BIZ BUZZ: Meralco powers Naia

Passengers, as they should, often complain about power interruptions at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia). Imagine staying at a congested airport with no power—stressful and uncomfortable!

Naia caretaker New Naia Infra Corp. (NNIC) is addressing this concern through a partnership with Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), which will build a substation that will complement the airport’s existing facilities.

The conceptual design for the substation is already done. Construction will start in the third quarter of next year, with completion targeted for December 2026.

The parties are also working on an underground power distribution network to meet the airport’s operational demand through 2026.

Meralco will also install an uninterrupted power supply system to make sure critical airport operations are always supplied with electricity.

“With Meralco as our partner, we are addressing power reliability as a top priority, alongside operational improvements such as decongesting traffic within the airport, widening roads, mitigating flooding and replacing faulty equipment,” NNIC president Ramon Ang said. —Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

SB Capital gets a ‘new’ name

Many are already aware that investment bank SB Capital Investment Corp. falls under Security Bank Corp.’s business—there are the “SB” initials, after all.

But with growing competition and a need for banks to stand out, Security Bank is taking it up a notch by making its investment banking arm more identifiable.

On Monday, the bank led by tycoon Frederick Dy said SB Capital began operating under the name Security Bank Capital and Investment Corp. on Nov. 12.

“This change aligns the firm with the BetterBanking brand of its parent company and aims to further enhance its corporate identity in the industry,” Security Bank said in a statement, adding that the Securities and Exchange Commission had already approved the amendment.

Having a “unified brand presence” is also among the main goals of the change, according to Security Bank Capital president and CEO Virgilio Chua.

Let’s hope that this helps translate to success for the group, especially with its current growth momentum looking positive. —Meg J. Adonis

Commending Comendador

The country’s biggest group of ship owners and operators wants the current general manager of Cebu Port Authority (CPA), Francisco Comendador III, to stay put.

The Philippine Coastwise Shipping Association Inc. (PCSA), in a letter addressed to President Marcos, endorsed the continued tenure of Comendador at CPA.

“We continue to trust in his dedicated cork and we are very certain and assured that if he continues to be the general manager of CPA, CPA will be the most beneficial to his skills and experience in the Authority’s port administration particularly in Cebu Province,” the group said.

Comendador was appointed at CPA in July last year. Prior to this, he served as Sangguniang Kabataan chair and barangay chair at Barangay Juba, Lilo-an, Cebu. He also became a Sanggunian Member of the Municaplity of Lilo-an for four terms.

“We look forward to your (Mr. Marcos) positive action to this endorsement,” PCSA concluded. —Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

A world-class banking book

For an economy that is still reliant on banks for financing, it was comforting to see the Philippines’ biggest lenders survive the recession that was triggered by the great Covid-19 lockdown.

But how did they do it? Well, a book authored by economists at the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P)—which grabbed the Holy Grail of global academic publishing—tried to answer this question.

UA&P professor Jovi Dacanay and her research associates—Ella Mae Leonida and Michaela Nicole Meriño, both masteral graduates of the university’s school of economics —wrote the book titled “Bank Competition and the Effects on Financial Stability: Insights into the Emerging Banking Markets of the Philippines”.

It was a carefully peer reviewed book that thoroughly explores the stability and efficiency of local universal and commercial banks. Interestingly, the authors have found that the top 20 Philippine banks have sufficient market power, efficiency and stability that enabled them to withstand economic disruptions like the recent pandemic.

Just recently, Palgrave Macmillan—a world-class publisher of books and journals—recently published the book as part of its series on studies in banking and financial institutions. It emerged as one of the few locally authored books that have been well received by the international publishing community.

Congratulations to our UA&P economists! — Ian Nicolas P. Cigaral