PSMA rejects proposal to import molasses for bioethanol production

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

LOCAL sugar millers are opposing the proposal of certain quarters to allow more imports of molasses, arguing that domestic production, which has been on an “upswing,” is more than enough to meet demand for the bioethanol ingredient that remains tepid.

T he Philippine Sugar Millers Association Inc. (PSMA) on Tuesday said the country has sufficient molasses supply, which continues to build up, to meet domestic bioethanol production requirements.

There is no reason to import mo - lasses for bioethanol. Local molasses production is on the upswing, and our demand has been soft and slow,”

PSMA Executive Director Jesus L. Barrera said in a statement. Molasses inventories are building up that there has been an overflow in molasses tanks in some mills in recent months,”

Barrera added.

T he PSMA made the statement after a local news outfit reported that a certain group is lobbying that the government allow more imported stocks of molasses for bioethanol production due to a shortage in the local molasses supply.

B arrera argued that the coun -

DTI-BPS orders destruction of ₧737K worth of substandard wires and cables in Marikina

By Andrea E. San Juan

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), through the Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS), has ordered the destruction of P737,000 worth of thermoplastic insulated wires and cables in Marikina City to prevent the sale and distribution of these substandard electrical wiring materials in the local market.

A ccording to the BPS, the Philippines’s national standards body, the substandard products were found “non-conforming to the elongation and flame retardance requirements” set by the Philippine National Standards (PNS) 35-1:2004 (electric wires and cables-thermoplasticinsulated copper wires and cables rated 600 volts-Part 1: General specifications) as confirmed by the third-party testing.

T he standards body described elongation as the measure of the length that a wire may be stretched before snapping, while flame retardance is a wire’s capacity to prevent a flame from spreading once it catches fire.

A ccording to DTI-BPS, it witnessed the destruction of the substandard wires and cables at the manufacturer’s warehouse in Marikina City on January 18, 2023 and February 9, 2023.

Some of these substandard wires and cables, BPS said, were cut on the top, middle, and lower portions of the rolls, while some were peeled and the bare copper were cut to noncommercial size by the manufacturer’s authorized representatives prior to disposal.

T he thermoplastic insulated electric wires and cables are listed under the lighting and wiring devices that the standards body placed under mandatory certification.

A ccording to BPS’ web site, part of its mandate, as provided in the Consumer Act of the Philippines, is to protect consumers against hazards to health and safety as well as to assure the public of the consistency of standardized products in the market.

Further, to carry out its mandate, the national standards body provides for the standardization and certification of products, both locally manufactured and imported, giving the consumers access to quality and safe products conforming to the relevant Philippine National Standards (PNS).

Currently, the BPS implements two Mandatory Product Certification Schemes: the Philippine Standard (PS) Quality and/or Safety Certification Mark Licensing Scheme and the Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) Certification scheme.

try’s molasses stocks have been higher compared to previous crop year’s level.

Citing Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) data, Barrera said as of January 29, the country’s molasses output was at 471,046.18 metric tons (MT), 3.38 percent higher from last season.

Meanwhile, molasses demand has been down by 17 percent on an annual basis to 349,509 MT, Barrera added. Given the supply situation, Barrera noted that the country has a standing molasses inventory of 262,893 MT, which continues to increase to date.

We have sufficient supply.

Sarangani secures ₧1-billion LandBank loan for projects

resilient structures.

There is no national emergency or shortage of molasses. We do not need to import more molasses specifically for bioethanol production,” he said.

T he PSMA noted that last year the country imported 608,310 MT of molasses for potable alcohol and animal feeds, up by 80 percent from 2021 level. Last month alone, the country imported 88,702 MT of molasses, about 80 percent higher than the 49,145 MT recorded import volume in January 2022, the group added. Molasses is a by-product of sugar refining that serves as a raw material for bioethanol production.

