Maniolas

WINNING MukhAsim Smile: Cris, a small negosyante in the Malcapuya island. We are on our second leg of our sailing trip, bringing our kids to see how beautiful our provinces are. Our first leg, which I wrote about in my earlier column, was a visit to Moalboal, Oslob, Sumilon island and Bohol. It was a fantastic adventure. In the second leg, we took friends who have never been to Coron and Busuanga and they were amazed at how beautiful our country really is. Everyone hears about El Nido of Palawan and Boracay.  Indeed they are considered the best in the world, but Coron, Busuanga and the Calamines islands have great potential too. I have been 15 days at sea, just having to go home for some days to attend board meetings, as this is our only chance to sail when the sea is calm and our kids are on summer vacation and we are with friends to appreciate our own country and the different cultures of each area. The expansion of the big boys in tourism is happening now; Discovery just took over Club Paradise in Busuanga, the Regency Group of Boracay has started developments in Bohol and has taken over the best island in Coron called Malcapuya island. I just hope they don’t make this a high density hotel. Huma, owned by some foreign group, hopefully will be more accommodating to local tourist as we have been rejected from landing in the resort last year. The two Seasons group Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Canadian-owned Honeywell International Inc. and Houston-based Hughes Aerospace Corp. have donated instrument flight rules worth $300,000 for the  Daniel   Z.   Romualdez   Airport  in Tacloban that was destroyed by Super Typhoon Yolanda last November. Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) officials headed by director general William Hotchkiss lll and deputy director general John Andrews received the donation yesterday that would be deployed at the Tacloban airport making landings of aircraft possible even during night-time. Honeywell and Hughes Aerospace through its local representative DPS-SmartPath Naviagational Systems,Inc. donated the equipment. Andrews said the satellite based IFR would be installed in the airports in Dumaguete Butuan, Legaspi and Laguindingan. IFR are one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other are visual flight rules (VFR). During flight of aircraft under IFR, there are no visibility requirements, so flying through clouds (or other conditions where there is zero visibility outside the aircraft) is legal and safe. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The new navigation procedures would be used to improve aid, relief, recovery and rebuilding efforts for the Leyte region, Tacloban, and the surrounding areas following the catastrophic effects of the typhoon last Nov. 8. Honeywell and Hughes would absorb the entire cost of the development of these approaches at the airport to ensure that the flow of relief supplies is not impacted. Honeywell Aerospace vice president for airlines in the Asia Pacific Brian Davis said the effects of Typhoon Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) intends to implement programs that would increase awareness of the public and improve enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) to ensure the country would remain out of the Office of the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) Watch List. IPOPHL director general Ricardo Blancaflor said in a press conference    yesterday that while the country’s removal from the USTR’s list of countries with IPR violations and problems is a milestone, challenges remain such as internet piracy, changing technology and prosecution of those involved in the sale of counterfeit items.        “What steps do we have to take so we will not be back on the list? We    have to be vigilant,” he said.        The IPOPHL, Blancaflor said, would implement programs that would increase the awareness of the public on the importance of IPR so that they would    stop patronizing counterfeit products.        Based on a survey conducted by the agency, 54 percent of the respondents know about IPR.        “What we want is to bring this (54 percent) to 100 percent. They should not just have awareness, but also have respect for IP,” IPOPHL deputy director general Allan Gepty added.       Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1  The IPOPHL is working with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to come up with a model ordinance which would cover activities to raise the public’s IPR consciousness.        The IPOPHL is also continuing with the training of prosecutors on IPR.        The government, he Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Association of Flour Millers Inc. (PAFMIL) assures the public there would be no increase in bread prices despite the provisional duty imposed on Turkish flour imports. According to PAFMIL, there should be no upward movement in the price of bread products such as pan de sal and Pinoy Tasty as flour product prices are stable. The assurance was given amid concerns that there would be price increases following the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) decision to impose provisional anti-dumping duties on imported Turkish flour. “The public should not be unduly worried that bread prices will increase after the DA move. The higher bread price scenario is pure speculation and bereft of any basis,” PAFMIL executive director  Ric Pinca said. Trade Undersecretary Victorio Mario Dimagiba likewise said the imposition of additional anti-dumping duties on Turkish flour would not have any effect on the prices of pan de sal and Pinoy Tasty as bakers have given assurances that they would not raise their prices. Dimagiba said the price of the 450-gram Pinoy Tasty would remain at P37 per loaf, while that of pan de sal would stay at P22.50 for each 10-piece pack.  Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 While locally milled flour is used for these bread products, he said even the bread made from branded imported flour would not have any price increase. Philippine Federation of Bakers’ Associations, Inc. president Chito Chavez said his group is also not in favor of any increase Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Business Bank (PBB), the financial arm of the Yao Group of companies, posted a net income of P1 billion in 2013, up 53 percent from P654 million in 2012. PBB president & CEO Rolando Avante attributed the company’s strong performance to aggressive expansion program implemented last year. “With our well-diversified network and expanding regional presence, we are well-placed to connect our clients with opportunities be it in Luzon, Visayas or Mindanao,” he said. “Our 2013 performance underscores the sound fundamentals of our core banking. We achieved a resilient set of results, strengthened our balance sheet, and maintained a comfortable capital position. We built on the trust and confidence our clients and partners have in us through quality service and an expanding suite of financial products,” he added. Avante said the initial public offering (IPO) undertaken in  February 2013 fuelled the bank’s growth with total resources growing significantly by 42 percent to P47.16 billion in 2013 from P33.1 billion in 2012. The fresh capital from the IPO, he said, enabled the bank to further strengthen its foothold in the SME sector and grew its asset base aggressively – focusing on loan growth and use of the funds through the trading business. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Despite another challenging year marked by a low interest rate environment,  he said the bank’s total loan portfolio expanded by 51 percent to P31.6 billion from P20.869 billion in 2012. As of year-end 2013, 60 percent of Read More …