Jun 302013
 

IN JUNE 2011, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued amendments to IAS 19 Employee Benefits. These amendments were subsequently adopted by the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission as amendments to PAS 19, Employee Benefits. Companies are required to apply the revised standard for annual periods beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2013, with retrospective application.

Jun 302013
 
ADB allots $500 M for Phl’s LGU fiscal reform program

MANILA, Philippines – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is setting aside $500 million for the Philippines’ Local Government Finance and Fiscal Decentralization Reform Program. In addition, the ADB is willing to provide a $1-million technical assistance (TA) grant for the program. The policy-based $500-million loan will be used to get the reform program off the ground, which will be issued in two tentative tranches of $250 million each starting this year and the second in 2015. A co-financing partner Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) will allocate an additional $150 million. The TA is a preparatory project that will provide the required technical and logistical resources to assist the government-led review of the 1991 Local Government Code. The main bulk of the TA will go to international and domestic consultants accounting for half of the entire grant. The remaining amount will be used for travel expenses, hard and software, seminars and workshops, and the like. The local government reform program aims to improve service delivery by increasing the efficiency and transparency of local governance and financial management systems. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Based on the ADB report, reducing local disparities in access to services is critical to achieving the government’s goal of inclusive growth and poverty reduction. The poverty rate was 26.5 percent in 2009 and increasing to 27.9 percent in the first semester of 2012 above prevailing rates in neighboring countries in Southeast Asia. Geographically, the poor remain concentrated in the southern Philippines and in Read More …

Jun 302013
 
Petro pavilion offers franchising opportunities

MANILA, Philippines – Various sectors of the widely diversified and highly profitable fuel industry are moving with the tide of successful franchised businesses by opening up to new investors via franchising or dealerships. These lucrative investment opportunities will be showcased at the fuel industry’s own Petro and Energy Pavilion occupying an entire hall of the SMX Convention Center as part of the Franchise Asia Philippines 2013 Expo, which will be held on July 19 to 21. The pavilion will serve as a one-stop shop for all investment activities in any of the numerous fuel and energy-related businesses to be exhibited during the expo’s three-day run. Among such businesses are petro filling stations, equipment and related products, renewable energy sources, fuel conservation devices, auto care services, and many other technologies and innovative systems that constitute the ever-growing energy supply and value chain, including retail spaces for franchised food and non-food consumer outlets catering to motorists. This sector of the economy enjoys a stable and consistently rising market demand since it is centered on energy that powers industries, vehicles and households all the way to the kitchen, practically driving infrastructure development nationwide for the transport of goods and people by land, sea and air. The petro pavilion is part of one-stop shop international franchise expo that will feature international and homegrown successful franchise brands in the food, retail, and service sectors providing investment opportunities at all levels, from micro to large. Special areas are also dedicated for budding business at the expo’s Read More …

Jun 302013
 
THE ETERNAL LOVE TEAM

By Cherie del Rio All-time Favorite Love Team on Movies and TV — this description of the Richard Gomez-Dawn Zulueta tandem is not without basis. They have a roster of movies and television projects as well as a massive fan base to prove it, and best of all, they carry the title as a legitimate award. The onscreen tandem was recently crowned as such in the recently concluded 44th Box Office Entertainment Awards of the Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation, Inc. In the face of hugely popular love teams from the younger generation, such as Kim Chiu & Xian Lim and John Lloyd Cruz & Sarah Geronimo, it came as a bit of a shock that a “mature” couple surfaced and stole a bit of the showbiz spotlight. In the Philippine industry, budding love teams of teenyboppers usually take center stage (for instance, Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla). When the popular 90s tandem of Richard and Dawn bounced back on a Kapamilya teleserye, audiences were happily surprised that the former real-life lovers still had the magic. And it seems that this magic will continue. After their successful team-up last year in the soap Walang Hanggan, Richard and Dawn will reunite for two movies and another soap opera in the next two years. “Then there is another movie that we’re working on,” Dawn disclosed in a recent interview, “which will be coming out for release naman next year.” Dawn says that she feels as though she and Richard are classmates — Read More …

