‘Yolanda’ recovery gets Canada boost

 News
Jun 012014
 
‘Yolanda’ recovery gets Canada boost

Canadian Ambassador to Manila Neil Reeder: Helping attract investments and create jobs. FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines–Tourist destinations damaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda will receive support in their efforts at recovery through a three-year Canadian government program that seeks to boost local economic activity. Five provinces that suffered setbacks following the Nov. 8 super typhoon are among 10 target areas of the third phase of Canada’s Local Governance Support Program for Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED), the Canadian Embassy in Manila announced over the weekend. The local tourism support program, to be implemented from this year until 2016, is the third phase of an $18-million, eight-year bilateral project undertaken together with the Department of Interior and Local Government. It includes technical advice and training on how to make the local business environment more competitive, attractive to investments and conducive to jobs creation. Among the recipients are: Palawan, where a tourism development program will be implemented in the Coron-Busuanga-Culion area; Northern Panay, including Aklan and Antique, where the project will support grassroots ecotourism development; the towns of Banate, Barotac Viejo, Ajuy, Concepcion, Estancia and Carles in Iloilo, where the project will support micro- and small-to-medium enterprises; and Cebu, where an ecotourism recovery program will be implemented in the northern towns of Daanbantayan, Bantayan, Santa Fe, Medellin and Bogo City. LGSP-LED will also support ecotourism, heritage tourism and enterprise development projects in six other areas: Batangas, the Albay-Sorsogon tourism link, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Siquijor and Davao del Norte. Strong business climate  The 10 initiatives are expected to serve as models for other local government units to “showcase how a stronger business climate Read More …

Unhappy, solons want migrants better protected

 News
Jun 012014
 
Unhappy, solons want migrants better protected

By Leila B. SalaverriaPhilippine Daily Inquirer 9:31 am | Monday, June 2nd, 2014 Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello: Committee not satisfied. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines–Disappointed at the way labor officials handled the complaints of sexual exploitation of Filipino workers by government embassy personnel, lawmakers want to amend the Migrant Workers Act to allow for the forcible repatriation of Filipino nationals who commit crimes against fellow Filipinos abroad. The House committee on overseas workers affairs recommended the strengthening of the Migrant Workers Act to put in place measures that would allow the government to repatriate overseas nationals in order to curb abuses against overseas Filipino workers. Committee chair and Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello said the committee was not satisfied with the way the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) handled their investigations into the issue, charging that the agencies gave the officials concerned mere “slaps on the wrist” or moved to ensure that they would not be held accountable for their actions. One recommendation is for the DFA and the DOLE to ensure there would be treaties or agreements between the Philippines and other countries to enable the Philippine government to forcibly repatriate Filipino nationals alleged to have committed crimes abroad against fellow Filipinos. The agreements should also cover those who are not public officials and employees. Another committee recommendation is to amend the Migrant Workers Act so that illegal recruitment would also include the inducement, persuasion, encouragement or recruitment of an OFW to commit prostitution Read More …

Aquino key speaker at risk meet

 General
Jun 012014
 
Aquino key speaker at risk meet

Philippine Daily Inquirer 7:40 am | Monday, June 2nd, 2014 President Benigno S. Aquino III . GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines–President Aquino will be the keynote speaker at the opening of the two-day Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management on June 4, Secretary Herminio Coloma said Sunday over government radio. Coloma said the ASEM Manila Conference was expected to come out with a “Tacloban Declaration” which would be Manila’s contribution to new international policies and principles on disaster risk reduction and management. ASEM delegates will visit Tacloban City prior to the conference. They will meet with local officials and civic leaders. An estimated 150 senior national and local government officials, scientists, academicians, policy makers, industry and business executives, civil society leaders and representatives of regional and international organizations from 36 countries in Asia and Europe are expected to attend the meeting. Also expected are Kristalina Georgeva, European Union Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis; Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction Margela Wahlstrom and Vietnamese Vice Minister for Agriculture Hoang Van Tang. The ASEM conference is a Philippine initiative which President Aquino announced during the 9th ASEM Summit in Vientiane, Laos, on Nov. 5, 2012.–Christine O. Avendaño  Follow Us Other Stories: ‘Yolanda’ recovery gets Canada boost Unhappy, solons want migrants better protected Alien seniors should get discounts too Tacloban is being ‘built back better,’ says Investment Roadshow Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to Read More …

