Current events For REC

Citing 22-million backlog forecast, government steps up housing projects

BY

CAI ORDINARIO

JUNE 12, 2020

3 MINUTE READ

IF the government fails to address the housing gap, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban
Development (DHSUD) said the country’s housing backlog could balloon to 22 million in two decades.

In a televised briefing, DHSUD Secretary Eduardo del Rosario said preventing this from happening is the
primary objective of the 20-year housing road map that the agency will be preparing.

He said the housing road map, slated to be released in October, will identify short-, mid-, and long-term
strategies to boost the country’s ability to close the housing gap.

“As time goes by, the housing need increases. As per statistics, the housing need from 2017-2022 is
about 6.5 million and if nothing is done, by 2040, it will hit about 22 million,” del Rosario said. “The
housing gap would increase significantly if we do not formulate strategies to strengthen housing
production.”

Del Rosario said the government is currently working toward increasing the number of housing units
that must be produced annually.

To close the housing gap of 6.5 million between 2017 and 2020, the government needs to build 250,000
houses a year. Currently, however, the housing sector can only build 203,000 to 205,000 units annually
between 2016 and 2019.
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/06/12/citing-22-million-backlog-forecast-government-steps-up-
housing-projects/

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‘Build, Build, Build’ enters legacy-building stage

May 11, 2021 | 12:04 am

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter

HEADING into its final year in office, the government will have tweaked the “Build, Build, Build” (BBB)
program multiple times to favor those projects with the best chance of being even partially completed
before President Rodrigo R. Duterte steps down.

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Starting with 75 big-ticket projects at its launch in 2017, the P8.4-trillion flagship infrastructure program
was meant to address the Philippines’ lack of competitiveness because of bad roads, transportation, and
crippling road traffic that made Metro Manila a difficult place to live for its residents, much less
investors.

But the project list was subjected to three revisions in four years, entailing several rounds of feasibility
reassessment. The result was that some projects were omitted and other more “shovel-ready” projects
added to the list, ultimately expanding it to over 104. The National Economic and Development
Authority board, chaired by the President, put the value of these projects at P4.13 trillion in mid-2020, a
little lower that the P4.23-trillion cost estimate for the 2019 revised list of 100 projects.

The stakes couldn’t be higher — the political future of Mr. Duterte’s successors, who can be expected to
continue his programs and forestall retaliation from any potentially hostile new administration.
Robin A. Gonzales, a 28-year-old resident of Manila, is determined not to vote for Mr. Duterte’s
“anointed” candidate if road congestion doesn’t improve.

Speaking to BusinessWorld via Facebook chat in February, Mr. Gonzales said he needs to commute to
work on the capital’s traffic-choked roads. He describes the time he spends stuck on the road in terms of
opportunity losses.

“The traffic problems eat up my time, which could have been used for more productive work,” he said in
a Facebook messenger chat.

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On how he intends to vote in the national election of 2022, he said: “It’s better to vote for someone who
can fulfill his promises.”

Citing studies by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Metro Manila Development Authority
said in 2019 that the capital region’s road congestion cost the economy P3.5 billion a day in 2018. Losses
may rise to P5.4 billion a day by 2035 if no changes are made.

So far, only two items from the original flagship list — the Angat Water Transmission Improvement
Project and the Luzon Bypass Infrastructure Project, an information and communications technology
upgrade — have been completed, according to a study released by the Philippine Institute for
Development Studies in December.

With time running out on the administration, the best-case scenario for the end of term might be
leaving a substantial project pipeline, trusting that they will be implemented by the next government,
with the risk that the successor administration may want to associate itself with its own projects or
otherwise pursue other priorities. The government gamely insists that its official target remains the
completion of 56 of the flagship projects before Mr. Duterte steps down. The remainder will be
completed as late as 2028 — when the successor government itself is due to leave office.
A total of 34 projects in the latest list are in the pre-construction stage, 44 are being built, and 24 are in
the various stages of approval.

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Eight projects from the old list have been shelved, including five transport projects — Sangley Airport,
New Dumaguete Airport, New Zamboanga International Airport, the Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge, and
the Dalton Pass East Alignment Alternative Road Project; three water projects — the Panay River Basin
Integrated Development Project, the Kabulnan-2 Multipurpose Irrigation and Power Project in
Maguindanao, and the Kanan Dam Project in Quezon.

Despite the culling of transport projects, the sector remains the largest spending item with 74.4% of the
total, followed by water (12%), social infrastructure (5.03%), information communication technology
(3.17%), healthcare (2.70%), and power (1.76%).

SPENDING BAN

One recurring hurdle to any government infrastructure initiative is the election-period ban on public
works spending, which was designed to prevent incumbents from disbursing money on so-called
“midnight projects” in the run-up to the election. What the drafters feared most was a last-minute surge
of project spending in a bid to influence the outcome of the polls.

One drawback of this rule is that contractors need to maximize the dry-season construction window. As
it happens, national elections are typically scheduled in May — the height of the dry season. Which
means that every presidential term of six years will automatically sacrifice two construction windows in
the years when the midterm and the national elections are due to be held. The election spending ban in
2022 runs from March 25 to May 8, as outlined in Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Resolution No.
10695, released in February.

The workaround to the spending ban is that contracts or funding for flagship projects must be secured
weeks or months before the ban. Failing to do so means “all these projects may risk being shelved by
the next administration,” InfraWatch PH conveyor Terry L. Ridon said in an e-mail.
The only way out of the spending ban is to obtain an exemption from the COMELEC. The commission
has stringent rules for granting exemptions.

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“Prior to the ban, public works funding should have already been released, and public works contracts
should have already been awarded in order to qualify (for) exemptions,” Mr. Ridon said.

Flagship projects funded via Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) schemes are not covered by the ban, but
“projects supported by official development assistance may be subject to the rule, unless infrastructure
agencies seek specific exemptions from the Comelec for these projects,” he said.

Foreign loans play a key role in flagship-project spending. Of the P4.13 trillion earmarked for the
projects, more than half or P2.26 trillion will be funded via loans and grants from overseas across 50
projects or so, most of them transport-related.

“Frankly, if flagship projects fail to get funded or awarded prior to the ban, it will be the next
administration that will decide whether or not to pursue the project,” Mr. Ridon said.

“One month prior to the transfer of power will certainly be not enough to undertake the funding and
awarding of flagship projects without allegations of midnight deals and golden parachutes for outgoing
government executives,” he added.

Although there had been initial reluctance to undertake projects under build-transfer-operate terms,
the government eventually included 29 PPPs worth P1.69 trillion in the latest list, in consideration of the
private sector’s substantial appetite for public works projects.

Meanwhile, a total of 25 projects worth P180.321 billion will be funded directly by the government from
budget funds. These projects are topped by the Philippine Identification System project, which is worth
P26.26 billion.
“We are expecting infrastructure agencies and contractors to expedite processes and activities” prior to
the ban, Mr. Ridon said. “But this will also be dependent on how soon the 2022 General Appropriations
Act is signed into law.”

Any delay in the passage of the government’s spending plan for 2022 would cause funding difficulties to
ongoing and approved projects, and result in construction delays, he said. “In order to avoid further
delays, the budget bill should be enacted by early December.”

Economic growth in the second quarter of 2019 slowed to 5.4% from the 6.0% recorded a year earlier,
due to the nearly four-month delay in the 2019 budget, which was signed one month before that year’s
midterm elections.

Mr. Ridon said agencies in charge of infrastructure projects need to make projections and plan around
any bans, to minimize disruption. They must also study temporarily transferring idled workers to other
projects not covered by the ban, in order to minimize the impact on livelihoods.

“A balance needs to be struck for infrastructure funding, because of its potential for providing
immediate and massive employment during the pandemic,” he said.

“The setbacks relating to the election ban should have been incorporated into the projections of
projects that will be implemented during this period (including) the cost of leasing heavy equipment and
finance charges for funding operations and supplies.”

‘PORK-HEAVY PROJECTS’

The 2021 General Appropriations Act authorizes a national budget of P4.5 trillion in 2021, featuring at
least P1.1 trillion for public infrastructure.

“The increase to P1.1 trillion of the infrastructure budget in 2021 is conspicuous especially amid so many
urgent social and health needs,” IBON Foundation Executive Director Sonny A. Africa said via Facebook
messenger. “Like many, we suspect that this is at least partly motivated by politicians eager for ‘multi-
purpose facilities,’ roads, bridges, and other pork-heavy projects.”

Senator Panfilo M. Lacson, a long-time opponent of pork barrel public spending, said during the budget
deliberations last year that as much as P469 billion worth of projects could represent illegal lump-sum
budget items. “It begs the question: Is this an election campaign budget?” he said during one session.

“Politicians are well aware of the 45-day ban on public works spending before the May 2022 elections
and there is no doubt that the 2021 budget is designed as a pre-election budget to serve their interests,”
IBON’s Mr. Africa said.

The wrangling over the 2021 budget helped produce a leadership change at the House of
Representatives, with the coup crystallizing in a rogue session by the conspirators outside the Batasang
Pambansa during last year’s budget discussions. Their main grievance was the allegedly uneven
distribution of infrastructure funds across the various congressional districts.

“Legislators did their homework early and the pork projects they negotiated with the executive were
already built into the 2021 budget submitted to Congress,’ Mr. Africa said.

