DEMAND for office space in Manila grew steadily in the second quarter despite the overall weak leasing activities in Asia Pacific, global property consultancy firm Jones Lang LaSalle said in a report released yesterday.
Aug 262013
Aug 262013
REVENUE Regulations No. (RR) 12-2013, which were issued more than a month ago, made a drastic impact on some taxpayers. Many got panicked and were upset by the sudden change while others remained skeptical on the seriousness of the intent of the regulation and immediately took precautionary measures to mitigate the impact of the issuance on their businesses.
Aug 262013
MANILA, Philippines – The government will bid out next month the Roxas Boulevard Park Redevelopment Project intended to transform parts of the area into a commercial strip, a top Department of Tourism (DOT) official said. “The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will hold the bidding process by September,” Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. said. He said the DPWH and the DOT are also in the process of finalizing the project cost. “Full budget is not yet finalized. We have yet to bid it out in September,” he said, noting the DPWH would release the cost of the project. Last week, the two agencies unveiled plans to redevelop Roxas Blvd. into a park complex by 2015. Based on the plan, the government wants to increase accessibility of Roxas Blvd. to pedestrians and bikers, as well as widen the “green” space in the area. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “The Roxas Blvd. Park Redevelopment project is a convergence between National Government agencies, local government units and the private sector. This is not just a beautification project,” Jimenez said. The program, he said, would re-establish the importance of Manila as a capital city and enhance the value of property all over the district that it crosses. “This is a business plan aimed at restoring and enhancing Manila as a viable capital for tourism and business,” Jimenez added. The redevelopment would involve the improvement of the 7.6-kilometer Roxas Blvd. that stretches from Ermita in Manila to Parañaque City. Read More …
Aug 262013
MANILA, Philippines – Megawide Construction Corp., one of the country’s top building contractors, is tapping the Southeast Asian market as it ventures into exports of pre-fabricated construction materials. Local infrastructure projects and exports will form part of the company’s plan to diversify its revenue stream in the long run, a company executive said. “We’re considering regional expansion, particularly supply of our pre-cast (materials),” Megawide chief financial officer Oliver Tan said. Megawide’s first shipment of pre-fabricated construction materials to a Southeast Asian residential project contractor will likely be conducted early next year, Tan said. “We’re still looking at the numbers but it looks promising,” Tan said, adding that Megawide will benefit from zero tariffs for construction materials. The listed firm’s P1-billion pre-cast production plant in Taytay, Rizal, the biggest one-stop facility for pre-cast concrete building systems in the country and one of the largest in the region produces materials like beams, columns, stairs and walls. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Our facility is state-of-the-art in Southeast Asia. We’re more advanced than our neighbors so we’re looking at the supply of pre-cast regionally,” Tan said. To date, the pre-fabrication facility’s utilization rate is just 30 percent. “We’re trying to market our pre-cast products to horizontal developments,” Tan said, adding that pre-fabricated items have been sold mostly to high rise developments in the past few years. For the next three years, the supply of pre-cast building materials is targeted to account for 20 percent of Megawide’s total revenues, Tan Read More …
Aug 262013
MANILA, Philippines – Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), the largest toll road management firm in the Philippines, said it is on track to hitting its full-year traffic growth target despite the recent harsh weather that disrupted operations. The tollway unit of infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) is also waiting for government approvals for new projects and higher toll rates, a company official said. “The good thing is, we were ahead for the first seven and a half months. We should still meet target in terms of traffic (growth),” MPTC chief financial officer Christopher Lizo said. “Traffic growth target was three percent for the entire (toll road) network,” he said. From January to July, MPTC recorded a 6.5-percent increase in traffic for its portfolio, which is composed of the 94-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), the 84-km North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) and the 14-km Manila-Cavite Expressway (Cavitex). However, Lizo said Typhoon Maring, the first major tropical storm this year, badly affected operations of MPTC. Maring and a southwest monsoon poured heavy rains in Luzon, resulting in flooding and the collapse of the Pasig-Potrero Bridge along SCTEx. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “To some extent when we do the budget, we incorporate the impact of extreme weather conditions,” Lizo said. To jack up revenues, MPTC is hoping to receive government approval for a 12-percent rate increase for NLEX. “In revenues, we are behind target but we’re still up against last year,” Lizo said. “We’re waiting for the tariff Read More …
Aug 262013
