NEW PESO BILLS carrying the signature of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno will be in circulation in the next few months.
Mr. Diokno, who took the helm of the central bank on March 6, said new banknotes bearing his signature will be out within the next three months.
The former Budget secretary was appointed as BSP chief to replace the late Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr., who passed away Feb. 23 after battling tongue cancer.
Mr. Diokno will serve Mr. Espenilla’s remaining four-year term, which expires July 2023.
Following his appointment, Mr. Diokno’s name and signature will soon be included in peso bills circulated in the economy. It will appear on the front of the notes to the right of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s signature.
Under Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Act, the BSP is given the sole power to issue currency used in the Philippines.
The BSP prints bills and mints coins at its Security Plant Complex along East Avenue in Quezon City.
The central bank issues bills worth P20, P50, P100, P200, P500, and P1,000 under a new design since 2010, having demonetized the old New Design Series which have been in use since 1985.
The design and security features of bills and coins are constantly being updated to guard against counterfeiting. New coin designs have also been circulated last year.
M1, or the narrowest measure of money in an economy, stood at P3.829 trillion as of February, according to latest available BSP data. On the other hand, overall domestic liquidity stood at P11.497 trillion as of the period, which grew by 7.1% from a year ago.
Mr. Diokno has said in previous weeks that he is seeing “room to ease” key policy rates as well as an opportunity to reduce the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) imposed on big banks. However, he and the Monetary Board voted to keep benchmark rates and bank reserves steady during their March 21 meeting.
BSP Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo said they need to see actual inflation readings and price expectations to be well within their 2-4% target range alongside real tightness in money supply conditions before they can consider slashing the RRR. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez
WATCH spoken word poetry performances, interact with renowned Filipino writers, witness the first slam poetry championship, and learn about folklore from the Dumagats — all these activities can be experienced with a donation of a book.
The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) will hold the 3rd Performatura festival on April 5 to 7.
The first Performatura festival was held in November 2015. In 2017, the festival was moved to April in line with the celebration of national literature month and the birth anniversary of Filipino poet Francisco Balagtas (April 2, 1788).
According to CCP artist director Chris Millado the biennial festival was launched to “broaden readers and audiences for literature.”
“The idea is [that] it does not stop at publication but it looks at pieces engaging with other art forms, especially the performing arts,” he told BusinessWorld prior a press conference in the CCP on March 27, describing it as an “intertextual festival.”
In a previous forum with the media, festival director Vim Nadera, Jr. said that this year’s theme, “Ang Mamatay nang Dahil Sa ’yo,” was chosen after last year’s tempest over Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III’s idea to change the National Anthem’s last line from “ang mamatay ng dahil sa ‘yo” (to die for you) into “ang ipaglaban ang kalayaan mo” (to fight for your freedom). Mr. Millado said that the literary pieces during the festival will focus on sacrifice and nationalism.
WHAT’S NEW
The festival highlights the first slam poetry competition which will be held at the south parking area, a performance about folklore by the Dumagat indigenous group, a “spoken wordshop” with Malaysian spoken word performer Azam Rais, and a radio drama by students from the Eastern Samar National Comprehensive High School.
The second day will be dedicated to National Artist for Visual Arts Francisco V. Coching, with a talk by Lulu Coching and Mara-Bini Coching Williamson to supplement the ongoing birth centennial exhibit at the second floor hallway gallery of the CCP. The third day honors National Artist for Literature Edith Tiempo with the opening of an interactive centennial exhibit at the Little Theater Lobby.
On a lighter note, a poetry robot will be stationed at the Main Theater Lobby on April 6 and 7. The robot will take a photo of the guest and print poetry for them afterwards. On April 6, a henna tattoo artist will be on hand to paint F.V. Coching’s cartoon characters on the guests; and on April 7, calligraphy artist will be personalizing bookmarks with lines from Edith Tiempo’s poems.
A GOAL IN PROGRESS
Mr. Millado noted that the festival has popularized spoken word poetry as a performance since the holding of the first festival. “What it did was see how literature can jump from the page and perform,” he told BusinessWorld. “Spoken word was one of the areas that were explored… It has its own language, cadence, and audience.
