June 23, 2023 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Shares prices stayed in negative territory yesterday after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stuck to his recent hawkish tone on the central bank’s likely interest rate path.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed at 6,404.91, down by 19.30 points or 0.30 percent, while the broader All Shares index slipped by 9.12 points or 0.27 percent to 3,417.69.

Mikhail Plopenio of Philstocks Financial said the local market followed the downturn in Wall Street overnight following Powell’s remarks in his testimony to the US Congress.

“Investors seemed to have been weighed by the hawkish statements from the Federal Reserve despite the anticipated rate hike pause from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas,” he said.

Last week, the Fed held its benchmark interest rate steady at between five percent and 5.25 percent, but officials projected rates will have to increase another half percentage point by year’s end to tame inflation.

Powell in his remarks to lawmakers in Washington said the outlook for two further 25-basis-point (bps) rate increases are “a pretty good guess” of where the central bank is heading if the economy continues in its current direction.

Kevin Cummins, chief economist at NatWest Markets, said Powell’s testimony didn’t shed any new light on the Fed’s thinking or the likely future path for monetary policy, adding that his tone was very similar to last week’s press conference and mostly leaned hawkish.

“It’s clear that the FOMC wants the market to understand that a hike will be on the table for debate at the next meeting. The Fed’s data-dependent approach in this tightening cycle suggests upcoming data releases could shift expectations.”

Atlanta Federal Reserve president Raphael Bostic said on Wednesday the Fed should not raise rates further or it would risk “needlessly” sapping the strength of the US economy.

The comments highlight the growing debate at the central bank over when and if the central bank should hike further.

“The next six months, as much as we would like to stop talking about the Fed, but it’s going to be the continued driver of sentiment in the market,” said Michael Dyer, investment director, multi assets at M&G Investments.

June 23, 2023 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Retail prices of goods in Metro Manila experienced the slowest growth in 11 months in May, largely due to slower upticks in food prices, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the General Retail Price Index (GRPI) growth in Metro Manila decelerated to 4.9 percent in May from 5.4 percent in April.

The latest GRPI reading for the National Capital Region (NCR) is the lowest growth since the 4.7 percent increase in June last year.

The May GRPI growth, however, is higher than the 4.1 percent uptick in May last year.

“The primary driver of the lower annual growth of GRPI in NCR was the slower year-on-year increase in the heavily weighted food index at 10 percent during the month from 10.6 percent in April 2023,” the PSA said.

It said the continued decline in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials at -12.8 percent in May 2023 from -8.4 percent in the previous month also contributed to the downtrend in GRPI growth.

Commodity groups with lower increases were machinery and transport equipment as well as beverages and tobacco.

On the other hand, commodity groups with higher mark-ups were crude materials, inedible except fuels; chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats, and miscellaneous manufactured articles.

Manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials retained their previous month’s growth of 2.8 percent in May.

From  January to May, GRPI growth averaged 5.9 percent.

GRPI tracks the changes in the retailers’ prices to consumers or end-users.

The index is used for monitoring the economic situation of the retail sector, as well as for forecasting business in retail trade.

June 23, 2023 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Ropali Group of Companies’ Agribusiness Rural Bank Inc. (Agribank) has partnered with leading global fintech provider, Kiya.AI as part of its cybersecurity improvements and anti-money laundering efforts.

The bank subscribed to Kiya.AI’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) System to facilitate easier tracking, flagging, and detection of suspicious activities as part of its regulatory compliance.

Agribank president and CEO Danny Boy Antonio said the partnership with Kiya.AI would add value to the existing improvements in the bank’s compliance unit as this complements the bank’s long-term goal of offering customers a safer banking experience.

“We look forward to leveraging Kiya.AI’s expertise in enabling 360-degree customer profiling, eliminating false reporting, and streamline compliance operations,” Antonio said.

Rajesh Mirjankar, CEO of Kiya.AI said the company is committed to complementing the ongoing efforts of Agribank to empower and serve its customers against the constantly evolving threats of money laundering.

“We believe that cutting-edge, real-time financial monitoring technology can deliver the change needed to fight today’s sophisticated fraud and money laundering cases. Given the dynamic nature of the financial crime and regulatory landscape, we recognize that ensuring AML compliance is a continuous process, and we will fine tune and continue to strengthen our collaborative efforts together with Agribank,” he said.

Agribank chief compliance officer Norberto Tan said  it has been the bank’s aim to find the right system provider to collaborate with.

