BusinessWeek
YOUR LOCAL ONLINE BUSINESS PAPER
www.businessweekmindanao.com Issue No. 37, Volume III • January 6-8, 2012
Market Indicators
AS OF 5:44 P.M., JAN. 4, 2012 (Wednesday)
FOREX
PHISIX
US$1 = P43.71
4,487.77 points
; ; Briefly 6 cents
65.55 points
Alsons in Davao
LISTED company Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR) intends to develop into a residential and commercial estate a P1.22-billion, 21-hectare property in Davao City’s Lanang District, starting 2013. There is a real estate boom in Davao, especially Lanang — residential, commercial and industrial district — which Alsons wants to join, with the Ayala and SM groups having commercial properties there. “We first want to see property demand prospects before we firm up our plans,” ACR chief financial officer Luis Ymson Jr., said. “The property is large that anything is possible.”
Armm investment
COTABATO City -- Despite sporadic skirmishes between government forces and Moro rebels and the recurring kidnapping cases in most part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao last year, investors still poured in P1.7 billion in investments. Lawyer Ishak Mastura, chair of the ARMM’s Board of Investments, the biggest investment was the capital input from the EA Trilink Corporation, a regional telecommunications outfit based in Marawi City. Almost 80 percent of the total investment generated in 2011 came from the telecommunication company which poured in P1.5 billion.
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Power outages seen as shortfall continues Davao City posts lower investment in fourth quarter
By BUTCH D. ENERIO Correspondent
T
HE Mindanao grid will be short by about 100 Megawatts (MW) of power in the next few days owing to the increasing demand and low production coming from AgusPulangi hydro power complex.
System operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) on Wednesday issued a red alert notice for the grid, advising distribution utilities to expect as much as 100 MW power curtailment Mindanao-wide especially during peak hours. Mindanao consumes around 1,400 MW of power during peak hours. The diesel power plants of Therma Marine Inc. in Nasipit, in Agusan del Sur and Maco, Compostela Valley are expected to fill in the shortage especially for distribution utilities who signed with the facility for backup power. Aboitiz Power (AP) said in a statement that other distribution companies like Davao Light and Power Co. will not be much affected since its embedded power POWER/PAGE 9
By CARMELITO Q. FRANCISCO Correspondent
REBUILDING LIVES. A flood victim tells his story of the Sendong devastation to European Union–Philippine Red Cross delegation who visited Cala-cala, Macasandig, Cagayan de Oro City where most of the houses were washed away by the flood. In photo are (from left) CDO Red Cross Chair Antonio Soriano, EU Ambassador Guy Ledoux, Richard Gordon and Red Cross personnel. PHOTO BY BUTCH ENERIO
EU vows to help rebuild lives of Sendong victims their homes, and the many whose loved ones perished when tropical storm SendTO bring back the dignity ong ravaged communities of the thousands who lost in Mindanao, mostly those By BUTCH D. ENERIO Correspondent
More doctors needed to handle leptospirosis THE D epar t ment of Health (DOH) has sent additional doctors from Metro Manila to Northern Mindanao Medical Center in Cagayan de Oro following reports of increasing numbers of people afflicted with leptospirosis. “Right now Health Secretary Enrique T. Ona sends doctors from Metro Manila to augment per-
sonnel in attending leptospirosis patients,” said DOH Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag. Tay a g , a l s o D OH spokesperson, said there was a need to put up tents considering the increasing number of leptospirosis patients in the hospital. He said of the 85 leptospirosis cases everyday, about 50 were DOCTORS/PAGE 8
along riverbanks more than two weeks ago, the European Union (EU) in collaboration with the Philippine VICTIMS/PAGE 9
DAVAO City -- The city gove r n me nt approve d about P3.4 billion in new investments from January to September 2011, about P100 million lower than the amount approved for the entire 2010. The figure comprises last year’s aggregate investments with incentives since the city government suspended the granting of perks to new projects during the last quarter of the year. The decision to suspend the granting of incentives came about early last year after it was reported that the internal revenue allotment (IRA) of the city would be cut by over P300 million as a result of the granting of cityhood to 16 municipalities. This year, the city’s IRA allocation is P2.5 billion out of the expected P5.2-billion total, as per data from the Department of the Budget and Management’s Web site In 2011, the city’s IRA allotment was roughly P2.8 billion. Jason D. Magnaye, chief of the Davao City Investment and Promotions CenINVESTMENT/PAGE 9
P-Noy OKs P1.16-B to rehabilitate NAIA By ALLAN M. MEDIANTE Executive Editor
PRESIDENT Benigno S. Aquino III has approved the allocation of P1.16 billion to boost the revival of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 (NAIA-1) as a world-class transport facility in a bid to increase tourist arrivals in the country. Budget and Management
Secretary Florencio B. Abad said the fund will be used by the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) for urgent structural retrofitting and other rehabilitation work, as well as the construction of a rapid exit taxiway. “If we are to revive NAIA1, we must first address the structural integrity of the terminal for safety of NAIA/PAGE 8