BusinessWeek MINDANAO CREDIBLE
Volume VII, No. 092
Market Indicators
As of 6:10 pm December 29, 2016 (thursday)
FOREX
PHISIX
US$1 = P49.72
6,840.64
9
X Briefly
cents
64.53
X
points
Trade partnership FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the Duterte administration will look “closely” at the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), given its new policy of moving the country swiftly towards economic integration with its fellow-members in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and major trade partners in Asia and the Pacific. “I personally would like to look at RCEP closely because that’s the 10 ASEAN countries, I think. That one, we are more open to,” Dominguez said in a recent interview. The RCEP is the proposed 16-nation free trade area comprising the 10 ASEAN member-nations— the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam—and its six trading partners China, South Korea, Australia, India, Japan and New Zealand.
YOUR Mindanao-wide BUSINESS paper
RELIABLE
IN-DEPTH
New scheme eyed in sale of Agus-Pulangui www.businessweekmindanao.com
I
By MYRNA M. VELASCO, Contributor
F outright sale would not be an acceptable option, state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) is contemplating on having an alternative scheme for the privatization of the Agus-Pulangui hydropower complexes in Mindanao.
“There are several types of privatization models – it could be outright sale, it could just be the service component also; or corporatization,” PSALM Officer-in-Charge Lourdes S. Alzona said. She noted the company “is currently understanding
the details,” primarily of the privatization scheme that they would be proposing to the Department of Energy (DOE) and PSALM Board. Among the privatization options the state-run firm has been studying is the one anchored on a
pending Congressional bill, wherein the Agus-Pulangui assets shall be placed in a ne w government-r un cor p orate ent it y – t he proposed Mindanao Power Corporation. Under that edict, the scheme/PAGE 11
BoI okays P1.36-B renewable energy project in Mindanao
Power demand DAVAO City -- New investments in Davao City will hike power demand in the areas being serviced by the Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC). DLPC assistant vicepresident for engineering Rodger Velasco said this year’s current power demand is pegged at 371 megawatts. This 2017 they are expecting a power demand of 405 megawatts or an increase of 9.2%. Velasco attributes the increase to new investments in the city, one of these is a new steel plant by Mighty Steel in Panacan which will need about 20 megawatts. The incoming DLPC Chief Operations Officer attributes the huge power demand to the steel plant’s furnace which melts scrap iron into new steel.
P15.00
Friday | December 30, 2016
IN SEARCH FOR FOOD. Scavengers rummage through the water lilies in Cagayan de Oro river looking for foods and other valuable items. PHOTO BY GERRY LEE GORIT
NDF says NPA can be tapped to implement socioeconomic reforms By ANTONIO L. COLINA IV, MindaNews
DAVAO City — The New People’s Army, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, should not be disarmed but should instead be strengthened to assist the government in implementing major socioeconomic reforms, an official of the National Democratic Front said on Monday. In a press conference
dur ing t he CPP’s 48t h anniversary celebration in Paquibato District here, NDF senior adviser Luis Jalandoni said maintaining the NPA [as an armed force] will ensure the protection of socioeconomic reforms, such as in health and education, as well as the rights of the Lumad and the Moro people. “Kapag nagkaroon
ng (once there is a) comprehensive peace agreement, ang NPA will continue to defend the masses in the programs of land reform, national industrialization, environmental protection, and n at i on a l d e fe ns e,” Jalandoni said. “The CPP-NPA can be a co-founder in the “People’s Federal Republic of the Philippines,” he said, adding, reforms/PAGE 11
THE Board of Investments (BoI) has approved the application for registration of a P1.36billion project that will provide renewable energy in Northwest Mindanao. In a statement, BoI said that Liangan Power Corp. will invest in a 11.9-megawatt (MW) project as a renewable energy developer of hydropower energy resources. The project, which will need 44 workers upon start of full operations in early 2019, falls under the Investment Priorities Plan 2014-2016, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9513 or the Renewable Energy Law. Trade Secretary and BoI Managing Head Ramon M. Lopez said that the project is a result of the government’s focus on strengthening ties with China, leading to more Chinese investments here. “This is a concrete manifestation of the emphasis of President [Rodrigo R.] Duterte to attract more Chinese investments in the country,” energy/PAGE 11
REUNITED. A New People’s Army guerrilla belonging Guerilla Front 16 B is reunited with his son (right) who came with friends to visit his father during the 48th anniversary celebration of the Communist Party of the Philippines in Bacuag town in Surigao del Norte. MindaNews photo by Roel N. Catoto
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Editorial and advertising email : businessweekmindanao@gmail.com • Cell Number : 0917-7121424 • 0947-8935776