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Ballet Manila | Duet: Keeper of the Golden Plates and Catalabutte

Ballet Manila presents Sleeping Beauty, the last installment of the “Princess Trilogy.” Choreographed by Ballet Manila CEO and artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde and Osias Barroso, the ballet will be staged on Jan. 18 and 19 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila, Pasay City.

The performance comes on the heels of a fire that ravaged the Star City complex in October 2019, destroying the Aliw and Star Theaters which was Ballet Manila’s home.

The ballet by Ivan Vsevolozhsky and Marius Petipa, set to music by Peter Tchaikovsky, has been modified by shortening its running time and removing its divertissements.

Ballet Manila | Aurora’s Variation

Ballet Manila presents Sleeping Beauty, the last installment of the “Princess Trilogy.” Choreographed by Ballet Manila CEO and artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde and Osias Barroso, the ballet will be staged on Jan. 18 and 19 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila, Pasay City.

The performance comes on the heels of a fire that ravaged the Star City complex in October 2019, destroying the Aliw and Star Theaters which was Ballet Manila’s home.

The ballet by Ivan Vsevolozhsky and Marius Petipa, set to music by Peter Tchaikovsky, has been modified by shortening its running time and removing its divertissements.

Ballet Manila | Pas de Quatre Aurora’s Bridesmaids & Groomsmen

Ballet Manila presents Sleeping Beauty, the last installment of the “Princess Trilogy.” Choreographed by Ballet Manila CEO and artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde and Osias Barroso, the ballet will be staged on Jan. 18 and 19 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila, Pasay City.

The performance comes on the heels of a fire that ravaged the Star City complex in October 2019, destroying the Aliw and Star Theaters which was Ballet Manila’s home.

The ballet by Ivan Vsevolozhsky and Marius Petipa, set to music by Peter Tchaikovsky, has been modified by shortening its running time and removing its divertissements.

BIR, Customs miss 2019 collection goal

THE GOVERNMENT’S two major revenue-generating agencies collected a total of P2.8 trillion in 2019 but still fell short of their respective targets for the year, the Department of Finance (DoF) reported on Monday.

In a statement, the DoF said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the largest tax-collecting agency, collected P2.172 trillion last year, short by 6.8% of its target of P2.33 trillion for 2019, according to preliminary data.

This made up 77.57% of total revenues last year.

Nonetheless, last year’s performance was 10.67% higher compared to the P1.962 trillion it collected in 2018.

Despite the missed target, BIR Deputy Commissioner for Operations Arnel S.D. Guballa said the agency was still able to breach the P2-trillion collection mark last year.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs (BoC), the second-biggest revenue-collecting agency, recorded P630.57 billion worth of collections, almost five percent short of its P661-billion target but still 6.32% higher year on year. This accounted for 22.5% of the total collections of both agencies in 2019.

The BoC earlier said low import volume as well as the stronger peso last year caused it to miss its revenue collection goal.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the two agencies still did “a wonderful job” last year but he expects improvements in their performances this year “given the Philippines’ vibrant economic outlook in 2020.”

Mr. Dominguez also commended the BIR’s efforts to collect taxes from errant service providers of Philippine online gaming operators and their foreign employees.

Collections of the BIR and BoC make up bulk of the country’s revenues, with other collections coming from the Bureau of the Treasury and nontax revenue from other offices, such as privatization proceeds and fees.

Official data released last month showed total government revenues as of end-November went up 10.55% to P2.894 trillion, with tax revenues making up 93.39% of the total collections. Meanwhile, spending for the first eleven months rose 6.83% year on year to P3.303 trillion.

This brought the January to November budget deficit to P409.1 billion, which was 14.27% narrower year on year. The latest figure only accounted for 67% of the downgraded P610-billion deficit ceiling for last year.

The government operates on a deficit as it finances projects that cannot be covered by its ability to generate revenue. The country plans to accommodate a budget gap of as much as 3.2% of gross domestic product for the fiscal year 2019-2022.

Sought for comment, UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc., Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said the collections of the two agencies last year “speak loudly of their historical performances” as they have repeatedly missed their revenue goals despite the reforms and modernization pushed by the government.

Mr. Asuncion said reforms by other countries that the two bureaus can adopt to improve their collection efforts include “major reorganization and even radical abolitions of institutions to effect fundamental change.”

