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Warriors unsure if Klay Thompson is fully healthy

ONE WEEK shy of a year after Klay Thompson tore his left anterior cruciate ligament, the Golden State Warriors remain uncertain about whether he is fully healthy.

Golden State general manager Bob Myers addressed Thompson’s status Monday in a conference call with reporters.

“I think we’ve got to take a look at him when we see him. There’s different versions of 100 percent,” Myers said. “One-hundred percent for you or me with being able to walk around the street, that’s not 100 percent for a basketball player playing basketball.

“Until we kind of test him and see him, and start him in one-on-one and two-on-two work — the pandemic hasn’t allowed him that opportunity to do those type of things — there’s no rush, clearly.”

The latter comment is a reference to the fact that the Warriors’ season is over. Golden State is one of eight NBA teams that will not return to action when play resumes this summer at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida.

When the league suspended the season on March 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Warriors owned the NBA’s worst record at 15-50. Their season was ruined by the absence of their backcourt stars, Thompson, who was hurt in the last game of the 2019 NBA Finals, and Stephen Curry, who played in just five of the teams’ 65 games due to a broken left hand.

Thompson exited Game 6 of the Finals against the Toronto Raptors in the third quarter due to the knee injury. He still wound up as the game’s high scorer with 30 points.

According to multiple media reports, Thompson did much of his recent rehab work at his Southern California home. He was back in Northern California on Wednesday, when he and Warriors teammates Curry, Damion Lee and Kevon Looney took part in a protest walk in Oakland, California, organized by another Golden State player, Juan Toscano-Anderson.

The rally was one of many held worldwide in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who died while a white police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes.

Thompson walked the full three-plus-mile path around Lake Merritt and didn’t appear to be in pain or discomfort, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“As far as I’ve heard, he’s been recovering fine,” Myers said. “There hasn’t been a setback. But one thing that has been a little difficult the last couple of months has been our ability to see those things as much as you might normally would.”

Thompson, 30, is a three-time NBA champion and five-time All-Star. He owns career averages of 19.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists.

REPLACEMENT PLAYERS
Meanwhile, NBA teams will be permitted to carry replacement players who can be added to the active roster in the event of a positive COVID-19 test, ESPN reported.

If a player on the roster tests positive for the coronavirus, they will be quarantined and teammates will be tested.

To fill the vacant roster spot of the player testing positive, a “replacement player” can be called up.

Players on two-way contracts would also be eligible to join the active roster if a team loses a player to injury.

Those rules are yet to be fully approved as the NBA modifies protocol and roster management regulation when the season resumes July 31. — Reuters

URCC ready to go anew when given the thumbs-up

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

ITS EVENTS temporarily halted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) said it remains committed to what it does and expressed readiness to get back into action once conditions permit it to do so.

Founded in 2002 by martial artist Alvin Aguilar, the URCC has been credited largely by many for furthering the growth of mixed martial arts in the country and in Southeast Asia as well as paving the way for many Filipino fighters to establish solid careers not only in the promotion but also in other groups abroad.

Like many sports organizations in the country, the URCC said it laments COVID-19 putting everything to a halt, but it recognizes the seriousness of the situation with the pandemic and is willing to wait it out to ensure the safety and health of every stakeholder.

“As soon as everything, all the guidelines are in and we’re allowed to have major events, we’re all go. As long as everyone’s safe, I don’t want to be responsible for getting people [sick] or [having people] spreading this disease … I don’t want to be known as that promotion,” said Mr. Aguilar, who was the first guest in the inaugural episode of Tiebreaker Vods’ The Hit List on Sunday.

The URCC was scheduled to hold an event in April but was forced to put it on hold as COVID-19 became a going concern and the government came out with mitigating measures to help stop the spread of the virus, including prohibiting mass gatherings like sporting events.

It is looking at resuming activities sometime in September where it hopes the situation would be far better as far as the COVID-19 situation is concerned.

Also in the podcast, Mr. Aguilar talked about how far the MMA in the country, and the URCC as an organization, has gone, something they intend to take further moving forward.

