OFW’s housing woes

 News
May 172014
 
OFW’s housing woes

To own a house is a big deal for every OFW family because that would remind them of the fruits of their labor overseas. Juanillo “Jun” Martinez, a foreman for the past seven years in a construction company in Saudi Arabia, and his wife, Ning, have been looking forward to finally moving into their own house. Unfortunately, they fear they have been victimized by a bogus developer. They related that an agent had shown them an attractive brochure and encouraged them to buy a house and lot being developed by AJEM Properties and Development Corporation. Elmer Mallorca is the president of the company which lists its office address as Unit E, 2/F Orange Building, 310 Zabarte Road, Brgy. Kaligayahan, Novaliches, Quezon City. The couple checked the pictures of AJEM projects on Facebook and chose a house and lot with a contract price of P1.35 million located at Mystical Rosa Villa in Brixtonville, Camarin, Caloocan City. They paid a reservation fee of P20,000 on April 2012 and paid P10,000 monthly from May to September 2012. They paid another  P10,000 on November 2012 and P15,000 last January 2013. On February 2013, the Martinez couple visited the site and were surprised that AJEM, contrary to their agreement, had not constructed any house on the site.  They decided to back out from their deal and asked the company to give them back the money they had paid out. AJEM president Elmer Mallorca reportedly promised to return the amount of P55,000. The couple even agreed Read More …

Puregold gathers SMEs for sari-sari store confab

 Economy
May 172014
 
Puregold gathers SMEs for sari-sari store confab

MANILA, Philippines – Retail giant Puregold Price Club is set to host one of the country’s biggest gatherings of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) when it holds its 11th Tindahan ni Aling Puring (TNAP) Sari-Sari Store Convention on May 21 to 25 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. The five-day convention will bring together over 300,000 members of Puregold’s Tindahan ni Aling Puring program, mostly grocery and sari-sari store owners, carinderia and restaurant operators, resellers and bulk buyers. Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano will be the guest of honor at the convention. Ferdinand Vincent Co, national merchandising director of Puregold, said this year’s theme – ”Level-AP! E-Level AP and Asenso at Panalo” – emphasizes the retail chain’s continuing commitment to help SMEs boost their income by taking their small businesses to the next level. “Our focus this year is to help Aling Puring members, whom we consider as our business partners, reach new levels of success,” Co said. “We want them to grow their businesses to become more successful and profitable.” The convention will coincide with the launching of the new and improved Tindahan ni Aling Puring membership card that opens up a range of highly-exclusive benefits for its members such as easier structure to earn points through their purchases and an enhanced redemption system of fabulous freebies and prizes, plus other exciting features and rewards. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Another highlight of the convention is free training and seminars by no Read More …

Cosco Capital completes P5-B maiden notes issue

 Economy
May 172014
 
Cosco Capital completes P5-B maiden notes issue

MANILA, Philippines – Cosco Capital Inc., the investment vehicle of retail tycoon Lucio Co, has completed its debut in the debt capital market, raising P5 billion to support acquisitions. The company said Friday it signed a P5-billion notes facility with a group of institutional lenders composed of banks and insurance companies. “The facility, which consists of seven- and 10-year notes, will be used to fund strategic acquisitions and for general corporate purposes,” Cosco Capital said. “This notes issuance is indeed a clear confirmation of the financial community’s trust and confidence in Cosco Capital,” said company president Leonardo Dayao, adding that the offering was 2.5 times oversubscribed. Metrobank Group’s First Metro Investment Corp. acted as the sole arranger and book runner for the issue, which marked Cosco Capital’s maiden offering in the debt capital markets following the consolidation of the Co family’s assets in 2013. Dayao earlier said the company in on the lookout for opportunities in food and real estate leasing for retail. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Cosco Capital is into supermarkets (Puregold Price Club Inc.), liquor importation (Premier Wine & Spirits Inc.), commercial real estate and oil storage and oil exploration activities. It is the country’s leading importer of liquor with exclusive distribution rights for some of the world’s top brands like Cuervo, Jim Beam, Fundador, Absolut Vodka, Johnny Walker, Chivas Regal and Alfonso. Pro-forma net income of the investment firm hit P5.3 billion last year, up 83 percent from P2.9 billion a year Read More …

