Sep 172016
 
Group urges review of coal projects

MANILA, Philippines – The government is being urged to review and revoke clearances to build coal projects as the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) highlighted the dangers and worsening conditions in communities with coal-fired power plants. The PMCJ said it would raise the issues and sentiments of affected communities before the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). The group previously called for a moratorium on the issuance of Environmental Compliance Certificates (ECCs) to coal projects.  “More than a moratorium, we urge the DENR to review the ECCs issued to coal projects and revoke upon finding of serious breach compromising the health and environment of host communities,” said Aaron Pedrosa, PMCJ’s head of energy working group. Pedrosa said there is a clear and present danger arising from continued reliance in coal projects for the country’s energy requirements, enough reasons to abandon coal developments. “Coal-burning has been identified as the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions that is causing climate change. For a country identified as vulnerable to climate change impacts, promoting coal borders on the criminal as it would surely undermine the resiliency of communities to address climate change impacts from extreme weather events such as Yolanda to slow onset impacts like extreme El Niño,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In Luzon, eight coal fired power plants with 16 boiler units are already in the pipeline in Bataan, Quezon and Batangas, on top of the existing 22 plants. Citing a Harvard University Read More …

Sep 172016
 
A mighty story

Sep. 20 marks a very important date for the only wholly Filipino-owned cigarette manufacturing company as it celebrates its 71st anniversary. Mighty Corp. is a fully integrated tobacco company, with its factories located inside a nine-hectare property in Malolos, Bulacan, Philippines. It is engaged in both tobacco processing, which includes fermentation of tobaccos for the cigar-blended cigarillos, and cigarette manufacturing.  The company has two cigarette manufacturing plants and one tobacco processing plant. It also has a complete threshing and redrying plant, which supplies the necessary requirements for the cigarette manufacturing operations of the company. The two cigarette manufacturing facilities answer for the two major product lines of Mighty. Here is a description of Mighty’s operations as told by one of their most loyal employees: “The company boasts of a complete cigarette product line, the cigar blended cigarillos and the American blended cigarettes. The cigar blended cigarillos are a blend of dark air cured tobaccos. Its distinctive aroma and flavor has made the products of Mighty bywords in the Philippine cigarette market. “Mighty produces the well-known products of La Campana Fabrica De Tabacos and Alhambra Industries. The two product lines of these two companies have a combined history of over a century, dating back to the Spanish colonial period. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “These cigarillos are known as Cortos and Regaliz Largos. The flavors of these cigarettes are a combined distinct Cigar Aroma and the smoothness of fully aged and fermented tobaccos. They are wrapped in Read More …

Sep 162016
 
Change is not coming

What a tagline! Everywhere I go in the country, I open the line and say, “Change is….” and everyone in my audience will complete the line and say, “Change is coming.” It ranks as popular as the phrase, “It’s more fun in……the Philippines,” as my audience would declare and then smile and laugh about it. There are so many changes happening in the political scene and in the business scene, but what about changes that are not coming, at least in the immediate future? Well, let’s take a careful look into these things. Here are the things that will not change: 1. EDSA traffic will still be a problem and it would take time and immediate measures to improve the situation. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 2. Some politicians will still lie and steal, even though there is a higher sense of consciousness and apprehension these days. 3. Business will continue to be uncertain. 4. Business competitions will continue to rise. 5. Price competitions will always be there. 6. Technology will still churn out things that will change consumer behavior and will threaten many established industries. 7. You and I will grow old. 8. Life will still be laced with challenges and trials and the pace of it will add more stress to many of us. On the other hand, these are the good things that will not change: 1. Life is beautiful, especially if you wake up every morning and realize it is a gift Read More …

Sep 162016
 
Foreign debt rises to $77.7 B

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the country’s external debt stood at $77.72 billion in end-June, $2.72 billion higher than the $74.99 billion booked in end-June last year. STAR/File photo MANILA, Philippines – The country’s outstanding external debt rose 3.6 percent in the first half due largely to foreign exchange adjustments, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday. BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the country’s external debt stood at $77.72 billion in end-June, $2.72 billion higher than the $74.99 billion booked in end-June last year. The rise was traced to the $2.6 billion foreign exchange revaluation and other adjustments as well as $561 million from net availments. This was partly mitigated by the $424 million decline in non-resident investments in Philippine debt papers issued offshore. External debt refers to all types of borrowings by Philippine residents from non-residents. About 63 percent of the country’s external debt is denominated in US dollar while 12.5 percent is in Japanese yen. Furthermore, US dollar-denominated multi-currency loans from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank accounted for 12.5 percent while 7.1 percent was peso-denominated, 2.2 percent from the special drawing rights of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Euro with 1.2 percent. Despite the increase in the first half, Tetangco said the country’s key external debt indicators remained at comfortable levels. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Latest data released by the BSP showed the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) hit a new all-time high of $85.9 billion Read More …