“I knew eventually it would pick up and everybody would start accepting it, but when I first did the event I was expecting you know… five hundred people to show up and five thousand people showed up and that was the start of MMA history here in Southeast Asia,” said Mr. Aguilar, referring to the “URCC 1: Mayhem in Manila” in November 2002.

The URCC founder went on to share that early on they had to debunk a lot of misconceptions about the sport, including it being “brutal” and “gruesome,” and had to convince people of MMA’s value both as a sport and entertainment fare.

Mr. Aguilar said nearly two decades into URCC’s existence they are not done seeing their mission and vision through.

“To tell you honestly, I’m not where I want to be in terms of goals yet. So when we say [we] made it, I have a different made it because I have a long, long game plan. So I have a game plan that no other country would be doing,” Mr. Aguilar said.

Among the things they still want to achieve are shoring up the amateur side of MMA here and taking the sport nationwide once again. These involve helping athletes develop their game with the end view of making them “world-class.”

“So in terms of [having] made it, not yet. We haven’t made it yet but we’ll get there and I’ll tell you right away you’ll see,” Mr. Aguilar said.

Moving forward, the URCC official said fans should expect continuing to see quality action from the promotion.

“I can’t wait to see you [fans] guys again watching all the fights. Don’t worry, we are not going anywhere, we are always going to be here. We’re always going to be a staple in our country and elsewhere. We’re always going to be a staple here, show you the best fights, the most exciting MMA promotion in Asia; real fights,” Mr. Aguilar said.

GAB reaches out to IATF on behalf of sports stakeholders

AFTER thorough studies and direct consultations with the different professional sports organizations in the country, the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) on Saturday officially submitted the “Proposed Framework for the Resumption of Professional Sports in the Philippines in Anticipation to the New Normal” to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

The 59-page document was drafted by GAB officials, led by Chairman Abraham ‘Baham’ Mitra and Commissioners Eduard Trinidad and Mar Masanguid, along with Dr. Jesucito Garcia, boxing chief; Dr. Redentor Viernes, medical section chief; and Ms. Marissa So of the horse betting division.

The document was also drafted with consent with Dioscoro Bautista, pro basketball and other pro games chief, and other professional sports bodies such as the Philippine Basketball Association and the Philippine Football Federation.

The proposal was created in order to ensure the safe return of sporting and amusement events following their temporary halt due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) threat.

It shall likewise serve as a guide to help the IATF in assessing all the risk factors and the earliest but most reasonable time for the resumption of professional sports events such as boxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, motocross, triathlon and amusement games like horse racing in the country, while putting into consideration the socioeconomic impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of Filipino professional athletes and other GAB licensees.

“We are in close coordination with the different professional sports bodies. This initiative is also being done by other industries. We are hoping that DoH (Department of Health) and IATF will consider our proposal and the health and safety protocols included therein, in order to help our professional athletes and their families survive this trying time in our nation’s history,” said Mr. Mitra.

Extraordinary efforts

The National Basketball Players Association’s imprimatur on the resumption of the 2019–20 season was to be expected. With heads of the union kept in the loop through every step of, and actually included in, the decision-making process, getting the ranks to agree on the general proposition didn’t require any arm twisting. Certainly, the collegial approach adopted by commissioner Adam Silver helped in no small measure; for as long as all and sundry can remember, he views those with a stake in the principal product as partners and not adversaries. Accordingly, the trust he has built over time is precisely what they remember when he puts forth radical ideas; they understand from the get-go that collective interests are being forwarded.

Nonetheless, there remains much to be discussed. The date and venue may be set; fans are already looking forward to seeing marquee names in active competition late next month at Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex. Most other things are not, however. How big of a staff will teams be allowed to bring in? When will players have to be at the site? Will family members be allowed? What is the magnitude of the testing required? And what happens if one individual in the bubble is found to be positive of the novel coronavirus?

