MANILA, Philippines – The peso moved flat against the dollar on Thursday, shedding 1.5 centavos to close at 43.6. Total volume transacted at the Philippine Dealing System amounted to $563.5 million, lower than the $781.3 million posted on Wednesday. The peso opened Thursday at 43.63.
MANILA, Philippines – Traders may have manipulated the prices of garlic in the market that resulted in the sudden increase of garlic at P280 per kilo in the market in the past few weeks. The Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food chaired by Sen. Cynthia Villar is looking into manipulation as the reason behind the soaring of garlic prices. “There is really manipulation because the cost of garlic at production cost is P 40 per kilo while imported garlic is pegged at 17 pesos per kilo with duty. How can P 17 and 40 pesos per kilo can go up to P 280 per kilo?,” Villar said. The Philippines produces only eight percent of the garlic supply in the market while the rest is being imported. “The prices are too high. If you sell it at P 100 per kilo, that’s understandable but P 280 per kilo is too much,” said Villar, who is unable to hide her disappointments with heads of government agencies who do not want to take responsibility for the garlic price increase. Villar slammed the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Agriculture for failure to provide consumer protection in the case of garlic.Production cost is too low relative to price. The concerned agencies also failed to fully implement the Price Control Act, she said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “There is no shortage in supply. They (traders) are just controlling the supply which is in the hands of Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – Private car owners are cooking up a nationwide protest against the new rules and regulations being implemented by agencies under the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC). In an event created on Facebook titled “National Rally on all LTO offices!” and hosted by certain Jay Magallanes along with Mike Zander Tumamao, Ishi Lee II, Philip Fernandez and Marvin Bondad, private car owners are urged to troop to the streets on Friday (July 4) to protest the higher fines being implemented along with the new rules and regulations by the Land Transportation Office and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB). Participants are encouraged to wear black shirt to show their dismay over the JOINT ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 2014 01 or the REVISED SCHEDULE OF FINES AND PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF LAWS, RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING LAND TRANSPORTATION. The buzz started from an article of motoring website Topgear.ph that drew negative reactions from private motorists. “Let us all do a Nationwide Simultaneous Rally on all LTO Offices regarding our disgust over their new rules and regulations!” stated on the event description. “I call on upon you guys, motorists, car clubs, car groups, car shops, netizens to make this happen!” Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The protest will start at 10 a.m. in front of every LTO offices, particularly in the main office at the East Avenue in Quezon City with one-minute of honking of horns. As of this posting, 2,255 Facebook users have Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The peso dipped against the dollar midday Thursday, settling at 43.65 from the previous day’s 43.585. Total volume transacted at the Philippine Dealing System amounted to $291.5 million in the morning, lower than the $413.8 million posted the same period on Wednesday. The peso opened Thursday at 43.63.
MANILA, Philippines – The SM Group’s BDO Unibank Inc., the nation’s top lender, is accelerating its branch expansion program with its purchase of Quezon City-based thrift bank The Real Bank Inc. BDO told the Philippine Stock Exchange that it has agreed to acquire all recorded assets and assume all liabilities of The Real Bank. “The acquisition is in line with our objective to accelerate branch expansion in underserved areas,” BDO president and CEO Nestor Tan said. The Real Bank has a deposit base of P7.2 billion and operates 24 branches in Metro Manila and Luzon. Established in 1976 as Real Savings and Loans Association Inc. (RSLAI), it opened as a single-branch bank in Cainta, Rizal and rebranded as The Real Bank in 1994 by a group of investors led by realty developer Jose Acuzar. Its branches are strategically located in Metro Manila and major growth centers in Bulacan, Pampanga, Laguna, Cavite, Batangas, and Rizal. Total resources stood at P8.115 billion as of end-June 2013, a more than three-fold increase from P2.39 billion in 2003. The thrift bank offers micro-financing support to the small and medium enterprise market, housing and auto loan products. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 BDO, meanwhile, has one of the largest distribution networks in the country with more than 800 operating branches and over 2,300 ATMs nationwide. It also has a branch in Hong Kong as well as 13 overseas remittance and representative offices in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East. Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – State-run Philippine National Railways (PNR) is set to revive the 422-kilometer Bicol Express train service in September or almost two years after its operations was suspended due to a derailment incident in Sariaya, Quezon. Joseph Allan Dilay, general manager of PNR, said the government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) is looking at restoring its train services to Legaspi, Albay by September after a successful trial run last month. Since the revival of its operation in June of 2011, the Bicol Express line service catered to some 2,000 to 3,000 passengers weekly. The highest ridership recorded during peak travel seasons such as Holy Week, All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day, and Christmas season. However, the operation of Bicol Express has been stalled following a derailment incident in Sariaya, Quezon in October 2012 that injured nine passengers. Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya suspended the train service and ordered a full investigation on the derailment of Bicol Express Train 611. The train was carrying 120 passengers when the derailment occurred. Abaya said the revival of the Bicol Express service would hinge on the findings of the CPCS Transcom Ltd. of Canada. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “I for one, if I would only look at the economic side of the project would have given it a go signal. However, I am mindful of safety so I have given specific instructions not to run the service unless someone could certify that it is safe,” Abaya earlier said. Aside Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The property development arm of Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV) is increasing its capital spending this year as it takes advantage of robust growth in both residential development and industrial projects. In a statement, Aboitiz Land Inc. said it allotted a capital expenditure budget of P5.4 billion in 2014, up 35 percent from P4 billion a year ago as it sets its sights on expanding nationwide. “We remain bullish on the property sector and want to enter the market nationally,” said AboitizLand president and CEO Andoni Aboitiz. More than half of the capital spending is allocated for residential development, while the rest will go to industrial and commercial projects. “Apart from the existing landbank in Cebu, (the company) is now looking at gaining a foothold in Mindanao through residential and industrial developments in Davao City,” AboitizLand said. For Luzon, after its initial entry through the acquisition of Lima Techonology Center in Batangas, AboitizLand said it is now looking at venturing into residential and commercial developments in Mega Manila in the medium term. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Our vision is not just to build, but to establish thriving communities where we are located,” Aboitiz said. Infrastructure development is also increasingly becoming part of its portfolio as it looks at more Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects, particularly more airport and tollroad projects, Aboitiz said. AboitizLand and Ayala Corp., through joint venture unit Team Orion, topped the recent bidding for the P35.4-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway. Team Orion Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – Dominant carrier and multimedia service provider Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) is spending $2 million to double the international bandwidth capacity of the $500 million Asia-America Gateway (AAG) cable system linking the Philippines directly to the US. PLDT president and chief executive officer Napoleon Nazareno said the upgrade to the 100G per wavelength technology would allow PLDT to support more industry requirements as well as further enhance the quality of experience of customers. “With the deployment of 100G technology in this international link, we will be able to extract more capacity out of our existing fiber cables and support the delivery of high-bandwidth services and applications. This will give our customers the benefits of a much faster and resilient global transport network,” he said. The additional investments would double the current bandwidth capacity of the only transpacific cable that directly links Southeast Asia and the Philippines to the US mainland. PLDT was a lead investor with $50 million out of the $500 million AAG Cable System running 20,000 kilometers of high-bandwidth optical fiber linking Southeast Asia directly to the US. The AAG consortium consists of 19 parties providing connectivity between the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Hong Kong SAR, Guam, Hawaii and the US West Coast and seamless interconnection with other major cable systems connecting Europe, Australia, other parts of Asia and Africa and using Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology to provide upgradeable, future-proof transmission facilities for telecommunications traffic. Business ( Article MRec Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – More visits of high ranking officials from Canada are likely to be made in the coming months in line with promoting greater ties with the Philippines. “Over the past years, our bilateral relationship with the government of the Philippines has become stronger and I think in the coming months, you will see more visits by senior Canadian leadership looking to pick some of the good aspects of the potential,” Canada’s political counsellor for the Philippines Jamie Christoff said during the Canada Day Fair 2014 held yesterday. Christoff noted that the existing people-to-people relations between the two countries provide a platform to expand ties. At present, the Philippines has the largest number of immigrants to Canada, which stands at 700,000. Christoff said both countries recognize there are opportunities to strengthen ties. Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (CanCham) president Julian Payne said in the same event the business community is interested in promoting greater trade as well as investment ties between the two countries. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Payne said there have been several business missions from Canada visiting the country in line with the aim of increasing trade and investment flows between the two parties. “There have been a number of missions and we can expect to see more,” he said. A trade mission composed of firms engaged in agribusiness is expected to arrive in the country sometime this year. The CanCham is also organizing an outbound mission composed of 20 Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has extended an additional P690-million loan to the local government of Camarines Sur to support the various development programs of the province. Specifically, the financial assistance would be used to fund P300 million worth of infrastructure projects. Another P200 million would also fund the construction of a food terminal while P100 million would finance Internet-based curriculum and connectivity of public schools. The loan would also finance various tourism development initiatives worth P50 million and for the completion of various priority projects worth P41.9 million. DBP previously financed various infrastructure, school buildings and facilities, mini-hospital/ health centers, IT park and tourism projects of the LGU, including the world-renowned Camarines Sur Water Sports Complex and Gota Beach Resort in Caramoan Island. The assistance to the Camarines Sur LGU earned for the DBP the Most Outstanding Local Economic Development Project award from the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific in 2011. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 It also catapulted Camarines Sur into the country’s top tourist destination from 2009-2010. In April this year, DBP also granted a P268.502-million loan to the Camarines Sur IV Electric Cooperative (Casureco IV) to partially finance its capital expenditure requirements that will lead to the improvement of the distribution system’s capacity, efficiency, reliability and safety. The project will also address the load requirement of new customers, overloading of transformers, and dilapidated kilowatt-hour meters. The DBP loan will also be used Read More …