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Moving on: How to leave your company the right way

Have you ever had days where you dragged yourself to work? Or have you looked at your pay slip and felt like you’re just not earning what you deserve? If you have, then it’s time to pay close attention to your work life: These are just some of the many reasons for leaving a company.

Once the workplace honeymoon is over, it’s tempting to draft and file your resignation letter as soon as your shift ends. But leaving a company isn’t a single decision. It’s a process — one that requires much introspection and consultation.

Losing one’s spark

When you first joined the company, you might have signed on because the opportunity matched your expectations for responsibilities, work arrangements, or professional growth. At some point, however, you might have found that those expectations weren’t being met. For most, that’s due in large part to less than savory co-workers.

In her first job, Vivian* dreaded going to work because of one of her bosses. “I felt like we just didn’t work well [together]. Instead of getting inspired, I was more afraid of her which was affecting my work,” she said.

Over time, these issues could affect you so negatively that you become apathetic. Absences and tardiness cases pile up; tasks are done with mediocrity. Once an employee reaches this state of “brownout”, it becomes difficult for them to find joy in their jobs. No reason is enough for them to stay, always canceled out by justifications for quitting.

Every employee reaches the point where they want to move on to new prospects. While this may be a ubiquitous occurrence, it’s still something that must be approached with rationality and patience.

“Resigning is a big career decision,” said Gina Jusay, managing director at SFI Career Center. “So make sure that it’s really a wise decision, and make sure that it will benefit you.”

Make time to find some clarity.

“Brownout” is reason enough for most employees to leave. But some still teeter on the decision because they’re afraid of change. Career Coach Malou Treñas-Del Castillo says this fear can be overcome by a good action plan.

“Have information that makes it clear to you that you should resign… based on what is important to you, what you enjoy doing, and what you want long-term,” she said. After this process of discernment, you can start identifying which of these needs you would be willing to compromise (after all, no workplace is 100 percent perfect).

Danielle Cruz, career coach and counselor at SFI Career Center, says reaching out to friends and family could help in that introspection process. “[They can help] in giving not only moral support but also different perspectives,” Cruz said. “There might be things that you don’t see that others can.”

The end goal of this process isn’t to find peace with your current situation, but to arrive at some clarity as to why exactly you’re professionally dissatisfied. At the end of it, you may find that the reasons for leaving stay, but the anxieties around quitting go away.

Live in the present.

Once you’ve formalized your resignation, your last 30 days could go in a blink of an eye. To keep a happy and proactive mindset, try using Martin Seligman’s PERMA Model:

  • Positive emotion – Stay optimistic about your future and remind yourself constantly of everything that you’re grateful for. This is good not only for your mental well-being but also for your physical health.
  • Engagement – Maintaining a state of flow keeps a person satisfied and motivated, something that may have been lost due to busyness with work. Recover your flow by doing activities that you’ve long wanted to do or that make you happy.
  • Relationships – You may have missed out on some reunions because you were too busy with work. Use this time to genuinely reconnect with friends and family.
  • Meaning – Instead of dwelling too much on the negativity that drove you to resign, focus on the good things that you got out of them. For example, if your boss wasn’t a very good mentor, acknowledge that this may have helped you to become more independent.
  • Accomplishments – It takes guts to quit a job, so be proud of your bravery and celebrate it. A gesture as simple as treating yourself to your favorite food not only makes you feel good about yourself but also helps you look forward to the next chapter of your career.

Of course, anticipating the future doesn’t mean that you should forget the present. Ensure that you turnover properly in your last days as an employee of the organization. Fulfill last requests from your supervisor, organize necessary documents, and fill out the necessary paperwork for a smooth transition.

The relationships that you’ve formed are just as important. Maintain your close friendships, promise to keep in touch with stakeholders, and keep things civil even with colleagues that you may have clashed with in the past. “We think that we move in a big world, but when it comes to the professional world… it’s really small. That’s why it’s not good to burn bridges because in the future, we might get to work with those people again,” said Cruz.

Find the next thing.