‘One Kapamilya Go’ in Toronto billed as TFC’s biggest

 News
Jun 012014
 
‘One Kapamilya Go’ in Toronto billed as TFC’s biggest

REDWOOD CITY, California – As part of its yearlong 20th anniversary celebration and summer tradition for overseas Filipinos, ABS-CBN’s The Filipino Channel (TFC) is holding its biggest “One Kapamilya Go” in Toronto, Canada, on Saturday, June 21. The whole day family event starts at 11:00 a.m. (EST) at the Heritage Court of Direct Energy Center, Toronto. A TFC anniversary concert follows at the Ricoh Coliseum (doors open at 5:00 p.m. EST (venue entrance from Heritage Court) with superstar comedian-host Vice Ganda, teleserye and film stars, Angel Locsin and Maja Salvador, matinee idols Xian Lim and Enrique Gil, comedic duo Tart Carlos and Vivieka Ravanes and TFC 20 Ambassador of Goodwill, “Mr. Pure Energy” Gary Valenciano. One Kapamilya Go in Canada started in 2010 with the Sessionistas in Toronto and Calgary. It was held anew in the same cities before bigger crowds in 2011 with John Lloyd Cruz, Jericho Rosales, Jed Madela, Angeline Quinto, Vina Morales, K Brosas and Billy Crawford. In 2012, TFC in Canada started its Summer Caravan of Events in various provinces and cities. In 2013, One Kapamilya Go brought the Toronto leg of the TFC romantic comedy, “Be Careful With My Heart World Tour,” with its top stars. “This one is going to be one big TFC 20th anniversary party,” said Ricky Resurreccion, ABS-CBN North America head of Ad Sales, Events & Trade Marketing. “With fun activities like Celebrity Bingo, games, the Pinoy tiangge (Filipino flea market bazaar), Filipino food booths and more, plus a concert extravaganza Read More …

Phl attracting more foreign brands

 General
Jun 012014
 
Phl attracting more foreign brands

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is expected to attract more foreign brands—from the low-end to luxury segments—as global retailers are starting to notice the vastly improved purchasing power of Filipinos, Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) chairman Emeritus Samie Lim said. In his presentation at the recently concluded 4th Annual World Retail Congress Asia Pacific in Singapore, Lim cited close to 50 global brands that entered the Philippines in the last two years. Included are American casual and European high-street fashion items, as well as luxury brands like Bentley and Rolls Royce. “This is a clear indication that people now have more disposable income. For food, we literally have hundreds of franchises that came in. Luxury goods also continued to perform at robust levels. This was a direct result of the improvement in consumer purchasing power. For many years, luxury brands seem to ignore the Philippine market. But to those who gambled, it was all worth the wait,” Lim told an audience consist of representatives from global firms and international retail experts. Among those who also presented at the World Retail Congress are Peter Lau, chairman and CEO of Giordano; Karen Eidsvik Moody, Asia regional director of Subway; Richard Clarke, president for Retail of Fujitsu; Gordon Campbell, CEO of SPAR International; Dr. Ira Kalish, Deloitte chief global economist; John Bolodian, Asia Pacific marketing director of Microsoft; and Harvey  Bierman, vice president of Global e-Commerce of Crocs. Lim told the audience that this is the best time to enter the Philippine market. “The Read More …

Market fall likely to continue

 Economy
Jun 012014
 
Market fall likely to continue

MANILA, Philippines – The stock market’s decline will likely continue this week following the benchmark index’s plunge below the support level, snapping the five-month upward trend. “For this week, the downtrend would continue as the main index dropped below the 6,750 support level,” Freya Natividad, investment analyst at Papa Securities, said in a phone interview. “On a technical perspective, we saw a breakdown from the five-month upward trend channel, breaching the 6,650 support level we have previously mentioned,” said Joyce Anne J. Ramos, analyst at AB Capital Securities Inc. This signals a potential consolidation of prices or a fall to its next support level at 6,625.55, Ramos said. Week-on-week, the Philippine Stock Exchange index sank 2.4 percent or 163.68 points to finish at 6,647.65, marking the third straight weekly decline of the bellwether index. Investors unloaded stocks following the release of economic growth data, which showed that Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) rose 5.7 percent in the first quarter. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 It is below the consensus estimate of 6.4 percent and slower than 7.7 percent uptick in the first quarter of 2013. Government officials said the economy was weighed down by natural disasters late last year.

