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BusinessWeek
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www.businessweekmindanao.com Issue No. 34, Volume III • Dec. 19-22, 2011
Market Indicators
AS OF 5:54 P.M., DEC. 16, 2011 (Friday)
FOREX
PHISIX
US$1 = P44.10
4,304.94 points
; ; Briefly 1 cents
53 points
Pesticide discouraged
RICE FARMERS have been asked to stop the use of pesticides that kill natural predators of planthoppers, one of the pests causing damage to the production of the staple, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said on Friday. “We need to seriously rethink our current pest management strategies so we don’t just cope with current outbreaks, but prevent and manage them effectively in the long run,” Bas Bouman, head of the Crop and Environmental Sciences Division at IRRI, said in a statement. The IRRI said the call to stop the use of pesticides has been issued after it has found that the misuse of insecticides is killing insects that prey on planthoppers. Growing three rice crops a year or using the same varieties over a large area for a long period, it also said, can result in pest outbreaks.
Zamboanga port
ZAMBOANGA City -- The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is set to implement P306 million worth of projects at the local wharf next year. The projects include the construction of passenger terminal for foreign vessels, P16 million; 50 meters expansion of the newly constructed birthing area, P200 million; and removal of 65,000 cubic meters broken rocks, P90 million. Zamboanga Port Manager Leonilo Miole said they will be implementing three major projects next year to further enhance the agency’s service to the public in general and to the travelers in particular.
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Nestlé keen to source 75% of coffee locally By CARMELITO FRANCISCO, Correspondent
D
AVAO City -- Nestlé Philippines is looking at reversing by 2020 the current three-to-one ratio in sourcing coffee beans that favors importation. At present, the company procures only about During the 2nd Philippine Coffee Investors’ Forum held here, Edith A. de Leon, vice-president and head of corporate affairs of Nestlé, said that the company is partnering with local farmers to reverse the current trend. This partnership will allow Nestlé to source about 75% of its coffee bean demand from the regions. Ms. De Leon said the company aims to help plant coffee on 20,000 hectares
SEASON’S BOUNTY. Scavengers taking advantage of the abundance of the Yuletide season as they gather scrap metals along the stretch of Lapasan Highway. PHOTO BY ROLANDO SUDARIA
P-Noy OK’s P1.816-T budget for 2012 THE national budget for 2012, which was signed into law by President Benigno S. Aquino III on Thursday, is the earliest government appropriations law approved since Philippine democracy was restored in 1986. In his speech following the signing, the President said that this day should go down in history as a first in the 25 years of Philippine
democracy. “Kanina lang ay nasaksihan ninyo ang ating paglagda sa ating budget, ang pinaka-maagang pagsasabatas sa taunang budget mula ng mabawi natin ang demokrasya nuong 1986,” the President said. “Tunay pong makasaysayan ang araw na ito,” he added. The earliest budget en-
actments for the four other Philippine Presidents who came before him are as follows: Corazon Aquino – December 18, 1986; Fidel Ramos – January 6, 1993; Joseph Estrada – December 30, 1998; and Gloria Arroyo – January 21, 2002. President Aquino thanked the people who worked doubly hard to BUDGET/PAGE 13
in the next eight years. The company, she added, is now selling seedlings to farmers at cost, or P12 per unit, in order to help boost the country’s coffee output. Nestlé’s experimental and demonstration farm is located in nearby Tagum City. The Philippines has been a net importer of coffee since it can only fill half of the 64,000 metric ton annual demand. Over a third of this volCOFFEE/PAGE 11
UN includes Mindanao in $7.7B next year’s funding THE United Nations said last week it needed $7.7 billion in aid funding for 16 countries next year, with the biggest chunk to go towards helping victims in drought-devastated Horn of Africa. Some $1.5 billion in funds are destined for Somalia, where 250,000 people are at risk of imminent death. Kenya, which is also suffering from droughtinduced crop failure, poor livestock conditions and rising food prices, would need $764 million in 2012. The UN declared six regions in southern Somalia famine zones earlier this year, and although it said last month that three regions were no longer in the grip of famine, more than half of Somalia’s 10 million people remain in dire need of help. UN/PAGE 13
Brit Expats set up Oro’s first wine & spirits shop FULL
S T O R Y Cherie Gil cuts the ribbon at the grand launch of Wine Philippines by Forth & Tay at Great Spot Arcade, J.R. Borja Extension.
P3