Kiya.Ai is a global digital solutions provider serving financial institutions and governments worldwide. Its expertise includes financial services, digital payments, governance, risk and compliance solutions along with market-ready processes that empower financial institutions to be equipped with future-proof strategies to serve an ever growing digital-first community.

It operates in 50 countries and has some 500 clients.

Agribank is a rural bank that is part of the Ropali Group of Companies with operations dating back to 1978 in Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya.

At present, the company has 21 branches nationwide offering deposits and loan products at competitive rates.

The Ropali Group of Companies, a mid-sized conglomerate focused on motorcycles and agriculture machinery, is headed by its founding chairman, businessman Roberto Alingog. 

June 23, 2023 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The poor and the middle-class segment of the society will likely bear the brunt of the proposed tax on salty and junk food, as well higher levy on sweetened beverages, amid the lack of affordable food options in the market.

Economists told The STAR that while the Department of Finance’s latest tax proposal seems to be a good measure, this may unduly burden the country’s low-income majority.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno recently announced that the DOF and the Department of Health are pursuing a junk food and sweetened beverage tax in a bid to generate revenues while addressing diseases related to poor diet.

Such a tax measure is seen adding some P76 billion to state coffers and reducing consumption of junk food by 21 percent.

Leonardo Lanzona, economist and professor at the Ateneo De Manila University, said covered products have very high price elasticity, especially if targeted to the poor and middle income groups.

This means that demand may likely fall and unlikely increase collection for the needed tax revenues for important socially-oriented programs to be achieved.

“I think that the demand for these products will fall, except for those targeted to the rich. So revenues generated from these taxes will not be sufficient,” Lanzona said.

“The government should not rely on these forms of taxes as these can also be regressive, as lower and middle income groups are the heaviest consumers of these products,” he said.

Under the proposal, the government plans to impose a P10 per 100 grams or P10 per 100 milliliters tax on pre-packaged foods lacking nutritional value, including confectioneries, snacks, desserts, and frozen confectioneries, that exceed the DOH’ specified thresholds for fat, salt, and sugar content.

The DOF also wants to increase the sweetened beverage tax rate under the TRAIN Law to P12 per liter regardless of the type of sweetener used. Currently, the rate is at a minimum of P6 per liter.

Research and advocacy group IBON Foundation, for its part, maintained that the supposed health benefits may not be achieved given the lack of affordable alternatives, especially amid low purchasing power of the majority of Filipinos.

IBON executive director Sonny Africa argued that revenues would be generated precisely because the DOF knows about the lack of alternatives and that even poor Filipino families would keep buying such foods.

“An additional consumption tax will also just further depress household consumption spending, which has been slowing for three consecutive quarters already,” Africa said.

On the other hand, ING Bank senior economist Nicholas Mapa said that the tax measure should help generate fresh funds for government coffers while also improving the health of Filipinos.

This, as the government moves to consolidate its finances given the limited fiscal space following the pandemic’s effect on revenues that has yet to fully recover.

“The estimated revenue take from this does look a bit modest versus total revenue collection for a year. But at this point, perhaps every additional revenue can count,” Mapa said.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort explained that the administration is proposing new taxes as inflation continues to stabilize.

“New and higher taxes during better economic times make sense, as well as the urgency to pay large debts incurred since the pandemic, though some of the debts are long-term in nature,” Ricafort said.

Ricafort added that the measure is not necessarily anti-poor as it is similar to sin taxes, which slaps levies on less essential products with health risks, such as tobacco and alcohol.

Diokno said the added revenues from the tax package would fund important socio-economic programs of the administration.

Mapa, meanwhile, said part of the proceeds should help promote healthier alternatives and support industries that produce healthier choices.

Still, IBON argued that if the DOF is really concerned about improving the diet of Filipinos, it should support wage hikes and provide ayuda that would increase the purchasing power and food consumption of millions of families.

It also called on the government to raise substantial revenues, without burdening ordinary Filipinos, through a wealth tax that could raise some P500 billion annually.

Lanzona agreed with this, noting that consumption taxes should be complemented with a wealth tax to provide more programs for the poor.

“The goods that the rich commonly purchase, such as luxuries, the demand may not decrease as much. So, the overall goal should be to make these taxes more progressive,” he said.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is set to undergo a transformation under its Secretary, Antonia “Toni” Yulo-Loyzaga, who wants the department to move away from its previous mandate of being a “regulatory” body to an agency that is science-led and which will focus more on “protection, enhancement, preservation, rehabilitation and regeneration of the environment.”

