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Metro Pacific bids to run and maintain LRT and MRT

Roy — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 09:01:55 +0000

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) sent invitations to qualified parties to submit an expression of interest for the interim contract (4+1 years) of the operations and maintenance of Light Rail Transit (LRT) 1 and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 system.

One of those who submitted a letter of intent was the subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp. (MPLRC). The MPLRC filed its expression of interest for an interim contract to undertake the operation and maintenance of both the LRT1 and MRT3.

According to MPIC, its proposal submitted is more comprehensive as it includes, among others, a long term O&M, capacity and rehabilitation of MRT3 and its integration to LRT as one system. In support to the government’s public-private partnership (PPP) program, the company agreed not to interpose any objection to the bidding of the interim O&M contract for LRT1 and MRT3 on the undertaking that in line with government’s transparency policy and in accordance with MPIC’s rights as a stakeholder in the Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC), the rights of the latter over MRT3 will be fully disclosed in the terms and reference of the bidding for the said interim contract.

The company also stressed that it has not withdrawn its proposal to expand MRT3 which it submitted to the DOTC last January 17. The MPIC said it maintains its position that the private shareholders of MRTC have the legal right to assert MRTC’s rights over the maintenance of MRT as well as the expansion rights over MRT, both contained in the existing build-lease-transfer (BLT) agreement.

Likewise, the MPIC will not object to the bidding of the LRT1/MRT3 O&M contract provided that the maintenance and expansion rights in the existing BLT agreement are recognized and disclosed in the TOR for said bidding.

The MPIC controls about 64.07 percent of MRTC after acquiring the 28.04 percent interest of the Sobrepeña-led Fil-Estate group as well as the interest of other shareholders such as Anglo Philippine Holdings Inc., DBH Inc. and Railco Investment Inc.

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Johnson & Johnson fined $70 million by US authorities

Roy — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 05:23:45 +0000

Multinational firm Johnson & Johnson was fined by the United States authorities $70 million on for bribing doctors in Europe and paying kickbacks for contracts under a United Nations (UN) relief program in Iraq.

According to the US Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission, the cosmetics and drug giant has paid doctors and hospitals in Greece, Poland and Romania for contracts and to promote its drugs and medical devices.

The company was also said to have paid kickbacks between the years 2000-2003 for 19 contracts under the UN Oil for Food Program, which provided humanitarian supplies to Iraqis while the country was still ruled by Saddam Hussein.

Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay US authorities $70 million to settle the charges, including $48.6 million to the SEC and $21.4 million to the Justice Department. US prosecutor Mythili Raman said that the company had “cooperated extensively” during the investigation.

SEC enforcement director Robert Khuzami said, “The message is plain; any competitive advantage gained through corruption is mirage. J&J chose profit margins over compliance with the law by acquiring a private company for the purpose of paying bribes, and using sham contracts, offshore companies, and slush funds to cover its tracks.”

Based on the investigation conducted by the authorities, Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiaries Cilag AG International and Janssen Pharaceutica made $858,000 dollars in payoffs to Saddam Hussein’s governments to win $9.0 million in contracts under the deeply corrupted Oil for Food Program.

The kickbacks were said to have been concealed from the United Nations by inflating Janssen and Cilag’s contract prices by 10 percent. The SEC also said that the company was under a related investigation by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office and that a resolution was also expected.

Johnson & Johnson is the 15th largest company in the US in terms of market capitalization.

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DTI intensifies awareness campaign on benefits of FTAs

Roy — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 04:24:19 +0000

The Department of Trade and Industry said that many among our exporters are not really aware of the trade opportunities under the country’s free trade agreements (FTA). That is why it is intensifying its information awareness campaign focusing on the government’s priority exports.

Gregory L. Domingo, DTI Secretary, said that the basic information awareness campaigns from March to November this year will focus on sectors such as motor vehicle parts and vehicles, food, garments and textiles, minerals, coconut products, construction and related materials, wearable, home style and IT/BPO. “More targeted information sessions will enlighten our businessmen to engage or expand their business according to what is viable in our FTA markets,” he said.

The trade secretary stressed that by understanding emerging and new markets, as well as instruments such as the FTA, will help exporters address new challenges in the global business environment. For 2010, the Philippines achieved a record of over $51 billion in export revenues.

