Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Off-grid energy producer DMCI Power Corp. (DPC) has gained tax breaks for its P620-million power facility which will provide 10 megawatts (MW) of supply in Palawan by year-end. The Board of Investments (BOI) recently granted DPC a six-year income tax holiday for its 2×4.95-MW bunker-fired power plant in Aborlan, Palawan, the company said in a statement. “This incentive will effectively lower DPC’s true cost of generation charge, in the end benefitting the electricity consumers of Palawan,” said DPC president Nestor Dadivas said. The tax holiday will be applied once the Aborlan facility begins its commercial operations or six years from December 2016, whichever is earlier. DPC is investing around P620 million to build the facility which will contribute nearly 10 MW of electricity to the Palawan grid. “Construction of the Aborlan plant is proceeding as scheduled. We expect it to go online by year-end,” added Dadivas. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Aborlan is a first-class municipality located 69 kilometers south of Puerto Princesa City, with an estimated population of over 32,000. Power projects in missionary areas qualify for pioneer status under the BOI’s 2014 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP). DPC’s entitlement to the tax incentive was determined based on its project’s ability to contribute to the economy’s development as measured by its net value added, new jobs generated, multiplier effect and measured capacity. Apart from Palawan, the company also provides power to Masbate, Calapan, Oriental Mindoro and Sultan Kudarat through supply contracts with electric Read More …

Why on earth would a public official, whose office has nothing to do with health whatsoever, head a Philippine delegation to an international conference that deals with public health issues? The Philippines is one of the 180 parties to a treaty called the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). So it was only proper that the country send an official delegation to attend the Seventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP7) to the WHO FCTC which was held in Delhi, India from Nov. 7-12. The COP is the governing body of the WHO FCTC and is comprised of all parties to the Convention. It regularly reviews the implementation of the Convention and makes the decisions necessary to promote its effective implementation. And who was the head of the Philippine delegation? No less than Civil Service Commission (CSC) chair Alicia dela Rosa-Bala. She may have extensive experience in social work, having been undersecretary of the Social Welfare and Development department and took social work studies both as undergraduate and graduate degrees, but to support an outright ban on electronic cigarettes or vape devices in the Philippines as an official country position? Two local e-cigarette consumer groups criticized Bala for supporting a proposal presented at the COP7 that would allow an outright ban of electronic cigarettes or vape devices in the Philippines without prior consultation with the local vaping community. Vapers Philippines spokesperson Mark Erana said that according to fellow vapers in Europe, Bala as head Read More …

A year-on-year growth rate of 7.1 percent for the third quarter of 2016 assures the Philippine economy is on a high growth path. This, however, is happening during a time when adverse short term developments are enveloping the economy. The question then is whether the high growth rates targeted in the near future are still in play. Though the external climate is getting more complex for the world as well as for the Philippine economy, there are strong domestic factors that continue to favor sustaining a high growth rate in the next few years. Changing macro picture? Recently, the stock market has been battered badly by net fund outflows from portfolio investors. The last close of the PSE index was just under 7,000 (actually, 6,979 on Nov. 21) from its peak of 8,127 (sometime in August). Such net investment fund outflows have contributed to the drop in the value of the peso. The peso has now depreciated to a level almost close to P49.95 to the dollar (Nov. 21), representing a 7.8-percent decline from P46.32 to the dollar in Aug. 21. These are large fluctuations. Stock market values get influenced by short term factors more easily. In similar ways, exchange rates can be influenced heavily by short term factors and are susceptible to speculative influences. Of course, the movements of the stock market are only an indicator of investor sentiment and does not represent the real economy. The main driver for the fluctuations in capital market values is the long Read More …

Project Managers should learn the core concepts and best practices in project management. MANILA, Philippines – Projects are a constant part of everyone’s life. Whether applied in work, business, or in certain facets of life, we have done projects. There are projects which are simple while others are complex. Some projects are inexpensive while some are costly.  There are projects that can be done alone while most projects are done with team members. Projects can be frustrating and yet fun to implement. How do we manage projects successfully based on requirements of business?  The role of Project Managers are critical in managing projects, and as such, Project Managers should learn the core concepts and best practices in project management. It is essential and imperative for Project Managers to acquire skill sets and to understand the life cycle of project management. This two-day course is designed to drill down participants on the founding principles and practices in project management. The discussions are designed to be simple and straightforward for easy understanding, appreciation and application irrespective of professional orientation and background. Workshops and exercises are infused into the course intended to expose project managers to two of the most powerful and purposeful project management techniques, eg., the Critical Path Method and Earned Value Analysis.  The seminar will require participants to come up with short presentation on sample project brief document. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Key seminar topics 1.    What is a Project – what it is not, and what Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Total investments registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) plunged 38 percent in the 10 months to October as political uncertainties created at the start of the Duterte administration likely put a damper on investor interest. Data provided by the office of new PEZA director general Charito Plaza yesterday showed investment pledges approved by the agency as of end-October this year reached P107.34 billion, lower than the P174.27 billion recorded by the agency in the same period last year. Property consultants interviewed by The STAR agreed the slowdown may have been caused by President Duterte’s rhetoric. Duterte early in his term had unleashed verbal assaults against long-time Philippine allies such as the US and the European Union which, in turn, caused concern from investors in these parts of the world. Plaza, who assumed office only a little over a month ago, is confident investment pledges would pick up in the coming months, especially after Duterte’s successful state visits in countries like China, Japan, Malaysia and those in the Middle East. Plaza said the investment approvals could also easily grow to P300 billion to P500 billion annually in the next two to three years following the agency’s new thrusts in ecozone development under her watch. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Investors are really waiting to invest in the Philippines, an example of which is when I went to the Middle East. Almost all countries in the world want to invest outside,” she said. Read More …