“It looked at how poetry inspired visual arts and installations. It also looked at engagements between contemporary spoken word and traditional poetry,” Mr. Millado added. “It helped literature perform” as well as “develop an audience that was interested in developing content and participating in the creation of it.”
Both Mr. Millado and senior culture and arts officer of CCP’s Intertextual Division Beverly Siy said that they are still developing the audience for the festival. The variety of activities are meant to cater to audiences of all age groups.
Ms. Siy told BusinessWorld that the Intertextual Division is currently inviting students from schools in Pasay and Manila as part of the effort “to grow the audience.”
The books that are donated as an “entrance fee” will go on the shelves of CCP’s satellite libraries in Tondo, Leveriza, and the mobile library at the CCP ASEAN Park.
For details on the festival, check the CCP Intertextual Division Facebook page or contact Markus Aserit at ccpintertextualdivision@gmail.com, call 551-5959 or 0919-3175708. For the complete festival schedule, visit performatura.wordpress.com. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman
FOUR Filipinos made it to Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list, which highlights 300 young entrepreneurs and innovators in the region.
The latest Forbes list identified 30 honorees (all under the age of 30) in ten categories, namely The Arts; Entertainment & Sports; Finance & Venture Capital; Media, Marketing & Advertising; Retail & E-commerce; Enterprise Technology; Industry, Manufacturing & Energy; Healthcare & Science; Social Entrepreneurs; and Consumer Technology.
Filipino entrepreneurs Kenn Costales, Georgiana Carlos, Earl Forlales and Zahra Halabisaz Zanjani were included in the same list as Korean pop group Blackpink, eyewear designer Percy Lau and tennis star Naomi Osaka.
Mr. Costales, 29, founded Monolith Growth Consulting in 2016. The performance marketing firm, which has offices in Singapore and Manila, counts Fitness First, The Boston Consulting Group, Sonos, and Klipsch as some of its clients.
The 28-year old Ms. Carlos established premium pet care brand Fetch! Naturals in 2016. On its website, Fetch! said its products are made of 100% plant aqueous extracts, particularly Neem and Jicama, and are safe for human use.
Mr. Forlales and Ms. Zanjani are the co-founders of Cubo Modular, a company that designs and constructs bamboo houses in four hours. They were given the first prize by the London-based Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors for using low-cost and sustainable materials for the Cubo.
On its website, Cubo said it envisions a “Philippines with no slums” by providing affordable, dignified housing.
Rana Wehbe, editor of Forbes 30 Under 20 Asia, said this year’s list highlights “daring entrepreneurs who are building businesses mostly to solve problems in their industries.”
“Forming 70% of the 2019 list, startup founders are using technologies like AI [Artificial Intelligence], Big Data and Blockchain to facilitate processes such as matching patients with potentially life-saving medical trials and providing enterprise solutions for SMEs who form the vast majority of businesses in the APAC [Asia Pacific] region,” she said in the statement.
China had the most number of honorees on the list with 61, followed by India with 59, Japan with 30, South Korea with 28, and Singapore with 23.
Forbes said it received over 2,000 submission through online and in-house research by journalists in the region.
Among the criteria for honorees making the list are: demonstration of leadership, entrepreneurial spirit, and potential of success in their industry. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang
UNIONBANK OF THE Philippines, Inc. unveiled the first cryptocurrency automated teller machine (ATM) in the Philippines, allowing customers to exchange digital units for cash.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Aboitiz-led lender said it launched the country’s first bank-operated and two-way virtual currency ATM located in its digital branch “The ARK” in Makati City, making it among the first banks in Asia to do so.
Compliant with the regulations of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), UnionBank’s virtual currency ATM allows its account holders with cryptocurrency wallets to withdraw cash straight from their funds as well as buy and sell currencies on the spot.
The lender partnered with financial technology firm Coins.ph to enable the system.
UnionBank Chairman Justo A. Ortiz said the bank put in place the teller machine for cryptocurrencies to meet client demand.
“The reason we’re doing this is because our customers are asking for it,” Mr. Ortiz was quoted as saying in the statement.
“Whenever we launch a new product, customer protection is always our primary concern. And because we want to elevate our customer experience, we envision creating a banking opportunity by co-creating them with our customers.”
Virtual currency is a type of digital money issued, controlled, and used by a certain virtual community.
Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Etherium and Ripple are virtual currencies that rely on cryptography to secure and verify transactions as well as control the creation of more units. These units are not regulated by any state or central bank.
Such currencies can also be used to pay for goods through the internet and can be treated as an investment given its fluctuating valuations.
Ron Hose, Coins.ph president and founder, said this move of UnionBank is seen as a significant development in the fintech world.
“This is a further testament that banks are now acting like a fintech firm. This launch blurs the line more and we see this move for banks to change the landscape of the world of finance,” he said.
Last month, the central bank issued Memorandum 2019-006 reminding banks that ATMs that offer conversions and withdrawals from cash to digital coins are considered as virtual currency exchanges and must be registered with the regulator.
In 2017, the BSP came out with rules requiring any firm that offers the exchange of money into virtual currencies and vice-versa needs to register with the BSP.
UnionBank President and Chief Executive Officer Edwin R. Bautista said the bank plans to add more virtual currency ATMs in more of its branches, with the approval of the BSP.
UnionBank posted a P7.3-billion net profit in 2018, down 13% from the P8.4 billion income tallied the previous year, dragged by margin pressures due to higher interest rates.
Shares of the bank stood at P61.50 apiece on Thursday, flat from the previous close. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal
GGSG stickers by Mara Salanga, an Avionics student from Cavite. — MARA SALANGA
IN KEEPING with International Women’s Month, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Intertextual Division held Gandang-Ganda Sa Sariling Gawa (GGSG) 2, a one-day Women’s Small Press Festival. Small is literally the size of many of the works: zines just 1/8 of a bond paper, colorful postcards and original laminated digital art stickers barely bigger than postage stamps. Postcards and stickers as the cheapest way to reproduce and to sell art are a mainstay of such events.
The CCP’s Silangan hallway had the sense of a nave, but instead of pews at either side of the aisle, there were 30 tables showcasing the women’s writings and artworks. The church metaphor is appropriate because independent publishing is very much a communal affair of those who keep the faith and keep on believing in having their say. Many of the participants buy or trade for each others’ works. Thus, you could name your price for the colored zine Angry Feminists by Pauline Cole, aka Chicken Joey, a philosophy major at UPLB.
Nine-year-old Sophie Blanco wore a sticker she made (“Go Away, I’m Reading”), and offered her services as an illustrator to the other GGSG 2 vendors. The caveat was that she doesn’t draw dogs. She is also the subject of two slender non-fiction comics, Tiny Boss, by her mother Czyka Tumaliuan, aka Freestyle Mommy. The latest glossy edition opens up into a mini-poster stating, “God doesn’t know everything, mom — it’s half Google and half God.” Asked how she feels about being a character in a comics zine, Sophie declared, “I like it!” Told that she’s a great kid, she lightly scoffed, “You just met me, so how would you know for sure?” again showing uncanny wisdom.
Zines are a medium for wise women of all ages to express more painful life lessons. Twenty-something Mao Factolerin wrote and illustrated Yumi, mga Kuwento at Karanasan, an unblinking, poetic chronicle of serial rape and male-inflicted abuse from girlhood on. But she ends with an affirmation:
“Ako’y isang babaeng may sariling paninindigan na hindi patatangay: Sa ano mang sigwak ng alon. (I am a woman grounded in my very self: no waves shall shatter me.)/… patuloy na namumukadkad gaano man karami ang tinik sa aking landas. (I grow and I thrive, though thorns may choke and stones may block my path.)/ Babae ako at hindi dahong natutuyo’t nalalagas sa hagupit ng habagat. (I am Woman, not a trembling leaf which shrivels in a storm.)/ Hayaan mong yakapin kita. Sa laban na ito, hindi ka nag-iisa. Tayo ay iisa. (Come into my arms. In this battle, you are not alone. We will be as one. English translation by this writer.)
The act of writing itself may be therapeutic, even sacramental. Proudly queer and out, silver-haired Via Bulaon, formerly of the UP Manila’s Center for Gender and Women’s Studies, handwrites the text and draws the illustrations in each of her Grid-Zine Puke (pronounced the colloquial Filipino way) which has adapted the Ama Namin (Our Father) into her own gynecological paean. She sells these for less than a dollar each. It is not a viable business model. Something other than profit, or even popular recognition, clearly drives these women to create.