At present, the country has FTAs with ASEA, China, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. An FTA with India is already in the work and due for implementation on the last part of the year. On March 31, a second round of information sessions targeting specific sectors will be launched at the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC).

Domingo said export companies have not yet fully utilized the FTAs “because businessmen are not properly informed of the business opportunities that the country has gained from our FTA.” Last year, the agency was able to conduct information campaigns in 11 cities, benefitting some 2,000 businessmen.

International Trade Undersecretary Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. said, “Exploring the FTA markets is one of our core strategies to increase our exports over the next six years and sustain its steady growth. He said that this year’s sectoral sessions will include presentations on market opportunities, including non-tariff measures, in the country’s FTA markets; tariff rates on top exports for each sector under the FTAs, rules of origin, open forum, as well as business testimonials from those who have benefitted from FTAs.

“The FTAs are strategic tools or pathways for growth and competitiveness. Not only do these open markets for our goods and services, but they also compel us, as a people to take a hard look at our economic structures and implement the much needed reforms to put our economy in step with the global environment,” he added.

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NSO to conduct survey on businesses establishments

Roy — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 07:13:56 +0000

A survey of the businesses in the Philippines will be conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO) this year. The project called, the Annual Survey of Philippine Business Industry (ASPBI), will start as soon as the NSO personnel have finished with their training for the conduct of ASPBI, according to NSO-Cordillera Regional Director Olivia Gulla. The aim of the survey is to get the statistical data on the activities of business establishments here in Cordillera.

Gulla said they have just finished with their second level of training. Participants for the training were regional and provincial statisticians and statistical census officers. After their training, they will then, in turn, train those who will be involved with the ASPBI survey in their respective provinces.

NSO Statistician III Jean Floirendo said, the ASPBI survey aims to determine regional revenues or income of business establishment in the region. This would help in determining the productivity and value added indicators of the business industries not only here in Cordillera but to all parts of the country.

Floirendo, who was assigned by the NSO central office to conduct the said training, called on all business establishments in the region to support the said survey, and assured respondents to the survey their reply will be treated with utmost confidentiality.

The questionnaires for the said survey will be distributed on April and the collection of data will commence on May. Among the data involved in the survey are the number of establishments, number of employment generated, compensation each establishment pay their employees, the revenue and the cost of operating such business.

Based on the last completed ASPBI survey done on 21,040 business establishments nationwide, which have employed 20 or more workers, they have provided employment to about 2.74 million Filipinos nationwide, which also provided a total revenue to the government of about P6.9 Trillion.

The manufacturing sector also got the most part of the pie with 21.9 percent of the total establishments surveyed, followed by the wholesale and retail sector with 19.5 percent, followed by the hotel/restaurant and education sector, with 14 and 13.6 percent, respectively.

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Trans-Asia signed supplier deal with SEM-Calaca Power plant

Roy — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 06:27:48 +0000

Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp., a publicly listed firm, recently signed a contract with SEM-Calaca Power Corp. for the purchase of Trans-Asia of power generated from the Consunji-led Calaca Power Corp. Trans-Asia, in its disclosure submitted to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said it signed on Wednesday the contract “to purchase generated energy,” which will be valid for three years.

Trans-Asia President Francisco L. Viray said the company was buying the generated output as a retail electricity supplier (RES). He did not indicate though, how much of the plant’s output The company would buy from SEM-Calaca. Earlier, Trans-Asia was awarded a RES license by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC)

ERC chairperson Zenaida Ducut said that a RES license holder like Trans-Asia will be able to actively participate in the electricity market once open access and retail competition are put in place. Under an open access environment, large power users will have the option to choose their own power suppliers. Under the status quo, power users, whether big or small, are limited to the suppliers with jurisdiction over their areas.

SEM-Calaca Corpopration, is company formed by DMCI Holdings and Semirara Mining Corporation to Handle the Calaca coal facility, which was previously owned by the government through National Power Corp. The investment of SEM-Calaca in the Batangas coal facility was earlier estimated at $483.6 million which includes the acquisition cost of $361.7 million. The remaining $121.89 million will go to the rehabilitation and working capital requirement of the said power plant.

