Month: February 2024

SORSOGON: PrimeWater and joint venture partner, Sorsogon City Water District (SCWD), have inaugurated San Lorenzo Well No. 2 and held a groundbreaking ceremony for the San Lorenzo Pumping Station 2, two projects that are expected to significantly boost the daily water supply and improve water services across multiple barangays here.

Located in Sitio San Lorenzo, Barangay Bibincahan, the deep well will deliver an additional 2,000 cubic meters per day of water to address the growing demand for water in concessionaires at Barangays Bibincahan, Almendras Cogon, Balogo, Salog and Sampaloc.

‘Tayo po ay natutuwa na makita ang commitment ng PrimeWater para sa ikabubuti ng water supply dito sa Sorsogon (We are happy with the commitment of PrimeWater to improve water supply here in Sorsogon). We will keep on working and cooperating with each other to continue enhancing our water service for the people of Sorsogon City,’ Sorsogon City Water District Interim General Manager Eduardo Tejada said in a news release on Thur
sday.

A 40-horsepower submersible pump and motor have been installed, along with diameter riser pipes, to further enhance the efficiency of transporting water from the deep well to households above ground.

‘PrimeWater and SCWD have jointly undertaken this initiative to further enhance the quality and reliability of the water service we provide to our consumers in the city,’ PrimeWater Sorsogon City branch manager engineer Ronel Roger Pereyra said.

To guarantee compliance with the 2017 Philippine National Standards for Drinking Water, which aim to safeguard public health, a test run activity was also conducted to ensure that the water quality from the new source development meets the required standards.

Apart from the completion of San Lorenzo Well No. 2, the PrimeWater-SCWD partnership has laid almost 2,000 linear meters of new pipelines to facilitate the efficient delivery of additional water supply to consumers.

The daily bulk water supply sourced from the SCWD deep well and the daily recoverable volum
e from the pipeline decommissioning project in the West service area highlight PrimeWater-SCWD’s proactive initiatives towards fulfilling their vision of delivering a more consistent and stable water supply to the barangays within their service areas.

The event was also attended by Sorsogon City Mayor Ma. Ester Hamor and Councilor Mark Jayson Dechavez Jamisola, as well as the SCWD Board of Directors led by chairperson Charles Clemente III.

Source: Philippines News Agency

DUMAGUETE CITY: Public clamor continued for the provincial government to curb the rising prices of pork in Negros Oriental despite the lifting of the ban on the inbound shipment of live hogs into the province.

Livestock sellers said the live hogs bought from local suppliers have become more costly.

On the other hand, consumers are also complaining of the ‘skyrocketing’ prices of pork in the market, noting that the price of lechon or roasted pig these days has almost doubled.

Amid all these complaints, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) here has written Governor Manuel Sagarbarria to immediately convene the Provincial Price Coordinating Council to address the growing problem.

In her letter to Sagarbarria recently, DTI-Negros Oriental chief Nimfa Virtucio, said the recent surge in livestock prices has become a ‘pressing concern for both local producers and consumers.’

‘This alarming trend not only poses challenges to the viability of our agricultural sector but also threatens the economic well-bein
g of our residents, particularly those who rely on affordable meat products for their sustenance,’ she said Thursday.

She said the DTI believes convening the multi-sectoral PPCC and the Task Force African Swine Fever could better address the problem.

Virtucio earlier said that while the DTI has no jurisdiction over the price control of livestock, their concern is the impact on consumers affected by soaring prices.

The public has been clamoring on social media for concerned agencies to step in and stop the rising prices of pork, which they said has gone up to as much as PHP400 per kg.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) on Thursday confirmed that a minor glitch occurred during its 3-digit game 2 PM draw on Feb. 27 after one of its draw machines failed to capture one of the winning balls.

The 3-digit draw offers a top prize of PHP4,500 for each winning ticket.

PCSO General Manager Mel Robles explained that their technical team immediately responded and fixed the problem by using the standby machine, which was approved based on the ISO 9001-2018 procedure.

‘It’s not the first time that this happens and we want to assure the public that we are prepared for this kind of unexpected incident with our established ISO-approved protocols,’ he said in a news release.

Robles added that the PCSO experienced a glitch in one of its draws in 2008 and similar incidents have happened even in the United States when their lottery machines also malfunctioned.

