Singapore's Country of Focus 2018

Philippines is Country of Focus at Singapore Media Festival 2018


Carlo Mortel
Business Mirror
25 Novemner 2018

After its successful Philippine participation in Busan International Film Festival at Busan, South Korea, the Film Development  Council of the Philippines leads the country again as Country of Focus at the Singapore Media Festival, celebrating two important milestones in its history—the  100 Years of Philippine Cinema  and the  50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations  between the Philippines  and Singapore for the following year.

The Singapore Media Festival (SMF), hosted by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), one of Asia’s leading international media events, where the industry meets to discover the latest trends, talents and content in Asia for Film, TV and digital media. It brings together  Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) and ScreenSingapore and SMF Ignite.

The Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) will be the lead agency in the Philippine participation to the SMF, and will bring 30 companies composed of film and content producers, buyers, distributors, animation companies, and service providers who will join SMF-established events  such as the SGIFF, ATF and ScreenSingapore and SMF Ignite.

“We are incredibly honored to once again have the support of an international festival, this time from Singapore and the IMDA which we have had close ties with especially in terms of our film programs and partnerships. This time, we focus on the industry side of Cinema for SMF especially by bringing content producers and filmmakers who are geared and ready to buy, sell, and develop titles not just for local, but foreign content,” said FDCP Chairperson and CEO Mary Liza Diño.

Asia Television Forum (ATF)

The Asia Television Forum is  Asia’s leading entertainment content market which lets delegates tap into the growth potential of Asia’s entertainment content industry for buyers and sellers. ATF also gives  valuable market insights from some of the industry’s most illustrious experts and open doors to potential business opportunities through a dedicated series of both intimate networking sessions to large-scaled ones.

FDCP is hosting a Philippine booth at the ATF and bringing 30 producers and filmmakers to develop, buy, and sell content and films. Moreover, Filipino executives like TV5 and Cignal TV will be participating in the ATF Leaders’ Summit on a panel that  puts spotlight on the Philippines and its landscape as it adapts to the digital revolution.

ScreenSingapore,  Southeast Asian Film Financing (SAFF), and Ties That Bind

ScreenSingapore is a marketplace for filmmakers, producers, distributors, financiers and film buyers to explore co-production opportunities, seek financing, make deals and learn about the changing film landscape. This year, it will host again the Southeast Asian Film Financing (SAFF) Project Market in partnership with the Southeast Asian Audio-Visual Association (SAAVA) and Ties That Bind: Asia/Europe Producers Workshop (TTB) to connect promising filmmakers and producers from Southeast Asia and Europe with international co-producing partners, festival programmers, distributors, commissioners and financiers.

SAFF will feature five projects from the Philippines:

Ani (The Harvest)

Science Fiction, Coming-of-age

Producer: Toni Zuniga

Director: Kristine Zuniga

Bangsa Badjao

Drama Thriller

Producer: Suzanne Richiardone / Jessel Monteverde

Director: Jessel Monteverde

Comfort

Feminist Action Drama

Producer: Bianca Balbuena & Kriz Gazmen

Director: Gino M. Santos

Filipino

Drama Thriller

Producer: Mel Allego

John Denver Trending

Drama, Social Satire

Producer: Sheron Dayoc & Sonny Calvento

Director: Arden Rod C

On the other hand, for Ties That Bind, whose first workshop took place in the Udine Far East Film Festival, will be holding its second workshop during SAFF.  Asian Film Commissions Network (AFCNet) Producer of the Year Awardee Bianca Balbuena is one of the mentors of the program. Among the 10 projects included in the slate is  Return of the Owl by Martika Ramirez Escobar and Monster Jimenez.

Singapore International Film Festival

The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) is also celebrating Filipino films as it brings together emerging filmmakers from Asia and Southeast Asia while paying tribute to acclaimed cinema legend.

There are four short films in competition, three official selection and a world premiere   from the Philippines this year:

In competition—Southeast Asian Short Film Competition

• Manila is Full of Men Named Boy by Andrew Stephen Lee
• The Imminent Immanent by Carlo Francisco Manatad
• Please Stop Talking by Josef Gacutan
• Judgement by Raymund Ribay Gutierrez

Official Selection

• The Ashes and Ghosts of Tayug 1931 by Christopher Gozum
• Season of the Devil by Lav Diaz
• Nervous Translation by Shireen Seno

2017 SAFF Project Market finalist, Mikhail Red’s Eerie will have its world premiere at the Festival’s Midnight Mayhem section.

