OFW remittances dip in Jan.

Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) reached $618 million in January, down 5.9 percent from $657 million in Jan. 2003, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas managing director Diwa Guinigundo said. OFWs withheld dollar remittances, on expectations of a much weaker peso due to prevailing politicial uncertainty in the months ahead of the election. The fall in remittances was despite a 23.3 percent year-onyear improvement in OFW deployment, Guinigundo said. OFW remittances in 2003 rose 6.3 percent to $7.6 billion from $7.2 billion in the previous year. For 2004, OFW remittances are projected to rise by 3.0 percent to $7.8 billion, the Bangko Sentral said. The US, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates remain the major sources of OFW remittances.

PBCom gets P7.6B PDIC aid

Philippine Bank of Communications (PBCom) said it will sign today a P7.6 billion financial assistance deal with state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp (PDIC). The bank said the agreement also involves the establishment of a special purpose asset vehicle (SPAV) through which PBCom’s non-performing assets will be sold. The PDIC assistance will provide the bank support to cover losses arising from the sale of idle assets at substantial discounts of as much as 80 percent of their market value. Major PBCom shareholders, the Luy, Nubla and Chung families, have also increased the bank’s capital by P3.0 billion. “With their business plans, the substantial capital infusion and the financial enhancement through SPAV arrangement, it is projected that it will become one of the strongest and highest capitalized commercial banks with sustained and improved profitability moving forward,” PBCom told the stock exchange.The loan’s annual interest rate will be 1.0 percent over a 10-year period.

Mondragon resets meeting

Leisure and property firm Mondragon International Philippines Inc. has postponed its annual stockholders’ meeting to Sept. 13 from March 15. In a disclosure to the stock exchange, the company said the meeting was rescheduled to give it enough time to pursue negotiations with government agencies and prospective investors on the operation of the Mimosa Leisure Estate in the former Clark airbase in Pampanga province. Land owner state-run Clark Development Corp. (CDC) took over Mimosa in 1998 after Mondragon failed to settle its back rentals with CDC as well as other obligations with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Mondragon also owes creditors some P7.0 billion. CDC has prequalified bidders for Mimosa and scheduled the submission and opening of bids, a move opposed by Mondragon.

PAL launches Las Vegas flight

Philippine Airlines (PAL) will expand its flight services to the US with the flag carrier’s inaugural flight to Las Vegas, Nevada starting today. PAL president and chief operating officer Avelino Zapanta said its foray to Las Vegas via Vancouver, Canada, is a major step in the airlines’ goal towards full rehabilitation. “For the first time in seven years, PAL now flies to a point beyond the West Coast of North America, giving us a wider presence in the US, our most important market,” Zapanta said. PAL’s maiden flight to Las Vegas, PR106 will depart Manila’s international airport at 4.40 p.m. today, with all 264 seats of Airbus A340-300 taken.

FPI proposes steel compromise

The Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) has proposed a win-win solution for both the National Steel Corp. (NSC) and the downstream steel industries to ensure viable operations for both parties. In a letter to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, FPI president Jesus L. Arranza said that both parties should come up with a compromise agreement. FPI’s proposal is for the government to convince the local downstream steel industries to commit to becoming a guaranteed market for NSC’s output and in exchange, steel tariffs would be retained at their current levels, which is 3 percent for steel billets and zero duty for tin plates. “Under the above scheme, we could simultaneously address the downstream industry’s concern over increased costs of imported steel inputs, and the NSC’s fears that it would not have access to an adequate share of the local market without tariff protection,” Arranza said. This solution will also relieve consumers of the burden of higher priced products resulting from increased tariffs, the FPI said.