The spending plan also earmarked at least P16 billion for the so-called “Barangay Development
Program” run by the government’s anti-communist insurgency task force. The program rewards
barangays that have cleared their territories of Maoist rebels, by funding farm-to-market roads, school
buildings, the reconstruction of public facilities damaged by calamities, among others.

Under the communist-clearing program, the Davao region received at least P4.3 billion. The President’s
home town, Davao City, received almost 40% of the region’s anti-communist fund, or about P1.64
billion.

‘NO MAGIC BULLET’

Build, Build, Build is not the only way out of the pandemic, Mr. Africa said.
“The economic managers should realize that their BBB is not some kind of magic bullet for
development,” he said.

“It didn’t work to boost economic growth before the pandemic. Infra spending increased from 3.9% of
GDP in 2016 to 5.4% in 2019 yet, over that exact same period, GDP growth slowed in each and every
year from 7.1% in 2016 to 6% in 2019. Average annual job generation also slowed compared to before
2016-2019.”

With the prolonged pandemic, emergency cash assistance and support to small enterprises will provide
much more social and economic bang for the buck than big-ticket infrastructure projects, he said. “This
can bring about a much more immediate improvement in people’s welfare as well as a much bigger
boost to domestic aggregate demand and economic recovery.”

“Every billion pesos spent on imported materials, equipment, machinery, contractors and labor is a
billion-peso stimulus to the Chinese, Japanese or other foreign economy and not to the Philippines,” he
said.

“There will be no problem of absorptive capacity here as with many government departments because
ordinary Filipinos are in such distress that they will certainly spend whatever they get immediately.”

With only a handful of flagship projects being constructed at the tail end of the Presidential term, “it will
be difficult to honestly state that this six-year period has indeed been the country’s golden age of
infrastructure,” Mr. Ridon said.

With less than 15 months left in office, the only recourse for Mr. Duterte, aside from handing over a
solid infrastructure pipeline to his successor, is to take decisive measures in reducing bureaucratic
hurdles, he said.

Red tape is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to completing the administration’s flagship program, Mr.
Ridon said.
“While we would not want shortcuts, particularly on social and environmental licenses, five years of
permitting delay should give us pause (to rethink) what really needs to be done to fast-track
implementation,” he said.

Mr. Ridon said the government should “strictly implement timelines and enforce penalties for
bureaucratic delay.”

“The speed bump has been with the bureaucracy itself: the countless permits and regulatory setbacks
have delayed most of our flagship projects.”

Mr. Duterte last year signed a law granting him special powers to fast-track the processing and issuance
of government permits and licenses.

“We have seen the streamlining of permits in (cellular) tower buildings. We should see the same in
other infrastructure projects,” Mr. Ridon said.

If construction does not commence within the next 16 months, the administration’s infrastructure
program list “will remain a wishlist,” he said.

“Without these projects commencing before June 30, 2022, there is no certainty whether these projects
will be continued by the next administration,” he added.

“Resolving this constraint certainly assures dividends to Filipinos in the long term. New infrastructure
should decongest traffic in metropolitan areas, allow suburban dwellers to travel efficiently across all
points in city centers, and create conditions for sustained economic growth.”

Ultimately, the success or failure of Build, Build, Build will have repercussions beyond this Presidential
term, with Mr. Duterte’s anointed successor being judged in the 2022 polls by how well Build, Build,
Build turned out, political science professor Maria Ela L. Atienza of the University of the Philippines said
via Viber.
“It could be one of the issues against the Duterte administration and the anointed candidate,” she said.

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https://www.statista.com/statistics/1100765/philippines-coronavirus-covid19-cases/

Coronavirus COVID-19 key figures in the Philippines 2021

Published by Statista Research Department, Aug 9, 2021

As of August 8, 2021, approximately 1.7 million people had been confirmed as infected with the COVID-
19 virus in the Philippines. Of those, 1.55 million had recovered and around 29 thousand died.

Vaccination rollout in the Philippines

As the country continues to grapple the economic and social effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic, the arrival of the new Delta variant poses even stronger threat to the country’s containment
efforts. Several cities across the country are still under general community quarantine (GCQ), some with
heightened restrictions. As of August 2021, Quezon and Cavite were the leading areas with the highest
number of COVID-19 cases.

To address the constant fear of nationwide transmission, the government rolled out vaccination efforts
nationwide in March 2021. With a target of 58 million people around the end of the year, about 11
million already received the first dose of the vaccine while six million others were still waiting to receive
their second dose.

Impact on consumer behavior

Lockdown restrictions across the country forced consumers to turn to e-commerce channels and digital
payment systems to prevent themselves from contracting the virus. Consumers also bought items in
bulk, if one of their household members must quarantine or out of fear that shops or supermarkets
would run out of essential items.

Hide

Key figures of the coronavirus COVID-19 in the Philippines as of August 8, 2021 (in 1,000s)

table

column chart

Characteristic Number of cases in thousands

Total cases 1,658.92

Recoveries 1,552.28

Active cases 77.52

Deaths 29.12

Showing entries 1 to 4 (4 entries in total)

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https://ihsmarkit.com/research-analysis/philippines-economy-hit-by-rising-covid19-wave-Apr21.html

Philippines Economy Hit by Rising COVID-19 Wave

09 April 2021 Rajiv Biswas

The near-term outlook for the Philippines economy has been impacted by a sharply rising wave of new
COVID-19 cases since mid-March 2021. This is expected to constrain the pace of economic recovery in
the near-term, as strict pandemic control measures have been imposed in Metro Manila and other
surrounding areas badly impacted by the latest surge in pandemic cases.

Escalating new COVID-19 cases dampens recovery

The Philippines economy suffered a deep recession in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic, with GDP contracting by 9.6% year-on-year. This was the largest annual decline ever recorded
since National Accounts data series for the Philippines commenced in 1946.

Household final consumption expenditure fell by 7.9% y/y in calendar 2020, while gross capital
formation contracted by 34.4% y/y. Some sectors of the economy recorded severe declines in output,
with the transport and storage sector recording a 30.9% y/y decline in output in 2020, while
accommodation and food services output slumped by 45.4%.
Although economic activity had improved during the second half of 2020, with positive quarter-on-
quarter GDP growth recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020, the escalating pandemic in March and April
2021 has dampened near-term recovery prospects.

Reflecting the global slump in international trade, exports of goods and services fell by 16.3% y/y in
2020. The Philippines export sector has also remained weak, with exports of goods down 5.2% y/y in
January 2021. However, despite the large decline in exports in 2020, the current account surplus
reached a record high of USD 13 billion or 3.6% of GDP, boosted by the sharp slump in imports due to
the severe contraction in domestic demand. In March, the Philippines central bank, Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas (BSP), has revised up its current account surplus projection for 2021 to USD 9.1 billion, or 2.3%
of GDP.

An important stabilizing factor for the Philippines economy has been overseas worker remittances by
Filipinos working abroad, which remained quite stable during 2020, down only 0.8% y/y, and equivalent
to around 10% of GDP. However, an estimated 400,000 Filipino workers were repatriated during 2020 as
a result of job losses in their host countries, raising concerns about the impact on remittance flows
during 2021. Remittances sent home by workers are an important factor supporting domestic consumer
spending in the Philippines.

Due to the severe escalation in daily new COVID-19 cases since mid-March 2021, the Philippines
government has imposed a range of restrictive measures to try to contain the pandemic. A one-week
lockdown was announced for Metro Manila and four surrounding provinces on 29th March but was
extended for at least a further week on 5th April. The total number of people impacted by the new
lockdown measures are estimated at around 26 million, or around one-quarter of the total population of
the Philippines, as well as being the largest economic region of the Philippines economy.

Manufacturing production contracted by 9.8% y/y in 2020, reflecting significant disruption to

manufacturing output during the pandemic-related lockdown and restrictions on retail trading in Q2 and
Q3 2020.

Although economic conditions had been improving the fourth quarter of 2020 and during the first
quarter of 2021, the recent severe escalation in the pandemic has created renewed uncertainty about
the momentum of economic recovery in the near-term. The IHS Markit Philippines Manufacturing PMI
fell to 52.2 in March, down fractionally from 52.5 in February, but continuing to post above the 50.0
neutral value that separates expansion from contraction.

The latest manufacturing survey for March showed evidence of rising price pressures. Companies
indicated that higher costs incurred by firms were often attributable to materials shortages. A sustained
increase in client demand, however, allowed some firms to partially pass on rising costs.

Supply chain pressures continued to build in March as lead times for inputs lengthened. Firms
participating in the survey continued to cite freight delays as driving the deterioration in vendor
performance, with delivery times lengthening markedly. As such, firms sought to increase their
inventory holdings to minimize future shortages due to delays.

Progress of vaccine rollout

As a developing country with a population of 108 million, the Philippines confronts significant challenges
in vaccinating its population with COVID-19 vaccines due to difficulties in obtaining sufficient vaccine
supplies as well as the logistical problems of implementing a large-scale vaccination rollout nationwide.
The COVID-19 vaccination program began on 1st March 2021, after the arrival of shipments of China's
Sinovac vaccine. The Philippines has contracted to acquire 25 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine, with
one million already delivered and a further 1 million doses provided as a gift by the Chinese government.
The Philippines is also due to receive 9.3 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine through the
global COVAX facility, although so far 525,600 doses had been delivered to the Philippines by the end of
March.
The COVAX facility, which is a global vaccine sharing initiative, has faced delays in receiving AstraZeneca
vaccine supplies from the Serum Institute of India, a key manufacturer of the AstraZeneca vaccine. This
is because India has also faced a sharply accelerating COVID-19 wave similar to the Philippines, and the
Indian government has placed temporary restrictions on export of COVID-19 vaccines in order to
accelerate vaccination of the Indian population.

