These mega infrastructure projects that are being undertaken and closely supervised by the DPWH regional directors and district engineers are all under the Mindanao . . . → Read More: Projects and power is up]]> Big infrastructure projects worth more than P9.5 billion are under construction or nearing completion in Northeastern, Northern and Central Mindanao, officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said on Wednesday.

These mega infrastructure projects that are being undertaken and closely supervised by the DPWH regional directors and district engineers are all under the Mindanao Super Region projects and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) commitments.

Region XIII Regional Director Dr. Evelyn T. Barroso has vowed to complete in its target time limit the P1.7-billion Surigao-Davao Coastal Road, along with the Lianga (Surigao del Sur)-Prosperidad (Agusan del Sur) Section and Adlay-Bon-ot (Surigao del Sur) Section.

The Package 13 Tagasaka-Bislig Section, Package 14 Bislig-Lingig Section and Package 15 Lingig-Boundary Boston (Davao Oriental) road projects are nearing completion.

Five Surigao-Davao Coastal Road SONA projects ?- Package 1 Amontay-Sto. Nino Section, Package 2 Marihatag-San Agustin-Lianga Section, Package 3 Tandag-Marihatag Section, Package 10 Boston-Bislig Section and Package 11 Bislig-Manay Section have been finished ahead of schedule, Barroso said.

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Mindanao power consumers should brace for higher electricity bills until August because mixed power generation would probably last until then, a power executive said Wednesday.

Rodger Velasco, vice president for engineering of the Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC), said the use of mixed generation would continue because the water supply level in hydro power sources has not improved much, despite rains.

“There’s rain but we still need more,” he said.

The National Grid Corp. of the Phils. said it has been using fuel-fed generating systems, which could increase electricity charges, to ease the power shortage.

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Recently, Philippine power producer First Gen Corp. announced plans to spend about $1.5 billion over . . . → Read More: More power,markets up]]> Aboitiz Power Corporation, through wholly-owned subsidiary Hedcor Inc., signed an agreement with the Davao City Water District, paving the way for the eventual construction of a 10 to 15 megawatt hydroelectric power plant along the Tamugan River in Mindanao, Philippines, Aboitiz announced.

Recently, Philippine power producer First Gen Corp. announced plans to spend about $1.5 billion over three to five yearsto increase generation from hydropower and other means by 1,000 megawatts.

From Hydroworld.com

The local stock market climbed to a fresh 25-month high on Tuesday and breached its 3,200 psychological resistance level.

As the market tracked the movement in US equities, where the Dow rose to an 18-month high, traders say the quarter end window dressing was made easy by gains in Wall Street overnight.

At the close of the trading session, the Philippine Stock Exchange composite index was up by 8-tenths of a percent or 24 points to 3,202.17.

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This made the IPSO-Davao landed on the third spot in terms of the number of applications received, next only to Cebu and the National Capital . . . → Read More: Intellectual property,Electric power,sugar theft]]> THE Intellectual Property Satellite Office (IPSO) in Davao registered a total of 115 applications last year. Of this, 78 were trademarks while the remaining 37 were patents, utility models and industrial designs.

This made the IPSO-Davao landed on the third spot in terms of the number of applications received, next only to Cebu and the National Capital Region (NCR)/Region 4 areas. The IPSO-Davao covers 10 (Northern Mindanao), 11 (Davao Region), and 13 (Caraga).

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The Mindanao Electric Power Alliance (Mepa) will seek funding at easy and affordable terms to help its members acquire generator sets from Asian distributors, even as it welcomed the assurance of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) that it will speed up its  approval of the request for power-rate adjustment.

Vicente Lao, Mepa convener, said the alliance will help its member power distributors find affordable loan terms to defray the capital needed to rent out the generator sets from prospective companies in South Korea, Singapore and even from China.

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Sugar producers have asked the government to address what they claimed as the escalating incidence of sugar smuggling.

The Confederation of Sugar Producers Association (Confed) noted that while the milling season was still at its peak, smuggled refined sugar had been unloaded in various ports, particularly in Metro Manila, Batangas, La Union, Tarlac, Tuguegarao, Davao and General Santos City.

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The Philippines expects to launch a $500 million foreign-currency retail bond issue in April, with $400 million to be denominated in dollars and the rest in euros, National Treasurer Roberto Tan said on Monday.

The bond issue is aimed at Filipinos working overseas. The sale of the 3- and 5-year bonds still needs approval from the central bank’s monetary board, which is due to meet on Tuesday ahead of the break for Easter holidays.

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Fortis Investments and Western Asset Management Co., which oversee a combined $698 billion, sold Philippine international bonds last month, as the government raised its . . . → Read More: Philippine bonds,outsourcing,Davao Light]]> Global investors are bracing for further declines in Philippine bonds, Asia’s worst performers this year, on concern the nation’s first change in president in almost a decade will lead to wider budget deficits.

