Business

Authorities intercepted 8,000 trays containing 240,000 table eggs at the BREDCO port in Bacolod City on Monday, OIC provincial veterinarian Placeda Lemana reported Thursday, February 9.The eggs were seized by personnel of the Bureau of Animal Industry Veterinary Quarantine Service 6, Department of Agriculture, and the Veterinary Offices of Negros Occidental and Bacolod.The eggs were immediately disposed to protect the poultry and gamefowl industries of the province against avian influenza or bird flu.In January P293,830 worth of prohibited poultry and poultry products were seized at the airport, seaports and other entry points in the province, Lemana also said.The African Swine Fever Task Force also seized pork and pork products worth P382,111.00 in January, she added.T...

Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Wednesday, February 8, that the Negros Occidental provincial government will proceed with its bulk water project even if the Bacolod City Water District (BACIWA) does not avail of its supply.“The bulk water project being pushed by the province will be implementable maybe three years from now so if BACIWA thinks three years from now they will have enough water, I guess that is why they don’t want to join,” he said.“BACIWA’s not joining the project may affect it, but there are other options and we will just have to rethink what to do”, he said.Aboitiz InfraCapital that is proposing a P2.8 billion bulk water supply joint venture project with the Negros Occidental and Bacolod City governments is expected to submit its unsolicited proposal befor...

CONFED President Aurelio Gerardo J. Valderrama Jr.*On top of its call for only 350,000 metric tons of sugar importation, the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations (CONFED) is calling on government to exercise transparency, fairness and accountability in the implementation of the proposed sugar importation program.“We reiterate our position that the importation program should be implemented in an open, transparent and equitable manner,” CONFED said in its letter addressed to the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) on Tuesday, February 7.The importation should be allocated on a 50:50 ratio between industrial users and sugar producers, while all interested accredited sugar traders should be qualified to participate in the program, CONFED stressed.The letter was signe...

Fuel prices are expected to go down on Tuesday, February 7, Unioil Petroleum Philippines Inc. announced Saturday after three weeks of increases.Diesel should go down by P2.60 to P2.80 per liter, and gasoline by P1.90 to P2 per liter, it said.Other reports said the price of diesel could decline by P2.80 to P3.10 per liter and gasoline by P2.20 to P2.50 per liter.Kerosene is also expected to decrease by about P2.50 per liter.*

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board approved the P17 billion New Dumaguete Airport Development Project on Thursday, February 2, NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan announced Friday.Under the project, a new airport in Bacong, Negros Oriental, will be developed with domestic and international standards for operational safety and efficiency, Balisacan said in a statement.The project will be implemented within seven years, he added.It will replace the existing Dumaguete-Sibulan Airport “due to physical and operational constraints”, Balisacan said.“The New Dumaguete Airport shall enhance the province’s tourism and trade potential, economic activities, and standard of living,” he said.The total project cost is P17 billion, of which P13 billion will be fu...

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez announced Thursday, February 2, that the Chinese investors planning to put up an electric vehicle manufacturing plant arrived in Bacolod City this week.They plan to put up a $200 million (P10.7 billion) plant in the city, he said.Benitez met with the chief executive officer and chairman of the Jiangsu Fengchuen New Energy Power Technology Co. when he joined President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during his state visit to China in January.The mayor said he met with the investors on Wednesday, who are continuing their due diligence work in Bacolod.“They sounded really excited so I hope it really pushes through,” he said.The investors want to make sure that all bases are covered before putting in that huge investment, Benitez said.The firm, in co...

Two planters federations joined the call for a lesser volume of sugar importation than the 450,000 metric tons proposed by the Sugar Regulatory Administration for the two months buffer stock of sugar.In a joint letter submitted to the SRA Monday, January 30, the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP) headed by Enrique D. Rojas and the Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers (PANAYFED) headed by Danilo A. Abelita called for the importation of only 350,000 mt of sugar to arrive in two tranches after the close of the current milling season and before the opening of the coming milling season on September 2023.The stand of NFSP and PANAYFED was reached in collaboration with the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association (CONFED) headed by Aurelio Gerardo J. Valderrama, Jr, whi...

Expect another round of fuel price increases on Tuesday, January 31, Unioil Petroleum Philippines Inc. said Saturday, January 28.It said diesel prices will increase by P0.80 to P1 per liter, and gasoline by P1.20 to P1.40 per liter.On Tuesday last week the price of gasoline was raised by P2.80 per liter, diesel by P2.25 per liter, and kerosene by P2.40 per liter.*

Globe deactivated and blacklisted more than 50,000 SIMs last year as it continued to intensify consumer protection initiatives amid the rising cases of online fraud.Globe deactivated 20,225 SIMs and blacklisted 35,333 SIMs involved in scam and spam messages in 2022 alone as part of its campaign for internet safety, a press release from the firm said Friday, January 27.This was on top of the record 2.72 billion scam and spam messages it blocked last year, 83.4 million of which were bank-related. All these efforts have been on-going to protect customers from harmful content and fraud before the enactment of the SIM Registration Act."Globe recognizes the growing threat posed by scammers, who use various tactics, including text messages, to deceive innocent victims into giving up p...