The Philippines government is negotiating with seven global COVID-19 vaccine makers to secure
sufficient supplies. A contract for 13 million doses has been agreed with Moderna, with a further
contract for an additional 7 million doses also having been subsequently negotiated, providing a total of
20 million Moderna vaccine doses.

The Philippines government had planned to vaccinate 70 million persons by end-2021, but so far only
827,000 persons have received their first dose vaccination by 5th April 2021. A key problem confronting
the Philippines, like many other developing countries, is that it is relying on imported vaccine supplies
and is therefore vulnerable to supply disruptions due to "vaccine nationalism", as some nations with
vaccine production facilities prioritize supplies to their own domestic populations due to the mounting
human toll of the pandemic.

Philippines economic outlook for 2021

While the Philippines economy is still expected to show a positive growth rebound in 2021, the near-
term outlook for the Philippines economy has been dampened by the sharply rising wave of new COVID-
19 cases since mid-March 2021. This is expected to constrain the pace of economic recovery in the near-
term, as strict pandemic control measures have been imposed in Metro Manila and other surrounding
areas badly impacted by the latest surge in pandemic cases. Vaccine rollout in the Philippines has also
been constrained by lack of sufficient supplies of imported.

Rajiv Biswas, Asia Pacific Chief Economist, IHS Markit

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https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/08/02/the-
philippine-economy-under-the-pandemic-from-asian-tiger-to-sick-man-again/amp/
The Philippine economy under the pandemic: From Asian tiger to sick man again?

Ronald U. MendozaMonday, August 2, 2021

In 2019, the Philippines was one of the fastest growing economies in the world. It finally shed its “sick
man of Asia” reputation obtained during the economic collapse towards the end of the Ferdinand
Marcos regime in the mid-1980s. After decades of painstaking reform — not to mention paying back
debts incurred under the dictatorship — the country’s economic renaissance took root in the decade
prior to the pandemic. Posting over 6 percent average annual growth between 2010 and 2019
(computed from the Philippine Statistics Authority data on GDP growth rates at constant 2018 prices),
the Philippines was touted as the next Asian tiger economy.

That was prior to COVID-19.

The rude awakening from the pandemic was that a services- and remittances-led growth model doesn’t
do too well in a global disease outbreak. The Philippines’ economic growth faltered in 2020 — entering
negative territory for the first time since 1999 — and the country experienced one of the deepest
contractions in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that year (Figure 1).

Figure 1: GDP growth for selected ASEAN countries

GDP growth for selected ASEAN countries

Source: Asian Development Outlook

And while the government forecasts a slight rebound in 2021, some analysts are concerned over an
uncertain and weak recovery, due to the country’s protracted lockdown and inability to shift to a more
efficient containment strategy. The Philippines has relied instead on draconian mobility restrictions
across large sections of the country’s key cities and growth hubs every time a COVID-19 surge threatens
to overwhelm the country’s health system.

What went wrong?

How does one of the fastest growing economies in Asia falter? It would be too simplistic to blame this all
on the pandemic.

First, the Philippines’ economic model itself appears more vulnerable to disease outbreak. It is built
around the mobility of people, yet tourism, services, and remittances-fed growth are all vulnerable to
pandemic-induced lockdowns and consumer confidence decline. International travel plunged, tourism
came to a grinding halt, and domestic lockdowns and mobility restrictions crippled the retail sector,
restaurants, and hospitality industry. Fortunately, the country’s business process outsourcing (BPO)
sector is demonstrating some resilience — yet its main markets have been hit heavily by the pandemic,
forcing the sector to rapidly upskill and adjust to emerging opportunities under the new normal.

Second, pandemic handling was also problematic. Lockdown is useful if it buys a country time to
strengthen health systems and test-trace-treat systems. These are the building blocks of more efficient
containment of the disease. However, if a country fails to strengthen these systems, then it squanders
the time that lockdown affords it. This seems to be the case for the Philippines, which made global
headlines for implementing one of the world’s longest lockdowns during the pandemic, yet failed to
flatten its COVID-19 curve.

At the time of writing, the Philippines is again headed for another hard lockdown and it is still trying to
graduate to a more efficient containment strategy amidst rising concerns over the delta variant which
has spread across Southeast Asia. It seems stuck with on-again, off-again lockdowns, which are severely
damaging to the economy, and will likely create negative expectations for future COVID-19 surges
(Figure 2).

Figure 2 clarifies how the Philippine government resorted to stricter lockdowns to temper each surge in
COVID-19 in the country so far.

Figure 2: Community quarantine regimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, Philippine National Capital
Region (NCR), March 2020 to June 2021
Community quarantine regimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, Philippine National Capital Region
(NCR), March 2020 to June 2021

Note: From most severe mobility restriction to least severe, the regimes are Enhanced Community
Quarantine (ECQ), ECQ* (similar to ECQ but with slightly fewer restrictions), Modified Enhanced
Community Quarantine (MECQ), MECQ* (similar to MECQ but with slightly fewer restrictions), GCQ*
(similar to GCQ but with slightly heightened restrictions), General Community Quarantine (GCQ).
Sources: Philippine Department of Health, Rappler, CNN Philippines, ABS CBN News, Inquirer, Sunstar,
PNA, cebudailynews.

If the delta variant and other possible variants are near-term threats, then the lack of efficient
containment can be expected to force the country back to draconian mobility restrictions as a last
resort. Meanwhile, only two months of social transfers (ayuda) were provided by the central
government during 16 months of lockdown by mid-2021. All this puts more pressure on an already
weary population reeling from deep recession, job displacement, and long-term risks on human
development. Low social transfers support in the midst of joblessness and rising hunger is also likely to
weaken compliance with mobility restriction policies.

Third, the Philippines suffered from delays in its vaccination rollout which was initially hobbled by
implementation and supply issues, and later affected by lingering vaccine hesitancy. These are all likely
to delay recovery in the Philippines.

Quo vadis?

By now there are many clear lessons both from the Philippine experience and from emerging
international best practices. In order to mount a more successful economic recovery, the Philippines
must address the following key policy issues:

Build a more efficient containment strategy particularly against the threat of possible new variants
principally by strengthening the test-trace-treat system. Based on lessons from other countries, test-
trace-treat systems usually also involve comprehensive mass-testing strategies to better inform both the
public and private sectors on the true state of infections among the population. In addition, integrated
mobility databases (not fragmented city-based ones) also capacitate more effective and timely tracing.
This kind of detailed and timely data allows for government and the private sector to better coordinate
on nuanced containment strategies that target areas and communities that need help due to outbreak
risk. And unlike a generalized lockdown, this targeted and data-informed strategy could allow other
parts of the economy to remain more open than otherwise.

Strengthen the sufficiency and transparency of direct social protection in order to give immediate relief
to poor and low-income households already severely impacted by the mishandling of the pandemic. This
requires a rebalancing of the budget in favor of education, health, and social protection spending, in lieu
of an over-emphasis on build-build-build infrastructure projects. This is also an opportunity to enhance
the social protection system to create a safety net and concurrent database that covers not just the
poor but also the vulnerable low- and lower-middle- income population. The chief concern here would
be to introduce social protection innovations that prevent middle income Filipinos from sliding into
poverty during a pandemic or other crisis.

Ramp-up vaccination to cover at least 70 percent of the population as soon as possible, and enlist the
further support of the private sector and civil society in order to keep improving vaccine rollout. An
effective communications campaign needs to be launched to counteract vaccine hesitancy, building on
trustworthy institutions (like academia, the Catholic Church, civil society and certain private sector
partners) in order to better protect the population against the threat of delta or another variant
affecting the Philippines. It will also help if parts of government could stop the politically-motivated
fearmongering on vaccines, as had occurred with the dengue fever vaccine, Dengvaxia, which continues
to sow doubts and fears among parts of the population.

Create a build-back-better strategy anchored on universal and inclusive healthcare. Among other things,
such a strategy should a) acknowledge the critically important role of the private sector and civil society
in pandemic response and healthcare sector cooperation, and b) underpin pandemic response around
lasting investments in institutions and technology that enhance contact tracing (e-platforms), testing
(labs), and universal healthcare with lower out-of-pocket costs and higher inclusivity. The latter requires
a more inclusive, well-funded, and better-governed health insurance system.

As much of ASEAN reels from the spread of the delta variant, it is critical that the Philippines takes these
steps to help allay concerns over the country’s preparedness to handle new variants emerging, while
also recalibrating expectations in favor of resuscitating its economy. Only then can the Philippines avoid
becoming the sick man of Asia again, and return to the rapid and steady growth of the pre-pandemic
decade.

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https://www.statista.com/statistics/1103540/philippines-economic-impact-coronavirus-covid-19/

Economic impact of coronavirus COVID-19 Philippines 2020

Published by Statista Research Department, Jun 21, 2021

In a survey conducted in the Philippines in February 2020, about 65 percent of respondents expected
the national economy to be significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nationwide lockdowns
imposed by the government have adversely impacted people’s livelihood.

COVID-19 pandemic aftermath in the Philippines

Between March and April 2020, the country’s Luzon Island went into a complete lockdown that
restricted population movement with only a few exceptions. This resulted in a drastic decline in
employment levels, with projections suggesting a maximum of one million people losing their jobs due
to the lockdown. In addition, the imposed community quarantine would, at the very least, cause
cumulative losses in gross value added of three billion Philippine pesos in every select key sector in the
country.

