DOTC sees completion of P13.25-B aviation system by 2015

 Economy
Jul 072013
 
DOTC sees completion of P13.25-B aviation system by 2015

DOTC Sec. Joseph Emilio Abaya MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) expects the completion of the P13.25 billion world-class communication, navigation and surveillance system by 2015 or before the end of the term of President Aquino. Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the joint venture between Sumitomo Corp. of Japan and Thales Australia Ltd. has committed to complete the Communications, Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) Systems Development Project Package–I by November 2015. “I don’t expect any further delay. I know the whole project is estimated to be done by November 2015,” Abaya said. The CNS/ATM Systems Development Project was first conceptualized in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Global Air Navigation Plan, and would replace the aging vital communications, surveillance, and air traffic control equipment at selected airports nationwide. The DOTC awarded the two work packages to Sumitomo-Thales joint venture. The first package which entails the design and construction of the ATM Center and ATM Automation System, as well as the final integration of the whole CNS/ATM system was awarded in November 2010. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The second package which involves the design and construction of a surveillance and communication system was awarded in April 2011. The CNS/ATM project aims to enhance safety, reliability and efficiency of air traffic and airspace systems in the Philippines. The existing air traffic control systems, navigation, communications and surveillance equipment in the country fall short of the required number, are aging Read More …

Local firms seen to retain financial strength

 Economy
Jul 072013
 
Local firms seen to retain financial strength

MANILA, Philippines – The financial strength of Philippine corporates is seen to remain strong in the next few years, according to a Standard Chartered Bank report. The report noted that the government’s investment push has helped and contributed to the strength of corporations in the country. “As a result, corporates have maintained a prudent financial profile in the past few years. Their leverage has remained around 4.6x, while EBITDA margin is around 16 percent. We expect their credit metrics and liquidity position to remain strong, despite rising capital expenditures in some cases,” it said. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) is an indicator of the company’s financial performance particularly its current operational profitability. The strong economic performance of the country is also providing a lift to local companies’ performance. “The Philippines has been resilient to the global economic slowdown, posting strong gross domestic product (GDP) growth since 2010. Domestic consumption has been a key growth driver. This has helped consumer-oriented corporates such as Alliance Global, Metro Pacific, SM Investments and Megaworld,” it said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The bank has introduced the so-called Standard Chartered Asia Leverage Evaluator (SCALE) methodology, which is made up of five equally weighted metrics covering factors such as profitability, coverage, leverage and capital structure. With this, the bank assigned a SCALE of 4.7 for Philippines corporates, which is better than other sub-sectors such as Chinese property (4.4) and Chinese industrials (4.5), and is in line with Indonesian  corporates Read More …

PSBank accredits over 100 developers for home loan

 Economy
Jul 072013
 
PSBank accredits over 100 developers for home loan

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Savings Bank, the thrift bank of the Metrobank Group, has accredited over 100 property developers for its home loan program. PSBank vice president and head of indirect mortgage channels Avi Melicor said they have partnered with top developers that provide quality homes and communities “to give our clients more choices at rates that are within their budget.” “To those who are still hesitating, now is the best time to get that house or condo unit because the market has provided a very favorable environment for aspiring homeowners,” the bank official said. “Clients will get to choose from over 500 projects of more than 100 accredited developers such as Ayala Land, Century Properties, DMCI, Empire East, Federal Land, Megaworld, Robinsons Land, Rockwell Land, San Miguel Properties, SMDC, Suntrust Properties and Vista Land,” she said. With PSBank Home Loan, clients can pay as low as P6,140.87 for monthly amortization, plus enjoy a flexible payment scheme. This means choosing from a lock-in period of one to 25 years to take advantage of steady and affordable interest rates during the preferred period. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Melicor said loan approval would also be fast and convenient. “Clients will be informed of the bank’s credit decision in five days or less through a text message. This eliminates the unnecessary process of waiting, making follow-ups and going through needless anxiety and frustration” . She said they would also be extending discounts to their clients. “Best of all, Read More …

DOE signs contract with A. Brown unit to develop hydro project

 Economy
Jul 072013
 
DOE signs contract with A. Brown unit to develop hydro project

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Energy (DOE) has signed a contract with Hydrolink, a wholly owned subsidiary of A. Brown Company Inc. (ABCI) for the development of a 25-megawatt hydropower project in Surigao del Sur. The project would utilize water from the Carac-an River in Cantillan for the hydropower plant. The project is part of ABCI’s plans to provide much-needed additional power capacities for the green-rated electric cooperatives in Mindanao. ABCI chairman Walter Brown said that given the reduced power supply contract of Surigao del Sur II Electric Cooperative (Surseco II) with state-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor), the cooperative would have to seek alternative sources of fuel to meet the increase in demand in the coming years. Surseco supplies power to 12 municipalities and to one city in the province. “We would like to help them in this undertaking, and as a sign of our full and sincere intentions, we immediately commissioned a hydropower technical team to study the power potentials of the rivers in Surigao,” Brown said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Hydrolink president and ABCI vice-president for business development Roel Castro for his part said that the company has conducted a pre-feasibility study of the river and the results of the study show the project’s potential. “We have already identified the most viable strategies for its development. We will now proceed to processing the necessary permits and coordinate with Surigao’s local officials for their support of the project,” Castro said.

