Thursday, September 28, 2017

Infra boon to real estate

Continued government investment in infrastructure – both soft and hard – is necessary in order for the Philippines to maximize the potential of its real estate market, according to Rick Santos, chairman of Santos Knight Frank.

Santos said “infrastructure is very crucial” for the Philippines, whose main feature is its growing economy as a result of its young demographics.

“It’s infrastructure in terms of growth: rail, airport, education. It’s the raw material. It is the value of making sure the people are educated to a certain level. Also, make people to get around better, reducing time, making it easier to fly in the country as well,” he said.

Santos Knight Frank in a statement said the infrastructure is “critical” to keep the country on the growth track.

It said the government has lined up 64 major infrastructure projects in the Philippines, several of which are underway in Metro Manila such as the North Luzon expressway (NLEx)-South Luzon expressway Connector Road, Ninoy Aquino International Airport expressway Phase 2 and NLEx Harbor Link.

It also cited mass transport projects in the pipeline such as Mega Manila Subway, Manila-Clark Railway and expansion of the Light Rail Transit to decongest the metropolis and encourage development in the outskirts.

“With limited supply of land in the city core, new districts have emerged in the outskirts of Metro Manila. The next wave of expansion is happening in emerging areas such as Alabang, Nuvali, Bulacan and Clark. It is crucial that infrastructure is in place to provide efficient connectivity between various parts of this growing city,” said Santos.

Santos Knight Frank noted Manila is fast becoming a megacity “powered by a growing pool of high-value talent, real estate expansion and a robust consumption-driven economy.”

Santos likened Manila today to Hong Kong and Singapore 30 years ago.

“The level of development in the metropolis over the last decade has been unprecedented and reflects on the accelerated expansion of the property market. Manila has since become an important hub for industries such as IT-BPO (information technology-business process outsourcing) with huge opportunities of growth for other sectors,” he said.

With a population of more than 25 million, Manila has more people than Hong Kong and Singapore combined, he added.

“Its demographic is a high-value asset in industries such as IT-BPO, where Metro Manila ranks as fourth in the world based on the 2017 Tholons Services Globalization (Outsourcing) Index,” Santos said.

“That industry will likely account for 8 percent of the Philippines’ GDP (gross domestic product) by end-2017, having employed nearly 1.2 million direct jobs last year,” he added.

Kash Salvador, Santos Knight Frank associate director for investment and capital markets, said Manila’s property market remains robust vis-à-vis other Asian cities, with prime office rents up five to six percent annually from 2011.

Salvador said most recently, prime office rents in Metro Manila increased by 3.4 percent year-on-year during the second quarter of 2017, outperforming Tokyo (3.2 percent), Taipei (2.8 percent), Beijing (-1.9 percent), Shanghai (-2.0 percent), Singapore (-5.1 percent) and Jakarta (-8.3 percent).

He noted that Metro Manila had one of the lowest vacancy rates at 3.4 percent across Asia Pacific during the second quarter.

“On a regional basis, the performance and fundamentals of the Manila office market look solid. While some of the other Southeast Asian markets are seeing demand remain sluggish and the major Chinese cities are seeing huge amounts of new supply, the Manila market has one of the tightest vacancy rates in the region and looks set for a strong 2018,” said Nicholas Holt, Knight Frank Asia Pacific head of research.

In the next four years, Manila is expected to add more than 3 million square meters of new office space.

“About 2 million sqm of residential space and half a million sqm more for retail will come online by 2019,” said Salvador.

According to Jan Custodio, Santos Knight Frank senior director for research, investor-driven demand continues to bolster the local condominium market as average sales take-up rates across major central business districts continued to exhibit double-digit figures.

“Overall percentage units sold in Metro Manila is currently at 83.5 percent,” Custodio said.

PH, Japan speeding up subway, rail and flood projects

Philippine and Japanese officials have committed to fast-track the implementation of big-ticket infrastructure projects to be funded by Japan, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Tuesday.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III was quoted by the DOF as saying that “significant milestones have been reached in the processing of the jointly agreed project list between the two countries” during the Third Philippines-Japan High-Level Meeting of the Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation held in Tokyo Monday.

