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Outrageous fortune

By Menchu Aquino Sarmiento

Movie Review
The Panti Sisters
Directed by Rodolfo “Jun” Robles Lana

THE ACCLAIMED writer and director Rodolfo “Jun” Robles Lana once again proves his versatility and attention to craftsmanship as a director. The naughty but nice script by Ivan Payawal, is full of the usual cultural allusions, which have trickled down from the cornucopia of kabaklaan (Filipino Gay Culture), to enrich Filipino popular culture as a whole: e.g., the Panti patriarch’s (John Arcilla) legal wife is Nora (Carmi Martin) and his déclassé mistress is Vilma (Rosanna Roces). Apart from the obvious funny of the family name Panti, the eldest son Gabriel or Gabbi’s (Paolo Ballesteros) drag name is Vukaka and his culinary specialty is kare-kareng kokak (literally frog curry, but the joke is simply in the childish alliteration). Arcilla plays it straight and insists that his effeminate sons address him always as “Don Emilio.” He is a willing foil to everyone else. It is his character who sets the premise from which the entire film’s plot loopily spools out.

Don Emilio is dying of testicular cancer and, like a fairy tale potentate, he demands that his three sons produce heirs within the year if they would be deserving of a share in his kingdom. Thus, these three luscious fruits of his loins whom he had so unceremoniously banished when they dared to out themselves, return to their ancestral home, not as princes but as flaming queens. It’s a familiarly irreverent take on the princes in the well-loved centuries-old Filipino corrido and zarzuela, those traditional forms which were staples of our early cinema, such as Siete Infantes de Lara (Manuel Conde, 1950) and the various versions of Ibong Adarna. The latter has been parodied as Ang Hiwaga ng Ibong Adarna (Pablo Santiago, 1972) which starred comic greats Babalu, Dolphy, and Panchito as the three princes.

There are no bumbling servants here, but the ever-present sidekick-BFFs are played with impeccable timing and charm by Via Antonio as Chiqui, the tomboy next door who’s been in love with Samuel (Christian Bables) since they were in the elementary grades, and Roxanne Barcelo as the free-spirited Joy. Jorass Gamboa as Zernan, Daniel’s (Martin del Rosario) live-in boyfriend, does a hilarious shower dance with a kitchen sink sprayer.

Everyone is having so much fun playing off each other, that one barely notices the more sobering realities in the plot which has as many twists and turns as a slinky. The Panti Sisters also brings up uncomfortable issues, foremost of which is homophobia, but there are also the patriarchy, violence against women, abortion and who owns women’s bodies. However, it never gets strident or preachy about it. Everything remains reassuringly PG-13.

Especially noteworthy are the different styles of each Panti sister: Daniel is the K-Pop cutie with a smile like cotton candy; Samuel is the 1980s proto-punk throwback, whose kink is role-playing Bella Swan of the Twilight franchise; the eldest, Gabriel, dresses up as a pageant queen, but when he’s not in drag, his Hawaiian printed shirts disturbingly channel Buhay Party List Congressman Lito Atienza — who does not exactly have a positive association with the LBGTQ+ community. But as RuPaul, who successfully brought drag into mainstream cable TV, declared: “Own who you are and celebrate it.” The Panti Sisters are definitely owning it.

Nasugbu seen to become a growth center

THE MUNICIPALITY of Nasugbu in Batangas is positioning itself as a tourist destination and competitive investment location, as the province is poised to benefit from the government’s massive “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program.

“In the coming years, Batangas is seen to continue to play its significant part in the growth and development of the country. This positions the province at the threshold of being directly drawn into the circuit of various economic, social, and recreational activities,” Batangas Governor Hermilando I. Mandanas was quoted as saying during the Batangas Development Summit.

Among the key projects to benefit Batangas are the concreting of the General Aguinaldo–Magallanes–Nasugbu Road and the widening of the Bauan–Mabini Road.

Nasugbu, a first-class municipality, has steadily attracted tourists to its beach resorts and is now poised to become a growth center.

Property companies such as SM Prime and Roxaco Land Corp. have also developed both leisure and residential projects in Nasugbu. These include Club Punta Fuego, Peninsula de Punta Fuego, Terrazas de Punta Fuego and Pico de Loro in Hamilo Coast.