Major economic sectors facing setbacks

With travel being a major contributing factor to the spread of the virus, the tourism industry worldwide
has been brought to a grinding halt. The Philippines relies on tourism to a large extent for revenue
generation and calculated a loss of GDP share  from tourism of about 0.68 percent in the worst case.
Another sector to be severely hit was international trade, causing a spillover effect from Chinese supply
disruptions to the Philippines. Hence, it was estimated that the communication equipment industry
would lose 115 million U.S. dollars due to supply disruption.

------

https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/
380011623076770757/philippines-economic-update-navigating-a-challenging-recovery

The resurgence of COVID-19 cases and reimposition of more stringent quarantine measures held back
the early signs of an economic rebound. The downside risk of a resurgence of infection, identified in the
PEU December 2020 edition, has unfortunately materialized. The number of daily cases increased from
an average of 1,400 in December 2020 to nearly 10,000 in April 2021. The surging cases prompted the
authorities to reimpose stricter quarantine measures in Metro Manila and nearby provinces for more
than one-and-a-half months between April and May. Since then, daily cases have gone down gradually
and critical care occupancy rates have eased. However, the quarantine and movement restrictions have
hampered people's mobility, adversely affecting domestic activity. The economy contracted by 4.2
percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021 amid prolonged implementation of containment
measures. The country registered the worst growth performance among peers in the region such as
Thailand (-2.6 percent), Indonesia (-0.7 percent), Malaysia (-0.5 percent), and Vietnam (4.5 percent). The
growth contraction was fueled by weak domestic demand, driven by the combination of containment
measures, weak confidence, and rising inflation. Meanwhile, tepid external demand was driven by the
sharp contraction in services exports amid lingering restrictions and weak demand for international
tourism while goods exports recovered. The public sector was the main driver of growth with an
expansionary budget. The authorities are supporting the economic recovery by accelerating public
spending. Stimulus spending and infrastructure investment drove public spending from 19.1 percent of
GDP in the first quarter of 2020 to 23.4 percent of GDP in the same period in 2021. The spending is in
line with the continuing implementation of the pandemic response measures under the "Bayanihan to
Recover as One" Law (Bayanihan 2) which was extended to June 30, 2021. The higher spending comes at
a time when public revenues fell from 17.2 percent of GDP in the first quarter of 2020 to 16.0 percent of
GDP in the same period in 2021. This resulted in an increase in the fiscal deficit to 7.4 percent of GDP in
the first quarter of 2021 from 1.9 percent of GDP a year ago. The widening deficit was accompanied by
an increase in the public debt ratio from 54.5 percent of GDP by end-2020 to 60.4 percent of GDP as of
end-March 2021.

--------

https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/06/08/philippines-ramping-up-vaccination-
improving-pandemic-response-can-strengthen-recovery

PHILIPPINES: Ramping Up Vaccination, Improving Pandemic Response Can Strengthen Recovery

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MANILA, JUNE 8, 2021 – Weighed down by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippine economy is forecast
to grow at 4.7 percent this year before accelerating to 5.9 percent in 2022 and 6.0 percent in 2023,
according to the Philippines Economic Update (PEU) released today by the World Bank.

These forecasts reflect revisions to growth projections published in the April 2021 World Bank East Asia
and the Pacific Economic Update, due to the larger-than-expected economic contraction in the first
quarter, the reimposition of stricter quarantine measures in April and May in response to a surge in
COVID-19 infections, and the lingering challenges from high inflation and losses in household incomes.

“The global economic rebound especially among the country’s trading partners, will boost exports and
increase remittances, strengthening recovery in the Philippines,” said Ndiame Diop, World Bank Country
Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand. “The country can take advantage of this
development by ramping up vaccination and improving overall pandemic response to control infection
rates and boost consumer and business confidence.”
The PEU notes that the resurgence of new COVID-19 cases and rising inflation have derailed the early
signs of economic rebound in 2021. As lockdown restrictions eased in early 2021, people’s mobility
stepped up, and employment and earnings of families gradually improved. The better external
environment also led to an expansion in trade. However, the surge in COVID-19 cases beginning in late
March amid rising inflation derailed the momentum for recovery.

The PEU writes that the pandemic has badly hit poor families and the health and schooling of their
children.

In a recent World Bank household survey, two (2) in five (5) households were worried about not having
enough food for the ensuing days. Households reported difficulty accessing health services due to a lack
of income. Three in five households cited this as a reason for not obtaining much needed medical
treatment.

Most of households reported that their school-aged children were enrolled in school, but the
effectiveness of distance learning is a big concern especially among poor households. Only 40 percent of
the poorest households have internet access, compared to 70 percent among the richest households.

Kevin Chua, World Bank Senior Economist, said effective delivery of social protection programs will help
to reduce the extent to which the crisis has adversely affected poor and vulnerable families.

“COVID-19 pandemic-related shocks, including hunger incidences, have already manifested in higher
levels of child malnutrition, especially among the poor,” said Chua. “Social programs, including cash
transfers, can help alleviate food and subsistence conditions. National and local government authorities
need to coordinate their efforts to ensure timely and efficient deployment of these programs.”

The PEU also stresses that mobilizing private sector participation in infrastructure projects will be
important as the government faces limited fiscal space in the near term due to slower growth. The
report adds that rules on foreign direct investments remain restrictive in the Philippines. Allowing
greater foreign participation in the economy can help improve infrastructure and strengthen economic
growth.
------

https://www.bworldonline.com/covid-disruptions-showing-up-in-property-market-maybank/

COVID disruptions showing up in property market — Maybank

May 4, 2021 | 8:34 pm

DISRUPTIONS to working arrangements are beginning to flow on to the Philippine property market,
where guest workers in particular generate strong office and home sales, according to Maybank Kim
Eng.

The report, written by analysts Chua Hak Bin, Lee Ju Ye, and Linda Liu, noted in particular that the exit of
Chinese workers employed by Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators has had a huge impact on the
residential property market.

“While there is no official data on foreign purchases, data by Ayala Land, Inc. the country’s largest land
developer, showed a steep 60% plunge in sales reservations by foreigners, especially from China. The
foreign share of total purchases fell to 10.9% in 2020 (vs. 15.2% in 2019) while purchases by local and
overseas Filipinos increased,” the report said.

Among Filipinos, the pandemic also triggered a change in residential preference due to work from home
arrangements adopted during the pandemic, Maybank said.

“The out-migration reallocated real estate demand — dubbed the ‘doughnut effect’ — towards the
suburbs and away from the city center,” it said.

Metro Manila home prices contracted 4.8% year on year in the fourth quarter, according to the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas. Meanwhile, residential property prices in the provinces rose 5.9% in the three
months to December.
Maybank cited a Lamudi report indicating an increase in viewings and inquiries for property in Laguna,
particularly in Calamba and Santa Rosa; Cavite particularly in General Trias, and Lipa, Batangas.

“Provincial cities with close proximity to Metro Manila have been seeing a surge in interest among
property seekers, fueled partly by lower population levels, fewer COVID-19 cases and relaxed
lockdowns,” it said.

Meanwhile, Maybank also noted that the shock to the migration market is being seen most prominently
in the repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“The return of OFWs may have contributed to the increase in unemployment which spiked to the
highest in ASEAN at 17.6% in the second quarter of 2020,” it said.

Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said in April that 19% or more than 647,000 of the 3.5 million
documented OFWs have been repatriated due to the pandemic. There are 8.8 million OFWs, including
3.8 million migrants, according to June 2020 government data.

Despite the repatriations, cash remittances to the Philippines dropped by only 0.8% to $29.903 billion in
2020. This represented the lowest contraction in the ASEAN, though Thailand was the outlier with
remittance growth of 0.3%, Maybank said, citing official data from ASEAN governments.

“This could be due to overseas workers sending more remittances home to their families when their
countries of origin experience economic hardship, or sending back more of their savings ahead of their
decision to move back home,” Maybank said.

The central bank expects cash remittances to grow 4% this year, driven by prospects of an economic
recovery. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

-----

Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination rollout in the Philippines 2021

Published by Statista Research Department, Aug 9, 2021

As of August 8, 2021, over 13 million people received the first of two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in
the Philippines. In contrast, roughly 11.4 million have been fully vaccinated from the virus.

COVID-19 vaccination in the Philippines started in March 2021 and the country aims to vaccinate 58
million people by the end of the year.

Number of coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine doses administered in the Philippines as of August 8, 2021
(in 1,000s)

table

column chart

Characteristic Number of COVID-19 vaccinations in thousands

First dose 13,087.78

Second dose 11,391.97

Showing entries 1 to 2 (2 entries in total)

--------

https://covid19.who.int/region/wpro/country/ph

In Philippines, from 3 January 2020 to 6:47pm CEST, 13 August 2021, there have been 1,700,363
confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 29,539 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 4 August 2021, a total of
23,199,187 vaccine doses have been administered.

-------

https://dailypik.com/invest-reits-philippines/

How to Invest REITs in the Philippines in 2021

Last Updated on: July 4, 2021 by Fehl Dungo

Want to grow your investment portfolio with real estate investment trusts? If you do, I’m sure you heard
about REITs. Today, we discuss about REITS and how to make money investing in REITs in the Philippines
in 2021.

