Asian Business and Economy

WSJ: Philippines $8 billion raised, now outperforming Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia

Philippines Stands Out in Capital Markets

The Philippines has become one of Asia's hottest markets for share and bond sales, getting a boost from a buoyant stock market and its recent acquisition of an investment-grade credit rating.

Just four months into the year, companies owned by tycoon Lucio Tan and blue-chip giant San Miguel Corp. SMC.PH -0.56% have raised billions. Bankers expect more capital-raising in the months to come.

Deals totaling more than $1.5 billion are in the pipeline, and strong demand for recent sales could spark more activity in the country's equities and bond markets. Overseas-listed companies with operations in the Southeast Asian country, such as casino operator Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., MPEL +1.17% are taking advantage of an upbeat outlook for the Philippines' consumption-driven economy to launch deals.

This month, the Asian Development Bank increased its forecast for the country's 2013 economic growth to 6% from 5%. The Philippines has a population of 100 million.

Last year, share sales totaled $3.5 billion, six times the $594 million raised in 2008, according to Dealogic data. Now, the country is in the third spot for equity fund raising in Southeast Asia, overtaking Malaysia, a favorite destination for deals last year.

In the debt market, the Philippines is leading in Southeast Asia, with about $8 billion raised so far this year. Last year, it was third.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images. The Philippines has become one of Asia's hottest markets for stock and bond sales. Students earlier this month perform in the Aliwan Festival in Manila. The annual festival brings together performers from around the country to celebrate Filipino culture.

Traditional fundraising hubs like Hong Kong have fallen behind so far this year as investors turn to Southeast Asia, where stock markets have surged on expectations of strong economic growth and rising domestic consumption.

The Philippines' stock market has gained 20% so far this year, outperforming Indonesia's 15%, Thailand's 11% and Singapore's 3.7%. The Philippines stock market has a market capitalization of more than $300 billion, and is dominated by family-owned businesses.

Many were forced to issue more shares in order to remain listed after the country's stock-market regulator began to more strictly enforce a rule on minimum public ownership last year. The handful of listed companies that failed to meet the Dec. 31 deadline have been suspended from trading since January, and will face delisting if they don't hit the 10% level by June 30.

Investors' appetite for the Philippines is strong. Mr. Tan's LT Group Inc. LTG.PH -0.64% raised 37.72 billion Philippine pesos ($917 million) last week. Orders for the stock sale totaled $3.5 billion. The deal was priced at 20.50 pesos per share, the top of the range banks handling the deal had indicated to investors. More than half came from 11 cornerstone investors—buyers who agree to take large parcels of shares and hold them for a set period—including Fidelity and Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

"Deals are getting bigger...the country is on the radar screen of investors," said Lauro Baja III, head of UBS UBSN.VX +2.89% Philippines, which managed the LT Group share sale.

Foreign companies are also benefiting from investors' confidence in the Philppines. Apart from a $377 million share placement by Nasdaq-listed Melco Crown, which is going on now, Malaysia's Genting Bhd. 3182.KU 0.00% and its Philippine partner are planning to list a Manila casino via an initial public offering that could raise more than $500 million.

San Miguel, which is managed by Filipino tycoon Ramon Ang and manufactures the country's top-selling beer, said its $800 million bond sale this month attracted orders of more than $1 billion within the first hour. Orders for the deal, which attracted investors from Asia, Europe and the U.S. and was the country's largest corporate bond sale ever, totaled almost six times the amount of debt for sale.

Corporate bond offerings in the Philippines used to meet with tepid demand from investors. That changed in March, when Fitch Ratings raised the Philippines' long-term foreign-currency credit rating by a notch to BBB-minus, an investment grade

"Of late, we are starting to see more [corporate] issuers," said Clifford Lee, managing director of fixed income at DBS Bank Ltd. Other deals in the pipeline include a $500 million Tier 2 capital bond, to be issued by Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., MBT.PH -1.60% and a $170 million peso-denominated bond from geothermal power producer Energy Development Corp., EDC.PH -0.76% according to regulatory filings.

But at the same time that companies are stepping up their bond issuance, sales from the government, the usual bond issuer, are falling.

National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said Tuesday the government won't issue bonds overseas this year because it doesn't want to add to inflows of capital that have strengthened the peso. The government will issue bonds domestically. The Philippines, one of the most active Asian sovereign borrowers, usually starts selling debt overseas in the first quarter but hasn't offered any so far this year.

Wall Street Journal

Bloomberg: Emerging Stocks Rise Led by Philippines as Hungary Slumps

1:34 AM By Makisig Bayani 0 Comment

Emerging-market stocks rose, led by Philippine companies, on speculation falling deposit rates will spur demand for the nation's equities. Hungarian equities tumbled to the lowest level in about a month.

