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Hello everyone, I'm Michelle Long. It's 9PM in Manila, 10PM in Tokyo, and 9PM in New York.

The headlines.

US and Europe stocks rally with the MSCI World Index up 1.3% as investors cheer lifelines given to First Republic Bank and Credit Suisse.

The Civil Service Commission not too keen on the Energy Department's proposal for a four-day workweek plus one-day work-from-home setup for government agencies.

And the PLDT Group announces a new tower sale and leaseback transaction.

There is more positive sentiment sweeping through markets this morning coming off from a big jump during the New York session when banking shares rebounded on rescue deals.

Expectations for small Fed tightening next week also helping support fragile sentiment.

The US dollar falling for the first time in three sessions.

Let's now pull up the board there.

All major indices in the region up the Nikkei 225 and the Kospi index up by nearly four-tenths of 1% each.

Stateside, Wall Street finished up on Thursday with the Dow jumping 300 points as investors cheered a rescue package for First Republic Bank.

The S&P 500 advancing nearly 2% after the biggest banks in the US agreed to contribute $30 billion in deposits to First Republic,

whose shares earlier tumbled over 60% on speculation it could be the next to fail after two high-profile collapses last week.

Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 2.7% to a one-month high.

Investors now trying to gauge the Fed's next policy move due next week, March 22.

The hope is the banking turmoil would push the Fed to shift its outlook and be less hawkish and race by just 25 basis points.

There's nothing the Fed can do that's right.

They're going to be criticized no matter what they do because fighting inflation on the one hand,

but potentially fueling bank deposit runs on the other are contradictory decisions that they have to make.

Therefore, they will simply say, we're going to raise rates by 25%.

That's what people expected prior to this.

And it may, in a perverse way, be an indication that the Fed is confident enough in the banking system that they can go ahead with their monetary policy.

In Europe, the central bank hiked rates by 50 basis points as expected, ignoring calls to dial back tightening at least until the market turmoil eases.

ECB President Christine Lagarde assuring investors their banking system remains resilient with strong capital and liquidity positions.

Inflation is projected to remain too high for too long.

Therefore, the governing council today decided to increase the three key ECB interest rates by 50 basis points in line with our determination to ensure the timely return of inflation to our 2% medium term target.

A group of 11 banks, including Bank of America and Goldman Sachs, set up a $30 billion rescue package for First Republic Bank to stop it from becoming the third U.S. bank to fail in just a week.

The $30 billion will be deposited to First Republic and will be obligated to stay there for 120 days or four months and earn at the same rate delivered to all current deposits.

The regional bank has a similar clientele as Silicon Bank Valley, which collapsed last Friday after depositors withdrew about $40 billion.

This good news for First Republic comes after a lifeline from Swiss regulators also stabilized Credit Suisse, easing concerns it could trigger a banking crisis in Europe.

Credit Suisse is set to borrow $54 billion from the Swiss National Bank to assure short-term liquidity.

On Wednesday, its largest investor, the Saudi National Bank, had said it would not provide additional assistance.

But the idea of a forced combination with rival UBS that may be orchestrated by government is said to be opposed by both firms, with Bloomberg sources saying UBS would prefer to focus on its own wealth-centric stand-alone strategy and is reluctant to take on risks related to Credit Suisse.

A tense moment on Capitol Hill as a Republican senator accused Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen of lying about President Biden's willingness to meet with Republicans to discuss Social Security.

The remark considered a break from decorum.

Senators has repeatedly requested to meet with him about social so that somebody who is a current beneficiary will not see her benefits cut by 24%. We have not heard anything on our request.

Back here at home, here's a quick look at the local corporate headlines this morning.

Nissan enters the U.S. market through its joint venture company UPC Power Solutions. It is buying a portfolio of eight operating wind farms in Texas with a total of 136 megawatts from GlidePath Power Solutions.

The Ayala Group's energy arm currently has 4,000 megawatts of attributable capacity from owned facilities here in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Australia with a target to hit 20 gigawatts by 2030.

And the Aboitiz Group setting a 78 billion peso capex for this year. That's up 10% from the 70 billion utilized in 2022 that is to fuel investments and innovation in renewable energy and portfolio diversification.