Expats’ guide to managing Filipinos

 Economy
May 172014
 
Expats’ guide to managing Filipinos

MANILA, Philippines – How do you really deal with Filipino white-collar and blue-collar workers most effectively? Win them to your side and you have the most loyal and productive people in your company.  Understanding the Filipino psyche and the cultural diversities among the different regional groups in the Philippines can boost your leadership and management performance and even marketing campaigns for the Philippine market!  Whether you are handling one or 1,000 of them, there is a right way to manage your people successfully. The Center for Global Best Practices, in collaboration with ITAP International – the specialists in doing business internationally and across borders and cultures – presents the premier launch of this one-and-a-half day special seminar entitled, “Expats’ Guide to Managing People in the Philippines” to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 17  & 18, 2014 (1.5 days) at the EDSA Shangri-la Hotel, Mandaluyong City, Philippines.  The seminar will feature the best practices and global gold standard in cultural diversity training that will help locals and expats of different cultures leading people effectively, communicating clearly, negotiating more successfully, working harmoniously with culturally diverse teams and gaining more respect from subordinates, peers and superiors.  Many studies have proven that expatriates who understand the cultural diversity issues of their people are able to successfully lead and manage their organizations more effectively. For details and a complete list of upcoming best practices seminars including Filipinos’ Guide in Handling Expats and Foreigners – The right way, you may log on to www.cgbp.org Read More …

Worth emulating

 Economy
May 172014
 
Worth emulating

David Tan, the founding president of the Philippine Independent Power Producers Association (PIPPA), is blaming the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) for the electricity mess, saying that the real story behind the electricity price shock is Meralco’s “failure to properly manage its contracted generating companies to bring least cost power to its consumers.” According to Tan, Meralco was forced during the Malampaya shutdown to source more of its power requirements from WESM amid the then price volality because it had failed to source or enter into supply contracts with such available facilities as San Miguel’s 345 MW plant in San Roque, GN Power’s 600 MW coal plant in Mariveles, and CBK Power Co.’s pump hydro in Laguna. What Tan is not saying is that various factors have prevented Meralco from tapping these power facilities during the abnormal supply situation. CBK cannot sell to Meralco because as a frequency-regulating power plant, it sells all its electricity to the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) and the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP). Meralco had approached GN Power but it had already sold all of its capacity elsewhere. San Roque did not entertain this distribution utility (DU)’s offer to buy power. Thus, it was inappropriate and incorrect for Tan to deduce from the facts that Meralco never had any intention of signing up these gencos as a way to reduce its dependence on WESM at that time of runaway prices. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 These, Read More …

Rockwell Land posts 17% profit growth in Q1

 Economy
May 172014
 
Rockwell Land posts 17% profit growth in Q1

MANILA, Philippines – Higher interest income allowed upscale property developer Rockwell Land Corp. to post double-digit profit growth in the first quarter. The Lopez family’s property arm said its earnings jumped more than 17 percent to P254.2 million from P216 million in the same period last year. Consolidated revenues inched up four percent to P1.42 billion from P1.36 billion.  “The residential development generated P1.17 billion, contributing 82 percent of the total revenues for the period. Bulk of the revenues came from the sale of condominium units, including accretion from interest income,” Rockwell Land said. Sales of condominium units slipped six percent to P851 million from P906 million “primarily due to lower construction completion of Edades and 205 Santolan, which were substantially completed in 2013 and are already for handover in 2014,” Rockwell Land said. Commercial leasing revenues rose three percent to P250.7 million from P244.3 million. Its retail operations include retail leasing, interest income and other mall revenues. Interest income surged 59 percent to P276 million from P173 million “mainly due to higher interest income accretion arising from Proscenium and The Grove Phases 2 and 3 projects,” the company said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In the first quarter, Rockwell Land said it spent P1.3 billion for project and capital expenditures, up three percent from P1.2 billion last year. “The expenditures consist mostly of development costs of The Grove Phases 2 & 3, Proscenium, Lopez Tower and 53 Benitez projects,” Rockwell Land said. The upscale property Read More …

