Business

LTFRB Negros Island Region Director Gerry Llena* The Negros Occidental provincial government is stepping in to boost subsidies for public utility drivers. It will provide counterpart assistance to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) fuel subsidy for public utility drivers affected by rising fuel prices triggered by the Middle East crisis, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said on Wednesday, March 11. “Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson is okay with allocating a counterpart fund to help hold off fare increases and to aid the drivers,” Diaz said. LTFRB Negros Island Region Director Gerry Llena met with Diaz on Wednesday, March 11, to discuss the need for counterpart assistance for the drivers. Llena said that he does not know how much the LTFRB fuel assistanc...

The Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) is heightening its alert on the possible increase in crimes against property as a result of rising fuel prices. “We are crafting action plans in case of domino effect. Looting, theft, and robbery cases might increase. The Philippine National Police is preparing for that," BCPO Director Col. Eugene Rebadomia said in a press conference on Wednesday. Rebadomia said the BCPO underwent an orientation with the Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Trade and Industry to outline ways they can assist the concerned agencies in the regulation of fuel prices. During the press conference, Rebadomia shared that BCPO personnel called the attention of a certain gasoline station, which displayed the price of diesel at PHP108.50 per liter even before the schedule...

Bacolod Mayor Greg Gasataya presides over a meeting on the monitoring of gasoline stations.*The local government of Bacolod will form a monitoring team to oversee all gas stations, as fuel prices continue to rise. Following a scheduled meeting with the Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday, March 12, Mayor Greg Gasataya announced that monitoring activities will start immediately. The initiative is intended to address ongoing fuel price increases linked to the Middle East crisis and to ensure compliance with DOE guidelines on fair pricing, he said. “The PNP and LGU will monitor possible complaints and violations in the gas stations based on what the DOE allows for their price adjustment,” the mayor said. The monitoring will cover assessments of complaints and potential violations relat...

NIR mayors, governors, and congressmen are being urged to allocate counterpart fuel subsidies to further cushion the effect of rising fuel prices on the transport sector.* Levi Trio file photo National government fuel subsidies for public transportation drivers and farmers are expected to be released soon. In anticipation of the rollout, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Negros Island Region (LTFRB-NIR) Director Gerry Llena appealed to local government officials on Tuesday, March 10, to allocate counterpart funds to increase the assistance. He said that, so far, the LTFRB-NIR has not received any petition for a fare hike, and he is appealing to the transport sector to instead wait for the subsidies. The Bacolod Alliance for Commuters...

The sugar industry meet at the SRA office in Bacolod on Monday.* Sugar industry stakeholders in a rare show of unity on Monday gathered at the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) office in Bacolod City to come up with solutions to problems plaguing the industry. Aside from the urgent need to control the entry of artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes, the group reached a consensus to urge the national government to revisit and implement a modified version of the sugar-buying program from two years ago, SRA Administrator Pablo Azcona said on Tuesday, March 10. At that time, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had approved a ₱5 billion budget for the initiative following requests from Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel and Azcona, allowing the government to purchase a specific p...

Mayor Greg Gasataya signing the executive order implementing the four-day workweek, in Bacolod City.* BCCO photo Mayor Greg Gasataya on Tuesday, March 10, ordered the implementation of a compressed four-day work week for the Bacolod City government aimed at cushioning the impact of volatile global fuel prices and reducing the city’s energy footprint. Starting March 16, city government offices will transition to a 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-to-Thursday work schedule, Gasataya said in Executive Order 015, Series of 2026. The compressed work schedule shall ensure compliance with the prescribed 40 hours per workweek, he said. Gasataya said offices and departments providing essential and frontline services — such as the City Health Office, City Disaster Risk Reduction a...

The sugar industry stakeholders meeting at the SRA office in Bacolod City on Monday.*Sugar millers and planters groups on Tuesday, March 10, called for stronger government support for locally produced biofuels as a practical defense against global oil volatility and surging fuel prices triggered by unrest in the Middle East.The Philippine Sugar Millers Association (PSMA) and the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association (CONFED ), in a press statement, said the use of domestic bioethanol in gasoline blending reduces dependence on imported petroleum, helping stabilize pump prices while keeping a portion of fuel expenditures circulating within the Philippine economy.PSMA and CONFED agreed to jointly urge government towards this direction after meeting with other ind...

Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito  Mendoza (TUCP Partylist) and Roland de la Cruz, NACUSIP TUCP president,  (l-r) hold up copies of House Bill No. 8376 after it was filed on Monday.* In a move to dismantle decades of exclusion, a bill has been filed in the House of Representatives to include representatives of sugar field, sugar mill, and ethanol mill workers, consumer groups and agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in the Sugar Board. House Bill No. 8376 filed Monday, March 9, seeks to amend the charter of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to expand the Sugar Board to give the workers, consumers and ARB beneficiaries their rightful voice in decision-making, Roland C. de la Cruz. president of the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Ind...

Long lines of vehicles were seen at gasoline stations in Bacolod on Monday ahead of the scheduled new round of fuel price hikes on Tuesday.*Andrew Altarejos photoNegros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson on Monday appealed to the consciences of gasoline station owners not to take advantage of the current situation, amid reports that some retailers had already raised their prices ahead of the scheduled adjustment on Tuesday, March 10.He said while the Department of Energy (DOE) said that the country had a two-month fuel inventory when the Middle East crisis began on Feb. 28, large price hikes took effect right away.Long lines of vehicles were seen at gasoline stations in Bacolod on Monday ahead of the scheduled new round of fuel price hikes on Tuesday.Some gasoline station...