Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Local and foreign investors are encouraged to set up operations in General Santos City’s new economic zone to take advantage of growth opportunities in the area. In a statement, the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. said locating in the new economic zone will allow firms to take advantage of economic benefits. The GenSan Economic Zone was designated as a Special Economic Zone under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority by President Aquino through Proclamation 820 dated July 3. The 50-hectare economic zone is expected to contribute to the goal of achieving inclusive growth in the countryside, particularly in Mindanao. As SOCSKSARGEN (South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, General Santos City) is seen to be a strategic location in the East Association of Southeast Asian Nations Growth Area, the new economic zone is expected to attract investments from the region’s member states and even other countries. The GenSan Economic Zone is being promoted as the premier manufacturing economic zone in the Southern part of the country. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The new economic zone located in Brgy. Tamber in General Santos City is within a five-kilometer distance from key ports such as Makar Wharf and General Santos City Fishport Complex as well as the General Santos International Airport. Investors planning to locate in the economic zone could enjoy income tax holidays (ITH) for four years, extendable up to eight years. Locators are also entitled to five-percent special tax on gross income and exemption from all national Read More …

Is there something your wife really wants? Is there something she really wishes to have? This is a question I often ask the married male participants whenever I’m invited to speak in marriage conferences. This question really makes them uncomfortable. And sometimes fills them with confusion, as illustrated below by these circulating jokes found in the Internet. “My wife was complaining that I spend too much time on the computer, and not enough time with her. I decided to fix that by having a “movie night” with her. We watched Hackers, The Net, Anti-Trust, You’ve Got Mail and The Matrix. She’s still mad at me.  What did I do?” A man walked into a dress shop and told the clerk he wanted to buy a surprise, a formal evening gown for his wife. The clerk asked, “what size?” The man shrugged blankly. Trying to help, the clerk inquired, “Well then, what are your wife’s measurements?” Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The man thought for a moment, “small, medium and large and in that order.” You should know what your wife really loves. But suppose that you finally figured out the one thing she really loves and that you finally got it for her to enjoy. What do you think would happen next? I came across this article a long time ago. It appeared in the April ‘85 issue of the Los Angeles Times.  A lady named Ann Wells wrote an article about treating everyday as a Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) is on track to meeting its full year profit guidance of P39.5 billion amid the lean season in the third quarter of the year. PLDT president and chief executive officer Napoleon Nazareno said the company was able to sustain the momentum in the first half of the year on the back of the strong performance of several business segments.  “Its okay, third quarter is normally a lean quarter seasonally. Our bottom line is on track as we what we have given in terms of guidance in the first half results,” he said. Nazareno said the PLDT Group has set a core income target of P39.5 billion this year and in the neighborhood of P9 billion for the third quarter of the year. This year’s core income target is two percent higher compared to P38.7 billion in 2012. According to him, the drivers of growth for the third quarter would still be the same as the first half of the year including data, broadband, voice, and short messaging system (SMS) or text messages.  “The same as the first half including data, broadband, voice revenues and hopefully SMS will be more stable now,” Nazareno said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In the first half of the year, PLDT booked a two percent increase in core earnings to P19.83 billion from P19.39 billion in the same period last year as well as two percent rise in revenues to P82.5 Read More …

Globe Telecom President and CEO Ernest Cu and Alcatel Lucent Shanghai Bell COO Andrew Butterworth lead a ceremonial switch of first LTE-TDD site in Lahug, Cebu City. MANILA, Philippines – Globe Telecom is gearing up to expand its mobile ultra-broadband infrastructure in Visayas and Mindanao with the activation of its LTE-TDD and LTE-FDD services in the region. After signing a deal with France-based Alcatel-Lucent on September 17, the telecom is set to upgrade its wireless network infrastructure from WiMax to Long-Term Evolution Time-Division Duplex (LTE-TDD) and Frequency-Division Long-Term Evolution (LTE-FDD) ultra broadband access technologies. Globe President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ernest Cu said the rollout is part of the telecom’s continuing adoption of more advanced technologies for better connectivity, higher network capacity and faster transmission speeds to address the increasing demand for fast and reliable broadband service. “The activation of less than a week after we signed the partnership indicates the aggressive way we are going out to roll out LTE technologies moving forward onto the next year to further enhance mobile browsing experience of our customers,” Cu said. He added that the project is particularly important for people in the Visayas, who are still recovering from the onslaught of typhoon Yolanda last year. The project also supports the government’s efforts to expand the reach of broadband Internet services. “This project not only highlights how our LTE-TDD technology is expanding, but also continues the strong momentum of mobile ultra-broadband access in the Asia-Pacific region. As a key provider of Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – All prepaid subscribers of Smart, Talk ‘N Text and Sun Cellular can now enjoy free mobile Internet access, Philippine Long Distance Company Chair Manuel Pangilinan announced on Friday. By texting FREE to 9999, the three network’s prepaid users can access the Internet and use social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, stream music, access search engines, send and receive emails and shop online, among others. However, dowloading, streaming and watching videos (YouTube, Vimeo) and using VOIP apps (FaceTime, Skype, Viber), messaging apps (WhatsApp, WeChat, Line, Viber) and file-sharing sites are not covered by the promo. Smart said an active subscriber that has an available airtime balance of at least P1 or is subscribed to any load bucket/promo can avail of the offer, which will run until November 30 this year. Smart added that the promo has an inital 30-megabyte cap per day per subscriber, and is subject to the promo terms and fair use policy. “Internet access is a powerful stimulant to growth, and to improving the lives of people,” Pangilinan said.