With the news of a bill passing in Congress which allows foreign entities to open companies here in the
Philippines and own it 100% for certain sectors, it is a welcome time to explore real estate once more.

how to invest reits in the philippines

Table of Contents:

What are REITs?

How do REITs Make Money?

Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Invest in REITS?

1. Higher Earnings Potential

2. You Don’t Have to Spend Huge Money

3. Zero Contract and Obligation

4. Portfolio Diversification

5. Lower Risk

How to Invest REITs in the Philippines?

Best Performing REITs You Can Invest Right Now

Other Investing Guides:

What are REITs?

REITs refer to Real Estate Investment Trusts. They are companies that own and operate real estate
properties to generate income. REITs include hotels, data centers, cell towers, hospitals, commercial
areas, office spaces, shopping centers, apartments, warehouses and other buildings. Investors prefer
REITs because of diversification, lower risk and higher returns.
How do REITs Make Money?

It is actually very simple and easy: rent income. Almost all REITs would simply lease out and collect rent
on the various properties that they own. The company then generates income out of this and they then
pay back investors through dividends.

The best part is — REITs are required to pay out at least 90% of their taxable income to their investors.
Most even pay out 100%!

Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Invest in REITS?

1. Higher Earnings Potential

Real Estate Investments Trusts are historically one of the best-performing asset classes in the market
today. As we know, real properties grow in value over time and don’t depreciate in value easily, REITs
also produce more income through regular rental revenue. They also have the ability to generate
dividends.

2. You Don’t Have to Spend Huge Money

If you want to take advantage of the growing performance of real estate business without owning an
expensive real property, invest in REITs. Let’s face it, buying real property is very expensive. And more
often, you have to pay a reservation fee and down payment.

3. Zero Contract and Obligation

When buying a property, you have to take out a loan with a contract, scout the area, and make sure it is
a good neighborhood, pay mortgages, parking spaces, etc. You can avoid those stressful contracts and
obligations by investing in REITs instead of buying a property especially if your savings are not yet
enough to start such risky long-term contract.

4. Portfolio Diversification

Some REITs are already diversified, meaning, they are invested in different real estate properties such as
shopping mall units, commercial buildings, office spaces, hotels and the like. If you want to allocate a
part of your portfolio with real estate business, REITs are excellent option. Diversification is one of the
most effective strategies of investing.

5. Lower Risk

Because you are not locked in a contract, you can avoid a lot of risks. When you diversify your portfolio
with REITs, you can also minimize risk by extending your earning potential to different asset classes and
allocation.

How to Invest REITs in the Philippines?

Open a trading platform that offers REITs

Look for well-established REIT companies

Invest in REIT via PSE EASy

Trade REIT using an online broker

Choose the best performing REITs

When choosing your REIT investment, make sure you invest with companies with great properties and
tenants. It can also help if you monitor the best performing REITs in the market.
If you are a beginner, leave the research and hard work to the experts. You can invest in REIT ETFs. REIT
ETFs are composed of several REITs already. Investing in them will also offer the most diversification.
Hence, a great advantage for you.

There are two REITs in the Philippines that you can start trading in the Philippine Stock Exchange. They
are Ayala Land REIT (AREIT) and DoubleDragon REIT (DDMPR).

That being said, investors can buy shares using any accredited online broker by the Philippine Stock
Exchange like BDO Securities, First Metro Securities, and COL Financial.

Best Performing REITs You Can Invest Right Now

Code REIT / REIT ETF

AREIT Ayala Land REIT

DDMPR DoubleDragon Properties REIT

RWR SPDR Dow Jones REIT ETF

USRT iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF

IYR DJ US Real Estate iShares

AOX.DE Alstria Office REIT AG

AMT American Tower Corp.

DLR Digital Realty

CCI Crown Castle International

SBAC SBA Communications Corp.

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https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.philstar.com/business/2021/06/16/2105950/megaworld-eyes-
philippines-biggest-reit-ipo/amp/
Megaworld eyes Philippines' biggest REIT IPO

By Ian Nicolas Cigaral(Philstar.com) - June 16, 2021 - 5:42pm

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, Megaworld said it has asked both the Securities and Exchange
Commission and the Philippine Stock Exchange to clear the planned P27.3-billion initial public offering of
its own REIT company MREIT Inc.

File

MANILA, Philippines — Property giant Megaworld Corp. is preparing what could be the biggest maiden
share sale of a real estate investment trust (REIT) firm in the country.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, Megaworld said it has asked both the Securities and Exchange
Commission and the Philippine Stock Exchange to clear the planned P27.3-billion initial public offering of
its own REIT company MREIT Inc.

To raise that amount, MREIT would sell 1.2 billion common shares for P22 each. Assuming full exercise
of the overallotment option, proceeds from the mega IPO would eclipse the capital raised by previous
REIT firms.

Last year, Ayala-backed AREIT Inc., the country’s first REIT firm, defied pandemic uncertainties when it
raised P13.6 billion. DoubleDragon Properties Corp.’s DDMP REIT Inc. kicked off this year’s IPO season
with a P14.7 billion share sale. Apart from Megaworld’s MREIT, there are two more REIT IPOs in the
pipeline: Robinsons Land Corp.’s RL Commercial REIT Inc. (P26.7 billion) and Filinvest Group’s Filinvest
REIT Corp. (P14.8 billion).
“Our REIT includes properties in three of our most sought-after premier township developments of
Eastwood City, McKinley Hill, and Iloilo Business Park, which are home to around 200,000 BPO and other
office workers today,” Kevin Andrew L. Tan, president and chief executive of MREIT, said.

“Our ‘tried-and-tested’ signature concept of the township has attracted over 200 BPO and multinational
companies to locate with us through the years since we started our first-ever Eastwood cyberpark in
1999,” Tan added.

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As a publicly-owned listed company, REIT is tasked to use proceeds from share sale to purchase and
manage income-generating property assets such as malls, offices and warehouses. At least 90% of
income from these ventures are required to be declared as dividends with shareholders.

MREIT’s portfolio consists of 10 office, retail and hotel assets with an aggregate gross leasable area of
224,430.80 square meters. These are located in three prime townships of Megaworld - Eastwood City in
Quezon City, McKinley Hill in Taguig City, and Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.

On Wednesday, shares in Megaworld ended flat at P3.28 apiece.

------

https://pesolab.com/why-invest-in-philippine-reit-real-estate-investment-trust/

Why invest in Philippine REIT (real estate investment trust)

Updated August 12, 2021 by Author: PESOLAB

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Why invest in Philippine REIT (real estate investment trust)

Article table of contents

What is REIT?

How does REIT work?

REITs are like mutual funds

REITs in the Philippines

Advantages of REIT

Disadvantages of REIT

Is REIT right for you?

What are the factors you need to consider before investing in REIT?

1. Check the yield and compare

2. Do your due diligence

How to invest in REIT?

Buying REIT through the stocks exchange

Buying REIT through unit investment trust funds (UITF)

How much can you earn from investing in REIT in the Philippines?

Updated list of eligible REIT-eligible stock brokers in the Philippines

References

Do you wish to become part-owners of airports, shopping malls, hospitals, tollways, warehouses, hotels,
residential and commercial buildings, and other income-generating properties?

Of course yes. All of us want to be part in the real estate business because the income can come in two
ways: rental income and the steady increase in the value of land.
But do we have the capital to invest in these properties? At any rate, maybe most likely no.

So here is where real estate investment trust or REIT is a good option.

Specifically in a way, it offers a means for the investing public who don’t have that much money to fund
large-scale constructions to be able to participate in the business.

What is REIT?

Anyone wishing to get into real estate balks at the high capital outlay needed, such as constructing a
commercial building for example, just to get started.

After the building is up, recurring costs also pile up such as taxes, security, repairs, rent collection,
making sure vacancy is kept low, dealing with tenants, etc.

For this purpose, real estate investment trust or REIT allows the public to own shares of big properties
with minimum capital and without having to worry about managing the day-to-day operations.

How does REIT work?

The Republic Act 9856, also known as the REIT Act of 2009, and the IRR (implementing rules and
regulations) of the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 13, 2010 established REIT.

In particular, the law and guidelines provide a way for businesses to place their real estate assets in a
stock corporation, the REIT, where the public can invest.
So large conglomerates can transfer their properties to this stock corporation, and then the public can
buy shares from it.

Thus, the corporation owns income-generating real estate assets and has to abide by the following rules.

Must be listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Minimum paid-up capital of ₱300 million

Should maintain 33% public float, which is the portion of the company that is owned by the investing
public.

The company must have at least 1,000 public shareholders owning a minimum of 50 shares each.

70% investment in real estate assets or at least 35% of total assets invested in real estate.

90% of the net income is distributed as dividends.

The company shall not invest in companies that are not publicly listed.

Valuation of the company is conducted annually.

And now with the money pooled from the investors, the company can lease, manage, purchase or sell
real estate properties. Likewise, it may also need to hire an independent property manager and a fund
manager.

At any length, the property manager performs task related to the general upkeep of the assets such as
security, collecting rent, customer service for tenants, among other things.
On the other hand, the fund manager is responsible in making sure that the company’s investment
objectives are executed and met.

REITs are like mutual funds

In some ways, REITs are like mutual funds. For instance, the investing public buys shares of these
companies. And they in turn use the pooled money to acquire assets that can increase the value of the
shares.

