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
THE DEPARTMENT of Agriculture (DA) said that El Niño crop damage mainly to rice and corn is now estimated at P5.05 billion, on lost volume of 276,568 metric tons (MT), as a result of the dry spell.
“Everyday that passes where there is no rain, there will be greater damage, and so the total damage to crops, mainly rice and corn, has breached the 5-billion level,” Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol told reporters Tuesday.
The DA estimated Tuesday that the dry spell has affected 177,743 hectares of agricultural land and 164,672 farmers as of April 2.
Its estimate for March 31 was P4.35 billion.
While damage to rice remained relatively stable at P2.69 billion and lost volume of 125,590 MT affecting 111,851 hectares and 108,845 farmers, damage estimates for the corn crop expanded to P2.36 billion and 150,978 MT worth of lost production affecting 65,892 hectares and 55,827 farmers.
Mr. Piñol said that the crop damage mainly hit farmers who risked planting crops after sustaining storm damage in regions II (Cagayan Valley), V (Bicol Region), and X (Northern Mindanao). The DA said Region II accounted for 28% of the damage, Region V 16.54%, and Region X 6.71%.
The Bicol Region was hit by tropical depression Usman in December, which killed at least 50 people, while the region also sustained infrastructure and crop damage worth P1.5 billion.
“Towards the end of the year, nagkaroon ng bagyo sa Bicol [there was a storm in Bicol]. We provided interventions and because there was rain the farmers took the risk and planted again. So this crop sustained the damage and the same applied in Region II,” he said.
He said damage to the rice crop accounted for only 0.63% of the 2019 rice production target of P20.085 million MT (MMT), which remains unchanged. Damage to the corn crop is about 1.2% of the expected total for the year.
“We don’t expect that the damage actually will have an adverse impact on our national production… We are still keeping our national projection of 20 million metric tons (for rice), lower by about 500,000 MT than our previous target,” he said.
“We’re not saying na [that] it’s negligible because P5 billion is P5 billion, but in comparison with our national production target, the loss would only amounts to 0.63%,” he said.
He said the damage is levelling off because all the crops that can be damaged by the dry spell have been damaged, with no new planting in the last two months. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang
MALACAÑANG on Tuesday said President Rodrigo R. Duterte gave his consent to the proposed creation of a Department of Water that would “synchronize all the acts from other agencies to prevent the recurrence of a water shortage.”
In a statement, the President’s Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said that a proposed roadmap, which includes the creation of a Department of Water, was presented at the 36th Cabinet Meeting at the Palace on Monday.
“A roadmap was presented, which included immediate, medium and long-term interventions, such as making an intensive campaign for the conservation of water and energy, creating a Department of Water and a Department of Disaster Resilience, dredging of waterways, replacing tunnels and aqueducts, installing water tank systems in all Department of Health hospitals and providing funding for the establishment of water treatment plants,” he said.
Asked for more details at a news conference, Mr. Panelo said the President was “okay” with the proposal to create a new department that would focus on all activities having to do with the water resource.
“Well, it will synchronize all the acts from other agencies hopefully to prevent the occurrence of the water’s stoppage that we had last time,” he said.
Mr. Panelo, however, rejected the proposal in March when it was suggested by Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia.
“Opinion ko lang naman iyong sinabi ko noon diba, hindi naman opinion ng Malacañang. (That was just my opinion at the time, and not the government’s official position”) he said.
Also in his statement, Mr. Panelo said: “Related to this was the second item in the Cabinet agenda where National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Undersecretary Adoracion Navarro presented the proposed Executive Order (EO) on transforming and strengthening the National Water Resources Board (NWRB).”
“The EO will merge the NWRB and the River Basin Control Office into the National Water Management Council (NWMC). This will streamline and consolidate planning and regulation of all water and river basins in the country. It will also draft a National Water Management Framework Plan,” he added. — Arjay L. Balinbin
SUBSIDIES to state-run corporations declined in February as fewer firms sought additional funding, the Bureau of the Treasury said.
Subsidies to government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs) totaled P2.769 billion for the month, down 70% from a year earlier.
More than half of February’s subsidy releases went to the National Irrigation Administration worth P1.746 billion, but this total was just about a third of the P4.472 billion it received a year earlier.
The Small Business Corp. received P208 million during the month, just half the P442 million subsidy given out in February 2018.
The Philippine Fisheries Development Authority received P205 million, up sharply from the P15 million granted a year earlier.
Other GOCCs which received subsidies were the Philippine Coconut Authority (P193 million); the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (P112 million), the Philippine Heart Center (P94 million), the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (P50 million); and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (P49 million).