With the municipality becoming increasingly urbanized, the government has addressed the traffic problem by widening the Lemery–Taal Diversion Road. The planned Cavite–Batangas expressway will have a spur road to Tagaytay, terminating in Nasugbu.

“It will be an understatement to say Nasugbu, which has already proven its mettle as a tourist destination, is on the cusp of becoming a growth center — attracting investors, creating job opportunities, and encouraging new businesses of various capacities, all against a backdrop of beautiful rolling terrains and sparkling coastlines,” the statement read.

Australia’s property recovery remains in-house as rest of economy struggles

SYDNEY — When Michael Jiang scored a liquor license four years back, he had hoped it would help drive more sales at his struggling small grocery business in Sydney.

Fast forward to the present, and Jiang finds himself wrestling with new challenges as stingy consumers and price wars have done little to boost earnings in an economy growing at its slowest pace in a decade.

Moreover, even a welcome revival in the property market has only served to highlight a conundrum for policy makers as the ‘wealth effect’ of rising home prices has hardly been felt across the rest of the economy.

That has not only meant sales at businesses such as Jiang’s continue to run on a low boil, but it also raises the risk that already-high household debt could worsen without a broader recovery the central bank is trying to engineer with lower rates.

“The liquor business is kind of my silver lining,” Jiang said of the high-margin category from his corner shop in Pyrmont, an inner-city Sydney suburb.

“Without that I’d have closed down years ago,” he added, underscoring the persistent weakness in Australia’s economy even as it is set to enter a 29th straight year of recession-free growth. “People don’t want to spend. They are tightening their wallets to save for a house because interest rates are so low now.”

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), which delivered back-to-back rate cuts in June and July, has its work cut out given the official cash rate is already at an all-time low of 1%.

That leaves it with limited room to stimulate growth though it is still in an enviable position compared to the likes of Japan and the euro zone where policy makers have been forced to adopt negative rates to juice their economies.

MORE STIMULUS
The RBA easings have boosted the housing market with mortgage approvals up 5% in July, the strongest in four years while auction activity in the biggest markets of Sydney and Melbourne has been solid after two years of tepid sales.

“It’s too early to say whether the boom times in housing will return but the potential is there,” said Miriam Sandkuhler, Melbourne-based CEO of Property Maven. “If we start getting high auction clearance rate against high volumes it’s a sign the market is moving swiftly again.”

Analysts and investors widely expect two more rate cuts by the RBA to 0.5% by early 2020 though there is growing doubt over how effective further easings would be when rates are already so low.

Economists overwhelmingly agree Australia’s ruling center-right coalition must embark on an expansionary fiscal program but Prime Minister Scott Morrison is wedded to the idea of delivering a surplus this year.

A return to surplus will be lost on many as activity outside of real estate is hardly encouraging — gross domestic product (GDP) growth has slowed to decade lows, retail spending is contracting, car sales collapsing and consumer and business confidence is falling.

Policy makers will also be concerned about the increasing number of Australian companies filing for bankruptcy. Government data showed the number of companies entering external administration jumped by a staggering 15% in the quarter-ended June from March. Just in July, that number surged to the highest since November 2015.

“It is concerning to see minimal impact from the government’s tax cuts and interest rate cuts,” said Sydney-based Diana Mousina, senior economist at AMP. “We think that more policy stimulus is necessary to lift Australian growth and inflation,” he said.

ASSET BUBBLE?
Growth in the A$1.9 trillion ($1.3 trillion) economy slowed sharply in the second-half of 2018, largely because Australia’s indebted households cut spending on everything from clothing and footwear to eating out.

That leaves policy makers walking a tight rope as any over-exuberance in the housing market could further push up the household debt to income ratio in Australia, which at 190% is already among the highest in the world.

An S&P Global Ratings research this month showed mortgage arrears jumped across the Australian residential mortgage-backed securities sector during the past 12 months. The deterioration was most pronounced for loans more than 90 days due.

With the corporate sector struggling and wages growth persistently weak, credit quality could come under further stress, S&P said. — Reuters

Start-ups seen grabbing $280 billion in banking payments revenues

LONDON — Banks are set to miss out on as much as $280 billion in revenue from their payments operations by 2025, as new start-ups muscle in and more of the business of sending money to individuals and companies becomes instant and free, according to a new report.

