Business

Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino with Sugar Industry Foundation Inc. President and Chief Operating Officer Edith Villanueva (left photo) and United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines President Manuel Lamata after the signing of the memorandum of agreement between the Department of Labor and Employment and their respective institutions at L’ Fisher Hotel in Bacolod City on Tuesday.*DOLE photo The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) granted PHP22.8 million in labor, education and social protection assistance for beneficiaries in Negros Occidental, including Bacolod City, on Tuesday, August 4.Secretary Francis Tolentino led the ceremonial turnover of PHP21.83-million aid under the agency’s Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program for the TUPAD or ...

House Committee on Agriculture and Food chairperson Rep. Wilfrido Mark M. Enverga and Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez during the House committee hearing on Tuesday.*QUEZON CITY — Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) has been designated to head the Technical Working Group (TWG) that will consolidate and harmonize six proposed measures seeking to strengthen the country's sugar industry following  the House Committee on Agriculture and Food hearing at the Romualdez Hall here at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Aug. 4.House Committee on Agriculture and Food Chair Rep. Wilfrido Mark M. Enverga (Quezon Province , 1st District) announced Benitez's designation during the hearing.,Enverga said the TWG will consolidate the six bills proposing amendments to the Su...

The Sangguniang Panlungsod of Bacolod City has unanimously approved on third and final reading an orddinace elevating the Bacolod Public Employment Service Office (PESO) into a full-fledged department under the Office of the City Mayor, Councilor Ceasar Distrito said Tuesday, Aug. 4.The measure, authored by Distrito, amends City Ordinance No. 957, Series of 2021, with the objective of strengthening the City’s employment generation programs, improving labor market services, and making government employment assistance more accessible to every Bacolodnon.Distrito said the ordinance is a major step toward modernizing the Bacolod’s employment services in line with Republic Act No. 8759, as amended by Republic Act No. 10691, which mandates the strengthening of Public Employment Service O...

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...