Ayala Corp. (AC) jumped 5.4 percent in Manila, helping drive the Philippine Stock Exchange Index to a record. Erste Group Bank AG led the Czech PX index higher. Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HAR), Africa's third-largest producer of the metal, climbed a second day as gold extended its rebound. Billionaire Eike Batista's OGX Petroleo & Gas Participacoes SA surged 18 percent in Sao Paulo, sending Brazil's Bovespa index up a third day.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index (MXEF) rose 0.1 percent to 1,011.96 in New York as 436 stocks gained, while 342 retreated. The Philippine peso halted a three-day gain on speculation the central bank will lower the interest rate on its special deposit accounts for a third time this year. Earlier today, stocks fell after a drop in American home sales.

"A cut in SDA rates will entice people to look for other investment havens offering higher yields, such as the equities market," Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist at BDO Unibank Inc. in Manila, said by phone.

Consumer discretionary and technology shares led the gains in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The emerging-markets index has lost 4.1 percent this year, trailing a 6.6 percent increase in the MSCI World Index of developed-country stocks. The emerging-markets measure trades at 10.6 times 12-month projected profit, compared with the MSCI World's 13.9 valuation, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Emerging ETF

The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index exchange-traded fund rose 0.5 percent to $41.84. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Emerging Markets ETF Volatility Index, a measure of options prices on the fund and expectations of price swings, lost 5 percent to 19.68.

The Bovespa index rose 0.7 percent, rebounding from earlier losses. OGX extended a three-day rally to 29 percent after Folha de S. Paulo newspaper reported that Moscow-based Lukoil may buy a 40 percent stake. The company said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg News that Folha's report is "groundless."

Russian stocks retreated, erasing earlier gains, as OAO Gazprom slid after JPMorgan Chase & Co. cited the natural gas export monopoly's dividend plans in a report downgrading the country's equities.

The Budapest Stock Exchange Index slumped 1.4 percent as the nation's largest refiner Mol Nyrt. Latvia's OMX Riga index had the biggest decline among the 94 primary gauges tracked by Bloomberg.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong stocks rose for a second day as infrastructure- related stocks climbed on speculation demand will increase following an earthquake in China's southwestern province of Sichuan. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) added less than 0.1 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.1 percent.

The extra yield investors demand to own emerging-market debt over U.S. Treasuries lost one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 295 basis points, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s EMBI Global Index.

Bloomberg

7 Big Consortiums compete for ₱17.5 billion Modern Cebu International Airport project

11:23 PM By Makisig Bayani 0 Comment

Old Mactan - Cebu International Airport

Seven groups led by the country's largest business conglomerates, in partnership with key global aviation players, have placed bids for the ₱17.5 billion Mactan Cebu International airport project.

DOTC Undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla said the groups that submitted qualification documents yesterday included the following:

Metro Pacific Investments
JG Summit Airport Consortium
AAA Airport Partners
Filinvest Land Inc. and CAI Consortium
San Miguel Corporation and Incheon Airport Consortium
First Philippine Airports Consortium
Premier Airport Group of SM Investment Corporation
Indian-owned GMR Infrastructure and Megawide Consortium

First Pacific's MPIC of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan has tied up with Gokongwei's JG Summit to form MPIC JGS Airport Holdings Inc. The group has tapped airport experts including French-owned Aeroports de Lyon and OVE Arup Group.

The AAA Airport Partners is led by the Ayala and Aboitiz Groups with consortium members including A2 Airport Partners as well as ADS & HAS Airports Worldwide Inc. The company has tapped Houston Airports Partners and the OVE Arup Group.

The third group is the Filinvest-CAI Consortium led by Gotianun's Filinvest Development Corporation and its foreign partner Changi Airports MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Pte Ltd. Partners include Filinvest Land Inc., Filinvest Alabang Inc., Cyberzone Properties Inc., EEI Corp., Bougues Batiment International, CPG Consultants Pte Ltd., Woods Bagot Pty Ltd., Meinhardt Philippines Inc., and Changi Airports Saudi Ltd.

On the other hand, SMC has tied up with International Airport Corporation to form the SMC-Incheon Airport Consortium that includes SMC's Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc., Incheon Airport International Corp., Mactan Capitana Holdings Inc., and Skylake Incuvest & Co. Partners are

Kumho Industrial Co. Ltd, Keun Jeong Architects and Engineers Co Ltd, and Aecom Asia Co Ltd.

The First Philippine Airports is a tandem between FPHC and Wellington-based Infratil Asia Ltd. The group's partners include Infratil's Wellington International Airport Ltd and NZ Airports Ltd as well as Rockwell Land Inc., Fentress Architects Inc., Buro Happold Consulting Engineers Inc., OVE Arup and Partners Hong Kong Ltd, Mott Macdonald Ltd, and First Balfour Inc.

Sy's Holding firm SM Investments Corp. leads the Premier Airport Group together with Citadel Holdings Inc., Zurich Airport International AG, and Prospector Investment Holdings Inc. Partners include mall developer and operator SM Prime Holdings Inc., construction giant DM Consunji Inc., and Flughafen Zurich AG.