To recall, the Philippine and Japanese sides at the second meeting held in Manila in July identified P315.4-billion worth of projects being eyed for financing from Japan.

“Now that our plans have progressed, we intend to lay out specific plans on how to expedite the processing and implementation of the flagship projects,” said Dominguez, who headed the visiting Philippine delegation.

Quoting Dominguez, the DOF said both sides agreed to fast-track their respective project approval processes while also establishing new measures that will allow “more efficient decision making, and swift execution such as in project preparation and formulation, due diligence, procurement process and project implementation including land acquisition and resettlement.”

“Our regular rounds of high-level meetings have brought about significant changes in the way we do things. Needless to say, we hope to continue pushing for improvements in order to accomplish more in less time,” Dominguez said.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia had said that eight projects will be pitched for financing by the Japanese government, namely: Cavite Industrial Area Flood Management Project; Circumferential Road 3 Missing Link Project; Dalton Pass East Alignment Alternative Road Project; Malitubog-Maridagao Irrigation Project Phase 2; Malolos-Clark Railway Project; Metro Manila Subway Project Phase 1; Pasig-Marikina Channel Improvement Project (Phase 4); as well as Road Network Development Project in Conflict-Affected Areas in Mindanao.

The National Economic and Development Authority had said that the Philippine and Japanese governments would likely sign the loan commitments for three big-ticket projects when Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits Manila in November, namely the P230-billion Mega Manila Subway Project-Phase 1 (from Mindanao Avenue to FTI), the P211.5-billion Malolos-Clark International Airport-Clark Green City Rail Project, and the P9.99-billion Cavite Industrial Area Flood Management Project.

During his visit to the Philippines last January, Abe committed up to one trillion yen in official development assistance as well as investments to the Philippines in the next five years.

Meanwhile, after their Japan meetings, the Duterte administration’s economic managers headed by Dominguez will proceed to China for a series of roadshows from Sept. 27 to 29 to firm up Chinese financing for the ambitious “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program as well as attract investors for the planned “panda” bond sale.

In their Sept. 27 meeting with Chinese ministry officials in Beijing, the economic team will “discuss the progress of the preparations for the Philippines’ big-ticket infrastructure projects that would be partly funded by official development assistance (ODA) from China,” the DOF said.

On Sept. 28, the economic managers will move to Shanghai to brief Chinese business leaders on the Philippine economy, the DOF added.

Also, the DOF quoted Dominguez as saying that “the economic team will also spearhead a non-deal roadshow to entice potential buyers of the Philippines’ panda bond offering, which is tentatively scheduled in the last quarter of the year.”

Dominguez had said they plan to issue $200-million in three- to five-year panda bonds by October or November.

Panda bonds are yuan-denominated debt paper issued in China by foreign governments or companies.

The Monetary Board, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ highest policymaking body, already approved in principle the planned panda bonds issuance, while the Philippine government was in the process of also securing approvals from the People’s Bank of China. /cbb

Read more: http://business.inquirer.net/237547/ph-japan-speeding-subway-rail-flood-projects#ixzz4txJuIndG
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PH, Japan cite measures to fast-track implementation of infra projects

TOKYO – In line with their mutually approved “Fast and Sure” principle, top Philippine and Japanese officials agreed here Monday to further streamline their respective approval processes and introduce new measures to put in the fast lane the implementation of big-ticket infrastructure projects presented by Manila to Tokyo for possible financing.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, who heads the visiting Philippine delegation to the 3rd Philippines-Japan High-Level Meeting of the Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation held here, reported during the session that “significant milestones” have been reached in the processing of the jointly agreed project list between the two countries.

“Now that our plans have progressed, we intend to lay out specific plans on how to expedite the processing and implementation of the flagship projects,” Dominguez said in his opening remarks during the meeting, referring to the infrastructure projects that the Philippines will be implementing in cooperation with Japan.