The work doesn’t stop after you’ve cleared your desk– at least when it comes to your career. No doubt you’ve already been casually searching the job market well before you left. But now it’s time to hunt in earnest.

Check multiple job-finding platforms to ensure a wide selection of options; not all employers are present on every website. You can also ask across the professional connections that you’ve formed through the years.

Use this time as well to learn more about your craft. Accomplishing certified online courses, for instance, can boost both your skillset and your CV.

“If you perceive your vacant period would be much longer, employers will ask what you did during that time,” said Richard Monteverde, career coach and counselor at SFI Career Center. “It would be good to justify that you accomplished something. It shows your initiative and dedication to the profession.”

Leaving a job may seem daunting. You may be frozen by the fear of uncertainty, or guilted by the workload you’re leaving behind. But at the end of the day, an ill fit hurts everyone in the workplace, not just you. Find clarity by taking inventory of your priorities. Cut cleanly and amicably. And let your passions move you forward and upward to the next thing.
________________________________________

Editor’s Note: Some names changed for privacy.

Asia is not ‘Silicon Valley Lite’

If you attend a startup event anywhere in Asia, you’ll most likely hear mentors, advisors, and other judges using the ecosystem’s universal jargon. They’ll speak of the need to build a lean startup, create a minimum viable product, and pivot when needed. Such terminology comes of course from the Lean Startup by Eric Ries.

While the lean startup framework undoubtedly provides enormous value to entrepreneurs in Asia still learning about tech entrepreneurship, few people have volunteered additional ideas or models that might further guide founders in Asia. The perspective that Ries was writing from was Silicon Valley, after all, which is vastly different from emerging Asian markets like Manila, Philippines or Jakarta, Indonesia, or even the region’s financial hubs like Singapore or Hong Kong. The markets in Asia Pacific are just different, and perhaps they require additional or more region-specific ideas to guide founders in building products, services, and companies here.

Asia is just not a microcosm of Silicon Valley. We are not Silicon Valley Lite.

Proof of this fact is evident in the numerous startup business models that have been copy-pasted from Silicon Valley into emerging Asia only to fail, sometimes spectacularly, including everything from carpooling to crowdfunding. Many of these companies also tried to employ lean startup principles, but they nonetheless floundered. Some faced regulatory issues. Others did not find product-market fit. Many could not achieve escape velocity to scale.

The vast majority of these startups would not have been saved by newer, more localized models and ideas. But some would have benefitted. That’s why it’s important to rethink how we think about innovation in Asia.

While there are several thought leaders doing exactly that, one of the most promising models comes from serial entrepreneur Winston Damarillo. Damarillo is one of the very few founders in the world who have scaled and exited technology companies in both Silicon Valley (acquisitions to IBM, Iona Technologies, and Intalio) and Asia (IPO of Morph Labs). This fact is less interesting as a biographical tidbit were it not for the fact that it shows that Damarillo can see across the divide: He knows what works in Silicon Valley vis-a-vis what works in Asia.

In a talk at Echelon Asia Summit 2019, e27’s flagship tech series, Damarillo put forth a new model for tech innovation and corporate investing, which he dubbed Corporate VC 3.0.

In Silicon Valley, startups can be dragon-slayers. So long as they have a brilliant idea and great execution, they can take down even the largest and most entrenched incumbents.

Asia stands in sharp contrast to this model. Damarillo argued that startups and corporates need to work hand-in-hand to innovate in their core business, with each providing key resources that the other lacks. Corporates provide high-distribution capabilities for startups, who would otherwise lack access to scalable markets, and startups provide corporates with technologies that internal dynamics would otherwise preclude them from creating. In corporate-speak, it’s a win-win.

In Damarillo’s view, Corporate VC 3.0 is a natural and necessary evolution from how corporates previously thought of corporate investing. In 1.0, corporates invested in startups in adjacent industries, and in 2.0, they invested in startups in their direct ecosystem. In 3.0, corporates work in close collaboration with startups to innovate their core business, in active rebellion of the dreaded innovator’s dilemma.