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SkyCable earmarked P1.5B for its 2011 capex

Roy — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:04:57 +0000

SkyCable allotted P1.5 billion funds for its capital expenditure for 2011 for its Cable Television (CATV) business. Half of the said amount will be used for the roll-out of its digital TV service nationwide and the other half for boosting its broadband subscriber growth, according to company marketing head Rodrigo Montinola.

A subsidiary of network giant ABS-CBN Corp., SkyCable has approximately half a million subscribers as of last year, most of which are from Metro Manila. Almost 85 percent of cable users in Metro Manila are already using digibox, which is essential in viewing digital television programs. The CATV firms hopes to increase that number to 95 percent by the end of the year.

SkyCable is also intensifying its marketing effort to increase the number of its broadband subscribers. “We had flat growth from 2006 to 2009. We started growing again only last year, where we had 35,000 subscribers,” Montinola said. “Our target is to grow our broadband subscribers significantly by about 70,000 by the end of this year,” he added.

Montinola also announced the availability of the DigiBox iRecord, a personal video recorder (PVR) set, a top box capable of simultaneously recording two TV programs while the subscriber watches a third. The box has a 320-GB drive that can store up to 145 hours of standard definition video or 85 hours of high-definition (HD) video. This is equivalent to over 70 movie titles, over 100 episodes of one-hour TV shows, or over 80 documentaries of National Geographic HD. The device also allows for slow-motion and frame-by-frame playback of recorded shows.

The company is optimistic that the new service would lure in at least 3,000 users in the first year of rollout. They are eyeing medium to heavy TV users, as well as busy working people who can’t always catch up on the schedules of free or cable TV. Existing subscribers in Metro Manila can get the DigiBox iRecord for a refundable deposit of P4,999 plus P399 service fee of using the Digibox iRecord on top of their monthly CATV fee.

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Nenaco optimistic to hit a P1B income this year

Roy — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 15:36:20 +0000

The Negros Navigation Co., Inc. is expecting to end up with a net income of P1 billion for 2011. A complete turnaround from its previous result last year when it ended up with loss of half a billion.

Nenaco president and chief executive officer Sulficio Tagud said that this is on the back of projected consolidated revenue this year of P15.5 billion, up from around P14 billion last year. To be able to do that, he said the company would need to spend P2.5 billion to expand its logistics business under the brand 2GO, which is under Aboitiz Transport Systems Corp. (ATS). Tagud said, “There’s a still a lot of potential for growth in that area.”

Cargo and passenger shipping rates are also expected to rise this year, according to Tagud, as companies try to cope with the steady increase in oil prices. He noted that several shipping companies implemented discounts for cargo and passenger clients to maintain market share last year.

“Members of the Philippine Ship Liners Association have reduced the discounts they gave for cargo and passenger rates last year. That the same this we have to do if fuel costs continue to spike,” Tagud said. He said the current rates are 40 percent below the tariffs approved by the Maritime Industry Association (Marina). ‘’The discounts were given as a function of a competitive market,” he added.

This gives the shipping companies the space to adjust their rates without having to apply for increases with the regulator. “Fuel prices are still manageable because we can still adjust rates,” Tagud said.

At present, Nenaco is the largest shipping group in the country after buying out its chief competitor ATS, from the Aboitiz family, for over P14 million. “ATS is five times bigger than Nenaco in several aspects such as revenues, capacity and asset base,” Tagud noted.

Nenaco’s acquisition of ATS then was funded by equity infusion by state-run China-Asean Marive BV, which now owns 40 percent of Nenaco. KGLI-NM, a joint venture between Kuwaiti Gulf Link Investments and Negros Holdings and Management Corp., owns the remaining 60 percent.

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Vista Land earmarked P45B for its 3-year capex

Roy — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 23:47:05 +0000

Vista Land and Lifestyles Inc. reported that it has earmarked P45-billion for capital expenditure plans for the next three years. Vista Land chief executive officer Benjamarie Serrano said, “We are in the midst of an aggressive expansion program that will entail significant capital expenditures over the next three years and beyond.”

The company’s capital outlays for 2010 were places at more than P10 billion. It pegged an average annual budget for P15 billion for its 2011 to 2013 capital expenditure plan, in order to fast-track the development of four large-scale property projects and to unlock more values from strategically located properties in Mega Manila.