In their meeting, both panels agreed to speed up their respective project approval processes and come up with additional measures “for more efficient decision making, and swift execution such as in project preparation and formulation, due diligence, procurement process and project implementation including land acquisition and resettlement,” Dominguez said.

Noting that both governments have successfully introduced improvements in their key processes in the past, the meeting allowed both sides to discuss additional measures to streamline processing, including by introducing innovative mechanisms and actions. The Japanese side expressed openness to explore and discuss government to government measures.

Dominguez said the shortening of the processes would depend on the “complexity of the projects,” among other factors.
“Our regular rounds of high-level meetings have brought about significant changes in the way we do things. Needless to say, we hope to continue pushing for improvements in order to accomplish more in less time,” he said.

Dominguez said the close cooperation between the Philippines and Japan “has not only enabled high-level collaboration” in their bilateral meetings “but also technical-level exchanges on the ground.”

Such technical exchanges include a mission dispatched by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the Metro Manila Subway, and the flood management, irrigation, and road projects as well as the visit of the Philippines’ “Build, Build, Build” team to the construction site of the Shin-Yokohama Subway in Tokyo, Dominguez said.

Apart from Dominguez, the Philippine delegation included Secretary Ernesto Pernia of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), who co-chairs the Philippine side of the high-level infra cooperation meeting; Philippine Ambassador to Japan Jose Laurel V, Secretaries Benjamin Diokno of the Department of Budget Management (DBM), Mark Villar of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Arthur Tugade of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Alfonso Cusi of the Department of Energy (DOE), National Security Adviser and Director General Hermogenes Esperon, Jose Ruperto Martin Andanar of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO); and Vivencio Dizon, president-CEO of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).

The Japanese side of this high-level meeting was led by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and Dr. Hiroto Izumi, who is a special advisor to Prime Minister Shinzo.

The other high Japanese officials present at the meeting were: Koji Haneda, Ambassador-Designate, Embassy of Japan in the Philippines; Director-General Kazuya Nashida, International Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Director-General Shigeki Takizaki, Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Deputy Director-General Takashi Miyahara, International Bureau, Ministry of Finance; and Deputy Director-General Kazuhisa Kobayashi, Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

‘3-in-1’ streamlined process

Dominguez informed the Japanese officials that on the Philippines’ side, the government recently introduced the “3-in-1” process in which three necessary approvals prior to the signing of any loan agreement for projects funded by Official Development Assistance (ODA) loans will be issued simultaneously during NEDA Board meetings chaired by President Duterte.

Under the streamlined “3-in-1” process, Dominguez said the NEDA Board approval; the issuance of the Special Presidential Authority (SPA) to government officials to negotiate and sign the loan, guarantee or grant agreement for the project; and the Forward Obligational Authority for projects of national government agencies by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) would be issued simultaneously upon the projects’ approval by the NEDA Board.

This “3-in-1” streamlined process will shorten the processing time for loan approvals “by at least two to three months,” according to Dominguez.

In the meeting, the officials from the two countries also continued their discussions on the candidate flagship infra projects, as well as the other jointly agreed pipeline projects, after which “both sides reaffirmed to continue holding expert-level consultations to address issues concerning railway projects to ensure their smooth implementation,” including the planned first phase of the Metro Manila Subway (from Mindanao Avenue, Quezon City to NAIA) and the South Commuter Line (Tutuban, Manila to Los Banos) of the Department of Transportation.

The second high-level infrastructure cooperation meeting between Japan and the Philippines was held last July in Manila, where it was announced that an indicative list of projects with an estimated total cost of P315.4 billion were pipelined for possible Japanese financing.

On top of discussing infrastructure cooperation, the Department of Finance (DOF) said the two sides also exchanged views on the support for Mindanao and other areas of cooperation such as in power and energy, anti-illegal drug measures, public safety and counterterrorism, and information and communications technology.

“Both sides reaffirmed to continue discussions on a mid-and long-term action plan on anti-illegal drug measures and on a document indicating the future direction of the Philippines-Japan cooperation for the next five years, which are targeted to be announced at a future Philippines-Japan summit meeting,” the DOF said.

