Business

Sep252026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Measures to address sugar crisis mapped out: CONFED

CONFED Executive Director Alan Gensoli, CONFED VP Alfonso Gamboa, CONFED President Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama, Jr., Agriculture Sec. Francisco Tiu-Laurel Jr., Presidential Assistant for Visayas, Sec. Philip Lo, SRA Administrator Pablo Azcona, CONFED Consultant Rafael Coscolluela, NACUSIP President Roland de la Cruz, FTI President Joseph Lo (l-r) after their meeting.*Congress leaders led by Deputy Speaker Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez convened sugar industry representatives to discuss a draft Presidential Executive Order Constituting the Sugar Industry Pest and Disaster Management Task Force, “to provide leadership and direction in the fight against RSSI and other natural calamities besetting the sugar industry”. Aurelio “Bodie” Valderrama Jr., President of the Confedera...

Sep242026 by Mary Judaline PartlowNo Comments

Power producer upgrades NegOr plant’s geothermal capacity to 126 MW

Business, Negros Oriental, Top Stories

First Gen Corporation is undertaking a modernization project that will increase the installed capacity of its Palinpinon-1 geothermal power plant in Valencia, Negros Oriental, from 112.5 megawatts (MW) to 126 MW.The project, being implemented by First Gen’s geothermal arm, Energy Development Corporation (EDC), involves replacing the plant’s three 37.5-MW turbine-generator units with three modern 42-MW units, EDC said in a statement Wednesday.The upgrade is expected to add 13.5 MW to First Gen’s renewable energy portfolio while allowing the facility to generate more electricity using the same volume of geothermal steam, without additional steam extraction.Noel Tan, head of the Southern Negros Geothermal Project (SNGP), said that the modernization demonstrates EDC’s efforts to im...

Sep232026 by Mark L. GarciaNo Comments

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

Business, Top Stories

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...