These four major projects of the company, are the: Evia in the Alabang-Las Piñas area; Lakefront in Sucat, Parañaque; Sta. Elena in Sta. Rosa, Laguna; and Crosswinds in Tagaytay.

Evia is an Italian-inspired master-planned communities spanning more than 600 hectares. So far, three residential estates have already been completed in the said project: Portofino which is under the company’s upscale brand, Brittany; Ponticelli by its mid-range brand Crown Asia; and Cerritos which caters to the affordable market segment.

Lakefront is 60-hectare property in Sucat which boasts of a commercial hub call The Wharf. It houses convenience store, spa and beauty salon, restaurants, a bank and some offices. The development in the Lakefront includes San Francisco-inspired subdivisions La Posada and Marina Heights, and the mid-rise buildings Presidio and Marfori. Vista Land recently signed a joint-venture deal with Hospitality International Inc. to offer services apartments to vacationers.

Vista Land says it plans to finance all its property development programs through a combination of internal cash flow and debt. Chief finance officer Paolo Villar said, “Our firm’s balance sheet is solid and we have sufficient room to lever up. We will evaluate various financing options available to the company and decide on the most suitable cost-effective method of funding at the appropriate time.”

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Business name registration now only takes 15 minutes

Roy — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:35:06 +0000

From the usual two days processing time, the amount of time spent in registering a business name has been cut to only 15 minutes because of the enhanced Electronic Business Name Registration System (eBNRS).

Trade Secretary Gregorio Domingo said, “The entire transaction will only take around 15 minutes. The actual processing takes only three minutes and the waiting time usually takes 10 minutes. So it’s really the waiting that makes the transaction time long, but still it’s only 15 minutes.”

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) conducted a random time-and-motion study in different parts of the country. In their study, Metro Manila averaged 278 business name applications in a day with a total processing time placed at 14.35 minutes. In areas where there were fewer applications, the average transaction time were even shorter, ranging from 5 to 12 minutes.

Aside from the faster registration of business name, the eBNRS allows the registration of the all the branches of a company in just one sitting, and the registration of a business in a different locality in the DTI office nearest the business owner. “The new system gives businessmen less hassle in doing business in the country. Our aim in automation is to lessen people handling the process and allow technology to hasten transaction. In a way it makes government transaction transparent and prevents corruption in the workplace,” Domingo said.

The system will also be made available online, according to the secretary. Aside from the eBNRS, Domingo said that the DTI is also working on the Philippine Business Registry (PBR), which is a one-stop shop for businesses that want to get mayor’s permit, and registration and licenses from the DTI, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and other agencies. The system will also be made available for the application of Pag-Ibig, Social Security System (SSS), and Philhealth benefits.

“Business won’t have to go to each of the agencies in order to register. It’s still under development because we don’t want any glitches to happen once we launch it. We’re hoping to finish this before the end of the year,” Doming said.

This is really a good motivation for entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs.

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Redpages.ph provides business platform for businesses and consumers alike

Roy — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 12:53:01 +0000

A new web portal that caters to business and customers alike has been set up by Creative OnlineMedia Inc. which is called the redpages.ph.

Dennis Ng, chief executive officer of Creative OnlineMedia, saw the opportunity in the services sector. The redpages.ph allows business to advertise and promote their products and services, while buyers can also access the portal to look for suppliers. It is now the fastest growing online business directory in the Philippines. It provides an online marketplace for suppliers and buyers to conduct their business on the Internet.

Ng said, “Buyers need not search the telephone directory and call each business listed on its pages for quotations. All a buyer has to do is post at redpages.ph their buying leads for suppliers to see and send their quotations. Buyers can post unlimited buying leads at no cost.”

As of December 2009, there are over 17,300 Philippine businesses that are listed in the online business portal.

Business can register for a free redpages.ph account and upload up to five products at the site, for free too. There is also a premium membership account with an annual fee of P8, 888.00. Businesses who registered for this account can unlimited product postings, as well as a premium website template.

COO of Creative OnlineMedia Paul Maclang said, “The annual payment represents a very minimal investment compared to the countless benefits and opportunities offered to a premium account through redpages.ph.”