She said such a mandate would lead to a “reorganizational  transformation” that “needs to actually take place,” where in the past “people are used to, perhaps, the more punitive and  the more regulatory” agency, but this time around would be more “science-based and with more emphasis on what we need to do to actually maintain from ridge to reef our ecosystems so that they can support community life, business, and all the other activities that are really dependent on the use of natural resources.”

Loyzaga formally sat down with a group of business editors and writers Tuesday to outline some of her views regarding her department, and impressed all of us with her careful and intelligent approach to tackling and formulating policies that will govern the various sectors that her department has jurisdiction over  – from the extractive sector to the renewables sector —  that also overlap with the Department of Energy, climate and the environment, water resources  – that will also overlap with the still to be created Department of Water, as well as dealing with a menagerie of  abandoned and confiscated wildlife!

The DENR also manages the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center, which has amassed a “small” collection of animals that were either confiscated from illegal smugglers or abandoned by illegal collectors and include a pair of tigers.

^{‘We need minerals’}

The extractive industries sector is excited that Secretary Loyzaga acknowledges the practical need to resume the extraction of vital minerals and metallurgical resources that our economy needs, even as she carefully reviews existing policies and draws up the new framework that will govern the sector moving forward during her tenure.

“At this point we need to accept that we need minerals… we need minerals. Everything that we use on a daily basis comes from something that has to be extracted,” she said.

The DENR Secretary expressed the need for government to map out and confirm that the resources are there and determine if they can be sustainably extracted. She also stressed the need for government to resume exploration, noting that such activity has stopped, and that the private sector has that ability to track such resources, which the government should likewise be able to do.

However, Loyzaga continues to review past policies governing the extraction of resources such as coal, oil, minerals and metallurgical resources, and is still in the process of revising and improving the policy framework, as well as holding consultations with all stakeholders, that would govern such activities before releasing the new rules and  guidelines that will be followed moving forward.

She could, thus, only say that they would come out with the new policy framework “soon” that would allow the private sector to resume or invest in new exploration, mining and renewable energy activities.

On the controversial adoption of open pit mining, Loyzaga avoided an all out endorsement, but pointed out that new technology and  processes are now available and that there is greater emphasis on mitigation, rehabilitation and regeneration that has been used and accepted by other countries that engage in extractive industries.

She also astutely shut down claims that rehabilitation has not been a hallmark of the Philippine mining sector, citing for instance the rehabilitation done in Rio Tuba,  and more importantly that any activity in the extractive sector, by its very nature, will not result in something that has been disturbed will ever be exactly the same even with restoration or rehabilitation. But she does see the possibility of seeking compensation by investment.

Also a priority for Loyzaga are weather and climate change issues that have now gained more urgency globally, as different parts of the world now experience the damage wrought by climate disasters. DENR Undersecretary Carlo Primo “CP” David, whom she has worked with in the past, is helping her on those issues.

Loyzaga’s approach to her post stems from her professional background, having been the executive director of the Manila Observatory for nine years, from 2007 to 2016, even though her educational background is really in political science.

Grade school classmates

It was actually a reunion of sorts for Secretary Loyzaga, Grace Magno,  VP for corporate marketing of SM Supermalls, and myself last Tuesday, as we were all grade school classmates at Assumption Convent – Herran (ages ago), with both Grace and me vouching for Loyzaga’s good girl reputation in grade school and among the more diligent students…along with another former classmate, Sen. Loren Legarda.

It was also a good time to learn about that not-so romantic, but actually “boring” (as Toni herself describes it)  courtship of Toni by Chito Loyzaga …because, of course, we had to ask about it…wink…wink.

We wanted to know how the then popular college hearthrob athlete/ basketballer Chito won over Toni…not as it turns out by sweeping her off her feet, but rather a straight forward request by Chito for her to be his girlfriend. It turns out that she had known Chito for quite some time as he was a friend of her brother. She further reveals that Chito is  “methodical and constant” and “plays by the book,” as proven by his professional basketball career with the still popular Barangay Ginebra team.

Their union produced two girls and a boy, Joaquin, who is her “Asec, Anak ng Secretary” and executive assistant at the DENR, but who, unfortunately, is not into basketball but definitely inherited the good looks of his father.

Juan Luna at the Ayala Museum

Was fortunate enough to view Juan Luna’s long-lost painting, “Hymen, o Hymenee,” which won a bronze medal at the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris, France,  at the Ayala Museum last week. It is a beautiful work of art that makes one proud that a Filipino artist had the talent to create such a masterful painting that is recognized internationally.