The global payments business, which covers anything from card payments to wiring money overseas, is dominated by banks and this year was worth around $1.5 trillion, professional services firm Accenture said in a report published on Monday.

That is expected to grow to $2 trillion globally by 2025 but banks are likely to lose out on $280 billion, or 15% of their global payments revenues, Accenture estimates.

Banks face rising competition from tech start-ups like Silicon Valley payment providers Stripe and Square, as well as technology platform PayPal, and the likes of London-based TransferWise that offer foreign exchange payments to retail and small business customers with lower fees.

More payments are becoming instant — removing the need for credit cards that earn banks revenue — and they will increasingly be made directly to the end merchant using new technology, Accenture said. More competition also means a squeeze on margins and accelerates the trend toward free payments.

“Rather than being at the forefront of the new wave of the booming payments market, banks are feeling the heat from new competition and seeing their margins squeezed,” said Gareth Wilson, head of Accenture’s global payments team.

“We face an inevitable world of instant, invisible and free payments, which spells trouble for banks that don’t want to be relegated to the plumbing of payments.”

Accenture said it had examined trends in how consumers pay and projected changes in the future behavior of payments providers, technology and regulation to arrive at its forecasts on the likely loss of revenue for banks.

It estimated that free payments would put 8% of banks’ payment revenue at risk. A further 3.9% is at risk from non-bank rivals offering “invisible payments”, while instant payments could take another 2.7% of revenues.

More than two-thirds of banking executives surveyed by Accenture agreed that payments were becoming free.

“The digital boom will mean banks have to fundamentally change the way they think about their revenue composition,” said Alan McIntyre, who leads Accenture’s banking practice.

“Channels that once made the banks billions of dollars will cease to exist,” McIntyre said, adding that lenders needed to build new digital business models, with “one-click payments the new norm.” — Reuters

The apex of Xbox One X gaming

Gear 5
Xbox One

WHEN MICROSOFT acquired the rights to the Gears of War franchise in early 2014, it was evidently out to push back against the underwhelming results of Gears of War: Judgment. Granted, the fourth installment of the immensely popular series still moved seven figures in aggregate physical and digital copies. However, it produced numbers that paled in comparison to previous releases and thereby failed to match expectations. More importantly, the technology company saw fit to protect its intellectual property far beyond the near term.

In buying out Epic Games (which proudly paraded work on the first four Gears of War titles as proof of reach beyond mere licensing of the Unreal Engine), Microsoft sought to consolidate its assets. At stake wasn’t just the longevity of the certified moneymaker. Crucially, it wanted to dictate the direction its crossover series would take in light of the intensification of the console wars. After all, boasting of the technologically superior platform — particularly after the rollout of the Xbox One X nearly two years ago — is one thing. Keeping gamers in-house is quite another, and involves the successful buildout of highly sought-after exclusives.

In keeping with the plan to translate and convert the appeal of Gears of War to immense loyalty, Microsoft formed The Coalition, aptly named in reference to the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) from the series’ continuing narrative. Emerging from the shadows of Zipline Studios, Microsoft Game Studios Vancouver, and Black Tusk Studios, the wholly owned subsidiary was tasked with developing the next release. The principal objective: Keep the underpinnings of the overarching storyline and uniquely compelling gameplay, but introduce new facets so as to distinguish the IP from its Epic Games roots moving forward.

Gears of War 4 was the offshoot of The Coalition’s work, aided in no small measure by experience gained from remaking Gears of War into an Ultimate Edition for the Xbox One that included five chapters hitherto available only on the personal computer. Thematically, it represented reform rather than revolution, incorporating familiar mechanics with new features and picking up from where the story left off in the previous release but emphasizing a new lead character as well as a new enemy species. Which was all well and good.

Technically, however, Gears of War 4 distinguished itself from its older siblings — and to a point where it could no longer be offered for the hardware-challenged Xbox 360. It was the first game to utilize Speech Graphics resources aimed at automatically animating gameplay dialogue. Moreover, it tweaked the Unreal Engine 4 that chugged under its hood to allow for a dynamic scaling process and thereby ensure consistent frame rates. And when given a spin on the Xbox One X, it had the capacity to churn out native 4K resolution with High Dynamic Range and Wide Color Gamut support, not to mention Dolby Atmos surround sound output.

