Business

Prices of liveweight pigs have dropped this month, but hog raisers remain optimistic as demand is expected to rise in the last two months of the year, an Alliance of Hog Raisers Association of Negros Occidental (AHRANO) official said on Wednesday, Oct. 22.AHRANO President Ric Lauron said that the current liveweight price of pigs range from P150 to P160 per kilogram, while pork meat prices are between P280 and P320 per kilo.In the previous months, liveweight prices were pegged at P160 to P165 per kilo, he said.Hog raisers are managing to break even with the high cost of production inputs, he said.Lauron said during AHRANO’s meeting on Wednesday that they are anticipating higher sales in November and December as pork demand increases ahead of the holiday season.Hog raiser...

An Iloilo-based sugarcane planters' group is calling on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to immediately intervene to save the Philippine sugar industry amid the drop in millgate sugar prices.The Jalasig Sugarcane Planters Association Inc. (JSPAI) in an open letter to the president on Monday, October 20, called for "accountability, decisive governance and immediate intervention to preserve the strength and viability of the Philippine sugar industry."The group said that should the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) “leadership fail to arrest the situation and safeguard the integrity of local production, we respectfully urge that they step aside to allow more capable leadership to take decisive action".JSPAI, which has 5,666 members, warned that the livelihoods of thousands of Fi...

SSS Bacolod Branch head Brenda Cruz, Senior Vice President for Mindanao Operations Group Dr. Lilani Benedian, Senior Vice President for Visayas Operations Group Alberto Montalbo and Commissioner Eva Arcos with CLMMRH Medical Center Chief II Dr. Joan Cerrada and Chief Executive Officer Shareen Caelian (l-r) after the ceremonial signing of the MOA.*A total of 133 Job Order (JO) and Contract of Service (COS) workers of the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) are now covered as self-employed members of the Social Security System (SSS) under the KaSSSangga Collect Program (KCP).SSS Senior Vice President for Visayas Operations Group Alberto Montalbo said that CLMMRH will implement an automatic salary deduction scheme for these workers' SSS and EC contributio...

Provincial Legal Officer Alberto Nellas II, Gov. Eugenio Lacson, Layertech CEO Maria Jhian Sangil and NOLITC School Administrator Ma. Cristina Orbecido (l-r) at the MOA signing.*Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson on Monday, Oct. 20, signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Layertech Software Labs Inc., officially making the Negros Occidental provincial government the software company's first government global partner for technology and digital skills development.Lacson thanked Layertech for making the province's Negros Occidental Language and IT Center (NOLITC) its pioneering global partner.Lacson said he hopes NOLITC “could be at par with other international partners” in technology training.Maria Jhian Sangil, Layertech CEO, said this is a pioneering program in collaboration ...

There will be a mixed movement in fuel prices on Tuesday, October 14.Diesel prices will go down by P0.20 to P0.40 per liter, Unioil Petroleum Philippines said.Gasoline prices are forecasted to have no change to an increase by P0.10 per liter, it added.*

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson*Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Friday, Oct. 17, that he will support the proposed joint venture agreement (JVA) between Negros Electric and Power Corp. (NEPC) and the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (NONECO).NONECO General Manager Wilbe Bilbao confirmed on Monday, October 13, that NEPC has officially sent a letter of intent for a JVA with the cooperative.“I've seen how Negros Power works here in Bacolod… it has the capital to introduce projects that will improve the delivery of power”, Lacson said.“That has always been the problem of cooperatives, they need to get approval for CAPEX (capital expenditure) and in most cases it's not approved or no action is taken,” he said.The governor pointed out that Negros Power’s e...

The Negros Electric and Power Corp. electricity rates are down by ₱0.3594 per kilowatt hour this October.The average residential rate for October 2025 is ₱11.9181/kWh, showing a slight decrease of ₱0.3594/kWh compared to September’s ₱12.2775/kWh, Negros Power announced Friday, Oct. 17.Negros Power said the decrease was caused by lower generation cost.The Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) rate dropped from ₱7.6219/kWh to ₱5.1922/kWh after several power plants in the grid returned to normal operations, helping reduce market prices, it said.Transmission charges slightly increased by ₱0.1189/kWh due to higher Ancillary and Reserve Market costs, Negros Power said.The business/franchise tax adjustment is ₱0.0094/kWh covering the 4th quarter of 2025, it added.*...

The sugar industry is still the main driver of Negros Occidental’s economy*Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Friday, Oct. 17, that he will support whatever is needed to bring sugar prices back to a comfortable level.He said the current low price is definitely not good for Negros Occidental, as sugar is still the main driver of its economy.The price of sugar recently plunged to around P2,200 per 50 kilogram bag. This level is nearly P300 below the estimated production cost, a joint resolution issued early this week by Negros Island Region (NIR) congressmen said.The resolution called on the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to immediately act on the matter.Lacson said sugar prices should at least go back to the general average of last milling seas...

The Alliance of Concerned Consumers in Electricity and Social Services (ACCESS) has expressed strong support for the proposed partnership between the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (NONECO) and the Negros Electric and Power Corporation (Negros Power), describing it as “a crucial step toward modernizing power services and improving consumer welfare in Northern Negros”.Wennie Sancho, ACCESS president, said in a press release on Thursday, Oct. 16, that their group has already conducted a series of consumer education and awareness programs with their members in the areas served by NONECO in the past months and listened to their clamor for better electric service and affordable rates.He said that the proposal of Negros Power to NONECO should be viewed as a partnership for progress...