DOE allows market intervention in WESM

 Economy
Jan 082014
 
DOE allows market intervention in WESM

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Energy (DOE) is allowing market intervention in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the country’s trading floor for electricity, to temper unusual price spikes as what happened in November last year. “In a nutshell, there is now market intervention,” Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said when sought for comment on the new circular. Based on Department Circular 2014-01-0001, the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC), the WESM operator, has the option to intervene in the market by setting an administered price gauged on the average price in the last 30 days prior to the day of intervention. It said PEMC may intervene when there is a supply emergency “where electricity supply capacity shortfall, is measured at four percent or below the total demand.” “Provided further that the four percent trigger shall continue to be applied until the DOE determines, through the National Transmission Corp., the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines and the Grid Management Committee, that a new trigger is applicable,” Petilla said in the circular. He stressed that market intervention is merely an option that may or may not be exercised by PEMC as market operator. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “[I]n light of recent events, the DOE saw the need to provide for an interim measure for the market operator and/or system operator’s declaration of market intervention in order to ensure utmost consumer protection specially in times of critical situation of the supply of electricity power that triggers Read More …

Globe’s Bithos named IT Exec of the Year

 Economy
Jan 082014
 
Globe’s Bithos named IT Exec of the Year

MANILA, Philippines – Globe Telecom chief operating advisor Peter George Bithos was cited as IT Executive of the Year by Cyberpress, an organization composed of information technology (IT) journalists from the print and online media in the Philippines. Bithos was instrumental in steering growth and profitability of the company’s mobile and broadband businesses with an innovative product portfolio and a sound strategy to drive superior customer experience. Under his helm, mobile subscriber base has grown by 14 percent as of end-September last year, reaching 36.5 million. Broadband customer base has reached 1.9 million with a 15-percent increase from previous year. In 2013, Bithos led the successful launch of the company’s partnership with leading global over-the-top (OTT) player Viber to offer subscribers a richer messaging experience. Under Bithos’ leadership, Globe also forged a world-first collaboration with Facebook to offer its prepaid and postpaid subscribers free access to the social networking site alongside customer service innovations that address fear of mobile browsing. Prior to joining Globe in 2010, Bithos spent five years with SingTel Optus in Australia where he was most recently the chief executive officer of Optus’ subsidiary Virgin Mobile Australia. Over his tenure at SingTel Optus, he held executive positions cutting across P&L leadership, operations, strategy and M&A.

Banks to abide by new consumer protection guidelines

 Economy
Jan 082014
 
Banks to abide by new consumer protection guidelines

MANILA, Philippines – Banks will have to abide by new consumer protection guidelines this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said, as the measure is already being finalized and aimed to be launched in the first semester of 2014. “We have further improved and strengthened consumer protection by formalizing a… framework against which banks will be measured or assessed,” BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said. Tetangco explained the BSP will be releasing guidelines with which banks can put together their own consumer protection policies. At the same time, banks will be assessed on a scale of one to four, with four being the highest, on how adequate their consumer protection practices are. The rating system will be similar to CAMELS, which assesses a bank with regard to its capital adequacy, assets, management capability, earnings, liquidity and sensitivity. “There are certain guidelines on how an adequate consumer protection framework can be organized and this year, we will start to assess banks on the basis of this framework,” Tetangco said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “We are working on this now. We will launch this hopefully sometime in the early part of the year,” Tetangco added. The BSP last year announced it will be introducing a framework for the protection of customers of banks and other financial institutions. The framework is meant to create a standard with which banks can be assessed in terms of how they handle customer complaints or how well their consumer protection policies Read More …

Mayhem at PAL terminal

 Economy
Jan 082014
 
Mayhem at PAL terminal

Whatever happened to the buoyant expectations generated by Philippine Airlines’ expansion plans that saw the flag carrier ramping up the hiring of new cabin crew and ground staff? At the PAL Terminal (also known as NAIA Terminal 2), departing passengers were under the impression that everything was so disorganized with not enough counters to attend to them – and made even worse by the increased number of people traveling during the Christmas season.  The arrival area however is something else, with tired passengers from long haul flights from San Francisco, Vancouver and Los Angeles greeted by utter chaos and confusion, their frustration levels rising at having to wait for their luggage for one hour and a half. Apparently, PAL unloaded luggage from three different flights all at the same time – and as you can see from the photos, it was such a mess at the terminal with people trying to squeeze in to check the carousels for their bags and other stuff. In fact, we’ve heard complaints from bewildered passengers who said they were told by PAL flight crew to wait for their baggage at a particular carousel number – only to find out that their bags and balikbayan boxes were all lumped into one carousel. By then they were already exhausted, hungry and thirsty and not surprisingly, angry at the mix-up.  A visitor from Regina, Canada, Mr. David Bowman said he was really looking forward to his trip to Manila, anticipating a pleasant and relaxing experience with the Read More …

