Organic farming deemed an advocacy than business

CEBU, Philippines - Despite Cebu being behind in the information and promotion of the benefits of organic products, a native of Bacolod pursued her goal of putting up an organic farm in Cebu and help in the larger distribution all throughout the province.

Abigail Salvador of Tabon Ecological Farm (Tabefa) found in Tabon, Dalaguete is a recent supplier of organic products in supermarkets and restaurants in Cebu but she said that it was not an easy business to venture into since not a lot of people knew about organic products. Also, farmers are still hesitant to shift to organic farming since it takes time for the products to grow without chemicals that are usually used.

According to her, she was interested first in organic beauty products like soaps and wanted to make her own but had no knowledge of how to make it and where to get the ingredients from.

That prompted her to visit Mantalungon, a town south of Cebu, around two years ago where she met up with a pastor that has a land in the area and where she was able to meet some farmers who had no choice but not to use chemicals anymore since they had encountered diseases already.

She shared that she wanted to help out the farmers and thought of organic farming though she had no idea about it but made researches on what to do and how much it would cost to start up an organic farm.

Salvador said that after which, she agreed to finance and buy the seeds from Manila and abroad and also pay for the labor of the farmers for 50 thousand pesos only.

“Dun nagsimula lahat,” said Salvador who at present produces up to 60 kilos of organic products to known restaurants like Gustavian and La Tegola and started producing the supermarket of Gaisano Country Mall.

She said that she has also contacted other huge supermarkets and restaurants in the city hoping to achieve her goal in helping promote to more people the benefits of shifting to organic products.

Salvador said that she sees this as part of an advocacy and not as a business since she said that it is more important to spread awareness first to the people. She stressed that Cebu has been playing poorly in terms of organic products but she aims to help in the efforts of the provincial government in promoting the organic agriculture.

She said that she commended the efforts of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia in promoting organic farming where small producers like her have benefited from.

But she said that lately, people are already becoming curious of the products and have been noted in the increase in demand of her products compared to the past year.

She said that the target market for organic products are usually the class A market since it is expensive but she is hoping that this would also be supported by the other classes since the benefits it does to the body should be considered better than the price.

Salvador is also optimistic of the growth of demand of her products, which she said have had the thumbs up of Gil Carandang, president of Organic Inspectors Association of the Philippines and owner of Herbana Farmers Philippines, whom she asked advice from when she started the business.

Aside from the organic vegetables that she supplies like lettuce, cucumber and tomato, she also produces organic made beauty products and has her partner, Grace Ruperto, that supplies organic meat.

Salvador also has a store called “All Organics” in Banilad Town Center, where she will also be having a small farmers market every Saturday and one in Parkmall named “Back to the Garden

Source: The Freeman Cebu

The Persimmon

High world market prices benefit RP sugar industry

CEBU, Philippines - The growing cost of sugar in the world market is seen to benefit the decade-old sugar industry in the Philippines, saving it from becoming a “sunset” industry and become a sustainable one.

Philippine Sugar Technologists Association (Philsutech) former president Ramon Durano VI said that the industry is showing signs of bullishness as demand for locally produced sugar have increased significantly.

“The Philippine sugar industry is still not a sunset industry, it continues to thrive. In fact, there is an increase in the consumption of our domestic sugar,” Durano said.

Durano, whose family-owned company Durano and Company manages hectares of sugar farm both in Cebu and Negros, said that the high cost of imported sugar varieties, due to the decrease in production of world production of sugar caused mainly by drastic climate change, has raised the demand for Philippine sugar.

But amid the demand, he explained that the country continues to import sugar not because of shortage but to maintain prices at an “acceptable level.”

According to Durano the decrease in production of world sugar has resulted to a jump of US$0.18 centavos per pound.

The current world price for sugar is at US$0.22 centavos per pound and is forecasted to grow up to US$0.40 centavos per pound by year-end.

“This will certainly redound to the benefit of local producers,” he said, adding that along with the growing demand for domestic sugar for consumption, new classifications of sugar have been introduced, including those for biofuel.

In effect, he said sugar planters have once again capitalized on their agricultural land properties in order to plant more sugarcane.

Local planters and producers continue to look for cost-effective ways to produce sugar with the use of technology, he added.

Durano likewise assured the implementation next year of the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT), which will lower the tariff on sugar importation, is not a threat to local players.

Under the GATT, the present tariff rates of Southeast Asian countries are to be changed in 2010 to give way to reduced duty rates for imported products that are categorized under the identified integration areas, including agro-based products.

“The country’s sugar industry has always been competitive, especially since the Philippine economy is now recovering from the effects of the global crisis,” Durano said.

Earlier, Alfonso A. Uy, chairman of the board and president of Philippine Foremost Milling Corporation, said the softening of the country’s economy in 2008 has led to a 20 percent drop in demand for the company’s sugar and flour produce.

Like Durano, Uy also voiced optimism the market for flour and sugar will start picking up next year, as sentiments of recovery has been floating around the country’s business sectors.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

Negotiations for "Thirsty"Dubai franchise underway

CEBU, Philippines - Homegrown fresh fruit juice chain, Thirsty Juices and Shakes will be hitting the Middle East market soon, as the Pages Holdings Inc., is now negotiating with an interested investor to set up outlets in Dubai.

Now on its 13th year in providing healthy drink options to Filipino consumers, Thirsty will start its international penetration, hopefully to start an outlet in Dubai, said Pages Holdings Inc., chairman Bunny Pages.

Pages said the company is negotiating for master-franchise agreement with an interested investor in Dubai, for the opening of several outlets there that will bring this Cebu brand to the Middle East market.

Part of the company’s initial plan, Pages said is to offer the franchise for the brand via licensing agreement that will be locked for five years.However, Pages said negotiation for this venture is still ongoing and no official or concrete deals have been signed yet.If this venture will be finalized, Thirsty will be one of the pioneer Cebu-grown brands that penetrates the Dubai market, although there are number of Cebuano entrepreneurs who are currently clinching franchise deals for Dubai ventures such as Bo’s Coffee Club, among others.

In the Philippines, Thirsty brand is present in 100 locations, 30 outlets are managed by franchisees.

Pages said, although the sales-performance of this kind of products is mostly seasonal, business is still profitable.

Pursuing the international market could mean greater risk for the brand, however, with the licensing agreement, Pages hopes that it will provide good expansion opportunity for the brand.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

Cebu exporters optimistic on recovering US demand

CEBU, Philippines - While orders, especially from United States, are slowly starting to recover, exporters are encouraged to make the production of goods at a faster rate since lead time for orders are shorter, unlike before.

PhilExport-Cebu chairman Allan Suarez made this call, while sensing the rebound of export products demand specifically from the United States, which is the largest export market for the Philippines, especially Cebu’s furniture exports.

“Local export furniture makers should be able to produce goods at a faster rate since lead time for orders are shorter compared before with buyers now keeping their inventories and volume orders low,” said Suarez.

For his part, Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation Inc. (CFIF) executive director Joseph Martin Borromeo said that the industry is now beginning to feel the improving conditions in the US housing industry as observed by more order inquiries from US-based clients.

“Orders for furniture pieces and home furnishings from Cebu are slowly coming in as new home sales in the US grew last July and many others are beginning to renovate their homes,” he related.

Borromeo said that general sentiment of the industry is “bullish” while furniture inventory of American retailers are about to be consumed and buyers are beginning to buy new stocks.

At present, Borromeo said that exact volumes of orders are still difficult to determine, but what is reassuring is that there has been experiencing “significant demand” for Cebu’s export products, particularly home furnishing items, fashion accessories and furniture pieces.

