Business

Negros Power customers will see a slight increase in their electricity rates this August, with the average residential rate set at ₱14.2787 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).This is an increase of ₱0.1500 per kWh from July’s rate of ₱14.1287 per kWh, a press release from Negros Power said Tuesday, August 18.The increase is mainly due to higher transmission and other charges, despite a decrease in the cost of generating electricity.The Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) rate increased from ₱10.4213/kWh to ₱12.2420/kWh because of higher electricity demand and the temporary unavailability of several power plants. These conditions resulted in Yellow and Red Alerts in the Luzon and Visayas grids, causing electricity prices in the spot market to rise.To help lessen the impact on cust...

Ronnie Baldonado file photoThe Sugar Council and two labor groups on Monday, August 17, pledged their full participation in the newly created National Anti-RSSI (Red-Striped Soft Scale Insect) Ad Hoc Committee in the hope that it will finally provide solutions to one of the worsening problems of the sugar industry.The Sugar Council, composed of the Confederation of Sugarcane Producers Associations Inc. (CONFED), National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP), and Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers (PANAYFED), announced its participation along with the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP) and Democratic Association of Labor Organizations (DALO).The creation of this ad hoc committee is a direct testament to the Sugar Regulatory ...

PNA file photoDomestic pump prices are set to increase by over PHP5 per liter this week amid geopolitical uncertainties in the Middle East.Three oil companies announced price hikes effective 6 a.m. Tuesday, led by Seaoil and Petron Corporation raising kerosene by PHP5 and PHP5.01 per liter, respectively.For diesel, Jetti Petroleum will implement a PHP3.80 per liter increase, while Seaoil and Petron will raise prices by PHP3.84 and PHP3.90, respectively.Gasoline adjustments range from PHP2.40 at Jetti, PHP2.49 at Seaoil, and PHP2.50 at Petron.This week's oil price jump is a reversal of the rollback in the past two weeks.In an online briefing Monday, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin attributed the uptick in domestic fuel prices to the upward trend of oil products in the ...

First Lady Liza Marcos during the sugar meeting in Bacolod City on Friday.*Liza Marcoa FB page photoThe creation of a national Red Striped Soft Shell Insect (RSSI) ad hoc committee was agreed on during First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos’ meeting with sugar industry stakeholders on the worsening infestation, Roland C. de la Cruz, president of the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP), said Sunday, August 16.The committee is envisioned to mobilize a whole-of-government approach to effectively address the infestation, strengthen diagnostics, and ensure transparent and timely interventions, he said.Alarm has been raised over the unprecedented threat that has severely impacted the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of sugar farmers, workers, a...

SRA Department Manager III Helen Lobaton, Deputy Administrator Lourdes Almodiente, SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona, First Lady Liza Marcos and DA NIR Regional Director Albert Barrogo (l-r) at the meeting in Bacolod on Friday.*The United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) declared full support to the current leadership of the Department of Agriculture and the Sugar Regulatory Administration amidst challenges of pest infestation, floods, and the impending El Niño.UNIFED President Manuel Lamata thanked First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos for bringing together sugar industry stakeholders to discuss common goals for the good of the sugar industry, a press release from the federation said Sunday, August 16.“It is unfortunate that among the federations, UNIFED was the only one presen...

First Lady Marie Louise "Liza" Araneta-Marcos with Bacolod Rep. Alfredo Abelardo “Albee”  Benitez at the STI West Negros University Gym in Bacolod City on Friday, August 14.*Ronnie Baldonado photoDeputy House Speaker and Bacolod Rep. Alfredo Abelardo “Albee”  Benitez is coordinating with banking institutions to establish possible partnerships with modernized jeepney cooperatives, many of which are currently facing loan defaults.“We are coordinating with banks to enter into partnerships [with operators] instead of straight loans,” Benitez said on Friday, August  14. “I called Landbank, and they are studying what can be done. The suggestion is that instead of foreclosure, they enter into partnerships with modern jeepney operators so they can continue operating,” he s...

First Lady Marie Louise "Liza" Araneta-Marcos distributing rice with Bacolod Mayor Greg Gastaya at the STI West Negros University Gym.*Ronnie Baldonado photoFirst Lady Marie Louise "Liza" Araneta-Marcos met with sugar industry stakeholders in Bacolod City  on Friday, August 14, to listen to concerns over  widespread crop destruction caused by red-striped soft scale insects (RSSI) and to assure them that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will visit the province soon,  Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) said."The First Lady is concerned, and the Palace is concerned. She wanted to get firsthand accounts of what is going on regarding RSSI, which has become a national concern, so she can relay them to the President," Benitez told DIGICAST NEGROS."She ca...

Erwin Magallanes, EDC’s head of corporate relations in Negros Island, was one of the speakers at the First Gen Renewables Media Academy*Ronnie Baldonado photoA 5.6-megawatt (MW) binary power plant in Mailum, Bago City, is expected to be operational by 2027, an official from First Gen’s Energy Development Corp. (EDC) said on Friday, August 14.Erwin Magallanes, EDC’s head of corporate relations in Negros Island, said the new facility is being built on the former site of the 49-MW Northern Negros Geothermal Power Plant.The 5.6-MW binary power plant, which will tap into the area's  geothermal resource, is capable of supplying electricity to approximately 100,000 households, he said.In 2007, the original 49-MW Northern Negros plant operated for less than a year before being...

Sugar workers harvesting cane in Negros Occidental.* Ronnie Baldonado file photoThe National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP)  on Thursday, August 13, demanded for more tangible solutions from the Department of Agriculture and the Sugar Regulatory Administration to address the compounding problems besetting the sugar industry.   “This year, sugar prices have dropped to their lowest level for the past three or four crop years, mainly due to the accumulation of over importation for the past years. Millgate prices have dropped below the production cost of most marginal farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries, compelling them to seriously reconsider continuing sugarcane cultivation in the future,” NFSP President Enrique D. Rojas said in a press release.Aside...

LTFRB Chairman Vigor D. Mendoza II meeting with members of the Bacolod Modernized Jeepney and Transport Association on Wednesday*The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has asked financing institutions to halt the foreclosure of modernized jeepneys in Bacolod City, and  promised assistance to help keep operators afloat.The move comes after a majority of modernized jeepney operators  in the city received foreclosure letters  from lenders following missed loan payments.LTFRB Chairman Vigor D. Mendoza II met with leaders of the Bacolod Modernized Jeepney and Transport Association (BMJTA) at the in Bacolod City   on Wednesday, Aug. 12,  to address their concerns.Mendoza said he had conferred with the financial institutions...