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After 10 years apart: Orange & Lemons reunite, release a new single

MORE THAN 10 years have passed since Filipino pop-rock group, Orange & Lemons disbanded acrimoniously, but now that most of the members have resolved their differences, the band has reformed and is releasing its first single in more than a decade.

Pag-ibig sa Tabing Dagat” is described as a homage to the kundiman, the traditional Filipino love song.

Now that they’re back together, Clementine “Clem” Castro, the band’s de-facto leader, said in a June 6 press conference in Thai Street, Pasig City, that they feel ready to “take the chance to create an album” again, and while the new album is not set for release until early next year, Orange & Lemons is once again making its presence known with “Pag-ibig sa Tabing Dagat.”

“The new single is an old song. I have this habit of writing and writing songs and we just pick songs whenever we need an album,” Mr. Castro said before explaining that half of the songs in the band’s third album were written even before the first one came out.

Mr. Castro said the song was written in 2007 and was originally made for the bossa nova singer Sitti and was thus arranged with that feel, but since it wasn’t used, they re-arranged the song and made it theirs.

“The whole message of the song is about reminiscing,” Mr. Castro said, noting that it can be about remembering times spent with a loved one by the sea.

The single’s art was created by Mark Villanueva, an artist from Baliuag, Bulacan and features the profile of a woman looking out to sea.

The single is a precursor to an all-Filipino album they are creating, something they never tried to do before.

“We try not to repeat ourselves… [So we wanted] to challenge ourselves with an all-Filipino album,” Mr. Castro said.

REDOING A DEBUT
The band members initially came together again in 2017 to re-record its debut album, Love in the Land of Rubber Shoes and Dirty Ice Cream, though Mr. Castro admitted that it was hard for the former members to find the time and the willingness to sit down and talk at first.

“Now, we just laugh about it. We were so young then,” Ace del Mundo, the band’s drummer, said.

Mr. Castro said they didn’t think of reuniting at first — they just wanted re-record the album, “fix [their] accents,” (the band’s English songs often had British accents because of their Beatles influence) and get it on streaming sites.

Orange & Lemons debuted in 1999, influenced by bands like the Eraserheads, the Beatles, and The Smiths. It launched its debut album, Love in the Land of Rubber Shoes and Dirty Ice Cream in 2003, “(Just Like) A Splendid Love Song” was one of its 10 songs. The band was named Best New Artist for 2004 by radio station NU107 at that year’s NU Rock Awards.

The band’s original lineup was made up of Mr. Castro (vocals and guitar), Mcoy Fundales (vocals), JM del Mundo (bass), and Ace del Mundo (drums).

Mr. Fundales — who released his song “Bakit Kita Hahabulin” under AltG Records on May 30 — is not part of the reunited Orange & Lemons.

It was with the second album, Strike Whilst the Iron is Hot in 2005 that the band gained commercial success. The album spawned hits like “Hanggang Kailan (Umuwi Ka Na Baby),” “Heaven Knows (This Angel Has Flown),” and “Lihim.” That same year, the band did the official theme song, “Pinoy Ako,” for the reality TV series, Pinoy Big Brother.

The band’a third album — and the last before it broke up — was released in 2007. Called Moonlane Gardens, it included the singles, “Ang Katulad Mong Walang Katulad” and “Fade.”

Due to creative differences, the band split up: Mr. Castro created the three-piece indie-pop group Camerawalls, while the other three ex-Orange & Lemons members formed Kenyo.

Ten years later, the band — sans Mr. Fundales — came together in 2017 and headlined Moonlane Festival, a self-produced music festival. The band was joined by live keyboardist, Jared Nerona.

The band is set to film a music video for “Pag-ibig sa Tabing Dagat” and go on a multi-city tour of Canada in September. — Zsarlene B. Chua

Singapore has 24,000 empty apartments (and 44,000 more on the way)

IN tiny Singapore, where you can drive the length of the island in under two hours, there are 24,000 vacant apartments.

If that sounds like a lot of lost rent, consider that on top of that, there are another 44,000 units in the pipeline, including 39,000 unsold apartments from government land sales and en-bloc sites, and 5,000 units from sites that are pending planning approval.

The gross oversupply — at a time of weak demand — prompted the government on Thursday to cut the supply of private residential units under its land sales program. Now the supply of private housing in the second half, excluding executive condominiums, will be 1,235 units, down 25% from 1,640 units in the first six months.