Needless to say, Gears of War 4 met expectations and more, cementing The Coalition’s role as series caretaker and developer. To be sure, the resounding commercial and critical success meant it would need to keep upping the ante moving forward. And the revelation at E3 2018 that it was beginning work on the next iteration served to further fuel anticipation. A subsequent announcement on its release coinciding with the offering of a limited-Edition Xbox One X console with laser-etched designs served to underscore its importance in Microsoft’s grand plan to win the battle for market share.

For gamers, the good news is that Gears 5 more than lives up to the hype. And, if nothing else, the long road leading to its release sheds light on the motivations behind, and importance of, the development to Microsoft, The Coalition, and the constituency they aim to please — one that is projected to grow given the way their new creation goes out of its way to recap previous events in the series for those coming in from the cold. Parenthetically, a reasonable argument can be made that newbies will lose little by not playing the older titles, which focused less on story and more on gameplay.

Gears 5 is an opus meant to stand out as a standalone offering, long on both exposition and experience. It pays homage to its beginnings, but cuts a wider swath, allowing for narrative growth in a manner hitherto unseen. Mankind, under the auspices of the COG, continues to engage in a fight for survival against the reptilian Locust Horde and the Swarm, the species’ mutated offshoot off a quarter century’s worth of unintended hibernation. Bringing the conflict to the fore are familiar protagonists Marcus and JD Fenix and Del Walker, as well as new-to-the-series Fahz Chutani. For the most part, though, the light shines on Kait Diaz, whose biological ties with Myrrah, the Locust Queen, were revealed at the end of Gears of War 4.

Diaz’s quest to dig deeper into her lineage propels Gears 5 into uncharted territory, both figuratively and literally, offering twists that figure to keep gamers on edge and enriching the franchise lore. In this regard, character development is given prominence, and with a level of intricacy absent in the original trilogy and presented intermittently in its immediate past predecessor. Motivations will get to be questioned, and loyalties divided, en route to a denouement both satisfying and indicative of much more in the offing.

For all the meat lent to the story, however, Gears 5 remains an actioner at heart. Combat is abundant and set up extremely well, with difficulty spikes that test gamers’ wills but do not unfairly stack the odds against them. Old weapons are still on tap, but the relative dearth of ammunition compels the pickup of new equipment. And while Sera remains the planet in which the body counts pile up, it is unveiled to be vast and diverse; from temperatures to terrains, it exposes itself as eminently explorable. Which, of course, it becomes via side quests and runs for collectibles, thus adding to its appeal.

Significantly, the presence of Jack, the lead characters’ do-it-all hovering robot, enriches Gears 5’s campaign mode. Its roles in both the success of missions and the progression of the story have been heightened; compared to its iteration in the previous title, it now has upgradable assault, passive, and support functionalities. A conscious effort to climb the requisite skill trees yields myriad advantages that more than justify the undertaking of non-linear endeavors. In other words, supposedly optional pursuits become critical investments to advancement.

In any case, purpose is seamlessly integrated with plot. As focused as Gears 5 may be in keeping adrenaline glands pumping, it makes certain that confrontations, however grand and grandiose, likewise become avenues for introspection. Nothing in Sera is black and white; to the contrary, everything has shades of gray. And in the compelling calling for gamers to evaluate the Gears of War universe, top-notch visuals and audio tracks highlight spectacular settings and moments of melancholy in equal measure. Cut scenes, featuring excellent voice acting, are as much immersive as intimate.

Gamers so inclined can negotiate the campaign of Gears 5 through its entirety with up to two others, either ad hoc or online, or a combination of both. In any of these cases, the gameplay is exceptionally seamless post-patch, delivering the goods outside of the first act at a steady 60 frames per second and in glorious 4K resolution on the Xbox One X. It’s equally stunning and effortlessly engaging at optimum settings on a high-end gaming rig, as clear a testament as any to The Coalition’s resolve to elevate the series — nay, Microsoft gaming — to new heights.

Gears 5 certainly has no peer in rendering HDR images at any point. Long an enticing option that fails more than delivers in practice, the capacity to show both extremely light and extremely dark elements at any one time has been the bane of many a game developer. Not for The Coalition, as evidenced by the exquisite eye candy it manages to consistently produce from the get-go. And so serious is it in pushing the envelope that it even has gamers go through calibration settings at the outset. As an aside, it bears noting that the less patient or adventurous could well stick to default values — and still come up with superb graphics that bring about intricate shadows and deep blacks.