The final group is the tandem of GMR Infrastructure Ltd of India and publicly-held Megawide Construction Corp. Partners include Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd, GMR Hyderabad International Airport, GMR Airport Developers Ltd, BL Kashyap and Sons Ltd, Vijay Nirman Co. (P) Ltd, Ove Arup and Partners Hong Kong Ltd, Louis Berger Group Inc., Foster + Partners, and Mott Macdonald Ltd.

Last year, GMR, which has presence in roads, power and airports sectors, had to make an unceremonious exit from Male International Airport after the local government cancelled its concession agreement. Currently, the matter is pending before an arbitration panel.

The Mactan-Cebu airport project involves the construction of a world-class passenger terminal building with a capacity of eight million passengers a year as well as the operation and maintenance of the old and new facilities include a 797-hectare property.

The successful bidder will be awarded a 20-year concession contract to operate, while the project will be developed in two phases at an estimated cost of ₱17.5 billion peso (the currency of Philippines).

MCIA is the second largest airport in the Philippines after Manila International Airport and had handled more than 6.2 million domestic and international passengers in 2011.

The airport is also a major gateway for various tourist destinations in central and southern provinces of Philippines.

With report from philSTAR and Times of India

Real estate, Thailand, Philippines and high-yield funds are performing well

10:00 PM By Makisig Bayani 0 Comment

Gold bars at the Zlatarna Celje in Celje, Slovenia. Gold has slumped almost 30 per cent since its peak in September 2011. Photo: Reuters

Real estate, Thailand, the Philippines and high-yield bonds are strong investments while gold has fallen abruptly off the radar

If you are looking to invest, you might be wondering what are the top performing funds? We can answer that. Using data from research firm Lipper, we list the best funds available in Hong Kong, ranked by returns net of fees, over the 12 months to February.

The findings can be summed up thus: real estate, Thailand, Philippines and high-yield bonds have all performed well, but gold has been a disaster.

Funds dedicated to the Philippines and Thailand rank highest among the equity funds. All the top bond funds are in high yield.

At the bottom are investment-grade bonds, particularly those priced in pounds, and anything involved with gold.

High yield

Hongkongers buy more high-yield funds than any other fund category. And when Hong Kong investors want high-yield bonds, they usually want exposure to the mainland property sector.

Jack Deino, a senior portfolio manager for Invesco, manages an emerging market fund that is the third-best fund in the bond category. The fund's second-biggest country exposure is China, and Deino says about 90 per cent of his China bonds come from the property sector.

Mainland property bonds have been strong performers over the past year, in terms of yield and capital gains. But the sector is prone to busts. Regulators routinely bring mainland property firms to the brink of insolvency by rounds of tough rules on mortgages and bank loans, to cool an overheated market.

Bond fund managers are wary of concentration risk. They worry that the government may one day roll out heavy-handed cooling measures, walloping the whole property sector, taking their portfolio down with it.

Deino says these concerns are overstated. "Chinese property is the most misunderstood sector in the world," he says, adding the mainland market is diversified just in sheer size ("each region or each city marches to the beat of its own drummer and has its own demand").

He adds that the big listed mainland developers need bond markets to raise money, and are therefore expert at investor relations, and operate at a high level of transparency and governance.

BEA Union Investment is also focused on mainland property bonds. About half of the firm's Asian bond and currency fund (the second-best performing bond fund) is invested in the asset, says Henry Wong, the firm's head of fixed income.

"In January [last year], we made a very aggressive move into this sector, which is why our performance in 2012 is strong," Wong says.

BEA launched its fund in August 2008 at the height of the global credit crisis. It offered beleaguered investors high-quality Asian-currency alternatives to US and European bonds. At launch, about 80 per cent of the fund was investment grade, says Wong. The fund has since been marching steadily down the credit curve, investing in higher risk and higher return securities. Today, only 10 per cent of the fund is investment grade - much of the rest is high-yield debt from mainland developers.

High yield has risks, but so does high grade. The bottom performing funds in the bond table are all invested in investment-grade bonds from the developed market. The funds lost money largely because yields on such instruments are paltry, barely enough to cover the costs of the fund.

Currency swings are also a factor. Two of the bottom performing funds are in sterling bonds, and the pound lost 4.4 per cent against the Hong Kong dollar over the review period.

SCMP

TIME Magazine : President PNOY - 2nd Worlds Most Influential person, a notch higher Barack Obama

11:27 PM By Makisig Bayani 0 Comment

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III - 2nd worlds' most influential person. LLUSTRATION BY DAVID DESPAU FOR TIME.

An honorable time

WITH all the negative issues and events currently ongoing, both in the Philippines and around the globe, this comes as a refreshing bit of good news.

Recently, President Benigno Aquino III (PNoy) emerged as one of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world for 2013.