“The confirmed list supply of 2,875 private residential units for the whole of 2019 is the lowest annual quantum since 2014,” said Ong Teck Hui, a senior director at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. That’s “appropriate given the increasingly bearish economic and business outlook,” he said.

The moves to limit supply won applause from investors, who sent the FTSE Straits Times Real Estate Investment Trust Index up 2%, the most since August 2015, to the highest in more than six years.

At least the property curbs that Singapore introduced almost a year ago to cool the market appear to have well and truly taken effect. — Bloomberg

PLDT partners with Schneider to upgrade data center

PLDT, Inc. said it tapped energy automation firm Schneider Electric to upgrade its data center in Pasig City with the latest available technology.

The telecommunications giant’s digital solutions arm ePLDT, Inc. said in a statement Monday it entered an agreement with the French firm for a three-year transformation of its oldest data center, VITRO Pasig.

“The strategic transformation initiative will not only improve VITRO Pasig’s physical infrastructure but more importantly innovate our data center operations management. Beyond just a facility revamp, the project will optimize our current manpower to help us deliver even better and higher quality of data center solutions and services,” ePLDT Chief Technology Officer Dave Simon said in the statement.

Covered by the transformation is the optimization of the 19-year-old data center’s infrastructure facility to generate more power capacity, which is expected to improve its operational and technological capabilities.

Once the transformation project is completed, VITRO Pasig is expected to be on the same level of advancement as ePLDT’s data centers in Makati and Clark.

Last year, PLDT opened a P1-billion data center in Cebu City, increasing the number of the telco’s data centers across the country to 10. Other facilities of the VITRO Network of Data Centers are located in Makati, Pasig, Clark and Davao.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Denise A. Valdez

Business outsourcing companies to drive Iloilo office sector’s growth — report

BUSINESS process outsourcing firms are flocking to Iloilo City, driving the growth of the city’s office sector, according to Colliers International Philippines.

“Over the next three years, we see outsourcing firms such as call centers occupying much of new office space, especially in the Mandurriao area. We already see some companies offering a mix of call center and higher value outsourcing services such as legal transcription and health information management,” Kevin Jara, senior manager for tenant representation of Colliers, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Mr. Jara noted BPOs are expanding in Iloilo to take advantage of the city’s skilled labor force.

Mandurriao accounts for 80% of Iloilo City’s office stock, accounting for 87,800 square meters (sq.m.) out of the total 109,400 sq.m.

Megaworld is the dominant office developer, with 60,800 sq.m. of office space within its Iloilo Business Park. Major BPO firms such as iQor, Transcom, Startek, WNS, Reed Elsevier, and Nearsol have already set up shop in Iloilo Business Park.

“These companies have taken advantage of PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) proclaimed buildings within the business park, availing of tax incentives. Colliers believes that in the next three years, any PEZA-approved buildings in the Iloilo Business Park could easily achieve full occupancy status as there is pent-up demand for PEZA-proclaimed spaces across the city,” the real estate services firm said.

Last year, Megaworld completed the Two Techno Place Office, which has 10,500 sq.m. of office space. From this year until 2020, it targets to complete One Fintech Place, Two Fintech Place, IBP BPO 11 and IBP BPO 12, which has a total leasable space of 69,400 sq.m.

Ayala Land, Inc. accounts for 9% of the Mandurriao office stock through its Iloilo Ayala Technohub with 7,100 sq.m. of space. It is developing the Atria Park District BPO 1 and 2, which will have a total leasable space of 18,400 sq.m.

The SM Group completed the SM Strata Tower 1, which will have 23,400-square meter of new space, earlier this year. It is also developing the Strata Tower 2 with leasable space of 22,250-square meter.

Robinsons Land Corp.’s Robinsons Place Iloilo offers 2,000 sq.m. of office space.

“Overall, we see Iloilo’s leasable office supply increasing to 242,900 sq.m. by 2021 or an addition of about 44,500 sq.m. of office space per year from 2019 to 2021. All of the upcoming supply is likely to be in Mandurriao as developers cash in on the area’s viability as a key outsourcing destination in Western Visayas,” Colliers said.

While it sees sustained demand for office space the city, Colliers noted the lack of PEZA proclamation for upcoming office developments may raise vacancy.