Zine-makers are not in it for the money. They have overturned the model of artistic creation as being at the beck and call of capital. Back in 2010, in his manifesto for BLTX (Better Living Through Xerography), the juvenile forebear of independent publishing festivals like GGSG, Adam David called profit “that insidious bug up the arse of art production.”
BLTX has since gone nationwide which proves that there is a spreading hunger and a market, no matter how minuscule and niche, for such works and events. It still pops up at Ilyong’s Bar in Quezon City’s Project 4, or at Cubao X. The Cebu-based Bomba Press organizes its own events. Jay Salvosa of the Meet Every Other Weekend Club does it for Naga. Even in Duterte-land, a brave woman, Angely Chi will not be silenced. Baguio’s vibrant independent creative community was represented at GGSG 2 by Alam-Am Publishing of Padma Perez with her daughters Solana and Aila.
GGSG 2 was the occasion to re-launch Quickie: Drive-In Stories, fast fiction by the Polytechnic University of the Philippines’ Atsara Collective. Award-winning illustrator Ara Villena sold printed copies of Laya, which is available for free on her website: augustinspirations.carbonmade.com. There’s nothing like actually holding a real picture book, especially while reading it and perusing the gorgeous illustrations with a beloved child.
The journalist Margie de Leon had a table by her lonesome, for her two fiction collections: People in Panic and A Corpse, A Party, And A No-Good Nobody. The first book had a spine, and was surprisingly modestly priced. It had 11 stories, including one about giving blow jobs. The author explained it was competitive.
Darwinian survival of the fittest is not characteristic of “the cut-and-paste, do-it-yourself ethos of Xeroxed zine-making,” wrote the public intellectual Paolo Jose Cruz of Philippine zine-making’s origins with the Pinoy Punk Community elsewhere. “It’s an ephemeral, blink-and-you-miss-it approach shared with chapbooks, newsletters, and other forms of print media with miniscule, very brief and limited runs.”
Coincidentally, during the one-day event that was GGSG 2, there was a retrospective titled Nasaan ka na, Mara-Bini? (Where are you now, Mara-Bini?) on the CCP’s second floor of the National Artist Francisco V. Coching, best-known for his comics and illustrated novels. Mara-Bini was a contraction for “Marahas na Binibini” or “Fierce Maiden.” Coching’s warrior heroine was radical and unprecedented 85 years ago. The Mara-Bini strip was discontinued during World War II.
The show’s curator, Alice Sarmiento, points out that “Declarations of ‘The future is female’ as well as hashtags like #Babae Ako and #IamEveryWoman can find a safe space within the frames Coching drew… By asking ‘Nasaan ka na, Mara-Bini?’ in light not only of Coching’s women, but of the rebel daughters of today, can we trace an arc from Mara-Bini’s first appearance to the leaders of contemporary feminist movements?”
Mara-Bini’s great granddaughters were at the CCP that day, just two floors above, being beautiful and fierce.
CEBU PACIFIC said it will start flying to Japan from its hub in Clark by the third quarter as it aims to cater to travelers from Central and North Luzon.
In a statement on Tuesday, the budget carrier said it will open a Clark-Narita route on Aug. 9 which will serve four flights weekly — every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
“There is so much untapped potential in Clark, and we are committed to expanding our Clark hub to expand tourism, trade and investment opportunities. This will open up the areas around Clark to more investors and entrepreneurs,” Cebu Pacific Vice-President for Marketing Candice Jennifer A. Iyog said.
“With direct air service between Clark and Narita, it will be easier for Japanese tourists to access destinations in Pampanga, Pangasinan, Baguio, La Union and the rest of Luzon. Conversely, it will also be easier for residents in these areas to enjoy Tokyo, with a direct flight from Clark,” she added.
The Gokongwei-led airline currently offers flights to Japan from its hubs in Manila and Cebu. It has routes to Osaka, Narita, Nagoya and Fukuoka from Manila; and to Narita from Cebu.
Cebu Pacific had earlier said it wants to develop its hub in Clark by adding more routes that will link it to popular tourist destinations. Aside from Japan, Cebu Pacific had also announced it will start serving direct flights from Clark to Iloilo and Bacolod on Aug. 9; and daily flights from Clark to Puerto Princesa on Oct. 9.