“There are best practices in other countries where reforms have been deeply successful. I think it was either Peru or Chile that went to reorganize its own version of the BIR and eventually improve tax collection and administration,” he said in an e-mail Monday.

Mr. Asuncion added that political backing, presidential authority and leadership all played critical roles when the Peruvian tax reform “master plan” was implemented.

“The crucial assembly and appointment of “the team” by Manuel B. Estela that drafted and designed the “master reform plan” is something that the Philippines could learn from. The trust that was built and the integrity of the various members of the team were also vital in the success of the reform,” he said in an earlier research paper.

During its 176th meeting last July, the Development Budget Coordination Committee tasked the two agencies to collect a total of P3.3 trillion this year, 17.85% higher than last year’s goal.

Broken down, the BIR has a collection target of P2.576 trillion this year, while the BoC has to collect P731.235 billion, which are both over 10% higher compared to their respective targets in 2019. — Beatrice M. Laforga

Taal Volcano eruption risks GDP growth, analysts say

By Luz Wendy T. Noble and Beatrice M. Laforga

THE CONTINUED ERUPTION of Taal Volcano in Batangas province risks the country’s utilities, agriculture, transport and tourism sectors, not to mention overall economic growth, analysts said on Monday.

Consumer prices could also spike due to temporary supply constraints, they said.

“This latest natural calamity could lead to some temporary supply and logistical constraints that could result in higher prices of food, agricultural products, fuel, transport and other basic commodities,” Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said in a mobile phone message. “Inflation could pick up as a result.”

Property prices in badly hit areas could also decline, he said, adding that tourism could take a beating as canceled flights lead to higher airfares.

Batangas province contributed a third or about 2.079 million of the 7.05 million overnight travelers in Calabarzon in 2018, according to data from the Tourism department. More than 595,000 travelers stayed in the town of Talisay, the jump-off point to Taal Volcano’s crater lake.

The government was making “quick estimates” on the economic costs of Taal Volcano’s eruptions, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III told reporters in a Viber message on Monday.

“We will of course need to take stock of the full economic costs of this natural disaster, quick estimates of which are still being generated by relevant national agencies and local governments,” he said.

“The Southern and Central Luzon as well as National Capital Region (NCR) are some of the heftier pistons of our country’s economic engine, and we will do what is necessary to get areas affected by this natural disaster up and running as fast as possible,” Mr. Dominguez said

He noted that NCR and the Calabarzon Region — made up of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon provinces — contributed 53% of the country’s total gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018 at 36% and 17% respectively. Central Luzon had a 9% share.

The country loses 1-2% of its yearly GDP due to natural disasters, especially typhoons, he said.

Mr. Dominguez said the government was monitoring the situation and responding urgently to the needs of those affected by the natural disaster, he said

More than 2,500 families or about 10,700 people were evacuated to 45 evacuation centers as of Monday morning, mostly in the provinces of Batangas and Cavite, the Finance chief said.

The nation’s volcanic agency raised the alert level for Taal Volcano to Level 4 on Monday, while ashfalls were felt in the nearby provinces of Tagaytay, Laguna, Cavite, parts of Rizal, Bulacan and some cities in Metro Manila.

The nation could lose as much as P35 billion because of the volcanic eruption, Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist at UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc., said in a text message.

Damages from the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 reached P25 billion, excluding the cost of caring for evacuees worth P6.7 billion, Mr. Asuncion said, citing a study by the National Economic and Development Authority published on the United States Geological Survey website.

TRIGGER POINT
Meanwhile, the government’s recently issued catastrophe-linked (CAT) bonds may trigger payouts once damage caused by Taal Volcano’s eruptions reach a trigger point, Mr. Dominguez said.

The government has a CAT bond in place that might be triggered by a “1-in-19 year” earthquake that translates to losses worth P11 billion,” he said, citing data from the Bureau of the Treasury. This would be similar to the losses from the 1990 Luzon earthquake in Nueva Ecija, he added.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said the government will have to see first if losses had reached a trigger point.

The funds may be used to finance relief operations and building reconstruction, among other things, she said.

The Philippine government issued through the World Bank its first three-year CAT bonds worth $225 million in November — $75 million for losses from earthquakes and $150 million for losses from tropical cyclones.

Aside from the bonds, the Finance chief said the Treasury bureau is also working on a “natural catastrophe cover” for the state’s important asses such as schools, roads and bridges.