“Colliers estimates an annual vacancy of 9% per year from 2019 to 2021, up from 5.0% in 2018. The vacancy should taper to about 7.8% in 2021 once the new office buildings secure their PEZA status. A couple of new office towers are due to secure their PEZA status in 2019 and 2020. In our opinion, the granting of PEZA status should further raise office space demand in the city over the next two to three years,” it said. — VMPG

Trouble in Y’allywood: Abortion law rattles No. 1 film state in US

NO ONE meant for this to happen: That’s the quiet buzz in Georgia’s film and business communities this week, as more major Hollywood studios threatened to leave the US’s top movie and television production state because of its new abortion ban.

Georgia’s entertainment industry didn’t see it coming. The ban wasn’t expected to clear the legislature — and barely did. Even Brian Kemp, the Republican governor who campaigned in support of the kind of law Georgia enacted, put forward a milder, largely symbolic anti-abortion measure once in office. Abortion foes weren’t having it. The law Kemp finally signed bans most abortions after six weeks — unless the courts intervene before it takes effect in January.

Now Netflix, Disney, WarnerMedia, AMC Networks, NBCUniversal and CBS Corp. and its Showtime subsidiary have all threatened to pull their business from Georgia — which bills itself as Y’allywood — and fear is rippling through the state’s film production industry, now bigger than California’s, according to Film LA.

Last year, a record 455 film and television productions generated an estimated economic impact of $9.5 billion, according to the state department of economic development. The film and TV industry is responsible for more than 92,100 jobs and nearly $4.6 billion in total wages in Georgia, including indirect jobs and wages, according to the Motion Picture Association of America, a trade group.

To Isaac Hayes III, an Atlanta voice actor, record producer and son of the famed soul musician, the threat alone is sobering. “The one that really shocked me was Warner. They’ve been here since the 1980s. I don’t think Brian Kemp really understood what he did.”

BIGGEST VICTIM
The threats have created a large cast of odd bedfellows.

The biggest potential victim of a Hollywood boycott, for instance, is Pinewood Studios Atlanta, with its 18 sound stages and 400-acre backlot south of the city, where a number of Disney’s Marvel blockbusters, including the recent Avengers: Endgame were produced.

Pinewood’s lead owner is Dan Cathy, the chief executive of Chick-fil-A and outspoken social conservative whose Southern Baptist church opposes all abortions. Cathy is also developing a mini-city across the street, with pricey rowhouse-style homes, boutiques, restaurants, and a spa clubhouse. Neither Cathy nor anyone from Pinewood would comment on the potential impact from Hollywood’s threats.

Kemp has also gone silent, after canceling a trip to an annual Georgia Film Day in Los Angeles and touring Pinewood to reassure the industry last month. The tour did not enter the soundstages where people work. “We’re not commenting,” said governor spokesman Cody Hall, in response to a question about the boycott threats.

Meanwhile, the Democrat whom Kemp narrowly trumped in last year’s gubernatorial race, Stacey Abrams, is all over the place. She popped up in April at an Avengers: Endgame screening for film workers and their families, where Kemp — who had yet to sign the abortion bill — was the main speaker. She has now cast herself as the Georgia film industry’s savior and is urging filmmakers to help fight the law in court instead of pulling out. She flies to Hollywood to make her case next week.

Others close to the industry — particularly the black entertainment industry — say Atlanta should declare its independence from Georgia, at least for marketing purposes. “Georgia doesn’t deserve Atlanta,” said Erik Gordon, a marketing consultant who works with African-American entertainers.

‘SKATEBOARD PARK’
Although Georgia has lost some production in protest of the law, no one knows if the bigger threats will materialize, since court challenges could kill the law or keep it at bay for years.

Gordon says the threat is real: “These people will pull out. They’ll leave us with a million square feet of nothing, to make into a skateboard park.”

Jeremiah Bennett, head of local studio Glass Door Entertainment, says the danger is minimal. “All they’re really saying is we’ll watch what happens and see what our investments are in the future,” he said, adding that many in the Georgia film world are now talking about ways to generate more of their own content and become less dependent on Hollywood.

Even with the controversy, several recent projects have been approved for Georgia Tax Credits and are planning to film in the state, said Vanessa Foltyn Roman, attorney at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, which advises the film industry. However, Foltyn Roman said she was curious if films and TV shows still in early stages might look elsewhere “rather than step into a murky situation with Georgia,” she said.

