Business

Palm Concepcion Power Corp. in Iloilo.*PCPC FB photoPower rates of Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) should drop next month.Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said on Friday, January 13, that he was informed by Nicandro Fucoy, president and chief executive officer of Palm Concepcion Power Corp., that PCPC will be reducing the price of fuel by P4.13 per kWh in its 35-megawatt power supply contract with CENECO.Benitez had earlier questioned the price difference in the two contracts between PCPC and CENECO, especially the pass through price of coal.In its 35MW 10-year contract from Dec. 26, 2017 to Dec. 25, 2027 PCPC has been charging P14.6961 per KWh for power sold to CENECO and in its 20MW 1-year contract from July 6, 2022 to July 5, 2023 has charged P10.2747 ...

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Rep. Gerardo Valmayor and the San Miguel Foods Inc. executives at the Governor’s Office Thursday.*Richard Malihan photoSan Miguel Corp. is exploring potential sites for P21 billion in projects, which include a feed mill and poultries among others, Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said.Rep. Gerardo Valmayor (Neg. occ., 1st District) and executives of San Miguel Foods Inc. met with Lacson at the Governor’s Office on Thursday, January 12.Out of the P21 billion, they are looking to invest in a P2 billion feed mill and Negros Occidental is among the areas around the country that they are exploring as a potential site, Lacson said.Lacson said Valmayor during the Nationalist People’s Coalition Christmas Party asked Ramon Ang, SMC president and c...

The Business One Stop Shop at the Ayala Malls Capitol Central.*Bacolod PIO photoThe Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod approved the extension of the city government’s Business One Stop Shop (BOSS) deadline at the Ayala Malls Capitol Central to February 15, Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said Wednesday, January 11.Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez had asked for the extension of the BOSS that grants a 10 percent discount for the 2023 first quarter payment of business taxes, fees and charges for permits and licenses from January 1 to 20, Councilor Al Victor Espino said.There will be no discounts but no penalties will be charged for one time payments from January 21-February 15, Espino, who chairs the SP Committee on Laws, Ordinances and Good Government, added.The BOSS aims to give conv...

PSMA Executive Director Jesus L. Barrera, PANAYFED president Danilo A. Abelita, NFSP president Enrique D. Rojas and CONFED president Aurelio J. Valderrama Jr. sign the joint position paper calling for amendments to the Sugarcane Industry Development Act to improve farm productivity and mill efficiency.*The majority of the sugar producers and millers signed a joint proposal Wednesday, January 11, on measures to improve farm productivity and mill efficiency in response to the call of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to boost productivity in the sugar industry.The measures call for amendments to the Sugarcane Industry Development Act (SIDA) of 2015, particularly the increase in annual SIDA funding from P2 billion to P5 billion, the creation of a dedicated Sugar Regulatory Administration...

The Jiangsu Fengchuen New Energy Power Technology Co.-manufactured electric vehicles*A Chinese firm is setting up a plant in Bacolod City for the manufacture of electric vehicles, Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said Monday, January 9.The Bacolod mayor, who joined President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on his state visit to China last week, said he spoke with the chief executive officer and chairman of the Jiangsu Fengchuen New Energy Power Technology Co.The firm, in collaboration with Korean partners, will build public utility vehicles powered by electricity, he said.In fact representatives of the firm have already visited Bacolod, Benitez said.He expects them to return to Bacolod soon, he added.Benitez said the visit to China was an eye opener because a lot of big firms wi...

Fuel prices are expected to drop on Tuesday, January 10.It will be a big drop for diesel prices that should go down by P2.40 to P2.60 per liter, Unioil Petroleum Philippines Inc. said on Saturday.Gasoline prices should also go down by P0.50 to P0.60 per liter, it added.Kerosene prices are also expected to drop.*

The Economic Enterprise Development Department of the Negros Occidental provincial government over performed in 2022 and more local revenues are expected in 2023, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Wednesday, January 4.Lacson, in his New Year’s message delivered before the provincial government officials and employees, said the Negros First CyberCentre in Bacolod City earned P99,595,000 surpassing the P15million target, by more than 500 percent.The catering services of the Mambukal Resort also surpassed the P15 million target, with its P20,000,000 revenues, he said.This year we are expecting even bigger revenues for Mambukal that has opened up after the pandemic, the governor also said.The provincial government will no longer be strict about Mambukal visitors presenting COVID-19...

Stela Rose Rayos , Bacolod City Permits and Licensing Division head*There were 22,795 business permit registrants in Bacolod City from January 1 to December 29, Stela Rose Rayos , Bacolod City Permits and Licensing Division head, said Thursday, December 29.The registrants this year were 528 more than the 22, 267 in 2021, she said.The 2 percent increase shows that Bacolod’s economy is starting to recover following the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.The business permits one-stop-shop at the fourth floor of the Ayala Malls Capitol Central will open on January 3, she said.It will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday and 10 percent discounts will be given to applicants in January.Applicant may also register online, she added.*

It will be a good 2023 start for the sugar industry as millgate sugar prices strongly rebounded after a 3-week slide.Rep. Emilio Bernardino Yulo (Neg. Occ., 5th Distirct), former Sugar Regulatory Administration board member, said sugar producers are happy to see “sugar prices bounce back after almost a month of downward slump.”“Prices have breached the P3,000 per 50LKg bag which will make it a little bit profitable for our farmers who were on their toes in the past weeks, seeing the downtrend in sugar prices,” Yulo said, adding that the current price is “comfortable enough to ease the fears among the planters.”He said there is a “misconception” that planters earn from the high cost of retail sugar that continues to prevail in metro areas, not knowing that in the past weeks, “pl...

The Philippine sugar industry needs to increase its production, Acting Governor Jeffrey Ferrer said.*Ronnie Baldonado photoActing Negros Occidental Governor Jeffrey Ferrer said on Wednesday, December 28, that the high prices of sugar in the retail market are contributing to more than 30 percent of the country’s current 8 percent inflation rate.But President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is doing everything he can to address the high inflation rate, Ferrer assured.The Department of Agriculture earlier announced the move to import 64,050 metric tons of refined sugar under the minimum access volume (MAV), he noted.This will help bring down the inflation rate, Ferrer added.Agriculture deputy spokesman Rex Estoperez said the decision to import more sugar under MAV is in response unde...