Author: Aiko Akihiro

Committed to its advocacy against online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC), Globe further strengthens its anti-OSAEC initiatives by partnering with globally-recognized Internet Watch Foundation. This comes immediately after Globe sealed a partnership with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) in June. IWF is a UK-based child protection body that employs cutting-edge technology to find, remove, disrupt and prevent child sexual abuse imagery on the internet. The non-profit organization works closely with international law enforcement agencies, governments and other non-government organizations (NGO). Each report on an exploitative image or video received is examined by a pool of expert…

The Philippines reached a new milestone in its vaccination program as the country records more than 30 million vaccines administered at 30,389,160 vaccine doses, as of August 22, 2021 data from the National COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard. From the total number of vaccine doses administered, 17,258,675 individuals have been jabbed with a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 13,130,485 individuals are now fully vaccinated, said Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque Jr. during the press briefing that ensued after the “30M Jabs and Counting” event held on August 23, 2021 at SM City in San Mateo, Rizal. “At habang pataas nang…

The National Reinsurance Corporation of the Philippines (Nat Re), the Philippines’ sole professional reinsurer, was assigned a financial strength rating of PRS A, with a Stable Outlook, by the Philippine Rating Services Corporation (PhilRatings). A PRS A rating means that an insurer has strong financial security characteristics, but is somewhat more likely to be affected by adverse business conditions compared to higher-rated insurance companies. A Stable Outlook is defined as: “The rating is likely to be maintained or to remain unchanged in the next twelve months.” The assigned financial strength rating and Outlook take into consideration Nat Re’s: a) solid…

With 2021 H1 net income to parent surging by 66% year-on- year, leading developer in VisMin Cebu Landmasters Inc. announced it is set to surpass its growth targets for the year. Net income to parent rose from Php 792 million to Php 1.32 billion in the first six months as the company continues its robust uptrend in financial performance. The significant increase in profit was driven by exceptional revenue growth from Php 3.5 billion to Php 5.1 billion derived from real estate sales. The figure covers a range of housing developments catering to buyers from various segments with 47% attributed…

The Philippine Gross Domestic Product (GDP) posted a growth of 11.8% in the second quarter of 2021. This was the highest since the fourth quarter of 1988 which posted a growth of 12.0%. The main contributors to the growth, with their corresponding increase, were: Manufacturing, 22.3 percent; Construction, 25.7%; and Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, 5.4%. Among the major economic sectors, Industry and Services posted positive growths of 20.8% and 9.6%, respectively. Meanwhile, Agriculture, forestry, and fishing posted a contraction of -0.1% in the second quarter of 2021. On the demand side, Household Final Consumption…

Groundwork of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for an improved new road network in Zamboanga Peninsula continues to advance despite the pandemic. Secretary Mark A. Villar said that the on-going Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded Improving Growth Corridors in Mindanao Road Sector Project implemented by DPWH Unified Project Management Office-Roads Management Cluster 2 (UPMO-RMC 2) will support the development of agribusiness, ecotourism, and logistics necessary to achieve inclusive, and sustainable growth. According to Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain, in-charge of DPWH UPMO Operations, civil works for three (3) core sub-projects located in the provinces of Zamboanga Sibugay and Zamboanga…

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III has said that a strong and vibrant Islamic banking system in the country will help attract investments to the Southern Philippines and complement the ongoing government efforts to develop the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) as a “dynamic and integral part of the national economy.” Dominguez said that under the Duterte administration, the government has taken bold steps catering to the specific banking and financing needs of Filipinos who adhere to the Islamic faith. These include the enactment of Republic Act (RA) No. 11439 or the Islamic Banking Act in 2019 to pave…

BDO Unibank, Inc. (BDO) delivered P21.4 billion in profits in the first six months of 2021 on the back of a strong sustainable earnings stream and normalized provisions. Customer loans remained flat at P2.3 trillion compared to the same period last year. Total deposits grew to P2.7 trillion led by the 13 per cent rise in Current Account/Savings Account (CASA) deposits, resulting in a CASA ratio of 84 per cent. Net Interest Income (Nil) totaled P64.4 billion, with Net Interest Margin (NIM) at 4.06 per cent for the period. Non-interest income went up to P29.7 billion, led by fee-based income…

Riders in food delivery and courier activities are covered by either the Labor Code of the Philippines or the contract or agreement with the digital platform company, depending on the existence of an employer-employee relationship. The labor department issued an advisory in order to help set the standards in determining work relationships introduced by the booming delivery service sector. In an advisory, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said delivery riders who are considered employees of the digital platform company are entitled to the minimum benefits under the Labor Code of the Philippines. But those deemed as independent contractors or freelancers…

Inflation Rate (IR) in Eastern Visayas escalated further to 3.3% in June 2021. This IR is 0.2 percentage point higher compared with the 3.1% IR in May 2021. This June IR of the region is also 2.2 percentage points higher than the recorded 1.1% IR in the same period last year. In comparison with the national average IR, the regional IR is 0.8 percentage point lower than the 4.1% national IR in June 2021. Among the provinces, Samar posted the highest IR at 7.8% in June 2021. Eastern Samar’s IR came next at 6.5%, then Biliran at 4.4%. The lowest…