Prospective buyers who visit the site can view mini-webpages and listings in over 32 major industry categories and nearly 350 products sub-categories from agriculture to utilities, among others.

For its premium members, redpages.ph offers a professionally designed website templates to choose from to suit a particular company’s business. Companies in the premium members list are given industry-specific website template that will suit them.

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BPI Family Bank to offer loans to microenterprises

Roy — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:35:22 +0000

The thrift bank subsidiary of the Bank of the Philippine Islands, BPI Family Savings Bank, is going to roll out a credit facility that will cater to the micro and small enterprises. This plan of BPI Family to increase its loan exposure will be done through a customized business packaged which it will roll out in partnership with Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, the proponent of the Go Negosyo campaign.

This is part of the BPI Family to break into the broader market, with the hope that eventually, it will be able to generate half of its business from lending to the small and medium enterprise (SME) and consumer sectors.

Its mother company, the BPI, has about P130 billion or 39 percent of its total loan portfolio devoted to these sectors at present, according to BPI president Aurelio Montinola III.

For its thrift bank’s program, which is called the BI Family Ka-Negosyo business program, the bank will offer a comprehensive line of loan products and services which are all anchored on business loans customized according to the client’s financing requirement and budget.

Jose Ma. Concepcion III, funding trustee of Go Negosyo, said that his organization will be helping in hooking up BPI Family with potential borrowers through its seminars and caravans.

For his part, BPI Family Bank president Alfonso Salcedo Jr., said that under the program, the bank would be looking at micro and small enterprises with a good track record and in need of at least P500,000 and up to P10 million in funds for its expansion.

The terms of the loan would be typically be three-to-five years with an annual interest of between 9 and 12 percent. But this will all depend on the loan size and collateral, said Salcedo. For the sake of classification, the BPI group defines a microenterprise as a company with assets of less than P3 million.

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Mediaquest alloting P700 million for its capex this year

Roy — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:06:53 +0000

Mediaquest Holdings Inc. is allotting around P700 million for its capital expenditure this year. The media unit of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. is earmarking the said amount for its satellite TV business year to increase its subscriber base to 200,000.

At the end of 2009, Cignal Digital TV, Mediaquest’s direct-to-home satellite television has 45,000 subscribers nationwide, barely five months of operation from its official launch in July last year. The number of Cignal subscribers is expected to surge this year, said Mediaquest director Ray Espinosa, following the company’s success of its satellite TV business.

Cignal is the latest subscription-based direct-to-home satellite television service provider using the NSS-11 satellite of New Skies Satellite. It comes in Cignal HD (high definition) and Cignal Digital TV. It was on a test broadcast since January of 2009 in Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite and Laguna and has 3,000 subscribers who signed up then.

The Cignal Basic package is available for a one-time fee of P4,700 for set top box, satellite dish and cables and Cignal card, and installation fee of P1,000 and a monthly service charge of P390. It has 20 standard definition channels which include free-to-air local channels ABS-CBN, TV5, NBN 4, GMA, CS9, QTV, IBC 13, Studio 23, 2nd Avenue, Etc, and Net 25, and the premium channels HBO, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, CNN, PBO, Viva Cinema, AXN, and BIO. RHTV (dzRH Television). Aside from the TV channels, radio channels from the FM band are also available to Cignal Digital TV subscribers.

The Cignal Combo package is available for a one-time fee of P4,800, an installation fee of P1,000 and a monthly service fee of P790. It includes three high-definition channels plus the Cignal Basic. The Cignal HD, on the other hand, offers three high-definition channels – Voom, History Channel and Playhouse Disney.

Espinosa said they are not competing with cable TV companies because their target markets are those in the remote areas.

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Local banks help raised P14B for Panay power plant

Roy — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 07:56:18 +0000

Local banks have agreed to help raise and lend the Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC) P14-billion for its construction of a 164-megawatt coal-fired power plant in La Paz, Iloilo City. The Panay Energy is owned by George Ty’s Metrobank group, and the loans were arranged by First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC), the investment banking arm of Metrobank.

