by admin | Jun 4, 2017 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
By JUNE S. BLANCO
REP. Erico Aristotle Aumentado of Bohol’s 2nd District is looking at more sources of energy to meet the increasing demand of industries, and the population.
On top of fossil fuel, geothermal, hydro (water), solar and wind that are currently in use, top on the chair of the House committee on science and technology’s sights are nuclear, waste and biomass power.
To allay people’s fears of a repeat of the Chernobyl, Russia and Fukushima, Japan nuclear plant accidents, however, Aumentado, together with Zamboanga del Norte 1st District Rep. Seth Frederick Jalosjos, filed House Bill 3651 seeking to create a nuclear energy regulatory body.
Meanwhile, Aumentado the other day talked with an investor keen on producing energy from waste – including plastics – as well as biomass, to meet the power demands of Bohol’s 2nd District.
He said the former will cut government spending for the establishment of sanitary landfills. Funds saved from this, he said, can then go to infrastructure and even social projects instead.
The solon expressed confidence that the mix of sources now and soon to be available will ultimately meet the growing power demands of the entire district – and even the province – without depending too much on the geothermal power plant in Tongonan, Leyte.
An added advantage of biomass power, he explained, is the residuals in the conversion of biomass into power can be utilized as fertilizer – organic at that.
The move, Aumentado said, will put his district one step closer to his aspiration of making it Bohol’s first “green”, that is environmentally sound, district.
The waste and the biomass will separately undergo both aerobic and anaerobic procedures, he said.
The investor, he hinted, will visit Bohol anytime soon to determine the volume of waste and biomass that the district can produce to feed the waste conversion and the biomass power plants to produce from one to two megawatts of energy. He echoed the former as saying that the more waste, the more there will be energy.
He also said for more biomass, the investor is likewise keen on tapping his constituents to plant feed stocks on public lands – to feed the biomass power plant.
by admin | Jun 1, 2017 | DTI Updates, Malakanyang Updates, World
MOSCOW—Following the USD 875 million-worth of potential investments secured between the Philippines (PH) and Russia, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez endeavored to strengthen PH-Russia business links by engaging, in separate fora, top chambers of commerce in Moscow and St. Petersburg on 25 and 26 May.
“I consider business fora in Moscow and St. Petersburg successful because of the good networking and business leads created from both sides,” said Sec. Lopez, adding that participants mostly Russians (70%) in Moscow forum reached about 450, while in St. Petersburg about 200.
“These Russian businessmen came from the industries of pharmaceutical, manufacturing, construction materials, iron and steel, property development, power energy, to name a few,” he added.
In both fora, the trade chief shared the Dutertenomics strategy for inclusive growth and emphasized PH’s current growth story characterized by strong macro-economic fundamentals, strong investors’ confidence and good governance.
Earlier, Sec. Lopez met with the principals and heads of the Business Russia Federation, composed of large-scale entrepreneurs in the area of pharmacy, medicine and mining. They were introduced to potential company partners in the Philippine business delegation.
A CEO Roundtable followed involving Russia’s top business executives from Business Russia, R-Pharma (pharmaceutical products, medical research) and Vi Holdings Group(metallurgy, mining and processing, power and energy, real estate).
Pharmaceutical, PPP, infrastructure
Sec. Lopez sought Russian businessmen’s involvement in developing the country’s infrastructure and public-private partnership (PPP) projects. He also reiterated relevance of adopting an inclusive growth model, integrating micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the value chain of bigger companies.
Sec. Lopez and PH team showcased various trade and investment opportunities available to Russian businessmen, as well as key industries, wherein PH has comparative advantage.
In Moscow on 25 May, Sec. Lopez, Science & Technology Sec. Fortunato dela Peña, Agriculture Sec. Manny Piñol and trade officials exchanged views with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (CCIRF), which represents the interests of small, medium-size, and big enterprises in manufacturing, domestic and foreign trade, agriculture, the finance system, and the services sectors in Russia.
Russian Deputy Minister for Economic Development Alexander Tsybulskiy led the Russian delegation with CCIRF President Sergey Katyrin.