BEST sees higher profits

 Economy
Jul 072013
 
BEST sees higher profits

MANILA, Philippines – Basic Environmental Systems and Technologies (BEST), the solid waste management arm of listed mining firm Minerales Industrias Corp. (MIC), expects to double its profits this year. BEST said it would continue to expand its core business while increasing its exposure in the trash-to-energy conversion business. MIC sees BEST to breach the P100-million income mark this year compared to  P51 million in 2012 while revenues are seen to hit P380 million, up 80 percent from P212 million last year. Growth would be driven by new contracts; increased efficiency and integration of existing solid waste management projects; and expansion into energy recovery, said BEST chairperson and CEO Isabelita Paredes Mercado. “This is by far our biggest year in terms of growth with new contracts and improvements in our operations,” Mercado said, adding that solid waste management industry has good potentials in energy conversion. “Waste is now seen as a resource not only for recycling but also for generating alternative fuel and renewable energy,” Mercado said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Last year, BEST partnered with La Farge and Pennies and Pounds to put up a highly mechanized materials recovery and composting plant in Payatas. It collects and sorts trash for conversion into alternative fuel for cement and other industrial factories. To date, BEST runs two engineered sanitary landfills in Payatas, Quezon City and Morong, Rizal, serving the waste output of Metro Manila and nearby provinces. BEST is also a shareholder in Metro Clark Waste Management Read More …

SEC suspends Ever Gotesco’s permit to sell securities

 Economy
Jul 072013
 
SEC suspends Ever Gotesco’s permit to sell securities

MANILA, Philippines – Shopping mall developer and operator Ever Gotesco Resources & Holdings Inc. has been barred from selling shares due to its failure to conduct a shareholders’ meeting. In a memorandum, the Philippine Stock Exchange said the Securities and Exchange Commission ordered the suspension of Ever Gotesco’s registration of and permit to sell shares. “The records on file with SEC show that Ever Gotesco violated for the fourth time the Securities Regulation Code…for its failure to hold its annual stockholders’ meeting in 2012,” PSE said. As the SEC issued its resolution on May 16, Ever Gotesco’s permit to sell shares is suspended for 60 days from the date of receipt of the SEC order. The PSE started a trading suspension on Ever Gotesco’s shares on Friday. Ever Gotesco, which is controlled by the Go family, was incorporated in 1994 focusing on the construction of shopping malls and leasing them out to commercial tenants. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Its malls are primarily leased out to Ever Department Store and Supermarket, cinemas, banks, amusement centers, food shops, specialty stores, boutiques, drug stores, service shops, gym and sporting facilities. The listed company operates two malls: Ever Gotesco Commonwealth Center and Ever Gotesco Manila Plaza. Subsidiary Gotesco Tyan Ming owns and operates Ever Gotesco Ortigas Complex. In 2009, Ever Gotesco and subsidiary Gotesco Tyan Ming Development Inc. entered into a compromise agreement with creditor banks of its foreclosed properties pending court cases. In the first quarter, Ever Gotesco Read More …

Gov't opposes militants' request for protection order in USS Guardian incident

 News
Jul 072013
 
Gov't opposes militants' request for protection order in USS Guardian incident

The government has opposed before the Supreme Court (SC) the request of some militant groups for a temporary environmental protection order (TEPO) in connection with the grounding of a US Navy minesweeper at the Tubbataha Reef last January. In its comment before the high court, the government, through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), said the militant groups do not have the legal standing to claim that they represent those affected by the incident. Government lawyers also argued that the Catholic bishops, environmentalists, activists and lawyers who filed the motion are not entitled to the grant of a TEPO or even a writ of kalikasan since the incident involving American ship was already a “fait accompli,” or an irreversible fact. The OSG also claimed that the high court cannot intervene in the process of demanding claims and damages from the US government due to the incident, since this is within the “exclusive” domain of the executive branch. On January 17, the USS Guardian got stuck on the Tubbataha Reef on its way to Indonesia after completing a port call in Subic Bay. It took two months for Philippine and US officials to extricate the ship from the area. Last April, several militant groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) sought a TEPO and a writ of kalikasan from the SC to stop all activities in connection with the grounding of the USS Guardian. The petitioners wanted the SC to bar US military ships from entering the Philippines, saying such Read More …

