BIZ BUZZ: Hobbling PH private schools

On the surface, the bill to prohibit private schools from preventing students with unpaid tuition from taking their final exams looks noble.

But according to leaders of the education industry, the proposal currently being debated in Congress will have serious repercussions on the viability of private sector schools, many of which are still reeling from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic of the last three years.

As it stands, private schools are at a big disadvantage against their public school counterparts, which are funded by the national and various local governments. Private schools, on the other hand, depend only on themselves, even as many of their students had shifted to public schools when the public health crisis crimped everyone’s wallets.

Many private educational institutions, in fact, were forced to close down during the pandemic due to a decline in enrollments, which eroded their ability to pay wages of teachers and staff as well as cover operating costs.

Despite this, bills in both the Senate and the Lower House will stifle public schools’ ability to collect outstanding tuition payments and, thus, put the financial wellbeing of the entire private education sector at risk.

In an open letter to the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines, Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities, Philippine Association of Private Schools, Colleges and Universities, Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Universities and Unified TVET of the Philippines Inc. called on the legislators to reconsider the passage of Senate Bill No. 1359, or the No Permit, No Exam Prohibition Act, which was approved on third reading last March.

But these private schools also know all too well that many lawmakers will be gunning for reelection in a couple of years and, as such, want to load up on populist measures in an effort to endear themselves to would-be voters. Never mind that they could end up killing hundreds of private schools in the process.

Many are now pinning their hopes on President Marcos vetoing the bill once it makes it past the legislative mill. But will rational thought win over emotionally charged arguments? Abangan!

—Daxim L. Lucas

Eskaya owners expand water business

Richard and Phoebe Lim, the enterprising couple behind the luxury Eskaya Beach Resort & Spa in Panglao Island, are expanding their low-key but notable water business to include the P100-million bulk water supply project in the town of Trinidad in Bohol.

Their proudly Boholono Richli Corp. last week entered into the supply deal with Roberto Cajes, mayor of the town about 20 kilometers away from the world famous Chocolate Hills and 70 kilometers from the capital of Tagbilaran.

Trinidad today does not have its own supply of potable water, relying instead on deliveries from other places. But that should change in six months once the project is completed.

Under the contract, Richli Corp. will construct a water treatment plant in Ipil River, Hinlayagan, Ilaud, Trinidad with a capacity of 1 million liters per day, benefiting about 35,000 people.

Trinidad is the latest addition to the towns being supplied by Richli, which also services Tagbilaran City and other top tourist towns such as Dauis, Baclayon and, of course, Panglao. Its source is surface water from Cortes, Bohol.

Moving forward, the company aims to become the leading source of potable water in Bohol and other parts of the Philippines.

Aside from Eskaya, Richli Corp.’s sister companies include Artemis Salt Corp., Starport Trading Corp., Tacloban Solid Cement Corp., Starport Bohol Cement Corp. and Metropolitan Real Estate Inc.

—Tina Arceo-Dumlao

New tech envoy

Converge ICT Solutions Inc. cofounder and chair Dennis Anthony Uy has taken on a new role that would deepen his involvement in the country’s digital transformation— in collaboration with fellow innovators from the land of K-Pop and K-dramas.

President Marcos has appointed the businessman from Pampanga (to this date still thought by some to be the same person as his namesake from Davao) as his “special envoy” to the Republic of Korea for digital transformation.

The businessman, who knows both his tech and business operations, has a special relationship with South Korea’s KT Corp., formerly Korea Telecom.

To recall, Uy convinced KT to invest in the digitalization of Boracay, which hosts hundreds of thousands of Korean holiday-makers each year. On the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this year, Converge and KT signed a memorandum of understanding to pursue a potential business collaboration to support the digital transformation of local businesses.

They aim to explore new digital solutions to meet the evolving needs of ICT customers. Specifically, they plan to work on a cloud-based video surveillance solution called Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS) and a transportation management technology, Mobility as a Service (MaaS), among others.

The partnership will allow both firms to “co-innovate and deliver advanced technologies suited for the needs of Philippine businesses, especially small and medium enterprises.”

— Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

Giving PSE a boost

Are the stars finally aligning for patient investors at the Philippine Stock Exchange? No one can say of sure but the exchange hopes the upcoming PSE Strengthening and Reach (PSE Star): Investor Day can drive more interest, especially with another big lineup of listed companies set to participate.

The PSE Star, which will run from Aug. 16-17 in a fully virtual format, will feature headline acts from ACEN Corp., DMCI, East West Banking Corp., Integrated Microelectronics, Inc., Italpinas Development Corp., Puregold Price Club Inc., and SM Investments Corp.

There will also be live question and answer portions and company presentations featuring their first semester results since the corporate earnings season would have mostly been concluded by then.

Analysts from Bloomberg will provide their outlook on the economy and the consumer, property and financials sectors.

“We continue to stage this investor day to give more [publicly listed firms], including those listed on the SME board, the opportunity to share company developments and outlook for their respective firms to equities market stakeholders,” said PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon.

The PSE is accepting registration via https://star.pse.com.ph/PSEstar2023-1H/. The event is hosted by Bloomberg LP, with the Fund Managers Association of the Philippines and the Trust Officers Association of the Philippines.

— Miguel R. Camus