In St. Petersburg on 26 May, PH team held a business forum with St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the largest chamber of commerce in the Russian Federation. St. Petersburg is home to many economic clusters and is also known as an industrial, cultural, logistical and pharmaceutical center.
St. Petersburg Forum attendees also conducted networking with their counterparts, with St. Petersburg businessmen presenting their priority industries with focus on the pharmaceutical cluster.
More cooperation areas ahead
On 26 May, PH delegation also met St. Petersburg’s Chairman of the Committee for External Relations Evgeny Grigoriev, who immediately expressed intent to help in the field of cheaper medicine and pharmaceuticals industry, and healthcare solutions.
“They are also advanced in marine and naval engineering, and offer training and apprenticeship to Filipinos, as well as in education scholarships in life science and research institutions which St. Petersburg is known for,” said Sec. Lopez.
The trade chief also confirmed that PH will also do industrial cooperation agreements to promote common interests in iron and steel, machineries, pharmaceuticals, agribusiness, shipbuilding and ship repair, automotive, aerospace as well as in culture, arts and many more.
“The focus really is on the pharmaceutical cluster, which is one of the biggest industries in St. Petersburg and can be a strategic avenue to cooperate with the Philippines, specifically in support of the President’s health program,” he said.
Securing business climate
Sec. Lopez said that Russian businessmen “like a lot the strong leadership of President Duterte in his approach towards lawless elements,” adding that Russian businessmen “are ready to help.”
PH-Russia bilateral economic relations is in nascent stage, according to him. There is concrete intention to thoroughly explore the opportunities and potentials that arise from the capabilities and strengths of each other’s industries.
“This is just the beginning of our deep and strong partnership with Russia. They await with excitement the return of President Duterte to Russia and they will certainly extend more fields of cooperation, building on what we have started,” he concluded.
by admin | Jun 1, 2017 | Business, DTI Updates
Badiang Self Help Multi-Purpose Cooperative (BASHMUCO) inks a Memorandum of Agreement with Islands Souvenir Incorporated (ISI) for the supply of crispy and best tasting banana chips to ISI stores nationwide. The agreement is made part of ISI’s Inclusive Business Program in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry- Region 7 which is designed to help micro-enterprises in the countryside. BASHMUCO is a beneficiary of DTI’s Shared Service Facility Program.
In photo are: BASHMUCO Chairperson Cipriana B. Amoguis (3rd from left) and ISI Vice President Ms. Camille Aldeguer (2nd from left) with them are Mr. Michael Dispo, General Manager of ISI (1st from left) and Mr. Modesto Simacon, Jr., Manager of BASHMUCO (1st from right). (Rey Anthony Regis)
by admin | Jun 1, 2017 | Business, DTI Updates
Atty. Ruth B. Castelo, Undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry-Construction Authority of the Philippines led the Philippine delegation of 20 participants from the government and local construction industry in the Technical Benchmarking on Construction Techno-Academy Training Centers in Japan.
The Philippine delegation as well as the 30 delegations from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) of the government of Japan was welcomed by Mr. Toshihiko Kuwabara, superintendent of the Craftsman Development School of the Tone Numata Techno Academy in Numata City, Gunma Prefecture to observe students in training.
Mr. Kuwabara shared in his opening speech that 5 Filipino trainees will enter the roofing course in July. He emphasized the importance of cross border observations and exchange of opinions with the Philippines to bring up future leaders in the construction industry.
Numata City Mayor Koichi Yokohama together with school superintendent Mr. Kuwabara led local representatives in the exchange of tokens with the Philippine delegation led by Atty. Castelo. After the ceremony, the delegation headed to the old Municipal Nango Elementary school which functions as a training ground for ‘impact screw driver’, ‘metal sheet cutting’ and ‘wood materials cutting’ followed by a visit to the old Municipal Hirakawa Elementary School which houses the Drone Training School of the academy.
