THE PHILIPPINE ECONOMY expanded by a weaker-than-expected 5.2% in the fourth quarter, bringing full-year growth to below the government’s target amid subdued consumption and lower farm output. Read the full story.
PARIS — France will launch a six-year renovation of the Louvre in Paris, enlarging the world’s most-visited museum to make room for the huge crowds who now cram inside the palace on the banks of the Seine, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday.
A new entrance will make it easier to get in and out, and a dedicated space with a separate entrance will house the art museum’s prize attraction, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Mr. Macron said during a visit to the museum.
Starting next year, the museum will also charge a higher entry fee for visitors from outside the European Union, he said.
Louvre President Laurence des Cars warned last week that the centuries-old building — once a lavish palace for French kings —was in a dire state, with leaks and temperature swings that could endanger the conservation of works of art.
A visit has become “a physical ordeal,” with artwork hard to find in a confusing layout and too little space for visitors to take a break, eat, or use the toilet, Mr. des Cars said.
The Louvre now receives 9 million visitors a year, more than double the 4 million it was designed to handle when it was modernized in the 1980s. The renovation will increase capacity to 12 million, Mr. Macron said.
He did not say how much the renovation would cost but said it would be financed through the Louvre’s own funds, ticket sales, sponsorships, and earnings from its sister museum in Abu Dhabi, and thus “will not weigh on the taxpayer.”
Big civic projects in the capital have traditionally been a way for French presidents to burnish their legacies. Last month, Macron reopened Notre-Dame cathedral, meticulously restored five years after it was damaged by fire.
“While Notre Dame was the architectural catalyst of our craftsmanship, this project for the Louvre must be for art, art history and its transmission a new step in the life of the nation,” Mr. Macron said. — Reuters
Two of our managers did a panel interview of an applicant with a perfect professional background. Manager A was professional and pleasant while Manager B came in abrupt and harsh to the applicant during the interview. After that, the candidate informed us he’s no longer interested in pursuing his application citing the rude treatment he got from B. He asked: “How could someone work peacefully with that person?” I was at a loss and did not answer. Any advice? — Rocky Road.
Are you sure Manager B is not conducting a stress interview? You’ve got to understand this very well. Many jobs require people to handle pressures and difficult scenarios arising from working with equally difficult colleagues or customers, even on trivial matters. This is the reasoning behind the stress interview.
If you’re not sure, better check with Manager B, who may have pulled off the greatest acting job of his life, baffling both you and the applicant. Even if you were not informed beforehand, the next best thing for Manager B is to explain the process to the applicant immediately after the interview.
He should have issued a disclaimer right away. However, much depends on the quality of questions that were raised. One irritating question is: “All managers in this organization are graduates of high-end universities. How can you compete with them as a graduate of a provincial university?”
This question is out of bounds.
Also, the timing of the interview is important. Stress interviews should be done only during the second round when you’re ready to finalize a shortlist of the top three candidates.
Whether or not it’s a stress interview, we must accept the fact that we cannot avoid interacting with people with abrasive personalities.
Therefore, the best approach is for you and the applicant to trust the process. Manage the situation well. If it’s part of the process, it’s better to conduct a debriefing immediately after the interview to avoid misinterpretation.
However, conducting a stress interview requires careful formulation of questions to help assess how candidates handle themselves in real, work-life scenarios. It might involve having to work to tight deadlines with minimal resources, managing conflict with colleagues, correcting critical mistakes with customers, and so on. The list goes on and on.
Flowers that bloom beautifully in the mountains often perish if they’re planted down the plains. We human beings are just like that. It’s important to understand this.
QUESTIONS
The first thing to do is to inventory all the difficult situations that may come up on the job. Then, create a list of questions and give them specific weight in percentages starting from the most important down to the least important.