Government offices and classes were suspended in Metro Manila yesterday as ashfall from Taal Volcano reached some cities near the capital on Sunday night.

The Treasury bill auction was also suspended and reset for Tuesday, while the Bankers Association of the Philippines closed the dollar-peso spot trading. There was also no trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday.

Holiday horror: Tagaytay under a cloud of ash

By Zsarlene B. Chua
Reporter

THE weather that Sunday was beautiful, said Jose Ricardo “Pepi” Casas who was in Tagaytay for a family reunion. The skies were clear and there was no sign that just a few hours later, the nearby Taal Volcano would explode, spewing ash, steam, and rocks into a cloud that reached a kilometer into the air.

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), which had been monitoring the island closely for nearly a year after it showed signs of activity last March, raised the danger level from Alert Level 1 where it had been for months, to Alert Level 3 that afternoon, and then to Alert Level 4 by early Sunday evening, warning the public to expect a hazardous explosive eruption within hours or days. (Related story on page S1/10.)

“I was with my family including my two daughters aged six and two, my parents — my mother is in a wheelchair — and at noon on Sunday, we were on the road wanting to horseback ride on the volcano itself, but I thought it was too much trouble going down when Picnic Grove also offers horseback rides, so we turned back and headed to Picnic Grove,” Mr. Casas told BusinessWorld in a phone call yesterday.

“It wasn’t my intuition or anything, I was just in a bad mood. We almost got trapped on the volcano island,” he laughed after recalling the close call.

With the sudden eruption, many tourists found themselves stranded in Tagaytay, the city on the ridge of an ancient caldera overlooking the lake which is home to Volcano Island.

After sightseeing, the Casas family returned to the Emimarona Hotel at around 3 p.m. where they saw guests and hotel employees looking up at the sky — the volcano had just erupted, and ash and rocks were pelting the cars, the driveway, and the roads. “I saw when Pinatubo [in Pampanga] erupted [in 1991] and the ashfall was like Johnson’s Baby Powder, it’s fine and light gray. This one was different: it’s really gray, muddy pebbles,” he said.

The family didn’t leave immediately because they initially thought it wasn’t dangerous and getting the chance to see such a natural phenomenon was rare. But a few hours of the volcano’s constant rumbling and the continuous ashfall, they decided to leave. It was not easy.

“The road was packed with mud and slippery and there was zero visibility. The windshield wipers weren’t working anymore. We decided to turn back when we realized we were going to be stuck without supplies for hours on the road,” he said. They managed to return to the hotel at 9 p.m., hoping to wait until the traffic has eased before attempting to leave again. The power was out and the hotel was having trouble starting its generators. After midnight, the family decided to leave.

“I had to wheel my mother through the mud. The mud was about two inches thick at this point. I spent an hour scraping the mud from the windshield and headlights using my hands,” said Mr. Casas.

There were still guests at the hotel when they left, including a group of Korean elementary school children from a Korean school in Metro Manila.

No one talked throughout the journey home. The roads were so slippery that maneuvering the car became a challenge. They made it home to Parañaque City at 5 a.m.

“We wanted to go home so we could escape the ash and mud — but when we went home we saw our house covered in ash,” said Mr. Casas, laughing.

SLIPPERY SLOPE
John Dan Ramos, who attended a wedding at the Tagaytay Midlands Hotel, was stranded on the road for 15 hours without food or water, unable to go up the steep zigzag driveway leading from the club complex to the main ridge road.

In a series of tweets in the early hours of Monday morning, Mr. Ramos appealed for help because many of the hotel’s guests were unable to leave due to the ash-covered slippery road. “Many of us wanted to walk away from the area but we couldn’t because it was so slippery and the ashfall was so thick. We tried to leave using our private vehicles — we had no choice but to take the risk — but the roads were so slippery,” he said in Filipino.

A few hours later, he tweeted that a rescue team had cleared the roads and they were able to leave.

“But there are still people in Tagaytay Midlands that need help,” he said.

HOTELS, RESTAURANTS AFFECTED
Hotels and restaurants in Tagaytay City have either closed their operations or have limited their operations to assisting guests who want to leave or cancel their reservations.

“Majority of our guests went home to be with their families. Only employees are left in the hotel,” Jose Marie Oano, general manager of Summit Ridge Tagaytay, told BusinessWorld via a text message on Monday. “Incoming groups and events we have to suspend first until the eruptions settle down,”

Mr. Oano noted that mobile phone coverage and the internet connection are intermittent at the 108-room hotel along Aguinaldo Highway in Tagaytay City.

