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Argentinian Investments to Expand Sourcing of Local Seaweeds
On the sidelines of the meeting of the 11th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez discussed with an Argentinian investor how to expand sourcing of local seaweeds. Sec Lopez met with one of the owners of food ingredient-producer Farmesa, which has a plan to set-up a seaweeds processing plant in the Philippines. The Philippines will be their first manufacturing operations outside Argentina, according to Mr. Agustin Perez, Head of Farmesa’s International group. Mr. Perez confided that aside from the big potential of locally sourcing seaweeds, he finds the Philippines business environment stable and the economy very dynamic, which add on to his confidence in pursuing their growth story in the Philippines. He cited the country as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. FARMESA, is an Argentinian family enterprise that specializes in the R&D, production, and exportation of food additives and ingredients to several food companies worldwide. Sec. Lopez reaffirmed that their expansion plans can bring them closer to both the source of their main ingredient seaweeds, as well as the market of their products in the Philippines and Asian region. They recognize as well the potential of harnessing the FTA and GSP trade arrangements that the Philippines have with other countries in the region as well as in US and EU. Secretary Lopez lauded Farmesa for their decision to choose the Philippines ahead of other candidate countries for the company´s expansion. The availability of raw materials plus the strategic location of the country factored highly in the country’s evaluation. They currently had to source seaweeds from several Asian countries and bring it... read morePH exports expand by 11%
The Department of Trade and Industry through its Export Marketing Bureau sees solid growth for Philippine merchandise exports this year as it continues to expand by 11.68% with total sales of $53.11 billion for the period January-October 2017 compared to the same period last year with total $47.55 billion of export sales. For ten straight months, the value of merchandise exports in the review period was shared almost evenly by electronics and non-electronics at 50.78% and 49.22%, respectively. In a preliminary report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Year-On-Year (YOY) growth for October 2017 showed the country’s total export sales increased by 6.6% from $5.04 billion last year to $5.37 billion this year supported by the double-digit growths of six out of top ten major Philippine exports including fresh bananas. Six gainers for October 2017 exports sales include gold (297%), electronic equipment and parts (43.3%), metal components (21.9%), fresh bananas (20.8%), other mineral products (19.6%), and electronic products (13.8%). Receipts for top ten major exports for October 2017 reached $4.25 billion with a total share of 79.2% of the total export receipts. Electronic products led the top ten commodities with total export sales of $2.86 billion, accounting for 53.2% of the total exports revenue for the month of October 2017. “Export sector is a big employment generator and we welcome these positive developments as this will translate to more job opportunities,” said DTI Undersecretary for Trade and Investments Promotion Group Nora K. Terrado. Japan remains as the top export destination for October 2017 with total exports receipt of $871.36 million and a share of 16.2% in total exports. “Japan is... read more
House considers on 2nd reading bill upping DEDVMH beds from 50 to 300
By JUNE S. BLANCO THE House has considered on second reading the bill seeking to increase the bed capacity and upgrading the services, facilities and professional health care of the Don Emilio del Valle Memorial Hospital (DEDVMH) in Ubay town. Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado of Bohol’s 2nd District, together with Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles of Davao City’s 1st District, authored the bill that also seeks the authorization of the corresponding increase in the number of hospital personnel and providing funds therefor. Rep. Angelina Tan, chair of the Committee on Health, Aumentado and Nograles sponsored the bill that replaces the earlier bill that Aumentado filed as the latter had sought a bed capacity increase of only up to 200 beds. Aumentado determined that 200 beds will not be enough to accommodate the growing number of patients, some of whom are already occupying extra beds along the aisles. The unprecedented number of patients came when DEDVMH acquired new equipment with competent personnel to operate them – and continuing to do so – and with an International Standard Organization (ISO) certification to boot. This made the hospital attractive to patients coming from nearby towns and even other districts, hospital records would show. Aumentado said the upped bed capacity also aims to accommodate islanders who now come in at an average of 80 to 100 persons a week after he mobilized his sea ambulance to ferry them to and from Ubay free of charge to get medical attention. Some are good to go after consultation in the Out-Patient Department. Others need to be confined. To marginalized islanders, the fare for patients plus watchers, their food...Duterte: An Open Source Presidency
By: Jerome Auza I openly support Rodrigo Duterte to be the next president of the country. Together with my wife, our family, our friends and colleagues, we have come to agree that Duterte is the right leader at this time, to steer the country for the next six years. We’ve spent quite a sum of time and money campaigning, buying t-shirts and giving them away to people, printing hundreds of stickers and distributing them to the public and frequently promoting Duterte to our friends on Facebook. I may have overdone the Facebook part already and I might be already a “Dutertard” to some of my friends. Who knows some might have already unfollowed, or worse, unfriended me. As we did our part as volunteers in the past few weeks, I had that feeling of familiarity to what we were doing. Contributions from thousands, if not millions, of volunteers towards a common cause seemed to be something very familiar to me as if I had been doing it for a long time. And one day, it dawned on me. Duterte’s campaign is like open source software: made of contributions from so many people in different areas of expertise towards a common goal. The best example of a very successful open source software project is the Linux operating system. Conceived in the early 1990s, Linux made its way into server systems, had difficult time penetrating the PC market but lately, it has become ubiquitous after Google built the Android operating system for mobile devices based on Linux. Linux and other open source software are released to the public including its source...Local News/ Bohol Balita