And Asiana City developer DM Yancislao declares its highest cash dividend yet in its five years as a listed firm. The board declared dividends of 0.07 per share or a total of about 254.6 million pesos. That is 23% higher year on year.

The dividends will be payable on April 5 to stockholders on record as of March 30.

The Philippines Civil Service Commission not keen on the proposed four day work week for government offices. There have been several calls for the shift particularly from the energy department which sees the setup as a way to conserve energy.

The DOE which has formally submitted its proposal says it's it actually implemented the four day work week plus one day work from home set up during Fridays. And this resulted in over 120 thousand pesos in savings in February alone.

But the commission says frontline services should be manned five regular working days a week and eight hours per day. It adds flexible working hours is allowed in the government but their services should be available during core work hours.

Dapat may tao from eight to five. Kasi yun ang alam talaga ng mga transacting public na may tao ang goberno ng between eight to five. So what will happen dun sa four to five na time na walang tao magmamando na sa kanila.

If you were to look into our flexible work policy ano lang yung pwede mag work from home may nakalagay kasi dun like heavy on research or encoding ka lang. Pero frontline ay hindi talaga pwede mag work from home.

The Philippine Senate brings a discussion about the proposed charter change to Cebu. But as Sherian Torres tells us several lawmakers are urging their peers and the public to give some of the newly passed economic laws time to work first. Let's watch this.

Charter change proponent Senator Robin Padilla consulted various Cebu-based groups Thursday about their thoughts on a hybrid constitutional convention recently approved by the lower house compared to a constituent assembly which is his preferred vehicle to amend the charter.

He was joined by PDP Laban partymate Senator Ronald de la Rosa. Padilla argues only 46 million pesos will be spent via CONAS if it's held simultaneously with the village and youth council elections in October. But if it's done separately the cost balloons to more than 13 billion pesos.

CONCON according to Padilla will need a budget of over 14 billion pesos if it's part of local elections but the cost jumps to 28.5 billion pesos if conducted separately. Padilla points out the amount can be used to bankroll several government initiatives like supporting the pension of indigent senior citizens, paying for health care workers or funding the construction of more than 11,000 classrooms.

Dapat marinig po ng lahat lalo na ng araw-araw na nagahanap buhay at nagaambag sa kaban ng buwayan na magmumula sa kanilang pinaghirapang buwis ang 14.7 billion hanggang 28.5 na billion na gagastusin sa CONCON.

Padilla notes relaxing the Constitution's conservative economic provisions is crucial to attract foreign investors, an argument disputed by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri. Zubiri maintains government only needs to fully implement the Public Services Act, the Trade Liberalization Act and the Foreign Investment Act. The three new economic laws aim to attract more investments.

This also led him to question the delay in the release of the implementing rules and regulations of these laws.

Congressman Rufus Rodriguez, chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments, calls Zubiri's statements foul, adding that it is pure speculation.

Rodriguez further argues the House has no control over the executive agency's task to implement the three laws by issuing implementing rules and regulations.

House Speaker Martin Romaldes, on the other hand, says their quick work in the lower house is in the interest of improving the economy and not for politics.

Former Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Perna sides with Zubiri, saying government should wait for the economic laws to be fully implemented.

He adds the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or RCEP must also be supported because of its huge trade benefits.

RCEP aims to establish clear rules in doing trade and investments in the region so that it will be more convenient and competitive for Philippine business and investors.

I would suggest that we first attend to these three bills that have already been passed in Congress, but not yet pushed for implementation.

On Monday, Padilla will continue his Hong Kong consultation hearing along with congressmen.

Sherian Torres, ABS-CBN News.

Now here's a look at the other stories we're tracking in the newsroom today.

There's a pandesal forum with the media featuring the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.

Happening this morning, the group is urging the government to provide reparation, social support to so-called comfort women during the Second World War.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Red Tape Authority is launching this morning PASPAS Filipinas PASPAS, a public-private partnership between ARTA and Medalco.

And this afternoon, we'll also cover the grand celebration of the centenary of the accountancy profession in the Philippines.

This is the culmination of a year-long celebration that started last year to mark 100 years since accountancy was recognized as a profession officially that happened back in March 17, 1923.