Hotel Monticello, a 41-room hotel located a few kilometers away from Summit Ridge, said that they are constantly updating their remaining guests regarding the situation so they can decide whether to leave or stay. Many of the guests have already left, the rest are waiting to check-out today, said Raffy Binay, the hotel’s operations manager in phone call with BusinessWorld.

The 262-room Taal Vista Hotel, one of the oldest hotels along Aguinaldo Highway, said in a statement that it “continues to operate with limited services” because they still have guests in the premises.

“Basic necessities such as food and beverage, electrical power, water, internet remain available. We are constantly monitoring the situation and rest assured our guests and employees are our utmost priority,” the hotel’s management said.

In a separate message, the hotel said its clinic is open all day and has been giving protective breathing face masks to its guests. “We have a trained emergency response team available and we are open for accommodation to guests, especially to nearby communities needing it. We are closely monitoring the situation and will continue to diligently take necessary actions to keep our guests safe and secure at all times,” Michael Anthony Sagaran, marketing communications manager of the hotel, said.

The Discovery Country Suites, a small hotel located along the Tagaytay-Calamba Road on the ridge’s slope facing the volcano, has closed. It said in an e-mailed statement that the hotel’s “emergency plan was implemented, and all the guests and staff have been assisted with the evacuation.”

“Discovery Country Suites will remain closed indefinitely until the situation normalizes. Guests with future reservations are being contacted to facilitate alternative arrangements,” Janice Tiambeng, the hotel’s general manager said in the statement.

Meanwhile, Tagaytay restaurant chain Bag of Beans which has five branches in the city told BusinessWorld via Messenger that they are “deeply affected by the ashfall which has turned into a thick mud sludge.”

“All our branches canceled operations today. We closed early yesterday. We also advised all motorists to avoid Tagaytay area,” Moon Peñaflorida, Bag of Beans’ marketing and social media manager said.

ACTIVE VOLCANO
Taal Volcano — located in the Philippines’ biggest island, Luzon — is the country’s second most active volcano. All of its eruptions are concentrated on Volcano Island, an island near the middle of Taal Lake.

Its last major eruption was in 1977, although the volcano has shown signs of unrest since then.

With the volcano located just 50 kilometers from Metro Manila, ashfall has reached its cities, prompting the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to halt operations on Sunday. Around 240 flights were canceled due to the airport closure, but NAIA resumed partial operations on Monday — starting 10 a.m. for departures and 12 noon for arrivals.

“Right now our most urgent concern is the safety and security and the general welfare of our tourists. We have been in touch with our stakeholders in the local government and private sector… we will be taking into account the impact of this maybe after this,” Department of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said in an interview with Bloomberg’s Daybreak Asia on Monday.

“Operation of [NAIA] have been disrupted but passengers have been able to go via Clark or in Mactan, Cebu,” she added.

To date, the Department of Tourism has accredited over 80 hotels, resorts, and other accommodations in Region IV-4 or Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) where Tagaytay is located.

Despite the frightening events of that Sunday, Mr. Casas said that they are returning to Tagaytay and already have rooms booked for February.

“This is not a permanent thing. I think after this, the volcano will die down again,” he said. — with Joseph L. Garcia and Michelle Anne P. Soliman

Oil comes back to haunt Asian currencies as volatility increases

ASIAN CURRENCIES have had a turbulent start to the year as geopolitical tensions have helped revive fears about an old foe that has undermined many of them in the past: crude oil.

India’s rupee, South Korea’s won, and the Philippine peso have all seen volatility jump in the past two weeks as escalating tensions between the US and Iran caused outsized swings in oil prices. If crude extends its march higher, that would saddle the three nations with heavier import bills and slower economic growth, weighing on their currencies.

Oil prices have surged since early October as Middle-East turmoil has ratcheted up. Brent crude climbed as high as $71.75 a barrel last week, from an October low of $56.16, before falling back to about $65 late on Friday in Asia.

“Rising security risks in the Middle East pose significant risks to Asia given its heavy reliance on oil imports,” said Juliana Lee, chief Asia economist at Deutsche Bank AG in Hong Kong. Asian economies “may see their external balances deteriorate meaningfully with a widening of oil trade deficits, while rising risk aversion points to a reversal of capital flows,” she said.

