2.56 billion recorded in the same period in 2019.

Revenue growth came on the back of strong LPG sales which went up 15.1% to 58,745 metric tons (MT) from 51,047 MT it previously posted.

The company primarily sells LPG cylinders and accessories and generator sets which accounted for 95.3% of its total revenues.

The higher quarter-on-quarter average price in the international benchmark LPG contract price of $527 per MT, which is reflected in the price of local LPG, also contributed to its revenue growth.

As of April 2, local oil companies slashed LPG prices by P9.60 to P10.70 per kilogram (kg) or about P106-P118 per 11-kg cylinder. In Metro Manila, prices of household LPG ranged from P493.00–P689.00 per 11-kg cylinder.

Pryce said its first quarter performance was slightly impacted by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic since March.

Should the global health crisis persist throughout the year, the company said, its sales volume could drop between 5% to 10% compared with the previous year.

“The government’s Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) only slightly affected the Company’s first quarter performance since the ECQ was implemented near the end of the quarter (3rd week of March 2020),” it said in a statement.

“However, the Company expects the succeeding quarters to be adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. A fall of anywhere between 5% to 10% in sales volume (compared to 2019 levels) could result if the pandemic continues throughout the year. It is our hope that this disrupting phenomenon will be resolved soon,” it added.

The listed company primarily imports and distributes LPG under its major unit Pryce Gas, Inc., aside from producing industrial gases, owning real estate developments, as well as selling generic drugs through Pryce Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

On Tuesday, shares in Pryce inched up 0.24% to close at P4.21 each. — Adam J. Ang

TV viewing up 27% under ECQ

Being under quarantine has led Filipinos to watch more TV as global measurement and analytics company Nielsen Media reported that television viewing has increased 27% since the quarantine started.

“Forced confinement coupled with concerns on the rapid increase in the number of cases in the country were key factors to why Filipinos tuned in more to media sources such as television and online media,” Ernestine Amper, executive director of Nielsen Media in the Philippines, said in a release.

“In these times of uncertainty, Filipinos want to get as much information as they can about COVID-19 and its impact [on] their lives, work, and community that is why it is not surprising that their need for COVID-19 information extends from on-screen to online,” she added.

In a recent State of the Media in the Philippines report, Nielsen noted that television has seen an increase of 3.8 million viewers in any given minute of the day compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic numbers.

Nielsen’s report considered the period of January to March 7 as the pre-COVID-19 pandemic period and March 8 to April 15 as the COVID-19 period.

While the viewing trend remains largely the same in that a day has two prime times — one at noon and another at night — it has shifted a bit with morning shows garnering a viewing bump of 60% because more people are staying at home.

Viewing has also changed in terms of demographics as those at the top of the socio-economic ladder (A and B) are adding an hour of screen time from their usual six-hour TV screen time. Those in classes C to E have also seen an uptick in screentime hours, though at a more modest 30 minutes, on average.

Professionals who are working from home are spending an hour more watching TV (from 4.1 hours to 5.2 hours a day on average) while manual workforce including laborers and farmers have posted minimal increases: farmers and farm managers increased their TV viewing from 4.3 hours to 4.5 hours a day while laborers increased theirs from 4.3 to 4.8 hours a day.

It should be noted that television is not the only screen getting a surge of viewers as streaming service Netflix announced last week that they added 15.77 million new paid global subscribers, more than double what they predicted for the year as much of the world has employed similar lockdowns and quarantine procedures.

But what are they watching? Nielsen’s study reported that people largely want to learn about developments regarding the pandemic and that has led to networks ramping up their news content. There’s also a greater focus on “thoughtful programming” as “major networks re-aired hit drama series on primetime that presented a common theme of ‘hope’ and a strong sense of ‘community,’” said Ms. Amper.

Networks are also re-airing educational programs for students dealing with cancelled classes.

“Based on the ratings performance of these shows, it seems that broadcasters are well attuned to the type of content the Filipino audience needs at these trying times,” she explained.

AD-SPENDING IN THE TIME OF COVID-19
The pandemic has led to a softening of TV and radio ad spending as year on year the first quarter spending declined by 5% for TV and 22% for radio. Despite the decline, TV still gets the lion’s share of advertisements at 74% in the first quarter of the year.

Pharmaceutical companies are said to be “maximizing the heightened media consumption” by spending more on TV ads during the COVID-19 period, according to the Nielsen report, while some advertisers are said to have boosted radio ad spending as they lessened their TV advertising budgets.

Ads from on-site businesses such as cinemas, hotels, restaurants, and department stores declined during the COVID-19 period while food products like seasonings and canned goods increased their ad investment alongside cough and cold remedies, sanitation products, and vitamins which increased their spending in the first quarter of the year.

