Maniolas

SOME 600 business leaders are expected to participate in the upcoming Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia-East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga) and Indonesia, Malaysia Thailand-Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Business Leaders Conference on October 23 at the SMX Convention Center. The business conference is one of the two major events during the 2nd BIMP-Eaga and IMT-GT Business Leaders’ Conference and Trade Fair on October 22 to 26. Mindanao Development Authority (Minda) Executive Director Undersecretary Janet M. Lopoz told reporters on Tuesday that some of the foreign delegates they are expecting will be coming from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Brunei, and China. The one-day conference will tackle issues that need to be addressed and opportunities that can be taken advantage in the sub-economic regions with the upcoming Asean Integration in 2015. With the theme of “Realizing the Opportunities on Asean Integration,” the conference will include key sessions on “Asean Economic Community 2015: Transforming Asean Economies,” “Connectivity: Expanding Growth Beyond Borders,” “Harnessing the full Potentials of Agribusiness in the Sub-regions,” and “The Future of Tourism in BIMP-Eaga and IMT-GT.” “The conference will promote an understanding and appreciation among stakeholders of the role and importance of sub-regional groupings in ensuring that the goals of the AEC are substantially, if not entirely, achieved in 2015,” said Romeo Montenegro, Minda director for investment promotions and public affairs, in an email. The organizers have invited President Benigno Aquino III but has yet to give his final confirmation. Other dignitaries who are expected to attend the event include: Read More …

THE Department of Energy (DOE) awarded 37 proponents of 85 hydropower plant projects in Mindanao with service contracts as of July 2014. “When we say they have been awarded it means that they have been issued with a service contract by DOE and these companies are in their pre-development stage,” said Engr. Rolando J. Fara-on, DOE Mindanao senior science research specialist. He said the pre-development stage is when the company complies with the needed documents, certificates, endorsements, and the conduct of feasibility studies. Based on the data provided by the DOE Mindanao Field, the proponents include power firms, electric cooperatives, and local government units (LGUs). Electric cooperatives and LGUs who are project proponents are the LGUs of Impasugong and Malita, South Cotabato I Electric Cooperative Inc., First Bukidnon Electric Cooperative Inc., Bukidnon II Electric Cooperative Inc, Davao del Sur Electric Cooperative Inc., LGU of Malita, Misamis Occidental 1 Electric Cooperative, and Misamis Occidental II Electric Cooperative. Power firms who are project proponents are Phil Carbon Inc., Meadowland Developers Inc., Euro Hydro Power (Asia) Holdings, Inc., Epower Technologies Corp., Repower Energy Development Corporation, Epower Technologies Corp., First Gen (FGen) Mindanao Hydro Power Corp., FGen Bubunawan Hydro Corporation, FGen Tagoloan Hydro Corporation, United Holdings Power Corporation (UHPC), Sta. Clara Power Corporation, Philnewriver Power Corp, Oriental Energy and Power Generation Corp., Hedcor Bukidnon Inc., Matic Hydropower Corporation, UHPC Bukidnon Hydro Power I Corporation, PhilNew Hydro Power Corporation, Turbines Resources & Development Corporation, Mindanao Energy Systems, JE Hydropower Ventures, Hedcor Tamugan Inc., LGS Renewable Read More …

WE KNOW this by now, and we acknowledge this fact: overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are indeed the new heroes of the country. Despite unrest in the overseas markets where they work, their contributions to the economy continue to increase unabated. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) estimates that for the first half of this year alone, their contribution to the national coffers by way of inward remittances has reached $12.7 billion, some 12 percent better than in the same period last year. This despite the fact that many of their traditional work places in the Middle East have been in intense conflict situations, and notwithstanding the forced repatriation of thousands of their colleagues from these strife-torn locations. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration estimates that today, there are about 2.3 million Filipinos working abroad at any one time. This is equivalent to a fairly large city in the Philippines, something just under the size of present-day Quezon City. However, the demographic impact is more telling than just the mere numbers suggest. Most OFWs are the sole breadwinners in the families; the father, mother or eldest sibling, working abroad to support family in the Philippines. This means that about 2.3 million families are directly affected by the OFW phenomenon, assuming that one OFW worker belongs to one household back home. At least 10 percent of all Filipino households know what it means to have one member of the family abroad, a staggering amount by any measure. The sad tales are familiar. Money Read More …

LAST Feb. 12, 2004, Sangwoo Philippines, Inc. (SPI) notified its employees who are members of Sangwoo Philippines, Inc. Employees Union (SPEU) of its permanent closure and cessation of business operation effective March 16, 2004 due to serious economic losses and financial reverses. The notice was posted in conspicuous places within the company premises. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) was furnished a copy of the notice last Feb. 13, 2004, together with a separate letter notifying it of the company’s permanent closure. SPEU was also furnished with a copy. In a case filed by SPEU against SPI, the labor arbiter (LA), the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) and the Court of Appeals (CA) found that SPI complied with the notice requirement before closure of business. Did they err? The Supreme Court (Second Division) ruling: Yes. Article 297 of the Labor Code provides that before any employee is terminated due to closure of business, it must give a one month’s prior written notice to the employee and to the DOLE. In this relation, case law instructs that it is the personal right of the employee to be personally informed of his proposed dismissal as well as the reasons for it; and such requirement of notice is not a mere technicality or formality which the employer may dispense with. Since the purpose of previous notice is to, among others, give the employee some time to prepare for the eventual loss of his job, the employer has the positive duty to inform Read More …