PNoy ranks second among the world's 23 most influential leaders, next to Rand Paul (a junior US senator from Kentucky) and a notch higher than President Barack Obama, who is in third place.

"In a country of nicknames, Filipinos proudly call their President PNoy — a pun on the word they use for themselves: Pinoy. For his courage, however, he really should have the pet name the family gave his eldest sister Maria Elena: Ballsy," wrote TIME news director, Howard Chua-Eoan, to describe Aquino.

Chua-Eoan said that while PNoy may have inherited the legacy of his parents, Sen. Benigno Aquino, Jr. and former Pres. Corazon C. Aquino, he "quickly began making his own name."

"The sputtering economy stabilized and became hot. Aquino pushed through a reproductive-rights law that many said was impossible in the fervently Catholic nation. Most important, he became the face of the regional confrontation with Beijing over its claim to virtually all of the South China Sea. It is a brave stance, the long-term consequences still unknown,"Chua-Eoan further said.

PNoy reacted modestly to this recognition, saying that he is merely the "face" of Filipinos.

"This is perhaps a recognition of our countrymen, of all Filipinos, more than anything else. I'm just the face. Like in battles, I'm just the first one to move forward, and I accept that. But if there is any triumph, it's a triumph for everybody," he said.

"We have been reminded that we did quite a lot in terms of achievements. It's clear to me that we only did this because the people are behind me," PNoy further said.

The president credits his motivation to the public's support of the reforms that his administration initiated.

"...because our countrymen are there behind us, they are the ones that gave us the opportunity to reform and continue to support us until now, then I can accept with much honor that distinction – on their behalf rather than for myself," PNoy said.

According to Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, TIME Magazine's article recognized "the true grit which characterizes his (Mr. Aquino's) leadership, and the optimism, dynamism and renewed pride which has restored the standing of our nation in the eyes of Filipinos and the world."

"We take pride in how the ideas of good governance and inclusive growth that are the major thrusts of the Aquino presidency resonate not just with Filipinos but with the entire world. This is especially relevant today, as countries all over are trying to become more inclusive economically, politically, and even culturally, President Aquino is already doing it in the Philippines," Lacierda said.

Of course, not everyone feels the same way.

Some senatoriables gave mixed feedback about this recognition.

Sen. Gregorio Honasan thinks that PNoy's inclusion in the list is not enough to make Filipinos feel the benefits of economic growth.

"We should be happy, but that will not be enough to convince our people that our economy is growing...This honor is deserved I think, but for our people to be equally proud and to feel this on the ground, we should do more than recognize the President," Honasan said.

Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay opined that PNoy being regarded as a most influential person/leader does not mean much for the poor.

"The ordinary Filipinos are concerned about where to get money they can use to feed their families, how to survive the next day, what will be their job to generate income. That is the focus of ordinary Filipinos," she said.

Nevertheless, this should still be a cause for elation and celebration among Filipinos.

While the Philippines continues to flourish (albeit slowly but surely) and be regarded with more respect in the global community, there are things that we are better off removing from our own "list" -- crab mentality most of all.

After all, PNoy said it best: his victory is our victory.

With report from Asian Journal and Time Magazine

NEDA says MRT-7 and bullet train $4.43 Billion US Dollar ₱182 billion projects under BOT

7:49 AM By Makisig Bayani 0 Comment

MRT and Bullet Train Project of approx $4.3 Billion USD (₱182 billion Peso)

The $1.43-billion (₱53 billon) Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) and the $3-billion (₱123 billon) Clark-Metro Manila Bullet Train Project will be constructed under Built-Operate-Transfer (BOT) schemes, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) said Thursday.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will finance the $1.23-billion Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7). NEDA said the new MRT line will be constructed under a BOT scheme in accordance with Republic Act 7718. The initial construction will be put up in Barangay Tala in San Jose Del Monte. The new MRT line will run through Fairview, Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City Memorial Circle and North EDSA. The final station will be constructed in the Paramount theater in front of SM North EDSA and the Triangle of North Manila (TriNoMa) mall.

NEDA added that the new lane will be connected to the now operational LRT-MRT Closing Loop Interconnection Project. Once the MRT-7 Line is completed, the Paramount Station will be a Mega Rail Station.

NEDA also announced that private firm Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) has made its intention to fund the Clark-Metro Manila bullet train project under BOT scheme. The plan is to construct the new railways between the lanes of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) because an earlier proposal to construct it parallel to the railway was scrapped due to some technical problems.

Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) said the project will be called "Express Airport Trains" which will have at least three stops in Metro Manila. CIAC said when completed, the bullet trains will shorten travel time from Clark to Manila, and vice versa, to only 45 minutes. The bullet trains' planned stopovers are Balintawak or near TriNoMa or SM North in Quezon City; Manila like Dimasalang or University of Sto. Tomas; and Makati at Buendia Avenue.