It was also a good time to review Juan Luna’s colorful and controversial life, which of course, was glossed over in the beautiful audio-visual presentation that accompanied the exhibit, but reawakened my interest in the controversial artist.

It was also pleasant to reacquaint myself with the Ayala Museum that I had visited years ago when it relocated in the now commercial Greenbelt mall. I was again awed by the museum’s gold exhibit, and pleased with its new exhibits on textiles and ceramics and pottery.

I urge those who have not seen the exhibit to go visit the Ayala Museum and appreciate a pleasant morning or afternoon learning about Filipino art and heritage before or after a shopping and eating spree at the mall.

June 23, 2023 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center will gauge private sector interest in the Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX) concession through a market sounding activity next week.

In an advisory, the DPWH and PPP Center said they are inviting firms interested in the CLLEX concession to a market sounding event on June 27 at the PPP Center office in Quezon City.

The  event aims to gather feedback from relevant stakeholders as the DPWH undertakes the PPP project study for the CLLEX.

Through the event, the agencies said “DPWH aims to collect indications of private sector interest in the CLLEX concession from both domestic and international companies.”

DPWH Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral and PPP Center executive director Cynthia Hernandez will attend the market sounding event.

SMEC Philippines president Ricardo Yuzon Jr. will also be present at the event.

SMEC was tapped by the DPWH to carry out transaction advisory services to establish the viability of CLLEX Phase II, which will extend Phase I by connecting Cabanatuan City and San Jose City in Nueva Ecija.

CLLEX Phase I is a 30-kilometer expressway connecting the provinces of Tarlac and Nueva Ecija.

Construction for Phase I was funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, with counterpart funding from the Philippine government.

CLLEX Phase II, meanwhile, will involve the selection for a private proponent to finance, design and construct the project.

The private proponent will also operate and maintain both Phase I and II.

MANILA, Philippines — The Center for Global Best Practices will host a program titled “Resolving your Squatter Issues in Public and Private Properties” on July 20, 21 and 24, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.

The program aims to protect your property from unlawful occupants and to efficiently utilize ejectment actions and provisional remedies available in the speedy recovery of your land or building to avoid further damage from prolonged dispossession. The lecture will include other special laws of great concern to land developers such as Republic Act 6552 (The Maceda Law) that governs sales on installment of real property, Presidential Decree 1517 (The Urban Land Reform Law), RA 7279 (The Lina Law), Tenancy Law, and more. It will also include essential updates on government initiatives against professional squatters and squatting syndicates.

This three-session training will be led by CGBP’s finest roster of lecturers that include Atty. Alvin Claridades, the author of 18 best-selling law books such as Land Titles and Deeds, Laws on Easement, Road Right-of-Way, Building and Setback, Agrarian Law and The Revised IRR of the National Building Code of the Philippines; Ret. Gen. Efren Fernandez, who has extensive experience in peacefully and effectively removing thousands of illegal dwellers and a former president and CEO of Public Safety Mutual Benefit Funds Inc. and undersecretary at the Department of National Defense; and Engr. Agustin Torres, who was part of the oversight committee on the crafting and implementation of the revised IRR of the Building Code of the Philippines and also serves as a program director at the CGBP and a consultant at the DPWH National Building Code Development Office and Quezon City LGU.

Registration is open to the general public. A must for property owners, land developers, lessors and brokers, bankers and financiers, prosecutors and judges, lawyers and consultants, property administrators, law enforcement officers, consultants, victims of squatting syndicates and anyone seeking effective solutions to illegal tenants, squatters and dwellers.

For more property-related training topics such as Best Practices Guide to Crafting Construction Law Contracts, Condominium Law of the Philippines, Building Code of the Philippines and How to Detect Fake Titles, visit www.cgbp.org or call Manila lines (+63 2) 8556-8968/69 or (+63 2) 8842-7148/59.

June 23, 2023 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Pangilinan-led upstream oil and gas firm PXP Energy Corp. is awaiting the awarding of service contracts (SCs) for three oil and gas prospects as it continues to explore new opportunities with promising potential.

During the company’s virtual stockholders’ meeting last Wednesday, PXP president Daniel Stephen Carlos said the company is “eagerly” awaiting the approval of three new SCs in Northwest Palawan, Sulu aSea and Recto Bank areas.

“These contract areas will play an important role in revitalizing our petroleum operations and diversifying our asset portfolio,” he said.

PXP and its unit Forum Energy Philippines Corp. are applying for a new SC covering the surrendered SC-6A in northwest Palawan and adjacent areas.

