PEDC lights up Iloilo

 Economy
Dec 282013
 
PEDC lights up Iloilo

MANILA, Philippines – The province of Iloilo was spared from power outages during the Christmas season, even as some areas in Leyte and Samar are experiencing rotating power outages as full restoration of electricity continues, according to power distributor Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC). City centers of some 320 municipalities in the two provinces are already connected to the grid as Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla imposed a Dec. 24 deadline for the restoration of electricity in the said areas. Although there were three municipalities that were not energized on Dec. 24, they have now been energized. These are the municipalities of Salcedo, Mercedes and Guian in Eastern Samar. Cebu has reportedly been experiencing daily rotational brownouts ranging from one to two hours, PEDC said. PEDC is a subsidiary of Global Business Power Corp., the power generation arm of the Metrobank Group led by taipan George Ty. Global Business is a member of the GT Capital Group of Companies, a member of the GT Capital Group. In an advisory, PEDC said the Panay Electric Company, Inc. (PECO), which is connected to PEDC, continues to provide stable power supply to residents of Iloilo despite the onslaught of Super Typhoon Yolanda. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The franchise area of Panay Electric Company, Inc. (PECO) is located around Iloilo City. PECO customers are those who are enjoying uninterrupted power supply this Christmas season, PEDC said. “Apart from stable supply, Iloilo City also enjoys reasonably priced electricity,” PEDC said.

Business Highlights: Hollywood struggles against new film meccas

 Economy
Dec 272013
 
Business Highlights: Hollywood struggles against new film meccas

LOS ANGELES (AP) — In the old days, filmmakers flocked to Hollywood for its abundant sunshine, beautiful people and sandy beaches. But today a new filmmaking diaspora is spreading across the globe to places like Vancouver, London and Wellington, New Zealand. Fueled by politicians doling out generous tax breaks, filmmaking talent is migrating to where the money is. The result is an incentives arms race that pits California against governments around the world and allows powerful studios —with hundreds of millions of dollars at their disposal— to cherry-pick the best deals. The most recent iteration of the phenomenon came earlier this month when James Cameron announced plans to shoot and produce the next three “Avatar” sequels largely in New Zealand. What Cameron gets out of the deal is a 25 percent rebate on production costs, as long as his company spends at least $413 million on the three films. ___ Hollywood poised for best-ever box-office year LOS ANGELES (AP) — Despite a string of summertime flops, Hollywood is expected to have a banner year at the domestic box office, coming in just shy of $11 billion, the largest annual take ever. But because of higher ticket prices, actual attendance at North American theaters remained flat after a decade of decline. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 With the current domestic box-office tally nearly 1 percent ahead of last year at this time, 2013 could surpass 2012’s overall haul of $10.8 billion by more than $100 million, according Read More …

DOTC sets May 15 deadline for bus terminal

 Economy
Dec 272013
 
DOTC sets May 15 deadline for bus terminal

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is giving interested companies until May 15 next year to submit their bids for the proposed P2.5 billion Integrated Transport System (ITS) project – Southwest Terminal. In an invitation to bid, the DOTC said the Southwest terminal would be situated in a 2.9-hectare property located at the Coastal Road Terminal along the Manila-Cavite Expressway. The terminal would connect passengers coming from Cavite to other urban transport systems such as the future Light Rail Transit line 1 (LRT) South Extension to Bacoor in Cavite, city bus, taxi, and other public utility vehicles plying Metro Manila. The DOTC said the project would include a passenger terminal building, arrival and departure bays, public information system, ticketing and baggage handling facilities and park-ride facilities. The proposed terminal is the fourth public private partnership (PPP) project of the DOTC and would be under a Build-Transfer-Operate arrangement. The DOTC pointed out that the proponent would finance, design, construct, operate, and maintain the ITS project for a period of 35 years. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 To qualify to bid for the project, the DOTC stated in the invitation that a bidder must have local or international experience within the last 10 years and have completed one or more eligible projects with a cumulative cost of at least P2 billion and with capacity of at least 300 parking bays for vehicles. Furthermore, the agency added that a bidder should have local or international Read More …

