Bullish on Philippine stocks

019, the Year of the Earth Pig, will be a year of abundance and positive vibes according to Oriental astrology. Its immediate predecessor was 1959, when the Philippine post-war economy was flourishing under then President

Carlos P. Garcia, who pursued the “Filipino

First” policy. Like

1959, 2019 is also a midterm election year in the country.

On New Year’s Eve 2018, the city government of Taguig and Bonifacio Global City (BGC) teamed up to host the grandest countdown in town. For the first time, it was staged along the strip of BGC’s Fifth Avenue between the new Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) headquarters, One Bonifacio High Street Mall, Shangri-La at the Fort, and High Street Central.

Heavy rains did not dampen the BGC celebration, which could become an annual tradition and serve as Manila’s counterpart to the iconic ball drop at Times Square in New York City. It also signaled BGC’s emergence as the country’s premier financial district rivaling Ayala Avenue in Makati City, which has discontinued its New Year’s Eve countdown festivities since 2013.

Aside from the PSE, other financial institutions and some government agencies have transferred or are planning to transfer their main offices to BGC. In many cases, the site of a stock market is a magnet for investors and locators from both the public and private sectors. Classic examples are Binondo district in Manila, Ortigas Center straddling the cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig, as well as the Makati central business district.

Studies on stock market performance during presidential election years abound, but not for midterm election years. There has been no clear pattern yet judging from the last four midterms: local stocks de-