Press Release

First Balfour Inc., the Lopez Group’s engineering and construction arm, is exploring a plan to develop a green, electric-powered transport system in Iloilo City to support the city’s transformation into one of the country’s most livable and highly urbanized cities.The transport plan was discussed during a recent meeting between officials of the Iloilo City local government unit (LGU), led by Mayor Jerry Treñas, and representatives of First Balfour, a press release from the firm said.If implemented, the First Balfour project will help the city attain a number of objectives such as reducing carbon emissions and traffic congestion, promoting local tourism, creating new jobs, and improving the local government’s delivery of service, it said.As envisioned by First Balfour, the integ...

2GO Travel gave a Balik Yuhum welcome aboard MV 2GO Masagana, which left Manila with more than 600 passengers on Tuesday, October 18, ahead of the 2022 MassKara Festival highlights.Onboard crew kicked off the MassKara sailcation experience with a performance during the onboard saya program, which also included games. A surprise, then, awaited passengers as MassKara dancers performed a welcome salubong at the BREDCO Port on Wednesday morning, October 19.Balik Yuhum (Smile Again) serves as the 2022 MassKara Festival theme, returning on-ground after a two-year hiatus.2GO will also be present in the different activities: the Dancing Traffic Enforcers Challenge, a booth at the Tourism Strip MassKara, float participation at the MassKara Electric Parade, and a meet and greet with moto...

In line with their commitment to creating a safe workplace for all, Teleperformance (TP) Philippines, the global leader in outsourced omnichannel customer experience management, has been awarded the ISO 45001: 2018 certification.ISO 45001 or the Occupational Health and Safety Management System Certification is the world’s first International Standard for occupational health and safety (OHS). It promotes a safe and healthy working environment by providing a framework that allows organizations to identify and reduce their OHS risks, reduce potential for workplace accidents and illnesses and improve legislative compliance.TP Philippines worked together with Standard Global Services (SGS), testing, inspection and certification company, who helped audit the company. To achieve the certi...

A fund to protect agrarian communities and land and human rights defenders (LHRDs) working on agrarian reform in Negros Occidental was launched through a virtual event on Tuesday, September 21, by non-government organization Kaisahan Tungo sa Kaunlaran ng Kanayunan at Repormang Pansakahan (KAISAHAN).Two types of grants are made available under the project of KAISAHAN Dagyaw Negros Para sa Duta (Negros Solidarity for Land Rights). These are the Protection fund and the Community subgrant for land rights defenders working on agrarian reform facing threats of human rights violations.PROTECTION FUND FOR LHRDsThe protection fund may be used by LHRDs for legal fees, bond or guarantees, medical expenses from injuries because of land rights activities, obtain psychosocial support, suppo...

With the rampant malware apps posing as real apps and malicious links that don’t even work, Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod continues to strengthen its Information Technology program to educate its students on identifying cybersecurity threats and attacks.Headed by Engr. Allan Patrick Benjamin Paculan, the IT Program of CSA-B is already a PAASCU Level 2 accredited. The program covers different fields of practices such as Cybersecurity, Programming, System Analysis and Design, and Database Management.The IT program of CSA-B is also conducting Cybersecurity webinars as part of their educational awareness campaign to other schools, particularly on how to recognize computer fraud and phishing scams.Enrollment for the IT program is ongoing. Early bird enrollees will also get a chance to...

To strengthen collaboration in terms of curriculum, training, and activities for students and faculty, the three medical programs of Colegio San Agustin–Bacolod were merged into one.College of Health and Allied Professions is a merger of the former College of Nursing, Medical Technology program and the Pharmacy program of CSA-B.Headed by Dean Jo Ann Flores, Phd., the College of Health and Allied Professions continues to excel in the licensure examinations, garnering the titles as the top-performing nursing school in Negros Occidental in the 2019 Nursing Licensure Examination and the only school in Western Visayas that offers a virtual laboratory with high fidelity simulators.CSA-B also excels in the Pharmacy program, being the top-performing Pharmacy School in August 2019 Pharm...

Close to 3,000 solar panels installed at Coca-Cola's Bacolod manufacturing site has enabled sizeable monthly cost savings, with solar utilization at around 15 percent of the total average monthly consumption of the plant.*Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc. (CCBPI), the bottling arm of Coca-Cola in the country, has achieved another sustainability milestone in Q1 of 2021 upon completing the installation of almost 14,000 solar panels in its Davao del Sur, Misamis Oriental, and Bacolod plants.A multi-phased solar panel project is underway that covers four more sites— namely, Canlubang, Sta. Rosa, Zamboanga, and Cebu—with 2022 as a target deadline. With this, CCBPI is pursuing a 24,000 solar panel project, with the total capacity to produce a maximum of 9.4MW, a press release from C...

Residents of Negros Oriental will no longer have to worry about paying for expensive fees to avail of the gold standard reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for COVID-19.This benefit comes from the provincial government’s decision to allocate the P18 million worth of total remittances that it received from the Department of Energy (DOE), from Lopez-led renewable energy leader Energy Development Corporation (EDC) and from its power subsidiary Green Core Geothermal Inc. (GCGI), as part of its Energy Regulations (ER) No. 1-94 funds.The fund is part of the province’s Energy Regulations (ER) No. 1-94 benefit as host to EDC’s 222.5 megawatts (MW) Southern Negros geothermal facility, including its Green Core Geothermal, Inc. (GCGI) subsidiary in Valencia, Negros O...