In explaining this framework, Damarillo drew on his own experience building Saphron, an insurance-tech startup already working with some of the biggest insurance companies in Asia, such as Pioneer. Saphron’s mission is to make insurance radically accessible, using mobile and internet technologies including AI and data analytics to package and deliver the most relevant insurance products, to the masses who need it most.

Other startups in Asia would be well-served to follow Damarillo’s example, if not his model. By laser focusing on what corporates may need and articulating how their solution fills that exact gap, startups can move away from the ethos of growth-hacking.

Rather than having to experiment with a suite of digital marketing tactics to find the one that yields hockey-stick growth, startups can tap into the corporate distribution networks that already have a proven pathway to millions of users.

Inflation as experienced by low-income households (bottom 30%)

INFLATION for low-income families accelerated in May after six straight months of slowing down, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Monday. Read the full story.

Inflation as experienced by low-income households (bottom 30%)

Price impact on the poor worsens

By Christine Joyce S. Castañeda
Senior Researcher

INFLATION for low-income families accelerated in May after six straight months of slowing down, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Monday.

The inflation rate for the country’s bottom 30% income households clocked in at 4.6% in May, faster than the year-on-year overall price increase of 4.3% in April, but was slower than 6.4% in May 2018.

The latest reading brought the year-to-date pace for this income segment to 4.9%, still slower than the 5.7% in 2018’s first five months.

That compared to a 3.2% headline inflation experienced by the average household in May, which is faster than the three-percent reading in April. The May headline figure likewise snapped six consecutive months of deceleration even as the consumer price index (CPI) used in measuring headline inflation uses 2012 prices compared to the CPI for the bottom 30% income households, which uses 2000 prices.

Aside from differing base years, the CPI for the bottom 30% income segment of the population reconfigures the model basket of goods, assigning heavier weight on food, beverage and tobacco (FBT), as well as other necessities as these are thought to more accurately capture the spending patterns of the poor.

“The main driver of inflation — both in overall inflation and even more pronounced in the country’s lower 30% [income households] — is food price gains,” ING Bank NV Manila senior economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said in an e-mail when sought for comment. “Given the heft of the food basket, we can expect overall inflation to take its cue from the movement in the food sub-component.”

In a separate e-mail, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) economist Michael L. Ricafort said the year-on-year uptick for the bottom 30% inflation “may be partly attributed to the mild El Niño drought that caused a slight uptick in the prices of some food/agricultural products.”

“The uptick may also be attributed to higher oil prices and weaker peso in the earlier part of May 2019,” he added.

The FBT index recorded the biggest jump among commodity groups at 4.8% in May from 4.5% in April. Likewise, the food-alone index went up to 4.3% from 3.9% previously.

The PSA noted that relative to annual rates in April, bigger annual increases were noted for: dairy products (3.3% from 3.2%); fish (7.8% from 6.8%); fruits and vegetables (9.9% from 6.9%); miscellaneous foods (5% from 4.7%); clothing (3.2% from 3.1%) and miscellaneous goods (2.5% from 2.4%).

At the same time, decelerations were seen in fuel, light and water at 3.9% in May from 4.3% in April; and housing and repairs at 4.1% from 4.2%. The annual rate of services steadied at 3.7%.

While inflation experienced by poor households in May was faster on average, its impact varied among regions. Inflation among the bottom 30% income segment outside Metro Manila saw a faster rate at 4.6% in May from 4.3% in April, while it steadied at 2.6% for those living in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Among regions, five posted inflation rates above the 4.6% national average, with the fastest pace observed in the MIMAROPA Region — consisting of Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan south of NCR — at 10.3% in May.

Looking forward, RCBC’s Mr. Ricafort said he expects both headline and bottom 30% inflation rates to have eased in the following month “due to the relatively lower global crude oil prices among three-month lows” as well as a stronger peso exchange rate against the US dollar and “higher base/denominator effects.”

The Philippine Statistics Authority is scheduled to report June inflation data on July 5.

“The rice tariffication law and the government’s non-monetary measures would offset any continued adverse effects of the mild El Niño drought that led to some uptick in local food/agriculture prices,” Mr. Ricafort said, referring to Republic Act No. 11203 which replaced quantitative import restrictions on the staple with regular tariffs and liberalized importation, in turn slashing retail prices and, ultimately, tempering inflation.