The deal is the second-biggest peso-denominated project loan facility to be purely funded by local institutions. The biggest was the P16-billion deal raised by Cebu Energy Development Corp., another Metrobank affiliate, for its power plant in Toledo City, Cebu.

FMIC was able to get the commitment of local banks for a 12-year loan to PEDC. These banks include Allied Banking Corp., Bank of the Philippine Islands, China Banking Corp., Land Bank of the Philippines, Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., Philippine National Bank, Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co., Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. and the Union Bank of the Philippines. The loans represent about 70 percent of the funding of the project.

PEDC expects the power plant to be finished and already in operation in six to nine months time, and it will use “clean coal” technology. FMIC president Francisco Sebastian said that once completed, the power plant would make brownouts in the Visayas history as the new facility would account for 80 percent of the existing power generation capacity of the island.

Formosa Heavy Industries will be the one to build the new power plant by PEDC. It will also undertake the engineering design and procurement. The Metrobank group hopes to recover the costs from the project over a 25-year period.

PEDC is a subsidiary of Metrobank group’s Global Business Power Corp. Its president Jesus Alcordo said that despite the fuss over renewable energy, clean coal technology was still much more competitive.

The Metrobank group, at present, is still looking for opportunities in power generation, said chairman Antonio Abaca, adding that they prefer investing in new power plants rather than acquire old ones.

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P12-billion bond offering from Pag-IBIG funds

Roy — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:43:20 +0000

The Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), more popularly recognized as he Pag-IBIG Fund launched a bond offering which will be auctioned to the public on March 9. The state-administered fund manager will be offering P12 billion bonds starting next month.

Jaime Fabiaña, chief executive officer of HDMF said that the proceeds of the funds would be used by the agency in refinancing a P7 billion debt maturing in May. The rest of the proceeds would be used to augment the agency’s funds.

The bond offerings were launched in an investors’ briefing held recently, where Fabiaña said the bonds would be definitely be attractive to investors. “They are tax free and enjoy the full and unconditional guarantee of the government through the Home Guaranty Corp.,” he said.

The term of the bonds would be five years and one day. They can also serve as alternative compliance by banks with the Agri-Agra Law and qualify as reserve assets of insurance companies and can count as compliance with the Urban Housing Development Act.

The target investors for the bonds are property developers, insurance firms and banks. The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC), which is the investment arm of Metrobank Group, were tapped by HDMF as arrangers for the deal. The Land Bank of the Philippines would join the group as joint lead underwriters, while the Bureau of the Treasury serves as facility agent and registrar.

Pag-IBIG is a popular government agency whose main thrust is to provide affordable home financing to its members. Aside from housing loans, it also provides personal and other emergency loans. For 2009, the fund manager released a total of P46 billion loans to over 74,000 members nationwide, making it the biggest home financier in the Philippines.

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The expansion of Bibingkinitan

Roy — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:21:51 +0000

Bibingkinitan! has embarked on an aggressive campaign to expand its number of outlets this year. The fast-rising Filipino food chain is aiming to open up about 100 new outlets all over the country, to bring its total number of stores to at least 250 by the end of 2010.

Richard V. Sanz, president and chief executive officer of FoodAsia Corp., the mother company of Bibingkinitan!, said that the 50 percent of the new stores that will be put up would be owned by the company, while the other 50 percent would be franchised.

The company’s focus, according to Sanz, is towards establishing more stores in smaller-sized malls and roadside locations in provincial cities and capital towns. “Last year we already saturated the big malls so our direction now is to go on smaller malls and provincial cities and towns,” he said.

Sans also added that the product line of Bibingkinitan! has also expanded. They now also serve other foods like “pancit in bilaos” and “Bar-B-Q” for take-out. The company’s target is to position Bibingkinitan! as the preferred brand for parties, gatherings and “pasalubong” (take-home) food packages.

He was also proud to announce that the name Bibingkinitan! is now a recognized and an established brand. The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is even offering a collateral-free loan to its prospective franchisees. “The fact that a bank in the stature of BPI is willing to offer collateral-free loan for our franchisees shows that Bibingkinitan! is already a trusted brand and a highly feasible investment opportunity,” Sanz said.

He is also happy to announced that they have developed a very affordable franchise package they called the “Franchise Lite.” Under the said package, franchisees can pay the franchise cost in six months at zero interest and without any down payment.