Aquino, Vietnam premier likely to touch on China in WEF talks—Palace

 News
May 172014
 
Aquino, Vietnam premier likely to touch on China in WEF talks—Palace

By TJ BurgonioPhilippine Daily Inquirer 6:11 pm | Saturday, May 17th, 2014 Vietnamese expatriates and Filipinos display placards as they join together in a rally in front of the Chinese Consulate at the financial district of Makati city to protest the recent moves by China to construct an oil rig near the Vietnamese-claimed Paracels off the contested Spratlys group of islands and shoals in the South China Sea Friday, May 16, 2014. The protesters, led by Philippine Congressman Walden Bello, claimed that Vietnam and the Philippines are “natural allies as both countries suffered the same territorial struggles against China.” JOAN BONDOC MANILA, Philippines—China’s growing aggressiveness in the South China Sea is expected to top discussions between President Benigno Aquino III and visiting Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung this week. The Vietnamese prime minister, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Myanmar Vice President Nyan Tun, and other leaders are converging in Manila this week for the World Economic Forum on East Asia. Aquino and the Vietnamese premier will touch on the sea dispute with China during their meeting on the sidelines of the WEF which Manila will host for the first time, Malacañang said. “It will be probable [that they discuss it] given that’s the current issue in their country,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said over State-run dzRB. Vietnam is now locked in a tense standoff with China over the installation of an oil rig by China’s state-owned oil company in contested waters within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone. China’s action Read More …

PH-US ‘war games’ over

 News
May 162014
 
PH-US ‘war games’ over

By Nikko DizonPhilippine Daily Inquirer 8:15 am | Saturday, May 17th, 2014 US and Philippine marines storm the beach to simulate a raid during the joint U.S.-Philippines military exercise dubbed Balikatan 2014 Friday, May 9, 2014 at the Naval Training Exercise Command, a former US naval base. AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines and its allies will help each other in upholding peace, territorial integrity and sovereignty as the Asia Pacific faces new security challenges in the 21st century “that no nation’s armed forces can face alone.” This was how Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Emmanuel Bautista summarized the Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) relations of the Philippines and the United States as the 30th iteration of the joint military exercises formally closed on Friday. The Australian military also participated for the first time in the war games, where its P3-Orion surveillance plane was used in the Combined Arms Live Fire Exercises at Crow Valley in Capas, Tarlac. “Today’s dynamic security environment presents challenges that no nation’s armed forces can face alone. These challenges of the 21st century include maritime security and climate change,” Bautista said. The military chief said the Balikatan exercises “demonstrated that the only way to overcome these challenges is for everyone to stand shoulder-to-shoulder, which speaks of a global bayanihan.” “[The Balikatan] emphasizes that as friends and allies, the Philippines and the United States will, in our collective capacity, safeguard international peace and security and ensure that territorial integrity and sovereignty are respected,” Bautista said. Read More …

China’s land reclamation ‘jeopardizes’ PH case in UN, says DFA

 News
May 162014
 
China’s land reclamation ‘jeopardizes’ PH case in UN, says DFA

The DFA released photos Thursday of the Mabini Reef showing China’s reclamation activities on the disputed area. DFA China’s land reclamation on Mabini Reef (Johnson South Reef) in the West Philippine Sea is “jeopardizing” the Philippines’ arbitration case in the United Nations, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Friday. The case the Philippines filed in the UN International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in The Hague, the Netherlands, in January last year seeks clarification on maritime jurisdiction and entitlements in the West Philippine Sea, but China’s creation of an islet there could potentially expand Beijing’s territorial sea in waters clearly within Manila’s 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone, DFA spokesperson Charles Jose said. He said the Philippines raised that concern with China in its April 4 protest against Beijing’s reclamation of land on Mabini Reef that could be used to build an airstrip or a military base. “That we are protesting, that’s in violation of [the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea] and  is jeopardizing the case because what they are doing will change the nature and character of that feature, which will somehow have an implication on the panel that was constituted to decide objectively in this case,” Jose said. The declaration of conduct is a nonaggression pact that China signed with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in 2002 to prevent territorial claims in the South China Sea from erupting into conflict. China claims almost the whole 3.5-million-square-kilometer South China Read More …

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