For example, if you’re looking for a production manager, define the most critical qualities of applicants that you may want to consider. Use the job description as the basic reference. From there, you can formulate interview questions like the following:
Supervising the entire production work process. “Eight out of the 10 machines conk out. Workers can resort to a manual process with a 20% defect rate. How would you handle the situation only three days before the promised delivery date, with a $1,000 penalty for every day of delay?”
Managing production schedules and resource allocation. “Employee absences and tardiness are common issues in this organization. We have reasonable disciplinary rules against it, yet workers who belong to a militant union continue to violate them. Our line leaders are helpless. What’s the best approach to resolving this issue?”
Implementing cost-saving strategies and techniques. “The organization is losing money. The former production manager has tried multiple approaches to minimizing the losses. It includes the application of Six Sigma in our operations. And yet, the problems continue to linger. What would you do?”
TRAP
Are these questions stressful for you? Maybe not. At least, not yet. That’s because some interviewers who are fond of stress interviews can make their first two questions friendly to the applicant. The objective is to make them feel at home.
It is situations like these that could applicants at risk of unwittingly revealing their true character. In other words, it’s a trap. Take question no. 3 above.
An applicant giving an instant answer without understanding the situation is putting themselves at risk with the interviewer who can raise the following stinging questions in a loud, booming, and insulting voice. “How can you give me that kind of (four-letter word) without knowing the full context? Is that the way you solve problems? That’s careless, to say the least!”
The best answer to question no. 3 is another question: “Would you like to elaborate on the efforts of the former manager? What makes his effort inadequate in solving the issue?”
Stress is an inevitable part of most jobs. Interviewers use stress interviews to avoid bad hires.
Employers know the risk because if they’re not careful in vetting applicants, that will cost them a lot of time, money, and effort.
Attend Rey Elbo’s public program on “Lean HR: Finding the Best Way of Doing Things” on March 7, 2025. E-mail elbonomics@gmail.com or register via https://reyelbo.com/contact-us
THE BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas (BSP) is looking to release regulations on the temporary holding of funds involved in disputed transactions, in line with the implementation of Republic Act No. 12010 or the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act.
A draft circular posted on the central bank’s website contain the proposed guidelines, which, if approved, will amend sections of the Manual of Regulations for Banks, the Manual of Regulations for Non-Bank Financial Institutions, and the Manual of Regulations for Payment Systems.
“[With] the increased use of electronic commerce and digital financial services, there is a need to promote awareness on the proper use of financial accounts and to protect the public from cybercriminals and criminal syndicates who target financial accounts or lure account owners into becoming accessories or perpetrators of fraudulent activities,” the BSP said.
“The State shall undertake measures to protect all persons from cybercrime schemes by regulating the use of financial accounts and preventing their use in fraudulent activities,” it added.
The proposed regulations will apply to all BSP-supervised institutions (BSIs), automated clearing house (ACH) participants, and clearing switch operators (CSOs) involved in the electronic transfer of funds from one financial account to another financial account.
However, it will not apply to erroneous transactions and credit card issuers, acquirers and transactions.
The rules define disputed transactions as electronic transfers that a BSI has reasonable grounds to believe — based on a complaint, the findings of a BSI’s fraud management system (FMS), or an initial holding request — are unusual; have no clear economic purpose; are from an unknown or illegal source, or unlawful activity; and are facilitated through social engineering schemes.
Based on the draft rules, BSIs may temporarily hold disputed funds for a maximum of 20 calendar days, inclusive of the initial and extended holding periods. The period for holding may only be extended by a court of competent jurisdiction, it added.
“Once the disputed funds in the beneficiary accounts have been held, the equivalent amount shall be considered credited but may not be withdrawn during the holding period,” the BSP said.
“Simultaneously with the temporary holding of disputed funds, BSIs shall initiate a coordinated verification process to validate a disputed transaction,” it added.
The verification process may be initiated through a complaint-initiated holding, an FMS-initiated holding or a request-initiated holding.