As with previous releases, Gears 5 offers a gamut of multiplayer options apart from those present for the campaign mode. Horde, long a favorite among Gears of War fans, amps up its core mechanics for up to five players depending on configuration and method of cooperative play; special character-specific abilities have been added, emphasizing the importance of choice and teamwork in standing pat against, well, horde after horde of a cacophony of enemies. Escape involves navigating through a Swarm-infested facility, cutting paths through awaiting opposition with limited ammunition, and finding freedom through extraction before a poisonous gas elicits certain death. For gamer/s-versus-gamer/s competition, on offer are the usual rules tweaks — among them Arms Race, Guardian, and Dodgeball — over 12 maps. The screen is split for collocated battles and presented at a lower 30 frames per second, but continue to be absent any stutters or lags.

All told, Gears 5 represents the apex of Xbox One X gaming through 30-odd hours of campaign play for completionists and countless more on multiplayer modes. It flexes its status as a product of the finest of cutting-edge technology while proudly adhering to the most basic tenets of successful gaming. It is sonorous and substantive. It is flashy and fundamental. It is epistemic and earnest. Bottom line, it’s the best from Microsoft by far, all credit to The Coalition. And, in terms of melding past with present for a future with endless possibilities, nothing else comes close.

THE GOOD:

• Outstanding storytelling

• Properly paced

• Excellent combat mechanics

• Audio-visual marvel

• Play Anywhere done right, doing justice to console and computer alike

THE BAD:

• Network issues upon release requiring a patch

• Best experienced on cutting-edge hardware

• Open-world missions scratch surface of potential

• Escape mode longevity dependent on community support

RATING: 9.5/10

Filinvest Prestige offers new village experience

FILINVEST PRESTIGE’S Brentville International Community is offering a new village experience, as it makes key upgrades to the residential community in Biñan, Laguna.

“The new Brentville design strives for a more timeless feeling for residents. Its contemporary architecture gives off a light and airy character with clean lines and neutral palette,” said Juan Seriña, principal architect of H1 Architecture and Design — the design consultant for Brentville.

“We want to give our residents a space that fosters community, while seeking for a quiet and peaceful lifestyle. This is evident in the new Village Front, clubhouse, and the many green open spaces where they could congregate with their neighbors or follow through with their workout routines,” he added.

Brentville’s new entryway is now lined with shade trees and lush landscape. The main village gates also got face-lift and new color scheme.

The Village Front’s new retail development was designed by H1 Architecture and landscaped by AECOM. Open spaces and walkable areas will be incorporated into the modern design.

Residential clusters under Brentville will include The Meridien, Sunshine Palace, West Parc and Woodmore Spring. Prominence II offers townhomes and single-detached homes, while The Arborage at Brentville offers residential properties.

The community is home to Brent International School. Existing facilities and amenities include the main pool, infinity pool, kiddie pool, basketball court, tennis court, playground, and jogging trail.

IC allows insurance firms to join SBL transactions

INSURANCE and reinsurance companies can now diversify their investment portfolio after the industry regulator okayed their participation in securities borrowing and lending (SBL) transactions.

Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa said firms may gain additional returns on their investment portfolios through loans in securities that are not actively traded.

“In view of the next tranche in the increase of minimum net worth requirement for insurance companies as prescribed under the law, insurance companies may increase their yield by engaging in SBL transactions,” Mr. Funa was quoted in the statement.

Dated Sept. 4, Circular Letter No. 2019-45 contains guidelines on the transactions.

It said firms’ investments in SBL transactions should not be more than 5% of the total admitted assets for life insurance companies.

Meanwhile, for non-life and reinsurance firms, the investments should not go beyond 10% of their net worth.

Lending or the borrowing period will also have a maximum cap of two years from the date of execution of SBL confirmation notice.

SBL, as defined in the circular, refers to the lending of securities from the lender’s portfolio to support the borrower’s trading activities and will be returned on a specific date.

Under the circular, among the eligible collaterals that firms can accept in their SBL transactions are peso-denominated cash, bonds or other instruments issued by the government and its agencies including the central bank, as well as those issued by corporations or institutions and securities listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Firms will also have to comply with documentation, valuation, collateral management, record-keeping and reporting requirements for the transactions.

