Business

Sep232026 by Mark L. GarciaNo Comments

Sugar groups urge Coca-Cola to prioritize local sugar amid finished product imports

Sugar producers and workers on Wednesday, Sept. 23, called on Coca-Cola's Philippine bottler to prioritize locally produced sugar following reports that it has been importing finished Coca-Cola products from Indonesia.In a joint statement on Sept. 23, the Sugar Council, National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines, and Democratic Association of Labor Organizations said the importation could reduce demand for Philippine sugar and affect farmers, millers and sugar workers.The Sugar Council is composed of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations, National Federation of Sugarcane Planters and Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers.The groups issued the appeal after The Philippine Star reported on Sept. 17 that Coca-Cola Europacific Aboitiz Philippine...

Sep232026 by Mary Judaline PartlowNo Comments

PBBM peace program aids 131 PAMANA groups in NIR

Business, Community, Negros Oriental, Top Stories

A total of 131 livelihood associations in the Negros Island Region (NIR) have received or are scheduled to receive PHP300,000 each in seed capital under the government’s PAyapa at MAsaganang PamayaNAn (PAMANA) program, an official said Tuesday, Sept. 22.Dan Donald S. Candare, PAMANA Project Development Officer 3 of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-NIR, said the program has allocated PHP39.3 million for the 131 PAMANA Livelihood Project Associations (PLPAs) in the region.“The associations, with a combined membership of 1,969 individuals, are located in vulnerable and conflict-affected communities,” Candare said on Tuesday.The livelihood funding is provided by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) as part of Pres...

Sep222026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Negros creativity lauded at opening of 40th NTF, Jose Mari Chan brings early holiday cheer

Business, Top Stories

Officials led by Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Negros Oriental Gov. Manuel "Chaco" Sagarbarria ring the bell to signal the opening of the trade fair.*Ronnie Baldonado photoForty years after Negrense women banded together during a devastating sugar crisis to sell homemade goods in Manila, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the landmark 40th Negros Trade Fair at the SMX Convention Center in SM Aura that opened on Tuesday, Sept. 22, has proven that the province is "more than just sugar".Lacson and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. lauded the Negros producers and the Association of Negros Producers for the quality of their goods and their creativity that has spanned 40 years.N...

Sep222026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

GCash parent gets PSE approval for IPO, moves closer to public share offering

Business

Prospective Bacoleño and Negrense investors are a step closer to an opportunity to own shares in GCash parent company Mynt Inc. after it secured Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) approval for its proposed initial public offering (IPO).On Sept. 16, Mynt announced that it received the formal Notice of Approval from the PSE board of directors for the offering and the listing of its common shares on the exchange’s Main Board.The approval follows Mynt’s filing of its registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).The transaction is expected in October, subject to final regulatory clearances and market conditions.The proposed offering is expected to consist of up to 8,027,409,600 common shares, with an overallotment option covering up to 1,204,111,400 addi...

Sep212026 by Mary Judaline PartlowNo Comments

DENR chief pushes accountable climate action, cites Philippines’ 75% emissions target

Business

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Juan Miguel T. Cuna* Net Zero Carbon Alliance photoEnvironment and Natural Resources Secretary Juan Miguel T. Cuna called for stronger coordination and accountable implementation of climate initiatives, stressing that efforts toward a low-carbon future must move beyond dialogue and translate into concrete action across the economy.Speaking before government officials, business and finance leaders, civil society representatives and development partners on Tuesday, Sept. 15, Cuna said the Philippines must bridge the gap between climate ambition and actual implementation to deliver on its emissions-reduction commitments.“The Philippines has committed to a net emissions reduction and avoidance target of 75 percent for the period 202...