“Immediately and simultaneously from receipt of a complaint or FMS finding involving an outgoing transaction, the OFI (originating financial institution) shall, in accordance with the periods prescribed under the industry protocol,” it added.
BSIs must establish and implement their own policies, systems, and procedures for verification of disputed transactions, in line with the agreed industry protocol and other pertinent requirements.
“All BSIs, ACH participants, and CSOs shall collaborate and establish an integrated and holistic industry protocol for the temporary holding of disputed funds and coordinated verification of disputed transactions,” the draft rules read.
They must also subscribe and adhere to the industry protocol to ensure timely, efficient, and effective temporary holding of disputed funds and coordinated verification, it added.
The industry protocol ensures the clear and specific roles and responsibilities of each party in the temporary holding of funds, as well as enables a timely and streamlined system and procedure.
It will also “institutionalize a secure, real-time or near-real-time, automated system for tracing disputed transactions.”
The protocol must also have the capability to “generate and record a visible disputed transaction chain, trigger the temporary holding of disputed funds, and induce timely alerts for involved BSIs, ACH participants, and CSOs.”
Under the draft rules, BSIs must also “actively and regularly engage with their client account owners on proactive measures to safeguard their personal and financial information and ensure the security and integrity of their financial accounts.”
BSIs must communicate with account owners to protect their sensitive identifying information, such as usernames, passwords, one-time passwords, and the like.
“These include using strong and unique passwords, refraining from sharing credentials, and exercising caution to avoid falling victim to social engineering schemes.”
Account owners must also report any disputed transactions to BSIs and cooperate in any investigations and verification of the said transaction. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson
In a major setback in the fight against gender-based violence, Argentinian President Javier Milei’s government has announced it will repeal the crime of femicide from the penal code.
In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, Milei dismissed femicide laws as a product of “woke” culture and called “radical feminism” a distortion of the concept of equality.
Repealing the law could have a ripple effect across the region, encouraging other countries to weaken their legal protections. This would be devastating for women and girls across Latin America.
Efforts to end violence against women and girls must remain a priority — in Argentina and around the world.
In 2023 alone, an estimated 85,000 women and girls were intentionally killed worldwide. Of these, 60% were murdered by an intimate partner or family members.
This equates to one woman or girl killed every 10 minutes at the hands of someone they know and likely trusted.
WHY FEMICIDE LAWS ARE IMPORTANT
Femicide is broadly defined as the gender-based killing of women or girls, typically due to misogyny, discrimination, or intimate partner violence. It differs from other homicides due to its roots in systemic gender inequality and the intent to exert control or punishment over women.
At least 18 of the 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have adopted femicide laws since 2007.
Before these laws were enacted, the killing of women and girls were treated under the broad category of homicide in many of these countries, with a focus on intent rather than the gendered nature of the crime.
These broader laws fail to recognize how inequality, abuse, and power dynamics often fuel violence against women. They often render patterns of abuse invisible.
Femicide laws sought to change that. They explicitly recognize when women are killed because of their gender and acknowledge these crimes as part of a broader pattern of violence rooted in inequality.
These laws have often been introduced in response to public outrage following the killing of women and an acknowledgement of widespread inaction by authorities.
This has been seen a vital step toward justice, particularly in a region where violence against women has long been treated with relative impunity.
WHAT COUNTRIES HAVE A FEMICIDE LAW?
The laws vary significantly across Latin America.
In Chile, for example, femicide applies to killings by a current or former partner.
In Costa Rica, it is similarly limited to only include killings involving a victim and perpetrator who are married or related by common law.
Ecuador, by contrast, defines femicide more broadly, focusing on power dynamics and the gendered nature of the crime, regardless of the relationship between the victim and perpetrator.
In Argentina, femicide is an aggravated form of homicide, defined as a murder committed by a man against a woman in the context of gender-based violence.
Countries beyond Latin America have been slower to adopt specific femicide laws, despite advocacy efforts for them to follow suit. In recent years, Croatia, Malta, and Cyprus have all introduced specific femicide laws.
