Pacquiao hopes past meeting with Biden will accelerate Moderna vaccines delivery to PH

Sen. Manny Pacquiao on Monday said he hopes his personal meeting with United States President Joe Biden about a year ago would help speed up the delivery of Moderna vaccines to the Philippines.

The boxer-turned-senator, who met then-Vice President Joe Biden before a 2011 fight in Las Vegas, sent a letter to the White House last month to urge the American government to prioritize the Philippines in the delivery of US-made vaccines.

"Nagulat ako dahil medyo nababagalan ako sa pagdeliver ng vaccine dito sa atin. 'Yung ibang bansa, massive na ang vaccination nila," Pacquiao told reporters in an online press conference.

(I was surprised because the delivery of vaccines to the Philippines is slow. Other countries already have massive vaccination programs.)

"Sa tingin ko naman kilala niya (Biden) din ako so makakatulong yung sulat natin," he said, referring to the correspondence he sent to the While House on April 10.

(I think he knows me so our letter will help.)

"Sinusubukan natin na magkaroon tayo ng direct line with US President Biden. 'Yun ang winowork out natin ngayon," he said.

(We are trying to establish a direct line with US President Biden. That's what we're working out now.)

Moderna is planning to deliver about 200,000 doses to the Philippines by mid-June, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez earlier said.

Pacquaio said he hopes his letter would help accelerate the deliveries within this month.

"Within this month sana ang request ko. By May kung kaya ng Amerika," he said.

(I requested if they could deliver it by this month. By May if America can do it.)

The White House has yet to respond to the request, the senator said.

Pacquiao belied observations that his letter to the White House and attempts to have a direct line with the president of the world's largest economy is part of his posturing for the 2022 national elections.

"Hindi naman sa inuunahan ko ang ating Pangulo. Ginagawa lang natin kung ano ang puwede nating magawa," said the senator, who is reportedly gunning to be president next year.

"Baka makatulong. Hindi naman ito para sa akin o sa aking pamilya," he said.

(It might help. This is neither for me nor for my family.)

The Philippines started its COVID-19 inoculation program in March with Sinovac and AstraZeneca jabs.

Some 15,000 Sputnik V vaccines from Russia arrived over the weekend, with 485,000 more doses expected in the coming months.

The Palace earlier said the Philippines is looking to vaccinate 70 million Filipinos before the end of the year.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/03/21/pacquiao-hopes-past-meeting-with-biden-will-accelerate-moderna-vaccines-delivery-to-ph

SM to open 3 new malls in 2021 despite COVID-19 struggles

SM Prime is keen on opening malls in Camarines Norte, Capiz, and Caloocan City

Despite the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, property and mall developer SM Prime Holdings still intends to open 3 new malls in 2021.

The Sy-led company is opening malls in Daet City, Camarines Norte; Roxas City, Capiz; and Caloocan City.

SM said these plans are still subject to local government units' guidelines and the prevailing quarantine classification.

The new malls, as well as the expansion of some existing malls, will add almost 270,000 square meters of gross floor area to SM's retail space.

"We welcomed 2021 with high hopes as most areas in the Philippines, including Metro Manila, were placed under GCQ (general community quarantine) in the 1st quarter of 2021. Along with the sustained growth of our residential business, our mall affiliates together with many of our SME (small and medium enterprise) partners were able to reopen their shops, allowing our mall business segment to perform better," SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim said.

Mall earnings

SM Prime saw some "slight recovery" in its earnings in the 1st quarter of 2021, as mobility restrictions due to the pandemic eased.

Consolidated net income stood at P6.5 billion in the January-March period.

On a year-on-year basis, that is lower by 21.7%. But on a quarter-to-quarter basis, it is an almost 80% growth from the P3.6 billion in the 4th quarter of 2020.

Meanwhile, revenues in the 1st quarter of 2021 stood at P20.8 billion, 19% lower than in the same period last year and almost the same as in the 4th quarter of 2020.

SM Prime's mall business got P5.9 billion in revenues, 9.4% higher than the 4th quarter's P5.3 billion, but only a little over half of the P11.3 billion in revenues on a year-on-year basis.

The quarter-on-quarter growth was driven by revenues of operating mall tenants, which stood at P5.6 billion.

SMDC

Meanwhile, its residential business, SM Development Corporation (SMDC), reported a 5% revenue growth of P11.9 billion in the 1st quarter of 2021 from the P11.4 billion in the same period last year. This accounted for 57% of the company's consolidated revenues.

Reservation sales surged 31% to P32.4 billion.

The newly launched residential projects that are located in Metro Manila such as Gold Residences in Parañaque City, South 2 Residences in Las Piñas City, Mint Residences in Makati City, Sands Residences in the City of Manila, and Sail Residences in Pasay City accounted for almost 70% of the reported reservation sales.

SMDC aims to launch 15,000 to 20,000 residential units in 2021.

SM Prime's other business segments, which include offices as well as hotels and convention centers, contributed P1.6 billion to the company's consolidated revenues.

https://www.rappler.com/business/sm-prime-earnings-report-q1-2021