MINDANAO DAILY NEWS SECOND SECTION
Friday - September 27, 2013
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Mindanao biz sector bucks power trading
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As of 6:10 pm sept. 26, 2013 (Thursday)
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Briefly Palay production THE production of palay in region 10 grew by 4.41 percent in the second quarter of 2013, reaching 141,508 metric tons (MT) compared to the 135,536 MT produced in the same period in 2012. Of the five provinces in the region, only Misamis Occidental registered a 5.61 decrease in production from 21,302 MT to 20,106 MT. Misamis Occidental experienced a drop in production due to the on-going rehabilitation of irrigation canals particularly in Baliangao area, said Engr. Cecilio Clarete, Chief Economic Development Specialist of the Development Research Division of National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) in the region during the Media Forum held at the NEDA Conference Room yesterday, September 25.
Pantawid ABOUT 4,921 households in Northern Mindanao will continue to receive cash grants from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through its Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, the conditional cash transfer (CCT) scheme of the national government. This, af ter the national government under President Benigno Aquino’s administration declared ex tension of age coverage for children under the CCT program. P r e v i o u s l y, P a n t a w i d Pamilya only covered those poor families with children whose age range from 0-14 years old. With the Program’s Extended Age Coverage (EAC), the same households that have children aged 15 to 17 shall continue to receive the Program’s cash grants amounting to a maximum of P1,400.00 every month.
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By CARMELITO Q. FRANCISCO Correspondent
DAVAO City -- The Mindanao business sector is opposing the proposed Interim Mindanao Electricity Market (IMEM), seen as impractical in the Mindanao setting. Vicente T. Lao, chairman of the Mindanao Business Council, said that the spot market, in case of power shortage, would still be very hard to implement. “ We f i r s t n e e d a n inf rast r ucture for t hat; that cannot immediately be tapped,” Mr. Lao said. He also described the P36 per kilowatt-hour proposed price cap as too high. This rate is significantly lower than the P62/kWh set in Luzon and the Visayas electricity spot market. The Energy Regulatory Commission, which regulates
electricity pricing in the country, released last week the proposed price ceiling based on the application of Philippine Electricity Market Corp., which will develop IMEM. Pat t e r ne d a f t e r t he Wholesale Electricity Spot M a rk e t , I M E M a l low s generators w it h exce s s capacities to offer these to distribution utilities and other consumers, in case of shortage from regular suppliers like National Power Corp. Ma ny ow ners of t he generators are big companies power/PAGE 23
With IMEM, gov’t hopes to buy time in licking Mindanao’s power woes THE government hopes to br i ng i n add it iona l power capacity to bridge Mindanao’s demand-supply gap, as it kicks off commercial operations of the region’s electricity market this week. The Interim Mindanao Electricity Market (IMEM) is expected to draw in about 100 to 150 megawatts of power that will be made available to electric cooperatives with
insufficient supply. “IMEM is not here as a final institution with final rules. It will react according to the needs of the electricity market rat her t ha n put out final procedures that cannot be changed,” Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla said. Since last year, many areas in Mindanao, including hopes/PAGE 23
FARMING AS USUAL. A farmer applies fertilizer on the ricefield in Barangay Bual Norte, Midsayap town, North Cotabato on Wednesday, September 25. Bual Norte is an adjacent village of Palongoguen, the site of sporadic clashes between government troops and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. mindanews photo by ruby thursday
SSS increases member contributions By BUTCH ENERIO, Correspondent
THE Social Security System (S S S) h a s a n n o u n c e d Thursday that the contribution rate for its members has increased point-six percent making the total contribution to 11 percent. SSS said that the increase in contribution was approved by President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday. Josefina Olan-Fornillos, S S S v ic e pre sident for northern Mindanao Division,
Mindanao Daily NEWS
s a id t h at t he i nc re a s e is necessar y to ba la nce the equation of pension payments and contribution, not w it h s t a nd i ng ot her benefits that the SSS accord to the various claims under its coverage. Fornillos, said that the current trend where the lifespan of pensioners is get t ing longer, pension payments have dramatically increased. “The increased rate in
contribution will balance the payments and receivables of the SSS for sustainability of our operations.” Fornillos said. SSS said that the current rate of contribution of 10.4 percent, which was approved in 2007, is no longer viable to generate enough funds if it wants to address the growing number of obligations. SSS, as of June this year, has 30 million members in the entire country composed of 871,000 employers; 22.2 sss/PAGE 23
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