Here’s a look at each of the three Asian currencies most at risk from higher oil prices.

PHILIPPINES
The peso will also have trouble replicating last year’s gains if higher crude prices pile more pressure on the current account, given that the country is a net oil importer.

The currency may also face headwinds if deepening Middle-East tensions convince Philippine overseas workers in the region to return home. This will reduce remittances that are one of the key pillars supporting the currency.

The spike in oil last week that pummeled all three of these currencies may have subsided for now — but the episode should serve as a warning to investors that further volatility may be in store.

INDIA
An oil shock is the last thing India needs given the country is already running persistent current-account and fiscal deficits, and economic growth is slowing. The nation is a net oil importer and the central bank estimates a $10 increase in crude prices would widen the current account by as much as 40 basis points (bps) and add more than 50 bps to the annual inflation rate.

“Within Asia, sustained high oil price will hurt the rupee the most as it will worsen the country’s trade balance,” said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Singapore.

The rupee may decline to 74 per dollar in the coming weeks if Mideast tensions escalate, said Ankur Jhaveri, head of currency and equities at Edelweiss Securities Ltd. in Mumbai. The current record low of 74.4825 was set in October 2018.

SOUTH KOREA
The won tumbled as much as 1.1% last Wednesday when an Iran missile volley at US bases in Iraq pushed up the price of oil. A sustained increase in crude will make it almost impossible for the currency to repeat last quarter’s performance, when it was Asia’s best performer.

Accelerating inflation caused by rising oil prices, combined with a lack of economic momentum will be detrimental to South Korea and has the potential to make global funds flow out of the country, said Min Gyeong-won, an economist at Woori Bank in Seoul. The won may drop as low as 1,250 per dollar in the second quarter if oil remains an issue, he said. — Bloomberg

Cebu oil exploration firm taps contractor for production wells

CHINA International Mining Petroleum Co. Ltd. (CIMP), a unit of a Hong Kong-listed company, has tapped a contractor to start drilling six production wells in an oilfield up in the mountains of Alegria town in Cebu.

“After a continuous production for eight months, CIMP has already identified the primary production layers and wants to start drilling of production wells,” Polyard Petroleum International Group Ltd., the parent firm of the oil and gas exploration and production company, told the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Ltd.

Polyard said CIMP had completed the exploration stage for Service Contract (SC) 49 and had progressed into the production stage.

The turnkey drilling service agreement was forged on Jan. 11, 2020 with oil services company East Asia Oil Engineering Group Ltd. The deal is valid until Dec. 31, 2020.

Under the agreement, East Asia Oil will provide turnkey services to CIMP for the drilling of the six production wells. It will supply a full set of drilling equipment, including materials and personnel for well drilling, mud logging, wire line logging, cementing, testing, and related services.

Polyard said each of the production well, no matter if it is vertical or directional, would cost $815,000, or a total of $4.89 million for the six wells. It added that an 8% withholding tax is not included.

It said CIMP and the contractor had agreed that the final price will be settled after the completion of the six wells. If not all six wells are completed, the payment will be settled a month before the expiration of the drilling agreement or the completion of the last well drilled within the validity of the deal.

Also under the drilling agreement, CIMP agreed that the contractor can invest in an on-site refinery that can process 800,000 barrels of oil per annum.

“CIMP will offer lands for the setup and assist the Contractor in securing all relevant permits, clearances, and approval from the national and regional administrative offices, regulatory agencies, and local government units for the construction and operation of the oil refinery, including but not limited to all health, safety, and environmental permits, and immigration and customers clearances,” Polyard said.

“This would no doubt better the Company’s crude oil selling activities,” it added.

The exploration agreement comes after the Department of Energy (DoE) said in May 2018 that it was monitoring six exploration wells drilled by CIMP and its partners.

CIMP acquired 80% participating interest in SC 49 in southern Cebu and became its operator from July 1, 2009. Skywealth Group Holdings Ltd. holds a 16% interest, with Phil-Mal Energy International, Inc. holding the rest. Drilling of the sixth exploration well was completed in March 2018.

The Alegria oilfield covers a land area of 197,000 hectares, with about 42,749 hectares allotted to the production area.