Up next, after a decisive 50 basis point hike by the ECB, what does that mean for the Fed and the BSP next week?

What are markets pricing in? We speak with RCBC Trust's Helen Gooleta next.

Market Edge, we'll be right back.

Welcome back. Now, here are some economic data releases we're monitoring.

This Friday, March 17, the Philippines will announce the government budget deficit for the first month of the year.

It widened to 378.4 billion pesos in December.

Singapore, meanwhile, will report its balance of trade numbers for February.

The country recorded a trade surplus of 6.3 billion U.S. in January.

And the U.S. will release its latest manufacturing and industrial production numbers.

Industrial output decreased 0.8 percent year-on-year back in January.

And here's another quick look at the corporate headlines this morning.

The Lushotan Group says it has not yet received any communication from its councils regarding reports.

The Supreme Court had ordered Tanduay Distillers to stop using the word Hinebra in its gin products like Hinebra Kapitat,

upholding Hinebra San Miguel's trademark over the term.

The High Court reportedly ordered Tanduay to pay tempered damages of 300,000 and lawyer fees worth 200,000 to GSMI.

And PLDT subsidiary Smart and Digital Mobile signed a sale and purchase agreement unloading 1,012 telecommunications towers primarily in Luzon

for over 12.1 billion pesos to Frontier Tower Associates Philippines.

The transaction brings the total number of towers monetized via sale and leaseback transactions

to over 7,500 for a total consideration of more than 98 billion pesos.

Frontier is a subsidiary of KKR-backed Pinnacle Towers.

Upon completion of the transaction, Smart will then lease back the towers for a period of 10 years at competitive terms as the anchor tenant.

And finally, San Miguel Corporation nets US$43.2 billion in core net income for 2022 and US$26.8 billion in reported net income.

While the conglomerate has yet to release the breakdown, it cited the impact of unrealized losses on the revaluation of its foreign currency-denominated long-term debt.

Consolidated revenues last year reached 1.5 trillion pesos, up 60 percent.

Philippine shares plunged yesterday by another 1 percent,

dragged by a global stock route triggered by the banking turmoil in America and Europe.

The index now just a hairline above 6,400.

The number to beat today is 6589 to be able to snap out of a six-week losing streak.

Joining us for more, Helen Gooleta, Trust Trading Head of RCBC Trust and Investments Group.

Hi Helen, good to see you. Long time no see.

Good morning.

So Helen, why don't you share your thoughts with us about the kind of environment we're in?

Because overnight, Wall Street rebounded on news of the rescue packages for troubled banks.

Could that, you know, put a stop to the indiscriminate selling we've seen here in the Philippines over the last few days?

I think so. Actually, the way the Fed has reacted to what happened last Thursday all the way to the weekend really is noteworthy

because it needs to somehow manage the turmoil that's happening or the concerns that's happening

or the confidence level dropping for most of the investors, right?

So at this point in time, when you look into the books of the banks, especially local banks,

you can see that one, as confirmed by Secretary De Ocno, that there really is no exposure in SBB, right?

And it's mostly on the outside the Philippines exposure.

So for the Philippines, what we're seeing right now are just concerns for maybe foreign saying that,

okay, let's get out of the banks until it's really clear already before we go back in.

That's why from the net foreign by January for around 122 and then net foreign sale,

which wiped out the whole of Fed, now we're down negative 572 million, I think, on the net foreign selling.

So you see sentiments shifting already, right?

So I guess this almost 2% movement in terms of on the upside overnight for the US

and also the actions of different central banks, whether it's from the Fed's reaction,

setting up the bank term funding program, that's for one.

And also confirmation that they're going to support the investors particularly,

even the uninsured portion of it to stabilize the market at this point

before they continue evaluating what happened to the banks and how they will be sanctioned if there would be sanctions.

And on the other side, you look at the Credit Suisse side, you can see that there's also support.

So these are what you call, we go back to years before the global,

what we call global systemically important banks, right?

So here we also have the domestic systemically important banks that we need to manage

because it really is very much embedded in the markets that we have right now.

So any risk on that side would somehow move these markets as well.

Helen, do you think that when you look at how markets, where markets are today,

that they're actually pricing in this systemic banking problem?