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More banks to offer renminbi-denominated products in the Philippines

Roy — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:31:15 +0000

Because of the increasing volume of transactions in the Philippines, many banks in the Philippines are planning to offer products and services denominated in Chinese yuan or renminbi to their clients in the near future. According to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando Tetangco Jr., these banks are looking to offer renminbi-denominated products and services due to the country’s strengthening partnership with China.

“Renminbi business is expected to grow in 2010 even further as more banks become acquainted with the business opportunities in the Chinese currency,” Tetangco said. He also cited the growing partnership between Manila and Beijing particularly in the areas of trade tourism, education, agriculture and other economic sectors.

In the last quarter of 2009, five local banks have already launched their renminbi deposit products. One of them already registered a 10-fold increase in the volume of transactions in the last two months of 2009.

Tetangco said that the settlement of renminbi banknotes in the Philippines amounted to 174.6 million Chinese yuan last year from only 0.5 million Chinese yuan in 2008.

The central bank’s Monetary Board approved the inclusion of the renminbi in the list of currencies convertible with the BSP in December 2006. In 2008, it provided direct conversion of the Chinese currency in recognition of its heightened role as the currency of choice for trade within the region.

The growth of the Chinese yuan was brought about by the effort of the Chinese government which has taken steps to boost the use of its currency among countries in the region as part of its broad aim to make the renminbi an “international currency.” Different Chinese entities have since signed up for swap agreements with various counterparts in the region mainly for trade purposes.

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Pacific Gaming receives $7M in investment from a Singaporean firm

Roy — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:53:55 +0000

A Singaporean firm is planning to invest $7.5 million in a local gaming company. Straitwey, a Singapore-registered company who is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japan Gaming Development Organization (JGDO) and is the investment entity used by JGDO to invest into projects within the gaming industry, is investing the $7.6 million in the primary and secondary shares of Pacific Gaming Investments (PGI).

PGI’s board of directors earlier approved the execution of a non-binding term sheet with Straitwey. Under the non-binding term sheet, Straitwey, subject to due diligence, shall invest a maximum of $7 million in primary and secondary shares of PGI. The primary share investment were gives a pre-money valuation to PGI of $80 million.

PGI will then use the additional investment in the local gaming industry. It will partially fund its planned increase in its investment stake of Interactive Entertainment Solution Technologies Inc. (IEST), part will be used for the working capital needs of PGI, and then for further investments in the gaming sector.

IEST currently operates an online gaming operation under the authority of the Philippine Gaming and Amusements Corp. (Pagcor). IEST is also engaged in providing software and IT solutions for sports betting companies. It has contracts to supply equipments to Pagcor.

Both PGI and IEST are subsidiaries of Diversified Financial Network Inc. (DFNN), a publicly listed information technology solutions provider and systems integrator. DFNN earlier created a division to cater to the needs of the emerging gaming industry, with the advent of the opening of the gaming industry in Asia, both land based and electronics.

DFNN gaming solutions span the capability for wireless gaming, creation and management of games and other gaming related project, as well as software outsourcing. The company is willing to cater its gaming products to the needed business processes of legal gaming entities who are operating in legal gaming jurisdictions.

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Locally developed online games pushed by game developers

Roy — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:57:08 +0000

Online games always a ready audience in the Filipino market. There is a big market for Filipino online gamers, although most the games were created outside the country. A group of Filipinos with entrepreneurial mindset is eyeing to cash in on this online gaming craze capturing Filipinos from all walks of like.

The Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP), together with its partner the I-Café Pilipinas, is exploring the possibility of developing and marketing locally made online games.

GDAP executive director Cesar Tolentino said the organizations partnership with I-Café was expected to pave the way for a sustainable growth for both the game development and Internet café industries.

An early product of the collaboration was Bangu-Bang, the country’s first locally developed online game, was introduced to the members of I-Café Pilipinas recently. This new local online games could provide additional revenue streams to Internet cafes.

Bangu-Bang Mania was developed and published by Virtual Titania Amusement Software (ViTas). Raineir Umali, president of ViTas said the market is now looking for more diverse content than what was being offered by traditional online game bigwigs China and Korea.

The Bangu-Bang is now being studied and evaluated by member of I-Café Pilipinas and will be deployed to the local market.

Aside from the development of local online games, GDAP also supports I-Café Pilipinas’ project called the “Ligtas na Digital Batang Pinoy.” This advocacy sought to create materials that would teach local communities how to properly use Internet-based technologies and Internet access. It’s main goal is to promote the responsible use of Internet and Internet access.

I-Café aims to publish the materials for the program in the vernacular to ensure better understanding by the audience it wants to reach.

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Gatchalian temporarily holds re-entry in the airline business

Roy — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:09:41 +0000

Because of the difficulty in obtaining a franchise from Congress, the Gatchalian Group has temporarily shelved its planned airline business.

Atty. Miguel Varela, one of Gatchalian’s partners in the proposed airline company, told reporters they cannot operate yet because they failed to get a franchise, which is an act of Congress. “It is difficult to get a franchise now. Perhaps, in the next administration we can get congressional support,” Varela said.

He stressed that the booming tourism industry needs a strong support services sector. And it does not mean only tourist accommodation facilities, but airlines too. Varela is optimistic that the next Congress would open up for franchise next year.

According to Varela, the Gatchalian Group intends to fly domestic and regional routes as there are areas that are not yet served, or are underserved. He said the new airline would acquire a new fleet as Gatchalian has disposed most of his aircraft after the closure of his old airline firm.

Gatchalian used to own Air Philippines until he sold it to Lucio Tan of the Philippine Airlines.

At present, there are five local airline companies. These are the Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Air Philippines, Zest Air (formerly Asian Spirit), and Southeast Asian Airlines Inc. (SEAIR).

Another partner, Sergio Ortiz-Luis, said the revival of the airline remains in the planning stage.

The re-entry of Gatchalian in the airline business is seen as strategic to his growing hotel business. He has the Waterfront Philippines Inc. which has under its portfolio four major hotels, which are the Manila Pavilion, Waterfront Cebu City Casino Hotel in Lahug, Cebu, Waterfront Mactan Casino Hotel, also in Cebu and the Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao.

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DOE evaluates pre-qualifiers for geothermal bidding

Roy — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 12:36:25 +0000

The Department of Energy (DOE) has started accepting proposals for the bidding of the nine geothermal areas offered under the latest Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR). At least 10 local and foreign groups have already been pre-qualified.

According to Mario Marasigan, DOE assistant secretary, they are evaluating the submitted proposals at present to verify if they comply with the minimum requirements. These include various documentations in legal, technical, financial and work program.

The basis of their evaluation, Marasigan said, would be the technical (30%), financial (30%), and work program (40%) data submitted.

Companies that have pre-qualified and being evaluated right now are: Clean Rock Renewable Energy Resources Corp., Pan Pacific Power Corp., Energy Development Corp. and Envent Holding Philippines Inc. for Daklan, Benguet which covers 23,639 hectares.

For the 11,982.72 hectares geothermal area in Natib, Bataan 1, for firms were also pre-qualified. These are Magma Energy Corp., Pan Pacific Power Corp., Clean Rock Renewable Energy Resources Corp., and Energy Development.

The proposals of PNOC Renewables Corp., Energy Development, Aragorn Power and Energy Corp. and Envent Holding Philippines Inc. are being evaluated for the 9,324.30 hectares in Labo, Camarines Norte.

In areas where there is only one company who prequalified, further evaluations will be done by the DOE, to ensure the firm’s compliance to the bidding requirements. These areas are in Acupan, Benguet; Montelago, Oriental Mindoro; Isarog, Camarines Sur; Sta. Lourdes Tagburos, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan; Mainit, Surigao del Norte and Maibarara, Laguna/Batangas.

In their evaluation, Marasigan said they will award the geothermal service contract to the proponent who got the highest point based on the specific criteria. Proponent is “expected to drill one to two exploratory wells at the end of exploration period while areas where several well have already been drilled will come out with a counter proposal of drilling of additional exploration well, infill or production wells and conduct feasibility and appraisal studies that will lead to power plant development at the end of period.”

Evaluation of the proposals will start on November 25 until January 8, 2010. Contracts are scheduled to be awarded between January 29 to February 12, 2010.