The road closings, yellow crew signs, lights and catering trucks that mark the shooting of a movie have become commonplace in Georgia. The state’s lures include its geography — coasts, mountains, farms and timberland, swamps and cities — and its film labor pool and infrastructure.

That includes Pinewood in Fayetteville, the second-biggest purpose-built production facility in the US, and Atlanta Metro Studios, which houses the country’s largest and second-largest soundstages, based in Union City. Third Rail Studios is based in an old GM plant in Doraville. An empty beverage distribution facility in Norcross is the home of Eagle Rock Studios. EUE/Screen Gems’ 11-stage facility is has become a production site for Netflix. Tyler Perry converted the decommissioned Fort McPherson into film stages that handled shoots for Black Panther.

‘SELL FOR CASH’
Then there’s Georgia’s film tax credit program, considered among the most generous and easy to use in the nation. These tax credits are transferable, meaning Hollywood companies can sell them for cash to businesses that pay taxes in Georgia. It allows them to recoup 20% of their direct spending in the state, with up to 10% more available if they advertise Georgia in the credits at the end of a movie.

The 2008 tax credit helped film industry direct spending grow from $93 million in 2007 to $2.7 billion in the 2018 fiscal year, according to state figures. That translates to as much as $800 million in credits if filmmakers take the full 30%.

Georgia’s abortion law got little attention from the film industry as it moved through the legislature. It initially seemed less threatening. Although Kemp had endorsed its language during the campaign, he backed a different measure at the legislature, which said the state would ban most abortions only if the Roe v. Wade US Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationally was overturned. The measure was a gesture to anti-abortion supporters but didn’t have any near-term legal impact or violate federal law.

House Republicans pushed the so-called heartbeat bill instead and the measure rolled through, with Kemp signing it May 7. Studios beginning with Netflix said they would rethink their investments in Georgia.

The threats sent a chill through film workers, said Callie Moore, a camerawoman working on Starz’ P Valley television series at Tyler Perry Studios. Moore organized a campaign to raise money to fight the law in court. “It’s mostly crew members on the ground, people who have been in Georgia a long time,” she said. “We announced it in the morning safety meeting and everyone was just so excited.” It spread to other shows and other studios and raised $10,000 in 17 days, she said. — Bloomberg

Gov’t fully awards T-bills as rates plunge

THE GOVERNMENT made a full award of the Treasury bills (T-bill) it placed on the auction block on Monday as yields plunged across the board amid expectations of interest rate cuts from the local and US central banks.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) borrowed P15 billion as planned at its T-bills auction yesterday, with bids from market participants surging to P53.6 billion, more than thrice the amount the Treasury wanted to borrow.

Broken down, the government borrowed P4 billion as planned via the 92-day tenor yesterday as bids amounted to P7.8 billion. The average rate declined 43.7 basis points (bp) to 4.555% from the 4.992% logged in the previous auction.

The Treasury also made a full award of the 183-day T-bills as it accepted P5 billion as planned out of offers totalling P20.132 billion. The average yield dropped 47.7 bps to 4.923% from last week’s 5.4%.

For the 365-day T-bills, the government borrowed the programmed P6 billion out of the P25.655 billion tendered by banks. Its average yield also slid 42.9 bps to 5.069% from the 5.498% quoted in the previous offering.

Based on the PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates, the three-month, six-month and one-year papers were quoted at 4.958%, 5.193% and 5.44% yesterday, respectively.

Following the auction, National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon said the result was within expectations.

“The expectation is also the rate cut. I think the (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) Governor (Benjamin E. Diokno) has mentioned it remains to be on the table. Even the Fed (US Federal Reserve), it’s projecting there will be two rate cuts by the Fed,” Ms. De Leon told reporters yesterday.

“In spite of the pickup in terms of inflation at 3.2%, still the BSP pronouncement is that we will still be on track in meeting the inflation target of about 2.9% for this year,” she added.

Mr. Diokno last week brushed off the slight uptick in May inflation to 3.2%, saying the figure cannot be seen as a reversal of the downward trend. He earlier said the central bank has “more room for monetary easing” and vowed more cuts.

Meanwhile, Fed Chair Jerome Powell signalled last week that the central bank was ready to take action should the ongoing trade tensions between the US and other countries as well as the slowdown in global economic growth affect their economy.