In the first two months of 2019 subsidies totaled P3.564 billion, down sharply from the P10.048 billion worth of budgetary support provided a year earlier.
Subsidies to state-run firms form part of public expenditures. As a rule, GOCCs operate as self-sustaining entities. Those that generate profits return part of the proceeds to the treasury in the form of dividends, while those operating at a loss are given funding aid to sustain operations.
The national government is currently operating on a re-enacted 2018 budget, which leaves new programs and projects unfunded. The Department of Budget and Management has authorized the release of funds for employee salaries, maintenance and other operating expenses, and capital outlays during the first quarter of 2019 at a maximum of 25% of the full-year budgets for 2018.
The P3.757-trillion 2019 national budget is currently under review before President Rodrigo R. Duterte signs it into law, following a long-running stalemate between legislators. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez
EMPLOYERS will be required to submit their telecommuting work arrangements to the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) pending the issuance of guidelines regarding flexible working schemes.
In Department Order 202-19 or the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 11165 or “An Act Institutionalizing Telecommuting as an Alternative Work Arrangement for Employees in the Private Sector,” DoLE claimed the authority to monitor flexible working arrangements to be issued by companies.
Employers will be required to notify DoLE before implementing their telecommuting schemes.
“The employer shall notify the DoLE on the adoption of a telecommuting work arrangement, by accomplishing the DoLE-prescribed report form and submitting the same in print or digital copy, to the nearest DoLE Field or Provincial office having jurisdiction over the area where the principal office is located,” according to the resolution, signed by Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III on March 26.
If the establishment has branches or operational units outside its main offices, it is also required to submit a report to the nearest DoLE Field or Provincial Office in which the branch or operational unit is located.
The telecommuting law was signed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Dec. 20, 2018. The law defines telecommuting as “a work arrangement that allows an employee in the private sector to work from an alternative workplace with the use of telecommunication and/or computer technologies.”
Also stated in the IRR is that telecommuting arrangements can be offered by the employer on a voluntary basis or through collective bargaining agreement (CBA). DoLE added that terms and conditions “shall not be less than the minimum labor standards set by law, and shall include compensable work hours, minimum number of work hours, overtime, rest days, entitlement to leave benefits, social welfare benefits, and security of tenure.”
Employers are also supposed to treat their telecommuting employees equally with in other employees working on company premises.
The IRR also requires employers and workers to agree on standards to make such schemes compliant with the Data Privacy Act of 2012. Employers are tasked to ensure that data used by the telecommuting worker for professional purposes is protected.
“The employee shall commit to the company’s data privacy policy and ensure that confidential and proprietary information are protected at all times and utilized only in accordance with the requirements of the employer,” the IRR said. — Gillian M. Cortez
THE governments of the Philippines and Czech Republic said they have formed a Joint Economic Commission (JEC) which will facilitate economic coordination between the two countries.
In a statement Tuesday, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the JEC met for the first time last week in Prague, where delegates from the two countries agreed to initiate talks on possible agreements on trade, investment and economic cooperation between the Philippines and the Czech Republic.
“The convening of the JEC is a strategic means to engage individual EU Member States. The JEC allows us to identify and harness complementation between two of the fastest growing economies in each other’s regions,” Trade Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo was quoted as saying.
The DTI said the two countries may explore opportunities to work together in manufacturing, investment and banking, agriculture and food, energy, transportation, health, tourism, environmental technology and disaster risk reduction management.
“The JEC allows the Philippines to capitalize on the Czech Republic’s expertise in environmental technologies in water treatment and management, modern agricultural equipment and technologies, and building efficient transportation systems,” it said.
It added that the Philippines may tap companies in the Czech Republic for manufacturing services in aerospace, electronics and automative sectors.
“Closer collaboration in these areas will be made easier through the signing of the Memorandum of Intent between the Board of Investments and CzechInvest that aims to promote and facilitate investments,” the DTI said.
Mr. Rodolfo noted he wants the JEC to acknowledge the Philippines and the Czech Republic as “gateways to Asia and Europe” to “serve as viable markets for each other’s products.”
“In the same way that the Czech Republic is one of the Philippines’ strongest supporters in the EU, we invite them to see the Philippines as their friend in ASEAN,” he said.
In February, EU Ambassador to the Philippines Franz Jessen told reporters he wants the Philippines to increase its exports to the EU. “Exports are basically at the same level… I would like the Philippines to benefit from the European market more than they are currently. I think there’s a very big potential for Philippine exports to the EU,” he said then.
The DTI said that in 2018, total trade with the Czech Republic was $361 million, making it the Philippines’ 33rd largest trading partner, 23rd-largest export market and 42nd-largest supplier of imports. — Denise A. Valdez
