Nov 212013
 

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board has approved a series of infrastructure projects that worth P184.2 billion (about $4.22 billion) today.

The list of seven projects include three rail projects and one airport, transport terminal, hospital, and water supply projects. Of the seven projects approved by the NEDA Board, six will be undertaken through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

“The rail projects will connect the train systems and make it convenient for passengers to transfer from one train to another. This will also help reduce passengers’ travel time,” the Director- General of the NEDA Arsenio Balisacan said.

Meanwhile, the other projects included Mactan-Cebu International Airport New Passenger Terminal Project ($401.60 million); the Development of Transportation System at the Southern outskirts of Metro Manila ($176.70 million); the Modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center ($128.51 million); and the Bulacan Bulk Water Supply Project ($559.94 million).   

Aug 262013
 
Megawide eyes SEAsia markets for pre-fab exports

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 …

Feb 082013
 
On his birthday, PNoy visits boy with cancer

On his birthday, President Benigno Aquino III on Friday took time off from his official schedule to fulfill the wish of a 15-year-old cancer patient who seemed to have given up hope in getting well. Jericho Navarro Rafols, has been suffering from bone cancer since he was 13. Doctors attending him had to amputate his right leg to stop the spread of the disease. “The boy had given up, but the President’s Friday morning lifted the boy’s spirits,” said a palace staffer. “Sa una ayaw na magpagamot at lumaban, pero nung sinabi ni PNoy [na] i-tuloy ang laban, doon siya nagkaroon [uli] ng lakas na lumaban…,” the Palace staff added. Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang confirmed the President’s visit to the boy. “The President visited Jericho Rafols, a bone cancer patient at the Philippine Orthopedic Center. It was [his] wish to meet the President,” Carandang told reporters at a briefing. “The President took time off from his schedule. He had a meeting with the PMS (Presidential Management Staff), [but] he took time off from his schedule to personally greet the boy,” he added. While at the Philippine Orthopedic Center, Aquino also visited another patient who has been confined for over 15 years. Mario Maniego was on his way home from work in 1998 when he slipped on a gutter and fell, hitting his spinal chord. Both Rafols and Maniego are confined in the charity ward of the hospital. First birthday greeting Members of the Presidential Security Group had the pleasure of Read More …