A balanced life and a growing economy

 Economy
Jan 082014
 
A balanced life and a growing economy

Manny V. Pangilinan, Chairman of the PLDT Group and Lance Gokongwei president and chief operating officer of JG Summit Holdings Inc. hope for economic progress for our country this 2014.     For the past weeks, I have shared the wishes of many entrepreneurs who have been part of the Go Negosyo’s journey in helping many of our youth and small entrepreneurs pursue their dreams by inspiring and mentoring them. Many of them share a personal wish of a balanced life, as many entrepreneurs who are so passionate in their businesses begin to realize the importance of the other more valuable intangibles in life.  In the case of Jojo Claudio, he talks about spending more quality time with his children, putting a balance between work and family time, and this is the same with many of our women entrepreneurs.  It is very clear that many of them are happy with the current administration’s objective of improving the level of government transparency and its fight against corruption.Many wish P-Noy all the success to see this happen before his term ends. Many hope to see the level of poverty in our country reduced and this is why they have spent time in joining the many activities of Go Negosyo as they feel a booming negosyo is the lasting solution to poverty.  While our country in the last quarter has been hit with calamities, the Filipino spirit is very much alive, not only resilient, and that many view the year 2014 to bring Read More …

Planning, monitoring seminar set

 Economy
Jan 082014
 
Planning, monitoring seminar set

MANILA, Philippines – The Center for Global Best Practices is launching a pioneering two-day program titled Best Practices in Planning, Scheduling and Monitoring Project Implementation on Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 28 and 29, 2014 at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel, Mandaluyong City. Learn the best practices in applying the cutting-edge and world-class project management tools to be presented in a simplified and practical format by project management guru and course director Ken Smith. Smith has over 40 years experience designing, scheduling, implementing, monitoring and evaluating social, economic, and business development projects in many countries and technical sectors. He has been tapped by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Bank group, UN agencies, the African Development Bank, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to teach project management as part of capacity building for many governments around the world. Attendees in this seminar will also get a free project management toolkit with a compilation of best practices tools and techniques for quick and easy use. This software includes 83 project management templates that are very useful to track and monitor your projects. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 This is a limited-seats-only program with pre-registration required. Interested participants may avail of the group discounts for three or more participants and earlier bird discounts when you register on or before Dec. 28, 2013. For registration or more details check www.cgbp.org or call Manila lines 842-7148/50 or 556-8968/69; Cebu lines (032) 512-3106/07 or Baguio (074) 423-5148.

Classes reopen in PHL typhoon zone

 Entertainment
Jan 072014
 
Classes reopen in PHL typhoon zone

Children hold plates on top of their heads against rainfall as they queue for free meals during Christmas celebrations at the town of Bislig, Tanauan in Leyte province, central Philippines December 24, 2013, a month after Typhoon Haiyan battered central Philippines. Super typhoon Haiyan reduced almost everything in its path to rubble when it swept ashore in the central Philippines on November 8, killing at least 6,069 people, leaving 1,779 missing and 4 million either homeless or with damaged homes. (MNS photo) TACLOBAN (AFP) – Schools reopened Monday in badly damaged central Philippine towns for the first time since one of the world’s strongest storms ever to hit land killed thousands two months ago. Crowding into makeshift classrooms built from tarpaulins and plywood, the children – many of them still traumatized – sat quietly as teachers tried to engage them in friendly banter. Mothers refused to leave the tents despite appeals from teachers to let the children slowly resume their daily routine, an AFP reporter said. “Only about 50 percent of our school’s nearly 1,000 pupils are back,” lamented principal Maria Evelyn Encina in the seaside village of San Roque near the central city of Tacloban, where giant tsunami-like waves triggered by Super Typhoon Haiyan wiped out entire neighborhoods. She said at least nine students had been among the dead, although the fate of many others and their families remained unknown. “They could be in evacuation centers or taken in by their relatives in the mass evacuation that followed,” Encina Read More …

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