The Asia Academy Creative Awards (AACA)

Launched last July, the AACA’s vision was to create an awards program by the industry for the industry.    The AACA has set Wilson Tieng, President of the Motion Pictures Distributors’ Association of the Philippines (MPDAP), as its ambassador. A total of 25 FIlipino nominess have been nominated for various awards, including The Greatest Love (ABS CBN) for Best Series, Miss Maja Salvador (Wildflower) for Best Actress and Ikaw-6 Na Utos (GMA Network) for Best Telenovela/Soap.

The Singapore Media Festival will run from November 28 to December 9, 2018.

Philippines and Japan Infrastructure Partnership

Philippines, Japan line up more 

projects for funding

BusinessWorld

23 November 2018

BW FILE PHOTO

MORE INFRASTRUCTURE projects funded by Japan advanced further in the pipeline after top economic officials from the Philippines and Japan exchanged notes during their meeting late Wednesday, while also identifying new prospects.

Philippine and Japanese officials held the 6^th meeting of the Philippines-Japan High-Level Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation in Manila on Wednesday evening where both sides signed and exchanged notes for a ¥37.905-billion, or $336.24 million, loan for the Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement Project Phase IV and another ¥167.199 billion, or $1.413 billion, for the first tranche of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) Extension Project.

The Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement Project involves upgrading works along the stretch of the Upper Marikina River — from downstream of the Manggahan Floodway to the Marikina Bridge — as well as construction of the Marikina Control Gate Structure.

The 109-kilometer NSCR Extension Project, meanwhile, will extend the Malolos, Bulacan-Tutuban, Manila railway to Clark International Airport in the north and to Calamba, Laguna in the south. The system will have 58 eight-car trains, seven of which will be airport express trains, and a double-tracked elevated railway that will connect with other lines in Metro Manila.

The exchange of notes is done before the signing of loan agreements.

Manila and Tokyo also signed and exchanged bilateral documents for a Contract of General Consulting Service for the Metro Manila Subway Project Phase I between the Department of Transportation (DoTr) and a consortium of six Japanese firms and OC Global; and the joint venture agreement among the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN), and Surbana Jurong for the New Clark City.

Both sides committed to open the first three stations of the Metro Manila Subway by May 2022, inclusion of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport line extension in the detailed engineering design of the project and establishment of the Philippine Railway Institute by 2021.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said in a briefing after the meeting that technical working groups will meet regularly to “address challenges for the railway projects.”

“The Japanese side requested the Philippine government to expedite measures such as land acquisition and relocation of utilities.”

Both sides also discussed the possibility of more Japanese ODA financing for “road construction and expansion projects in northern Luzon and Metro Manila, flood management and drainage improvements, and various components of the New Clark City project.”

Loan agreements signed by Japan and the Philippines since the committee met in March last year include: P11 billion for the Mega Manila Subway; P18.76 billion for the Metro Rail Transit-Line 3 (MRT-3) Rehabilitation program, P2.10 billion for the New Bohol Airport Construction and Sustainable Environmental Protection Project Phase 2, and the P4 billion for the Arterial Road Bypass Phase 3 project.

“The Philippines is already at the verge of graduating to the level where we will not qualify anymore for ODA for some countries. Our income per capita is rising, so while we are still here, I think it is best for us to take advantage of the long tenors and the relatively low interest rates because after a few years we will no longer be qualified for that. We will be considered a middle-income country, therefore, we will have to pay higher interest rates. So it makes sense for as to have these projects funded now rather than later,” Mr. Dominguez said.

Aside from Japan, the Philippines has attracted financing support from China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, the United States, the European Union and Canada. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

RICS London Top Prize Designer

Filipino wins top UK prize for bamboo home design

Asia Times
22 November 2018

Earl Patrick Forlales gained inspiration for his 'Cubo' design from the bamboo shack his grandparents called home on the outskirts of Manila 

With its modular design, Cubo housing components can be linked together to create quality living space for families. Photo: handout

A young Filipino designer has scooped the top prize in a Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) competition for his low-cost modular housing solution that could bring relief to low-income families across Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa.

Material science engineering graduate Earl Patrick Forlales, 23, pipped 1,200 competitors from all over the world to win the prestigious £50,000 (US$63,900) Cities For Our Future prize with his “Cubo” home concept. Made mostly of bamboo, components for the Cubo can be built off-site in one week, and the house erected in situ in only four hours.

Inspired by the bamboo shack on the outskirts of Manila that Forlales’ grandparents called home, the Cubo is first and foremost devised to be economical to build. Estimated to cost only $77 per square meter, it is constructed almost entirely of bamboo, which grows in abundance in poorer parts of the world, and is uniquely sustainable. Bamboo is also inherently good for the environment, releasing 35% more oxygen into the environment than trees, according to a report in the Guardian.

The judges agreed. “One of the reasons Earl’s entry stood out from the other finalists,” said Dr Beth Taylor, “was

 through its use of traditional, sustainable technology and materials, to solve an issue facing modern cities across the world.”