“The four new routes will boost Cebu Pacific’s total capacity in Clark by 40% in 2019 alone, following a 75% increase in 2018 with the launch of direct commercial air service to and from Davao and Panglao (Bohol); as well as additional frequency for the Clark-Macau route,” it said.
Cebu Pacific currently offers direct flights from Clark to Cebu, Caticlan, Tagbilaran, Davao, Singapore, Macau, and Hong Kong.
In 2018, the listed firm slashed its net income 50% to P3.9 billion from P7.9 billion the previous year, largely due to the high fuel prices and volatility of the Philippine peso. — Denise A. Valdez
BANK INDONESIA’S (BI) intervention should stabilize its financial markets, so lower bond yields — even a rate cut — are still a possibility later this year, according to analysts.
The central bank has been buying local bonds and selling dollars to help prop up the rupiah — one of the most sensitive currencies in Asia to risk sentiment — as investors sold high-beta assets on global growth jitters and turmoil in Turkey. While Indonesian assets are once again under pressure, any financial pain is seen as short-lived.
“BI is prioritizing market stability right now,” said Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank Ltd. Once the presidential election is over in April, “I’m leaning toward a rate cut after their 175 pips of hikes last year. That will be good for bond investors.”
Fears of a US recession and Turkey’s funding crisis have dulled the appeal of risk assets, leading to an erosion of gains in emerging markets. BI Governor Perry Warjiyo has sought to distance the nation from the turbulence in Turkey and pledged last Thursday to intervene during a sell-off.
The bank has repeatedly injected liquidity into markets through currency swaps and repo auctions, in addition to buying bonds, to safeguard the currency. The rupiah slipped 1.2% in March against the dollar.
YIELD EXPECTATIONS
Investors had been warming to Indonesian securities since the start of the year, helped by a dovish pivot from global central banks and optimism over a US-China trade resolution. Overseas investors bought nearly $5 billion of Indonesian bonds in the first three months of 2019, the largest quarterly inflow based on data compiled by Bloomberg starting in 2009.
While the median analyst forecast is for the policy rate to stay unchanged this year, some market participants including Mizuho, PT Mirae Asset Sekuritas and TD Securities say a cut is possible, and overall expectations for bond yields are falling.
The median end-of-year estimate for Indonesia’s 10-year yield has slipped to 7.90% from 8.15% in November, according to the latest Bloomberg survey. The benchmark fell 2 basis points to 7.61% on Monday, adding to the 18 basis points decline in March.
The most recent intervention “aims to help restore confidence in anticipation of profit-taking activities by foreign investors,” said Jennifer Kusuma, senior Asia rates strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Singapore.
“Bond markets have taken a cue from the softening money market rates and BI’s liquidity injection via regular term repo and FX swap facilities,” she said. “We expect these and more macroprudential measures to slowly guide bond yields lower throughout the year.” — Bloomberg
THE Far Eastern University (FEU) Bamboo Band will have a concert entitled A Toast to Broadway on May 4, 6 p.m., in the historic FEU Auditorium (which is celebrating its 70th Anniversary throughout 2019). The FEU Bamboo Band is composed of students from the different institutes of FEU under the artistic direction of Norberto Cads. He trains his members in various genres of music. The culmination of a whole academic year’s worth of rehearsals is this concert of songs from iconic Broadway musicals including Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia!, Wicked, and Les Miserables. This is a free concert that also celebrates the 91st year of FEU. Tickets may be downloaded from www.Ticket2Me.net.
MERALCO PowerGen Corp. (MGen), the distribution utility’s power generation arm, has stepped up the development of its baseload plant in Atimonan with the crafting of a comprehensive land use plan for the town in Quezon province.
The company said its unit Atimonan One Energy, Inc. (A1E) along with Grandt Planners, Inc. turned over the land use plan to leaders of the local government unit.
It described the power plant as “among the key infrastructures expected to rise in Atimonan in the future.”
“We all agree that what we want to happen in Atimonan is for the common good of everyone,” said Rogelio L. Singson, MGEN president and chief executive officer, during the turnover event.