I mean, it's one thing to see regional niche banks collapsing,

but to see a giant like Credit Suisse under threat, it's starting to terrify people.

What's your take?

Actually, Credit Suisse is totally different from everything else that happened over last week for the US.

Why? Because Credit Suisse has, we've seen Credit Suisse being battered in terms of concerns.

One, I think there were news about money laundering months, like last year.

And also, there are a lot of concerns in the bank.

There are a lot of, let's say first, I think, customer due diligence.

You need to look at it.

And then money laundering issues.

So therefore, you need to see how do you, how the employees as well,

how the employees as well manage the bank.

So there's so many risks on the risk side and the Credit Suisse has,

is totally different from the SVP, SVP exposure.

So that's why I think confidence in that side is very crucial.

I think the main business now for Credit Suisse is really the wealth management and the asset under managed business.

That's really the core of their business.

Other than that, everything is somehow challenged all these past few years.

So there are a lot of sanctions as well.

And there are a lot of withdrawals that has been happening continuously for Credit Suisse.

So it's really a more rooted problem for Credit Suisse all these years as compared to the SVP side.

So SVP side really is matching the liabilities versus the asset, number one.

Number two, I think most of the books are really, I think 90% or 95% of their books are in the whole to collect asset class

or the business model that they're using, which somehow does not match to the requirement of their,

because the investors are short term versus the, I mean, the funds that they got from the depositors,

which can easily be withdrawn is short term.

So there's a mismatch really.

And I think all these boils down to the fact that one, the banks and also the regulatory needs to revisit the risk management

profile of each of the company that we have, let's say RCBC or BD or whatever banks we have, right?

So we have to go back, sit down and check risk management, exposures, concentration risks, very important.

You see SVP's concentration risk also put them at risk at this point.

So there's so many that we need to move back and say, okay, let's check what's happening and revisit

if we're still really providing the controls that we have.

So, which to protect the investors as well.

So it's more of balancing that act because at this point with so many development in the markets,

you see digitization, you see the startups, there's so many things happening.

So with that, sometimes you're so into the business that you've got the control side.

I think also in the SVP side, they're talking about most of the ETFs like Amundi, BNP,

they're into that because the ESG aspect of the ETFs that they have actually was invested because of that concept of the ESG.

But the G of the ESG was not properly controlled.

I mean the governance.

That's why the ESG, the three pillars should be balanced for you to really say that this is good

because even SVP was ranked A, by rated A in terms of by well-known rating agencies.

So there's also the rating agency side they have to revisit.

That's what really happened way, way back, years back, right?

So I guess it's just a matter of a reminder for everyone that we really have to be,

yes, business is good or business is challenging for that fact as well.

Good now, past few years challenging.

So what we're seeing is we need to balance the challenges that we have and then the business continuity

and how do we now put all controls back in.

So lots of reviews happening not just globally but locally as well.

But when you look at the big picture, do you think central banks, the Fed in particular,

can fight the banking crisis and inflation at the same time?

Or will it be forced to pick one?

Because the Fed is meeting next week, 22, and the BSP follows the day after, 23.

Yes, yes.

Actually, we have to give it to them.

It's really hard to balance inflation versus what we have at this point, right?

But I think choosing the lesser of two evils at this point, they have to do this.

They have to provide somehow support for the different markets that they have,

whether it's Europe or US side or whatever country that may be at risk.

But at this point, we believe that the 25, if you look at the data overnight,

you can see that Fed is on track to provide another 25 basis point high

because that ratio is around now from 50% is up 80% overnight.

So market is already expecting that to happen at 25%.

So 50% is out of the windows, it's just 25% and maybe see from there.

So I assume the BSP would also consider the move of the Fed from there.

All right, so where we are right now, we're at 64.04.

Are we close to capitulation, you think?

Because this certainly feels like lower low.

This certainly feels like a lower low.

We just keep retesting lows.

Yes, agree, agree.

Actually, it's really a challenge because if you've seen the foreign out,

it's mostly the locals who are supporting the market, right?

Because we all know if you look at the performance of the corporates,

majority, especially the ones that announced except for the past few days,

they're really going into, you see improvement in terms of businesses across.

