BusinessWeek MINDANAO CREDIBLE
Volume VII, No. 148
Market Indicators As of 5:10 pm May 9, 2017 (tuesday)
FOREX
PHISIX
US$1 = P49.855
7,923.50
5.0
X Briefly
cents
38.83
X
points
Informal sector THE government is vying for the transition of informal sector workers into the formal economy, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said over the weekend. Speaking before a joint Labor Day celebration with the National AntiPoverty Commission (NAPC) Workers in Informal Sector Council in Davao, Bello said the labor department is fully behind the recommendation of the International Labor Organization (ILO) to provide the sector with an enabling atmosphere to be absorbed by the formal economy. “Despite their economic and social contributions, workers in the informal sector are insufficiently covered by labor laws and standards. That is why DOLE is vying for the ILO’s edict,” Bello said, referring to ILO Recommendation No. 204. DOLE, he added, is seriously taking steps to ensure that this is realized. The labor department, together with the NAPC-WISC, has conducted consultative workshops to identify key policy gaps and challenges in relation to the government’s thrust in addressing informality, as well as strategies and models to operationalize the transition from informal to formal economy.
Cultural tourism DAVAO City -- The Department of Tourism in Region XI is eyeing to market cultural tourism this year particularly during Davao City’s Kadayawan. DOT-XI Regional Director Robbie Alabado says that the local government of Davao City is identifying and developing different sites in the city as cultural villages. “Hopefull by the season of Kadayawan, we can have tourists in the sites.” Alabado said during an interview at SM City Davao’s Kapehan sa Dabaw today (May 8). Among the sites are in the ancestral domain of the Matigsalogs, another site in Carmen Calinan, in Sicao also in Calinan and in Sibulan.
‘Mentor Me’ program TANDAG City -- A total of 20 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have enrolled the Kapatid “Mentor Me” (KMME) program of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Surigao del Sur and the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, Incorporation-Go Negosyo as pilot beneficiaries. DTI-Surigao del Sur Provincial Office chief Romel Oribe confirmed that 10 MSMEs were from the 1st District while the other 10 are from the 2nd district of the province. “We were guided by the guidelines as to the qualifications of the mentees (MSMEs)… These 20 mentees are the regular clients of the DTI, which we feel could benefit the program,” Oribe said.
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NGCP eyes ‘new tech’ in Vismin grid link-up www.businessweekmindanao.com
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By MYRNA M. VELASCO Contributor
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ONCESSIONAIREfirm National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) indicated that it will be deploying new technology in the planned VisayasMindanao Interconnection Project (VMIP), hence, the swell on its estimated project funding. It noted that old studies of the government on the planned transmission link-up with cheaper costs may no longer be applicable, given technolog y standard advancements. NGCP backpedaled a bit though as it hinted the final project funding may still end up lower depending on the final approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the selection of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor. ngcp/PAGE 11
MINE CARGOES. A fleet of barges loaded with mine materials heads to the sea where the bulker-ships await and anchored off the coast of Cagdianao in Claver, Surigao del Norte. photo by bwm/mdn
Farmers of war zone village yield bountiful harvest of organic rice
DOT-11 eyes direct flights from Davao to Middle East By ANTONIO L. COLINA IV MindaNews
D AVA O C i t y - - T h e Department of Tourism (DOT) in Region 11 on Monday said Davao City is ready to host direct flights to and from the Middle East due to Mindanao’s thriving halal industry and other things that Muslim visitors would need. “All over the Philippines, Mindanao is the only region ready for Middle Eastern market because we have the halal, we have the mosques. Everything that they need for their practice of Islam we have it already here in Mindanao,” DOT-11 director Roberto Alabado III told reporters in an interview. Alabado said Muslims in Mindanao alone need a flights/PAGE 11
By CHRIS V. PANGANIBAN, Contributing Editor
ORGANIC FARMING. A harvester plowed through the organic rice farm of Bonifacio Baldinar. chris v. panganiban
TAGO, Surigao del Sur -- For the first time in many years, lowly farmers in this conflictstricken impoverished village of Lindoy who are now into organic farming have yielded bountiful harvest on their
rice lands. Two farmer-siblings who belong to Lindoy Bio-organic Farmers Association proudly said that their yield in their harvest on Monday have harvest/PAGE 11
ARMM economic growth rebounds in 2016 M A R AW I C it y - - T h e Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (ARMM) economy rebounded in 2016 after a slower growth was recorded in the previous year. The region’s gross domestic product (GRDP) last year posted positive 0.3 percent from negative 0.4 percent
in 2015. These figures were released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which conducted simultaneously media briefings nationwide to present the country’s and the regions’ 2016 economic performance. GRDP is a tool to monitor
the economic performance of the region. It covers the value of goods and services the region produced over a specific period of time. Abubakar Assad, PSAARMM regional director, explained that a GRDP rebound means economic activity has improved, in
this case from the previous year’s level as monitored by the government. Official data showed that the growth was driven by the services sector, which comprises 38.0 percent of the region’s economy. The services sector, also rebounds/PAGE 11
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