The target is to give the urban poor a chance to embrace affordable, yet dignified housing. Photo: handout

With a third of Manila’s 12 million inhabitants living in slums, Forlales now has his sights set on building Cubo homes in the Philippine capital.

“Engineered bamboo is here and it is going to stay,” says Forlales in a short video explaining the qualities and attractions of Cubo. “We know how to work the material and we can build our future cities around it.”

Asia's Biggest Oil and gas Development

China, Philippines to Explore Biggest Oil and Gas Development in Asia 



Russel Cyra
Gineersnow.com
21 November 2018

In a motion to fortify an alliance for an amiable joint oil and gas exploration to the West Philippine Sea, both Filipino and Chinese officials signed last night a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that is said to be the biggest oil and gas development in Asia.

It is during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s two-day state visit in the Philippines that the MOU was able to sign among 29 agreements between Manila and Beijing which according to reports entails that the proposed joint exploration would be in accordance with the principles of, “mutual respect, fairness and mutual benefit, flexibility and pragmatism and consensus through equal and friendly consultations.”



The aforementioned MOU on oil and gas development in the formerly disputed territory was signed by Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. and China’s State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi. It was witnessed by President Duterte and President Xi in a ceremony at the Malacañang’s Reception Hall.

The Philippine government recently claimed how they are doing everything so that the country will have energy reservoir and security. They also added how it has been a long time since they did any major exploration activities in the country.

In connection to this, oil and gas exploration in the West Philippine Sea will pave the way to development since forecasts released how the Malampaya oil and gas field in Palawan will dry up in a few years.Meanwhile, if this joint exploration will ever bear fruit, it is said to need another agreement as there may be a possibility of exploitation of resources.

And so, the agreement also stipulates that there must be prejudice and two parties must, “make arrangements for the relevant bilateral cooperation including joint exploration,” in whatever outcomes may arise after. In addition, the outcome of the joint exploration would be shared only by the Philippines and China.

Furthermore, the draft also includes the establishment of an inter-governmental joint steering committee and an inter-entrepreneurial working group. 

Foreign affairs and energy departments of Philippines and China, on the other hand shall lead the committee along with other related agencies.

The working group is proposed to consist of representatives from the China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) and an energy firm to be authorized by the Philippine government. 

This group will be responsible to discuss details of the joint exploration. 

After which, the CNOOC and the designated Philippine energy company are to sign a contract based on these discussions.The joint exploration contract will be executed upon ratification by the committee.

Asia's most conducive for financial inclusuion

PH ranked ‘most conducive’ for financial 

inclusion in Asia, 4th globally


Daxim L. Lucas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
21 November 2018

The Philippines gets a good review for having the most conducive environment for financial inclusion in Asia and the fourth best globally. FILE PHOTO/JILSON SECKLER TIU

The Philippines has the most conducive environment for financial inclusion in Asia and the fourth best globally thanks to innovative efforts by regulators to bring more citizens into the formal economy, a new study revealed.

In a press statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas cited the 2018 edition of a cross-country evaluation called Global Microscope, which ranked the country at the top along with India as having the best environment in the region for encouraging so-called unbanked citizens into participating in the financial system.

Globally, the Philippines came in just behind Peru, Colombia and Uruguay the survey conducted among 55 jurisdictions.

The study is regularly undertaken by the Economist Intelligence Unit, and the latest edition looked at government and policy support; stability and integrity; products and outlets; consumer protection; and infrastructure. Since 2009, the Philippines consistently belonged to the top-ranked countries in terms of having an enabling environment and regulatory framework for microfinance and financial inclusion.

The report noted that the BSP “has been ahead of the curve in identifying opportunities and setting guidelines for financial inclusion.”

It recognized that the central bank’s focus on “creating a digital finance ecosystem has led to the introduction of a sound payments infrastructure that helps various financial sector players to reduce their costs and further their outreach.”

According to the report, the top performing countries demonstrated strong government support and commitment to financial inclusion as evidenced by a national strategy which facilitates coordination among various stakeholders.

These countries have balanced policies and regulations that enable different types of institutions to offer financial services to the low-income population. Another common strength among top-ranked countries is the ease with which customers can access a variety of financial products and outlets because there are no disproportionate requirements to open an account or avail inclusive insurance products.

Several enablers of financial inclusion in the Philippines were cited such as the enhanced regulations on pawnshops and money service businesses, and regulation on cash agents and “branch lite” units to further extend the reach of financial services. There is also interoperability among agents allowing a wide variety of actors to function as outlets via commercially viable models.

The coordination between the public and private sector under the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion has produced positive results such as the increase in the percentage of municipalities with at least one financial service access point from 88 percent in 2015 to 92 percent in 2017./ac