In May 2018, CIMP launched the commercial operation of the first onshore oil discovery in the Philippines. The DoE had said that CIMP, a company 51% owned by Polyard, had invested $30.80 million in the SC 49 oilfield. — Victor V. Saulon

Martin del Rosario, Mystified top Pinoy winners at Asian TV Awards

FILIPINO actor Martin del Rosario and iflix original movie Mystified won Best Leading Male Performance (Digital Category) and Best Single Drama or Telemovie, respectively at the 24th Asian Television Awards held over Jan. 10 to 12 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila, Pasay City.

“I told myself to be nominated itself is already enough, to be recognized all over Asia… but the biggest blessing for me is the opportunity to represent my country, the Philippines,” Mr. Del Rosario, who won for his work in Born Beautiful, said during his acceptance speech.

Aside from those two top awards, the Philippines also took home Best Theme Song Award for Kris Lawrence and Krizza Neri’s “Alanganin” from the animated series Barangay 143. The song beat four other songs from the Philippines, including three other songs from the same show.

Barangay 143, touted as the first Filipino anime and created by Synergy 88 Entertainment Media Inc. and GMA Network Inc. also went home with the Best 2D Animated Program award beating out India’s Little Singham from Discovery Communications India.

“This is a great honor for us from Synergy 88 Entertainment Media Inc. It was a tough ride… this award is not just for us but to all the talented Filipino animators out there,” Jan Kristoffer Enriquez, programs manager at Synergy 88, said during his acceptance speech.

Other winners include Taiwanese actor William Hsieh (Best Actor in a Leading Role) for First Love, Thai actress Tisanart Sornsuek (Best Actress in a Leading Role) for True Life of a Drama Queen, Thai actor Attaphan Poonsawat (Best Actor in a Supporting Role) for The Gifted, and Thai actress Anyarin Terethanapat (Best Actress in a Supporting Role) for Loop of Vengeance.

Korean drama series Sky Castle went home with Best Drama Series.

ABS-CBN News Channel anchor Catherine Yap-Wang won her fourth Asian Television Awards trophy after being named as the Best News Presenter or Anchor for her work in Market Edge with Cathy Yang. Ms. Yap-Yang previously won Best TV Newscaster for three straight years (2001 to 2003).

Businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan was given a special award for his Outstanding Contribution to Asian Television. Mr. Pangilinan is the chairman of television network TV5.

“It’s a validation of a journey [which started] about a decade ago, many thought as foolish to embark. We invested as a third player in a two-network town at the crux of unpredictable times and rapid seismic changes in content creation, consumption, and human behavior,” Mr. Pangilinan said in a speech read by TV5 CEO Jane Basas, during the ceremony.

Below is the full list of winners at the Asian Television Awards:

• Cable/Satellite Network of the Year: Line Company Thailand

• Terrestrial Broadcaster of the Year: China Global Television

• Best Direction (Fiction): Jeevan Nathan (Avenue 14)

• Best Actor in a Leading Role: William Hsieh (First Love)

• Best Actress in a Leading Role: Tisanart Sornsuek (True Life of a Drama Queen)

• Best Host/Presenter — Digital: Panirin Tumwattana (Little Nirin)

• Best Entertainment Presenter/Host: Alana Nichols (Follow Alana)

• Best Adaption of an Existing Format: Masterchef Junior Thailand Season 1

• Best Reality Show: My Kitchen Rules Australia

• Best Original Digital Drama Series: The Deadline

• Best Digital Fiction Program/Series: Social Syndrome

• Best Leading Male Performance — Digital: Martin del Rosario (Born Beautiful)

• Best Leading Female Performance — Digital: Chanya McClory (The Deadline)

• Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Attaphan Poonsawat (The Gifted)

• Best Actress in Supporting Role: Anyarin Terethananpat (Loop of Vengeance)

• Best Single Drama or Telemovie: Mystified

• Best Drama Series: Skycastle

• Best Theme Song: “Alanganin” by Kris Lawrence and Krizza Neri (Barangay 143)

• Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asian Television Performing Arts: Anggun

• Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asian Television: Manny Pangilinan

TECHNICAL AND CREATIVE AWARDS:

• Best Documentary Program (one-off/special): Is Australia Sexist?