“This pandemic is pushing the industry against the wall — it’s forcing us to abruptly shift our focus, [adopt] a different mindset, and experiment with new things. It is by experiencing all these that we are able to carry on and come out stronger post-pandemic,” said Ms. Amper. — ZBC

MBC urges companies to review post-lockdown plans

COMPANIES must prioritize projects and review short-term plans as the business community prepares for the lifting or modification of the lockdown, the head of the Makati Business Club (MBC) said.

In an ANC interview on Tuesday, MBC President Edgar O. Chua said companies have been using the extended lockdown to plan for how they will be starting their operations.

“In terms of prioritizing the projects of the company, cash now really becomes king. It’s very, very important. And companies need to review their short-term and medium-term plans — like do you pause in terms of your expansion plans? For some this presents opportunities for expansion,” he said.

The enhanced community quarantine is extended in areas, including Metro Manila, until May 15.

“Demand, for most, except for some areas, will actually be very low… there will be a slowdown in that so people need to start thinking of how do you manage in such a situation,” Mr. Chua said.

He said companies must be prudent in prioritizing projects, work with the government to ensure that the supply chain runs smoothly, and plan for several scenarios.

“When things do not develop as you have anticipated, you have already thought of other possibilities and you can react quickly.”

He said the country must be careful in how it lifts the lockdown so that public health gains made during the quarantine will not be lost.

Mr. Chua said companies have been preparing for the lifting of the lockdown, but noted that they may still face challenges in terms of the limitations in public transportation, the main mode of transport for workers in many industries.

“The more difficult aspect which government may have been wanting to better prepare are the healthcare infrastructure system and this included quarantine, and this included testing, and hospital beds. I think we need to be moving towards — by the time we open up — we should have better facilities for quarantine, for hospitals, and also for testing,” he said. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Gov’t makes full award of T-bond offer on low rates, strong demand

THE GOVERNMENT made a full award of the reissued Treasury bonds (T-bonds) it offered on Tuesday on the back of low rates and strong demand, as investors flocked to safe-haven assets.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised P30 billion as planned via the two-year T-bonds that have a remaining life of one year and eight months.

The tenor attracted bids worth P109.546 billion, making the offer more than three times oversubscribed.

Strong demand prompted the BTr to open its tap facility to raise another P15 billion.

The two-year notes fetched an average rate of 3.052%, with the highest rate at 3.08%, both lower than the 3.232% quoted for the bonds at the secondary market.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said they made a full award to take advantage of low rates and strong bids.

“Auctions have been on full awards and are able to mobilize more from tap because of low rates and oversubscription,” Ms. De Leon told reporters via Viber.

A bond trader said investors are opting to cash in on the shorter end of the curve as there is “too much liquidity but people have no appetite for more risks” due to concerns on the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

“Bonds, in general are attractive because it is the safest asset. And right now, we can see that there is appetite…in the longer tenors. But just goes to show in this auction there’s too much money looking for safety,” the trader said via Viber.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has been firing off stimulus measures to cushion the blow of the pandemic on the economy, with BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno saying earlier this week that further monetary easing is “still in the agenda.”

The central bank has slashed policy rates by 125 basis points (bps) this year, the latest being the 50-bp off-cycle cut on April 16.

Following this, rates for the overnight deposit and lending facility have also been trimmed to 3.25% and 2.25%, respectively.

These rates are the lowest on record and also since the BSP shifted to an interest rate corridor in 2016.

It has also injected fresh liquidity to the market after it trimmed universal and commercial banks’ reserve requirement ratio by 200 bps to 12%. — B.M. Laforga

WFH during the ECQ: DLSU Prof. Nina Tesoro-Poblador

So what is it like to work from home (WFH) when home, for the duration, is paradise?

For Nina Tesoro-Poblador, it involves a work space with a beach view and a spot of sunbathing and swimming in between meetings.

Ms. Tesoro-Poblador — an Assistant Professor at the Marketing & Advertising Department of De La Salle University-Taft’s Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business — normally splits her time between her apartment in Malate, Manila during the week, and San Pablo, Laguna where her mother, couturier Patis Tesoro, lives. Just before the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was announced, she had been out of town running a creative mentorship program for weavers in Museo Kordilyera in Baguio with her mother, before going on to Sagada to attend the 40th year commemoration of Santi Bose’s mural, the mentor of her late cousin Carlos Celdran.