So therefore, we also saw a study where in the Bank of America did a study

and they were saying that they had to do earnings adjustments

and Philippines really is a cut above the rest of Asia Pacific.

So therefore, you can see there's really momentum for the Philippines.

It's just that the expectation and all of the concerns of the market

is clouding that move.

That's why hopefully with the movement now,

we might see somehow a hold of the 6.5 rate level

because that's also crucial for us.

So therefore, if you stay on the 6.5 and then we see the US market from here move sideways.

So expectation market would be just moving on the sideways at this point.

Hopefully, if we can move up, if you look at the interest rates,

somehow it has already adjusted significantly, right?

So from the 8%, 10%, from the 8% on the 10-year,

it's now just 6, 6.3, 6.4 range, right?

So you see correction and you see cash really driving this fixed income market down.

So I guess that's a good momentum.

We see money moving.

A lot of investors, you see CASA of banks lower

because everyone's investing, considering and saying that at 6,

it's a no-brainer. At 6.5, it's a no-brainer. I want to go in.

All right, Helen, let's go over some interesting corporate stories.

PLDT just announcing this morning a new 12.1 billion peso tower deal

with Frontier Philippines Association.

What's your view on PLDT?

All of these telco giants have been using this model of selling their towers

and leasing them as anchor tenants to monetize these assets.

But in general, are telco giants still attractive

when you look at their valuations versus their growth prospects?

Actually, at this point, we see the pricing already there at this level.

So market is considering the telco sector not exciting compared to other sectors for 2023

because we've seen the move already for 2022.

So we want to look into other sectors.

And I think cashing in these towers is really, as you mentioned,

monetizing this to provide more value to their assets and more use of their assets

to push for this competition up.

All right. Also, today, by the way, the offer period for Alter Energy ends today.

When you look at the IPO pipeline, the market has been pretty wild.

Is there appetite for these new names?

I heard for Alter Energy because I think it's a three-pronged energy business.

So there is appetite, although not as excited as January of last year.

So you see that with what we've seen in the equity market,

also sentiments of retail move to fixed income versus equity.

But in all honesty, if you look at the potential of the equity market,

there is at least around easily 17% potential with your current 6%.

But you really have to be patient and to be strong.

Patient for how long?

Hopefully, within the year, you see that momentum in this market.

17%. Okay. We also have this from yesterday.

For those who missed it, San Miguel Corporation actually reporting earnings,

although they did not give the breakdown.

They did say that they netted 43.2 billion in core net income

and 26.8 billion in reported net income.

What was interesting was what followed when they cited the impact

of unrealized losses on the revaluation of foreign currency denominated long-term debt.

So companies with debt that are in foreign currencies

versus where the currency is today, what are your views on that?

Actually, yes. If you look at the borrowings of these corporates,

especially those, actually not just, if you look at the borrowings,

the interest rate really significantly moved up.

So therefore, cost automatically increases for one.

So therefore, at this point, refinancing themselves is a little expensive.

But of course, if you look at the margins that they make currently,

there is something to get from that margin to level off the cost

that they're incurring at this point.

All right. And also, since we talk about the peso,

the peso actually opened a little bit firmer, 54.75 against the greenback

from yesterday's close of 54.86.

Helen, just give me one second here to share the opening numbers.

The market has opened, we're three minutes in, and the index is joining.

The global relief rally, the index is up a quarter of 1%, 15.6419.

We've come to the most exciting part of the conversation, the blind item.

Talk to us about the stock that you're monitoring closely.

I think you like the stock. Don't tell us, just describe.

Okay. Actually, with all the news for the past few weeks about the economy,

about banks, with all these uncertainties, we as investors,

we'd like to tame down the volatility.

I mean, not to rely on consistency and also reliability in terms of business.

That's why we like this stock.

First, this stock has been the top foreign buyer.

Foreign investors buy this stock for the fourth consecutive month already.

As of end of February, the foreign ownership is now around 25.6%

as of end of February.

Foreign like this stock, number one.

Number two, if you look at this stock, I compared the performance of this stock

versus the index alone.

For this year, as of yesterday, it's already still up 10.34%

compared to our index now, number one.