In the past 25 years, this was only the second time that a minor glitch had occurred at PCSO while conducting an official draw
.

‘For this thing to happen is very remote. But we are prepared and we assure the public that our commitment to a transparent, fair, and authentic lottery games will never waver, and is as strong as ever,’ Robles said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday declared two joint venture (JV) firms as eligible to bid for the Secure Electronic Transmission Services (SETS) project to be utilized in next year’s midterm polls.

The Comelec-Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) allowed the JV of EBizolution, Inc. – Secur Links Network and Technologies Inc.-Systems Information and Solutions Corporation (Ebiz), and the JV of Ione Resources Inc.-Ardent Networks, Inc. (Ione Resources) to participate in the bidding for the project with an approved budget for the contract (ABC) worth PHP1.638 billion.

In Resolution No. 1, the SBAC declared Ione Resources as having the lowest calculated bid (LCB) at PHP1.426 billion.

“The Technical Working Group (TWG) is hereby directed to subject the bidder with the LCB for said procurement project to post-qualification evaluation,” the SBAC said.

Meanwhile, EBiz tendered a bid of PHP1.628 billion.

Both companies are the only ones that submitted bids for the SETS project.

The SE
TS will be used to transmit election results using telecommunication networks.

It also includes the provision of data centers and connectivity requirements for the Automated Election System (AES) servers.

Meanwhile, Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said the new SETS is set to make the quick count operations of poll watchdogs faster in the scheduled polls.

“The quick count operations will be faster as the PPCRV (Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting), Namfrel (National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections), LENTE (Legal Network for Truthful Elections) will have their own servers instead of sourcing it from just one. From their (own server), they can immediately start their quick count,” he said in an interview.

Quick counts are unofficial election results being conducted by poll watchdogs based on the transmitted election returns.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The country’s top manufacturer of food ingredients and oleochemicals is eyeing to expand its export market as it sees market volatility easing this year.

In a virtual press briefing Thursday, D and L president and chief executive officer Alvin Lao said the listed firm plans to tap Middle Eastern and African markets for its products, adding to its current export markets, such as Asia and the Pacific, Europe, and the Americas.

‘For new exports, we are exploring as far as Middle East and Africa. We’re quite aggressive now in terms of exports,’ Lao said.

He shared that D and L’s Batangas facility has exceeded its export commitment to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) by 175 percent as of February as it fulfilled several orders from both local and overseas customers.

The Batangas plant has been running for seven months after it began its commercial operation in July 2023.

Forty-three percent of D and L’s exports in 2023 were food, 37 percent were oleochemicals, 18 percent were plastic spe
cialty, and 2 percent were consumer products.

Lao added that with the less volatile global market, moderating inflation, prospects of rate cuts by the central bank, and the implementation of a higher biodiesel blend by July, D and L expects at least a 10 percent growth in its net income for the full year of 2024.

‘We’re quite optimistic with 2024… Globally, if you look at the commodity prices in the past year, it has been tough… We don’t see that kind of volatility in 2024 anymore. For these reasons, at least, we can get a minimum 10 percent increase in net income,’ he said.

D and L’s net income outlook for this year is a reversal from its 31-percent drop in earnings in 2023 to PHP2.3 billion from PHP3.3 billion in 2022 due to higher interest and operating expenses relating to its Batangas plant.

Meanwhile, the executive mentioned that its subsidiary Chemrez, the country’s biggest biodiesel manufacturer, will stand to benefit from the mandated increase in biodiesel blend in the country, which the Departme
nt of Energy (DOE) targets to implement on July 1, 2024.

The DOE’s draft circular aims to increase biodiesel blend in the country from 2 percent (B2) to 3 percent (B3) by the start of the second half of the year, to 4 percent (B4) after 12 months, and to 5 percent (B5) by July 1, 2026.

‘A potential increase in blend to 3 percent, all else being equal, in theory, should lead to a 50 percent increase in biodiesel volumes which may also result in better margins and profitability for the industry,’ D and L said in a statement.

For 2024, D and L’s capital expenditure is eyed between PHP456 million and PHP1.4 billion, its capex in 2018 and 2023, respectively.

Source: Philippines News Agency