Sep 162016
 
Economic managers nix proposed wage hike

The government’s economic team is unlikely to back the Department of Labor and Employment’s proposed P125 across-the-board wage hike for workers in the private sector as this would impede economic growth and bloat unemployment, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said. STAR/File photo MANILA, Philippines – The government’s economic team is unlikely to back the Department of Labor and Employment’s proposed P125 across-the-board wage hike for workers in the private sector as this would impede economic growth and bloat unemployment, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said. Citing data from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Lopez said the planned P125 across-the-board wage hike could slow the pace of the country’s economic acceleration placed at 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent to somewhere between 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent. He said the proposal would also expand the country’s unemployment rate to about 7.3 percent from a baseline of 6.1 percent. “Definitely overall, what this shows is inflation will go up. That is also one percentage point down for our gross domestic product. And unemployment rate would increase one percentage point more or less because obviously once prices go up, (companies) would cut on their workforce,” Lopez said. “So in other words it does not look good, so even NEDA does not support it. We (in DTI) will not support it definitely,” he added. DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello has earlier ordered all the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards to conduct nationwide consultations on the legislative measures proposing for a P125 across-the-board general wage increase Read More …

Sep 162016
 
More coffee talk

Many of you may have noticed that, alongside the many new restaurants and bars that have opened in the last few years not only here but in many progressive cities across the archipelago, there are as many new coffee shops that have also cropped up. There are Starbucks outlets in all malls and shopping districts, but alongside the foreign brands, our home grown brands like Bo’s Coffee of Cebu and Figaro cannot be far behind. Coffee has come of age in the Philippines, a mark of sophistication for many to be sure, but more importantly a shot in the arm for our neglected coffee farmers from Benguet to the far corners of Mindanao. Our local cafes now boast of being proud members of the third wave of coffee, and though this age has been around for some 10 years in the US and in Europe, it is still a big step forward for our local coffee industry.  And we have to thank our very active Philippine Coffee Board for this. We have come across two relatively new cafes in the metro that are among this “third wavers.” Cow & Chicken Before this restaurant/café opened, one of its owners, Junco Flores, was a barista extremely passionate about coffee.  From this passion stemmed his personal advocacy to support the Filipino coffee farmer.  All the coffee they serve at Cow & Chicken are locally sourced, primarily from Benguet farmers.  Very soon, they plan to tap the Batangas coffee farms and those from Mt. Read More …

Sep 162016
 
Index resumes downward trend

The stock market plunged 154.66 points or 2.006 percent to finish at 7,553.76 yesterday following a technical rally on Thursday. AP file photo/Bullit Marquez MANILA, Philippines – The stock market plunged 154.66 points or 2.006 percent to finish at 7,553.76 yesterday following a technical rally on Thursday. Analysts said the drop was expected following Thursday’s unusual jump . “Well I think majority of the decline was caused by the unusual jump yesterday on close – maybe due to last second index buying prompted by an oversold market. But because prices normalized off that heavy up sway, the negatives began to pile in. We still see corrective bias but the oversold state will cause hiccup rallies on occasion,” said Juanis Barredo, vice president and chief technical analyst at COL Financial. Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital said the market simply resumed its downward trend. “The Philippine markets resumed their downward trend as it took yesterday’s run up as an anomaly. The 7,700 resistance proved rather firm as we slipped closer back to the 7,500 level. Markets became choppy once more as investors continue to speculate on the upcoming US Fed rate hike decision next week,” he said. During yesterday’s session, the broader All Shares index also plunged 55.83 points or 1.21 percent. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 All counters likewise retreated into negative territory following Thursday’s upward trend. Total value turnover closed at P13.80 billion as foreign selling continued. Decliners edged out advancing stocks, 102 to Read More …