“With the issuance of this Circular Letter, insurance companies are now given additional investment channel to diversify their investment portfolio and to actively participate in capital market development,” Mr. Funa added.

In 2014, the IC issued rules on SBL transactions but the implementation was later deferred due to issues raised on repurchase agreements. — BML

Lyceum asks city gov’t to reclassify property

DAVAO CITY — Newly-opened Lyceum of the Philippines University-Davao has asked the city government to reclassify its area into a major commercial sub-zone from a medium density residential sub-zone.

In a document it submitted to the City Council Committee on Housing and Subdivision (High-End Projects), the university, which opened in June, said it is imperative that the classification of its 166,512-square-meter area be changed as it is planning to develop the property into a mixed-use site.

Based on the proposed project, aside from the school component, the plan is to put up a residential condominium, office, a hotel, a convention center and other commercial structures.

The document said the site which will be developed by Cebu Landmasters, Inc. (CLI), will also contain a “greening project” as about a fifth of the entire area will be green spaces.

The school is within an area where the classification is medium density residential sub-zone as there are big subdivisions nearby.

The document said a traffic impact assessment is also ongoing for the proposed projects as there are also power lines and water connections in the area.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange in May 2018, publicly-listed CLI said it has partnered with the university to turn the area into a modern township which will be called LPU Town.

Based on the disclosure, about five hectares of the area will be devoted to the campus of the university which will have a resource center, a swimming pool, dormitories, maritime center and a football field. — C.Q. Francisco

Farmer, sailor, singer, cook: wide variety of creators catch YouTube’s eye

YOUTUBE NEXTUP, an internationally staged contest where smaller YouTube creators are given the chance to learn how to scale up their channels, has named its newest batch of winners from the Philippines and the roster includes a poultry farming channel, a men’s beauty channel, and a Philippine law tutorial channel.

The winning channels are those of indie singer Reese Lansangan; a poultry farmer from Bicol, Dwight Tamayo; cycling enthusiast Mark More; singer Charlotte F.; men’s beauty guru Kuys Kiko; that of Rea Ninja who gives job interview tips; and the law tutorial channel Lex in Motion.

Also in the winning roster are long-time celebrity Nadia Montenegro who runs a cooking channel; student and lifestyle vlogger Raya Maurelle; fitness enthusiast Aileene; maritime chief engineer Chief MAKOi; and singer-songwriter Caleb Santos.

Now on its third year in the Philippines, YouTube NextUp accepts applications from creators with at least 10,000 subscribers but less than a million. Winners will participate in a week-long Creator Camp where “they will get a crash course on production techniques and receive in-depth training to further build their channels,” said a company press release.

“NextUp continues to grow not just in the number of applicants but also in the level of diversity. Every year, we see more and more creators joining the contest from outside Manila representing various languages, topics, and passion points. This proves that anyone can make it on YouTube,” said Marc Lefkowitz, Head of Creator & Artist Development, YouTube APAC, in the statement. “We hope that this trend will continue to further signify that YouTube is truly a home for every creator.”

Previous NextUp Manila winners included singer Renee Dominique and tutorial channel Team Lyqa.

During the launch on Sept. 5 at the Marquis Events Place in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Mr. Lefkowitz reiterated that YouTube in the Philippines is starting to take off as the company’s numbers showed that there are currently over 750 channels with 100,000 subscribers and more than 60 channels with more than a million subscribers in the country. Last year, only about 300 channels had passed the 100,000 subscriber mark and 19 channels had more than a million subscribers.

Mr. Lefkowitz first announced these numbers in May during the YouTube Fanfest in Manila.

YouTube NextUp, which started in 2011, has been staged in Indonesia, the United Kingdom, and Mexico. Upcoming NextUps are scheduled in Brazil and Japan, among others. — Zsarlene B. Chua

Bria Homes banks on affordability, quality

BRIA HOMES is aiming to build high-quality but affordable homes in safe communities around the country.

In a statement, the mass housing unit of listed Golden Bria Holdings, Inc. said its property developments are both affordable and have superior quality.