• Best Documentary Series: China From Above 2

• Best Natural History or Wildlife Program: Orang Utan Jungle School

• Best Single News Story/Report (10 mins or less): Giant Clams-Nature’s Climate Archive

• Best News Program: Sunaina’s Story

• Best News Presenter or Anchor: Cathy Yang, Market Edge with Cathy Yang

• Best Social Awareness Program: Planet Healers

• Best Current Affairs Presenter: Andini Effendi, Q&A Metro TV

• Best Current Affairs Program: Kerala Floods — The Human Story

• Best Comedy Program: The Family Law Season 3

• Best Lifestyle Program: The Spirit of Zen

• Best Infotainment Program: Mega Icons

• Best Entertainment Program (One off/Annual): 2018-2019 Jiangsu Satellite TV New Year’s Eve Concert

• Best General Entertainment Program: SASUKE Ninja Warrior 2018

• Best Original Digital Entertainment Program: Super Nova Games

• Best Children’s Program: Bodypedia Baby

• Best Preschool Program: Didi & Friends

• Best 2D Animated Program: Barangay 143

• Best 3D Animated Program: Treehouse Detectives

• Best Live Sports Coverage: Australian PGA Championships 2018

• Best Sports Program: Go Top Heroes

• Best Sports Presenter/Commentator: Michael O’Dwyer (Live@HWWC HSBC Singapore 2019)

• Best Talk Show: Koffee with Karan Season 6

• Best Game/Quiz Program: Boom! Vietnam

• Best Music Program: The Producer

• Best Music Video: “Sandcastles” by Olinda Cho

• Best Influencer Content/Series: Stupid Man Smartphone-Singapore

• Best Branded Content (>15 mins): Prison Rat

• Best Branded Content (<15 mins): Queensway: Home of Football

• Best Branded Marketing Content: Mitsubishi Adventure with National Geographic

• Best Digital Non-Fiction Program/Series: Painted Love: Our Story

• Best Scriptwriting for Web Series: The Deadline

• Best Cinematography: Kumar Subramanyam (Breaking Point — Haws)

• Best Original Screenplay: Ekacahai Uekrongtham (Bangkok Love Stories: Plead)

• Best Editing: Zhou Quan, Life Matters Season 2

• Best Direction (Non-Fiction): Prabhu Asgadnkar (Breaking Point — Haws)

— Zsarlene B. Chua

Firms eye customized banking services

LOCAL COMPANIES are looking to avail of customized banking services to improve the efficiency of their transactions, according to UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc.

John Cary L. Ong, UnionBank executive vice-president and head of Transaction Banking Center said the local landscape is “quite unique” compared to its counterparts in the region where payment systems are standard and efficient.

“For the Filipino corporates, there’s a lot of customization that’s required. So every corporate that you speak to, especially the large ones, they would have their unique requirements. They need someone who can sort of be flexible to everyone,” he said in an interview with BusinessWorld in December.

He cited Singapore’s General Interbank Recurring Order or GIRO which is an automated electronic payment system governing banks in the city-state.

In the Philippines, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has kickstarted the National Retail Payment System (NRPS) back in 2015 in a bid to streamline financial transactions in a more systematic way and to gradually veer away from cash and cheques and towards electronic fund transfers (EFT). This is in line with the BSP’s target to have e-payments comprise 20% of total transactions in the country by 2020.

The PESONet which is part of the NRPS and is an EFT service which allows batch processing that enables fund transfers to be credited to the receiver by the end of the banking date.

In line with these efforts, UnionBank has launched The Portal which is a corporate banking platform that streamlines client transactions on a single platform.

Prior to The Portal, the lender had The Hub which Mr. Ong said was not a “one platform for all transactions” scheme as it has many modules and required separate logins.

“It (The Portal) was really a complete overhaul for us and primarily because what we wanted to do was consolidate all these different systems which the corporates have touch points with and put it all into one platform,” Mr. Ong said.

The Portal is set to cater to firms’ need for a customized corporate banking experience with all its features accessible both through the website and the app.

With corporate clients always on the go, Mr. Ong said the platform’s flexibility of access will be convenient for them.

“What we’ve done is anything you can do on the website, you can also do. You can initiate a transaction on the app, you can switch organizations, you can authorize payments,” he explained.

Mr. Ong said The Portal will also address one vital pain point in corporate banking which is setting up approval hierarchy, noting that they have customers that have very complex approval matrix data.

“So how we built the system is it can be very flexible and very easy to set up. So regardless of how complex the requirements are, we can cater to them,” he said.

He added that the bank has also consolidated approval and transaction schemes into one login for those that manage multiple entities.