If you look at the 2022 number, which is last year,

it's actually provided 12.88% in terms of return for the investors.

If you look at the year before that, which is 2021,

I saw that there was around 13% return.

Therefore, in terms of consistency of return, this is the stock to be in.

Another thing is I think at this point, where the price is at now,

there is a 20% potential.

We're just talking about numbers, potential for this stock to move further up

considering the business and considering the position that it has in the business.

All right, 20%. We're just going to have to guess which stock this is.

Helen, always a pleasure to speak with you.

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to join us.

See you soon.

Thank you, Amy. See you. Bye.

All right. Before we go to overseas headlines,

I just wanted to share we have this just in.

Vivant. Vivant Corporation has posted a 15% decline

in their full year 2022 net income to 1.6 billion pesos.

The power business unit continued to drive financial performance of the company

with the infrastructure business unit starting to post gains during that year.

More details later on.

But first, a quick look at the flash business headlines, this time from overseas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin urging Russia's billionaires

to put patriotism before profit as he tells them to invest at home

even in the face of Western sanctions.

Meanwhile, Russia's industry and trade minister revealed

the government may take over Japanese carmaker Toyota's plant in St. Petersburg.

And aircraft manufacturer Boeing confirms

it has just delivered a 787 Dreamliner to German airline Lufthansa.

This is the first Boeing delivery service since late February

when product dispatch was suspended due to the data analysis error

related to the jet's forward pressure bulkhead.

And the San Francisco Bay Area will face out

natural gas powered furnaces and water heaters starting 2027.

This is the latest move by the local state officials

to eliminate natural gas from homes and buildings

which would force them to shift to electric equipment.

And Apple's longtime contract manufacturer Foxconn

just won a new bid to produce AirPods.

Sources say the Taiwanese firm plans to build a $200 million factory

in the Indian state of Telangana to produce the wireless earphones.

And finally, pharmaceutical company Merck saw its stock fall 2%

in extended trading after its admission

that the trial for one of its lung cancer drugs

failed to reach statistical significance.

The company says patients in the study

should now be switched to a standard of care.

We'll take a quick break. Market Edge will be right back.

Energy efficiency is not just about climate change.

It's also said to be the invisible fuel

that drives business performance.

Joining us this morning for more, Jared Lewenberg,

country general manager of Informa Markets Philippines

and Alexander Ablaza.

He is the president of the Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance

Gentlemen. Thank you so much for joining us. Hi.

Hi. Good morning.

Good morning. I want to start with Alex first

of Philippine Energy Alliance.

Energy efficiency, Alex, they say is the fuel of the economy.

Where are we in terms of modernizing our energy infrastructure,

new plants, new transmission lines,

moving into more technology on the distribution grid?

How would you rate the Philippines?

Well, we're on a fast track, actually,

among the 10 ASEAN economies.

The Philippines has the chance to be a part,

if not overtake our ASEAN neighbors

as far as the energy efficiency market transformation.

Why? Because we have a very inclusive,

comprehensive law that was enacted in 2019.

We have stakeholders.

We have all banding together

to push the energy efficiency agenda.

We have a very committed government

that is not only tucking in energy efficiency

in its climate agreement obligations,

but is also using energy efficiency

as that first fuel to combat

the ills of energy supply deficits.

Every summer, it becomes a very interesting topic

because our energy supply, both fuel and electricity,

are thinning at this time of the year.

Energy efficiency is that intersection

between our climate aspirations

and our energy security targets as well.

Yes, we are on a fast track

to overtake even our ASEAN neighbors.

Alex, where is this optimism coming from?

I mean, when you say we're on a fast track

to even overtake our peers,

it's very hard to connect that

when we hear every day on the news

that we are being told to conserve energy

because if we don't,

we're going to go into red and yellow alert

and we might lose power again.

It feels a bit disconnected, doesn't it?

Right, right.

It's not felt on the ground yet,

but the groundswell or that momentum

will be coming from the energy investors.

We are an ASEAN market

where private capital is starting to cash in.

Aside from renewables,

we have that sophistication

of having more innovative business models.

We have an ESCO market.

ESCO stands for Energy Service Company

that does performance contracting.

So we are on a fast track.

