H1 real-estate loans on the rise, up 6.8%

Details

 

Category: Top News

20 Nov 2013 

 

Written by Bianca Cuaresma

EXPOSURE of Philippine banks to the real-estate industry grew larger in the first half of the year, as banks offered more property loans, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Wednesday. 

The real-estate exposure (REE) of universal, commercial and thrift banks hit P900.1 billion as of end-June this year. This was about 6.8 percent higher, compared with the March REE level. 

Total REE is about 21.7 percent of the entire banking system’s total loan portfolio, which amounted to P4.2 trillion during the period in review. 

Larger real-estate loans (RELs) mainly drove the expansion of the banks’ wider REE in the first six months of the year. 

Of the P900.1-billion total REE amount, about 84.7 percent was in the form of property loans; the remaining 15.3 percent were real-estate investments.

RELs grew to about P762.5 billion in the second quarter of the year. This was about 6.6 percent higher than the end-March level of P715.5 billion.

The BSP said RELs were used to finance the acquisition, construction and improvement of housing units.

Despite the growing exposure in this sector, the central bank gave assurance that level of residential real-estate loans remains manageable, as non-performing real-estate loans remained low, reported at 3.7 percent of the total residential RELs.

Investments in real-estate securities reached P127.7 billion at end-June this year. This was 8.3 percent higher compared with first-quarter level of P127.1 billion. 

The central bank expanded this year the reporting system for banks on their real-estate exposure, as part of a stricter monitoring of banks’ behavior to real-estate loans and securities. 

This new reporting system now includes loans to developers of socialized and low-cost housing, loans to individuals, loans supported by non-risk collaterals or Home Guarantee Corp. guarantees, as well as investments in securities to finance real-estate activities and the exposure of the banks’ trust departments to the property sector.

“In line with its financial stability objectives, the BSP is keeping an eye on measuring the whole landscape under the new coverage of bank’s exposure to the real-estate industry. The BSP is keen on monitoring the credit conditions that support the heightened activity in property development to prevent potential impairment of intermediation,” the central bank said in a statement.

Neda Board approves P184-billion projects

Details

 

Category: Top News

21 Nov 2013 

 

Written by Butch Fernandez

The Aquino Cabinet, sitting as the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Board, approved on Thursday seven major infrastructure projects with total cost of P184.2 billion.

In a marathon meeting chaired by President Aquino, the Neda Board gave the green light for the concerned government agencies to proceed with the spadework for the following projects:

■  Light Rail Transit Line 1 South Extension Project (P64.9 billion);

■ Metro Rail Transit 7 Project (P62.7 billion);

■ LRT Line 1 North Extension Project-Common Station (P1.4 billion);

■ Mactan-Cebu International Airport New Passenger Terminal Project (P17.5 billion);

■ Development of Transportation System at Food Terminal Inc.  and Philippine Reclamation Authority under the Public-Private Partnership Program (P7.7 billion);

■ Modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center (P 5.6 billion); and

■ Bulacan Bulk Water Supply Project (P24.4 billion).

The LRT Line 1 project involves the extension of the existing LRT Line 1 South, which currently covers 21 stations from Roosevelt Avenue to Monumento (North Link) to Baclaran with a total length of service line stretching 20.7 kilometers. The extension project will extend this service line by 11.7 kilometers covering 10 more stations and will pass through Parañaque and Las Piñas up to Bacoor, Cavite.

The MRT 7 project involves the construction of a 22.8-kilometer rail system from North Avenue station on Edsa in Quezon City, passing through Commonwealth Avenue, Regalado Avenue and Quirino Highway up to the proposed Intermodal Transportation Terminal in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, which will cover 14 stations.

The LRT North project involves the provision of a common station among LRT 1, MRT 3 and MRT 7, as well as road-based transportation systems. Head-to-head platforms for LRT 1 and MRT 3 with a 147.4-meter elevated walkalator to MRT 7 at North Avenue will be constructed.

The Mactan-Cebu airport project involves the construction of new passenger terminal, renovation of existing terminal, operation and maintenance of both the new and the existing passenger terminals during the entire concession period and relocation of Air Force facilities.

The fifth project approved by the Neda Board involves the development of two mass-transportation terminals at the southern outskirts of Metro Manila to be located at the following:

·         South–Slex Terminal at the FTI Property in FTI Compound, Taguig City, to serve passengers traveling to and from Laguna and Batangas

·         South–Coastal Road Terminal at PRA Property beside Asiaworld/Uniwide along Manila-Cavite Expressway (R-1) Expressway in Parañaque City to serve passengers traveling to and from Cavite.