Mr. Takeshi Aoyagi, chairman of the Gunma Prefecture Construction Industry Association presented the outcome of the pioneer batch of trainees and said ‘the pioneer batch have been sent out last year and all of them are working in the field without dropping out; this is an indicator on the importance of training before entering the field’. Mr. Matsuzawa, academy director added that the ‘Numata off grid model’ has been completed in the product development class of year 2016.
Mr. Kimura of the Construction Market Development Division, MILT said “We are hoping that this academy, as a pioneering model will increase by 10, 20, 100 number of craftsmen training school nationwide”. Atty. Castelo added “we want to strengthen the ties of friendly relationship with Japan especially with the construction industry; we look forward to applying what we have learned from this visit’. Makati Development Corporation President Dante Abando furthered “what we have learned from this visit would be surely meaningful”.
by admin | May 31, 2017 | DTI Updates, Headlines, National News
Micro entrepreneurs around the country will now have access to cheap and easy credit
as the Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) will now be made available nationwide
on May 31, 2017.
DTI Undersecretary for Regional Operations Zenaida Maglaya said the administration’s
brainchild of micro-finance facility encourages micro entrepreneurs to borrow money
from P3 that will help them finance their businesses.
“P3 is intended to help the underprivileged Filipino entrepreneurs who want to grow
their businesses. With this program, they can access cheap and easy credit without any
hassle. After filling out a half-page application and presenting necessary documents,
the money can be released within the day,” Maglaya explained.
With sufficient funds to provide to borrowers, the Department of Trade and Industry
(DTI) and its micro-financing arm Small Business Corporation (SB Corp) will lead the
implementation that will assist micro entrepreneurs financially and enable them to grow
their businesses.
Being the administration’s program to provide an affordable
micro-financing for the country’s micro entrepreneurs, the P3
funding program provides micro enterprises an alternative
source of financing that is easy to access and made
available at a cheapest cost.
“After we’ve launched the P3 in Tacloban, Occidental
Mindoro, and Sarangani in January 2017, P3 is now going
nationwide. We hope this will encourage micro entrepreneurs to patronize the government’s program so we can eliminate loan sharks,”Maglaya said.
National conduits and local Micro-financing Institutions (MFIs) have already been
accredited by the SB Corp to assist in distributing the funds to micro entrepreneurs. The
national level conduits are Radiowealth Finance Company (RFC), Taytay sa
Kauswagan, Inc. (TSKI), and Mindanao Alliance of Self-Help Societies – Southern
Philippines Educational Cooperative Center (MASS-SPECC).
Meanwhile, 18 local (MFIs) are accredited in Luzon, 6 in Visayas and 3 in Mindanao. A
total of P104.9 million have been released to P3 conduits as of today
The Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) is a P1 billion financing program
intended to give MSMEs better access to finance, and to reduce their cost of borrowing.
The fund will also give priority to the country’s 30 poorest provinces.
Following President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to replace the “5-6” money lending
system, the P3 is also seen to help stabilize supply and cost of commodities in public
markets, encourage small entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, eliminate loan
sharks, and offer employment and generate income for Filipinos.
The P1 billion fund of the P3 program from the Office of the President will be coursed
through the SB Corp. with accredited partner institutions such as non-bank MFIs,
cooperatives, and associations to serve as conduit for the P3 funds. With borrowers
identified through these, collection of repayments will be efficient.
The P3 Program was launched in Tacloban in Leyte on January 25, San Jose,
Occidental Mindoro on January 27, and Alabel, Sarangani last January 30. A total of
P7.7 million have been released to individual borrowers in these pilot areas: P3.5
million in Mindoro, P2.2million in Sarangani, and P1.8 million in Leyte.
The primary beneficiaries of the P3 Program are microenterprises and entrepreneurs
that do not have easy access to credit. These include market vendors, agribusinessmen
and members of cooperatives, and industry associations.
P3 will also make it easy for borrowers since it will only require minimal documentation
requirement; easy to access with only one (1) day processing of application; low cost
interest at 2.5% per month; and easy payment with collection on a weekly or daily
basis, as necessary.
Loan amounts to end-borrowers range between P5,000 and P100,000, with no
collateral requirement.
