Business

The seized counterfeit seasoning products.*PNP photoA 64-year-old Chinese national and a 32-year-old woman were arrested after authorities seized P470,400 worth of allegedly counterfeit seasoning products during an entrapment operation in Bacolod City.The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Bacolod City Field Unit conducted the operation along the Economic Highway in Brgy. Mansilingan from about 3:15 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 5.The operation was conducted with the CIDG Regional Special Operations Team-Negros Island Region, Police Station 7 and representatives of Nestlé Philippines Inc.CIDG said the operation stemmed from a complaint by the company regarding the alleged widespread distribution and sale of counterfeit Maggi Magic Sarap products in Bacolod City....

A 45-year-old overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who escaped from an alleged  abusive employer in Saudi Arabia is receiving psychosocial intervention and medical care to restore her health, officials said Friday, August 7.The Cebu native, who is married to a resident of Barangay 8, Isabela, Negros Occidental, has three sons aged 11, 13, and 14.Negros Occidental Public Employment Service Office (PESO) Manager Karen Dinsay said the OFW suffered severe weight loss and trauma. She is currently in the care of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) personnel at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh.Meanwhile, Isabela Mayor Miguel Angelo Yulo confirmed that the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is processing her exit visa, a process expected to take three to four weeks before sh...

Sugar workers may lose jobs, DALO warns.*Ronnie Baldonado photoThe relentless spread of the red-stripe soft scale insect (RSSI) infestation is threatening jobs of thousands of sugar workers, the Democratic Association of Labor Organizations warned Friday, August 7.In Northern Negros, members are already seeking advice after being informed in advance by their employers that operations will cease, DALO president Alan Gozon said in a statement.The reason given by employers was the deadly effect of RSSI, which has destroyed more than 50 percent of their cane production, he said.“Although we look at this as a flimsy excuse by some employers to dismiss workers who have rendered long service, the continued spread of RSSI will ultimately lead to the closure of sugarcane farms,”...

Major sugar industry groups expressed broad support for increased government funding, modernization, stronger regulation and greater transparency in the sugar industry, but differed sharply over proposals to expand the composition of the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s Sugar Board.The contrasting positions emerged during the House Committee on Agriculture and Food hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 4, where lawmakers began deliberations on six measures seeking reforms to the Sugarcane Industry Development Act (SIDA) and, in some proposals, the charter of the SRA.The Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations (CONFED), United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) and National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP) were among the stakeholders that submitted th...

Noli Rosales (left) , KMU  Negros secretary general, at the Hacienda Lolita workers' press conference last month.*Ronnie Baldonado photoThe Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) Negros has  rejected claims by Confederation of Sugar Producers Association (CONFED) President Aurelio Valderrama that a labor case filed against him was weaponized to discredit his reputation.During the hearing of the House Committee on Agriculture regarding the amendment of the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA), the case filed by 28 workers at Hacienda Lolita in Barangay Luna, Cadiz City—which is managed by Valderrama—was brought up, Noli Rosales, KMU  Negros secretary general, said in a statement released  Friday, August 7. Valderrama stated that instead of going through the Department of L...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson leads the turnover of livestock and poultry on Thursday*Richard Malihan photoNegros Occidental is studying the imposition of a minimum buying price for live hogs and pork, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Thursday, August 6.He noted that Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental imposed a minimum buying price for live hogs and pork products to protect raisers amid growing concerns over the spread of African swine fever (ASF).“I understand that traders are avoiding Guihulngan and buying from neighboring towns and cities instead, which somehow weakens the executive order,” Lacson said.But  he heard plans are underway to impose the minimum buying price provincewide in Negros Oriental, the governor said.“We are studying that option here in Negros Occ...

Former Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) head Rafael “Lito” Coscolluela*Former Negros Occidental governor and Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) head Rafael “Lito” Coscolluela questioned the Department of Agriculture’s positive assessment of sugar industry reforms, saying official production data show significant declines and billions of pesos in losses.Coscolluela raised the issue in an interview on the sidelines of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food hearing on sugar industry reforms in Quezon City on Tuesday, Aug. 4.He was reacting to a July 24 DA press release titled “Sugar reforms boost supply, protect farmers, stabilize market nationwide.”The DA credited reforms implemented by the SRA with stabilizing sugar supply, tempering price fluctuations, supporti...

Ronnie Baldonado file photoThe Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations (CONFED) on Wednesday, August 5,  urged sugarcane industry stakeholders— especially farmers, laborers, and mill workers— to actively demand for real and lasting solutions to the industry’s worsening problems, aside from controlling the Red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI) infestation.In issuing the call, CONFED National President Aurelio Gerardo J. Valderrama Jr. also revealed that a Joint Motion to Dismiss the complaint had been signed by all concerned parties involved in his highly-publicized labor case, after the completion of sober due process to resolve the workers’ complaint.“The resolution of that case was a brief distraction,” Valderrama said in a press release.The CONFED President str...