The Neda Board also approved the modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center. The government aims to develop a “super specialty tertiary orthopedic hospital” with a 700-bed capacity. It also played the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System’s Bulacan bulk water supply project, which will provide potable water supply to Bulacan.

“The rail projects will connect the train systems and make it convenient for passengers to transfer from one train to another. This will also help reduce passengers’ travel time,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said.

“The Mactan-Cebu International Airport project will enhance the operational efficiency of the airport and will also provide convenience for airport passengers. The transport-terminal project will make various modes of transportation accessible to people coming from nearby provinces to commute to and from Metro Manila. It will also ease traffic along Edsa.”

A call for integration of earthquake-proof principles

• 
• 

Details

 

Category: Properties

05 Nov 2013 

AN Italian architect who grew up in a country infamous for its frequent earthquakes and old Roman structures has opined that, following the deadly tremor in the Visayas, local architects and builders should now fully incorporate earthquake-proof principles when building structures in the country.

“Italy and the Philippines have many similarities when it comes to natural calamities, particularly volcanic activity and earthquakes, which is why the two countries can learn from each other in terms of construction,” said Romolo V. Nati, executive chairman and CEO of the Italian-Filipino firm Italpinas Euroasian Design and Eco-Development Corp. (ITPI).

“For Italians, building quake-proof structures is not just an option. Every time we design in Italy, we have to consider that we are building something in an earthquake-prone country,” said Nati, who took up architecture and graduated summa cum laude from La Sapienza University in Rome.

Nati now calls the Philippines his home, having set up ITPI, which is an affiliate of the renewable-energy firm Constellation Energy Corp., with business partner and ITPI President Atty. Jojo Leviste in 2009. They also started building a 10-story condominium in Cagayan de Oro City—Primavera Residences, which is the first and only sustainable building in Mindanao.

The Philippines is situated in the Pacific Ring of Fire, a region encircling the Pacific where frequent seismic and volcanic activities occur. According to the Asia-Pacific Environment Outlook released by the United Nations Environment Programme, the country experiences an average of five earthquakes a day due to its location between two of the world’s most active tectonic plates.

Italy, on the other hand, lies at the meeting point of the European and African tectonic plates, experiences frequent geological movement, and has well-defined fault lines, which earned its reputation as one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world.

Nati said one way to prevent structural damage brought about by earthquakes is by building tubo cavo (hollow tube) or tube-shaped structures, which is the best shape to react to stress and opposing forces within the earth.

“The shape of the building must be done in such a way that it optimizes the building’s capability to adapt to seismic activity. The tube structure is the best shape to withstand forces and ground motion brought about by earthquakes.” He also pointed to bamboo as an example from nature: its tubular structure combines strength and lightness, having evolved to withstand stress in a way that modern architectural principles can emulate.

According to Nati, apart from the building’s design and size, its materials should also flex rather than resist ground motion during earthquakes.

“There is a misconception that buildings have to be very rigid to survive earthquakes when, in fact, they have to be flexible. Structures made from bricks and stones are very rigid, and in order to retrofit them to make them a safer place in case of earthquakes, they need to be reinforced with steel structures to render them earthquake-resistant,” explained Nati.

Leviste said Nati has made sure all these earthquake-proof principles have been incorporated in ITPI’s premier condo project, Primavera Residences. He emphasized that safety is ITPI’s number-one priority when it comes to designing and putting up buildings.

“Since the building started construction in 2010, several earthquakes have hit Cagayan de Oro City, but Primavera Residences has sustained no damage,” said Leviste.

A magnitude-5.3 earthquake was recently felt in CDO following the 7.2-magnitude quake that shook Bohol and Cebu. Leviste said the quake caused some local buildings to develop cracks, but it brought no damage to Primavera Residences.

Set up in 2009, ITPI has partnerships with Investment & Capital Corporation of the Philippines (ICCP) Group of Companies, the leading independent investment bank in the country and the owner of a land development estate in Northern Mindanao; Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), Board of Investments (BOI), Philippine Green Building Council (PGBC), Pueblo de Oro Development Corp.; and First Oriental Development Corp. (FODC), a triple-AAA contractor that specializes in green construction, Habitat for Humanity Philippines, and Compassion and Responsibility for Animals (CARA) Welfare Philippines.

---

In Photo: Primavera’s earthquake-resistant attributes have prevented the building from incurring damages from several earthquakes since 2010. (Right photo) ITPI uses state-of-the-art software products to design the structures of its buildings so that they are able to withstand major natural calamities, such as earthquakes and typhoons. The computer-generated simulations show the reactions of the structure from various strains coming from different directions.