Thus, in the case of REITs, those assets are offices, malls, warehouses, hospitals, airports, tollways, and
other infrastructures. Hence, when you want to buy or redeem your investment, you need to trade the
stocks from the exchange so you need to go through an eligible stock broker.

The process is different with mutual funds, where you just have to go to a mutual fund company if you
want to invest or sell.

In addition, see below the similarities and the differences between the two.

DETAILS REIT MUTUAL FUND

Structure Corporation Corporation

Capital Pooled funds from investors Pooled funds from investors

Ownership Stocks Stocks

Value Stock price Net asset value per stock

Valuation Real-time End of the trading day

Assets Real estate Stocks and fixed income securities

Buy Purchase on the exchange Buy stocks from the mutual fund company
Sell Sell on the exchange Sell stocks to the mutual fund company

REITs in the Philippines

The very first REIT in the country, the Ayala Real Estate Investment Trust (AREIT), debuted in the market
in 2020 and was 2x over-subscribed. According to available sources, expected dividend for this year is
pegged at 4.85% in 2020 and expected to increase to 5.85% in the following year.

Recently, property company Double Dragon formed DD Meridian Park REIT (DDMP REIT) that included 7
buildings and whose share is priced at ₱2.25 apiece, which experts estimate to give dividend yield of
5.07% and 5.45% in the next two years, respectively. When it debuted on March 24, 2021, the price
remain unchanged at the closing hour of the trading day.

On August 12, 2021, the Filinvest REIT (FILRT) traded in the local bourse for the very first time at a price
of ₱7.00 per share. FILRT was sponsored by the Filinvest Land, Inc., previously known as Cyberzone
Properties, Inc., owned by the Gotianun family. Its portfolio includes 17 buildings, all but one are located
in Alabang. The other one building is located in Cebu City. About 9 out of 10 tenants are BPO (business
process outsourcing) companies.

Other companies that are expected to follow suit or have expressed interest in the near future are SM
Prime Holdings, and Robinsons Land.

Advantages of REIT

But why would you want to invest in REIT? Here are the many benefits.

Minimum capital. It relieves the pressure in coming up with huge capital or resorting to debts just to
become part-owners of real estate. They are affordable.

Less hassle. No need to hire contractors and construction firms, etc. You would also not be involved in
managing the properties, so you are saved from overseeing repairs, looking for tenants, providing
security, paying for insurance, etc.
Dividends. Investors are entitled to 90% of the net income. There’s also the chance that this goes up
through hikes in rent and tariff/tolls, low vacancy rate, etc.

Value appreciation. The price of the stock may increase due to growing demand, increase in the value of
the lot, development of vicinity around the location, etc.

Assets are finished and already generating income.

Management. Expert managers oversee the company and its assets.

Diversification. The stocks contain mixture of projects.

Liquid. REITs can be traded on the exchange on any trading day.

Transparent. Companies are required to disclose the financial status of the company.

OFW tax-exempt. Overseas Filipino workers can enjoy tax-free dividends for seven years starting in
2020.

Disadvantages of REIT

Some companies may own only the buildings but not the land they stand on, which may deprive
shareholders the chance to ride on the increase of the land property value.

Real estate is cyclical. The market can experience hiccups such as high vacancy, and that can mean lower
revenue.

It is subject to tax hikes on properties imposed locally and nationally.

Slower growth compared to other equities as most of the income goes out to shareholders as dividends
rater than being reinvested back to the business to create more value.

Investment risks can include deteriorating property values, higher interest rate, debts, location,
unfavorable tax environment, etc.

Some REITs have high management fees and levels of debts.

They’re also susceptible to interest rate hikes. Investors buy treasury bonds and bills when interest goes
up, driving share prices of REITs down.

Is REIT right for you?

When done right, investing in REIT can be one way for the public to beat the effects of inflation. In other
words, it can also an affordable alternative in helping people grow their wealth in the long term.
Of course, it may be suitable for investors who are looking for passive income. In fact, dividends are paid
out annually, and if the price of the stock is undervalued then it can be attractive because you get higher
yield.

To illustrate, yield is the amount of dividend over the stock price, so if the yield ₱10 and stock price is
₱100 the yield is 10%. And the higher the dividend and the lower the stock price, the better the yield
becomes.

Nevertheless, it can also be good for long-term investing. Most of the income goes back to investors.
The company may likewise take time to grow (unless it borrows huge sums) because it has less money in
acquiring new assets.

Also, it can be an option for those who are looking to diversify their portfolio as it provides a way of
exposure to the real estate industry. Indeed, it can give recurring income on a long-term basis.

What are the factors you need to consider before investing in REIT?

What are the things that you need to do before buying REIT shares?

First of all, the year 2020 is going to be the first time that the country will see new REITs being offered in
the market. So people are naturally going to wonder what the details that they need to look out for
when considering them as investment option.

Therefore, here are two things: check and compare yield and do due diligence.

1. Check the yield and compare

This is perhaps the easiest to do. Firstly, you’re going to check is the yield, which is already described
above. And then, compare it with other alternatives in the market.
For example, see if it can beat returns elsewhere such as Pag-ibig MP2, preferred shares, blue chip
stocks who are giving out dividends, and other Philippine publicly listed companies that issued
dividends.

2. Do your due diligence

Perhaps the more important is to look into two things: the company and its assets. Indeed, the company
must have proven track record in the industry. More importantly, it has the trust and made a reputation
among peers.

This can be done by looking at their credibility. What past projects did they have? Were they successful?
Did they contribute to its success or failure?

One other way is to see how resilient they are in times of crisis. Are debts weighing them down? How do
they cope with the downturns in the market?

What have you heard about their expertise? Are they good property managers? Are their buildings well
taken care of? How do they do their job in terms of making sure occupancy is at optimum?

Secondly, you have to see the actual properties that form part of the asset of the company. Here’s a
rough guide to help you.

What basket of properties does the company have? You can search for information because they are
disclosed including details such as the name of hotels, condos, buildings, etc.

Are they in prime locations?

Are there future government projects in the surrounding area?

What is the quality of the construction?

How do these assets generate income?

What is the general outlook of the businesses that lease, rent or occupy the properties?
For commercial spaces, what is the vacancy rate and what kind of businesses are renting? Is there good
foot traffic if the tenants are malls and retail? If it’s a hotel, how is the level of tourism activities?

How to invest in REIT?

There are two ways that you can invest in them: through stock trading and through UITF.

Buying REIT through the stocks exchange

Because REIT stock is traded on the exchange, you can buy the stocks by following the steps below.

Open a broker’s account. Not all stock brokerage companies are permitted to trade them. They have to
undergo eligibility screening by the Philippine Stock Exchange. Check the broker of your choice if they’re
given the green light to do this or see the updated list of REIT-eligible brokers at the end of this article.
Check out too this list of online stock brokers. And this is a list of stock brokers that let you open account
online.

Have an NOCD Account. You have to give authorization to the broker to open a Name on Central
Depository (NOCD) account.

Board lot. Make sure that you buy the minimum shares according to the board lot.

Subscribe to initial public offering or IPO. This is done via the PSE EASy.

Buying REIT through unit investment trust funds (UITF)

In the market today, there are five UITF companies that are exposed to REITs abroad. Read this article
on what is UITF for more information.

The good thing about it is that you don’t need a broker. You just have to go to the company, fill out
forms, pay at least the minimum starting capital and you’re subscribed.

As you can see in the table below, four of the funds are in foreign currency and only one in Philippine
peso. You may want to read the article on unit investment trust fund and also about feeder funds for
more information.
NAME CURRENCY MINIMUM ADD FEE EXIT FEE BENCHMARK

BDO DEVELOPED MARKETS PROPERTY INDEX FEEDER FUND USD 500 500 0.50% p.a.
0% FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Markets Index

Manulife Asia Pacific REIT Fund of Funds (USD Class A) USD 1,000 100 1.75% as a % p.a. of the
NAV 1.00% as a % of the amount withdrawn Manulife Investment Asia REIT ex-Japan Index

Manulife Asia Pacific REIT Fund of Funds (PHP Unhedged Class A) PHP 50,000 5,000 1.75%
as a % p.a. of the NAV 1.00% as a % of the amount withdrawn Manulife Investment Asia REIT ex-Japan
Index

Manulife Asia Pacific REIT Fund of Funds (USD Class I) USD 1,000 100 N/A N/A
Manulife Investment Asia REIT ex-Japan Index

Manulife Asia Pacific REIT Fund of Funds (PHP Unhedged Class I) PHP 50,000 5,000 N/A N/A
Manulife Investment Asia REIT ex-Japan Index

How much can you earn from investing in REIT in the Philippines?

AREIT reported a dividend yield of 3.17% and stock price gain of 8.70% in 2020, and that is a combined
earnings of 11.87%. That is much better than savings account, time deposit, and even equities index
funds in the same year.

When it first traded on the exchange, its price is set at ₱27 and it has distributed a total dividend of
₱0.93 cents, as the table shows.

When you look at the table, read some notes below.

This example only shows AREIT. Indicated too are its dividend, price on IPO, and the price on the last
trading day of the year.

Past results do not guarantee future returns.

The estimates do not include fees, charges, and taxes associated with trading stocks and receiving
dividends.

The total ROI that you see below is the sum of the growth (the change of IPO price and closing price in
2020) and the yield.
NAME AYALA REIT

IPO price 27.00

2020 stock price 29.35

Dividend 0.93

Growth 8.70%

Yield 3.17%

Total ROI 11.87%

Generally, REITs are predicted to give between 4% to 6% in dividends every year.