20K Aklan farmers to benefit from FMR concreting projects

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

THE Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), together with the local government units (LGU) of Aklan, will start the concreting projects on five farm-to-market (FMR) roads in the province.

T he FMR improvement projects will directly benefit some 20,000 farmers through ease of transporting their agricultural products to trading centers.

DA R Secretary Conrado Estrella III, with Aklan 2nd district Rep. Teodorico Haresco Jr.: Jesry T. Palmares, Undersecretary for Foreign Assisted and Special Projects Office (FASPO); and Atty.

Sheila Enciso, DAR Western Visayas regional director, led the project’s groundbreaking ceremony recently. Eliserio S. Aguelo, an agrarian reform beneficiary (ARB) from Barangay Naile said the FMRs would pave the way for the farmers to immediately transport their products to the market. Farmers and residents will no longer have to travel on muddy and slick roads just to go to the town proper. Finally, our dream was realized. Thank you to the DAR,” Aguelo said in a statement.

E strella said the construction of the FMR is in compliance with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to extend the necessary support services to the farming sector to resuscitate the country’s agriculture industry by improving the flow of food supply. This project will change the lives of the ARBs, it will help them gain better prices for their products to improve their income and livelihood,” he said.

T hrough the FMRs, ARBs would have the advantage of not only experiencing reduced transportation costs and travel time but they will be experiencing faster delivery of various support services from the government, Enciso said for her part. She disclosed that the FMRs include the P10 million concreting of Brgy. Naile, proper in Ibajay; the P20 million concreting of Tagaroroc FMR in Brgy. Tagaroroc, Nabas; the P10 million concreting of Sta. Cruz-Biga-a in Brgys. Sta. Cruz and Biga-a, Lezo; the P10 million concreting of Aliputos in Brgy. Aliputos, Numancia; and the P10 million concreting of Dangcalan in Barangay Dangcalan, Malinao.

By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox

Bureau Chief

Mindanao

DAVAO CITY—Sarangani has sealed with Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) a P1billion loan to fund the acquisition of heavy machinery and hospital equipment for the province.

T he deal was signed on February 2 in the capital town of Alabel, with LandBank principal signatories Charlotte Conde, senior vice president and Mindanao lending group head and Eden Japitana, vice president and General Santos City Lending Center head.

G overnor Rogelio D. Pacquiao and Provincial Administrator Atty. Ryan Jay Ramos signed in behalf of the province.

T he loan will fund the province’s developmental projects, particularly the P500-million acquisition of several heavy equipment, P200million for hospital and medical equipment, and P300 million to establish the proposed Provincial Agri-Fisheries Complex.

This will capacitate the provincial government and the current administration to provide and deliver more public services and expand the government’s efforts, especially to the Sarangani residents who live in the margins,” the provincial government said.

C onde said the P500-million for heavy equipment acquisition would pave the way for reliable road connections and disaster-

T he P200 million for the hospital equipment would scale up the capacity of the Sarangani Provincial Hospital to operate as a medical center, while the P300-million agri-fisheries complex would help in expanding small and medium scale fisherfolk and consumer markets, he explained.

Conde said the LandBank was “so far the shortest approval that we ever got for the provincial government of Sarangani.” The loan was approved in one week.

This agreement is a milestone in LandBank’s continuous assistance to Sarangani province and it is my pleasure to formalize this renewed partnership that will help address the major constraints concerning basic and social-economic infrastructure,” Conde said.

Pacquiao thanked LandBank “for the resounding hope of confidence.”

“ This will inspire us to keep serving in excellence knowing that we have reliable partners in our local endeavors,” he said.

Our collective dream of having our own fishport facility will soon come to completion, and this will promote the agri-fishery industry, especially in our coastal towns. It will also fast track our infrastructure projects in order to deliver reliable and modern health services to those in need,” he added.

This is not just a loan contract; this is an investment for the future of our people. This agreement signals the dawn of a modern and progressive Sarangani province,” Pacquiao said.