“Both PXP and Forum are participating in a new SC application that will cover the former SC-6A and addtional area to the east which was surrendered by the SC 74 consortium last year,” Carlos said.

“PXP and Forum will each have a participating interest of 6.84 percent in the new SC,” he said.

SC-6A was surrendered to the Department of Energy in March 2021 as the contract term is set to expire in February 2024.

The SC-6A joint venture partners consisted of Philodrill Corp. as the operator, Anglo Philippine Holdings Corp., Forum Energy Philippines Corp., PXP and Alcorn Petroleum and Minerals Corp.

“This has created a limited window of opportunity for us to drill an exploratory well and develop a field if a discovery is made,” Carlos said.

Meanwhile, PXP is also awaiting the awarding of the SC for a nominated area adjacent to SC 72 in Recto Bank and a pre-determined area in Sulu Sea.

“The first block is a nominated area adjacent to SC 72 and once awarded, our plan is to acquire new 2D seismic data complemented by marine gravity and magnetic data,” Carlos said.

“The second block is Area 7 in Sulu Sea which was offered by the DOE through a bidding round in 2019. Upon contract award, initial work will focus on the reprocessing of 3D seismic data,” he said.

Apart from these prospects, PXP Energy is continuously evaluating additional opportunities within the region “in line with our objective of expanding our presence in areas that show promising potential,” the company’s top official said.

PXP said the group would continue to pursue exploration work with respect to its other projects in the Philippines, including SC 40 and SC 74.

SC 74 is the Linapacan block in northwest Palawan, while SC 40 is the North Cebu block located in the Visayan Basin.

June 23, 2023 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has extended a P66.7-million loan for the construction of a waste treatment and disposal facility in Cebu.

DBP recently approved the P66.7-million loan to Pacific Mactan Renewable Environmental Systems Inc. (PMRESI), the local subsidiary of Canada-based EnEco WTE Pacific Inc.

The loan will be used to build the only fully-integrated waste treatment and disposal facility at the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) in Lapu-Lapu City.It will also cover the establishment of a pacesetting smart waste management and energy recovery system for more than 200 firms within the MEZ area.

The latest loan is under DBP’s Sustainable Waste Management for Enhanced Environmental Protection Financing Program (SWEEP), the bank’s flagship credit facility that aims to help address the growing problem of solid and hazardous waste management in the country.

The loan will partially finance the construction of a 2,000-square-meter hazardous waste treatment facility and the acquisition of waste-water treatment equipment.

DBP president and CEO Michael de Jesus said the bank aims to support building sustainable infrastructure to further accelerate environmental protection and economic growth in the country.

“Through this undertaking, we bolster commitment to support innovative technologies and approaches that would advance efficient solid waste management systems and practices,” De Jesus said.

The mother firm of PMRESI pioneered the entry of a waste gasifier technology in the Philippines called thermal oxidation process system (TOPS).

As such, the MEZ waste treatment facility is the first to employ the TOPS gasifier technology that uses a thermal gasification process to decompose carbon-based components of waste and reduce its volume by 97 percent.

The project, which will employ an integrated pollution prevention and control system, has been granted the first-ever environmental technology verification statement and report by the Department of Science and Technology.

Further, the facility is seen to produce carbon-free ash, which can be used as a concrete additive, and donated to nearby municipalities for their construction needs and generate additional power from waste product treatment.

DBP has so far approved P435.6 million in financing under its SWEEP program.

DBP is the eighth largest bank in the country in terms of assets. It provides credit support to four strategic sectors of the economy namely, infrastructure and logistics, MSME, environment, and social services and community development.

THE Asian Institute of Maritime Studies (AIMS) renewed its partnership with Pukyong National University (PKNU) in South Korea to further its academic collaboration, research and development undertakings, and technology transfer.

In an official statement, AIMS Chief Executive Officer Felicito Dalaguete said the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the two institutions was renewed late last year.

“AIMS is the only Philippine Maritime Higher Education Institution (MHEI) chosen for the PKNU International Partnership together with 257 universities from 48 countries. We have sent six international students,” said Dalaguete.

AIMS was part of the Philippine delegation that attended the Korea-Philippine Maritime International Cooperation, Technology Exchange Seminar and Partnership in Busan, South Korea last April 10 to 14, 2023.

The delegation also included representatives from the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina), the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development-Department of Science and Technology (Pcieerd-DoST), and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (Soname).

The group visited four universities, a training ship and several research centers with industry-academe project cooperation in South Korea.