Fortis Investments and Western Asset Management Co., which oversee a combined $698 billion, sold Philippine international bonds last month, as the government raised its forecast for this year’s shortfall by 26 percent. Pictet Asset Management, which manages $5 billion of emerging-market debt, cut peso holdings on concern the new president would boost spending to win support.

Full article at Business Week

According to an article in Business Week, the Philippines is on target to grow its business process outsourcing revenues to $13 billion, and provide jobs for 650,000, by the end of 2010. So, what exactly are the advantages of outsourcing to the Philippines that have made it a first choice outsourcing solution for businesses across the globe?

Full article at Goodzines

Davao Light and Power Company is encouraging all its customers to save on electricity.

The advice of the electric utility came on the heels of the announcement by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) that the power generation curtailment level from the various generating companies in Mindanao reached to 450 megawatt (mW) yesterday. NGCP imposed a 93 mW curtailment on Davao Light’s franchise area starting at 10:30 yesterday morning.

Full article at PIA

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) provincial office in Davao Oriental reported that market matching and linkage activities in 2009 generated high sales valued at P12.117 million, higher by 431 percent as compared to previous year’s P2.811 million only.

Based on its annual report, DTI-DO also revealed that the sales generated through market matching and linkage last year was even 173 percent higher than its annual target of P7 million.

Full article at Sun Star

People are excited about their savings accounts earning interests. But, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has seen a better idea to invest into something that earns three or five times that of bank interests. An “energy audit” is a good first step toward realizing those money savings by making your place more energy efficient.

With today’s increasing production cost, it is important to identify areas by which production cost can be significantly reduced. One area identified by DOST is to improve the efficiency of energy utilization among industries. Many industrial establishments are now becoming conscious of their energy usage due to increased energy costs.

Full article at PIA

In a meeting recently held at the Davao del Norte Capitol in Tagum City, C.K. Chang, president of Philippine Palm Oil Development Council, Inc. (PPODCI), said . . . → Read More: Palm Oil and Brown outs]]> Palm oil growers in Mindanao are optimistic that the production would continue to increase in Mindanao even as the country is still importing oil palm products from nearby Southeast Asian countries.

In a meeting recently held at the Davao del Norte Capitol in Tagum City, C.K. Chang, president of Philippine Palm Oil Development Council, Inc. (PPODCI), said that 10 years ago, the country has only some 20,000 hectares of oil palm trees, but at present, it has already 45,000 hectares of it mostly found in Mindanao.

“But we are still importing oil palm products from Malaysia and Indonesia,” he said

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When before, city residents could hear the whirl and hum of the power plant along J.P. Laurel Avenue, today, the Bajada Power Plant (BPP) appears silent and inactive.

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An official of a multi-national shipping firm and five others are facing charges of possession of illegal drugs for allegedly conspiring to hide 12 bricks of high-grade cocaine in Davao City last December, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said on Monday.

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The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) is studying a proposal by the Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. (PSPC) to put up a surety bond to facilitate imports, while a tax dispute is resolved.

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“We need deep and early cut of carbon.”

Climate Change Secretary Heherson Alvarez, in his visit to Davao City yesterday (February 17) urged the business sector in the city to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere.

Although he clarified that the country is not a carbon maker but a carbon taker, he also stressed that Filipinos should . . . → Read More: Carbon,VAT,Rice and no power]]>

“We need deep and early cut of carbon.”

Climate Change Secretary Heherson Alvarez, in his visit to Davao City yesterday (February 17) urged the business sector in the city to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere.

Although he clarified that the country is not a carbon maker but a carbon taker, he also stressed that Filipinos should do their own share of creating a low carbon community.

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President Arroyo extolled the value-added tax (VAT) as having enabled the country to depend less on foreign funding such as the almost $5-billion, 300-kilometer paved coastal road running across eastern Mindanao linking the backwater areas of three provinces that she formally inaugurated on Wednesday.

More from Business Mirror

The Philippines, the world’s biggest rice importer, will allow private companies to buy 200,000 metric tons, boosting purchases to a record this year, a National Food Authority official said.

More from Bloomberg

The southern Philippine island of Mindanao may experience power shortages in May, including on the May 10 general elections, data from National Grid Corp. showed.

The Mindanao grid may have a supply deficiency of as much as 144 megawatts in a day in May and a shortage of about 4 megawatts on May 10, data showed. National Grid runs the country’s high-voltage power transmission network.

More from Bloomberg

The Philippines’ budget deficit widened to a record 298.5 billion pesos ($6.5 billion) in 2009 — around 3.9% of gross domestic product — due to increased spending to stimulate the economy amid the global recession and a slew of tax breaks that reduced revenue.

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