Business

Sep302026 by Mark L. GarciaNo Comments

Negros Oriental returns to 4-day workweek amid rising fuel, energy costs

Business, Community, Negros Oriental, Top Stories

The Negros Oriental provincial government has reimplemented a four-day compressed workweek as a temporary energy conservation and cost-saving measure amid renewed increases in fuel prices and continuing energy cost volatility.Gov. Manuel “Chaco” Sagarbarria issued Executive Order No. 58, Series of 2026, which took effect Monday, Sept. 28.Under the arrangement, covered provincial government employees will report onsite from Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., with a one-hour lunch break from noon to 1 p.m.Employees will work 10 hours a day to complete the required 40-hour workweek, while Friday will generally be designated as a non-working day subject to service requirements.Job order and contract of service personnel will follow the same compressed schedule without re...

Sep302026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

NACUSIP, ARB’s call for 100% classification of country’s sugar for domestic market to protect farmers

Business, Top Stories

NACUSIP President Roland de la Cruz.*The National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP TUCP) and the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Council (ARB Council) are calling on the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to classify 100 percent of the country's sugar production as "B" (Domestic Market) for Crop Year 2026–2027. In a joint position paper submitted to the regulatory agency, labor and agrarian leaders highlighted mounting production shortfalls driven by severe pest infestations and unpredictable weather patterns.An exclusive domestic allocation is critical to protect local farmers, mill workers, and consumers from severe price volatility and premature market flooding from foreign imports, NACUSIP President Roland de la Cruz said Wednesday,...

Sep292026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

Philippines, Japan to strengthen sustainable sugarcane industry through Green Asia Plus

Business, Top Stories

SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona on top of the donated deep planting planters machine with Japanese officials led by Japan Minister for Economic Affairs Yokota Naobumi (2nd from right), JIRCAS President, Dr Hasegawa Toshihiro (4th from left) and SRA Board Member Dave Andrew Sanson (right).* SRA photoThe launching of Green Asia +, a collaborative project between the Philippines and Japan heralded the turnover to the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) of deep planting planters and partial deep tillage machines for sustainable sugarcane production in the country in a ceremony held Monday at the SRA headquarters in Quezon City. SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona who received the two machines that will be deployed in sugar producing areas in Mindanao and Luzon th...

Sep292026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

Bacolod extends free rides as transport strike enters second day

Business, Community, Top Stories

Bacolod City Mayor Greg Gasataya (3rd from Left) is joined by City Legal Officer Karol Joseph Chiu (right) and City Administrator Atty. Mark Steven Mayo (second from right) during a meeting with local transport leaders on Monday, Sept. 28.Bacolod City will continue providing free rides to commuters on Tuesday, Sept. 29, as a nationwide three-day transport strike over rising fuel prices enters its second day.Mayor Greg Gasataya directed the City Administrator’s Office and City Engineer’s Office to continue the city’s Libre Sakay operations following a meeting with transport leaders on Monday, Sept. 28.Free rides will be available at designated pickup points in Bata near the Mormons Church, Alijis at the Circumferential Road crossing near 7-Eleven, Handumanan at the barangay gym...

Sep292026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

From paying bills to buying shares: GCash offers Negrosanons a way to start investing

Business, Top Stories

For residents of Bacolod City and Negros Occidental curious about owning a small part of a Philippine company, getting started could take just a phone, a fully verified GCash account, and as little as P500.GCash said its GStocks PH service allows users to open a stock trading account, add funds, and place orders through the app, without needing a bank account or visiting a separate brokerage office.Buying a share means owning a small portion of a company.Through GStocks PH, users can choose from more than 280 companies listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).The service connects users to AB Capital Securities Inc., the broker that handles their trading account.To register, users can select GStocks PH on the GCash homepage or Invest tab, choose AB Capital Secur...

Sep272026 by Mark L. GarciaNo Comments

Negros Oriental, Siquijor workers to get P42 daily wage hike starting Oct. 14

Business, Community, Negros Oriental, Top Stories

Minimum wage earners in Negros Oriental and Siquijor will receive a P42 daily wage increase starting Oct. 14, 2026, under a wage adjustment approved for private sector workers covered by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) VII.Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino announced the increase on Saturday, Sept. 26, saying it is equivalent to an additional P1,092 a month.The wage adjustment also covers Cebu and Bohol, with the Department of Labor and Employment estimating that 337,476 workers across the four provinces will benefit.Although Negros Oriental and Siquijor are part of the Negros Island Region (NIR), they remain covered by RTWPB VII for minimum wage-setting purposes, while Negros Occidental remains under RTWPB VI in Western Visayas.The wage adjustme...

Sep252026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Measures to address sugar crisis mapped out: CONFED

Business, Top Stories

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...