Similarly, ING’s Mr. Mapa noted: “We’re still monitoring food prices given its importance and weight in the CPI basket, but at least rice prices continued to decline in June compared to the same period in 2018.”

Rice contributed 0.16 percentage point to the 3.6% average headline inflation rate as of May, compared to 0.33 points of the 4.1% average in last year’s first five months. The staple accounts for about a tenth of the theoretical basket of goods widely used by the average Filipino household.

Inflation as experienced by low-income households (bottom 30%)

SE Asia sub-regional group pushes for bigger local gov’t role in dev’t

DAVAO CITY — Leaders of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) want more active local government participation in identifying opportunities for investments and closer linkages within the sub-region.

The four countries, in a joint press statement at the end of their 13th BIMP-EAGA Leaders’ Summit after the 34th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Bangkok, Thailand on Sunday, reaffirmed that they “strongly support area-based cooperation in priority points along the economic corridors, which offer the greatest potential for attracting trade, tourism and investment, and which will yield long-term social, environmental and economic benefits.”

“We encourage officials to identify investment needs and opportunities in these areas based on inputs from state and local governments, the private sector and local communities to ensure maximum impact.”

John Carlo B. Tria, executive vice-president of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc., said while the group’s development seems to have been slow over the last 25 years, the four countries have been working towards harmonizing policies.

“This may be slow, but my opinion is that (trading links) will eventually mature,” Mr. Tria told BusinessWorld in a mobile phone message when sought for comment. “I just hope that the developments in the BIMP-EAGA and the rest of ASEAN will result in more connectivity and trade in Mindanao.”

BIMP-EAGA leaders also emphasized the need for “quality, seamless, multi-modal infrastructure” as this will facilitate movement of goods and people.

“We are greatly pleased with the substantial improvement and expansion of the multi-modal transport network in our sub-region,” they said, citing roads and ports that have improved market access.

The report presented to the leaders during the summit indicates that 16 out of the 69 identified priority infrastructure projects (PIPs) for 2017-2025, with an estimated value of $ 22.7 billion, have been completed.

Last week at the Davao Investment Conference here, the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), the agency that represents the Philippines in the sub-regional group, announced the revival of the Davao-General Santos-Bitung shipping route.

In a speech read for him by MinDA Investment Promotion and Public Affairs Office Director Olie B. Dagala, MinDA acting chair Nathaniel D. Dalumpines said there is a need to sustain the route as it “puts premium on Mindanao’s strategic location to the BIMP-EAGA, and the larger ASEAN.”

A new vessel, with a maximum capacity of 200 twenty foot equivalent unit (TEU), is scheduled to arrive in Davao on July 6, about 20 days after leaving Bitung.

The route earlier hit a snag after the first shipping company, which used a vessel with 500 TEU capacity, failed to sustain operations due to lack of cargo load. The route was launched in April 2017 here with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Indonesian President Joko Widodo leading the event.

The four countries also cited the signing of the ASEAN Memorandum of Understanding on the Improvement of Safety Standards and Inspection for Non-Convention Ships within ASEAN Member States and the adoption of the Guidelines for Safety Standards for Non-Convention Ships on Nov. 9 last year, which is seen to help “facilitate and promote cross-border maritime safety, expand maritime trade and improve the sustainability of barter trade.”

They also reported that the 25-year-old group’s economic expansion rate was 5.7% in 2017, valued at $287.3 billion, with merchandise trade clocking 21.5% growth. Foreign and local investments were about $20 billion.

In terms of tourism, about 88.2 million visitors were recorded in 2017, up 6.6% from the previous year.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Mr. Takehiko Nakao, in a statement on Sunday, reaffirmed ADB’s support for BIMP-EAGA as well as the other ASEAN sub-grouping Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT).

“ADB is committed to continuing its support for these subregional programs as a financier, honest broker, provider of knowledge, and a facilitator in leveraging public and private resources for regional investments,” said Mr. Nakao, who attended the BIMP-EAGA Summit.