Department of Trade and Industry undersecretary Thomas Aquino echoed the industry players’ positive outlook on the export sector, especially in the home furnishing, saying the recession in the US has “bottomed out”.

But, Aquino lauded Cebu’s resiliency in fighting the ugly effects of the US recession to the export sector.

“Despite the crisis, Cebu exporters have grown to be even more innovative in their designs (and) we are excited to see how Cebu’s export industry will perform next year especially with the recovery of the US market,” he said.

DTI recently conducted an Exporters’ Exposition in Cebu to help exporters dispose their inventories in preparation to accommodation new orders from the US market.

Borromeo particularly lauded efforts of Government, particularly DTI’s, in setting up the Exporter’ Expo which aims to help exporters dispose of their existing inventory by selling the goods to the local market.

In the last few months, the Cebu export industry, primarily the home furnishing and fashion accessories sectors are growing at a rate of 10 percent to 15 percent in terms of order volumes.

PhilExport-Cebu on the other hand, is conducting several programs and activities to help exporters aptly prepared for the rebound phenomenon.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

Aboitiz Power introduces "Cleanergy" brand

CEBU, Philippines - Cebuano power consumers may soon be able to buy electricity source from renewable energy plants, following the introduction of Aboitiz Power Corporation (AP) “Cleanergy” brand.

“Cleanergy concretizes the company’s promise of providing better solutions for a better future. It is an energy solution that will give AP power consumers an option to reduce their carbon footprint and attain a more sustainable lifestyle,” said Erramon Aboitiz AP President and Chief Executive Officer.

However, Aboitiz said that in order for AP to sell its “Cleanergy” to customers who are looking for renewable energy sources, the company will wait for the open access power supply system to be adopted in the Philippines.

In an open access regime, large power consumers can choose their power suppliers, unlike the present system, which restricts their choice to distributors operating in their respective areas.

Aboitiz said the main purpose of the re-marketing of AP is to widen public consciousness about climate change and its adverse impact on society.

“Once the Renewable Energy Bill becomes a law, it allows end-users to tell their distribution utilities that they want to buy power from renewable energy sources,” Aboitiz said.

The “Cleanergy” may be sourced from the company’s combined 1,000-megawatt renewable energy capacity under AP’s portfolio, he added.

“We like renewable energy. We think the future of the country’s power industry is into renewable energy sources,” Aboitiz said, but acknowledged the option of providing green power is something “not readily acceptable to consumers.”

“It is feasible but it will take time for consumers to appreciate ‘green power’. In the long run, what we want to see is consumers who are willing to pay a little more for ‘green power’ and we want to be ready when the demand comes and offer it to them at the least possible cost,” he said.

Energy sourced from expensive renewable power sources, will be offered as optional product for “environmentally-friendly” consumers. Aboitiz believes that with the growing concern of global warming issues, more and more customers are demanding for it.

Besides, once the Bill will be passed into Law, consumers that are using electricity products sourced from renewable sources will be exempted from the 10 percent value added tax.

In Cebu, due to unavailability of renewable power resources, Aboitiz said the company is trying its best to limit the adverse effect of coal-fired plant, which the company is building a 246-MW power plant in Toledo, in partnership with Global Power.

“We like renewable power, but there are times that they are not available,” Aboitiz said.

However, if the open access will be implemented, Cebuano power consumers, as well as the rest of the Visayas, will be able to buy “Cleanergy” product, through an importation of power from Luzon to Cebu, Aboitiz said.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

ICT Department pushed before Arroyo term ends

CEBU, Philippines - The Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT) hopes that the bill that seeks to establish the Department of ICT will be approved before the term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ends next year.

CICT commissioner Monchito B. Ibrahim said that this direction has to be implemented before the Arroyo term ends, in order to continue the projects and programs being started by the Commission.

The bill that seeks to establish the Department of ICT is still pending in the Senate, which was transmitted to the Upper House after the House of Representatives approved it August last year.

The CICT was created in 2004 as a transitory measure to a DICT (Department of ICT) but five years have passed, and this has yet to become a reality.

“Hopefully, before the end of this administration, the CICT will become a Department of ICT,” Ibrahim said.

Ibrahim said the ICT industry will expect more support from the government, in case the bid to make the Commission a Department will be pursued.

“This will put more ‘teeth’ for the government to pursue ICT programs, and put as in the same level as other developed countries,” he said.

In Asia, the Philippines is the last remaining country, of which the ICT support agency is not yet established in the ministry level.

Despite this, the Philippines is still leading in terms of ICT growth in Asia, “how much more if we become institutionalized.”

In an earlier interview with CICT secretary Ray Roxas-Chua III he expressed apprehension that the Commission would be abolished when a new President assumes office after the 2010 elections.

Roxas-Chua said that the bill that seeks to establish the Department of ICT is still pending in the Senate, which was transmitted to the Upper House after the House of Representatives approved it in August last year.

“The passage of the bill will ensure the sustainability of the CICT’s programs. While we are still hopeful that it can be passed, time is quickly running out and campaign season is just around the corner,” Roxas-Chua said.

At present the CICT functions under an executive order issued by President Arroyo.

Roxas-Chua pointed out that considering the size and importance of the ICT industry in the country, it “makes no sense” for the country to be among the four countries in Southeast Asia that do not have a department or ministry for ICT.

Aside from the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar also do not have a DICT.

If the Senate will not be able to pass the DICT bill, Roxas-Chua feared several projects of the CICT will be put on hold, or worse will not materialize.

These projects include iSchools, which aims to improve the computer literacy of high school students.

Under the program, CICT will provide all public high schools computer laboratories—equipped with computers that have Internet connections—by 2010. Priority will be given to next wave cities for the ICT industry.

Based on the CICT’s latest data, Roxas-Chua said 360 computer laboratories out of 640 laboratories have been established so far.

Another project, the eSkwela, targets out-of-school youth and adults as beneficiaries of an alternative computerized learning system. One of the pilot sites for this project is the Tejero Elementary School in Cebu City.

Likewise, Roxas-Chua is also pushing for the passage of another bill that will provide the legal and regulatory framework that will ensure data privacy and provide penalties against those who will breach data security.

If approved, the data privacy law is also expected to boost the ICT industry.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

"AbstracSIOn II" at Maribago Bluewater

Academic training has exposed Dennis ‘Sio’ Montera, initially, in creating realist-inspired nature visual artworks before he finally found his own illustrative language. On his fifth-year as an artist, he came back to Cebu City armed with a Masters degree in painting earned from University of the Philippines. Sio mounted two important solo exhibitions on abstract art at the Art Center of SM City Cebu and Bluewater Gallery of Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort. These shows received accolade from critics and collectors, alike, and brought to the community a fresh take on serious visual art. That two special occasions baptized Sio as one of the few visual artists who have taken the road less travelled – the exploration of the non-objective realm in mainstream art.

Sio, as his intimates call him, takes inspiration from the likes of Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, Jean Dubuffet, Cy Twombly, Jean Michel Basquiat and Antoni Tapies. He admits that Philippine artists like Nestor Vinluan, Lao Lianben, and Jose Joya joins the list of artists that stirred him to undertake a personal experiment materials, tools and effects.

Sio Montera began to mix industrial materials with the conventional artist’s paints. After hundreds of hours of test and trials he succeeded in integrating diverse resources into a convincing overall composition. His canvasses are condensed into massive, encrusted color-filled paintings of either gestural lines or scratched surfaces. The lines created in his gestural works often resemble coagulated ink blots that glide from one corner to the other with total abandon and freedom. The scratched/scraped picture plane is the most recent reinvention of the artist’s style and the indentations on the surface of the paintings function like individual graffiti, the artist set of personal coded references inscribed on the work’s ground like hardened symbols or signs.