The year that was

 Economy
Dec 272013
 
The year that was

In two days’ time, we shall be welcoming 2014. If only to banish a year full of unprecedented calamities, shocking revelations of unmitigated greed in government, a spike in fatal traffic accidents involving mostly buses and trucks and other reasons that vindicate Murphy’s Law, everyone is ready to shut the door on 2013 and welcome 2014 as a new beginning. This is mostly true for the people of Bohol, Cebu and Leyte, the general citizenry shocked beyond belief at how our legislators have raped the nation’s coffers. Our economy has done very well this year, and at seven percent growth rate, we have edged out most if not all of our neighbors in the region. But the question still begs to be asked: has this trickled down to the grass roots?  Many of our business leaders do not think so. As we always do at B&L (Business & Leisure), the TV show and likewise here in this column, we always end the year with assessments from some of our top business leaders as well as their forecasts for the coming year and we picked eight sectors for this: export, handicrafts, plastic, meat importation and trading, wood production, semi-conductors and electronics, manufacturing, and the furniture industry. For the export sector, Philexport president Sergio Ortiz-Luis said that, versus 2012, their industry will end up positive this year. Last year and even early this year, Philexport was hopeful and targeted a 10 percent growth for exports, but the market forces have not cooperated—export Read More …

DOTC to tap private firms for motor vehicle inspection

 Economy
Dec 272013
 
DOTC to tap private firms for motor vehicle inspection

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is looking at the possibility of privatizing the motor vehicle inspection function of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) after a series of accidents claiming the lives of passengers. Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the government is studying the possibility of adopting the public private partnership (PPP) scheme for the Motor Vehicle Inspection System (MVIS) of LTO. Abaya said the agency would seek the opinion of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) whether the government could procure the services of the private sector for the LTO function.  “We are going to NEDA because apparently the government is not in a position to procure and operate all of these (MVIS). Do we allow private sector to come in?” he asked. The MVIS was put in place several years ago with an end view of providing a systematic, reliable and effective testing of motor vehicles through computerization and automation for compliance to safety and emission requirements. The program is aimed at helping comply with existing motor vehicle standards, provision of national laws and international agreements; ensuring compliance to safety and emission standards; and integrating all motor vehicle inspection reports into a central motor vehicle database. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The program is supposed to prevent or minimize air pollution; eliminate not roadworthy motor vehicles; reduce traffic accidents due to improper maintenance; eliminate illegally modified vehicles; and improve fuel consumption by appropriate check or maintenance. Under the Read More …

China Bank opens 4 new branches

 Economy
Dec 272013
 
China Bank opens 4 new branches

MANILA, Philippines – China Banking Corp. (China Bank) has opened four new branches before the end of the year, bringing its network count to 295. In a statement, the bank said it opened new branches in Guagua, Pampanga; Jaro, Iloilo; Roxas, Isabela; and Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija. The new offices are the bank’s 13th branch in Pampanga, fifth in Iloilo, fourth in Isabela, and sixth in Nueva Ecija. The bank noted the full-service branches will be open from Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. All of which are equipped with an automated teller machine (ATM) and a night depository box for a 24/7 service. At the same time, its thrift bank arm, China Bank Savings has opened two mini branches before the end of 2013. The savings bank’s new mini branches are located at Savemore Amang Rodriguez Branch in Pasig City and at Savemore Acacia Estates Branch in Taguig City. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 This now brought CBS’ mini branches count to 11, 10 of which are at Savemore locations and one at Fil-Oil in Tanuan, Batangas. China Bank noted CBS mini branches offer face to face interaction with tellers and e-banking services. These offices are open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and are also equipped with an ATM, night depository and an online banking kiosk. China Bank’s new branches and the thrift bank’s newly opened mini-branches bring the whole network’s count to 368. The bank has opened 12 China Read More …