Updated list of eligible REIT-eligible stock brokers in the Philippines

From over a dozen brokers initially given the go-signal, there are now over a hundred stock brokerage
firms that can facilitate purchase of stocks of REIT.

See below the companies, the link to their website, and the minimum starting capital.

NAME LINK MINIMUM CAPITAL

IGC SECURITIES, INC. 5,000

ALPHA SECURITIES CORPORATION https://alpha.psetradex.ph 5,000

BA SECURITIES, INC. https://baseconline.psetradex.ph 5,000

COL FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. https://www.colfinancial.com 5,000

EASTERN SECURITIES DEVELOPMENT CORP. https://eastern-sec.com5,000

LUCKY SECURITIES, INC. https://luckyseconline.psetradex.ph 5,000

MERCANTILE SECURITIES CORPORATION http://msc.com.ph 5,000

PHILSTOCKS FINANCIAL, INC. https://www.philstocks.ph 5,000

RCBC SECURITIES, INC. https://www.rcbcsec.com 10,000

TRITON SECURITIES CORPORATION https://triton.psetradex.ph 10,000

UCPB SECURITIES, INC. https://www.ucpbsec.com 10,000

UNICAPITAL SECURITIES, INC. https://utradeph.com 10,000

VC SECURITIES CORPORATION https://vcsecurities.biz 10,000

J.M. BARCELON & CO., INC. www.jmbarcelon.com 20,000

PHIL-PROGRESS SECURITIES CORPORATION http://www.philprogress.com/ 20,000

AAA SOUTHEAST EQUITIES, INC. https://aaa-equities.com.ph 20,000

GLOBALINKS SECURITIES & STOCKS, INC. https://gtrade.ph 20,000

MERIDIAN SECURITIES INCORPORATED https://msitradeonline.psetradex.ph 20,000

TIMSON SECURITIES, INC. https://timson.com.ph 20,000

WEALTH SECURITIES, INC. https://wealthsec.com 20,000

F. YAP SECURITIES, INC. https://www.2tradeasia.com 25,000

HDI SECURITIES, INC. https://hditrade.psetradex.ph 25,000

JAKA SECURITIES CORPORATION https://jakaseconline.psetradex.ph 25,000

OPTIMUM SECURITIES CORPORATION https://optimumonline.psetradex.ph 25,000

REGINA CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION https://www.reginacapital.com 25,000

A & A SECURITIES, INC. https://aa.psetradex.ph 50,000

AP SECURITIES INCORPORATED https://www.aps.com.ph 50,000

COHERCO SECURITIES, INC. https://cohercotrade.psetradex.ph 50,000

DA MARKET SECURITIES, INC. https://itrade.ph 50,000

INVESTORS SECURITIES, INC. https://www.investorsonline.ph50,000

ABACUS SECURITIES CORPORATION https://mytrade.com.ph 100,000

ASTRA SECURITIES CORPORATION https://astraseconline.psetradex.ph 500,000

MAYBANK ATR KIM ENG SECURITIES INC. https://maybanktrade.psetradex.ph 1 million

MOUNT PEAK SECURITIES, INC. www.mountpeak.com Initial investment in cash equivalent to your
planned purchase of shares
AB CAPITAL SECURITIES, INC. https://www.abcapitalsecurities.com.ph No minimum deposit
required

BDO SECURITIES CORPORATION www.bdo.com.ph/business/ investment-banking/about-us No

minimum deposit required

BPI SECURITIES CORPORATION https://www.bpitrade.com No minimum deposit required

FIRST METRO SECURITIES BROKERAGE CORPORATION https://www.firstmetrosec.com.ph No

minimum deposit required

A.T. DE CASTRO SECURITIES CORPORATION http://www.atdecastro.com/

ALAKOR SECURITIES CORPORATION http://alakorseccorp.com/

ANSALDO GODINEZ & CO., INC. http://www.ansaldogodinez.com/

APEX (PHILIPPINES) EQUITIES CORPORATION www.tdgworld.com

ASIA PACIFIC CAPITAL EQUITIES AND SECURITIES CORPORATION www.apc.com.ph

ASIASEC EQUITIES, INC. www.asiasecequities.com

AURORA SECURITIES, INC. www.ausecinc.wix.com/mysite-1

B. H. CHUA SECURITIES CORPORATION www.bhchuasec.com

BELSON SECURITIES, INC. www.belsonsecurities.com

BERNAD SECURITIES, INC. http://bernadsec.github.io/bernadsec/

CAMPOS, LANUZA & COMPANY, INC. www.camposlanuza.com

CHINA BANK SECURITIES CORPORATIONhttp://www.chinabank.ph/about_china_bank.aspx?

title=About+China+Bank+Securities

CLSA PHILIPPINES, INC. www.clsa.com

CREDIT SUISSE SECURITIES (PHILIPPINES), INC. https://www.credit-suisse.com/ph/en/about-us/our-

company.html

CTS GLOBAL EQUITY GROUP, INC. main.ctsglobalgroup.com:8143

CUALOPING SECURITIES CORPORATION www.cualopingsec.com

DAVID GO SECURITIES CORPORATION www.davidgosecurities.com

DBP-DAIWA CAPITAL MARKETS PHILIPPINES, INC. www.dbpdaiwacm.com.ph

DIVERSIFIED SECURITIES, INC. http://diversifiedsec.wix.com/mysite

E. CHUA CHIACO SECURITIES, INC. www.echuachiacosec.com

EAGLE EQUITIES, INC. http://eagle-equities.net/

EAST WEST CAPITAL CORPORATION https://ewcapitalcorp.com/

EQUITIWORLD SECURITIES, INC. www.equitiworld.com

EVERGREEN STOCKBROKERAGE & SECURITIES, INC. www.evergreen-securities.org

FIDELITY SECURITIES, INC. http://fidelitysecinc.com

FIRST INTEGRATED CAPITAL SECURITIES, INC. www.fincapsecurities.com

FIRST ORIENT SECURITIES, INC. www.firstorientsecuritiesinc.com

G.D TAN & CO., INC. http://gdtan.co/

GOLDEN TOWER SECURITIES & HOLDINGS, INC. http://gtowersec.com/

GOLDSTAR SECURITIES, INC. www.goldstarsecurities.com

GUILD SECURITIES, INC. www.guildsec.com

H.E. BENNETT SECURITIES, INC. http://203.177.16.5/web/bennett#

IMPERIAL DE GUZMAN, ABALOS & CO., INC. www.idgaci.com.ph

INTRA-INVEST SECURITIES, INC. http://intrainvestsec.com

J. P. MORGAN SECURITIES PHILIPPINES, INC. https://www.jpmorgan.com/PH/en/about-us

JSG SECURITIES, INC. http://www.jsgsecurities.com/

KING’S POWER SECURITIES, INC.http://www.kingspowersecurities.com/

LARRGO SECURITIES CO., INC. www.larrgo.ph

LITONJUA SECURITIES, INC. http://www.litonjuasecurites.com/

LOPEZ, LOCSIN, LEDESMA & CO., INC. https://lopezlocsinledesma.wordpress.com

LUYS SECURITIES COMPANY, INC. http://luysecurities.com/

MACQUARIE CAPITAL SECURITIES (PHIL), INC. www.macquarie.com

MANDARIN SECURITIES CORPORATION http://mandarinsecurities.com/

MARIAN SECURITIES, INC. www.mariansecurities.com

MDR SECURITIES, INC.

NEW WORLD SECURITIES CO., INC. http://www.newworldsec.com

PAN ASIA SECURITIES CORPORATION http://panasiasec.com/

PAPA SECURITIES CORPORATION www.papasecurities.com

PHILIPPINE EQUITY PARTNERS, INC. www.pep.com.ph

PLATINUM SECURITIES, INC.

PNB SECURITIES, INC. https://www.pnb.com.ph/pnbsecurities/index.html

PREMIUM SECURITIES, INC. http://www.premiumsecuritiesinc.com/

QUALITY INVESTMENTS & SECURITIES CORP. http://qualsec.wix.com/broker

R. COYIUTO SECURITIES, INC. https://www.coyiutosecurities.com/

R. NUBLA SECURITIES, INC. http://nublasecurities.com/

R.S. LIM & COMPANY, INC. http://rslimco.com/

REGIS PARTNERS, INC. https://regis.ph/about-us

RTG & CO., INC. http://rtgsec.com/

S.J. ROXAS & COMPANY, INC.

SALISBURY BKT SECURITIES CORPORATION www.salisburybkt.com

SARANGANI SECURITIES, INC. http://www.sarsecph.com/

SB EQUITIES, INC.. https://www.securitybank.com/subsidiaries/sb-equities-inc/

SECURITIES SPECIALISTS, INC. http://ssionline.com.ph/

SINCERE SECURITIES CORPORATION www.sinceresecuritiescorp.com

SOLAR SECURITIES, INC. http://solarsecurities.ph/

STANDARD SECURITIES CORPORATION www.standardsecurities.weebly.com

STAR ALLIANCE SECURITIES CORP. http://www.starallsec.com/

STRATEGIC EQUITIES CORPORATION http://strategicequitiescorp.com

SUMMIT SECURITIES, INC http://summitsec.github.io/summitsec/

SUNSECURITIES, INC. http://www.sunseconline.com/

SUPREME STOCKBROKERS, INC. https://supremestockbroker.com/

TANSENGCO & CO., INC. http://tansengco.github.io/tansengcosec/

THE FIRST RESOURCES MGT & SEC. CORPORATION https://firstresources.psetradex.ph/

TOWER SECURITIES, INC. http://www.towersecurities.net/

TRANS-ASIA SECURITIES, INC. http://transasiasecuritie.wix.com/business-consultin-r

TRI-STATE SECURITIES, INC.