MANILA, Philippines – The peso’s continued weakness against the dollar is not expected to last for long as this has been driven by market reactions to recent developments, a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) official said. “I’m not sure if that is going to be for the long haul because as I have always indicated… we have a balance of payments and current accounts surpluses that should drive the firmness of the peso moving forward,” BSP Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo told reporters late last week. The local currency closed at 44.26 to a dollar last Friday, its lowest level since Jan. 31, 2011. Analysts attributed the depreciation to last week’s US Federal Reserve minutes which signified support for tapering stimulus due to an improving US economy. Moreover, the peso tracked other regional currencies, which weakened because of disappointing economic indicators reported by some emerging markets. “What we’re seeing is market reaction… so this is something that is driven more by market sentiment than by fundamental factors,” Guinigundo said. “It’s bound to correct in due time and when that happens… it means that that should go back to fundamentals and the fundamentals means that peso should be firm because of the balance of payments and current accounts position,” he continued. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The country’s balance of payments surplus amounted to $3.677 billion in the seven months to July. The BoP, which shows a country’s transactions with the rest of the world, tallies investments, Read More …
Aug 262013
Decades after the People Power Revolutions that have toppled presidents–one dictator and a convicted plunderer–Filipinos again took to the streets in anger. Tens of thousands of Filipinos converged at Luneta Park Monday to protest the alleged misuse of public funds highlighted by the so-called “pork barrel scam.” “This is people power,” said artist-activist Juana Change, who came to the rally dressed as a pig in a barrel. “If this is not people power, I don’t know what to call it.” The so-called “Million People March” started via social media with an invitation for Filipinos to show anger over the corruption scandal involving dozens of lawmakers. The gathering was soon given a venue and a date, with Pinoys agreeing to meet at the historic Rizal Park on National Heroes Day, August 26. “Maki-baka, wag mag-baboy,” protesters chanted in unison, a wordplay on the Filipino words for cow and pig, used as a call to action against pork barrel. “I think the last time a protest this big happened was at the height of calls to oust [former President Gloria Macapagal] Arroyo,” Kabataan Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon told Yahoo! Southeast Asia. The protest, he said, showed that Filipinos who “have long been aware that corruption exists” cannot take the brazen acts reported in the latest pork scandal. Investigative reports have claimed that some P10 billion worth of lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) have been diverted to nonexistent non-government organizations led by businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles. The Commission on Audit gave credence Read More …
Aug 252013
Whether they come in large or small amounts, pork barrel allocations have generated a lot of controversy since they were first introduced in the Philippines in 1922. In 1925, Senate Minority Leader Juan Sumulong charged that the ruling party had “misused public funds in the form of pork barrel appropriations.” READ FULL STORY
Aug 252013
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Energy (DOE) said its hands are tied and that it cannot do anything on the plan of Petron Corp. to acquire rival Liquigaz Philippines Corp., a ranking official told The STAR. Zenaida Monsada, director of the energy department’s Oil Industry Management Bureau said the agency has no jurisdiction over mergers and acquisitions even if the companies involved are oil firms. “The DOE cannot do anything about mergers and acquisitions. We only have jurisdiction on the initial public offering (IPO) requirement of refiners,” she said, referring to the Oil Industry Deregulation Law of 1998, which requires oil refiners to offer shares to the public. She said it was up to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to police corporations such as Petron regarding their acquisition activities if it deems necessary. Furthermore, she said Congress can also pass a measure that would put safeguards against monopolies. Petron is in the process of acquiring Liquigaz, a wholly-owned Philippine subsidiary of SHV Energy of the Netherlands. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Rep. Arnel Ty of the LPG Marketers’ Association has raised concerns that once Petron completes negotiations for the acquisition of Liquigaz, it may control the LPG industry with a 75-percent share. Ty said Petron has given SHV a non-binding offer of $60 million for Liquigaz’s LPG business, a statement that Petron neither confirmed nor denied. “The company confirms that it is participating in the proposed acquisition of the operations of Liquigaz, a wholly-owned Read More …
Aug 252013
MANILA, Philippines – The Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines (FOBAP) is seeking funding support from the government to revive the country’s garments industry. The Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. in a statement, cited FOBAP president Robert Young as saying that the projects costing around P5 million include industry mapping for garments and hard goods sectors, compliance program and “invite the CEO (chief executive officer)” project. Young said factories need to comply with implementing requirements and regulations on child labor, clean and safe environment and minimum wage. He said compliance to the requirements and regulations is important so that “the big buyer companies with big quantities and buying program will place orders.” “If not, the factories can just settle with the small quantity buyers which usually have lower buying prices,” he said. He also said there is a need to bring back the so-called “invite the CEO” project which has been effective in terms of regaining foreign buyers. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The “invite the CEO” project was implemented during the Martial Law years, when the country experienced crisis and foreign markets stopped purchasing goods. “What we did last time, we invited all the top CEOs and buyers of the major department stores abroad, all expenses paid for like four to five days. We told them that Manila was ready to serve you, we were still here and the industry was being revived,” Young said. With the implementation of the three projects, the group is optimistic Read More …