And that optimism will just have to permeate

down to the smaller energy users.

Well, I consider myself

one of the small energy users.

When will I start to feel the benefits, Alex?

You will see that.

The big industries will replace

their low-efficiency equipment.

But the small end users,

households in particular,

you will stop seeing low-efficiency

electrical appliances in the market.

You will start to see motor vehicles one day

with the fuel economy ratings.

So even the household and small energy users

will have access

to more energy-efficient technologies.

And this is happening as we speak.

Exciting conversations

because this involves everyone.

You, me, everybody else.

Gerard, yesterday we had water experts on the show.

When you organize events about utilities,

water, power,

what is the level of interest

or awareness that you see?

Is it as strong as the same level you see

when you organize other events, for example?

Definitely, Jane.

These topics are about

energy safety,

energy security, water security.

And for every country

where we as a trade show organizer

organize these types of events

with these topics, there's a lot of interest.

But in particular, I would like to highlight

what's happening in the Philippines now.

And it's really heartwarming

to see the industry support

we are receiving

for Water Philippines and Fuel Energy,

our trade show,

which takes place next week in SMX.

Not just from companies participating,

international interest is there.

We've got more than 300 companies participating,

but certainly from the local industry.

We work very closely together

with the trade associations here in the Philippines,

the Philippine Water Works Association,

Society of Sanitary Engineers,

Mechanical Engineers,

Mr. Ablaza, of course,

with the Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance.

All these types of associations

will ensure that the message

is being spread around to industry professionals

and that we can look forward

to a very packed event

with content and companies

showcasing their services

and products for the Philippine market.

So, yeah, it's a real pent-up demand.

And when you do events like this,

is it like preaching to the choir,

just the energy experts,

or how do you embrace

the ordinary Filipino to participate

and to get involved

in this sort of important conversation

about energy, for example, and water?

These are B2B events,

so it's not meant for the general public

to be part of this.

And the topics are actually

also too technical for that.

It's really about accelerating awareness

through the network of professionals.

It's really about increasing efficiency,

improving drinking water quality,

wastewater quality.

So it's technical and it's commercial.

B2B, but...

Political interest as well in this.

B2B, but when they execute properly

with good technology,

it's the C who will benefit eventually.

Alex, I want to go back to you.

It's been four years

since the energy efficiency law

was enacted.

As you mentioned earlier,

it feels same old, same old.

We're still expecting yellow-red alerts

every summer.

It happens every summer

because of dwindling supplies.

And instead of improving the system,

we are asked to dial down

on our activities.

What do you think is lacking?

Well, you know,

through the last four years,

I think the Department of Energy

has done a fine job

in implementing the guidelines

under the law,

passed, approved, and circulated

through the difficulties

of the pandemic.

So it's already a blessing

that we're at the 80% point.

And it's the wish

of the Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance

that through the remainder

of this year, 2023,

we see the remainder

of the missing guidelines.

And this involves enabling

demand-side management,

as well as the innovative

government procurement

of ESCO performance contracts

and PPP,

public-private partnership

transactions for energy efficiency,

as well as the NED guidelines

for joint venture agreements

for energy efficiency.

So this is what's lacking.

But the rest of the private sector

can just move forward

because they now have

the obligations under the law.

Alex, because I was going over

to the committee on energy efficiency,

this has been set up?

Yes, yes.

It has been set up.

It's a group,

a committee of nine secretaries

chaired by the energy secretaries.

So you have the secretary of finance,

the secretary of budget and management,

secretary of public works,

and the list goes on.

But what's more interesting in the law

is that anyone consuming

500,000 kilowatt hours annually

in fuel and electricity

has a long list of obligations

under the law.

Obligations like what?

Well, obligations.

They now have to put up

an energy efficiency system

like ISO 50001.

They now have to hire

a certified energy manager.

They now have to undertake

a mandatory energy audit

every three years

and set targets to reduce

their specific energy consumption.

So it's just a partial list.

Companies now have obligations

under this new law.

Holding everybody into account.

Gerard, you must have

such an interesting view of things.

I mean, you see things come full circle

because when you have clients

on the utility side

talking energy efficiency,

then you've got industries

as clients, entrepreneurs.