Oh Eun-Taek, mayor of Namgu District; Dr. Ryu Jeeyeol, president of PKNU LINC 3.0; and Lee Jung Wan, chairman of Busan Marine Engineering Association and Korean Offshore and Shipbuilding Engineering Cooperative (BUEA/Kosec), warmly greeted the Philippine delegation with the assurance of commitment for the partnering and academic collaboration, undertakings in research and development, and technology transfer.

“The presentations made by the Philippine delegates provided further insights on the Research and Development as well as Science and Technology Innovations needed in the Philippine Maritime Industry geared toward transforming advanced technology in shipbuilding, ship repair, naval architecture and marine engineering testing facilities.

“On the other hand, the Korean Delegates presented the LINC 3.0 Business Areas of Development. This included the PKNU specialized Areas, Industry-University Convergence Education, Technology Transfer and Start-up Support, Community Cooperation, LINC 3.0., and ICC-defined mutual cooperation-exchange programs for the Philippines.

“It also presented, as per its framework, the second stage in the establishment and operation of ICC for Regional Cooperation of Technology Transfer: Specialized Field Education, Technology Exchange session, and Technology transfer,” Dalaguete explained.

AIMS also signed a MoA with Soname during the Cebu Maritime Sector Expo 2023 to fully support Research and Development and Science and Technology Innovations within the Maritime Industry and Transport Sector Development Plans.

THE importance of collaboration and networking in achieving gender equality in the maritime sector took center stage at the Global Conference of the IMO Women in Maritime Associations held at the IMO Headquarters in London on May 18-19.

The need to tackle the lack of visibility of women in the maritime industry; the need for individual women and organizations representing them to work in partnership to achieve more; the importance of having men as allies; and the need to engage with girls during their school years to attract them into roles in maritime were issues raised repeatedly.

Members of the IMO’s eight Women in Maritime Associations (WIMAs) from around the world and international partner organizations came together to explore the theme of this year’s International Day for Women in Maritime held on May 18 — “Mobilizing networks for gender equality.”

IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim described gender equality as “a prerequisite for a thriving and resilient maritime industry” that would bring with it innovation, creativity and sustained growth.

“We need the best talent. And that means embracing diversity and ensuring that any barriers to participation are broken down. By investing in the future of women in maritime we unlock a wealth of talent that will drive our industry forward,” Lim said.

An agreement on the Sustainable Maritime Transport Cooperation Women Project, the aim of which is to enhance gender equality in developing countries, was signed by Lim and South Korean Ambassador Yoon Yeocheol, permanent representative of the Republic of Korea to the IMO.

The agreement provides funding worth $3 million for five years.

Ambassador Yeocheol hoped the accord would be a milestone and pledged his country’s continued support for women in the sector.

He said, “I sincerely hope that the agreement will promote more participation of women in the maritime sector and lead to a more diverse and inclusive culture in the maritime industry.”

The conference heard from all eight WIMAs about their objectives, achievements and plans. Associations have been established in Africa (three WIMAs), the Arab States, Asia-Pacific (two WIMAs), the Caribbean, and Latin America to challenge some of the institutional barriers and the cultural stigma facing women who enter the maritime industry.

In a session on the work of Wista International, its president, Elpi Petraki, spoke of empowering women “to claim what they deserve” which, she said, would benefit both women and men. She also highlighted the continued challenges that face women working onboard ships.

“Full equality onboard is a long way off,” Petraki said. She announced a follow-up next year to the 2021 IMO-Wista Women in Maritime Survey which she hoped would give a more accurate picture of gender diversity across the sector.

Other sessions included one on the IMO GENder Network and how networks of the IMO training institutes, the World Maritime University (WMU) and the IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI), and mentorships can be used to best effect.

There was a remote presentation from Canada by Humberto Carolo, executive director of White Ribbon, which describes itself as the world’s largest movement of men and boys working to end violence against women and girls. He spoke about the need for society to challenge the propagation of male stereotypes that ensure women continue to be underrepresented in management roles.

During a panel discussion called “Breaking the glass ceiling,” Africa’s first female dredge master, Capt. Londy Ngcobo, ship navigator, founder of Global Maritime Youth, and director of Womaritime Experts, said she had decided to make a visible statement about her success in the maritime industry.

“I wore my uniform today. I have claimed my captaincy. To a young star looking at me — she comes with natural hair and brown skin: I too can become a captain. It’s not rocket science.”

The conference ended with a working session on the development of a draft Global Strategy for the IMO WIMAs.