Sought for comment, Robinsons Bank Corp. peso trader Kevin S. Palma said strong interest was seen during the T-bills auction as market participants took their cue from the significant drop in debt yields at the secondary market prior the auction.

“The market reacted to low jobs report released on Friday evening and could already be pricing in a possible easing from the US Federal Reserve towards the end of the year,” Mr. Palma said. “This is coupled with bullish growth outlook domestically, thanks to BSP’s recent policy tweaks.”

He added that icing on the cake was the reinvestment demand due to a P14.3-billion T-bill maturity today.

The government plans to borrow P315 billion from the domestic market this quarter, broken down into P195 billion in T-bills and P120 billion through Treasury bonds.

For next quarter, Ms. De Leon said the Treasury’s domestic borrowing will be lower than the April-June program due to the “slow” government spending earlier this year.

“Since spending was a bit weaker during the first two quarters, but at the same time we’ve been able to maintain our borrowing given the auction performance and also the collections are pretty good, we have more than enough cash to be able to finance the sustained higher spending for the next quarter or so,” she said.

Latest state data showed the government posted a fiscal surplus of P86.9 billion in April, 87.6% more than the P46.3-billion surfeit logged in April 2018 and a reversal of the P58.409-billion deficit seen in March due to the delayed passage of the 2019 national budget.

“Since there’s a catch-up plan in terms of the disbursements…we will have to see how spending goes this month, and from there, we’ll have to see whether we would (do) a little bit of softening in terms of (borrowing in) the third quarter,” Ms. De Leon said.

The government is looking to raise P1.189 trillion this year from local and foreign sources to fund its budget deficit, which is expected to widen to as much as 3.2% of the country’s gross domestic product. — K.A.N. Vidal

Antonio-led start-up offers licensing concepts for celebrity entrepreneurs

A NEW start-up is aiming to provide celebrity-designed franchising and licensing options in fashion, health, beauty, and food businesses.

Renegade Branding Concepts, founded by Jose Roberto “Robbie” R. Antonio, already counts boxing icon and Senator Emmanuel “Manny” D. Pacquiao, supermodel Helena Christensen, and designer Camilla Staerk as among its clients.

“We are very proud to be the first company with this business model. The idea is to leverage the influence and popularity of our partner (celebrity) to create marketable of business concepts that you can simply acquire and implement,” Mr. Antonio said in a statement.

“Imagine being a prospective businessman. While looking for the perfect business idea, you are confronted with the burden of creating a new concept that needs to stand out. Then, you will have to conduct heavy research on how to operate it, how to find the right suppliers and partners, and how to plan your finances. This is where Renegade Branding Concepts comes in,” he added.

A customer who secures a license is provided with a complete business plan including the equipment plan, a profit and loss assessment, as well as a return on investments road map and extensive assistance on the design of the preferred business structure.

In partnership with Renegade, Mr. Pacquiao is launching his own chain of gyms under the brand HITT Boxing Studio. He is also introducing his own coffee shop brand, food stalls, haberdashery, and water refilling business.

Renegade also partnered with the Ms. Christensen and Ms. Staerk for the creation of spa and yoga services, and German model Liliana Nova for a salon licensing concept.

In the Philippines, Renegade has teamed up with celebrities such as Tim Yap for hair products and home interiors; Troy Montero for a biking studio; and football player Anton del Rosario for a pizza concept.

“Renegade Branding Concepts is a natural extension and progression of our real estate branding experience from Revolution Precrafted and all branded projects we have done prior to this,” said Mr. Antonio, who is also CEO of Revolution Precrafted — a homegrown global supplier of pre-fabricated homes.

Even though Renegade is still in the start-up stage, Mr. Antonio bared plans for an aggressive overseas expansion.

“We have an aggressive business plan that sees expanding our concepts to the rest of Asia and the world. For us to be able to do this, we need to expand our celebrity network outside of the Philippines, and this is what we will be doing in the next coming months,” he said. — Janina C. Lim

Men in Black Hemsworth and Thompson suit up for 4th installment of franchise

MOSCOW — The Men in Black are back — wearing the same suits and sunglasses but different faces.

Actors Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson flew to Moscow to launch the fourth installment of the science fiction franchise originally starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, which pits suited agents against aliens disguised as humans on Earth.

