Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – The bidding for the 153.1-megawatt Naga power plant – the second attempt this year – failed anew after only one entity submitted a bid, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) said yesterday. Only SPC Power Corp. submitted a bid during yesterday’s bidding, prompting PSALM to declare the second round of bidding as a failure. Under PSALM’s bidding procedures, its Privatization, Bids and Awards Committee will automatically declare a failure of bidding if only one bidder submits a bid. “With the result, PSALM said it would consult with its board of directors regarding its plans for the Cebu-based power plants,” PSALM said. PSALM also failed to sell the plant last July. For the second round of bidding, three investor groups expressed interest in the power asset. These are SPC Power, Therma Power Visayas Inc., and RD Corp. but only SPC Power proceeded to submit an offer. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Previously, four groups expressed interest in the Naga power plant, which PSALM tried but failed to sell in July. These are DMCI Holdings Inc., the Aboitiz Group, D.M. Wenceslao and SPC Power Corp. Located in Colon, Naga City, Cebu, the plant consists of two thermal power plants and one diesel-fired power plant that use a combination of coal, bunker oil, and diesel as fuel. These plants are the 52.5-MW Cebu 1 and 56.8-MW Cebu 2 coal-fired thermal power plants, and the 43.8-MW Cebu diesel power plant  composed of six 7.3-MW Read More …

By Doris C. DumlaoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 11:13 pm | Friday, November 1st, 2013 Chinatrust (Philippines) Commercial Bank Corp. will assume a new corporate name in line with a global brand alignment spearheaded by its Taiwanese parent bank. Chinatrust will soon become CTBC Bank (Philippines) Corp., or simply CTBC Bank. The rebranding is spearheaded by the bank’s parent holding company CTBC Financial Holding Co. Ltd. (formerly Chinatrust Financial Holding Co. Ltd.). The parent hopes to unify its diversified interests in banking, securities, life insurance, insurance brokerage, investment, trust, venture capital, asset management and leasing, among others, under a more distinctive brand—CTBC. “This move also aims to support the holding company’s overseas business development and strengthen its strategic objective of becoming an easily recognized, unified global brand,” CTBC Philippines president Mark Chen said. Chen clarified that the bank’s corporate colors and brand promise—“We Are Family”—remains the same. Also, there will be no change in the bank’s ownership, business strategy, operations, agreements and transactions, as well as its products and services offerings. “As we transition to this exciting phase of our growth, our focus remains with our customers. This change will enable us to continue to provide them with personalized, local service and innovation that is reinforced by our foreign bank strength and resources,” Chen said. CTBC Bank first opened its doors in the Philippines in 1995, providing financial services to both local and foreign companies in the country, aside from serving the needs of middle-income consumers. In 2002, it entered the consumer Read More …

Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for — the pure enjoyment of food,” once claimed Anthony Bourdain, who recently joked that he sincerely considered divorcing his wife Ottavia when she decided to try veganism for one week. “We’ve never been so close to divorce.” She explains in her blog published in Fightland (http://fightland.vice.com/blog/ottavia-bourdain-goes-vegan), “I hope he’s kidding, but looking at him, I’m not so sure. After we get home he elaborates… “That was one of the worst meals in history. It tasted of hippie. It tasted of my last weed dealer’s apartment. I hate the world now. Please kill me.” I have to admit, while a little extreme, not too long ago I shared the same sentiments. Young, fresh, in my early 20s with all the hardheaded energy and invincibility of youth on my side, I once claimed that if the doctor said I’d have to go vegan or else I would die, I would choose death because a life without even cheese or butter is not a life worth living. With my 29th birthday right around the corner, a couple of years of hard work, stress, heavy eating and boozing adds up to having regular visits to the chiropractor, dizzy spells when I eat greasy food, joint aches and Nexium being my best friend. I’m finding myself retracting that previous statement. I’ve come to realize that no, I am not Superman. And no, I am not Read More …

TO DRUM up the implementation of the agency’s Mechanization Program, the Department of Agriculture (DA)–Northern Mindanao field office, together with its other counterparts throughout the Mindanao island, is slated to conduct the 2013 “Makina Saka” or the Agri-Machinery Road Show on November 11-15 at the Marco Hotel, Cagayan de Oro City. Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala and National Rice Program Coordinator Dante S. Delima will be the honored dignitaries during the formal opening of the five-day affair, in which a press conference will also be held afterwards. The road show will exhibit a wide array of the latest and emerging agri machinery and equipment, particularly for rice which could be availed by the farmers from the DA. It will also include machinery exhibition and actual demonstration of rice mechanization facilities as well as a conduct of seminar/congress/conference which are all geared towards the adoption of farmers to the various machinery and equipment that will be presented. As such is seen to reduce labor in farm work as well as minimize production and post-harvest losses, which will contribute in attaining the heretofore twin goals of the department: food security and self-sufficiency. Expected participants will be around 700 participants, ranging from farmer-leaders, local government unit agricultural technicians, agricultural and fishery councils and officials, and other stakeholders for agri-development. (PIA) Published in the Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro newspaper on October 29, 2013. DISCLAIMER: Sun.Star website welcomes friendly debate, but comments posted on this site do not necessary reflect the views of the Sun.Star Read More …

An image of Virgin Mary and baby Jesus is seen in front of the collapsed centuries-old Our Lady of Light church in Loon, Bohol, a day after an earthquake hit central Philippines October 16, 2013. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – The government should convert the P25-billion allocation for the controversial Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), commonly known as “pork barrel,” to disaster relief funds that will help rebuild areas affected by recent natural disasters that hit the country, Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto proposed Thursday. In a statement, Recto said the government should consider beefing up the P7.5-billion proposed calamity fund for next year, which he said “is not enough” given the recent “tragedies on the ground.” “If the budget is ballyhooed to be based on needs, then the earthquake in the Visayas and other expenditure-causing calamities must be factored in,” the senator said. Typhoon Santi hit parts of Central Luzon over the weekend, leaving eight people and leaving over two million people without electricity. On Tuesday, a magnitude-7.2 hit central Visayas, leaving 158 reported dead so far and destroying some heritage churches in Bohol and Cebu. Recto proposed that Malacañang and Congress should consider “tweaking” the spending plan for next year to create “budget space” for calamity relief work. He particularly specified PDAF allocations as a possible source of relief funds. The senator added that a provision can also be introduced in the 2014 budget that will allow the government to channel excess revenues or savings for disaster relief. Read More …