In this latest exhibition dubbed “AbstracSIOn II” which opened to the public last August 14, the artist metaphorically combines artistic production with immediate experiences of his human existence. Each of the works creates an overall effect that is based from the language of the artist’s soul and is considered by him as emblems and symbolic indications of his presence in this short life. These new installment of Sio Montera’s work has also taken distance from the linear logic of adults to arrive at the impulsive logic of children. The created visual field reassures flatness that is both direct and embracing typical of the spontaneity inherent in the spur-of-the-moment, scribble drawings. They represent for him an extraordinary mirror for multiplying or shattering imagery to reinvent or exorcize life.

The said exhibit of 26 interesting contemporary artworks opened with a ribbon-cutting with the exhibit’s guest of honors namely: Creative Cebu’s Meg Osmeña, Canadian Art aficionado Mark Milne, Maribago Bluewater’s General Manager Rhyz Buac and the artist’s associate and close friend Jude Bacalso. Bluewater Gallery will feature Dennis “Sio” Montera’s exhibit from August 14 to September 12, 2009. For exhibit viewing appointment, get in touch with Gallery Coordinator Ruben B. Licera, Jr. at (63 32) 492 0100 local 512 or email events@bluewater.com.ph.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

Ideal place for city dwellers

MANILA, Philippines - The cosmopolitan business district of Makati and more recently, the trendy urbanization of Bonifacio Global City (BGC), continue to manifest as attractive locations for homeowners, especially professionals working within the mentioned areas. While these central locations offer convenience and accessibility, the escalating price of real estate makes it prohibitive for the middle class market.

Working professionals and starter families with modest incomes, can now find the perfect alternative address, just five minutes away from the BGC and a short drive from Makati Central Business District.

Cypress Towers by DMCI Homes is located along C-5 Road, beside Diego Silang Road. This valuable location pits the property right on top of the list for options that even the middle income earners can afford. Accessible from the area are various important destinations such as Market Market, Ortigas Center, and the NAIA Airport Terminals.

This development also offers more value-for-money features. For one, the price of a studio unit in the prime locations of Makati and BGC will already buy a working professional a two-bedroom unit at Cypress Towers.

Adam U. Trinidad, project director, said that the target market profile is composed of decision makers, majority of which are single or who are about to get married. Currently, they are residing in various parts of Metro Manila, either with their families or renting apartments and condos near their places of work.

“At Cypress Towers, the prices of units are within reach of middle income families, while presenting high-end advantages that can be found in the premier communities of the major developers,” Trinidad said.

Comparatively, similar high-rise developments in the BGC and Makati areas are priced at P80,000 to P93,000 per sqm, with an average of 20 sqm for their studio unit, while a 100 sqm floor area home can be too expensive. Amenities are also basic, and mostly installed on the podium level, which add to the constrictive conditions. At Cypress Towers, condo units are offered for only P55,000 to P60,000 per sqm.

Source: Philippine Star

Setting up JVs for real estate

MANILA, Philippines - To hasten our economic recovery, three major resources must be encouraged to join together for real estate development. One is the real estate developer who has the experience and knowledge but may or may not have the capital needed. Another is the one with the financial resources and capacity, interested in real estate business but lacks the knowledge or experience. The third is the one with the land who may lack either financial resources or knowledge to develop his land.

It would be a big economic contribution if the three resources can join together and made productive. However, before a joint venture could be concluded, many questions and other important aspects should be learned and answered for the protection of all the parties. In this regard, Urban Institute of Real Estate will conduct a seminar on Joint Venture and Syndication For Real Estate Projects on Wednesday, September 9, 1:30 to 6 p.m. at the Maximo Function Room, 2nd floor Max’s Restaurant, near the exit of Glorietta 2, Makati City.

Source: Philippine Star

The lecturer is Engr. Enrico Cruz, who has more than 40 years in real estate, engineering, construction, management and education. Cruz is also a licensed real estate consultant and 1st and 8th placer in the real estate appraiser’s and broker’s board examinations respectively, and was invested as a “Real Estate Fellow” by the Philippine Council of Real Estate Educators.

Urban will also be conducting lectures on other topics every Wednesday until Oct. 14, at the same time and venue as follows: Sept. 2 – Legal Aspects of Sale, Mortgage and Lease; Sept. 16 – Property Valuation: How To Do It Yourself; Sept. 23 – How to Start and Manage A Successful Real Estate Brokerage Company; Sept. 30 – Taxation of Real Estate Transactions; Oct. 7 – Real Estate Finance and Investment Analysis; Oct. 14 – Making Big Money in Distressed Properties.

Importance of location

MANILA, Philippines - Before getting your business going, you need to prioritize on investing in a good location. It’s no wonder why in the crowded streets of perhaps the world’s oldest Chinatown, in the bustling city of Manila, the most diverse market of wholesale merchandise has kept the city awake even in the most lull hours of the day. Perhaps the popular belief rings true that if it sells in Chinatown, it will sell everywhere else.

As businesses abound progressively in this Chi Lai or inner city, property giant Megaworld Corporation comes to provide a Hong Kong-style community that keeps one’s home closer to where business happens. Cityplace, a twin-tower landmark of progress, is more than an impressive modern nestling enclave but a one-stop shopping and ultimate dining haven.

This impressive landmark is a multi-faceted gem amidst Chinatown’s rich cultural backdrop with its 37- and 39-storey residential towers beaming both of glass and concrete and three-level commercial center bursting with extensive rows of shops and chains of dining outlets resembling Causeway Bay, Hong Kong’s prime shopping haven.

Prime location

A genius in residential development, Megaworld has teamed with meticulous engineers and architects in providing a luxurious residential and commercial property on a prime residential location.

“Cityplace, which will be ready in two years, is our upscale development that brings everything close to you – your family, your business and the best of Chinatown. It is the ideal place to grow your family business,” noted Megaworld Newport Property Holdings FVP for marketing and project head John Natividad.

You can be abreast with every aspect of your business without getting mangled in traffic as Cityplace is situated at the main artery of Chinatown where a bewildering array of shops selling attractive Chinese arts and crafts, furniture, jewelry, Chinese medicines, food preserves, fresh produce, as well as hardware and office supplies can be found.

Source: Philippine Star

Trade agency helps exporters tap domestic market through expo

TO easily convert their inventories into cash, around 70 Cebu exporters of fashion accessories, furniture, gift items and marine food products will gather together in a four-day Exporters’ Expo this week.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 7 Director Aster Caberte said the event is meant to give exporters an opportunity to move their current stocks in a venue where they can tap the domestic market. Aside from individual consumers, the domestic market is composed of multi-branch institutional buyers like hotels, resorts, real estate developers and interior designers.
“This is meant to stop the bleeding (caused by the global financial crisis in the export sector),” said Caberte in a press conference Monday.
The DTI has allocated around P1.3 million for the Exporters’ Expo that will open on Aug. 27 at the Atrium of SM City Cebu Northwing.
Organized by the DTI-Bureau of Export Trade Promotion, Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions, Export Development Council, and DTI Central Visayas, the expo is designed to be the “biggest retail and wholesale selling event of export products that are not commercially available locally and produced by Cebu’s direct and indirect exporters.”
Caberte observed that the export sector did not consider domestic buyers as potential market before.
“But now, domestic spending is very robust,” she said.
She assured the domestic market that the prices of products during the expo will be at bargain levels or lower than their regular export prices.
A support component under the Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program, the Exporters’ Expo aims to support the export sector—recognized as an important contributor to Cebu’s economy—as exporters deal with the effects of the global financial crisis.
Caberte said the expo is like a government subsidy to the exporters since they will only be paying P500 to P1,000 a day, depending on the size of their exhibit area.