In your experience and conversations,

do you think that industry

can and should lead the way

in this sort of water

and energy industry?

It is an interesting role, of course.

We are a facilitator.

So we bring demand

and supply together.

But during that,

executing that role,

we do get involved

with a lot of people

with heart and soul

for these industries.

Normally, we work in a lot

of different industries

and I encounter in the water

and energy industry

to improve circumstances

for the end users

certainly makes an impact

on the intensity

of conversations which take place

in a platform like ours.

Everybody is aware

of the importance

of water and energy.

So people who work on it professionally

have a very important role

in achieving that

and they feel it that way.

So for me, it's a real privilege

to be working

with professionals in this area.

One quick curious question, Gerard.

What's the most exciting thing

that you've heard

from energy and water experts?

Well, I mean,

the most exciting, yeah.

The most exciting is

for us, I mean,

I've heard that the President

of the Republic is going to come

at our show.

Not about the event.

I'm really excited about that.

Okay.

All right.

Anyways, okay.

On that note, gentlemen,

thank you so much

for joining us this morning

and good luck.

We'll see you soon.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mimi.

Thank you.

Looking forward

to the important conversations

happening there.

In the meantime,

let's sift through the top headlines

from major business papers

from Business World.

The Philippine Supreme Court

says senior citizens

are entitled

to a 20% discount

on internment services

which are covered

by the funeral and burial expenses

provided under the law.

From Business Mirror,

the International Labor Organization

says workers

in eight main occupational groups

including health,

retail and security

remain undervalued

in the Philippines

and other countries.

And from the Wall Street Journal,

French President Emmanuel Macron's

government bypassed parliament

and invoked special

constitutional powers

to raise the country's

retirement age.

It's actually a step

that places him at odds

with France's

legislative branch

and millions of protesters.

[♪ upbeat music playing ♪

Just an add-on

for those who are interested

in that story,

President Emmanuel Macron

actually forced

through a highly unpopular bill

that raised retirement age

from 62 to 64.

The new retirement age

is now at 64.

And a Danish company

is gaining ground

for its business

of growing agricultural produce

through vertical farming.

Take a look.

At this 14-story tall farm

on the outskirts of Copenhagen,

you'll find everything

from lettuce to kale and thyme

growing vertically.

After three years in business,

Nordic Harvest Farm

is now looking to expand

its output and production.

So right now,

we are planning to expand

in Germany, Norway, and Sweden

over the next three years.

Anders Reimann

is the founder and CEO

of Nordic Harvest.

Before this venture,

he was a business analyst

at a shipping company

and also worked at a bank.

I was frustrated

that traditional

agriculture practices

did not cater for

using less space

than we do today.

So after a lot of thinking,

I found out that

maybe vertical farming

would be able to produce

much more food

on an optimized space

inside cities

without use of pesticides

and to cater for

agricultural land

to be converted back

into their original state,

namely forests.

Nordic Harvest was established

in 2020.

This 75,000 square foot warehouse

opened a year later.

During that time,

the company has experimented

with different seeds

to improve their yield,

tweaking what they grow

and the settings

for the plants to grow in.

What we discovered

in the last three years

is that it's actually

much more difficult

to grow plants

in this environment

than we expected.

When you grow in a laboratory,

it's a completely different story

from when you grow

in a large production facility.

Some plants now have a yield

several times greater

than when the company

first started production.

For example,

they can harvest

certain types of lettuce

30 times a year.

Nordic Harvest

is now looking into

the possibility

of recycling the roots

from their produce.

In terms of possibilities

developing the business

when you have a production facility

then there will be tons of opportunities

to dig within the circular economy.

For instance,

when we harvest,

we have lean roots

which we can either ferment

and put in our fertilizer

or maybe we can use them

as medium to grow mushrooms

or other things.

So we are investigating this a bit.

Before we go,

for those who tried

to guess the blind item,

this is the pick

of Helen Oleta Goh.

This stock is,

she's actually seeing

a 20% upside here.

This is BDO.

Do let us know if you got that.

Do tweet us at ANC Alerts.

In the meantime,

that's it for the show.

I'm Michelle Long.

Thank you so much for watching.

Stay safe and stay with ANC.