BusinessWeek
YOUR LOCAL ONLINE BUSINESS PAPER
www.businessweekmindanao.com Issue No. 36, Volume III • Jan. 2-5, 2012
Market Indicators
AS OF 5:24 P.M., DEC. 29, 2011 (Thursday)
FOREX
PHISIX
US$1 = P43.84
4,371.96 points
; ; Briefly 13 cents
35.33 points
Davao port
DAVAO City -- The government is set to privatize the entire operation of the Port of Davao in 2013 to keep up with its fast-growing cargo volume. The terms of the privatization plan are now being drafted by the Department of Transportation and Communications, said Christian Santilian, district manager for Southern Mindanao of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA). “We’ve been seeing volume growth in the port at a rate of 7 percent to 10 percent every year for the last eight years,” Santillan, who is also the port manager of Davao, said in an interview with reporters. “We [the Port of Davao] are the best-performing port in Mindanao even compared with Northern Mindanao.”
PPP projects
MALACAÑANG said more PublicPrivate Partnership projects would be up for grabs next year as the government would intensify its spending, particularly on infrastructure development. “We’re going full blast by 2012 and we expect more PPP projects coming out…both from the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Transportation and Communication,” Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said. According to the government, projects that can still be included in the 2011 bidding list will be the P6.8-billion New Bohol (Panglao) airport project, the P8.85-billion Light Rail Transit Line 2 East extension, the P83.25-billion LRT Line 1 South extension, the P4.14-billion Puerto Princesa airport development project, the P450- to P675-million-a-year Laguindingan Airport contract and the P6.88-billion new Legaspi airport development.
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BSP extends relief to storm-hit banks By ROLANDO SUDARIA, Reporter
T
HE BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is extending relief to banks in areas affected by tropical storm Sendong so these lenders can in turn extend assistance to their clients.
In a statement, the central bank said the relief measures apply to thrift, rural and cooperative banks in Catanduanes, Capiz, Bohol, Negros Oriental, Zamboanga del Norte, Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental and Oriental, Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Sur, and Lanao del Sur. These banks can exclude the loans of affected clients from computation of their past due ratios, as long as these loans are restructured.
They pay a general loan loss provision of 1% instead of 5% on clients’ restructured loans. They are freed from penalties on legal reserves deficiencies as well as penalties for delays in the submission of supervisory reports. Similar relief measures were extended by the BSP to thrift and rural/cooperative banks in cities/provinces that were affected by landslide/flooding last September 2011 and previous typhoons such as Frank, Evacuees continue to swarm relief operations by various civic organizations and PHOTO BY ROLANDO SUDARIA BSP/PAGE 7 private corporations in Cagayan de Oro City.
Primer opens 5 more GSIS extends P626-M loans stores at Abreeza to Sendong-hit members By CARMELITO Q. FRANCISCO, Correspondent
DAVAO City -- Primer Group of Companies, a distributor of foreign brands, opened five stores during the last two months at the Abreeza, the mall in the 10-hectare mixed-use project of the Ayala Land Inc. and Anflo Management and Investment Corp. Based on company information, Primer Group spent about P40 million in opening Columbia, BauPRIMER/PAGE 7
By ALLAN MEDIANTE Executive Editor
T H E G OV E R N M E N T Service Insurance System (GSIS) has released more than half a billion pesos in emergency loans to members affected by tropical storm Sendong.
The pension fund for government employees granted P626.1 million in emergency loans to nearly 32,000 GSIS members from December 21 to 27, a statement read last week. It will continue accepting applications for assistance until January 20, 2012.
“As a social insurance fund, it is our responsibility to respond quickly to the needs of our members, particularly during difficult times,” GSIS President and General Manager Robert G. Vergara said in the statement. GSIS/PAGE 7
Filipinos view New Year with hope, survey says ALMOST all Filipinos view the New Year with hope, results of the latest Social Weather Stations survey showed. The SWS’ Fourth Quarter 2011 survey showed 95 of the respondents “are entering the New Year with hope,” with only four percent saying they were greeting it with fear. However, the survey FILIPINOS/PAGE 10