Source: The Sunstar Daily Cebu

Ng: Netbooks from cell phone manufacturers

NETBOOKS, those small and inexpensive notebooks with small keyboards and screens, have been a hit since it was introduced barely three years ago and now selling millions per month.
So, I think it is only expected that the world’s largest cell phone company, Nokia, will be introducing their own netbook.
After all, the line between a cell phone and a notebook in terms of functionality has started to become blurred. Cell phones with full QWERTY keyboards are coming out with regularity.
Nokia names its netbooks Booklet 3G. It is reported to have 3G connectivity, of course, and long battery life. It is also supposed to run Windows, something surprising because Nokia uses its own operating system Symbian in most of its products.
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As more and more cell phone companies are now bundling 3G data services and also netbooks, it only stands to reason that Nokia, which probably has one of the deepest relationships with telcos all over the world, would get into the game. Most probably, its netbooks will sold mainly through cell phone company subscriptions.
COURT EVIDENCE. On another note, it is interesting that SMS or text messages are now acceptable as evidence in France, particularly in divorce cases. France is known as having very difficult divorce laws, and people have to wait for years to get out of marriages, unless they can prove that their spouses have been misbehaving and/or mistreating them. Now, text messages that point to that will be acceptable as proof.
SMS messages are also starting to become acceptable as evidence of fraud and other crimes, such as defamation suits. So next time, think twice before sending that SMS. In Cebu, a person was accused of murder based on the messages in his cell phone.
Aside from exercising care in composing text messages, cell phone users should also make sure to delete messages or data that they do not want others to see. Most cell phone companies have text messages stored in their computers for a couple of days, but they will not retrieve or produce it unless there is a court order. But one cannot stop anyone from snooping around.
People should also be careful about using their cell phones while they have other tasks at hand. Many road accidents have been blamed on motorists who use their cell phones—composing text messages, for instance—while driving. I read with amusement a report about a person who fell into a canal because he was texting while walking.
One of the most effective message against driving while using ones cell phone is a video produced by the British Government of a teenage girl who was involved in a fatal accident.
The video, a graphic reenactment of that bloody accident, was posted on YouTube to warn people of the dangers of driving while using one’s cell phone.

Source: The Sunstar Cebu

Good infra supports SMEs

LOCAL governments play an important role in the development of the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector.
“Local governments have the power to (provide) the requirements of the SMEs, produce an environment where SMEs can thrive and make it on their own,” said Siegfried Herzog, resident representative of Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty in the Philippines.
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To enable SMEs to establish themselves and grow, good basics—strong institutions, good infrastructure, vocational training and higher education—must be in place, he said.
“Good basics are more important to SMEs than government subsidies,” he said.
Herzog was a speaker at the Sun.Star Economic Forum 2009 held yesterday at the Casino Espanol de Cebu, Cebu City. In his talk, Herzog discussed factors that made Germany a nation of SMEs.
In Germany, he said, SMEs are active in foreign trade as they produce more than 20 percent of exports.
Clean bureaucracy
As of 2003, there were 3.38 million SMEs with about 20 million employees.
The sector is being supported by key institutions, characterized by efficient property rights, clean bureaucracy and a strong tradition of spatial planning. He added that strong institutions—which takes care of land development, business permits and other SME needs—limit political patronage.
Strong local governments, he said, work to the advantage of SME.
Infrastructure is also “crucially important” to the development of SMEs, allowing them to grow and operate efficiently even in areas that are far from capital cities.
Herzog said that if the road networks of a country are bad, companies would likely cluster near seaport and airports.
He said good infrastructure leads the development of cheap and plentiful commercial land, and lowers transaction costs dramatically, which benefits SMEs.
“(SMEs do not) need to be close to the state government because the needed services and infrastructure are being provided by the local governments, especially by the municipalities,” he said.
Another basic factor affecting SME growth is the combination of entrepreneurial spirit and technical knowledge on how to produce goods and services. In Germany, where public and private sector partnership is practiced early, vocational training is supported and partly funded by the government but run and managed by the chambers of commerce.
“The real action is private sector for the private sector.
Bureaucrats have no idea about the needs of the private sector.
They can support and fund programs to meet (SME) needs,” said Herzog.
He pointed out that vocational training becomes a source of cheap labor, especially for SMEs. He added that since the companies’ needs dictate the training curriculum, trainees end up with the right set of skills for industry.
Through higher education, Herzog added, science and technology continues to be key factors in Germany’s development.
SMEs in Germany are also assisted by the country’s strong anti-monopoly laws, business cluster development, support of the chambers of commerce, and promotion of competition to breed competitiveness.

Source: The Sunstar Daily Cebu

Gov’t looks for site for Cebu showroom

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 7 and the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC) are looking for a strategic location in Cebu for the planned permanent display center of Cebu furniture and house ware.
DTI 7 Director Asteria Caberte said the ideal spot for the center—a permanent display showroom—should be along the road going to the airport since its target market would include tourists.
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She said P15 million will be allotted for the display showroom that will make Cebuano furniture exports easily and immediately available to domestic and international buyers.
To house a wide array of products and services, the showroom’s ideal area size should be about 1,000 square meters, she said. However, she admitted that while the budget is obligated for 2009, the center may not be completed this year.
In an earlier interview, PITC president Jorge Mendoza Judan said the DTI and PITC want to create a product depot for export companies, as well as service providers within the small and medium enterprise (SME) category in Cebu after the launching of a similar trade house in Manila this month.
This permanent display showroom and trade house, he said, will save manufacturers of furniture, house ware, and house decors from incurring freight and warehousing costs for orders going to foreign markets, like Russia, since the PITC will assist them in the logistics.
Caberte stressed that the permanent display center will not only be limited to Russians but also to other tourists and to the domestic market.
She said one of the export-related sectors will manage the center. She pointed out that management is the core competence of the private sector.
The products that will be displayed at the center, she said, will depend on the business judgment of the export companies.

Source: The Sunstar Daily Cebu

RP’s BPO industry creates demand for human resource practitioners

THE Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT) is seeing a demand for new service skills in the country’s business process outsourcing (BPO) industry with the onset of the global economic crisis, where more multinational industries are outsourcing functions to cut costs.
CICT Commissioner Mon-chito Ibrahim, in an interview with reporters following the opening ceremonies of the commission’s roadshow last Tuesday, said there is a “sudden” need for human resource practitioners who can handle a company’s back office functions, ranging from salary administration to compensation and benefits.
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At present, he said, there are over 2,000 vacant positions for human resource (HR) practitioners nationwide.
In a separate interview, Dr. Gregg Gabison, who represented the Cebu Education Development Foundation for Information Technology (Cedf-it), said that in the province there is also a demand for application developers of systematic and specialized needs of foreign companies.
He said the demand for workers with information technology (IT) skills, on the other hand, can be answered by the 3,000 annual graduates in Cebu, 40 percent of whom get hired as software developers.
However, Ibrahim said BPO companies are experiencing difficulties in filling out vacancies for HR positions since there are only a few HR professionals in the country.
He said there are only six universities in the Philippines that offer human resource as an academic program and most industry practitioners have degrees in psychology.
“With this, our HR practitioners are good in the organizational side but weak in HR work,” he added.
Ibrahim also said that students should start looking at human resource courses since the demand is expected to increase.
Although the biggest sub-sector in the BPO industry remains to be the call center group, Ibrahim said that it is not longer considered the fastest growing.
Aside from back office services—that include HR functions, accounting and financial service—the next top emerging sub-sectors are engineering services and software development.
Ibrahim said that last year the software development sub-sector was able to generate more than $600 million in revenues. The software development group is targeting to raise its revenue contribution to $1 billion in 2010.