Manila Bulletin

Philippines at the start of investment boom -starts an investment cycle

7:06 AM By Makisig Bayani 0 Comment

STARTING THE CYCLE. A CLSA equity strategist says there is "anecdotal evidence" that the Philippines is about to start an investment cycle.

There is "anecdotal evidence" that the Philippines is about to enter an investment boom.

"From a simple macro standpoint, we don't have an evidence yet of an investment cycle in the Philippines like in Indonesia and Thailand. But all the anecdotal evidence, including the PPP projects, the economy... all indications are that we will commence an investment cycle in the Philippines," Christopher Wood, an equity strategist for Hong Kong brokerage and investment firm Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CLSA), said.

In a CLSA study he co-authored, Wood said that Philippines' gross domestic product (GDP) data from the 4th quarter of 2012 "showed growing evidence of an investment cycle."

"Thus, the Philippines 4Q12 (4th quarter of 2012) real GDP growth accelerated to an annualized 7.5% QoQ (quarter-on-quarter) resulting in real GDP growth of 6.6% YoY (year-on-year) in 2012. But, most importantly, investment grew by 8.7% in 2012 after recording only 0.2% growth in 2011. This provides further evidence that an investment cycle is underway," the paper read.

The CLSA study said that an investment cycle would give "a third investment leg to the Philippines domestic story" on top of remittances and the BPO industry.

PPP delays

"One aspect of this investment cycle should be more rapid implementation of President Benigno Aquino's public-private partnership (PPP) program," the paper read.

Wood said that while investors are disappointed with the delays in the PPP projects, he does not think that the whole exercise is a disaster.

"Everyone's concerned about the delays. But on the other hand, I think a lot of those delays have something to do with due process, making sure that it's done properly. Provided those PPP projects are initiated over the course of the presidential term, that's the key thing, right?" he said.

"If nothing's done by the end of the presidential term, obviously that's a major negative. But from what I'm hearing, a lot of these PPP projects are in qualification stage or bidding stage. It's not like nothing's happening."

Virtuous cycle

Wood said that the Philippines is in a virtuous cycle when it comes to increased foreign investor activity in the stock market.

"The more the market goes up, the greater the number of foreign investors who can buy it because of rising liquidity," the paper read.

Wood said that this was not the case as recently as six months ago. He said that the Philippines had long been dismissed as "uninvestable" because of illiquidity.

In the 1st quarter of 2013, the PSE had an average daily trading volume of $219 million. The figure is much higher than the average of $142 million in 2012.

Foreign net buying of Philippine stocks in the 1st quarter of 2013 stood at $1 billion. The figure is nearly half of the $2.5 billion foreigners spent on Philippine stocks in 2012. -

Rappler.com

Screening of bidders for ₱17.5-billion Cebu airport expansion set

6:55 AM By Makisig Bayani 0 Comment

proposed Mactan Cebu International Airport a ₱17.5-billion project Cebu airport expansion

Interested parties in the ₱17.5-billion contract that aims to renovate and expand the Mactan-Cebu International Airport are expected to submit their eligibility documents to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) on Monday, April 22.

"We made sure that this project will also be attractive to investors in order to foster competitive and open bidding," the DOTC said Thursday.

Based on requirements laid down by the department, Philippine companies will have to partner with established airport operators from other countries as the DOTC said this will give local players an opportunity to learn from the technology employed by more advanced aviation firms.

In turn, the DOTC assured the private sector that the joint DOTC-Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIA) Prequalification, Bids, and Awards Committee (PBAC) will maintain a level playing field in the bid by upholding transparency and fairness, hallmarks of procurement reforms in the department.

Twelve companies bought bid documents for the project which include the consortium of Philippine Airlines and San Miguel Corp., Manuel Pangilinan's Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Gokongwei's JG Summit Holdings Inc.; and the joint venture of Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc.

"We are optimistic that the MCIA Project will generate the same level of interest from major local and international companies as what we saw from the AFCS (Automatic Fare Collection System) Project. We made sure that this project will also be attractive to investors in order to foster competitive and open bidding," said the DOTC.

The project's objective is to efficiently handle the increasing air traffic demand, ensure convenience of expected eight million passengers, and promote aircraft operational efficiency through the construction of new passenger terminal, installation of necessary equipment and renovation and expansion of the existing terminal including maintenance and management.

The 20-year concession contract is expected to be awarded by project leader DOTC before the end of the year. (Virgil Lopez/SDR/Sunnex)

Sunstar

₱30-Billion Project to address Mindanao blackouts - Pres. Noynoy Aquino

5:34 AM By Makisig Bayani 0 Comment

NASA Night Map 2013 shows Mindanao is even darker than North Korea. Mindanao Power shortage has becoming more severe. The demand is higher while the supply is not enough for the entire rich island. Mindanao Island has been forgotten for decades.

President Benigno S. Aquino III witnessed yesterday the contract signing of the ₱30-billion investment of Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC), Inc. to build power plants in Mindanao and provide 405 megawatts of coal power to the region's grid.

