Business

A leader of the business sector in Negros Occidental is seeking the help of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry to push projects on coconut development, aquaculture ventures, and the revival of the Philippine Sugar Corporation.Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chief Executive Officer Frank Carbon told DIGICAST NEGROS that he brought these concerns to the sectoral committees of PCCI as he hopes to get more developments to the province.Carbon, PCCI Vice President for Visayas, is in Manila for the PCCI executive committee meeting.He joined the sub-committee meetings on agriculture, and power and energy, Carbon said.They discussed how PCCI could assist the provinces in the Visayas in getting ample shares from the Philippine Coconut Authority's P75 billi...

No price change is expected for diesel on Tuesday May 30, Unioil Petroleum Philippines said on Saturday.But gasoline prices may increase by P1 to P1.20 per liter, it saidOn May 23 gasoline prices went up by P0.80 per liter and diesel by P0.60 per liter.Diesel and kerosene have seen year-to-date net decreases of P5.05 per liter and P6.40 per liter, respectively, the Department of Energy said.Gasoline has had a net increase of P5 per liter this year, the DOE added.*

ASF checkpoints are up all over Negros Occidental*The pig deaths in Negros Occidental hit 6,379 with 411 new cases reported on Friday, May 26.This brings the total Negros Occidental hog industry losses to P75,503,775, the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) reported.The fatalities represent 5.88 percent of Negros Occidental’s 108,528 hog population.Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said as of Friday the main cause of the pig deaths in the province was hog cholera, which he called “threatening”.There is no official report yet that Negros Occidental has been hit by African Swine Fever, he said.“As of now it’s still hog cholera, the province will never declare otherwise until such time that we are given confirmation from the laboratory,” Lacson said.“The line of defense now ...

The pig death toll in Negros Occidental from various diseases, including hog cholera, hit 5,968, with 459 new fatalities in seven barangays on Thursday, May 25.The total damage to the hog industry reached P71,368,650 affecting 1,220 hog raisers, a Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) report showed.The additional barangays affected Thursday were 1 and 1 A in Manapla, Batuan in Valladolid, Pacol in Bago City, Utod in Pulupandan, MH del Pilar in Pontevedra and San Pedro in Binalbagan.A proposal is being prepared to provide cash assistance to the affected hograisers and caretakers, Ma. Gerla Sario, OIC Provincial Social Welfare Officer, said.The proposal is being discussed with Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz, the PVO and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, she sa...

SRA Acting Administrator Pablo Azcona*The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is now in the process of collating figures from sugar mills to determine the actual volume of sugar that needs to be procured from outside by the end of this month, SRA Acting Administrator Pablo Azcona said Tuesday, May 23.The directive from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was to ensure that the final import volume must be based on latest supply report with a provision that it should not be more than 150,000 metric tons, Azcona said in a press statement.This will include already the additional buffer volume of 100,000 metric tons especially if they consider delaying the opening of mills to September 2023 instead of August to increase productivity, he added.“We would like to assure our sugar stak...

Social Security System (SSS) President and Chief Executive Officer Rolando Ledesma Macasaet reminded members and pensioners to secure their login credentials for their My.SSS account and other personal information to protect their online account from being used in fraudulent transactions.Macasaet said that several SSS members and pensioners are digitally challenged or not well-versed in suing computers and smartphones and find it challenging to access their M.SSS account. As a result, they tend to seek assistance from other people, including fixers, who are more tech-savvy. Unfortunately, scammers and unscrupulous persons take advantage of them to gain access to their My.SSS account and use it for their own personal gains.“We discourage them from sharing their usernames, passwords,...

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, second from left, with GCash AVP Head of Public Sector and Partnerships Cathlyn Pavia and LGU Leader for Visayas and Mindanao JR Marfori, and Bacolod City Treasurer Arlene Memoria (l-r) at the signing of the agreement.*Bacolod City government’s partnership with G-Xchange Inc., a leading corporation in the Philippines specializing in remittance services and mobile payment solutions, was launched at the Bacolod City Government Center Wednesday afternoon, May 17.This collaboration signifies Bacolod City government's commitment to embracing digitalization and leveraging technology to enhance government services, a press release said.The signing of the agreement was led by Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez with GCash AVP Head of Public Se...

Sugar leaders Enrique Rojas, Aurelio Valderrama Jr. and Manuel Lamata (l-r)*Government’s additional importation of sugar “to stabilize the price and boost the country’s stock” drew mixed reactions from industry leaders on Tuesday, May 16.“We agreed to additional importation of sugar to stabilize the prices. Maximum amount will be 150,000 MT but probably less,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced on Monday after meeting with Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) officials.Manuel Lamata, United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines president, said he also believes the country still lacks 150,000 MT of sugar.“Since the president wants milling to start September 1, we need that to cover August and September. The president sees the September start to milling will in...

Central Negros Electric Cooperative’s average residential rate for May is P12.9637/kwh, an increase by P0.2266/kWh from last month’s rate of P12.7371/kWh, its acting general manager Arnel Lapore announced Tuesday, May 16.He attributed this to an increase in the total generation charges by 4.15 percent.The Wholesale Electricity Spot Market price increased from P7.5527/kWh to P8.9556/kWh or an upward adjustment of P1.4036/kWh, Lapore said.He also cited the implementation of the additional Universal Charges - Missionary Electrification rate of P0.0433/kWh.*