Sep212026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Protestors slam Marcos Jr. for being no different than father, cite continuing sugar crisis, poverty

Business, Top Stories

Protestors marking the 54th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law in Bacolod City on Monday, Ronnie Baldonado photoAbout 100 Negrenses marked the 54th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law by accusing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of being no different than his father, at a rally in front of the Bacolod City Government Center replica in Bacolod City on Monday, Sept. 21.Noli Rosales, secretary-general of Bayan Negros, said the vast majority of people in Negros continue to live in poverty amid a sugar industry crisis reminiscent of the Martial Law era under former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.Rosales slammed government’s sugar importation, and government’s failure to address the industry’s decline.He also said land grabbi...

Sep212026 by Mary Judaline PartlowNo Comments

First Gen to supply 24 MW geothermal power to 10 Visayas ECs

Business, Top Stories

Atty. Allan Barcena, Net Zero Carbon Alliance Executive Director; Jerome Cainglet, President and Chief Operating Officer of Energy Development Corporation; DENR Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna; and Francis Giles Puno, President and Chief Operating Officer of First Gen Corp. Inc. (l-r)* Net Zero Carbon Alliance photoFirst Gen Corp. will supply more than 24 megawatts (MW) of renewable baseload power to 10 electric cooperatives (ECs) in the Visayas under 15-year Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) forged following a competitive selection process.The power will come from First Gen’s Unified Leyte Geothermal Power facilities and will be supplied to the ECs on a 24/7 baseload basis, First Gen said in a media release.Among the 10 recipient cooperatives are Negros Oriental I Electric Cooperati...

Sep212026 by Mark L. GarciaNo Comments

GCash parent Mynt nakakuha na sang PSE approval para sa IPO

Balita Hiligaynon, Business

Mas mangin hapos na ang pag-invest sa GCash para sa mga interesado nga Bacolodnon kag Negrosanon nga mga negosyante.Ini matapos gin-anunsyo sang Mynt Inc., ang parent company sang GCash, nga na-aprubahan na sang sang Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) ang ginaplano sini nga initial public offering (IPO).Sa isa ka statement sang Setyembre 16, ginpahibalo sang Mynt nga nabaton sini ang pormal nga Notice of Approval halin sa PSE board of directors para sa pagtanyag sang shares sa publiko kag paglista sang common shares sini sa Main Board sang stock exchange.Nagsunod ang pag-apruba sa pag-file sang Mynt sang registration statement sa Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Ginapaabot ang transaksyon sa Oktubre, depende sa final nga regulatory clearances kag kahimtangan sang...

Sep202026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

Progressive groups remember Escalante massacre, say justice long overdue

Business, Top Stories

A scene from the Escalante massacre* NFSW Facebook page photoProgressive groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) Negros and Mothers and Relatives of Victims of Tyranny (MARTYRS) on the 41st anniversary of the Escalante Massacre in Negros Occidental on September 20 paid tribute to the 20 civilians “martyrs” killed during the 1985 protest.The victims were killed on September 20, 1985, when Philippine Constabulary forces and paramilitary units opened fire on a peaceful Welgang Bayan (People's Strike) demanding an end to the Marcos dictatorship, they said in a press statement.The fatal dispersal also left hundreds injured in front of the town center.They military forces for attempting to suppress public commemorations and alter historical...

Sep182026 by Joann VillanuevaNo Comments

Nearly P11/liter fuel price hike seen next week

Business, Top Stories

PNA file photoDomestic fuel prices are likely to increase by as much as PHP10.50 per liter due to the sustained escalation of tensions in the Middle East.Citing price developments in the Asian market and the movement of foreign exchange as of Thursday, Jetti Petroleum president Leo Bellas, in a message to journalists on Friday, Sept. 18, said diesel prices are forecast to rise between PHP10 and PHP10.50 per liter and gasoline between PHP4.50 and PHP5 per liter. These figures are way higher than the PHP4.69 per liter hike in gasoline prices and PHP5.18 per liter for diesel this week, based on data released by the Department of Energy (DOE) on Tuesday. Kerosene also rose by PHP5.58 per liter. “Oil prices surged higher after attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and the ...