The contract was signed between Phividec Industrial Authority and FDC for the establishment of the 405 megawatt circulating fluidized bed (CFB) coal-fired thermal power plant in an 84-hectare land within Phividec Industrial Estate in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental.

With the project, President Aquino said Mindanao will soon become the "Land of Promise Fulfilled."

"These plants that Filinvest are committing to is a reaffirmation of this confidence. They are a significant part of the long-term solution. This signing gives us peace of mind that the permanent solutions are being put in place," Aquino said. "By 2016, these three plants, by themselves, will be providing 405 megawatts of coal power to the Mindanao grid."

"With the energy these plants will be producing by 2016, we expect production capacity to be almost 470 megawatts above peak demand," he added.

"We are not just increasing Mindanao's maximum capacity. Beyond that, we are reinforcing their entire energy supply with more reliable and stable sources. We are making their energy infrastructure much more competitive," Aquino said, noting that the establishment of the power plant in Mindanao is expected to generate 2,000 jobs.

President Aquino said the development comes at a critical time when the government is working on a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), noting that with the spur of economic growth in Mindanao comes more lucrative centers in the area aside from Davao and Cagayan de Oro.

NEW POWER PLANT IN MINDANAO –President Benigno S. Aquino III witnesses the signing of a land lease agreement between Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA) and the FDC Misamis Power Corp. in Malacañang on April 17, 2013, for the lease of land for the construction of a coal-fired power plant that will generate on initial 270 megawatts of electric power, targeted to operate in 2016. Seated with the President are Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Enegry Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla. The agreement was signed by PIA Administrator and Vice Chairman of the Board Leo Tereso Magno and FDC President and Managing Director Jesus Alcondo. Others in photo are: Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) First Vice President and General Counsel Atty. Pablito Perez, FLI First Vice President Engr. Antonio Cenon, Filinvest Development Corporation (FDC) Chairman Jonathan Gotianun Villanueva, Misamis Oriental Mayor Juliette Uy, PIA Chairman of the Board B/Gen. Triunfo Agustin (Ret), PIA Corporate Secretary Atty. Raul Ragandang, and Poblacion Barangay Captain Leah Dagasuhan. (Richard Viñas)

President Aquino, meanwhile, said that while there is a current power crisis in Mindanao, power woes in the southern part of the country did not happen overnight as former local officials in the area relied solely on hydropower without ensuring the maintenance of hydropower plants. Illegal logging was also prevalent.

"So, when we stepped into office, we knew that we had to start working immediately. We began making the structural changes that encouraged the private sector to come in and put up power plants," Aquino said.

He said last year, Aboitiz began a project to build two coal-fired power plants in Davao, which will provide a total of 300 megawatts, which will be finished by late 2015.

"Businessmen normally would tend to be a conservative lot. But here, they are actually placing the other sources to a commitment not in terms of a demonstrated market that is already there but rather this is really a commitment of theirs to share in building a future, which is to invest when it is not exactly clear," Aquino said.

"Everything will materialize in the best light. So, it is a boat of confidence on their part, and this should be encouraged. And, we should help those who are actively helping to solve the problem instead of grandstanding," he said.

The Palace had earlier said that power woes in Mindanao will ease by 2015 as power plants takes three to four years to be established.

Manila Bulletin

Superb Technology: Smart, IdeaSpace bring AngelHack to Philippines

7:55 AM By Makisig Bayani 0 Comment

SMART Communications, Inc. (Smart) and business incubator IdeaSpace Foundation have partnered with US-based AngelHack to launch the Philippine leg of the what is considered the world's biggest coding marathon.

The April-June AngelHack Spring Global Challenge is expected to bring in 6,000 developers in 32 cities in Asia Pacific, North America, South America and Europe.

The winners in each city will enter a three-month accelerator program under which AngelHack will help turn their big idea into a startup.

Winners will then be brought to the United States for mentorship and meetings with key people of Silicon Valley. AngelHack will also help connect the hackathon winners with angel investors worldwide.

The Philippine leg of the competition is scheduled for June 8 to 9. More details will be announced soon.

"There is a Singapore-based venture capitalist interested in investing in Asia Pacific winners. I have a good feeling someone from the Philippines will win," said AngelHack cofounder and chief executive officer Greg Gopman during the Philippine launch of AngelHack at the Jump Experience Center in SM Megamall.

"We see a lot of opportunities in the next few years in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia," he added.

Gopman said he learned about the active developer community in the Philippines when he was recently in Singapore. He said he's excited about the AngelHack partnership with Smart's developer community Smart Developer Network (Smart DevNet) and IdeaSpace.

"It's an ideal partnership because Smart really cares about the developer community.

It's also nice to know that Smart has invested in a foundation (IdeaSpace) that promotes technology entrepreneurship," Gopman said.