All these and plenty more items will be subjects of discussion — and even contentious back and forth — between the league and union representatives. Baselines have to be set, after which not inconsiderable give and take will be negotiated. And amid all the tumult caused by both the pandemic and the civil unrest it has placed front and center, questioning the validity of pushing through with a sporting spectacle is far from unreasonable. The flipside, of course, is that livelihoods and lives are likewise at stake. The NBA is a billion-dollar enterprise on which countless quarters rely, hence the profound interest in restarting the season.

A less considered reason that is likewise crucial to the well-being of even those from the outside looking in: The NBA is obliged to come up with a semblance of normalcy in these trying times. There can be no underestimating the value and importance of its proceedings to the physical and mental fitness of all those involved, directly or otherwise. The benefits are thus equally tangible and manifest. Which is why extraordinary efforts are being made to get the 2019–20 campaign going anew. It’s not just the desire for the league to crown a champion. It’s the need for all else make the trip.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.

WHO says symptomless spread is ‘rare,’ in jolt to virus efforts

Transmission of the novel coronavirus by people who aren’t showing symptoms is “very rare,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said, contradicting a widely held belief among health officials and researchers that the disease was being spread by people who weren’t showing signs of illness.

“It still appears to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual,” Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said at a briefing in Geneva. She said her comment is based on detailed reports of contact tracing from various countries.

More research is needed to confirm the roles that so-called asymptomatic cases and pre-symptomatic cases play in spreading the disease. But if proven correct, the development could have a major impact on how health officials and governments approach the battle to contain the pandemic. Uncertainty over how the virus behaves has hindered nations’ efforts to re-open their battered economies.

Earlier research sparked concern that the virus would be difficult to contain because of asymptomatic transmission. The New England Journal of Medicine, in an article dated May 28, warned that transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by seemingly healthy people is “the Achilles’ heel of COVID-19 pandemic control.”

RIGID RESTRICTIONS
Countries across the globe have been wary of relaxing social-distancing guidelines and rigid travel restrictions, fearing that people without symptoms could spread the COVID-19 pathogen unchecked throughout communities.

Because identifying asymptomatic cases is so difficult, the US and other nations have struggled to implement adequate testing to gauge how widespread the disease has become. The Chinese city of Wuhan recently completed the testing of its entire population of 11 million in an effort to identify cases to avoid a resurgence of infections.

Ms. Van Kerkhove cited a number of reports from countries doing detailed contact tracing — in which asymptomatic cases and their contacts were followed — that found no evidence of secondary transmission. She said countries should focus on following symptomatic cases.

“If we actually follow all the symptomatic cases, isolated those cases, followed the contacts and quarantined those contacts, we would drastically reduce” transmission, she said. — Bloomberg

Bayanihan@AIM Virtual Hackathon awards winners

The “Bayanihan@AIM: Restarting Philippine Business and Society after COVID-19” virtual hackathon ended on a very optimistic note after the live virtual presentations by the finalists last May 18, 2020.

A total of sixty-seven teams participated in the Institute’s first ever virtual hackathon. AIM organized the hackathon to generate innovative solutions to help address three challenges that Philippine business and society will face post COVID-19: Food Security, Jobs and the Future of Work, and Support for MSMEs.

Participants were given two weeks to work on their hacks. A distinguished list of mentors led by AIM professors Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go, Jamil Paolo Francisco, Rene Domingo, Gaston Ortigas, Felipe Calderon, and Sandeep Puri, were joined by external mentors Joseph Ian Gendrano and Kristine Dara Ever Juan from PLDT Innolab, to provide critical guidance and advice to all the teams as they relentlessly pursued the most original, practical, and fitting solution to the specific challenge they have chosen.

The panels of judges for each of the challenges were composed of:

Challenge 1: Food Security
Cherrie D. Atilano – President and CEO and Founding Farmer of AGREA Philippines; Gregory Francis H. Banzon – EVP and COO, Century Pacific Food, Inc.; Pacita Juan, Founder, ECHOstore; and Ma. Estela O. Nievera, President and CEO, Cabalen Group of Companies.

Challenge 2: Jobs and the Future of Work
Paolo Azzola, COO and Managing Director, PayMaya Philippines; Catherine S. Ileto, Social Impact Lead and Senior Director, Sutherland Global Services Philippines, Inc.; and Chito S. Maniago, Country Head for Communications and Government Affairs, GSK Philippines.