He said MGen aspires to set a standard of excellence not only in power plant operations but also in developing and engaging host communities to make them progressive and sustainable.
MGen said Atimonan’s land use plan is a product of a series of discussions and planning sessions that were conducted in 2018. It described the plan as “a document prepared by cities and municipalities to rationalize the allocation and proper use of its land resources.”
The plan also maps out the public and private land uses, which will be enacted through a zoning ordinance. The assistance for the development of the plan was provided for in an underlying memorandum agreement between A1E and the Atimonan local government.
Under the agreement, A1E provided assistance in the preparation of a study that optimizes socioeconomic benefits from the power plant development. A1E tapped Grandt Planners as a third-party consultant to aid the municipality in development strategies that can serve as basis for the land use plan and zoning ordinances.
Grandt Planners and A1E provided assistance for the development of the plan, which charts Atimonan’s development as an agro-industrial center, anchored on agriculture and tourism.
MGen quoted Atimonan Mayor Rustico Joven Mendoza, who led the local leaders, as saying: “This [comprehensive land use plan] seeks to achieve a synchronized development, supported by an adaptive infrastructure system in Atimonan.”
A1E is awaiting the regulator’s approval of its power supply agreement, which remains hanging as the Energy Regulatory Commission deferred to the Supreme Court’s decision before clearing the application.
The agreement had been questioned in court because of the timing of its filing, which was just before rules on competitive selection process (CSP) were issued.
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 a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Victor V. Saulon
Theater Review AKO: Alpha Kappa Omega Presented by Tanghalang Ateneo Ongoing until April 13 Rizal Mini Theater, Ateneo de Manila, Katipunan Ave., Quezon City
A SCENE from Tanghalang Ateneo’s AKO: Alpha Kappa Omega. — AGA OLYMPIA
MISTAKES of the past are repeated — it takes a long time before the cycle is broken.
Tanghalang Ateneo concludes its 40th season with AKO: Alpha Kappa Omega, a stage adaptation of Mike de Leon’s film Batch ’81 which was critical about a nation under martial law. Directed by Guelan Varela-Luarca, the adaptation is set in 2018 and serves as a commentary on the country’s current state.
The story follows the Alpha Kappa Omega fraternity’s six neophytes — pre-med student Sid Lucero (John Sanchez), his best friend Arni Enriquez (Earvin Estioco), promdi (country boy) Ding Magtibay (Ram Catan), sheltered freshman Pacoy Ledesma (Cholo Ledesma), Ronnie Roxas, Jr. (Nico Nepomuceno) whose father is a frat alumnus, and economics professor Santi Santillan (Ron Capinding), as they go through the grueling initiation process.
Act 1 begins with the lights fading in, eerie background music playing, and the actors slowly walking around a realistic set of a dingy and abandoned basement. The first sequence establishes the mood and theme of the story — a nerve-wracking interrogation on why the neophytes want to join a frat followed by paddling and bullying. The blocking and movements are synchronized as if watching a film’s action scene.
After the intermission, Act 2 continues with a comical drag beauty pageant featuring the neophytes during the AKO fair. The play takes a quick break from the drama as the characters reenact famous poses, the Q&A sections of past and present beauty queens, as well as a spoof on the controversial announcement of the wrong winner. Then the story goes dark again, with more violence between feuding fraternities, conflicts between the characters and themselves.
As the story progresses, each character’s motivation for joining the fraternity is presented. The students yearn to be in a community that would give them a sense of superiority, while the professor seeks adventure outside a troubled marriage and mid-life crisis. The decisions they make benefit and satisfy themselves over the brotherhood in the frat.
Despite the seriousness of most scenes, the dialogue manages to smoothly pull off a bit of comedy.
Mr. Luarca’s adaptation a modern take on gives salient scenes from the film by featuring current issues and technologies. The final question during the electrocution scene is changed from a query about whether martial law is effective to whether the war on drugs campaign is beneficial. The abuse of social media is shown through a sex scene involving a prostitute and the virgin Pacoy which is livestreamed on Facebook without Pacoy’s knowledge and consent.
The play also touches on issues such as drug addiction, criminal liability, and shows how enablers keep the those in power.