ADB’s support for BIMP-EAGA includes upgrading of North Kalimantan, Indonesia’s power system, and the enhancement of key road networks in Mindanao, Philippines.

In a separate statement, the ADB quoted BIMP-EAGA Business Council Chairman for Malaysia Datuk Roselan Johor Mohamad saying, “EAGA’s private sector play the crucial role of stirring the sub-region’s business climate.”

ADB’s Jason Rush, who led the bank’s support for BIMP-EAGA cooperation, meanwhile, said “ADB support is making a meaningful difference in BIMP-EAGA.”

“New road projects in Mindanao will help connect isolated communities, and further establish Mindanao as an important gateway for trade and business.” — Carmelito Q. Francisco and Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio

Diokno to co-chair global financial stability body’s Asia consultative group

BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno will co-chair the Financial Stability Board’s Regional Consultative Group for Asia (FSB-RCGA), together with Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor N.S. Vishwanathan, for two years term starting July 1, the BSP said in a statement on Monday.

The FSB based in Basel, Switzerland, was formed in 2009 at the height of the Global Financial Crisis in order to develop and promote effective regulatory, supervisory and other financial sector policies in order to help ensure global financial stability.

“Governor Diokno’s co-chairing of the FSB-RCGA comes at a time when various market reforms are at an important stage while evolving global developments could again challenge financial stability,” the BSP said in a statement on Monday. “The Governor’s co-chairmanship further highlights the thought leadership of the institution in the pursuit of financial stability while reinforcing the Philippines’ active participation in discussions on global reform.”

In 2011, the FSB established six regional consultative groups to provide a venue for financial authorities from FSB member and non-member countries to exchange views on vulnerabilities affecting financial systems and on initiatives for financial stability.

Other financial authorities forming part of the FSB-RCGA are from Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

The announcement of the co-chairmanship of Mr. Diokno and Mr. Vishwanathan was made at the June 14 16th FSB-RCGA meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

There, “[m]eeting participants discussed risks from global trends, including the resumption of upward prices in risky assets, a loosening of credit standards and increases in the cost of credit,” the FSB said in a separate statement on that date, adding that members also discussed financial risks from climate change.

“At the same time, they noted that resilience in the global financial system appears to have increased, financial markets are functioning robustly and financial conditions in emerging markets have stabilized,” the statement read further.

“In spite of these positive trends, they agreed that efforts must continue to minimize the probability of another financial crisis, particularly given the increasing level of interconnectedness in the global financial system.” — R. J. N. Ignacio

DoubleDragon eyes to raise nearly P60B from REIT offering

DOUBLEDRAGON Properties Corp. expects to raise up to P59.4 billion when it places its entire leasable space portfolio under a real estate investment trust (REIT), the company told the stock exchange on Monday.

The listed property developer said in a disclosure that it could raise an initial P5 billion from a REIT offering once regulators come out with the final rules this year. This could rise to P15 billion if the company decides to list the REIT in early 2020, as its leasing assets will become more mature by then.

“A total of P59.4 billion in proceeds is expected to be raised through a REIT listing of the company’s planned total 1.2 million square meter (sq.m.) leasable portfolio,” DoubleDragon said.

DoubleDragon Chief Investment Officer Marianna H. Yulo earlier said that the company will spend the funds raised from a REIT offering for the company’s expansion beyond 2020, where they will focus more on hospitality and industrial projects.

The company is currently focusing on its goal to have 1.2 million sq.m. of leasable space by next year.

The expansion will include 700,000 sq.m. from 100 CityMalls, or community malls located in second and third tier cities; 100,000 sq.m. from 5,000 hotel rooms under homegrown brands Hotel101 and JinJiang Inn; 100,000 sq.m. from eight industrial facilities called CentralHub; and 300,000 sq.m. from office projects in Pasay and Ortigas Center.

Once completed, DoubleDragon said the properties will have an estimated asset value of P180 billion.

Ms. Yulo also noted that the REIT offering will show investors how much cash flow goes into the company.