In the meeting, the Japanese delegation extended Japan’s condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the crisis in Marawi City, and expressed Japan’s support for the Philippines’ needs for reconstruction and efforts against terrorism.

“The Japanese side also expressed its sincere hope that the situation in Marawi will be restored as soon as possible, and stressed its readiness and willingness to extend necessary assistance for the quick recovery and reconstruction of Marawi and development of Mindanao,” the DOF said.

Also representing the Japanese side at the meeting were: Deputy Commissioner Atsushi Taketani, International Affairs, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Director-General Yasuhiro Shinohara, International Affairs, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; Seiji Takagi, Director-General for International Affairs, Global Strategy Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Kazuhisa Yumikura, Managing Executive Officer, Global Head of Infrastructure and Environment Finance Group, Japan Bank for International Cooperation; Shinya Ejima, Senior Vice President, Japan International Cooperation Agency; Seiji Jige, Managing Executive Officer, Development Bank of Japan; and President & CEO Takuma Hatano, Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development. (DOF-PR)

BREAKTIME Mess transit system

In July last year, Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade promised to fix the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) along Edsa in the first 100 days of the motorbiking Duterte Harley administration. I almost cried when he vowed to give the public a pleasant ride.

Today, this vital mass transit system in Metro Manila remains a mess. In fact, it was forced to unload passengers some 25 times so far this month due to… well, what else, “technical problems.”

Surprise! Tugade recently confessed he was inclined to hand over MRT-3 to Metro Pacific Investment Corp. (MPIC), a local subsidiary of First Pacific of the Salim group of Indonesia.

According to reports quoting Tugade, MPIC was poised to secure the much coveted “original project proponent” status for MRT-3.

Tugade tried to tone down the shocking news, qualifying that the MPIC proposal would still need approval from the board of the National Economic and Development Authority.

As soon as Duterte Harley came into power more than a year ago, another group called MRTC submitted a similar offer to Tugade. MRTC is Metro Rail Transit Corp., the legal owner of Line 3 under a build-lease-transfer contract with the government.

It seemed MRTC even wrote Tugade FOUR times to inquire about its offer. Still, he sat on the proposal in the past 450 days or so.

All of a sudden, from out of nowhere, for whatever ungodly reason, the blessed MPIC would become the “original” in something that already existed for almost 20 years.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) must be in need of court cases.

Unfortunately, court cases only put projects in perpetual delay.

By the way, MRTC filed against the clueless Aquino (Part II) administration a couple of arbitration cases in Singapore for alleged violation of contract.

Note that the former administration already recognized the need to acquire ownership of the MRT from MRTC, as provided in Executive Order 126, issued by our ex-leader Benigno Simeon, aka BS, way back in 2013. The government even allotted some P54 billion in the 2014 budget for the purchase.

Nothing happened in the purchase plan, owing perhaps to rumors that the BS administration only wanted to hand over the MRT to another influential group.

And so the service still declined despite the P7 billion a year subsidy from the government. Nobody bothered to use the money to buy spare parts.

Under Tugade, DOTr as early as July last year received an offer from MRTC covering “fast-track” solutions. Immediately, Japanese group Sumitomo, for instance, put in some $50 million to buy parts and deploy at least a hundred engineers.

Sumitomo, by the way, was the “original” maintenance contractor, at that time getting only $1.4 million a month, of which some $900,000 went to spare parts. The previous administration replaced Sumitomo with various companies that reportedly had the same owner but who went on to spend a total of zero for parts.

Anyway, to the guys down here in my barangay, the big issue in any contract would still be its cost to the riding public. Yes, the fare increase!

Meanwhile, the debate still rages on about the cause of its decay, with one side arguing about the flaws in the “original” contract awarded by Kuya Eddie, aka former President Fidel Ramos, to MRTC.

While the argument could be valid, the government would have to go to court to nullify it, which would take time—like, well, forever.

