Maniolas

Design of the proposed Manila Bay Resorts by Universal Entertainment chaired by Kazuo Okada, among Japan’s richest men. Universal Entertainment/Released MANILA, Philippines — Billionaire Japanese gaming magnate Kazuo Okada who controls Universal Entertainment Corp. was cleared from a bribery case by Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, the firm said. The gaming corporation, affiliate of Philippine company Tiger Resorts Leisure and Entertainment Inc., said that no sufficient evidence was found against Okada in bribery charges linked to the construction of $2-billion Manila Bay Resorts casino project. Arellano reportedly asked Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to terminate the investigation into the “groundless suspicion” that Universal offered bribes to officials of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor). “It was decided on Dec. 16, 2014 not to institute prosecution against Mr. Kazuo Okada, chairman of the board of the company against whom a criminal complaint and charge had been filed b ysomeone with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office for bribery to public officials,” Universal said in a filing to Jasdaq on Monday. Okada was under investigation by the Department of Justice, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation and Nevada’s gaming agency for bribery. Complaints alleged that Okada offered about P5 million worth of payments and gifts to Pagcor officials. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 RELATED: Pagcor chief urges Okada to resolve cases before casino opens

MANILA, Philippines – The National Power Corp. (Napocor) is seeking to recover generation and foreign exchange costs incurred as a result of its mandate of providing electricity to consumers not connected to the main grid. The proposed recoveries, if approved, would result in higher electricity rates for the state-run power generation firm’s  consumers in the far-flung areas.  Napocor has filed separate petitions before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for the recoveries.  These are the 12th application for the recovery of the incremental costs on foreign exchange fluctuations under the so-called incremental currency exchange rate adjustment (ICERA) and the deferred accounting adjustments known as the generation rate adjustment mechanism (GRAM). ICERA seeks to recover costs on foreign exchange rate fluctuations while GRAM seeks to recover deferred fuel costs incurred in providing power in missionary areas.   In its ICERA petition, Napocor is seeking to recover P8.996 million spread over 12 months for an additional monthly charge of P0.0194 per kilowatt-hour to be charged to end-consumers in Napocor-Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) areas. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “This application seeks the Honorable Commission’s approval for the recovery of total deferred forex costs for the billing period July 2013 to December 2013,” Napocor said. For GRAM, Napocor is seeking to recover P1.652 billion incurred from July to December 2013 and to be recovered in two years. This would translate to additional charges of P1.8279 per kilowatt-hour for off-grid customers in Luzon, P2.1585 per kwh for those in Mindanao Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines will actively push for a proposal seeking for the duty-free entry of goods produced in areas hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda to the US in the first quarter of next year, the Department of Trade and Industry said.  “We’ll see in the first quarter of next year. We’ll make a push for it,” Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo told reporters. He said the Philippine government will have to wait until early 2015 to press for the draft bill which will give duty-free  access of goods produced in areas devastated by Typhoon Yolanda to the US. Domingo said the government already has a draft bill, but will still need to find a sponsor for the proposal.  The proposal is being pursued to help spur economic activity in the typhoon-affected areas.  Domingo said there are opportunities for firms engaged in the manufacture of garments, handicraft and food products in the typhoon-affected areas. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Earlier, the government was pushing for the Save Our Industries Act (SAVE) which seeks to give duty-free entry for Philippine-made apparel using American fabrics to the US. The SAVE Act first filed in Washington in 2009, is considered the key to save the local garments sector amid the decline in export sales and jobs after the World Trade Organization’s elimination of quota on shipments in 2005.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has totally abandoned plans to put up a P2.4 billion parallel runway and is instead looking at putting up a new passenger terminal building to accommodate passengers at the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya is now looking at putting up a new passenger terminal building in the supposed location of the proposed parallel runway and at the same time push through with the NAIA runway optimization project. The proposed 2,100-meter parallel runway was supposed to increase airport capacity shortfall by allowing more take-offs and landings. However, Abaya said a Netherlands-based consultant recommended the construction of a new terminal instead of putting up a parallel runway. The DOTC has tapped To70 managing director Ruud Ummels to study the feasibility of the proposed NAIA Terminal 5 in front of the Lufthansa Teknik Philippines. The Netherland’s based company edged US-based MITRE and NATS of the United Kingdom that pused for the construction of a parallel runway to increase the capacity of NAIA’s intersecting runway to about 60 to 70 movements per hour or about 40 per hour. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “The consultant said the main thing to do is preserve your main runway, maximize your main runway, try to eliminate all forms of obstructions or delays on it, keep planes off it most of the time. Given that as your main objective in runway optimization, planes crossing that is definitely not Read More …