PAL taps US-based MedAire for inflight medical services

 Economy
Jun 012014
 
PAL taps US-based MedAire for inflight medical services

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Airlines Inc. (PAL), jointly owned by taipan Lucio Tan and diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC), has tapped US-based MedAire to provide round-the-clock access medical advice to passengers and crew of long-haul international flights. MedAire would provide PAL access to advice and assistance from emergency physicians stationed at its MedLink Global Response Center based at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center. Phoenix-based MedLink medical assistance is available from anywhere in the world using the existing communications system of PAL aircraft. MedAire’s MedLink doctors are available 24 hours a day to help manage in-flight medical situations as well as provide pre-flight medical guidance on whether an ill passenger is fit to fly. With the partnership, PAL pilots and cabin crew could contact the MedLink center and communicate with a specialist physician via the aircraft’s satellite phone, HF/VHF radio or ACARS system during an in-flight emergency. The MedAire doctor assesses the situation, guides the crew or volunteer in providing emergency care to the patient and, depending on the severity of the illness, may recommend for or against a flight diversion. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Paulo Alves, MedAire’s global medical director of aviation, said medical volunteers are often helpful to assist the MedAire MedLink physician. “But remember, volunteers are passengers first – and, depending on their specialty background, may not have the appropriate qualifications to assist the passenger or make a confident decision should they be asked whether they recommend a diversion,” Alves said.  “With Read More …

Filinvest enters power business in Luzon

 Economy
Jun 012014
 
Filinvest enters power business in Luzon

MANILA, Philippines – Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC), the investment arm of the Gotianun family, is entering the power generation business in Luzon with a 300-megawatt (MW) power plant project in the next few years. The holding firm expects to reap a substantial income of P2 billion a year from its large investments in power generation in Mindanao starting 2016, officials said last week. “First [in the expansion program] is the Luzon market. The growth requirements of Luzon are substantial so we will take a look at that,” said FDC president and CEO Josephine Gotianun-Yap. “We really want to grow our power portfolio, whether greenfield, acquisition of power assets or joint venture,” said FDC chairman Jonathan Gotianun. “In general, we would start off probably with 150-300 MW. Normally you would scale it up,” Gotianun-Yap said, adding that the holding firm is also open to hydropower projects. Subsidiary FDC Utilities Inc. last year broke ground for a 405-MW clean coal-fired power plant in Misamis Oriental that is scheduled to start operations in 2016. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 When completed, it will be the largest power plant in Mindanao and is expected to alleviate the region’s ongoing power crisis. So far, FDC has contracted 81 percent of the power plant’s output to 17 power distributors. FDC expects to book P2 billion in profits every year when its Mindanao coal plant starts operations in 2016, making the power generation business the third biggest income contributor next to property development Read More …

Steag resumes operations of Misamis coal power plant

 Economy
Jun 012014
 
Steag resumes operations of Misamis coal power plant

MANILA, Philippines – Steag State Power Inc (SPI) is set to resume full commercial operations of its 210-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental.  In an advisory, SPI said Unit 1, with a net generating output of 105 MW, was synchronized to the Mindanao grid May 30 ahead of its June 1 target. Unit 2 resumed operations last May 7, after both units shut down on Feb. 27, causing an island-wide blackout in Mindanao. Without SPI’s capacity, Mindanao suffered two to three-hour rotating blackouts. This is because the power plant is currently Mindanao’s biggest in terms of unit capacity, accounting for nearly a fifth of the island’s total electricity supply. SPI power plant manager Carsten Evers said the resumption of the operations could ease the prevailing power shortage in Mindanao. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “We are pleased to announce that Unit 1 has resumed operations and we hope that this added capacity will help improve the critical power supply condition of Mindanao,” he said. The SPI plant has two identical electric generators, each with a net generating capacity of 105 MW, or a total combined net generating output of 210 MW. Since start of its full commercial operations in November 2006, SPI has delivered more than 10 billion kilowatt-hour of electric power to the grid, accounting for about a fifth of the island’s total power supply, the company said. SPI is owned by German company Steag GmbH, with Aboitiz Power Corp. and La Filipina Read More …

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