“By ensuring that future homeowners can purchase a Bria condominium unit or a house and lot package at affordable rates — some for as low as P1,897 per month — and through flexible payment schemes such as PAG-IBIG and bank financing, Bria has won the hearts of Filipino families,” the company said.

Bria Homes has over 50 mass housing projects around the country. It offers condominiums, as well as house-and-lot packages geared towards the different needs of individuals and families.

Bria communities all have recreational amenities such as basketball courts, and have guarded entrances and perimeter fences.

Mega mergers fail to lure funds to India’s state-run bank stocks

INDIA’S BIGGEST bank overhaul in decades to merge state-run lenders beset with bad loans and low capital hasn’t convinced investors to increase holdings of the shares.

Fund managers including Aberdeen Standard Investments Ltd. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are shying away from increasing their positions in government-owned lenders. As well as poor asset quality at the banks, they cited uncertainty about the mergers’ timeline.

A prolonged shadow-banking crisis and hurdles in bankruptcy rules have left India holding the world’s worst bad-debt pile. Seeking to spur lending needed to revive economic growth from a six-year low, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government said Aug. 30 that it plans to merge smaller banks to create four new lenders that would hold more than half of the Indian banking industry’s assets.

“State run banks do have a large asset-quality burden,” said Rukhshad Shroff, who oversees more than $660 million in India equities at JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s asset management unit in Hong Kong. “Many also have very little capital. There is some evidence to show that digesting large mergers ends up being more complicated than was originally expected.”

Mergers at a time when economic growth is at its slowest pace in six years “will prove distracting” to state-owned lenders, according to Kristy Fong, who helps oversee $669.6 billion globally in equities as Asian investment director at Aberdeen Standard Investments Ltd. in Singapore. There is also a “significant gap in quality between the better-run and better-capitalized private sector banks and their state-run peers,” she said.

The firm owns Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. among top holdings in an India-specific equity fund, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The NSE Nifty PSU Bank Index, comprising 12 state-owned banks, has added 1.2% since the Aug. 30 merger-plan announcement, trimming its loss from this year’s high on April 2 to 27%. The gauge slipped 0.4% Monday, set to snap a seven-day winning streak, matching a 0.4% drop in the NSE’s benchmark Nifty 50 Index.

Fitch Ratings on Sept. 11 said in a note that the proposed consolidation of state-owned banks should be positive in the long-term for the industry but it must be accompanied by adequate capitalization and governance improvements.

The long-term benefits include stronger governance, better risk management and cost efficiency, according to US-based Principal Global Investors. “Improvement in the governance structure should translate into long term-benefits on multiple fronts, including asset quality,” said Ravi Gopalakrishnan, head of equities at firm’s asset management unit in Mumbai. He still prefers private lenders given the uncertainties surrounding the mergers.

For Mumbai-based stock advisory firm Target Investing, the mergers won’t solve the problem of slowing credit growth and rising bad loans, said the firm’s founder Sameer Kalra, who has been reducing positions in government banks. — Bloomberg

PCC fines Wingtech for late filing of notice for Nexperia acquisition

THE PHILIPPINE Competition Commission (PCC) fined Huawei contract manufacturer Wingtech Technology Co. Ltd. following late notification of its acquisition of Dutch semiconductor firm Nexperia Holding B.V., the anti-trust authority said in a statement on Monday.

The Philippine Rules on Mergers Review requires companies that have business interests in the Philippines to notify the PCC within 30 days after the execution of their agreement, but the firms filed with the anti-trust body after 194 days.

“The qualified transactions are required to undergo competitive assessment given their scale or merger may be market-moving or can alter the relevant market where they operate. The PCC is mandated to conduct competitive assessment to ensure these mergers will not harm the interest of consumers,” the commission said.

PCC cleared the companies after fining them P716,150 or half of 1% of the P14.3 billion transaction.

The anti-trust body ultimately concluded that there is no lessening of competition in the smartphone industry since Wingtech holds no business operations in the Philippines and Nexperia exports the products it manufactures in the country abroad, it said.

Wingtech is a contract manufacturer for Huawei Technologies and Xiaomi Corp., while Nexperia develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductors for electronic devices and cars.

The firms have until Oct. 12 to pay the imposed fine.

PCC, the country’s anti-trust body, reviews mergers and acquisitions under the Philippine Competition Act of 2015. — Jenina P. Ibañez

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