Business

Fridays will serve as the non-working day for most regular municipal operations in Pontevedra.*Ronnie Baldonado photoPontevedra, Negros Occidental, has returned to   a compressed four-day workweek for  municipal government offices and personnel starting this week, Mayor Jose Maria Alonso  said Monday,  August 3.Alonso  on July 29 issued Executive Order No. 2026-33 ordering the return to the four-day work week.It supersedes Executive Order No. 22, Series of 2026, which had previously reverted municipal offices to a standard five-day schedule on June 1.Under the new order, municipal government employees will work from 7:30 a.m. . to 6:30 p.m.  Monday through Thursday, with a one-hour lunch break, maintaining the required standard total of 40...

PNA file photoFuel prices will decline by as much PHP2.09 per liter this week after a huge jump last week amid the supply risks given the latest United States-Iran military exchanges.According to the Department of Energy (DOE), gasoline prices are set for a decline of not less than PHP0.73 per liter, diesel by PHP0.60 per liter, and kerosene by PHP2.09 per liter.In an advisory, Jetti Petroleum said it will cut diesel prices by PHP0.60 per liter and gasoline by PHP0.80 per liter effective 6 a.m. on Tuesday.“Price change varies in some locations,” it said.Meanwhile, Seaoil said it will reduce gasoline prices by PHP0.73 per liter, diesel by PHP0.60 per liter, and kerosene by PHP2.09 per liter.Data released by the DOE during the day showed that domestic fuel supply rema...

Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr.'s lawyer Roland D. Ravina (right) with the workers and their lawyer Clarence Gordoncillo (left)* Contributed photoConfederation of Sugar Producers Associations (CONFED) president Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr. has agreed to amicably settle differences with his 28 farmworkers to foster industrial peace and preserve a harmonious working environment on the farm, his lawyer Roland D. Ravina said.“Mindful of the prevailing economic hardships faced by agricultural workers, Mr. Valderrama took the unilateral initiative to provide a financial settlement package that far exceeds the initial claims filed with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE),” Ravina said  in press statement Sunday, August 2.“This voluntary gesture was made out of pure g...

Workers battling RSSI.*SRA photoRep. Javier Miguel "Javi" Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) called for a unified and long-term strategy to address the challenges facing the sugar industry after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. did not mention the sector in his State of the Nation Address.Benitez said the industry's concerns should be approached by focusing on solutions rather than politics, especially as Negros Occidental continues to battle the spread of the red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI)."We have to look at the problems and the solutions and set aside politics," Benitez said in an interview on July 27.He said while the immediate priority is containing the RSSI infestation, stakeholders should also begin discussing long-term reforms and innovations to make the sugar in...

Genrick Humprey Morales of APSU, Arthur Juego of KILUSAN, Roland de la Cruz of NACUSIP, Susanita Tesiorna of ALLWEIS, Cotabato Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, TUCP President and Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito Cañete Mendoza, Eli Bautista of PALEA, Tem Dejon OF AWATU and Arturo Basea of FUR (l-r) attended the SONA on Monday.*NACUSIP TUCP photoThe National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP-TUCP) issued a mixed assessment of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA), praising its immediate economic relief measures while criticizing the administration's silence on wage stagnation and ongoing troubles in the sugar sector.NACUSIP-TUCP National President Roland de la Cruz commended the executive branch's directives aimed...

Rep.Javier Miguel Benitez at the SONA.*QUEZON CITY— Leaders from Negros Occidental generally welcomed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA), with many expressing support for his proposals to lower electricity costs, strengthen disaster resilience, and continue economic reforms.Reacting after the SONA on July 27, Deputy Speaker and Bacolod Lone District Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez described the speech as “very grounded,” saying it addressed the issues ordinary Filipinos face every day.“He answered the questions of the people,” Benitez said, pointing to the President’s proposals on electricity prices and other high-impact programs.Benitez particularly backed the proposed amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), saying...

Sugar farm workers in Negros.*Ronnie Baldonado file photoFarm workers, agrarian reform beneficiaries, and small sugarcane farmers in Negros  on Monday, July 27, called on government to ensure that post-SONA economic recovery reaches rural communities, citing persistent poverty, unemployment, and widespread hunger.Speaking in the wake of the President’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), Joel Pasigado, chairperson of the Tib-ng Obreros Federation, said rural residents have yet to experience meaningful improvements in their daily lives as sugar-dependent communities grapple with overlapping crises. Pasigado noted that these challenges include the spread of the Red Stripe Soft Scale Insect (RSSI), rising production costs, unstable sugar prices, the climate crisis, a...