“When news of the impending ECQ broke, I decided to inch my way towards San Pablo, Laguna where my family resides,” Ms. Tesoro-Poblador told BusinessWorld. “Honestly, I could not see myself joining the mad rush to go home. As a commuter, I advocate for sustainable transport so I know the stress of trying to get from one point to another in this country. As the lockdown date neared, I decided to stop by La Union before heading to Manila. When I arrived, I then realized I would not make it to Laguna as I would have to ride two public provincial buses just to get from La Union to Manila and then from Manila to San Pablo, Laguna. Too much to get through in 48 hours. I mean, I love Malate, but I knew getting locked down by the sea was a better option. I also did not want to either get sick or become a carrier, as my mom is 69 years old and at risk,” she said.

So she opted to ride out the quarantine at a family friend’s place in Coral Point, San Fernando, La Union.

But her proximity to the beach and the relatively lax quarantine in La Union did not mean neglecting her school work which involves teaching a dizzying array of subjects — Critical & Creative Problem Solving, Social Marketing, Consumer Behavior, Product Development, Service Marketing, Marketing in the Hospitality Industry and Visual Communication — to undergraduate business students. As if this was not enough, she also runs the Community Engagement and Service Learning program of her department and is writing her dissertation proposal for her DBA on Creativity in Philippine Handwoven Textiles Supply Chain.

What is your preferred meeting method and why?

As soon as the ECQ began, my university enjoined its faculty to meet via our learning management system: Animo Space powered by Canvas. We use Big Blue Button as a web conference platform in school. For other online conferences, such as those with my alma mater AIM (Asian Institute of Management), we use Zoom.

I communicate with my students via Animo Space and Facebook. I chose the asynchronous method of instruction and I have prepared videos and lecture decks for guidelines to assignments. I also have to transition properly to Blended Learning and Distance Education. For this, De La Salle University is actively providing us with training sessions which I attend regularly.

Apart from taking care of my students, my main goal now is to figure out a new normal strategy for myself and for our family business. This I plan to do while writing my dissertation proposal.

What time do you start your workday now compared to when you actually went to the office?

My eyes still automatically fly open at 6:30 a.m. every morning. I then grab a cup of coffee, do some yoga, play with the dogs, and then start working at around 9 a.m. This is the same schedule I kept while at work. Teachers are creatures of habit.

Do you take breaks?

Do breaks include going to the mobile market and cooking? If yes, I certainly do. I bike to the covered basketball court down the road and procure fresh produce for native dishes. I share with the bantays and savor the sense of fulfillment and peace of mind cooking brings.

I also sunbathe, read non-academic books, have the occasional beer while watching the sunset, and swim in the sea. And, of course, I keep in touch with my family and friends over social media. Right now I am hooked on Netflix’s The Blacklist as James Spader is simply sublime. And oh, I also like to dance as there is no one watching!

Do you still dress up for work or are you more casual in the work from home set up?

Honestly, since I am right by the shore, I am mostly in either a bathing suit or in my yoga wear. It can get stiflingly hot so I just throw on a tapis or malong (wrap around skirts) when I go down to cook, eat or do laundry. Remember, most of the clothes I have with me are for mountain weather.

(Asked how she dresses for video conferences, she cheekily says, “I don’t turn on my video,” before explaining, “When I have to, it’s a sundress and makeup.”)

Have you had any slip-ups during official work stuff — meetings interrupted by a pet for example?

Well there was that one time I forgot to turn off my mic in an online training session! The instructor was asking us to discuss in breakout sessions, but the technology was faltering. Turns out my objections were heard by all! Teachers can be bad students too.

What is the most important lesson you learned about working from home? How will the “new normal” after the quarantine ends affect the world of your work?

Keep to a schedule! Suddenly we are no longer time impoverished as we have nowhere to go, so every day feels like a holiday. A schedule will ensure productivity while in transition to the new normal.

I am actually quite excited as DLSU will be implementing Blended Learning full force by next trimester. Therefore, 50% of the time, our students will be working remotely, and I am hoping that some of these times can be in parks, art centers, and heritage sites. Community engagement can also be further practiced in off site classrooms. Pending of course the absence of a pandemic crisis such as this one.

On the homefront, my family’s destination will be offering short creative mentorship courses set in an agricultural context. My mom has always believed that ensuring survival means going back to the land, and going back to basics. Studies show that immersing in arts and crafts addresses depression and anxiety.

This being the case, I see myself continuing to travel to and from the province. I predict a lot of other people will do the same, as Manila will decongest and decentralize after this life changing experience. This is a good thing as knowledge and skills will finally be shared with the provincial communities.

San Miguel to hand over testing machines for COVID-19

SAN MIGUEL Corp. (SMC) is donating high-capacity testing machines and testing kits to aid in the government’s mass facilitation of tests for people possibly infected with the coronavirus disease 2019.

In a statement on Tuesday, the conglomerate said the sets of RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) machines and high-throughput automated RNA extraction systems it procured have recently arrived.