Challenge 3: Support for MSMEs
Carlo O. Asuncion, Chief Economist, Union Bank of the Philippines; Jonah de Lumen-Pernia, Trustee and Vice President, Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines; Jorge Lindley S. Ong, Group Head, Security Bank of the Philippines; Anna Meloto-Wilk, President and Co-Founder, Human Nature; and Primitivo Paypon, Executive Director, AIM-Dado Banatao Incubator.

The top three finalists for each challenge were selected based on the following criteria: Originality (30%), Alignment to national objectives and SDGs (30%), Practicality (30%), and Presentation (10%).

The final round was a well-attended virtual event via Zoom. The proceedings commenced with AIM President and Dean Dr. Jikyeong Kang’s welcome remarks, followed by Associate Dean Jamil Paolo Francisco’s introduction of the mentors and judges. ARO Executive Managing Director Bernie Jiao served as the event’s host.

Each of the finalists’ video presentations was played for the judges’ further scrutiny and review. After each presentation, judges had the opportunity to ask questions from the team members, or comment on the ideas/solutions presented.

Adjudged as the best among the finalists, and the grand winners in their respective challenges were:

Team GulayIsLife for Food Security. Team members are: Amherstia M. Ojerio and Rodette A. Astoriano

 

 

Team WTF: Workforce of the Future for Jobs and the Future of Work. Team members are: Kevin Anthony Sison, Carmelita Esclanda, Elijah Justin Medina, and Naman Punit.

 

Team Syft for Support for MSMEs. Team members are: Michael Glenn Kakumoto, Jann Skyler Teng, Ariel Silva, Jr. and Florentino Gonzales, IV.

Each winning team received PhP50,000 in cash courtesy of Gold Sponsor Security Bank Corporation, and each team member was gifted a mobile phone by PLDT Enterprise.

In the midst of the pandemic and the adverse impact it has inflicted on the global economy, AIM wishes to thank and salute outstanding companies like Security Bank Corporation for their continuing support for activities that play a crucial role in nation building. The hackathon would not have been as successful if not for SBC’s generosity and solid support. The bank really stood by the hackathon during this difficult time.

The same goes to Metro Pacific Investment Corporation and PLDT Enterprise. Without their support, not to mention the crucial mentoring by Jojo and Dara, the hackathon would not have been the wonderful learning experience it has been for the participants.

Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all the teams for rising to the challenge to contribute to nation-building during this most critical time. You are truly the future of the country!

World Bank says coronavirus to shrink 2020 global output by 5.2%

WASHINGTON — The coronavirus will cause global economic output to contract by 5.2% in 2020, the World Bank said on Monday, warning that its latest forecasts would be revised downward if uncertainty over the pandemic and business lockdowns persist.

In its latest Global Economic Prospects report, the World Bank said that advanced economies are expected to shrink 7% in 2020, while emerging market economies will contract 2.5%, their first since aggregate data became available in 1960. On a per-capita GDP basis, the global contraction will be the deepest since 1945–46 as World War II spending dried up.

The updated forecasts show more damage to the economy than estimates released in April by the International Monetary Fund, which predicted a 3% global contraction in 2020.

The IMF plans to update its forecasts on June 24 and Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has said that further cuts are “very likely.”

World Bank officials said their baseline scenario assumes that social distancing lockdowns and temporary business closures begin to ease at the end of June.

But the report shows a downside scenario in which lockdowns are extended by three months this year. Should that occur, the 2020 contraction would deepen to 8%–10% in advanced economies and 5% in emerging markets, with far more permanent business closures, a bigger collapse in global trade flows, layoffs and deep cuts in household spending.

“If that scenario materializes, the downside scenario, we are expecting a very sluggish recovery in 2021,” World Bank Prospects Group Director Ayhan Kose told reporters. “Global growth barely would begin to recover” at around 1.3% next year.