The effectiveness of femicide laws continues to be the subject of debate. There have been few comprehensive evaluations of their impact.
A 2024 report on Mexico’s femicide law highlighted that legislation alone will not prevent gender-related killings.
The report also noted that, in practice, femicide laws often focus predominantly on killings committed by intimate partners or family members. While this focus is critical, it has inadvertently led to the under-reporting and invisibility of femicides occurring in other contexts.
These include the killing of older women and deaths linked to female genital mutilation and organized crime. The killing of Indigenous women also continues to be unreported and under-investigated.
Such recognized limits do not support the repeal of femicide laws but rather underline the need for more effective implementation and embedding of these laws in society.
THE BENEFIT OF FEMICIDE LAWS
While challenges remain in implementation and enforcement, femicide laws have brought critical change in countries where violence against women has long been ignored. By explicitly acknowledging gender, power, and control as a factor in these killings, the laws send a powerful message this violence requires targeted solutions.
In several countries, for example, the introduction of femicide laws has led to the creation of specialized police units, judicial training programs, and harsher penalties for these acts of violence.
Femicide laws have also improved data collection. With these laws in place, governments can better understand the scope of the issue and direct resources towards evidence-based prevention, early intervention, and response mechanisms.
Without such laws, these crimes are not tracked or are misclassified.
Beyond the legal and systemic benefits, femicide laws have driven cultural change and public awareness. They have elevated the discourse on gender-related killings and reinforced the urgent need for systemic change to protect women and girls.
A STEP BACKWARD
Repealing Argentina’s femicide law would risk undoing years of progress. It would make these crimes less visible and send a message that tackling the crisis of violence against women and girls is not a priority. This can have a direct impact on dissuading victims from seeking justice and emboldening perpetrators.
Femicide laws represent more than legal protections. They are a commitment to accountability in societies where women’s lives have too often been disregarded.
This is not “woke.” It is a matter of justice, safety, and human rights.
THE CONVERSATION VIA REUTERS CONNECT
Kate Fitz-Gibbon is a professor (practice) in the Faculty of Business and Economics in Monash University. She has received funding for family violence and femicide-related research from the Australian Research Council, Australian Institute of Criminology, Australia’s National Research Organization for Women’s Safety, the Victorian, Queensland and ACT governments, the Commonwealth Department of Social Services, and the Victorian Women’s Trust. This piece was written by Ms. Fitz-Gibbon in her role at Monash University and is wholly independent of her role as chair of Respect Victoria.
The Philippine economy expanded by 5.23% in the last three months of 2024, the slowest pace in six quarters or since the 4.31% in the second quarter of 2023. The latest gross domestic product (GDP) print was a tad slower than the 5.24% growth in the third quarter but faster than 5.53% in the fourth quarter in 2023. On the expenditure side, household spending contributed 3.49 percentage points (ppts) to the GDP growth during the period. Meanwhile, the contributions of government spending and capital formation added 1.16 ppts and 0.92 ppt, respectively. On the supply side, industry and services contributed 1.32 ppts and 4.08 ppts, respectively, while agriculture further dragged the economy by 0.16 ppt.
RAZON-LED International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), through its unit Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) at the Port of Melbourne, has purchased four new hybrid automatic container carriers to expand its capacity.
The new carriers are set for delivery within this year and will help increase its capacity to 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year, the listed port operator said in a media release on Thursday.
These new carriers, purchased from Kalmar, a provider of heavy material handling equipment and services, will each feature a twin-box lifting capacity of up to 60 tons and hybrid technology with lithium-ion batteries for energy recovery.
This technology contributes to a 40% increase in energy efficiency and about a 50-ton carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction per carrier annually.
“These new hybrid carriers are part of our expansion plan, which will increase our capacity to 1.5 million TEUs annually. This investment demonstrates our commitment to customer focus, innovation, and sustainability, ensuring we can meet the growing demand for our services while minimizing our environmental impact,” said VICT Chief Executive Officer Bruno Porchietto.