BISU Graduate Tops Mechanical Engineers Board Exam
A graduate of Bohol Island State University topped the recent Mechanical Engineer Board Examination conducted by the Professional Regulation Commission. Gremerson Idulsa Aladad passed the exam with a 93.80% rating. BISU Tagbilaran had 31 passers out of 33 graduates who took the exam earlier in October 2014. Aladad is also a Department of Science and Technology scholar. Source:...Oct. 15 declared as a special non-working day in Bohol
Oct. 15 declared as a special non-working day in Bohol TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Oct. 10 (PIA)–President Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III has officially declared Wednesday, October 15, 2014 as a special non-working day in the province of Bohol through Presidential Proclamation No. 887. The proclamation was approved yesterday through Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. It recognized the significance of the first year anniversary of the Bohol earthquake which struck the province last year, causing loss of lives, destruction of properties and economic decline. The proclamation also supports the wish of the Province of Bohol to commemorate the earthquake anniversary as a day of prayer and thanksgiving. Gov. Edgar Chatto and the entire Sangguniang Panlalawigan had earlier passed a resolution to President Aquino to declare October 15 as a special non-working holiday in Bohol. The mass motion was formally passed by Board Member Cesar Tomas Lopez in a special session on September 17. Activities have been lined up for Oktubre Kinse:The Bohol Earthquake Memorial by the Executive Committee formed through an executive order of the governor. The commemorative activities have been lined up by the executive committee composed of the Provincial Government, the City Government of Tagbilaran, and the Dioceses of Tagbilaran and Talibon. The province of Bohol was struck by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake on October 15, 2013 at 8:12 a.m. It affected the whole Central Visayas region, particularly Bohol and Cebu. The quake was felt in the whole Visayas area and as far as Masbate island in the north and Cotabato provinces in southern Mindanao. According to official reports by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC),...Oktubre 15, gi-deklarar nga special non-working day sa Bohol
Oktubre 15, gi-deklarar nga special non-working day sa Bohol TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Oct. 10 (PIA)–Gi-deklarar ni Presidente Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III pinaagi sa Presidential Proclamation No. 887 ang Oktubre 15, 2014 (Miyerkoles) isip special non-working day sa tibuok lalawigan sa Bohol. Ang maong proklamasyon gi-aprobahan pinaagi ni Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. niadtong Oktubre 9, 2014. Gi-ila sa maong proklamasyon ang kamahinungdanon sa unang tuig nga anibersaryo sa linog sa Bohol nga niresulta sa pagkakalas sa daghang kinabuhi, kadaot sa kabtangan ug pagkunhod sa ekonomiya. Agi usab kini og paghatag og pagtugot sa hangyo sa Kagamhanang Probinsiyal sa Bohol sa paghandom sa anibersaryo sa linog isip adlaw sa pag-ampo ug pasalamat. Si Gob. Edgar Chatto ug ang tibuok Sangguniang Panlalawigan ning bag-o lang niduso og resolusyon ngadto kang Presidente Aquino nga e-deklarar ang Oktubre 15 isip special non-working holiday sa lalawigan sa Bohol. Ang mass motion pormal nga giduso ni Board Member Cesar Tomas Lopez sa usa ka special session niadtong Setyembre 17. May mga kalihokan na nga naka-andam alang sa Oktubre Kinse:The Bohol Earthquake Memorial sa Executive Committee nga gimugna pinaagi sa executive order sa gobernador. Ang maong mga kalihokan gimugna pinaagi sa executive committee nga gilangkoban sa Provincial Government, City Government of Tagbilaran ug Diocese sa Tagbilaran ug Talibon. Ang probinsiya sa Bohol gitay-og sa magnitude 7.2 nga linog niadtong Oktubre 15, 2013 sa alas 8:12 sa buntag. Apektado niini ang tibuok rehiyon sa Central Visayas, ilabi na ang Bohol ug Cebu. Nabati ang maong linog sa tibuok Visayas ug hangtud pa sa isla sa Masbate sa norte ug probinsiya sa habagatang Mindanao. Base sa opisyal nga...6-M seniors soon to have lifetime health insurance
6-M seniors soon to have lifetime health insurance More than six million elderly in the country will soon become lifetime members of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth). This was announced by PhilHealth President and CEO Alexander A. Padilla during forum held recently on social protection programs for the elderly, an Elderly Filipino Week activity organized by PhilHealth and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The elderly beneficiaries of Philhealth’s Lifetime Member Program (LMP) will be provided coverage for life without paying the premium anymore. “Our LMP is open to those who have made 120 monthly contributions to the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP), and have reached the age of retirement,” Padilla said, clarifying however, that those who are still gainfully employed even at age of retirement are not yet eligible under the LMP. DSWD is supporting Senate Bill No. 712, a measure that would authorize the PhilHealth to cover all senior citizens in the country. The Bill was approved on third and final reading in the Senate. During the forum, DSWD, PhilHealth, Social Security System (SSS), and Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) signed a manifest for the promotion of adequate social services and protection for elderly Filipinos. The Elderly Filipino Week is celebrated annually from October 1 to 7 pursuant to Proclamation No. 470. This year’s theme is “Ang Nakatatanda ay Yaman, Katuwang sa Pag-unlad ng Bayan, Pangalagaan Kanilang Kapakanan.”...First Kumon K of C Enrolee Receives Advanced Student Award
Kumon K of C produced its first Advanced Student Awardee who received the award at the Advanced Student Forum 2014 awarding ceremonies held on October 4, 2014 at the Radisson Blu hotel in Cebu City. Jeremiah “Jimmy” Auza, who will soon turn seven years old, received the PK3 Advanced Student in Math award. Jimmy is the oldest son of Mr. & Mrs. Jerome Auza and is one of the first students to enrol in the Math program of Kumon K of C located at the K of C Recreation Center, K of C Drive, Tagbilaran City, Bohol. The award is given to students who are at least 5 years advanced in their skills in mathematics versus their school level. Mr. Masanori Tsuji, President of Kumon Philippines, Inc., presented the medals to the awardees in the awarding program. Mr. Tsuji also awarded medals to Kumon program completers for both Math and Reading....National News
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