The new forecasts also increased the World Bank’s estimate of how many people will be pushed back into extreme poverty by the pandemic, to between 70 million and 100 million from a previous estimate of over 60 million. — Reuters

Semirara Mining and Power Corporation sets stockholders’ meeting via remote communication

Notice of Annual Stockholders’ Meeting

Please be notified that the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (the “Corporation”) will be held on July 3, 2020, Friday at 10:00 o’clock in the morning and will be conducted by remote communication in view of the current circumstances brought by regulations issued by the National Government due to COVID-19, with the following agenda:

Agenda
1) CALL TO ORDER & PROOF OF NOTICE OF MEETING
2) CERTIFICATION OF QUORUM
3) CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE
4) APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS STOCKHOLDERS’ MEETING HELD ON MAY 6, 2019
5) APPROVAL OF MANAGEMENT REPORT
6) APPROVAL OF THE AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR 2019
7) RATIFICATION OF THE ACTS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND MANAGEMENT FROM THE DATE OF THE LAST ANNUAL STOCKHOLDER’S MEETING UP TO THE DATE OF THIS MEETING
8) ELECTION OF DIRECTORS FOR 2020-2021
9) APPROVAL OF APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT EXTERNAL AUDITOR
10) OTHER MATTERS
11) ADJOURNMENT

Record Date
Stockholders of record as of May 22, 2020 will be entitled to notice of, and vote at the said annual meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof.

Registration and Voting
Stockholders may attend the meeting by remote communication by registering at https://www.semirarampc.com/asm beginning June 18 until June 25, 2020. Only stockholders of record as of May 22, 2020 will be entitled to vote at the said meeting. Stockholders may vote in absentia using the online voting portal at https://www.semirarampc.com/voting, or by appointing the Chairman of the meeting as their proxy. The voting portal will be accessible beginning June 30, 2020 until the day of the ASM virtual meeting on July 3, 2020.

The following documents are required to be transmitted by email to corporatesecretary@semirarampc.com upon registration:

CERTIFICATED SHARES:
1. Individual Stockholder
a. Valid Government-Issued ID or passport
2. Corporate Stockholder
a. Secretary’s Certificate designating its attorney-in-fact and proxy
b. Valid Government-Issued ID or passport of the representative

UNCERTIFICATED OR SCRIPLESS SHARES:
1. Individual Stockholder
a. Broker’s Certification stating the stockholder’s name and the number of shares held
b. Valid Government-Issued ID or passport
2. Corporate Stockholder
a. Broker’s Certification stating the stockholder’s name and the number of shares held
b. Secretary’s Certificate designating its attorney-in-fact and proxy
c. Valid Government-Issued ID or passport of the representative

The requirements and procedure for electronic voting in absentia and participationby remote communicationare set forth in the Information Statement, published in the Company’s website at (www.semiraramining.com), and on PSE EDGE.

Stockholder Question
Questions and/or comments may be sent prior to the meeting at corporatesecretary@semirarampc.com, which shall be limited to the items in the Agenda. Some questions may be addressed while others will be replied to via email.

Proxy
Duly accomplished proxy forms must be submitted on or before June 25, 2020 to the Office of the Corporate Secretary at 2nd Floor DMCI Plaza, 2281 Don Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City, Philippines or by email at corporatesecretary@semirarampc.com. Validation of proxies is set on June 26, 2020 at 10:00 a.m.

(Sgd.) JOHN R. SADULLO
Corporate Secretary
For the Board of Directors

GOCC eyed to invest in struggling firms

ECONOMIC MANAGERS are proposing the creation of a new government-owned and -controlled corporation (GOCC) that will invest in shares of large firms now struggling amid the coronavirus crisis.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III on Monday proposed that Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) form a holding company that will be authorized to make equity investments in companies now facing solvency problems.

“Right now, we are suggesting LANDBANK and DBP organize a new GOCC and that GOCC will be capitalized and will be empowered to make investments in companies that are important to the national interest and that need injections of capital in the form of preferred shares, common shares, whatever,” he said during the online Sulong Pilipinas forum on Monday.

