BusinessWeek M I N DA N A O CREDIBLE
Volume XII, No. 107
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Surigao port project THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said it recently awarded to a joint venture the P1-billion port terminal management contract for the Port of Surigao. The joint venture of Harbour Center Port Holdings, Inc. and GlobalPort Ozamiz Terminal, Inc. was awarded on Jan. 21 the P1.07-billion port terminal management contract for the Port of Surigao, according to the notice of award issued by the PPA. “You are hereby instructed to formally enter into contract with us and to post the required performance security… within 30 calendar days from the signing of the port terminal management contract,” the PPA said in its notice, as signed by General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago.
Easing mining rules THE Australia Philippines Business Council (APBC) said it welcomes the change in the Philippines’ policy direction for mining, including the lifting of a freeze on new mining licenses. “These developments are expected to usher in significant benefits to the economy including manufacturing resurgence, and step up investor confidence,” the council said in a statement. In December, the Philippines lifted a four-year ban on open-pit mining.
Fuel subsidy FARMERS and fisherfolk said they will need fuel subsidies if the government is to meet its agriculture production targets, noting that the higher cost of fuel is hindering their operations. In a statement on Tuesday, the agriculture organizations asked the government to roll back fuel prices and to subsidize their industries. “The cumulative increases in fuel prices have taken their toll on the marginalized sectors, who are still reeling from the economic impact of the pandemic and successive natural calamities. Specifically, the rural sectors are being pushed to bankruptcy and chronic poverty due to increases in production expenses following unabated oil price hikes,” Anakpawis Party-list President Ariel B. Casilao said.
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Gov't bares auction of coal blocks in M'danao www.businessweekmindanao.com
AS OF 6:00 PM FEBRUARY 19, 2022 (SATURDAY)
FOREX
YOUR MINDANAO-WIDE BUSINESS PAPER
Mon-Tue|February 21-22, 2022
By MYRNA M. VELASCO, Contributor
T
HE Department of E n er g y ( D OE ) i s seeking “investorchallengers” in the auction of at least 10 coal blocks in Mindanao covered by the unsolicited proposal of Manila-based Grand Thermal Power Corporation.
ATTENTION, COMELEC. Election campaign materials belonging to the Marcos-Duterte camp have remained along JP Laurel Avenue in Davao City. Elsewhere the Commission on Elections has been criticized for removing campaign materials for other candidates being displayed in private properties. mindanews photo taken 6 pm of february 17, 2022
In a notice published by the energy department, the submission of offers of the interested companies will be on March 15 this year, also the date when the tenders will be formally opened. The coal blocks that are up for “bidmatching” are sited in Bislig City and Trento, Agusan del Sur in Mindanao – and these are offered under the precept of the Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program (PCECP) which was devised by the outgoing Duterte administration. AUCTION/PAGE 7
Unfinished bridge CDO monitors 121 collapses in Davao City, 'Omicron' close contacts two workers injured THE CAGAYAN de Oro City Health Office (CHO) here has intensified the monitoring of the first-generation close contacts of the second batch of people infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus disease 2019. In an online briefer Thursday, CHO medical officer Dr. Ted Yu Jr. said they have identified 121 firstgeneration close contacts of the recently reported 32 Omicron cases in the city.
Yu said none of the close contacts, as of the moment, are experiencing Acute Respiratory Illnesses (ARI) or Influenza-Like Illnesses (ILI). Mayor Oscar Moreno stressed the need for intensive monitoring of close contacts even if it has been more than a month since they got infected. "It's been a month already but nonetheless we should continue (the monitoring).
The best thing of our contact tracing, validation, and assessment will actually serve as good reference material for the report to Philippine G e n o m e C e nt e r w h e n it comes to the variants," Moreno said. On Tuesday, the city government reported the 32 new detected Omicron cases that included 31 local cases and one returning overseas Filipino (ROF). According to Yu's previous report, five of the cases were from Balulang village; three cases each from the villages MONITORS/PAGE 7
By ANTONIO L. COLINA IV, MindaNews
DAVAO City -- A bridge that was still under construction in Barangay Magsaysay in Marilog District, Davao City collapsed around 8 a.m. Friday leaving two workers injured, an official of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)Davao said. Dean Ortiz, DPWHDavao Public Affairs and Information Officer, said the agency is investigating why the structure, which is a component of the flood control project, collapsed.
He said the construction of the Kulafu River Bridge project, with an estimated cost of P93.7 million, began in December 2020, but added that since it is an uncompleted project, the contractor, Monolithic Construction and Concrete Products Inc., can be compelled to rebuild it “at no cost to the government.” He s aid t he injure d workers have been brought to a hospital for treatment. He added the contractor would provide assistance to INJURED/PAGE 7
HALF-MAST. The Philippine flag flies at half-mast at the Bukidnon provincial capitol in Malaybalay City to signify mourning for City Mayor Florencio T. Flores Jr. on Friday. Flores, also a former congressman, died on Thursday Feb. 17, 2022) from complications caused by COVID-19. mindanews photo by h . marcos c . mordeno
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