Smart DevNet has been organizing and sponsoring numerous hackathons and developer meetups since its launch in mid-2012. IdeaSpace, which is backed by Smart and other companies, recently named the 10 startups it will support through seed funding and mentorship.

"We encourage developers to join the Philippine leg of AngelHack so they can hack their way to the global stage. This event is like the Olympics for engineers and hackers," said IdeaSpace president Earl Valencia.

"Joining hackathons is the opposite of complaining. Instead of ranting about things, we can devise something that can solve our problems. Hackathons like this bring to the fore the country's potential game changers," said Smart developer evangelist Paul Pajo. (PR)

SunStar

WSJ: Equity Deals Keep Coming in Singapore, Philippines

7:29 AM By Makisig Bayani 0 Comment

Lucio Tan

Reuters

Southeast Asia's recent boom in share offerings is growing louder.

In the Philippines LT Group Inc. LTG.PH +11.11%, a conglomerate owned by billionaire Lucio Tan, raised around $920 million in the country's largest-ever share offering, pricing shares at 20.50 pesos ($0.50) each the high end of the indicative range, issuance manager UBS AG said Wednesday.

That followed Monday's report in The Wall Street Journal that the Philippine unit of Nasdaq-listed Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. is looking to raise $377 million in a private placement. Road shows for that sale started Monday in Manila and will be held in Hong Kong, Singapore, London and the U.S., the term sheet showed.

Meanwhile, in Singapore, Taiwanese pay-TV operator Asian Pay Television Trust is testing investor appetite for a listing as a business trust that could raise up to US$810 million, people with knowledge of the deal said Wednesday.

And Croesus Retail Trust, a Japanese real estate fund, has revived a plan to raise around US$300 million by listing some of its shopping malls as a business trust in Singapore in the second quarter.

Also aiming for a second-quarter listing in Singapore is U.K.-listed Investec PLC, a fund management and banking group, which plans to raise up to US$500 million through an IPO of its aircraft leasing trust.

So far this year, Southeast Asia has seen a surge in share offerings. Both Thailand and Singapore have raised more money from new listings than Hong Kong, the world's busiest IPO market from 2009 through 2011.

The Wall Street Journal

Brunei Sultan, Phil President Aquino vow closer cooperation

6:27 AM By Makisig Bayani 0 Comment

EYE-CATCHING The President's sister and incidentally the country's No. 1 taxpayer, Kris Aquino, at the state luncheon Tuesday hosted by her brother for Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah who was here on a two-day state visit. EDWIN BACASMAS

President Aquino on Tuesday vowed closer cooperation with visiting Sultan of Brunei Haji Hassanal Bolkiah and other regional leaders to find a peaceful solution to territorial conflicts in the South China Sea.

At a state luncheon for the Sultan, the President said the government wanted to "move forward" with negotiations on a code of conduct to reduce disputes in the international waterway.

The President referred to rival claims by the Philippines and fellow Asean members Malaysia and Vietnam, along with Taiwan and China over the Spratly islands and the Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.

"This is our pledge: to continue working with our neighbors in implementing the commitments of Asean member states in the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and in moving forward with negotiations for the adoption of a Code of Conduct," Aquino said.

The Sultan's visit comes a week before leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations converge in Bandar Seri Begawan on April 24 and 25 for their 22nd summit. Brunei is this year's chair of Asean, which also includes the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Burma (Myanmar).

Bolkiah, for his part, vowed to foster peace and stability in southeast Asia. He also praised Aquino for his peace initiatives with Moro rebels in Mindanao.

Bolkiah said Brunei, as Asean chair this year, would "continue to work closely with the Philippines towards achieving concrete outcomes in economic growth and social progress, and in promoting regional peace and stability."

Aquino welcomed Bolkiah to Malacañang at past 10 a.m. after the latter laid a wreath at the monument of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal at the Rizal Park. A 21-gun salute boomed as the President and the Sultan stood on a platform while the anthems of both countries were played.

Bolkiah was set to fly out at around 3 p.m.

INQUIRER Global Nation

Philippine Research Institute Bred RICE with salt gland for Coastal areas; India and Bangladesh could benefits

7:52 PM By Makisig Bayani 0 Comment

International Rice Research Institute - Philippines

Salt-tolerant Rice Bred at Philippine Institute

Scientists have successfully bred a rice variety that is salt-tolerant, which could enable farmers to reclaim coastal areas rendered useless by sea water, a Philippine-based institute said Tuesday.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) near Manila said its researchers are in the process of perfecting the variety of rice that would be the most salt-tolerant ever developed before field testing it widely.

"They hope to have the new variety available to farmers to grow within four to five years," the institute said in a statement.

IRRI's media office said the new variety would offer twice the salt-tolerance as previous attempts to breed such a variety.

India and Bangladesh could potentially be the biggest beneficiaries, the IRRI said, remarking that about 20 million hectares (49 million acres) of rice farms worldwide have been affected by salinity.