Adding to the mess would be the claim of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez about the heavy influence of business groups over at the DOTr. Alvarez even threatened to cut the DOTr budget.

Several administrations already promised to bring MRT-3 in tip-top condition. Of course it continued to break down, lately even causing injuries to passengers.

In an earthshaking move, meanwhile, Tugade signed an agreement with a telco to provide free WiFi at the MRT.

Read more: http://business.inquirer.net/237581/mess-transit-system#ixzz4u5mVC4TK 
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Much awaited Piolo-Toni reunion movie

If it’s your last night on earth, what do you intend to do? Or what do you need to do?

“Last Night” is the title of the movie reuniting the tandem of Piolo Pascual and Toni Gonzaga and for the first this, under the direction of Bb. Joyce Bernal. It answers the two questions for the characters they play.

It was in 2014 when Piolo and Toni co-starred in Star Cinema’s Valentine offering and made it a blockbuster at the box-office. In 2005, Toni was first directed by Joyce in the comedy-horror flick “D’Anothers.” In 2007, Direk Joyce megged Piolo and Regine Velasquez in the romantic comedy “Paano Kita Iibigin.”

Definitely, fans of Piolo and Toni are eager to see their idols in “Last Night” where both portray unique roles entirely different from their previous roles. For one, there’s a certain mystery surrounding the story and in Piolo’s mind, it’s a “dangerous” character, in a “dangerous” love story.

Toni, as Carmina, said her character has reached a breaking point. One dark night, she meets Mark (Piolo), a man who has lost everything and like Carmina feels he’s at the end of life.

“Last Night” is based on a screenplay written by actress Bela Padilla who it seems is likely to be more involved these coming days in creative endeavors like writing. She has written a few screenplays and she revealed she would like to be a film director like Bb. Joyce Bernal someday.

Asked if “Last Night” has anything to do with her personal experience, Bela said, “No, this is purely fictional.”

“Last Night” opened in cinemas nationwide yesterday Sept. 27.

• • •

Successful awards night

The 35th Luna (Film Academy) Awards was held recently at the Resorts World Manila Theater. Among the distinguished members of the film industry who graced the event included Imelda Papin, current president of the Actors Guild of the Philippines, legendary actor/director Eddie Garcia, who was the recipient of the Golden Reel Award, and director Cloyd Robinson.

Among the special guests were Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, Carmen Suva of Manila Bulletin, Christian Bables and many more. Also spotted at the event was actor-model-businessman Tony Boy dela Rea who came with his friends Joy Conde Cruz, former Miss Republic of the Philippines, and Lea Wells.

The other awardees included Bembol Roco, Best Actor, Jun Lana, Best Director. Posthumous awards were also given to the late Lolita Rodriguez, Mario O’Hara and Bibsy Carballo.

The program was hosted by Barbie Atienza.

• • •

Tidbits: Happy b-day greetings today, Sept. 28, go to civic leader Charing Villar, Capt. Jude Ejercito, Ma. Veronica Ongkeko, Ben de Jesus, Remedios Lopez-Agpaoa, Ma. Theresa Gonda, Julie Meresen, Kris Paredes, Teng Cruz, Mina Paras, Ma. Elisa Buenaobra Reyes, Socorro Beech, Corrie Castillo, Joshua Medina, Derrick Cojuangco, Godella Valdez Palco of Maasin City, Southern Leyte, Lincoln Garcia, Mrs. Socorro Beech, Rose V. Palacio, MJ Felipe and Jeizzel Ongkeko…Happy wedding anniversary to Jonas and Cheryl PeraltaSept. 29: Eggie Apostol, Ng Tam Meng, Hans Sy, Laly Aldeguer, Boysie Villavicencio, Richard Ching, Melissa Cuevas, Richard Ching, Baby Fortuna, Ng Tam Meng, Debbie Enriquez, Rosalinda Ramos, Villa Granada-de Guia, Maridel Fernandez, Michelle Grace Reyes, Jenna Rose Salosa, Marie Dimapilis, Alí Ruiz III and GMA’s Mike Enriquez