Mr. Dominguez said the new GOCC will be capitalized to invest in firms, deemed critical to national interest” such as those in the transportation and manufacturing industries.

“We are still studying the total capitalization initially needed, but definitely, we will be inviting others to invest in this vehicle,” he said, adding that potential investors may include private sector arms of multilateral agencies and foreign and local investment firms.

Companies that will benefit from this will have to meet certain conditions, such as “limits to dividends; non-dilution of equity; limits on bonuses and allowances, retention and incentives of senior executives; clawbacks on bonuses; and no golden parachutes.” Firms should also curtail spending on entertainment and events, office renovations, and private aviation and transport services.

The proposed equity infusion program is one part of the economic managers’ recovery plan to help large companies battered by the coronavirus crisis.

The government is also pushing for the immediate reduction in corporate income tax to 25% in July, but Congress was unable to pass the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) bill before its adjournment last week.

Senators had issued a joint statement, saying they will tackle the bill and “work to pass it” by August.

Mr. Dominguez said the corporate income tax cut can be implemented retroactively.

‘REALISTIC’ STIMULUS BILL
Meanwhile, Mr. Dominguez said their calculations showed the government can only afford “more or less” a P170-180 billion stimulus package this year, including the estimated P40 billion in foregone revenues from corporate income tax reduction.

“If we are able to get a piece of legislation close to what the Senate wants, which is P140 billion, we can afford both, but we cannot afford P1.3 trillion, that is very simple,” he said, referring to the P1.3-trillion Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy of the Philippines (ARISE) bill approved by the House of Representatives last week.

The Finance chief said the pending stimulus bills that have allocations of “over and above the budget” are considered as supplemental budget.

He said the government is constrained by Constitutional limitations where a supplemental budget is not possible if not supported by additional revenues or savings.

“What we constantly underscore with various stakeholders, including Congress, is the need to have a realistic economic recovery program that is fiscally sustainable because we do not know how long this pandemic will last,” Mr. Dominguez said.

Also, he said the economic team will only accommodate a “sustainable budget deficit” of up to 9% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, to place “right about in the middle of the fiscal deficits of our rating peers and our neighbors, [which] I think we will be in a safe place.”

“Right now, we have no savings (excess revenues) because we have used them all up and we have no additional sources of revenues in the horizon,” Mr. Dominguez said. — Beatrice M. Laforga

ARISE bill provision on loan restructuring seen as ‘unnecessary’

By Beatrice M. Laforga, Genshen L. Espedido
and Luz Wendy T. Noble, Reporters

THE banking industry does not believe it is necessary for the stimulus measure recently approved by the House of Representatives to include a provision “encouraging” banks to extend the term of some consumer and commercial loans for up to two years, since lenders are already doing this on a case-to-case basis.

The House of Representatives last week approved House Bill No. 6815 or the Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy of the Philippines (ARISE Philippines) Act on third and final reading.

Under Section 11, banks, nonbank financial institutions (NBFI), lending and financing companies are “encouraged” to extend the term or agree to the restructuring of existing consumer loans of employees of non-essential businesses; commercial loans of non-essential businesses; and local government loans that fall due between March 16, 2020 and December 31, 2020. The loan term may be extended for up to two years, while only principal payments may be suspended in case of a moratorium.

The bill also states banks and NBFIs that agree to extend or restructure loans will be able to get some regulatory relief such as “non-inclusion in the bank’s or NBFI’s reporting on nonperforming loans; staggered booking of allowances credit losses; exemption, when applicable, from the limits on real estate loans; and exemption from related party transaction restrictions.”

Sought for comment, Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) President Cezar P. Consing on Monday said the bill’s provision is “unnecessary.”

“We think this encouragement is probably unnecessary, as banks in general are prepared to reschedule loan payments on a case-to-case basis, depending on the situation of the borrower and the bank,” Mr. Consing, who is also president and CEO of Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) told BusinessWorld in a text message.

While the bill states it is only “encouraging” banks, Mr. Consing said mandating a moratorium on loan payments could result in liquidity issues and might “threaten the viability” of a lot of banks.