In Men in Black: International, the Avengers star and Creed actress play Agent H and Agent M, who have to find a mole in the organization. As in the other installments, cars and gadgets take center stage.

“We had this pretty cool souped-up Lexus that we got to drive which has all sorts of gadgets and the ability to… fly across water and fly up walls and all sorts of things,” Hemsworth told reporters on Thursday.

“And then there was this old classic Jag (Jaguar) that just looked like a classic beautiful car but again, all the weapons… come out of the exhaust pipe and the side-view mirror and so on, so that was pretty awesome.”

Thompson paid tribute to Smith. “The first (Men in Black) film marks his real entry into global stardom and I think now we can take it for granted because there are a lot of people of color in Hollywood but he was really… one of the first.”

In the film series, the agents try to keep Earth’s alien population a secret from humans, and use neuralyzer devices to wipe people’s memories if they see too much.

Given a real neuralyzer, “I’d probably attempt to… forget all the wonderful films that I’d watched over the years, that I grew up on, and erase them and experience that joy all over again,” Hemsworth said.

“Certain films… I’ve seen 10, 15 times and still love them but wish I could have that very first impression and experience again.”

The movie, which hits cinemas this week, also stars Liam Neeson and Emma Thompson, who featured in Men in Black 3. — Reuters

Rediscount borrowings by banks decline in May

BSP
BANKS borrowed less from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ rediscount window. — BW FILE PHOTO

BANKS TOOK less loans out of the central bank’s rediscount window in May, with the credit going to their purchases and commercial credits.

Peso rediscount loans reached P12.075 billion last month, down from the P21.423 billion borrowed in April, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported Monday.

However, total loan availments last month surged from the P1.266 billion recorded in the same month in 2018, central bank data showed.

The central bank’s rediscount facility lets banks get their hands on additional cash by accepting a lender’s collectibles as collateral for short-term credit.

The banks can then use the fresh money supply — either in peso, dollar or yen — to hand out more loans for corporate or retail clients, as well as service unexpected withdrawals.

Rediscount credit lines amounted to P85.799 billion from January to May, compared with the P8.917 billion secured by banks in the first five months of 2018.

In a statement, the BSP said majority of the loans funded capital expenses accounting for 42.91% of the sum. Commercial credits stood at 35.48% of the total, with more than a fifth meant for imports while less than a tenth used for goods trading. These are followed by credit for other services (16.32%), permanent working capital (5.22%) and housing loans (0.06%).

On the other hand, the dollar and yen rediscount window meant for exporters stood untouched, according to the BSP, much like the trend observed for the past few years.

RATES
Meanwhile, for this month, rates for peso rediscount loans remain unchanged.

Rediscount rates for peso loans stand at 5.0625% for loans maturing in 90 days or less, while those with a 91 to 180-day term are priced at 5.125%. These are based on the latest available BSP overnight lending rate plus a premium.

Dollar credit lines come with a lower rate of 4.5025% for one to 90-day loans; 4.565% for 91- to 180-day loans; and 4.6275% for 181- to 360-day loans, the BSP said.

Meanwhile, the rates for yen loans climbed to 1.93933% for one to 90-day loans, 2.00183% for 91- to 180-day loans, and 2.06433% for 181- to 360-day loans.

These reflect the 90-day London inter-bank offered rate as of end-May plus 200 basis points and a premium. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Cebu Pacific to mount flights between Manila and Shenzhen

CEBU PACIFIC said it will start offering direct flights between Manila and Shenzhen next month to cater to the growing number of travelers that want to connect to China.

The Gokongwei-led carrier said in a statement Monday it will launch its commercial service between the two cities on July 1, which will fly every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

“The new route is in line with the carrier’s plans to expand its route network in China to cater to increasing demand for leisure and business travel,” it said.

Shenzhen will be Cebu Pacific’s fifth destination in mainland China.

“Shenzhen, located in Guangdong Province, is part of the booming Pearl River Delta megalopolis. Shenzhen has a continuous development of rail and road links to other cities within the region, including a branch road that connects to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge,” it said.

The carrier earlier said there is “a lot of interest” from China to connect to the Philippines, and it wants to tap that market by opening routes connecting to China’s secondary cities.