Jun 292013
 
CGBP holds seminar on best practices in risk mgmt

MANILA, Philippines – One of the biggest risks in business is in not knowing how to manage and control risk. The inability to identify and anticipate risks have crippled many companies.  Good corporate governance and best business practices dictates that business leaders and decision-makers incorporate risk control and management in every phase of a company’s operations and strategy. To help businesses address this important issue, the Center for Global Best Practices is launching a one-day pioneering seminar entitled “Mastering Enterprise-wide Risk Management” on Thursday, July 25, 2013 at the Edsa Shangri-la Hotel, Mandaluyong City, Philippines.  For more details and to see all other upcoming seminars, check www.cgbp.org or  call (+63 2) 842-7148 & 59 or 556-8968 & 69. This special seminar will equip attendees with essential tools to identify risks, and provide them with practical and effective approaches to implementing enterprise-wide risk management (ERM) strategies in order to grow their business safely. It will also showcase how top global companies and successful businesses use ERM as a strategic tool for better business performance. With the wholistic approach to risk management, we can proactively address uncertainties that our businesses may face.  One of the best insurance to business continuity is having a risk management plan. This special event will feature Punongbayan and Araullo/ Grant Thorton senior partner Juan Carlos B. Robles, CPA, CIA, CFE, CISA who is concurrently holding three positions at the firm.

Jun 292013
 
Maybank mulls IPO option

MANILA, Philippines – The board of Maybank Philippines Inc. (MPI) is studying options for the planned initial public offering (IPO) of the bank in the near term, a top official said. Maybank Philippines president Herminio Famatigan Jr. said, “the board level discussions are ongoing now in terms of when we need to do that. When you do an IPO you obviously want to do it and get the interest of the market. You line up all options available to you.” “They are now exploring all possibilities on how to conduct the IPO which under the law should be done by all foreign bank subsidiaries before end-2015,” he said. “We still have up to the end of 2015 to do that.  There are so many possibilities. We can do an IPO or we can end up buying or merging with a bank that is listed. It’s another option to comply with the existing laws but not in the very near future,” he said. He said they have not selected a financial advisor yet for the IPO but they may consider their subsidiary Maybank ATR Kim Eng Capital Partners Inc. to take the lead in the fundraising exercise. However, Famatigan said they have to study carefully which is the most appropriate IPO scheme to undertake. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “There’s no rush for us to do it. 2015 is still 2 1/2 years away,” he said. Early this year, Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) said they would list Read More …

Jun 292013
 
Poverty, income inequality remain high in Phl

MANILA, Philippines – Despite robust economic growth so far this year and a series of international credit rating upgrades, inclusive growth and poverty alleviation still elude the Philippines. The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew an impressive 7.8 percent in the first three months of 2013, after an equally strong growth rate of 6.8 percent in whole of 2012. But Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said compared to other Asian countries, the Philippines still has the lowest total investment share to GDP from 2010-2012 relative to India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. “Poverty incidence remains high, and so does income inequality. Moreover, more than 60 percent of the entire country’s economic growth is concentrated in Metro Manila, Calabarzon, and Central Luzon,” Balisacan said at a recent forum by the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD). Substantial poverty reduction achieved in developing countries in the past two decades was due to rapid economic growth and structural transformation in these countries, particularly in Asia. Globally, this growth contributed nearly two-thirds of the observed poverty reduction in the developing world. “A one-percent increase in GDP per capita reduces poverty by 1.7 percent,” Balisacan said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Likewise, the country’s economic growth barely exceeded the population growth rate, which has continued to expand relatively rapidly at about two percent a year. Thus shifting the economy to a higher growth path – and keeping it there for the long term – Read More …

Jun 292013
 
Q2 growth outlook ‘very good’ – BSP

MANILA, Philippines – Economic growth could have remained “very good” in the second quarter, a senior central bank official said, as he outlined reasons why domestic demand supported expansion amid lackluster trade performance. “For us, the outlook never changed: we continue to see a good economic turnout in economic performance,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said Friday. “That is, very good economic performance,” he told reporters. The Philippine economy expanded by 7.8 percent in the first three months of the year, beating market expectations to become Asia’s fastest growing economy for that period. The Aquino administration has set a six- to seven-percent growth target this year. The local economy grew 6.8 percent last year. From April to June, Guinigundo said domestic demand could have been boosted by the continued expansion of business in the manufacturing sector in time for the election season. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Based on latest Purchasing Managers Index figures, the manufacturing gauge went up to 58.6 in June from 56 the previous month, indicating faster expansion. Any figure above 50 means growth. Manufacturing is part of the industry sector, which grew 10.3 percent in the first quarter, the fastest among other industrial origins. “In the last so many quarters, we have noticed a big rebound in capital expenditures, capital investment, and domestic capital investments. These could ensure growth is sustainable in the long run,” Guinigundo explained. In addition, business and consumer sentiments have improved, he said, providing Read More …