MANILA, Philippines — The bill seeking to create the Maharlika Investment Fund — touted by its advocates as a vehicle for economic progress and doubted by critics over potential abuses — passed the Senate on Wednesday with major changes, moving the contentious proposal closer to becoming a law.

Senate Bill No. 2020 received 19 votes in favor, one vote against and one abstention, giving the Maharlika fund’s more than four-month journey through the upper chamber’s legislative mill a sweet ending for its proponents.

Only Sen. Risa Hontiveros voted against the measure while her only colleague in the minority, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III, was not present. Sen. Nancy Binay abstained from voting.

The Senate immediately passed the measure on third reading after its approval on second reading as it was certified as urgent by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

With the Senate’s approval of the Maharlika fund bill, the ball is back with the House of Representatives, with senators hoping that it will adopt their version of the measure to hasten the enactment of the proposal.

But Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said a bicameral conference committee composed of members from both chambers of Congress will meet Wednesday at 11 a.m. to thresh out differences between the House and Senate versions.

Bicameral conference committee meetings are typically closed to the public and lawmakers may revive provisions that have been stripped from earlier iterations of a bill or introduce new ones that were never tackled in plenary.

The Maharlika fund was identified as a priority measure by the Marcos Jr. administration which it requested Congress to pass before the president’s State of the Nation Address in July.

Pension funds at risk?

Lawmakers assured that pension funds and social security will not be used to bankroll the controversial sovereign wealth fund. That specific provision, which civil society and academia lambasted in November, was removed in the first iteration of Maharlika proposed in the House. 

SB 2020 contained a provision that allowed government financial institutions to still pitch into the fund following the approval of its board of directors.

During the period of amendments, the Senate accepted senators’ proposal to explicitly prohibit the Government Service Insurance System, the Social Security System, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., the Home Development Mutual Fund, the Overseas Welfare Workers Association and the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office from investing in Maharlika.

Sonny Africa, executive director at local nonprofit IBON Foundation, has called out lawmakers in passing the bill.

“Proponents can’t even be clear on what the mandate of the Fund really is and confusingly say that it ranges from promoting socioeconomic development to getting the best financial returns on its investments,” Africa said in a Viber message. 

“The best safeguard on scarce public resources is to put them to best use where they currently are and according to whatever measures are currently in place on funds of the national government, GOCCs or GFIs like LBP and DBP. The Maharlika Fund proposal bypasses these existing measures and, being so extremely politicized, only goes through the motions of putting safeguards in place,” Africa added. 

Even BSP Governor Felipe Medalla said that the Maharlika has now evolved into a “national development fund.”  

‘No rush’

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III earlier raised the constitutionality of Marcos’ certification of the Maharlika bill as urgent, saying there is no calamity or emergency that necessitates its immediate passage.

After his nearly two-hour turno en contra speech on Tuesday, Pimentel attempted to send back the Maharlika fund bill to the committee level for further discussions. 

But this motion failed as 16 senators backed Zubiri’s ruling that the issue on the committee referral of the measure has been tackled by the plenary before.

Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, however, said Marcos’ certification of the bill as urgent is “in order” as the president has the power to define what a calamity or emergency is.

Villanueva has denied that the Senate rushed in passing the Maharlika fund, contrary to accusations from minority lawmakers.

Funding for Maharlika

The Senate’s version of the touted investment fund stated that the Maharlika Investment Corp.’s funding will come from government financial institutions. Broken down, the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines will pitch in P50 billion and P25 billion each.

The national government is contributing P50 billion, composed of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ dividends. For the first two years of the fund’s existence, the central bank will need to remit all its declared dividends to the fund.

After that, those dividends will be split evenly, with 50% each bankrolling the Maharlika’s funding and the BSP’s capitalization.

The government’s share from state-owned Philippine Gaming Corp., pegged at 10% yearly lasting five years, also joined the funding mix. 

The capital stock will comprise P500 billion, divided into 5 billion shares priced at P100 apiece. It will be built by 3.75 billion common shares, equivalent to P375 billion, and 1.25 billion preferred shares (P125 billion).

‘Improvement’

Africa noted that the latest version was an improvement from earlier proposals already.

“The form that we are passing now, I think satisfies our thirst for transparency and accountability on this measure,” Zubiri said as the period of amendments closed. “I think the number of amendments that we placed here will assure the Filipino people that this fund will be used properly, efficiently and effectively.”

Senators led by Sens. Grace Poe and Risa Hontiveros introduced stiffer penalties for violations of the law.