Source: The Sunstar Daily Cebu

Real estate ‘doing well’

THE real estate industry in Cebu has been doing well despite the economic slowdown, said brokers during the opening of a housing project in Lapu-Lapu City last.
“People are cautious now. We all have learned lessons from the Asian crisis. We did our homework and that was to correct the wrong things done in the past. That’s why we (industry) are not that much affected by the crisis,” said Guy Teves of Teves Realty.
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He said the industry has implemented stringent policies in granting loans. “We don’t just allow people to get a loan unless they are qualified borrowers,” added.
The real estate industry experienced a slowdown during the Asian financial crisis in 1997, when real estate projects were temporarily put off.
Despite the present economic crisis, brokers consider real estate to be a worthwhile investment and Cebu City as a strategic location.
“In times like this, instead of putting your money in banks, we find practical ways to secure our money and putting up houses or residences is a more practical way because there will always be end-users who need homes,” said Gladys Ceniza, of Market Works Asia Inc., the marketing arm of property developer Simon Enterprises Group.
Teves said Cebu is practically next to Manila in terms of market potential. People from neighboring provinces seek employment in industrial companies in Cebu and they would need homes, he added.

Source: The Sunstar Daily Cebu

Sustainable and healthy grocery shopping

CEBU, Philippines - One time I decided to buy a shoe polish from one of the supermarkets in uptown Cebu. What was supposed to be a less than a hundred quick-drop-by-the-supermarket became a shopping spree that brought my total to P4,000!
For someone like me, who technically has no hullabaloo when it comes to lifestyle or who simply depends on the neighborhood carenderia for my meals, this was a bit on the too much side.
Reflecting on the experience, I came to realize that many single guys admittedly don’t know how to shop on a budget. We conveniently put on the cart anything and everything that would attract us as we go along the aisle. Well, at least those that we could put on the cart (pun intended).
Some don’t even stop to look at the labels, which, by the way I’ve learned and come to enjoy when I attempted to become a vegetarian. Which leads me to another dilemma: Just how many of the items we put on our cart are considered to be healthy? And with the health issue, comes the climate change issue, which would delve on sustainability.
Got you confused? Well, why don’t I just walk you through the grocery aisle and let us shop sustainably and healthily. Here are five tips that you may find helpful the next time you decide to drop by the supermarket:
1.Make a grocery list and stick to it.
You’d probably have heard of this from countless of get-your-finances-straight gurus. But this somewhat simple tip always slips out of everybody’s mind the moment they decide to drop by the supermarket. Sometimes, going grocery shopping is done out of convenience – you’re already in the mall, so why not drop by the supermarket? But the thing is, simply deciding on a day to do your groceries would help you from overspending on things that you do not actually need. And yes, don’t go grocery shopping when your hungry, because the tendency is, you tend to buy more than what you actually need.
2.Take advantage of promos and discounts.
Buying in bulk is a good advice if you can afford to buy the biggest size. If not, then go to the promo aisle where you can check out the bundles that carry free promotional items. Of course, you would need to check the expiration date, and make sure you have enough time to consume all of it before it spoils. Some stores have ads in newspapers or brochures that scream of deals. Check them out before making your grocery list.
3.How about a healthy grocery list?
Decide on a healthy grocery list. This would include fresh fruits and vegetables; whole grain bread, pasta or cereals (as opposed to those made of white flour); vegetable-based protein sources like tofu, nuts and legumes; and less on the processed products which contain lots of sodium. When it comes to dairy products, well, you can try out the vegetable-based ones like soya milk or soya butter. Or you can choose to go light. According to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), milk, especially those sourced from dairy farms, contain pus and pasteurization is not an assurance that pus will be removed. PETA further argues that cow’s milk is a major mucus producer, citing the opinion of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and other experts.
4.And a sustainable grocery list?
The issue of climate change is real and it is already being felt closer to our doors, with Baguio City’s hailstorms, large waves that wiped out houses along the coast of Talisay City, or floods that are increasingly becoming a frequent occurrence in the city and in neighboring towns and islands. So, reality is, its time for us to go sustainable and this means preferring locally grown and processed products over the imported ones. This decreases our carbon footprint, as transporting local goods would not entail a thousand kilometers worth of fossil fuel. Plus, we are not only assured of their freshness, we would also be helping our local entrepreneurs to grow. So, come on, let’s do our share for the community.
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The reason why most of us don’t bother to look at the label is because we don’t really know how to read them. Labels are actually very easy to read. First you can check out the nutritional value, where you would see if what you are getting is good for your health or is simply junk laced with vitamins and minerals. The nutrition label would also tell you the serving size of the product, the number of servings that each container would have, the calories per serving, and the essential vitamins and minerals that the product actually has. Usually, it’s based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
And then you can also check out the ingredients. For vegetarians, this is a must, as you would need to know if the product you are buying has animal derivatives. Did you know that Cheez Whiz has anchovies? After that you can check other labels like if it is Fair Trade certified, organic certified or if it has the green mark.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

An Update on the Rotary Club of Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - The Rotary Club of Cebu, the second oldest club in the Philippines recently held its 77th Induction Ceremonies at the Grand Ballroom of the Cebu City Marriott Hotel.
Justice Isaac Dicdican inducted the new set of officers with Bonifacio Belen as president, Jose Soberano III as president elect and vice president, Jerico Sungahid as secretary and Serge Romero as treasurer.
Board of Directors, Shigejiro Onda, Jensen Chow, Oscar Jereza Jr., George Chan, Joe Gapas and Edward Onglatco complete the line up.
Also inducted as new members of the club by President Bonifacio Belen were Jess Alcordo and Oran John Peck. Past President Ibarra Panopia performed the traditional charging of the new members.
Antonio Jose Torralba, Ph.D member, Board of Trustees of the University of Asia and the Pacific was guest of honor and keynote speaker.
Outgoing president Teodoro Gonzales Jr. in his valedictory address thanked the Rotarians for their support and team effort which resulted in significant accomplishments in the club’s many laudable projects.
Gonzalez likewise reminisced on his mentor the late Dodong Chan who aptly stated when he was charged into the club years ago “No man has ever put into Rotary more than what he can get out of it. But your dividends will be the joy of having served and the satisfaction of a job well done”. Gonzalez expressed his gratitude for the dividends of joy and satisfaction he received during his presidency.
President Belen in his acceptance speech assured the members that he would endeavor to sustain and further ennoble the standard of service during his term. The RI Presidential Theme for the year “The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands”, shall be a guiding spirit behind the goals he has set for himself and the club.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