PH elementary schools win 16 medals in Bulgaria math fest

 News
Jul 072013
 
PH elementary schools win 16 medals in Bulgaria math fest

By Jerry E. EsplanadaPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:21 pm | Sunday, July 7th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines — With a 16-medal haul, the Philippine elementary mathematics team topped the primary division in the just-ended 2013 Bulgaria International Math Competition (BIMC), held June 30 to July 4 in the Black Sea city of Burgas. The good news was relayed to the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Sunday by Dr. Simon Chua, president of the non-government Mathematics Trainers’ Guild of the Philippines (MTG) and head of the Philippine delegation to the 29-country contest. The young Filipino math wizards, mostly students from Metro Manila private schools, bagged three gold, four silver, four bronze and five merit medals in the annual competition. The teams from Vietnam and Thailand placed second and third overall. In an e-mail, Chua also said that the Philippine high school team bagged a total of 14 medals, but failed to land in the Top 3, where the teams from Japan, Hong Kong and China emerged as champions. The Filipino medalists in the elementary level were: (Gold) Jinger Chong from St. Jude Catholic School; Shaquille Wyan Que from Grace Christian College; and Vicente Raphael Chan from Zamboanga Chong Hua High School. (Silver) Stefan Marcus Ang from St. Jude Catholic School, Steven John Wang from UNO High School, Jose Ignacio Locsin from St. John Institute in Bacolod City, and Tiffany Mae Ong from Immaculate Conception Academy; (Bronze) Luke Matthew Bernardo from Philadelphia High School, Adam Christopher Chan from Grace Christian College, Ryan Mark Shao from Read More …

PH aviation officials await US probe on Asiana Airlines crash in San Francisco

 News
Jul 072013
 
PH aviation officials await US probe on Asiana Airlines crash in San Francisco

By Miguel R. CamusPhilippine Daily Inquirer 2:37 pm | Sunday, July 7th, 2013 This aerial photo shows the wreckage of the Asiana Flight 214 airplane after it crashed at the San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Saturday, July 6, 2013. AP MANILA, Philippines — Philippine air safety officials are awaiting official investigation results of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the United States after an Asiana Airlines flight carrying 291 passengers  from South Korea crashed upon landing at San Francisco International Airport on July 6 ( San Francisco time), a top official said. Two deaths have so far been reported by US media outlets. In the meantime, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) deputy director-general John Andrews said Asiana Airlines could continue flights to the Philippines. The South Korea-based carrier flies to the country through hubs in Manila, Clark and Cebu, according to its website. Andrews said that if the aircraft, a US-made Boeing 777, was found to be the cause, it could have negative implications for the manufacturer and airlines operating these aircraft, which include flag carrier Philippine Airlines Inc. “Of course we will wait for the NTSB report if and when it can be completed,” Andrews, a former Philippine Air Force pilot, said in a text message. “Only two areas to be looked at:  man or machine. It should not be difficult as the CVR [ cockpit voice recorder] and FDR [ flight data recorder] have been retrieved,” he added. “If machine is the cause Read More …

Aussie sent back after causing plane ruckus

 News
Jul 062013
 
Aussie sent back after causing plane ruckus

By Jerome AningPhilippine Daily Inquirer 2:31 am | Sunday, July 7th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—For his allegedly unruly behavior on board a Qantas Airlines flight to Manila, an Australian man was shipped back to Sydney on the same plane after it arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) on Thursday evening. Mamudu Kamara, 33, was detained by Australian Federal Police (AFP) air marshals who were on board Qantas flight QF-019 after he reportedly tried to enter the cockpit about two and a half hours into the eight-hour flight. An AFP agent detailed at the Australian Embassy in Manila notified the Naia-based Philippine National Police-Aviation Security Group (PNP-ASG) about the incident. On the plane’s arrival at Naia Terminal 1 at around 7 p.m., the handcuffed Kamara was escorted off the plane by the four air marshals who had arrested him. The Australian underwent documentation at the Naia immigration office and a medical checkup at the PNP-ASG clinic. He was sent back to Sydney on the Qantas flight’s return trip about an hour later. Chief Insp. Felindo Navarro of the ASG, who responded to the Australian embassy’s advisory, said Kamara became abusive to cabin crew members after finding out that the video screen in front of his seat wasn’t working. When the crew could not fix the monitor, Kamara became angry, rushed toward the cockpit and tried to open the door, apparently to personally complain to the captain. Kamara was restrained by the air marshals with help from the crew. The captain Read More …

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