“If the one-year moratorium were to be mandated, the absence of loan payments would cause liquidity problems and could threaten the viability of many banks. Fortunately, ARISE does not call for this,” he added.

Chamber of Thrift Banks Executive Director Suzanne I. Felix said some lenders are already restructuring loans for clients affected by the coronavirus crisis.

“While it merely encourages FIs (financial institutions) to do the restructuring, we would rather that this provision be dispensed with to avoid any misunderstanding later on as bank clients may interpret this differently,” Ms. Felix said in an e-mail to BusinessWorld.

“Even without this provision, the banks have been engaging their clients and accommodating their loan payment requests on a case-to-case basis,” she added.

For the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), the bill’s provision is more applicable to bigger players as most of the credit that rural banks extend to small farmers, micro-entrepreneurs and wage earners in the countryside are payable over the short term or in less than one year.

“Being the smallest players in the banking community with lesser resources and capital yet servicing the riskiest segments, (a mandatory one-year extension of loan payments) will potentially place a number of rural banks at risk due to possible liquidity shortfall if funds are not sourced in due time to stabilize their cash position,” RBAP said in an e-mailed response to BusinessWorld’s questions.

However, Marikina Rep. Stella Luz A. Quimbo, one of the principal authors of the ARISE bill, said banks would find it to their advantage to restructure loans amid the crisis.

“Based on our consultations with banks, many of them will find it to their advantage to restructure loans. Otherwise, their loan portfolios will turn sour. Banks are critical in helping businesses recover through low interest loans (with government’s help) so workers get to keep their jobs,” she told BusinessWorld via Viber message on Friday.

ARISE only encourages banks to restructure loans, as Ms. Quimbo acknowledged that banks cannot be mandated to do so under uniform terms.

“Mandating restructuring of loans under rigid terms might cause banks to become unprofitable and this will be a problem in the long run,” she added.

Sought for comment on the bill’s provision, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said: “The operative word is ‘encourages’ not ‘mandates,’ BSP is helping the banks so they can help their clients — both individuals and firms.”

Power rates decline in June; no adjustments in Q3 water billing

Households in Metro Manila will see lower electricity bills in June. — PHILSTAR/MICHAEL VARCAS

ELECTRICITY RATES in Metro Manila slightly declined this month, with typical households likely to see a P4 cut in their bills, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) announced on Monday.

At the same time, there will be no tariff adjustments on water bills in the third quarter, according to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System Regulatory Office (MWSS).

In a statement, the Philippines’ biggest power distributor said overall rates for this month fell by P0.0216 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to P8.7252/kWh from May’s P8.7468/kWh.

Meralco said the rates decline was still due to its relaxed power contracts as electricity demand remained low in areas under strict lockdown and less stringent quarantine.

Households consuming 200k Wh, 300k Wh, 400 kWh, and 500 kWh could expect bill reduction by P4, P6, P9, and P11, respectively.

The listed utility’s generation charge dropped for the third straight month to P4.3413/kWh this month from last month’s P4.3848/kWh after it invoked another force majeure claim in its power supply agreements during the lockdown.

A force majeure event is an uncontrollable event that makes it impossible for power plant operators to fulfill their obligations.

“This June, the force majeure claim totaled P614 million, equivalent to P0.2208/kWh, representing reduction in fixed costs from its baseload supply contracts recently approved by the Energy Regulatory Board (ERC),” Meralco said.

Since April, overall savings from the force majeure claim reached P1.6 billion.

Without it, generation charge and total rate would have increased by P0.18 and P0.24, respectively, from last month’s rate.

Charges from supply contracts, which make up 50.4% of Meralco’s total supply, slipped by P0.0613/kWh, while the cost of power from independent power producers, which supplies the utility with 47.1% of its requirements, also reduced by P0.2334/kWh due to higher average plant dispatch.

Meanwhile, dues from Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), which fulfills 2.5% of the distributor’s supply needs, went up by P0.3132/kWh because of tighter supply conditions in the Luzon grid upon the incidents of plant outages and slight demand pick up.