Management assures stable power supply

CEBU, Philippines - Majority of the members of the SPC Independent Union are in favor of the plan to stage a strike, as revealed by the results of the union’s strike voting yesterday.
But the top officials of Salcon Power Corporation and the National Power Corporation continue to assure the electricity consumers that there will be no power supply shortage in Cebu.
“Reliable supply of electricity is our mandate. The SPC Power Corp. and the National Power Corporation (NPC) are going the extra mile to ensure continued operations,” assured SPC Corporation president Dennis Villareal and National Power Corporation president Froilan A. Tampinco.
SPIU union president Gaudioso Iso said that during their strike voting yesterday, 91 of their 109 union members voted yes to strike, five voted no and one ballot was declared spoiled.
Iso said the results show that the workers are now ready to go on a strike. The results of the strike voting will be submitted to the National Conciliation and Mediation Board, where the management and the union will have another round of mediation on August 28.
After the submission of the strike vote, the union has still to wait for a seven-day cooling-off period before they will be allowed to go on strike.
“But there is a possibility that we will not pursue with the strike if we can have a win-win solution,” Iso said.
Villareal and Tampinco added that “we need to keep the five power plants inside the Naga complex up and running. This is our commitment to the people of Cebu and the Visayas.” They asked union officials to be reasonable and refrain from plunging the whole Visayas into darkness.
The personnel from the NPC will augment SPC employees who are expected to be true to their commitment to serve first and foremost along with members of the SPC supervisors’ union.
Meanwhile, Alfredo S. Ballesteros, Senior VP for administration and finance and chief of the management-negotiating panel, assured that the rights and welfare even of protesting employees shall be respected.
“While management laments the current stand of our rank and file union leadership in pushing for a strike to achieve their demands, we still consider them our employees who continue to enjoy rights and privileges as long as they do not violate the law,” he said.
Ballesteros added that the longer the rank-and-file union refuses to go back to the negotiating table for their demands, the shorter the period that members would enjoy the benefits that management is willing to grant considering that their contract with the NPC is only until March 2012.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

PB needs to go to court to recover money paid

CEBU, Philippines - Provincial Board Member Victor Maambong is trying to motivate his colleagues in the provincial government to go “inside court proceedings” to ensure the recovery of the millions of pesos it paid for the purchase of a 25-hectare property in Naga in which a portion was found to be a public domain for being submerged in seawater and planted with mangroves.
Maambong, who co-authored the provincial board resolution granting authority to Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to purchase the property in 2008, said the provincial government can ask for a freeze order from the court where the estate proceeding of the property is pending.
According to Maambong, they can file the necessary pleadings to the Regional Trial Court Branch 6 where the estate proceeding is pending asking that the amount paid by the Capitol for the 25-hectares lot in Barangay Tinaan, Naga be frozen until the controversy is resolved.
The provincial government is asking for a refund of the P37.8 million it paid for the 9.4 hectares that was found to be submerged based on their survey.
The court-appointed executor of the Balili estate, lawyer Romeo Balili, who appeared before the provincial board last Monday said, the widow, Amparo Balili, who owns majority of the sold property is willing to refund the amount.
However, Maambong said they have to be assured that the money is still there for them to be able to recover it. The Capitol payment which was made thru a check was deposited by Balili to his personal bank account.
The first check amounting to P49.8 million issued on April 28, 2008 as partial payment for the property was deposited in account number 6100047569 while the second check of the same amount was also deposited in the account number 6100048050 all in the BDO accounts of Luis Balili.
Balili during the session assured the members of the board that the amount is still intact except that they have already paid P7 million for taxes to the Bureau of Internal revenue, P5 million court bond, P4 million as broker’s fee and P1 million for transfer tax and miscellaneous expenses.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

Arroyo seeks signing of air pact with Russia

CEBU, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has reiterated the government’s commitment to pursue the pending air services agreement with Russia to help accelerate the country’s business climate.
Speaking at the 2009 Philippine-Russia Business Forum at the Cebu International Convention Center Friday night, President Arroyo appealed to the Russian Embassy and the Russian business community to make a follow up with the Russian Ministry of Transport on the agreement so it would be eventually signed.
The forum was attended by government officials and business leaders of the two countries.
The Arroyo administration has been pushing for Russia’s approval of the air pact as a vital component of its tourism program. The agreement is expected to boost Cebu’s tourism.
President Arroyo said she had asked Russian Embassy Charge d’ Affaires Sergei Shepilov, who was seated beside her during the forum, the reasons for the delay of the signing of the agreement.
“I will send my transportation minister anywhere, anytime so that the two ministers can sign the agreement together. I can just visualize how much tourism will grow then when we have that air agreement,” the President said in her 12-minute speech.
President Arroyo also noted the renewed ties between the Philippines and Russia through the staging of the economic forum in Cebu. She said the country is “privileged” to have such a relationship with one of the world’s largest economic powerhouses of the 21st century.
She said that the Philippines and Russia should work together to build a future based on “mutual trust, respect and understanding.”
The Russian government is seeking to invest in the country’s business process outsourcing (BPO) and mining sectors.
In June this year, President Arroyo made a three-day official visit to Russia which coincided with the 13th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
The country has already established 22 agreements with Russia on various matters since diplomatic relations were established with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1976.
Meanwhile, President Arroyo declared that the Philippines is now ready for an economic rebound, citing the resilience of the country’s financial system.
She said the Philippines had weathered the global crisis, stressing that it managed to counter the effects of the financial meltdown
“I would like to conclude that our economy is stable and strong. Inflation now is at the lowest in 22 years. And we are ready for the economic rebound especially with a new market, renewed ties and new ways of working together with Russia,” she said.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

New CARP law set for signing on Aug. 8

CEBU, Philippines - The reconciliation of House Bill 4077 and Senate Bill 2666 which both push for the extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program brought to existence a modified program now they called CARP with reforms, or CARPeR.
Scheduled to be signed into law on August 8, CARPeR provides for the extension of CARP into five more years with appropriate budget of P150 billion of which 60 percent is allotted for land distribution while the rest is for delivery of support services.
Under the CARPeR, the Land Acquisition and Distribution component of CARP will be implemented in five phases and has already started this month.
Phase 1 began last July 1, which involves all the remaining land above 50 hectares and all private agriculture land in excess of 50 hectares that are issued with notice of coverage on or before December 10, 2008 and also all Voluntary Land Transfer schemes submitted on or before June 30 this year.
“After June 30, there will be no more VLT. Only Compulsory Acquisition and Voluntary Offer to Sell will be recognized as modes for land acquisition. Phase 1 will be implemented from July 1 to December 30, 2010,” said Department of Agrarian Reform-7 regional director Rodolfo Inson.
Phase 2 will have two parts: the first part shall involve land holdings in excess of 24 to 50 hectares with NOC issued on or before December 10 last year.
The second part of phase 2 covers all remaining private agricultural lands in excess of 24 hectares whether or not with Notice of Coverage.
Phase 2 will begin one year from the effectivity date of CARPeR to be completed on December 31 next year.
Parcels of land in excess of 10 hectares will be covered under the first part of Phase 3. Its implementation will begin on January 2011 until December of 2012.
The second part of Phase 3 will cover those agricultural lands in excess of retention areas up to 10 hectares which will operate on January 2013 and must be completed on June 30, 2014.
In preparation of all of these, DAR-7 regional management has already scheduled a review and planning session and Municipal Agrarian Reform Officers assessments in the four provinces of the region.
The planning sessions and MARO assessment in Bohol were held last July 8 to 10, Cebu’s is set for July 26 to 28, Siquijor’s is for July 23 to 24 and August 25 to 27 in Negros Oriental.
The aim is to come up with a five-year plan and a redeployment plan for its personnel to cope up with the implementation phases.
DAR-7 still has a total Land Acquisition and Distribution balance of 56,711 hectares to be distributed until 2014.
For Phase 1, DAR-7will distribute the balance of 33,760 hectares which comprises of 3,621 hectares in Bohol, 11,121 hectares in Cebu, 18, 660 hectares in Negros Oriental and 359 hectares in Siquijor.
DAR-7 Information Officer Angelina Manubag assured the public, especially their clients, that the department is working out the plans and strategies to successfully implement the program as provided for under the new CARPeR.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

Was law violated in MOA signing?

