Business

Seven villages have been identified as the location of the proposed 150-megawatt wind power project of Bago-Negros Energy Corp. in Bago City, Negros Occidental.The areas — Calumangan, Napoles, Taloc, Sampinit, Busay, Balingasag and Lag-asan — have been identified in the notice of public scoping set on Oct. 28 released by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) Environment Management Bureau (EMB) in Negros Island Region."Public scoping is an early stage in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process where the proponent aims to provide an overview of the proposed project, gather issues and concerns, and other relevant information to provide the scope of work and terms of reference for the preparation of the environmental impact statement," the EMB-NIR said i...

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...