The new variety was bred by crossing an exotic wild rice species found in brackish water with one cultivated at the institute.

The result is a "new rice line that can expel salt it takes from the soil into the air through salt glands it has on its leaves", the statement said.

"This will make saline stricken rice farms in coastal areas usable to farmers," said lead scientist Kshirod Jena.

"These farmlands are usually abandoned by coastal farmers because the encroaching seawater has rendered the soil useless."

Incidents such as the 2011 tsunami in Japan which flooded thousands of hectares of rice farms with sea water have spurred the development around the world of new varieties of rice that can grow in such areas.

Rice is considered one of three major domesticated crops that feed the world, along with wheat and corn, and scientists have been continuously looking to develop new varieties to increase production.

Yahoo News!

Philippine Populations, Birth Rates as Growth Engine? Or a demographic time bomb

12:44 AM By Makisig Bayani 0 Comment

Birth Rates as Growth Engines

As Japan, many countries in Europe and now China wrestle with shrinking labor pools, a host of emerging nations are grappling with a different problem: how to reel in the benefits of a fast-growing population and avoid having too many people chasing too few jobs.

Swelling populations helped buoy industrializing economies in the U.S. and Europe in centuries past. They transformed South Korea, Taiwan and China in the 1980s and 1990s. Economists call the phenomenon the demographic dividend: It happens when droves of young people enter the workforce and choose to have fewer children or delay parenthood, leading to a sharp increase in spending and a faster-growing economy.

But a young population isn't enough on its own to underwrite a generation of growth, as the Philippines is learning.

When Asia's industrial powers embarked on their economic transformation in the 1970s and 1980s, the Philippines was left behind. Under dictator Ferdinand Marcos, corruption surged, as did grisly insurgencies involving Maoist guerrillas and Islamist separatists. Many Filipinos left. Today more than 10 million of the country's 100 million people work abroad, sending home more than $20 billion a year, providing a lifeline for their families left behind, according to government and central-bank figures.

Other countries have struggled to capitalize on their growing populations. Many Latin American countries enjoyed a similar demographic profile to East Asia's booming economies in the 1980s, but chaotic politics and poor economic planning limited how much they benefited from it.

Today, Africa's leaders face a similar test. The United Nations projects the continent's population will double to two billion people by 2050, while around 40% of the population of both sub-Saharan and North Africa is under the age of 15 today.

The U.N. projects the world's population will expand to 9.3 billion in 2050 from about 7 billion now, with most growth coming from developing nations.

Some African nations are making headway in harnessing the economic potential of a youthful population. In Rwanda, where genocide claimed the lives of some 800,000 people in the 1990s, the government has boosted tourism and services, delivering economic growth rates above 8% for the past five years. President Paul Kagame has encouraged the use of contraceptives, which has contributed to average fertility rates dropping from 6.1 births per woman in 2005 to 4.6 in 2010, according to the World Bank.

Without an effort to boost productivity and create jobs, the demographic dividend can easily become a demographic time bomb.

The Philippines is trying to avoid that fate. This former American colony has one of the highest population-growth rates in Asia, expanding by 1.9% a year, compared with 0.5% in China, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation—and one of the region's highest unemployment rates, at around 7%. To help the country's economy absorb a wave of job seekers, President Benigno Aquino III has made corruption his primary target, figuring that cleaner government is the basic building block for business confidence and job creation.

Tougher oversight has helped reduce wasteful government spending. And the economy is gaining momentum, expanding 6.6% last year.

Among other things, the Philippines has overtaken India to become the world's largest provider of voice-based outsourcing services. Banks such as HSBC, Wells Fargo and Citibank have set up back offices in the islands. To sustain the momentum, the government is paying to train 100,000 people a year in call-center "finishing schools." There they learn to handle customers and perfect their American accents. Recruiters are now heading out to find agents in places such as Davao, where vigilantes used to parade the severed heads of Communist guerrillas through the streets.

"I don't think we've seen this level of collaboration and support before," says Benedict Hernandez, head of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines. "The government used to be a model of inflexibility, but that's all changed in the past year or two."

In another break from the past, Mr. Aquino is going against the wishes of the Roman Catholic Church by promoting wider use of contraceptives. That could reduce the number of children each working-age citizen supports—and help free up the spending power of the new generation now entering the workforce.

Problems remain. Poor infrastructure means the Philippines struggles to draw in the kind of manufacturing investment that economists such as the Asian Development Bank's Rajat Nag say is required for a lasting transformation in the islands. A Communist insurgency also continues despite a peace deal with the largest Muslim secessionist group.

Yet the country is beginning to win over skeptics. In late March, Fitch Ratings upgraded the Philippines's credit rating to investment grade for the first time.

Others are warming, too. David Bonderman, founder of private-equity group TPG Capital, told an investment conference in Hong Kong late last year that "the Philippines, for the very first time in my adult life, is thought to be a place we can do business without counting our fingers afterwards."