So far, 5,000 customers or a sixth of the bank’s corporate clients have already migrated to The Portal, Mr. Ong said.

“But our target definitely by around end of next year, is to have half [of corporate customers] on The Portal, and once they are in, it’s easy for us to push for electronic payments and really encourage them to move away from cheques,” Mr. Ong, who is also the head of the PESONet Steering Committee, said.

The bank also launched its ARK For Business branch in Makati in December which is meant for business transactions. ARK Branches are equipped with IoT (Internet of Things) technologies to facilitate better customer-in-branch experience. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

PSE sets new trading price threshold to guard investors

THE Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. (PSE) will be implementing a new dynamic threshold for securities next month after conducting its semi-annual review in July to December 2019.

In a Jan. 10 memorandum posted on its website, the local bourse operator announced changes in the dynamic threshold of listed securities. The changes are set to take effect by Feb. 3, Monday.

The PSE defines the dynamic threshold as the “maximum allowable price difference between an update in the Last Traded Price (LTP) of a given stock or group of stocks and its preceding LTP that is equal to a percentage set by the PSE.” It is a measure to protect investors from unusual fluctuations in share prices.

In accordance with the guidelines on revised trading rules that took effect in 2010, the PSE has set dynamic thresholds based on three security clusters: A, or for securities traded 20 times or less in the past six months; B, or those traded 500 times or less but greater than 20 times in the past six months; and C, or those traded more than 500 times in the past six months.

As set by the guidelines, the dynamic threshold for security cluster A is 20%, for security cluster B is 15% and for security cluster C is 10%.

The new memorandum of the PSE adjusted the number of securities classified in every cluster.

For group A, the list grew to 35 securities from 34 in the current matrix. This took into account the inclusion of shares of newly-listed firm Fruitas Holdings, Inc.; the class “B” series 2 preferred shares of Ayala Corp.; and the non-noting perpetual preferred shares series 4 of Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc.

Securities under group B also expanded, growing to 66 securities from 61 at present. Apart from the movement of some securities from one cluster to another, the list also added shares of Benguet Corp.

For group C, however, the list declined to 225 securities from 228 at the moment. This covers the inclusion of shares in newly listed firms Axelum Resources Corp. and AllHome Corp.; the removal of shares in Travellers International Hotel Group, Inc.; and the movement of some shares to other clusters.

The guidelines on the dynamic threshold for securities say new securities listed on the PSE are subject to the 20% dynamic threshold by default.

The review of dynamic thresholds happens every second trading week of January and July, but the guidelines allow the PSE to reclassify a security even before the six-month review period ends if it finds that the trading frequency of such security needs attention. — Denise A. Valdez

Speedy zombies inhabit Red’s latest horror outing

TOUTED AS the “first full-scale zombie film by a Filipino studio,” Mikhail Red’s Block Z promises action and gore and thrills as it hits cinemas on January 29.

“When I was doing Eerie, Star Cinema went up to me and asked if I can do a zombie movie for them because it’s been a while since the country had a film from the genre,” Mr. Red said during a press conference on Jan. 12 at the ABS-CBN offices in Quezon City.

The film’s premise revolves around several pre-med students who are trapped inside a campus where a patient exhibiting rabies-like symptoms attacks and infects people.

Both Mr. Red’s prior horror and thriller films — Eerie and Dead Kids — have stories revolving around students and their schools.

Making a zombie film is not a new experience for the director. “Back in high school, I used to make zombie movies with my classmates using ketchup as blood and a mini-dv recorder,” Mr. Red said in a release.

The film’s cast include Julia Barretto, Maris Racal, McCoy de Leon, Yves Flores, and Joshua Garcia alongside Ian Veneracion, Dimples Romana, and Ina Raymundo.

“We have fast zombies [in this film]… the running in this film is full-speed, so it adds excitement and thrills because you really need cardio, these are not slow zombies you can slam with a frying pan,” the director said.

He added that he was inspired by the 2007 horror film 28 Weeks Later by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (the sequel to Danny Boyle’s 2002 film, 28 Days Later), and anime series High School of the Dead which aired in 2010 and which was adapted from the manga of the same name by Daisuke Sato.

“Block Z is a horror film but it also has adventure-thriller elements… horror is a visual language and it’s not something that can be done through dialogue… it’s almost like a graphic novel [when sequencing shots],” he said.

Block Z screens in cinemas nationwide starting Jan. 29. — Z.B. Chua

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