CEBU, Philippines - Did Governor Gwendolyn Garcia commit a violation of law for making it appear that she signed the memorandum of agreement with the representatives of the Balili estate for the purchase of the controversial property when on the date that she supposedly signed and swore in the document before a notary public she was out of the country?
This question was raised after Garcia admitted that she was in Guam together with some of the board members for a sisterhood agreement on April 21, 2008.
This was the date she supposedly signed the MOA with Balili estate executor Romeo Balili and Amparo Balili, the widow of the late Engineer Luis Balili, for the purchase of the 25-hectare property in Tinaan, Naga.
Some of the lawyers are of the opinion that Garcia could be held liable for “making untruthful statements” in violation of the Article 171 of the Revised Penal Code otherwise known as falsification of public documents.
Other lawyers however believe that the violation is committed more by the notary public than the governor.
Lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, one of the two environmental activists who opened the Balili controversy, said that she believes that Garcia did not commit any violation for supposedly signing the MOA on the date she was actually out of the country.
Ramos explained that the legality of the document was not questioned and Garcia herself did not contest her signature.
But, Villa who notarized the MOA is at risk of facing an administrative case before the Supreme Court for violation of the notarial law.
According to Ramos, the notarial officer should have made sure that the signatory of the document sought to be notarized is present.
Lawyer Fritz Quiñanola also shared Ramos’ opinion saying that the governor enjoys the presumption of regularity.
Quiñanola also explained that it is usually the notary public that put the date of the document.
He added that the lawyer who notarized the MOA is in danger of facing an investigation from the Supreme Court. Quiñanola said there were already similar cases that the high tribunal suspended the lawyer.
Other lawyers who requested anonymity however said that Garcia signed the document under oath, which means that all her statements and declarations therein, including the date, should be true.
One of these lawyers used to handle a similar case wherein an employee of the Bureau of Internal Revenue was penalized by the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas.
The BIR employee was dismissed from service because of dishonesty and falsification of public document.
Returning the favor?
The Cebu City Council yesterday decided to ask the House of Representatives to conduct a congressional inquiry into the Balili lot purchase controversy.
North district Councilor Edgardo Labella convinced his fellow legislators during their session yesterday on why there should be a congressional inquiry to be conducted into the controversy, which he described as “talk of the town.”
Labella, former director of the Ombudsman-Visayas before he joined politics, explained that the law provides that even if the public officials responsible for the questionable purchase did not receive profits out of it, but they are still liable for violating the provisions of the anti-graft and corrupt practices act.
The graft investigators of the Visayas Ombudsman are already investigating the controversial purchase of the Balili lots.
Mayor Tomas R. Osmeña supports the move of the council.
“I will go along with it. I don’t mind being the rubberstamp of the City Council, but let me caution them that (3rd district Congressman) Pablo John Garcia will file a bill to amend the Constitution and make it constitutional to buy land under the sea,” the mayor said. —

Source: The Freeman Cebu

F&B service provider expects upbeat growth

CEBU, Philippines – Food and beverage service provider Cebu Hotel and Restaurant Solutions (CHRS) expects a positive growth this year as Cebu’s tourism industry continues to thrive amid the gloomy backdrop of a global financial meltdown.
CHRS is in the business of providing food and beverage products and services to the city’s consumer market specifically the food and hospitality sectors and other tourism-related industries.
Established February of last year, CHRS’ optimism is anchored on the province’s thriving tourism industry, which it has already successfully tapped.
CHRS is one of the many companies under the Cebu Country Farmers Market Inc., which also includes other companies like The Gustavian and The Artisan Gourmet Chef under its wing.
In an interview with its sales and marketing director Caroline H. Cañares, she said that CHRS started as a consumer of kitchen facilities for their own company’s chain of restaurant business but since they saw the huge potential market for this kind of services and products in Cebu, they started to cater to hotels, resorts, and restaurants selling their own fabricated products.
Now, CHRS is meeting the rising demand of new restaurants, bars, and clubs in the city for their professional kitchen facilities in their operations.
The company now designs and manufactures solutions for their every client’s needs ranging from complete stainless steel products, oven ranges, deep fryers, chilling units, toasters, bakery equipments as well as China Wares, glass wares, buffet wares, among others.
Cañares said that after they put up their own showroom in Mandaue City, they have had received positive feedbacks from their clientele making them achieve a good first year in terms of sales.
She said that despite having lean months, they still did not experience slowdown of sales even with today’s crisis because more new developments in the city still continue to come into shape.
“We were able to achieve our return of investment even for last year’s operation alone. Now 2009 is a promising year for us and because there is a crisis we are projecting conservative targets of 30 percent more of what we were able to rake in from last year,” said Cañares.
She said that more than just the hotel and restaurant industry, they are also eyeing the bakery sector, coffee shop industry and even households and small and medium entrepreneurs who are into canteens and catering services.
“We continue to explore and expand the market. There are several growth areas for us here considering the new developments in the area. Even with competition, we are sure that we can have a piece of that big market. There will always be business that will require our services,” said Cañares.
She said that after their apparent success in penetrating the Cebu market, they are already gearing up towards exploring other areas like the huge Luzon-based consumers.
Cañares said that they are looking at the possibility of putting up another showroom in Metro Manila soon that can service the huge market in Luzon.
Right now CHRS’ operations in Cebu is also servicing the client-base all over Visayas and Mindanao areas such as Iloilo, Caticlan, Tacloban, Davao, Dumaguete, Bacolod and Bohol.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

April to July period: Commodity prices in Central

CEBU, Philippines - Prices of basic necessities and prime commodities in Central Visayas have dropped by an average of three percent from its prices three months ago, however remained comparatively higher against the prices in the same period of last year.
Based on the recent price monitoring report of the Department of Trade and Industry regional office, with Cebu City as the key city for the monitoring, data showed that prices of basic commodities in supermarkets and wet markets have remained stable for the month of July.
A can of sardines, which is now pegged at a standard retail price of P11.80 was sold three months ago at P12.40, which translates to a drop of 4.8 percent. However, the prevailing price is still relatively higher than the price a year ago, which was pegged at only P10.70.
Meanwhile, as prices of evaporated and condensed milk posted insignificant changes in its prices, the price of powdered filled milk posted a 13.4 percent increase from its price a year ago at P43.65 per 180 grams to P49.50 for the month of July this year.
Coffee refill, on the other hand, posted a 9.09 percent increase from P13.75 per 25 grams last year to P16.60 per 25 grams this year.
Prices of detergent soap posted the highest increase so far. A 420 gram laundry soap that sells for P16.50 last year is now pegged at P20.50 this year translating to a 24 percent increase.
A can of corn beef, which was sold three months ago at P30.50 now sells only for P29 in wet markets and P28.80 in supermarkets, an average drop of around five percent. However, vis-à-vis year ago prices, the prevailing price is still 10.68 percent higher.
Prices of luncheon meat posted a 10 percent increase from last April’s price of P24.50 compared to the prevailing price of P26.95 in supermarkets this month.
Prices of hard flour posted the biggest drop of 15 percent from its price of P950 per 25 kilogram last year to P800 per 25 kilogram this month. The price of flour also dropped by eight percent from three months ago, which was pegged at P870 per 25 kilogram.
With the dropping inflation, prices of basic necessities and commodities are expected to go down further in the coming months.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