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) has sent final demand letters to two electric cooperatives and a private corporation to compel them to pay over P15.01 billion-worth of combined overdue electricity bills and other charges that remain unpaid despite repeated collection notices sent to them. PSALM president-CEO Irene Besido Garcia said the bulk of these unpaid obligations was incurred by the Lanao del Sur Electric Cooperative, Inc. (LASURECO), which, as of May 31, 2021 owed P11.98 billion in overdue power bills and another P10.37 million in unremitted universal charge (UC) collections, excluding late remittance of interest charges,…

Homegrown fintech startup NextPay, an all-in-one digital banking solutions provider, has received a USD $125,000 backing from Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator Y Combinator to expand its services further and address the growing problem of financially-underserved businesses in the Philippines.  With this pre-seed investment, NextPay becomes one of the first five Filipino tech start-ups to be backed and selected by global powerhouse Y Combinator, together with Kalibrr (2013), PayMongo (2019), Avion School (2021), and Dashlabs.ai (2021). Y Combinator is popularly known as the launchpad of many iconic startups such as Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, and Twitch, among many others. NextPay puts the…

HONG KONG – ESR Cayman Limited, the largest APAC focused logistics real estate platform, is announced that it has been included in the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect programmes, effective from 15 March 2021. “We are delighted to be included in the Stock Connect programmes and the Hang Seng Composite Index – both are significant market benchmarks that reflect the capital market’s recognition and confidence in ESR’s market position and growth prospects,” said ESR co-founders and co-CEOs Jeffrey Shen and Stuart Gibson. The inclusion will enable Mainland-based investors to trade directly in the securities of the…

Parkway Life Real Estate Investment Trust (PLife REIT), one of Asia’s largest listed healthcare REITs by asset size, has sold an industrial property in Japan to real estate investment firm Hulic Co for JPY2.9 billion ($27.7 million). The sale consideration for the property, known as P-Life Matsudo, has been paid in cash by Hulic after the relevant adjustments have been made, according to PLife REIT’s manager, Parkway Trust Management Limited. PLife REIT acquired the property in May 2008 for JPY2.59 billion. It has a net operating income yield of 5.3 per cent. As of December 31, 2020, the property net…

NEW YORK, USA – NYSE-listed Eli Lilly and Company announced the successful completion of its acquisition of gene therapies firm Prevail Therapeutics. The acquisition establishes a new modality for drug discovery and development at Lilly, extending its research efforts through the creation of a gene therapy program that will be anchored by Prevail’s portfolio of clinical-stage and preclinical neuroscience assets. “We are pleased to complete the acquisition of Prevail and establish a gene therapy program at Lilly that has the potential to deliver transformative treatments for patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Gaucher and dementia,” said Mark Mintun, M.D.,…

VIETNAM – UOB Asset Management Ltd (UOBAM) announced that it has completed its acquisition of VAM Vietnam Fund Management Joint Stock Company (VAM VN), which will be renamed UOB Asset Management (Vietnam) Fund Management Joint Stock Company. Founded in 2009, VAM VN has been providing investment management advisory and services to institutional and individual investors through solutions such as corporate structured funds and segregated accounts. With the latest addition of Vietnam to its regional network, UOBAM now has presence in nine markets across Asia, namely Brunei, mainland China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Vietnam’s strong economic growth,…

Frost & Sullivan has identified Teleperformance as the growth and innovation top-performing leader in the Frost Radar™: Asia-Pacific Customer Experience Outsourcing Services Market, 2020. Demand for outsourced customer experience (CX) services is growing steadily in today’s consumer-centric marketplace as customers demand more personalized, relevant, proactive, and engaging experiences. The Asia-Pacific CX outsourcing services market, expected to generate $42.4 billion in revenue by 2025, is fragmented and remains competitive, despite the impact of COVID-19. The region continues to be the preferred outsourcing destination for global organizations. As organizations gradually shift their priorities from a task-based approach to achieving high-level outcomes,  outsourcing is transforming…

The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) has announced that $32.1 million was raised for 242 non-profit organizations surrounding the 2020 Boston Marathon and Boston Marathon Virtual Experience. With this year’s funds raised, the B.A.A. Official Charity Program and John Hancock’s Non-Profit Program have combined to surpass the $400 million milestone raised since the charity program’s inception at the 1989 Boston Marathon. Total funds raised include donations raised through the B.A.A.’s Official Charity Program, the John Hancock Non-Profit Program, and from other qualified and invitational runners. “In a year when runners and supporters have faced countless challenges, all have remained determined to…

Lark Health today announced it has closed a $55 million Series C funding round led by King River Capital, as well as a $15 million venture debt credit facility with Trinity Capital and Bridge Bank. The round also includes new investors Franklin Templeton, SteelSky Ventures, and Olive Tree Capital; and existing Lark investors Lightspeed Ventures, Asset Management Ventures, Dr. Jonathan Fielding of UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, and Weili Dai, cofounder of Marvell. Lark has raised a total of over $100 million in equity and debt funding to date. Having managed nearly two million patients on its platform, Lark…

China Banking Corporation (China Bank, PSE stock symbol: CHIB) closed on October 5, 2020 its fixed rate bond offering, ahead of the original October 14 schedule, due to what it describes as overwhelming demand. The two-year bonds which carry a fixed rate of 2.75% per annum were offered to the public starting September 28, 2020 in denominations of P100,000 and increments of P50,000 thereafter. Within a few days, the orders already exceeded the issue size of P15 billion. “We are grateful for the strong investor support for our second peso bond issuance,” said China Bank President William C. Whang. “The…