The equipment sets, which can be used to conduct 11,000 COVID-19 tests per day, will be delivered via the Department of Health to beneficiary hospitals, including the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa that will get two sets, as well as San Lazaro Hospital in Manila, Vicente Sotto Medical Center in Cebu and Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao.

SMC will also donate testing kits for additional 20,000 tests.

“We are one with the government in wanting to curb the spread of the virus, and with enough capacity to test a greater number of people, we are optimistic we will be able to gradually and safely restart the economy,” SMC President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon S. Ang said in a statement.

As of late, SMC has donated P1.147 billion worth of protective personal equipment, food, and rubbing alcohol, among other donations, to those in the frontline in the fight against COVID-19 and communities affected by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

MERALCO SHELTER FOR HEALTH WORKERS
Meanwhile, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) in a separate statement said it provided temporary shelter for some medical workers in Pasig City who had been staying at their hospital since the ECQ.

The power distribution utility recently opened its multi-purpose hall at the Meralco Fitness Center in Ortigas for 32 staff of The Medical City after the hospital got no space left for them to rest.

It turned the facility into sleeping quarters for the hospital staff. They were also provided with amenity kits, home-cooked meals four times a day, internet connection, as well as free use of exercise equipment and other appliances.

ABOITIZ UNITS ON SHARE OF POWER SALES
Separately, Aboitiz Power Corp. reported that its two units, Hedcor, Inc. and Therma South, Inc., have remitted their shares of electricity sales to the local government of Davao City.

The listed firm said the city government will have a total of P26 million from the Energy Regulation (ER) 1-94 funds, which the Department of Energy earlier instructed to be redirected to local government units to assist in their efforts to fight COVID-19.

ER 1-94 sets aside for host communities of power plants one centavo for every kilowatt-hour share of total electricity sales. — Adam J. Ang

Security Bank posts higher income in Q1

SECURITY BANK Corp. posted a higher net profit in the first quarter. — BW FILE PHOTO

SECURITY BANK Corp. booked a higher net income in the first quarter, backed by stronger revenues due to the growth in its core business.

The bank’s net profit climbed 21% year on year to P2.9 billion, it said in a disclosure on Tuesday.

Revenues surged by 75% to P13.2 billion on the back of sustained growth in core business income and securities trading gains. Excluding trading gains, total revenues climbed 41% to P9.7 billion.

Net interest income hit P8.1 billion in the first three months of the year, increasing 41% from the year-ago level. The bank’s net interest margin went up to 4.68% during the period, improving by 129 basis points (bps) year on year.

Total non-interest income surged 184% to P5.1 billion. Securities trading gains hit P3.5 billion, 420% higher than P671 million a year ago.

The lender’s pre-provision operating profit increased 129% to P8 billion in the first quarter. However, the bank allocated P5.7 billion for loan provisions during the period, higher by 35% compared to the P4.2 billion in provisions for credit losses a year ago.

“Factors impacting the increase in provisions in Q1 2020 included: credit model refinements reflecting the bank’s views on the current environment, headwinds in consumer and commercial lending, and the change in the loan mix towards more consumer loans,” Security Bank said.

Meanwhile, operating expenses rose 28% on the back of manpower and costs from its business expansion. Despite this, cost-to-income ratio stood at 39.4%, better than the 53.7% seen a year ago.

The bank’s loan portfolio increased by 14% to P468 billion. Retail loans, which made up 29% of the total, expanded by 44%. Wholesale loans also rose 6%.

Gross nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio stood at 1.59%. NPL reserve cover was at 128%, coming from the 186% seen in the first quarter of 2019.

Total deposits went up 9% year-on-year to P503 billion during the quarter. The period saw low-cost deposits — which accounted for 48% of the total (from 40% a year ago) — grow by 30%.

Return on shareholders’ equity stood at 9.8%, up 112 bps from the 8.6% logged in January to March 2019. Meanwhile, return on assets inched up by 23 bps to 1.46%.

The bank’s common equity Tier 1 ratio was at 16.5% in the quarter, unchanged from the year-ago level. Meanwhile, its capital adequacy ratio stood at 17.6% from the 19% the prior year.

Security Bank’s total assets rose three percent to P783 billion.

Shareholders’ capital also went up 7% to P119 billion.

Amid the risks arising from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Security Bank said it has initiated portfolio reviews, reassessed its provisioning and intensified client management.

“We enter this period of challenge arising from the COVID-19 pandemic with a strong balance sheet and healthy liquidity and capital positions,” Security Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Sanjiv Vohra said in a statement.

The lender’s shares finished trading at P102 apiece on Tuesday, up by 1.49% or P1.50 from its previous close. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

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