Further, other pass-through charges also rose to P0.0219/kWh as the collection of the P0.0495/kWh feed-in-tariff allowance (FiT-All) charge resumed.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) suspended the collection of FiT-All in the April and May billing months to aid consumers affected by the lockdown measures.

Also, the regulator suspended the collection of Universal Charge-Environmental Charge of P0.0025/kWh this month as per its latest advisory.

Despite a monthly rate decrease, Meralco earlier advised some 2.8 million customers whose meters are yet to be read that their June bills will be higher as it will show their total actual consumption during the lockdown period.

The utility suspended meter readings during the quarantine period. As of May, 2.8 million or around 40% of its customers are not yet billed for their actual consumption since March.

WATER RATES UNCHANGED
In a statement on Monday, MWSS Chief Regulator Patrick Lester N. Ty said the board of trustees gave the go signal to retain the prevailing second-quarter foreign currency differential adjustment (FCDA), after evaluating the proposals of the two water concessionaires.

Maynilad Water Services, Inc., which is in charge of the west zone, will continue to apply an FCDA of -0.21% or P0.08 per cubic meter (cu.m.) of its average basic charge of P36.24 per cu.m.

East zone water provider Manila Water Co., Inc. will continue to implement an FCDA of 1.69% or P0.48 per cu.m. of its average basic charge of P28.52 per cu.m.

On March 13, the MWSS board of trustees approved the FCDA for the two water concessionaires.

The FCDA is a tariff mechanism which allows water concessionaires to regain losses or return gains caused by the movement of peso against other foreign currencies. The water providers pay foreign currency-denominated concession fees to MWSS, as well as loans that are used to fund projects to expand and improve water and sewerage services.

The announcement for zero rate adjustment came after the MWSS recently announced that water allocation for Metro Manila households will remain at 48 cubic meters per second until the end of the month.

In a statement on June 2, MWSS Administrator Emmanuel B. Salamat said the sustained water allocation is to address current high water system demands such as for sanitary measures like hand washing to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

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

AC Energy to build wind farms in Vietnam

AYALA-LED AC Energy, Inc. is building two wind energy projects in Vietnam with Hong Kong-based UPC Renewables Group.

In a statement on Monday, the Ayala energy platform said the joint venture started the construction of the wind projects with a total capacity of 60 megawatts (MW) along the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam.

“We have strongly pushed for the adoption of new technologies and best practices to grow our assets in renewables,” Patrice R. Clause, the chief operating officer of AC Energy’s international segment, said.

The two firms secured the wind turbines with a height of 162 meters each, touted as the tallest in the country, from Danish industrial manufacturer Vestas. The wind projects — referred to as Lac Hoa and Hoa Dong — will be built in Vietnam’s Soc Trang Province.

“This project features the tallest towers in Vietnam and showcases Vestas’ ability to optimize the value proposition for our client and develop site-specific solutions for all wind sites,” Clive Turton, president of Vestas Asia Pacific Wind Technology Pte Ltd., was quoted as saying in the statement.

The Singapore-based energy solutions provider will provide an active output management service agreement for up to 20 years.

AC Energy through its wholly owned subsidiary AC Energy Vietnam Investments 2 Pte. Ltd. holds half of the voting stake in both projects.

“The synergies between UPC Renewables and AC Energy continue to allow us to advance innovative and challenging renewable energy projects in the Asia-Pacific region and we look forward to working with AC Energy again to advance wind energy in Vietnam,” UPC Renewables Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brian Caffyn said.

The projects are a first for UPC Renewables in Vietnam. The partnership between the two companies started in 2013 when they put up the 81-MW wind farm under North Luzon Renewable Energy Corp. in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.

Meanwhile, AC Energy began the second phase of the Mui Ne wind farm project with The Blue Circle Pte. Ltd. in March. The $80-million wind farm is located on the southeastern coast of the country.

The Ayala company aims to reach a renewable energy capacity of over 5 gigawatts (GW) in the next five years. As of 2019, it posted an attributable capacity of more than 1.8 GW from both operational and under-construction projects in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam. — Adam J. Ang

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