NGCP inks deal with Chinese research facility

 Economy
Dec 272013
 
NGCP inks deal with Chinese research facility

MANILA, Philippines – The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the country’s   transmission highway operator, has signed an agreement with the Stat Nuclear Electric Power Planning Design and Research Institute   (SNPDRI), a leading research facility on transmission and substation design in China, to improve power transmission in the Philippines.       “The memorandum of understanding aims to establish a strategic   cooperation between the research institute and the Philippine grid operator in terms of engineering design and construction of future   transmission lines and substation projects,” NGCP said yesterday.      The MOU is good for three years and is expected to help both parties   deal with current issues and advancements in electric power   technologies, said NGCP president and chief executive officer Henry   Sy Jr.      He said this was a very timely undertaking as NGCP is in the process of rehabilitating transmission facilities in the Visayas, which were severely damaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda.      “We are hopeful that with our combined technical know-how, NGCP can   improve and strengthen the transmission backbone in the said area to   withstand future calamities of greater magnitude and intensity,” he said.       NGCP’s chief administrative officer Anthony Almeda and engineering head Rico Vega, and SNPDRI’s Zhang Suoqing signed the MOU on Dec. 16 while Sy and head of the Chinese delegation Gai Qiqing witnessed   the signing.      Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Yolanda damaged most of NGCP’s facilities in areas hit by the typhoon but as of Dec. 24, NGCP said restoration works are almost   complete. Read More …

Aquino pushes passage of Go Negosyo bill

 Economy
Dec 272013
 
Aquino pushes passage of Go Negosyo bill

MANILA, Philippines – In a country where the population continuously grows at a fast pace, the need to come up with more jobs is always a concern for the government. For neophyte Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, the key to providing new jobs for the people is to develop one particular sector of the economy that could have a huge impact on improving the lives of many Filipinos. Following through on his advocacy to promote small businesses as a viable solution to poverty in the country, Aquino has steered what was dubbed as the Go Negosyo bill on its way to its approval on second reading in the Senate. Aquino, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, has sponsored Senate Bill 2046, which consolidates the bill that he filed with the related bills filed by Senators Sergio Osmeña III, Miriam Defensor Santiago, Jinggoy Estrada, and Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto. In his sponsorship speech, Aquino said that the Go Negosyo bill was crafted to “help our countrymen out of poverty and towards a path to prosperity.” According to Aquino, the bill was also a response to the challenge made to the administration to make the much-touted growth of the economy more meaningful to the masses by making it more inclusive. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Aquino noted that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) play a key role in addressing poverty for a significant number of Filipinos, considering that the sector Read More …

SMC power generation arm to pursue IPO next yr

 Economy
Dec 272013
 
SMC power generation arm to pursue IPO next yr

MANILA, Philippines – Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) will pursue the initial public offering (IPO) next year of its power generation arm that is on the lookout for acquisitions. Even the single largest shareholder in the conglomerate is expected to join the local bourse early in January, its top official said yesterday. SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said the company hopes to list power generation unit SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. “Actually, it’s not a problem to raise funds kasi nakapila na yung mga kausap natin. It’s more of acquisition,” Ang told reporters on the sidelines of the Philippine Stock Exchange’s 10th listing anniversary celebration. SMC Global, which has a power generation capacity of 2,500 megawatts and an equity value of at least $1.5 billion, filed its listing plan to corporate regulators in 2011 but the IPO was deferred. SMC earlier announced it is in talks with several potential buyers for a private equity deal or an IPO that will raise a minimum of $800 million. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 For its part, SMC’s majority shareholder Top Frontier Investment Holdings Inc. will also become a public company next year. Ang, who is also the president of Top Frontier, said the holding firm will debut in the local bourse in the first or second week of January. Top Frontier will list by way of introduction or without immediately having to sell shares to the public. The PSE and the Securities and Read More …

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