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Volume VII, No. 145
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Cebu-Dipolog power grid links
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Labor groups hit gov’t for workers’ plight www.businessweekmindanao.com
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NATIONAL GRID Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said it submitted to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on Thursday its project proposal for interconnecting the Mindanao and Visayas power grids. The power system operator said its application “comes after years of research and careful planning.” “Finding the safest and most viable route for the project was a long and tedious process, given the many challenges that faced us, like unexploded ordinance, fault lines, and submarine volcanic activity,” it said in a statement on Thursday. “We needed to be careful and sure, as this is going to be the biggest project in the history of the Philippine power industry. And we are excited to begin,” it added.
Stronger civil service PRESIDENT Rodrigo Roa Duterte has led the heads of the ASEAN Member-States in signing the ASEAN Leaders Declaration on the Role of the Civil Service as Catalyst in Achieving ASEAN Community Vision 2025. “The declaration highlights the important role of the civil service as drivers of national and regional development towards the achievement of ASEAN goals and aspirations,” Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chairperson Alicia de la Rosa-Bala said. The Philippines initiated the development of the ASEAN Leaders Declaration on the Role of the Civil Service as Catalyst in Achieving ASEAN Community Vision 2025.
Wage hike looms A SALARY hike for private sector workers is looming in Northern Mindanao (Region 10), the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) announced Friday. RTWPB-10 chair Joffrey Soyao said that the board is currently deliberating on the petition of the Associated Labor Union – Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) for a PHP168 daily wage increase. But based on the past 18 wage orders, the RTWPB in the region had only granted double-digit hikes.
P15.00
Wednesday | May 3, 2017
By GERRY LEE GORIT, Reporter
N spite of the promise of the Duterte administration, lower wages and job insecurity have remained the concerns of the millions of workers throughout the country as labor groups and other militant sector had staged protest action during the Labor Day observance on Monday.
In the region as elsewhere, the workers are suffering because of the neglect of the government and the implementation of anti-workers policies while promoting the interests of the capitalists over the wage earners, said Wildon Barros, secretarygeneral of the labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) in Northern Mindanao. Among the concerns the workers in the regions have to bear, Barros said, are the labor/PAGE 11 LABOR DAY. Over a thousand members of the militant group Kilusang Mayo Uno march as they celebrate the 131st International Workers’ Day at the Guingona Park in Butuan City on May 1, 2017. The group calls to stop “contractualization” of laborers particularly in mining companies and oil pal plantations in Caraga. photo by bwm/mdn
NGO backs Secretary Lopez’s ban on open pit mining By MINDANEWS
GENERAL Santos City — An environmental group in Mindanao, which hosts a province where an open pit mining ban stands for almost seven years now, strongly supported Monday the decision of Environment Secretary Regina Paz “Gina” Lopez to ban such method across the Philippines.
Chinkie Peliño-Golle, acting executive director of Davao Citybased non-government organization Interface Development Interventions (IDIS), said that DENR Administrative Order No 2017-10 issued by Lopez on April 27 will encourage them to continue their anti-mining campaign. ban/PAGE 11
JOB SEARCH. Job applicants wait for their turn to be interviewed during this job fair held on May 1, Labor Day, at Limketkai Center in Cagayan de Oro. photo by mark francisco
Super Shuttle RORO leaves for Bitung with only 1% cargo load By ANTONIO L. COLINA IV, MindaNews
M/V Super Shuttle RORO 12
DAVAO City -- M/V Super Shutt le RORO 12, t he vessel servicing the DavaoGenSan-Bitung route left for the Indonesian port Sunday, loaded with only one percent of its 500-TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) total cargo capacity. The route was launched by
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Kim Pancho, Davao branch manager of Asian Marine Transport Corp., told reporters after the launch at the Kudos Port in Sasa here Sunday that the inaugural voyage only carried five TEUs and 50 20-
foot empty container vans that will be repositioned at the port in Bitung. He said it costs the shipping company P10 million per trip. The shipping schedule, according to earlier announcements, is weekly. Super Shuttle is expected to arrive in Bitung, North Sulawesi on May 2. roro/PAGE 11
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