UBS SECURITIES PHILIPPINES, INC. https://www.ubs.com/ph/en.html

UPCC SECURITIES CORPORATION www.getontheupside.wix.com/site-1

VALUE QUEST SECURITIES CORPORATION http://value-quest.com

VENTURE SECURITIES, INC. http://venturesecinc.com/

WESTLINK GLOBAL EQUITIES, INC. www.wgei.com.ph

WONG SECURITIES CORPORATION http://wongsecurities.wix.com/wongsec

YAO & ZIALCITA, INC.

YU & COMPANY, INC. www.yuandcompany.com.ph

References

Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/AREIT:PM

Nikkei. https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Market-Spotlight/Can-a-barbecue-baron-kick-off-a-big-year-
for-Philippine-IPOs

Philippine Stocks Exchange. https://www.pse.com.ph/stockMarket/home.html

Securities and Exchange Commission.

https://www.sec.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/RA_9856_REIT.pdf

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https://www.lamudi.com.ph/journal/top-real-estate-developers-2020/

How PH Real Estate Developers Fared in 2020, the Year of the Pandemic

July 2, 2021

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Cityscapes silhouettes background

As the pandemic restricted movements and business activities, several industries suffered losses. The
property sector is no exception. The community quarantine measures resulted in the slowdown in real
estate activities, including those in construction, marketing, and selling.

But while the necessary health measures dampened industry growth, property firms exhibited resilience
all throughout the crisis. In fact, many acknowledged more innovations happened last year than ever
before. As the protocols eased in the latter part of 2020, recovery was apparent. Let’s look at how
Philippine real estate developers fared in the year of the pandemic.

SM Prime Holdings, Inc.

2020 Net Income: P18 billion

The Sy-led company topped the list of largest real estate developers in 2016. In 2020, it’s still the leading
firm in the sector. However, it wasn’t immune to the ills brought by the pandemic.

From amassing P38.1 billion in 2019, the Sy-led company experienced a 53-percent decline in net
income in the year of the pandemic, resulting in a net income of P18 billion. The massive blow was
largely due to the drop in mall revenues, which went from P57.8 million in 2019 to P23.6 billion in 2020.
Nonetheless, other business segments performed exceptionally well considering the massive financial
impact of the health crisis.
The residential segment, for instance, led by the SM Development Corporation (SMDC), rose from P43.7
billion in 2019 to P46.5 billion in 2020, flexing a six percent growth. Meanwhile, the commercial
properties business segment increased from P4.6 billion in 2019 to P4.8 billion last year.

SM Prime Holdings’ ongoing projects: Sands Residences, Mint Residences, Gem Residences, and South 2
Residences (vertical residential developments)

Filinvest Development

2020 Net Income: P11.5 billion

The Gotianun group-led holding company earned P11.5 billion in 2020, Business World reported. Similar
to SM Prime, the lower rental revenues in malls contributed to the slump. Despite this, Filinvest saw
growth in office leasing, as the company’s buildings continued to run operations throughout the
pandemic last year.

Its banking arm EastWest Banking Corp. contributed P6.4 billion, four percent higher than the figure in
2019.

Filinvest Development’s ongoing projects: Mira Valley and Valle Dulce (horizontal residential), Activa
Flex (vertical residential)

Megaworld Corporation

2020 Net Income: 10.6 billion

The Tan-owned property company earned P10.6 billion in 2020. Megaworld saw a resilient office
business segment, as the rental revenues amounted to P10.4 billion in 2020, almost the same level in
2019.
The last quarter of 2020 also offered signs of recovery, as other business segments grew in sales quarter
on quarter. Reservation sales increased by 85 percent quarter on quarter. The lifestyle malls and hotels
jumped by 24 and 25 percent, respectively, from the third to the fourth quarter.

Megaworld’s ongoing projects: Belmont Hotel Iloilo (hospitality), Arden Botanical Village (horizontal
residential), One Manhattan (vertical residential), Maple Grove (township)

Ayala Land, Inc.

2020 Net Income: P8.7 billion

The property giant raked in P8.7 billion, according to Business World. They had a 28 percent growth
from the third to the fourth quarter of the year, signaling recovery from the financial downturn brought
by the health crisis. The sales reservations jumped to P21.1 billion, almost 58 percent of the sales
reservations pre-pandemic.

The mall revenues saw a 10 percent growth in the fourth quarter from the previous one, amounting to
P1.7 billion. Meanwhile, the travel bubbles created by the tourism department helped in the recovery of
the property giant’s hospitality real estate, bringing a 52 percent increase in revenues quarter on
quarter.

Ayala Land’s ongoing projects: Crescendo and South Coast City (business district), ALogis (logistics
facilities), One Vertis Plaza (office building)

Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc.

2020 Net Income: P6.4 billion

The Villar-owned property firm earned P6.4 billion in 2020. Although it suffered a major blow, its
reservation sales grew 37 percent since the second quarter of 2020. The leasing operations also
increased to 95 percent operational gross floor area since their tenants are deemed essential.

Given this, the company maintains optimism in the real estate sector, believing that it will soon recover
from its losses. The forecasted growth of overseas remittances is one of the things the property
developer banks on.

Vista Land’s ongoing projects: Kizuna Heights, Sky Arts Manila, Vista Pointe, Symphony Towers, Pine
Crest (vertical residential)

Robinsons Land Corporation

2020 Net Income: P5.26 billion

The Gokongwei-owned property firm bagged P5.26 billion in the year of the pandemic. The company’s
development portfolio exhibited strength amid the health crisis, as it grew by 30 percent to P12.26
billion. This made up for the slump in the investment portfolio, which posted a 38 percent decrease
from 2019.

Marking signs of recovery, the net income in the fourth quarter was up by 20 percent compared to the
previous quarter, totaling P863 million.

Robinsons Land’s ongoing projects: Sierra Valley Gardens and The Velaris Residences (vertical
residential), Forbes Estates (horizontal residential)

DMCI Homes

2020 Net Income: P1.9 billion

The property arm of the infrastructure conglomerate DMCI Holdings acquired P1.9 billion in 2020. The
slower construction activity and unit turnovers, as well as the higher construction costs, during the
pandemic caused a huge blow to the property giant’s income. Recovering from this decline, the
company saw a higher bottomline of P1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2021.

DMCI Homes’ ongoing projects: Allegra Garden Place, Brixton Place, and The Camden Place (vertical
residential)

Century Properties

2020 Net Income: 1.15 billion

Experiencing a 22 percent slump from 2019, the Antonio-led property firm posted a P1.15 billion net
income in 2020. The decline, however, was at the levels the property firm predicted and geared up for.
Despite the downturn in income, the affordable housing and office leasing segments commanded
strength in 2020, as they represented 93 percent of the net income, up from 43 percent last year.

Century Properties’ ongoing projects: The Resort Residences at Azure North (vertical residential) and
Batulao Artscapes (horizontal residential),

Eton Properties

2020 Net Income: P802 million

The real estate brand of the Lucio Tan Group amassed P802 million last year amid the pandemic. In
2019, they had a P900 million net income. Despite the decline, the company was able to deliver
projects, such as the Blakes Tower, an office and residential building in Makati.
Eton Properties’ ongoing projects: Eton City Square 1 (retail and commercial center) and Parklinks
(mixed-use development)

Anchor Land

2020 Net Income: P349.65 million

Earning P349.65 million in 2020, this upscale property developer also saw a drop in sales from the
recorded P824.57 million in 2019, according to Business World. The slowdown in construction projects
delayed completion and restricted the selling activities of the company.

However, the rental income during the pandemic year rose by 31 percent to P1.02 billion, particularly
earned in The Centrium. The property firm believes that quick recovery is possible, as the economic
downturn is only temporary.

Anchor Land’s ongoing projects: One Legacy Grandsuites and Cornell Parksuites (vertical residential),
One Financial Center, (office building), Recto Logistics and Rosan Logistics (logistics facilities)

Despite the slowdown in real estate activities, property firms managed to keep their operations afloat,
embracing innovations and witnessing the resilience of particular business segments. Overall, the strong
performance of the property industry amid the most challenging crises is a testament to its reliable
stability.

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Philippines Tokyo 2020 Olympics medal winners - the final list

8 AUG 2021
TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 07: Carlo Paalam of Team Philippines poses on the podium for a photo with his
silver medal during the medal ceremony for the Men's Fly (48-52kg) on day fifteen of the Tokyo 2020
Olympic Games at Kokugikan Arena on August 07, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Luis Robayo -
Pool/Getty Images)

TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 07: Carlo Paalam of Team Philippines poses on the podium for a photo with his
silver medal during the medal ceremony for the Men's Fly (48-52kg) on day fifteen of the Tokyo 2020
Olympic Games at Kokugikan Arena on August 07, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Luis Robayo -
Pool/Getty Images)

©2021 Getty Images

Find out every medallist from the Philippines.

Gold medallists:

Hidilyn Diaz, weightlifting, women's 55kg

Silver medallists:

Nesthy Petecio, boxing, women's feather

Carlo Paalam, boxing, men's flyweight

Bronze medallists:

Eumir Marcial, boxing, men's middle

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