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

THE Philippines’s total shift to digital television (TV) standard for 2023 is “still tentative,” according to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

N TC Commissioner Ella Blanca Lopez said in a chance interview that while the agency targets to meet its deadline for the shutdown of analog television this year, she acknowledged that this would be a moving target. We are still looking at this year, but this is still tentative,” she said. “It will be hard to conduct the shut- down because the whole country is not yet digital-ready.”

W hen asked how the country is faring in terms of digital TV penetration, Lopez said the Philippines has yet to reach the 50-percent mark, citing difficulties in markets outside Metro Manila.

“ The penetration rate in Metro Manila is relatively high, but the penetration rate in the regions is still low. So the provinces are not yet ready,” Lopez said.

T he government started the shift towards digital television in 2013 when the NTC chose the Japanese standard over its European standard due to its cost and built-in warning system.

THE National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) are set to roll out caravans for both the subscriber identity module (SIM) registration and the National ID program of the government.

D uring a Laging Handa briefing on Tuesday, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Undersecretary Anna Mae La - mentillo said the partnership would target geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA).

“ We are continuing assisted registrations in several parts of the country as we aim to reach even those in GIDAs,” Lamentillo said.

T he DICT, she said, is also working with local government units (LGUs) and will continue grassroots information campaigns on the SIM registration. PNA

MBC backs PBBM’s push for creation of WRMO

By Andrea E. San Juan

THE Makati Business Club

(MBC) has thrown its support behind President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s decision to issue a new executive order (EO) for the creation of the proposed Water Resources Management Office (WRMO) to boost water supply across the country.

We believe the WRMO will help address urgent issues, even as we encourage Congress to pass a law creating an even more effective Department of Water,” MBC said in a statement issued on Tuesday. The MBC also noted there are as many as 30 agencies with water-related mandates, which, it said, are slowing down upgrades and expansion.

Citing the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) and the Philippine Water Supply and Sanitation Masterplan (PWSSMP), MBC said 45.2 percent of the population relies on point sources (e.g., springs, rivers, streams, wells, peddlers, and other sources) that are susceptible to contamination.

Of the 54.8 percent who had access to safe water supply, only 15 percent to a piped distribution network, and 11.2 percent relied on communal faucet systems, MBC noted.

Further, according to MBC, Neda said to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6—clean water and sanitation for all—by 2030, yearly investments of P132 billion are needed. However, MBC said the current rate is in the “single digits.”

The business group stressed, “Most water service providers are unable to deliver adequate services to a growing population due to financial, technical, efficiency, and coverage issues.”

Further, MBC said the situation is expected to reach “critical levels” by 2040 if the sector remains “stagnant.”

“ The 1995 Water Crisis Act helped address the situation at that time, including the awarding of Metro Manila concession agreements to private sector players in 1997, leading to vastly improved and expanded services in the capital,” MBC said.

With this, MBC said, “We are confident that a WRMO and a Department of Water can do the same for the current crisis.”

L ikewise, the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) said in a statement last week it welcomes the creation of the WRMO as a transitory body pending the creation of a Water Resource Department.

T he foreign business group said the creation of the WRMO is a “welcomed first step in fully realizing this as it aims to strengthen collaboration among various agencies in implementing water management programs in accordance with the Integrated Water Management Plan.”

ECCP underscored the need to approach water resource planning using Integrated Water Resource Management (IWFM), which it described as an “internationally recognized” framework that is used to guide countries in their journey to water security.

T his is based on the idea that water issues should not be approached in “isolation,” but rather in a “more holistic” manner due to the interdependence of the uses of finite water resources, the business chamber explained.

T hree weeks ago, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said President Marcos ordered the formation of the WRMO during a multi-sectoral meeting in Malacañang to consolidate water management efforts of all concerned government offices.

PCO said the core task of WRMO would be to formulate and ensure the implementation of the Integrated Water Management Plan of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, Local Water Utilities Administration, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.