For the hotel business alone, DoubleDragon sees P16.1 billion in sales from its new inventory from Boracay, Bohol, Palawan, and Cebu over the next two years. The company has already sold P2.56 billion worth of units from its recently launched hotels in Bonifacio Global City and Davao.

In a separate statement, the company said it has opened a new sales lounge for Hotel101 last week on the ground floor of the DoubleDragon Plaza at DD Meridian Park in the Bay Area.

“The company has also developed a wide network of licensed real estate brokers and agencies which we have partnered with both locally and abroad to develop our sales channels further,” Ms. Yulo said in a statement.

DoubleDragon has also established Hotel 101 Worldwide Private Ltd. in Singapore to boost its selling capacity overseas. It also plans to open sales offices in Hong Kong, the Middle East, Japan, London, Italy, and the United States this year.

The company’s net income attributable to the parent climbed by 46% in the first quarter of 2019 to P767.30 million, after gross revenues also surged 33% to P2.44 billion.

Shares in DoubleDragon climbed 2.46% or 65 centavos to close at P25.80 each at the stock exchange on Monday. — Arra B. Francia

HOOQ now offers free content

AFTER a successful initial run in Indonesia last year, Asian video-on-demand service HOOQ has extended its “freemium” tier to the Philippines, promising over 1,000 pieces of content that can be viewed for free.

“HOOQ is attuned to the evolving needs of the social, convenience-driven and digital-savvy Filipino. We understand local nuances and, most importantly, we get our audience, that’s why we decided to add a free tier,” Sheila Paul, HOOQ Philippines country manager said in a statement.

Called HOOQ Free, the new feature allows users to view free content on the service alongside digital TV and internet TV channels like Buzzfeed and CNN Philippines for free without the need to sign up. The tier also lets users view bite-sized content from popular titles like The Flash.

SEX TALK AND MOVIES
A cursory view of the mobile app showed that the pilot episodes of several local series like Pangako Sa’yo and Got to Believe, and foreign series like The Mentalist, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Drop Dead Diva are offered for free.

The free movies include HOOQ’s own original, Ulan, and several movies which starred the recently deceased Eddie Garcia: Papunta Ka pa lang, Pabalik na Ako, Mano Po, and Nagalit Ang Buwan sa Haba ng Gabi.

Another of HOOQ’s original shows, Sex Talks with Dr. Holmes, is set to hit the service. The 10-episode series is said to be a “helpline for those who have questions and concerns about sex and how it figures in their daily lives.” The series is hosted by Dr. Margarita Holmes, a Filipino psychologist specializing in sex therapy.

“As someone who watches online video, you don’t want to take too many steps before we get into the content,” Vishal Dembla, chief commercial officer at HOOQ, said during a press conference on June 20 at Power Mac Spotlight in Makati City.

INTRODUCING ADS
While the content is free, there is a trade-off — Mr. Dembla announced that HOOQ will be introducing ads with the free content but promised that these will not be “intrusive to the watching experience.”

“[We] can easily tell when the audience is getting turned off by ads. We’re going to start small and grow incrementally, so it’s not a whole lot of advertising,” he explained.

The service will introduce new content from its library to the free tier every quarter.

SACHET OPTION
Last year, Ms. Paul told BusinessWorld that HOOQ was playing with the idea of having a free tier and during a roundtable following last week’s launch, she said that “they took some time to make sure the experience is right.”

“We did Indonesia [first to] see how it did there before we took the best [practices] from them and then implement it in the Philippines,” she said.

Mr. Dembla said that now that they’ve launched in Indonesia and the Philippines, they are looking at doing the same in Singapore

Aside from the free tier, HOOQ Philippines is also set to introduce more flexible “sachet” payment options within the quarter.

“When we really think about the mobile environment [in the Philippines]… it’s mostly prepaid. We always said we want to have a million stories for a billion people and we won’t get to a billion people by sticking to a postpaid environment,” Mr. Dembla said. — Zsarlene B. Chua

YouTube is considering changes to kids content

YOUTUBE is considering more changes to how content for kids shows up on the world’s largest video site as criticism mounts that it’s unsafe for children.

YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc.’s Google, is debating changes involving kids’ content, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that the company was mulling moving all videos for children to its separate YouTube Kids app. Such a drastic change is unlikely, according to the person, who asked not to be identified discussing in-house company deliberations.

The Google unit has long positioned itself as a neutral platform that lets anyone upload and watch whatever videos they want. But now the site is struggling to convince parents and advertisers that it can protect children from violent, upsetting, and harmful content. Last week, Bloomberg reported that children who use YouTube’s main site far outnumber those who stick to the safer, vetted YouTube Kids app.

YouTube has already made tweaks to the platform as it tries to create a safer site for children. The company banned comments on thousands of videos featuring kids after predators were found to be using the comment section to flag parts of the videos showing activities that could be twisted to be construed as sexual.

“We consider lots of ideas for improving YouTube and some remain just that — ideas,” a YouTube spokeswoman said in an e-mail. “Others, we develop and launch, like our restrictions to minors live streaming or updated hate speech policy.”

YouTube only recently made “responsible growth” its core metric, after years of focusing on engagement, even after employees flagged harmful and misleading videos to executives, Bloomberg reported earlier this year.

Major advertisers have frozen YouTube spending at various times out of fear their ads will be shown next to harmful videos. Still, the video site remains, with Facebook Inc. and Instagram, among the most popular places to advertise online. — Bloomberg

Villar’s Starmalls to be renamed Vistamalls amid expansion

VILLAR-LED Starmalls, Inc. is changing its name to Vistamalls, Inc., aligning itself with parent Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc.’s (VLL) mall expansion.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday, the mall operator said its shareholders have approved its plan to change the company’s name to Vistamalls, Inc.

The company will file the amendment with the Securities and Exchange Commission for final approval.

Incorporated in 1969, Starmalls was folded into the Villar group in 2015 when VLL agreed to buy 88.34% of the company’s shares for about P33.54 billion.

The listed firm operates malls in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan; Imus, Cavite; Balanga, Bataan; Taguig, Alabang, and along EDSA-Shaw Boulevard, among others. VLL President and Chief Executive Officer Manuel Paolo A. Villar earlier said that they have plans to renovate various Starmalls branches in the following years.

At the parent level, VLL is targeting to have 60 malls by 2020. It ended 2018 with a total of 31 malls, 52 commercial centers, and seven office buildings, covering a total of 1.4 million square meters in gross floor area.

The company also said it has commercial centers that are currently under construction in Taguig City, Las Piñas City, Pampanga, Cavite, Davao, Iloilo, Naga, Cagayan de Oro, and Iloilo, which are scheduled to be completed by 2020.

Starmalls booked a net income attributable to the parent of P651 million in the first quarter of 2019, 13% higher year on year. This came after a 15% increase in revenues to P1.77 billion in the same period.

The company attributed the positive performance to higher occupancy and rental rates of its existing malls, as well as the additional gross floor area of new commercial assets at the time.

Shares in Starmalls jumped 5.25% or 33 centavos to close at P6.62 each at the stock exchange on Monday. — Arra B. Francia

A ‘Dam Easy’ way to prevent flooding in houses, buildings

The Dam Easy Flood Barrier is touted as the world’s first off-the-shelf flood defense system. — COMPANY HANDOUT

By Adrian Paul B. Conoza
Special Features Writer

ALL Weather Industries (AWI) in partnership with Scottsdale Corp. recently introduced the Dam Easy Flood Barrier, a revolutionary tool for preventing floods in houses and buildings, in the Philippines.

Now available in 28 countries, the Dam Easy Flood Barrier is said to be the world’s first off-the-shelf flood defense system that can be easily installed without any fixings. It prevents flood water up to 600 millimeters (mm) high from seeping through exterior openings. With its adjustability, Dam Easy can cover reveal widths from 780 mm to 1,100 mm with a single barrier.

During the launch event, AWI chief executive officer and co-founder Brian Mooney said the Dam Easy Flood Barrier was created to develop a universal product that can block flooding quicker and better than other systems.

He added that the Dam Easy Flood Barrier is a standalone system, unlike preexisting systems that can be damaged over time and thus have to be entirely replaced.