VICT, which started operations in 2017, is a unit of ICTSI in Melbourne, Australia. It is a fully automated container terminal servicing large vessels.
Last year, VICT logged five million TEUs since its operations began. ICTSI said previously that this will fuel its commitment to further invest in the terminal to accommodate the increasing demand for shipments. — Ashley Erika O. Jose
LONDON — Tunnels built to shelter Londoners during World War TII bombing by Germany are set to be transformed into the British capital’s biggest new tourist attraction for years, according to the company that has bought the sprawling network of passages.
The tunnels, which are a mile (1.6 km) long and tall enough in parts to fit a double-decker bus, lie under Holborn in central London. They were dug by hand starting in late 1940, when German planes were bombing the city almost every day and night in what was known as the Blitz.
During the bombing raids, Londoners headed into underground train stations for safety. By 1942, when the purpose-built tunnels were finished, the Blitz had ceased so they were never used for shelter.
“It’s real. It’s emotional,” said Angus Murray, chief executive of The London Tunnels, standing in an arched steel cavern as London Underground trains rumbled overhead.
Mr. Murray, a former investment banker, hopes to turn the tunnels into a memorial to the Blitz, which he says will be part museum, part exhibition and part entertainment space.
The tunnels housed spy headquarters in 1944, when James Bond author Ian Fleming worked in them for naval intelligence. The location is believed to have inspired Q Branch, where Bond goes to get his specialist equipment.
Thirty meters (100 feet) down, the underground citadel is a maze of old generators, pipes and rusty bolts. Bundles of wires dangle from the walls, which are dotted with dials, switches, and levers.
There are also the remains of a staff bar and canteen for the 200 people who worked in the tunnels in the 1950s and ’60s when it served as a telephone exchange.
Since the 1970s, the tunnel network has mostly stood empty.
Mr. Murray estimates the plan to create a tourist attraction, which was approved by the authorities last year, will cost around £120 million ($149 million). His company hopes up to 3 million people a year will pay over £30 ($37) to visit the space.
He likened its expected impact on tourism to the London Eye observation wheel, which opened 25 years ago and attracts more than 3 million visitors annually.
The tunnels will be ready for the public by late 2027 or early 2028, Mr. Murray said, adding they would be operated by an entertainment company familiar with running visitor attractions.
“In London, if one thing works, it’s tourism,” he said. — Reuters
Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Thursday, January 30, 2025.
By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter
THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) said an economic zone (ecozone) it plans to establish at a penal colony in Palawan is expected to be operational by the time President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. steps down in 2028.
The so-called “mega ecozone” will be established after PEZA signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) covering more than 2,000 hectares on the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.
The Palawan Mega Economic Zone (PMEZ) is expected to be “proclaimed within the year,” PEZA said.
PEZA and BuCor had entered into a memorandum of understanding on Jan. 30, 2024 to facilitate the due diligence process for converting various BuCor sites into ecozones.
“We are proud to share that we have now entered the next important step for our ecozone development in Palawan,” PEZA Director General Tereso O. Panga said.
“We look forward to beginning the master planning and immediately starting the development of this ecozone, which will create more employment opportunities for Filipinos, most especially for persons deprived of liberty (PDLs),” he added.
BuCor estimates that it controls 32,000 hectares of idle land with ecozone potential, including 25,000 hectares in Iwahig, 7,000 hectares in Sablayan, Mindoro, and 300 hectares at the national penitentiary complex in Muntinlupa City.
“Palawan is the new frontier, and we want to generate income for social development and food security,” said BuCor Director General Gen. Gregorio Pio P. Catapang, Jr.
According to Mr. Panga, the 2,000 hectares allocated for the PMEZ could be expanded.
“We are eyeing a bigger area for our megazone project… But we will work on the proclamation of the 2,000 hectares initially,” Mr. Panga said via Viber.