Security Bank confident to meet 25% growth target

CEBU, Philippines – The aggressive demand for consumer loans specifically in the Visayas and Mindanao market prompted Security Bank Corporation (SECB) to target higher growth performance with Security Bank president and chief executive officer (CEO) Alberto S. Villarosa, he said that the bank can easily achieve the 25 percent growth target for 2009 for its entire operations in Visayas and Mindanao, as the market shows increasing interest in availing consumer loan products, like car and housing loans.
Likewise, he said the bank has also seen an improvement of loans from the corporate market, from large corporations down to the SMEs (Small and Medium Entreprises).
He said this positive development that emerged against the backdrop of global meltdown, will push a good double digit growth for the company in 2009.
Villarosa also noted a positive development in the “savings culture” of Filipinos, saying that the bank has also welcomed the development of the capital market, which had been growing significantly in the last couple of years.
Security Bank, a publicly listed company, posted a 10 percent slowdown of its net income performance in the first quarter of 2009 to P750 million.
This level is better than the bank’s targets for the period and on track towards achieving its expected full year performance goals, said Villarosa
However, the bank was able to offset this performance, with a high 23 percent Return on Equity (ROE) versus the 19 percent ROE for the full year 2008, thus maintaining its track record for superior returns for its shareholders.
“We are very pleased with our first quarter business and financial results, specifically the significant and steady growth in our core businesses even as we prudently risk manage the earnings stream from our volatile trading activities, “he said
Villarosa said the bank’s core business continue to provide its solid foundation and fundamentally sound balance sheet and capital base with which to pursue the opportunities for the remainder of the year.
“While we recognize that the dislocation brought about the current global financial crisis has yet to fully stabilize, we continue to maintain an outlook of guarded optimism for the country and for Security Bank in particular,” he added.
The bank’s core businesses as reflected in the vibrant 38 percent growth of its loan portfolio to P67 billion and the 28 percent increase in its deposit base to P108 billion over the first quarter last year.
More significantly, the growth was accompanied by a 24 percent year-on-year increase in net interest income to P1.4 billion for the quarter.
In the last seven years, the bank poured its highest capital expenditure (capex) in spending about half-a-billion pesos for branch expansion and technology upgrade.
Villarosa said the bank is cautiously optimistic of the Philippine economic prospects, and there‘s no way to go, but to push on aggressive moves, saying “our biggest enemy is complacency.”
The bank’s P500 million capital expenditure for 2009, will be spent mostly in technology advancement of the banks growing 119 branches across the country, giving the optimum customer-service advantage to its clients.
In Cebu, the bank, already spent at least P30 million investments for the opening of three bank outlets, located in Banilad, North Road, and Tipolo in Mandaue City, making a total of five branches in Metro Cebu.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

Veterans bank posts 10% revenue growth in July

CEBU, Philippines - Despite the weak global financial landscape, Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) managed to post a 10 percent growth as of July this year, with over P51 billion revenues.
As of yearend 2008, the bank only posted P45 billion in revenues, this year PVB is expecting a turn-around.
The bank earmarks an estimated P2.2 billion in the next two years to open 15 branches across the country.
The P2.2 billion investment cost is calculated based on an average expenses incurred in a one building construction which is P15 million.
PVB president and chief executive officer (CEO) Ricardo A. Balbido Jr, in an earlier interview said that the bank is very liquid and in fact has excess capacity.
“This is a good indication of depositors’ strong confidence of the bank,” he said.
The aggressive expansion plan of the bank this year is primarily prompted by the approval of the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP) for 15 new branch licenses.
Yesterday, the bank broke ground to officially kick off the construction of the four-story PVB building at the 1,200 square-meter property owned by the bank located at Osmeña Bouvelard.
PVB vice president Mike Villareal said PVB is expecting to formally inaugurate the building in Cebu before the end of this year.
The P28 million integrated-used building will provide value added services to veterans transacting with the bank, including medical clinics, outpatient diagnostic services, centralized disbursement of medicines, among others.
The new building which will be opened six months from now, will only use about 360 square-meters for the branch’s facility (a relocation from the Cebu Doctors’ branch), the rest will be dedicated for support services such as medical facilities, commercial outlets, and offices.
At present there are a total of 45 PVB branches nationwide. Two of which are located in Cebu, the branches near Cebu Doctors Hospital in Capitol Site, and in Mandaue City. These two branches in Cebu are servicing to over five thousand veterans.
The bank’s total resources grew by 25.3 percent to P45.59 billion by year-end 2008 compared to P36.4 billion in 2007.
According to Balbino, majority of the growth resulted from total deposits that grew by 25.3 percent to P37.1 billion from P29.6 billion year-on-year.
The bank’s total loan receivables ballooned by 38.5 percent to P19.1 billion as of December 31, 2009 from the P13.8 billion of the same period of the previous year.
Net income stood at P406 million for the year 2008, or a 23 percent decrease from the P528.6 million reported in 2007.

Sorce: The Freeman Cebu

CICT dares IT sector to sustain top position

CEBU, Philippines -

The Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) throws a challenge to Cebu ICT stakeholders to sustain its number one position as “Emerging BPO hub” in the world, after the latter showed signs of being complacent.
“We hope to see revival of Cebu’s aggressiveness in promoting the province as BPO/ICT hub,” said CICT Commissioner Monchito B. Ibrahim during his speech on the recently concluded “ICT Convergence” held at the Cebu International Convention Center.
He said although some sectors in the industry like the Cebu Educational Development Foundation for IT (Cedfit) and the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) have been doing their own promotional events for ICT, there are also other opportunities that stakeholders have missed.
Ibrahim referred to the series of promotions organized by the CICT abroad, of which Cebu has not been very active in participating in.
“We’d like to see Cebu more participative in our promotions abroad,” he said adding that what are seen to be very active in their promotions are the next wave Cities like Davao and Cagayan de Oro.
For a year, Ibrahim said Cebu has not been very active in its ICT promotions, at least in joining nationwide efforts through different government initiatives.
Sustained efforts should be started by Cebu stakeholders in order not to lose the opportunity for improving from emerging to “emerged’ BPO destination in the world.
However, Ibrahim lauded Cebu’s efforts in pioneering the active stance in positioning itself as BPO/ICT destination, the reason why it was tagged as number one “Emerging BPO destination” globally.
“I think Cebu has done a tremendous work in achieving its position right now. But it has to be sustained. Cebu needs to spend time and efforts holding on, and improving its manpower pool,” he said.
In the beginning, Cebu has taken its lead. Thus, most second wave cities now are looking at Cebu as its model City. However, complacency might cause Cebu to plunge.
The Convergence 2009 is an ICT road show that is aimed at pursuing objectives according to CICT’s four strategic areas; Cyberservices, Human Capital Development, eGoverment Development and ICT Infrastructure.
The Cebu leg opened last August 25 to 26. The two-day road show supported by Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P) and Coordinating Council of Private Education Association (COCOPEA) aimed to highlight key programs such as; BPO-IT Career Caravan, Community eCenter Program, BizSpark, Service Science Management and Engineering, eSkwela, iSchools, Creative Content Development Project, Nettop ng Bayan, eLGU, eBayad and eSerbisyo, among others.
According to Ibrahim, CICT has make noise in putting pressure to Cebu stakeholders to avoid complacency, as other emerging BPO destinations in world, like Vietnam, China, Bangladesh, Mongolia and Indonesia are doing double time in attracting BPO market around the world.
It’s a good thing that the Philippines, particularly Cebu, has another attraction that also lures investors not only for its skilled and high qualified English speaking manpower pool but also for its tourism ingredient.
For his part, Cebu Investments and Promotions Center (CIPC) managing director Joel Mari S. Yu said that although Cebu’s promotion has been sustained, the problem now is the sluggish inquiries from the global investors caused by recession jitters.
Yu said Ibrahim is entitled to his own opinion in saying that “Cebu has been complacent in its promotions to sustain its number position as emerging BPO hub in the world.”—

Source: The Freeman Cebu