BIZ BUZZ: Disinformation

One would think that the country’s largest conglomerate would have the resources to hire a troll army and engage in a social media war with its critics, but San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has opted to keep its response to criticism toward its Pasig River Expressway (PAREx) relatively muted.

This week, however, it did send out a comprehensive statement debunking what it said were lies propagated against the P95-billion mega project by people advocating against it on the internet.

SMC made a point-by-point rebuttal starting with the assertion that PAREx “will destroy Pasig River.”

What’s there to destroy, it asked.

Pasig River has long been considered biologically dead and has been reduced to a flowing dumpsite for solid waste, industrial and chemical wastes and sewage, it said.

Bathymetric studies place the depth of the river at now just 1.5 meters at the mouth of the Marikina and Manggahan rivers. Meanwhile the Pandacan and Manila Bay areas are down to 2 meters. This is a major cause of flooding.

To remedy this, SMC said it was mounting the largest river cleanup and rehabilitation effort, spending P2 billion initially to extract at least 3 million metric tons of solid waste from the river to allow it to channel floodwaters more effectively.

“This will also allow for safer operations of water ferries,” it said.

SMC also lamented that some photos circulated by its critics show that PAREx would cover the entire Pasig River.

“PAREx will be built only on the banks of Pasig River, its posts occupying only 1 meter of the average 200-meter width of the Pasig River,” the conglomerate said.

Its critics are also saying that PAREx is anti-poor and will only benefit the privileged who use cars.

Not so, said SMC, noting that PAREx would be a hybrid expressway, accommodating multiple modes of transportation. “Apart from accommodating motor vehicles, it will also feature a modern and efficient public transport system in the form of a Bus Rapid Transit that will run on both the Skyway and PAREx,” it said.

Its critics also say PAREx will worsen pollution and induce people to buy more cars.

SMC countered by saying expressways do not induce people to buy more cars but poor or insufficient public transportation, pollution and even personal progress of individuals.

“The number of vehicles will continue to rise with or without PAREx,” it said.

Finally, much has been said about whether or not architect and urban planner Felino Palafox Jr. was really working on the project.

According to SMC, it’s chief, Ramon Ang, has said in all of the company’s related statements that it was “tapping Palafox.”

“Discussions are ongoing,” the firm said, adding that Palafox signified his intention to think about the project and see how he could marry both his and Ang’s visions.

There are many more issues that have been raised to paint the project in a negative light, and we will take the time to explain to the public, so they can properly appreciate the merits of the project.

Are the project critics willing to listen? Will we see more disinformation on social media? Abangan!

—Daxim L. Lucas

Fintech’s future

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) recent issuance of digital banking licenses has helped cement the future of financial technology in the country.

This would allow a new wave of fintech players to widen access to the vast market of unbanked Filipinos. They will no longer have to step inside a physical bank branch to avail of services like opening a savings account or applying for a loan.

Before the advent of digital banking, companies like GCash were aggressively moving in this direction. Naturally, this has given GCash a respectable lead and it shows in their recent figures.

For example, GCash’s in-house lending business called GCredit, with partner CIMB Bank, now disburses over P1 billion in loans every month.

It is expanding via GLoan, which allows larger borrowing amounts with flexible payment terms. In fact, GCash said GLoan was showing the “fastest” revenue growth in its category.

This also clearly points to the massive untapped demand for this segment.

With rivals like the PayMaya group obtaining a digital banking license, it would convince more Filipinos who either lack access to or are wary of fintech players to leave the sidelines and avail of these new services.

Companies like GCash and the upcoming Maya Bank affiliate of PayMaya will go a long way in helping the BSP reach its goal of expanding financial services to 70 percent of Filipinos by 2023.

—Miguel R. Camus