Cheriza Manalang, president of Scottsdale Corporation — the exclusive distributor of Dam Easy in the Philippines, said that Dam Easy relieves homeowners of the hassle of building pre-fixed panels.

Dam Easy’s barrier weighs 20 kilograms and is approximately two feet high. Ms. Manalang cited a study from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the United States for the reason for such design.

“In that study, they found out that if you block off floodwater beyond two feet, you are actually compromising the structure of the building,” she said.

Dam Easy features a patented pneumatic pump action seal around the barrier which creates a watertight seal around the door when installed. It also has side panels which can be extended depending on the door’s width. A ratchet handle, together with a direction switch, allows those panels to be extended. A pump handle, located at the top of the barrier, inflates the watertight seal.

At the back of the panel, a pressure gauge indicates whether the seal is sufficiently inflated. A nearby air retention valve keeps the seal inflated, while an air release button deflates that seal once the barrier is no longer in use. The flood barrier also comes with a unique storage system which preserves the barrier when not in use.

Dam Easy Flood Barrier can be installed in three easy steps. The barrier is first positioned in the doorway. The side panels are then extended using the ratchet handle with the door switch placed upwards. The pump handle is then used to inflate the watertight seal, which is then secured by turning the air retention valve to the closed position. Returning the valve to the open position and pressing the air release button deflates the seal.

Dam Easy also offers a security cover which can be attached to the flood barrier to protect it from tampering and from being removed. With the extension pole, the barrier can cover openings from 1100 mm to about 3300 mm. Dam Easy recommends that the seal should be replaced after every 12 months.

In addition, Dam Easy provides sandless bag solutions against low-level flooding.

Its HydroPack is designed to create a free-standing barrier to stop or restrict flowing water. It absorbs up to 13 liters (L) of water. HydroSack, meanwhile, can absorb up to 20 L of water and is designed to fit into openings and door wells. HydroSnake, on the other hand, is 120 centimeters in length and can be spread across open areas to divert any flow of water.

Dam Easy also has a Toilet Dam which can block any width or shape of the toilet pan against sewage backflow during a flood.

In terms of the cost, Ms. Manalang said the Dam Easy Flood Barrier is one of the most economical ways of protecting homes.

“In the market, we are actually one of the lowest in terms of flood protection and solutions,” she said.

Guaranteeing the quality of the flood barrier, she noted that the makers of the barrier “really found the best materials and equipment to come up with such a quality product.”

Moreover, she emphasized that the Dam Easy Flood Barrier is a worthy investment for protecting homes against the costly damage in appliances and furniture as well as priceless items like photo albums.

ABS-CBN to redeem P6B in bonds early

ABS-CBN Corp. is exercising the option for the early redemption of its P6-billion bond issuance due in February 2021.

“ABS-CBN intends to exercise its option for early redemption of ABS-CBN’s seven-year bonds (due February 2021), five years and six months from issue date, at the early redemption price of 101.0%,” the Lopez-led media giant said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Monday.

It added that the company has already notified BDO Unibank, Inc., the trustee in the bond issuance, of ABS-CBN’s intention to redeem the bond ahead of schedule.

The listed broadcasting giant listed P6 billion worth of retail bonds in the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. on Feb. 10, 2014 with a fixed interest rate of 5.335% per annum.

This is the first tranche of the company’s P10-billion debt securities offering that was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission in January 2014. ABS-CBN tapped BDO Capital & Investment Corp., BPI Capital and Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. as joint-issue managers for the issuance.

When the company issued the first tranche of bonds in February 2014, Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings) gave the company a PRS Aaa issue credit rating, which is the highest rating given by the agency.

During the first quarter of the year, ABS-CBN grew its attributable net income by 89.2% to P856.35 million, driven by a 24.4% increase in advertising revenues at P5.4 billion.

The company said it wants to focus on boosting its digital business this year, as it faces the possibility that its legislative franchise which expires in 2020 would not be renewed. President Rodrigo R. Duterte has been vocal about his opposition to the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise, which was not passed by the 17th Congress. — Denise A. Valdez

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