“We want to provide our travelers a viable option to reach some of the most crucial commercial centers in the world. Our new direct service between Manila and Shenzhen will enable faster movement of people and products providing increased mobility and access in some of the fastest-growing economies in the world,” Cebu Pacific Vice- President for Marketing and Distribution Candice Jennifer A. Iyog said in the statement.

Aside from Shenzhen, Cebu Pacific has flights to mainland China through Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Xiamen. It also has routes linking to Hong Kong, Macau and Taipei.

The operator of Cebu Pacific, Cebu Air, Inc., grew its net income by 138.4% to P3.43 billion in the first quarter, driven by a growth in passenger volume and higher average fares. — Denise A. Valdez

Construction of Robinsons Aurora Escalades starts

ROBINSONS Communities said it recently broke ground for its project Aurora Escalades in Aurora Boulevard, Cubao, Quezon City, signaling the start of construction.

Company officials also laid a time capsule on the site of the residential condominium.

Aurora Escalades is the eighth development of Robinsons Land Corp.’s Communities brand in Cubao. The company said the project is “almost sold-out with very few units left under its inventory.”

BLACKPINK as Shopee brand ambassadors

TRADITIONAL shoppers still prefer the touch-and-feel experience that a physical store brings compared with the mere visual evaluation that online shopping portals offer.

While virtual bargain hunting is much more convenient than traditional shopping — with no queues and relatively easier transaction process — a 2018 study by Research and Tech Lab revealed that 68.61% of Filipinos will still take time to go to a store and examine the goods.

As such, the challenge of e-commerce sites like Shopee is to entice consumers to shift from the conventional offline to the online shopping mode. And it helps to have well-known “brand ambassadors,” to encourage customers to mainly rely on their mobile apps to shop.

Shopee, which was launched in Singapore in 2015 and is popular in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, has a roster of local ambassadors, including balladeer Jose Marie Chan and most recently, Pop Princess Sarah Geronimo.

To further beef up its lineup, the online platform also recently commissioned Korean girl group BLACKPINK as its “regional brand ambassadors.”

Ruoshan Tao, Head of Marketing of Shopee Philippines, said the e-commerce platform is very happy to engage its users further by bringing BLACKPINK back in the country.

“We understand how large their fanbase is here in the Philippines and we are thrilled to be the first company to bring them back for an exclusive fan meet,” he said.

FAN MEET
BLACKPINK was the Philippines last February for sold-out 2019 World Tour: BLACKPINK in Your Area (Manila) held at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Jennie, Jisoo, Rosé, and Lisa returned last week for their first meet-and-greet session with their local fans, known as the Filipino Blinks.

“We are happy to be back as we missed you all. Thank you for your warm welcome,” Jennie told around 2,000 select fans gathered at the Samsung Hall of SM Aura in Taguig.

Jisoo said BLACKPINK is ecstatic to have been selected as Shopee brand ambassadors not only in the Philippines but also in seven other countries.

“We hope that you guys will have a happy shopping experience with Shopee,” she said.

During the question-and-answer portion of the short fan meeting, Rosé said she had fun shooting the Shopee commercial as the company took time to make the ladies feel very comfortable. The music video-type advertisement had the women dancing to their smash hit “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” while tinkering with the Shopee app.

“This is our second time in the Philippines and you are all so welcoming every time. We are glad to see each and every one of you here today,” said Lisa.

BLACKPINK’s fans who qualified for Shopee’s online promo won tickets to the fan meeting. Only 50 lucky fans were given the chance to meet the ladies up close and personally secured their autographs.

UNHAPPY FANS
But unlike in a similar event in Jakarta last November where they sang three songs, including “As If It’s Your Last” and “Forever Young,” there was no performance from BLACKPINK this time. There was no press conference either. The segment with BLACKPINK, including the fan signing, lasted only around 30 minutes.

Some fans have lodged complaints with the Department of Trade and Industry on the promotion mechanics and the selection of winners, prompting the agency to conduct an inquiry.

Shopee acknowledged that the “event fell short of the high standards that Shopee users and BLACKPINK fans expect.

“We are reaching out to all those affected by this issue, and we are also taking steps to ensure that such an incident does not occur again in the future,” Shopee said in a statement.

Last week’s incident notwithstanding, Shopee said there are more initiatives lined up to make shopping a pleasant experience for its customers.

“Moving forward, we aim to entertain more consumers through a variety of in-app initiatives and other events,” Mr. Tao added.