In Mr. Luarca’s director’s notes, he wrote: “… Kailangan muling ikuwento ang pelikula. Kung hindi ngayon, kailan? Kung hindi ako (o kami), sino?” (The film needs to be retold. If not now, when? If not by me (or us), who?)
The play was able to liken joining a fraternity to the state of the country today and how we strive to survive in it.
The play has performances until April 13, Tuesday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. For details and inquiries, contact Genny Supit at 0917-115-0520, or visitwww.facebook.com/TanghalangAteneo.
A NEW financial technology (fintech) player is looking to capture a million Filipino borrowers via their digital platform, banking on both online merchants and buyers to drive loan volumes.
First Digital Finance Corp. (FDFC) is targeting one million customers in the next two years, which will come roughly five years after they set up operations in the country.
Georg Steiger, co-founder and chief executive officer of First Digital, said their strategy is to fulfill “unmet credit needs”here.
Mr. Steiger put up FDFC in Manila in 2015, together with two former colleagues from global financial consulting firm McKinsey & Co. The fintech firm’s primary business are instant loans tailored for overseas Filipino workers called Balikbayad, which offers an all-online application process approved in one to two days.
Now, the firm is looking to grow their newer BillEase service that allows e-commerce purchases to be paid in installments. FDFC is currently drawing traffic from the online marketplace Lazada, where they are also reaching out to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and online sellers for credit lines.
“These are people who don’t really have the track record that banks might look for. Crucially, they don’t have the collateral,” Mr. Steiger said. “By focusing more on cash flows and the development of the business, we can be more flexible and we can grow with the business of our customers.”
Mr. Steiger said there remains a “sizeable” market in the Philippines for their firm and its competitors to capture.
“There’s quite a few (fintech loan) players — that’s true, but the market is still quite big. There’s a lot of unserved and underserved needs in the market, and there is space for competition,” he said.
Among the more popular BillEase loans are for cellphone and home appliance purchases, while traders and online sellers stand as their biggest customers in the SME lending space.
Loans for SMEs range from P100,000 to as much as P10 million, with a maximum loan term of six months. Unlike banks, FDFC tracks the firm’s cash flows, sales performance and purchase orders as basis for approving loans as they expect credit needs to grow with the business.
To be competitive, Mr. Steiger said FDFC’s interest rates hover around three percent per month. This prices in the higher risks borne out of these relaxed loan requirements, Mr. Steiger said, but is still close to what credit card providers are offering.
Quoted lending rates charged by commercial banks average from a low of 5.7978% to 8.4883% per annum. Meanwhile, other instant cash loan providers charge as much as 2.5% per day, or 75% monthly.
The company executive said there gaps in credit data as well as the lack of a national ID system remain as barriers for access to financing in the Philippines.
For their part, First Digital is looking to fully automate online sign-ups for cash loans “over the next few months” to fast-track applications filed online.
INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) said its Manila terminal acquired new container-handling equipment which are expected to boost efficiency.
The Razon-led port operator said in a statement on Tuesday it bought four new hybrid rubber-tired gantries (RTG) from Japan, which will be immediately deployed for use in the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT).
“The new RTGs, manufactured by Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. (MES), are part of the total 16-unit fleet that runs on a combination of 22kVah Li-ion battery and a smaller diesel engine — expected to reduce terminal emissions by up to 40%,” it said.
ICTSI said it is expecting eight more hybrid RTGs and a pair of super post-Panamax quay cranes to be delivered in the coming months, before the third quarter ends.
“On full delivery, the MICT fleet will be composed of 18 quay cranes and 58 RTGs — the largest containerized cargo handling fleet in the country,” it said.
The listed company has so far invested more than $80 million to assemble its fleet of equipment in MICT, which it said is currently “the country’s largest and most technologically advanced container terminal.”
ICTSI started operating the MICT in 1988 when it bagged the contract in an international auction.
It said last month it is increasing its capital expenditure this year by 45% to $380 million to fund the expansion of its terminals in Manila, Mexico and Iraq, as well as the acquisition and upgrade of terminal equipment.
In 2018, ICTSI’s attributable net income jumped 22% to $221.5 million from $182.1 million the previous year, driven by a strong operating income from its terminals.
Shares in ICTSI went up 0.85% or P1.10 to P130 each on Tuesday. — Denise A. Valdez