“By next year, we can start accepting locators upon the initial area’s proclamation,” he added.
The target industries for PMEZ include electric vehicles, advanced manufacturing, green ore processing, nanotechnology, knowledge-based and artificial intelligence-driven industries, and medical-related industries.
“The impact of this project will be felt all across the region, to include an immediate heightened trade within the context of the BIMP-EAGA international framework,” Mr. Panga said, referring to the Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area.
By Adrian H. Halili, Reporter
MINERS said the Environment department’s plan to streamline the mining permit process will require the National Government (NG) to work closely with local government units (LGUs) to avoid conflicting or redundant requirements.
Philippine Nickel Industry Association President Dante R. Bravo called for a “harmonized position between the local and National Governments.”
Mr. Bravo, speaking to BusinessWorld at a mining industry event on Thursday, said miners still need to conduct consultations at NG and LGU levels as a prerequisite for applying for mining permits.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is preparing an administrative order (AO) streamlining applications for mining exploration permits, mineral agreements, and financial or technical assistance agreements (FTAA).
The proposed AO will also allow the parallel processing of submissions in lieu of the old method of serial approvals.
Mr. Bravo also called for easing the process miners need to go through before obtaining signoff from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) for projects on tribal land.
Mining firms seeking to operate in areas inhabited by Indigenous Peoples (IP) are required to submit a comprehensive project profile, conducting community consultations, and demonstrate an understanding of the local culture and potential impacts on the IP community, among others.
Under the draft AO, the requirements of the NCIP will be processed in parallel with other requirements.
“When it comes to exploration permits, since we don’t have an income generating activity yet, maybe we can ask for a slightly lighter requirement, and even from the local government,” he said.
By Sheldeen Joy Talavera, Reporter
GETTING production out of the first offshore wind farms by 2028 is considered “doable” with close coordination between regulators and project proponents, according to Danish technical consultancy firm K2 Management (K2M).
“The 2028 completion of the first offshore wind sounds aggressive but it is also doable, but that does require all the stakeholders to closely collaborate (to achieve) the 2028 targets,” Scott Hsu, K2M director for Taiwan and the Philippines, told BusinessWorld.
The Philippines is hoping to generate its first output from offshore wind by 2028 as it bids to diversify its energy mix and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
“If all the resources (from the) government and private sector are in place, I think the Philippines, with all that sea area, has a lot of potential to play a major role in the future electricity production,” he said. “But that (depends on the speed of) the auctions… (and whether) the authorities and the private sector come together.”
The Department of Energy (DoE) is planning to hold its fifth green energy auction (GEA-5) focused on offshore wind by the third quarter of 2025.
The auction is expected to ensure market access for offshore wind developers, to establish to their funders that they can tap long-term demand.
As of October 2024, the government has awarded 92 offshore wind contracts with 68 gigawatts (GW) of potential capacity. Of the total, 21 contracts representing 19.2 GW were awarded to foreign-owned companies.
The DoE said it is assisting 16 offshore wind frontrunners who have committed to deliver a total of more than 16 GW of new capacity.
“The offshore wind success requires all stakeholders’ efforts. And then transparent and supportive policy is very important from the government side,” Mr. Hsu said.
The banking industry also plays a crucial role in offshore wind development, he said.
“It is very important for (the banks) to be actively participating in the financing… That will be the only way to turn this financial investment into a successful project,” he said.
He said ports are also needed to serve as logistics hubs throughout the life cycle of the projects.
The DoE has said that the Philippine Ports Authority has committed and allocated funds for repurposing and expanding Currimao port in Ilocos Norte, the Port of Batangas, and the Jose Panganiban port in Camarines Norte.
These ports were identified as critical to offshore wind development due to their proximity to high-potential wind energy sites.
According to the World Bank’s 2022 Offshore Wind Roadmap for the Philippines, the country’s offshore wind resources are estimated at a potential 178 GW.