The Senate’s version also indicated that the Maharlika cannot invest in “areas” that violate laws and conventions that the Philippine government has signed. 

The House’s version stated barred the Maharlika from taking on controlling stakes in its investments, but that provision was absent in the Senate’s iteration.

On the other hand, the composition of Maharlika’s board underwent several changes. In Senate Bill 1814, the board of directors numbered at 15 but the current version trimmed it to nine directors, with three coming from the private sector. 

“The proponents not being able to find it in themselves to deliberate on the proposal rationally does not give confidence that the Fund will not be vulnerable to misuse, corruption and undue influence,” Africa said.

PSE [PSE 164.00 unch] [link] notified the market that it received an assessment from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) that it owed P189.2 million in alleged tax deficiencies, penalties, and interest, coming from calendar year 2017. The PSE said that it would dispute the BIR findings. Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said that the BIR was “just doing their job.”

MB Quick Take

Getting the BIR’s attention is never a good thing, but it’s important to put the potential size of this assessment in context with the PSE’s financial standing and performance. According to its Q1 earnings report, the ?189.2 million is about 93% of its quarterly profit, but the PSE has over P2 billion in cash and cash equivalents on the balance sheet that it could use to take the hit. It’s a weird situation that should cause some behind-the-scenes process adjustments, but this isn’t an existential threat by any means.
 

Boulevard Holdings [BHI 0.07 33.3%; 1304% avgVol] [link] had its 110-day suspension lifted after it finally submitted its annual report for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2022, and the following three quarterly reports. BHI surged 33% on massive volume after the suspension was lifted.

MB Quick Take

Play if you want to play, but be warned that BHI is very casual with its reporting and is often suspended for failing to do the bare minimum with respect to its reporting obligations. BHI also seems to be alarmingly comfortable in a state of suspension, which is a massive red flag to me.
 

Alliance Global [AGI 13.34 0.5%; 573% avgVol] [link] is losing the Hong Kong-based Genting as its foreign partner in the local gaming industry. AGI revealed that it is buying Genting’s entire stake in Newport Wold Resorts project.

MB Quick Take

As I’ve said before, I’m not comfortable in my analysis of the gaming sector, so I’m not really sure what to make of this news. To an outsider like me, it just sounds like a pretty big deal to lose such a powerful 40% stakeholder in one transaction, but I’m not really sure what this means for Andrew Tan, AGI, and the Newport project. Any guest analysts interested in providing some context, please send me a note!
 

MJC Investments [MJIC suspended] [link] disclosed that its board authorized the conversion into equity of P2.4 billion in “deposits for future subscription” made by HK Strategic Investors and Manila Jockey Club [MJC suspended]. The unusual deposits were made way back in 2021.

MB Quick Take

As an investor, I hate seeing these massive pending transactions on the books that fester for years. The depositors will get 2.2 billion shares out of the conversion, which is a 69% increase in the outstanding shares of MJIC. That’s a substantial change.

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Merkado Barkada’s opinions are provided for informational purposes only, and should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any particular stock. These daily articles are not updated with new information, so each investor must do his or her own due diligence before trading, as the facts and figures in each particular article may have changed.

Repower Energy Development [REDC pre-IPO] [link] notified the exchange yesterday that it would extend its “book-building period”, but Merkado Barkada has learned from a source with first-hand knowledge that this is because REDC found a listed Japanese company that confirmed it will buy the majority of the REDC IPO as an anchor buyer.

REDC did not say whether the extended book-building period would impact the tentative schedule of the IPO. 

MB BOTTOM-LINE

This is a fresh development that has many potential benefits to REDC both for this transaction, and going forward post-IPO. Typically an anchor investor can help build confidence in an IPO because it helps validate of the business model and support the valuation.

That information could be useful to potential buyers, as the thought of a huge chunk of shares being off the market does increase the scarcity of the remaining float. I’m curious to learn the identity of the buyer, to learn more about the relationship between the parties, and to see if there are any strategic benefits to REDC beyond this deal. Of course, I’m also curious to learn the price, but there’s plenty of time for that.

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Merkado Barkada’s opinions are provided for informational purposes only, and should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any particular stock. These daily articles are not updated with new information, so each investor must do his or her own due diligence before trading, as the facts and figures in each particular article may have changed.

Euro-med Laboratories Phil., Inc. will be holding its annual meeting of stockholders on June 21, 2023, 10:00 am, Wednesday virtually via http://meeting.euromedlab.net

A copy of the official announcement published in Manila Bulletin broadsheet is shown below: