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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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Competing cigarette companies in RP combined

Roy — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:40:00 +0000

Philip Morris International, Inc. (PMPI) joined forces with Philippine a cigarette company forming one big corporation that will control about 90 percent of the country’s lucrative cigarette market. The US-based tobacco giant formed a new company with local rival Fortune Tobacco Corp. (FTC), which is owned by Chinese-Filipino tycoon Lucio Tan.

The new company, to be called PMFTC, will be chaired by Tan, while the day to day operations will be managed by Philip Morris. The two companies, PMPI and FTC, did not disclose the monetary value of the deal. Each party will hold an equal interest in the new business.

Philip Morris said, “The Philippines is one of the largest global cigarette markets with an estimated 2009 volume of 85 billion cigarettes. FTC is one of the five largest privately-owned cigarette companies in the world.” President of Philip Morris Asia, Matteo Pellegrini, sees the transaction as “tremendous strategic fit” for their business that will cement the company’s leadership in South East Asia.

FTC competes mainly in the low-end market. Its leading brands are Fortune and Champion, and holds about 60 percent of the Philippine market. Philip Morris, on the other hand, competes with its premium priced brands, including Marlboro which is the world’s No. 1 selling cigarette.

The current employees of Fortune Tobacco numbers around 4,000, while of Philip Morris are around 1,000. There was no announcement if there will be job losses because of the new venture.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes smoking as the single biggest preventable cause of deaths worldwide.

According to studies made by WHO, as of 2002, there are 60 percent of men and 40 percent of adolescent boys who smoke in the Philippines. The number of smoking-related deaths in the country reached to about 20,000 every year. Also, WHO said that nearly 20 percent of income in the households of Filipino smokers is drained because of tobacco use.

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Metrobank grants ATI $250M credit line

Roy — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 04:05:26 +0000

The Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company (Metrobank) has awarded the Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) credit line worth P250 million. The ATI said the proceeds of the funds would be used to fund its projects in the next five years.

ATI, in its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), said it signed an agreement with Metrobank for a five-year revolving committed credit line facility. “The facility is intended as a stand-by fund to finance the project of the company in the ensuing years,” ATI said.

A subsidiary of Dubai Port World, ATI holds a 25-year right to operate container terminal A1 for the port of Batangas. Phase 1 of the Batangas port is already being operated by the company, while the movement of cargo through Phase II is being handled by ATI on a temporary basis. The company believes that once it officially takes over the operation of Phase II, it may be able to market the port better to international ship liners.

The Batangas is being groomed to be an alternative port for shipping lines to the Manila harbor, where the country’s bulk of cargoes pass through. ATI said they have already received intentions from several shipping liners to dock at the Batangas port, although they have not received any commitment from any company yet.

Rivaled only in size by ICTSI, ATI is the country’s leading port operators, and it gets bulk of its revenues from the ports it operates overseas. For the period January to September of last year, the company posted a P828 million net income, 36 percent higher than it has for the same period a year earlier. ATI is listed in the PSE, where its share price remains at P4.15 apiece as of the last trading day of last week.

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Ayala Land gears for bigger development projects this year

Roy — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:17:11 +0000

Ayala Land Inc. is looking at developing 32 new projects this year that they have set a capital expenditure budget of P27.17 billion for the projects. These projects include new malls and residential and office towers.

According to company chief finance officer Jaime Ysmael, the funding for the projects would be a combination of internal cash and borrowing. “Based on initial plans and computations, we will need P10 billion as group, but that could change. We will only borrow when we need it,” he said. A ready P15.5 billion in cash could be tapped by the company from its own resources to fund its capital spending, said Ysmael.

A unit of the Philippines’ oldest conglomerate Ayala Corp., Ayala Land is one of the very few companies in the Philippines that have instituted environment and social aspects in their development projects. It is also the country’s largest property developer and one of the most trusted real estate brands.

Most of its projects were catered to high-end market, but starting last year, Ayala Land shifted its strategy to include the market for homes priced at less than P1 million.

Like most companies, Ayala Land also felt the effect of the global economic crisis in the last two years. Its residential sales faltered and its profits reduced. The company then put on hold some of its high-end projects for almost a year until low interest rates started bringing consumer confidence back.

The company resumed its projects, across all business segments, in October 2009. The Ayala Center in Makati City is also being allotted a P20-billion budget for its planned redevelopment, its third major redevelopment since the 60’s. It will be a 3 to 5 year development plan which involved constructing 2 office buildings, a mall, a hotel and a high-end residential condominium.

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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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PBSP inducts 17 new corporate members

Roy — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 11:53:48 +0000

The Philippine Business for Business for Social Progress (PBSP) recently celebrated its 39th anniversary celebrations, and in line with its anniversary, the organization welcomed into its roster of members 17 new members, which bring its total tally of corporate partners to 255.

The PBSP is one of the country’s largest umbrella organizations for corporate charity work.

Among the list of new inductees this year, seven are from the Visayas, which include the Mayflower Inn, the Golden Prince Hotel and the Bohol Resort Development Corp. These companies have all been incorporating environment-friendly systems in their businesses.

Cebu has four companies joining the membership of PBSP, they are Virginia Food Inc., Vivant Corp., Espina, Perez-Espina & Associates, and Sunstar Publishing.

The list of new members continue with restaurant chain Cibo Inc., the makers of Hen Lin (M&H Food Corp.), HSBC Philippines and CDO Foodsphere, Batangas City-based rural bank Bangko Kabayan, TSM Shipping (Phils.) Inc., Bioessence, Philpacific Insurance Brokers and Managers Inc. and Sagittarius Mines, who all formalized their commitment to corporate citizenship by signing up as members.

The local licensee of United States restaurant chain Johnny Rockets, Camamiq Food Inc., who started doing business in 2009 also joined PBSP on its first year.

PBSP Chairman Manuel Pangilinan emphasized during the group’s foundation day celebrations, the organization’s advocacy to integrate civic activities into their respective core businesses and apply business solutions in helping to alleviate poverty in the country. He said, with three in ten Filipinos still classified as “poor,” the fight against poverty is now more urgent than ever.

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SM expanding retail stores to reach more customers

Roy — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 01:45:07 +0000

The SM Group announced recently that they will be opening up to 20 new stores in Metro Manila and surrounding provinces this year for their food retail unit. The company said it will be investing P1 billion to P2 billion for these projects.

The new outlets are targeted to bring Save More, SM Hypermarkets and Supermarkets closer to the public. Retail group executive vice president Robert Kwee said they wanted to be closer to the customers. He added they will not open new Makro outlets this year, and that they will converting some Makro stores into Save More outlets too. Kwee said they will converting the Makro outlets which have not been performing well.

As for Watson’s and SM Beauty, they are expected to grow by eight percent this year. For 2009, they posted a seven percent growth. “We are growing faster than the industry,” said Robert U. Sun, chief operating officer of Watsons Your Personal Store, Phils.

According to sun, 65 percent of the revenue of SM Beauty and Watson’s came from beauty while the remaining 35 percent came from health, but quickly added the health sector is growing faster that the beauty sector.

Sun explained that even during the financial crisis, people were still buying beauty products. People sometimes opted to buy the cheaper brands, or choose smaller packages, but the demand remained. He also expected their operating outlets to reach 245 by yearend. He said they also will be renovating six to ten outlets this year, which are estimated to cost P80 million.

Recently, the Beauty Experts Behind the Scene was launched at the Scene at the SM Makati Department Store. It was the official launch of Beauty by SM’s flagship store.

“The launch of Beauty by SM’s flagship store at SM Makati signals a new era,” said Robert Sun. “We now take Beauty to the next level. We have lined up many more stores to be renovated to ensure that we are able to provide our customers a unique shopping experience. I am proud to say that we are well on our way to making our vision to be the preferred beauty destination a reality.”

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Women’s group in Baguion converts trash into cash

Roy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 02:27:06 +0000

In Baguio City, enterprising housewives banded themselves together and formed a group which challenged the local government to send the city’s uncollected garbage to them. A challenge which have live up, up to this day.

These women from 10 barangay in the city have doing this for decades now – they have been converting trash into novelty items. The idea was introduced to them by the Jaime V. Ongpin Foundation Inc (JVOFI) and some environment advocates, at the start of the new millennium.

The novelty items that they produce are not your typical products which you can inside a mall. The women have produced market bags made of discarded fruit drink boxes, which sell for P100; they also wallets woven out of snack wrappers, which sell for P30 per piece; a sofa cushion from recycled newspapers; and decorative flowers fashioned out of used soda plastic containers, among others.

The products of this creative group of women are all directly delivered to their European buyers with who they have a direct supply contract, said Soledad Valencia, 54, who is the head of the Dinnadan Ethnic Handicrafts of Barangay Dontogan in Baguio. The contract is worth up to P200,000 of recycled décor, Valencia said. The most valued products are wallets and bags that show which kind of trash it is recycled from, she added.

Unfortunately, in spite of the success of this women’s group, there are still some resident in the city who realizes the economics of garbage. The city government is now allowing villages to tax their residents for the trash they produce, with the intention and hope that it would add value to things households throw away.

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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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Filinvest increases stake in two property firms

Roy — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:42:02 +0000

Filinvest Land Inc. plans to increase its stake in two property firms. The property unit of business tycoon Andrew Gotianun, in its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, said that its board approved the purchase of the 40% stake of Africa-Israel Properties Philippines Inc. in Cyberzone Properties Inc. (CPI) and the 40% interest of Africa-Israel Investments (Philippines) Inc. in Filinvest Africa-Israel Properties Inc. (FAPI) for P780 million and P383 million, respectively.

At present Filinvest Land owns 60 percent of the two companies. The acquisition will bring the firm’s interest in the two companies to 100%.

Africa-Israel Investment Philippines, the local unit of Africa-Israel Investment Ltd., is an Israeli listed company. It’s selling its holdings as part of the company’s global consolidation plan.

FAPI is the developer of Timberland Nature and Sports Club, which is approximately a 50-hectare land comprising the second phase of Timberland Heights project. The Timberland Heights is a 677-hectare township project in San Mateo Rizal.

Cyberzone Properties, on the other hand, owns and operates 10 information technology buildings with a gross leasable area of 94,146 square meters in Northgate Cyberzone in Filinvest Corporate City in Alabang.

“The approved acquisition price for the FAPI shares was computed at the company’s book value per share, while the CPI share was computed at a premium of 8.70% over the company’s book value as of September 30, 2008,” FLI said.

“The sale is subject to the final agreement of the terms and conditions by the parties and conditioned, among others, on the seller’s delivery to Filinvest Land of certain required documents for closing,” the company added.

The property firm noted, “The acquisition of Africa-Israel’s interest will enable FLI to consolidate its shares in the strong and stable recurring revenue stream from the two companies as well as provide incremental development potential to the FLI’s existing revenue stream.”

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Schwarzenegger to lead business delegation who’ll visit the country next year

Roy — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 10:09:17 +0000

The Terminator will visit the Philippines next year, but he won’t be here to promote nor shoot any film. Instead, the California Governor will be leading a group of US business delegation who will visit the country in February as part of the government’s marketing efforts to expand the market of Philippine exports and industries.

The announcement was made by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) who said that Schwarzenegger will be tagging along about 150 to 200 businessmen from San Francisco to discuss possible partnership deals with local industries. The main agenda of the delegation here would be green-energy technology.

The San Francisco delegation would be the first of a series of inbound business-matching sessions to be hosted by the Philippines next year for foreign trade and investment missions, according to DTI’s Bureau of Export Trade Promotion (BETP).

Aside from the Schwarzenegger-led delegates from San Francisco, visitors from Canada will also be flying in next year to discuss possible partnership with local firms. They would be looking on companies in the fields of education, medical tourism, import/export, banking and finance, and information technology (IT).

Likewise, delegates from Seattle and Silicon Valley would also come here for IT, Taiwan for diagnostic, Northern China for coco oil, and Portland for food products.

Meanwhile, local exporters would be brought by the government to about 20 countries next year too, for a similar pre-arranged business-matching sessions with foreign buyers.

The DTI said, “For 2010, BETP intends to conduct 23 Outbound Business Matchings (OBMs) to cover processed food, auto parts, fine jewelry, furniture houseware, wellness services, construction services, content for film and television, natural and organic products, and personal care products.”

Among the scheduled destination countries for Filipino exporters are Macau for processed food/marine products, India for snack food, Korea for marine products and natural and organic products, China for furniture, and Malaysia for Halal food.

Interested exporters who want to participate in these business-matching programs next year may contact BETP through (02)890-1200.

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Local IT companies acquire European IT company

Roy — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 04:49:24 +0000

The Philippine’s PhilWeb Corporation, together with the ISM Communications Corp., will be acquiring a controlling stake in Acentic, a European information technology company. The two companies, in their disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), said that they made a deal with a private equity firm based in United Kingdom to acquire 65% stake in Acentic. The companies said the shares would be bought for P1.3 billion or 19.5 million Euros. Both PhilWeb and ISM Communications expected the deal to be closed on January 11.

The two local companies, ISM Communications and Acentic, will be having equal shares in the acquisition of Acentic, while the remaining shares will be held by Niantic Holdings.

Acentic is an established international provider of information technology services to known hotels and hospitals. It provides digital television services and high-speed Internet access to hotel chains like the Intercontinental Hotel Group, Hilton, Hyatt, Accor and Marriot.

The companies’ disclosure to PSE reads, “Acentic is the perfect fit to the information technology and telecommunications business of ISM as well as the gaming expertise of PhilWeb. The entry of PhilWeb and ISM in Acentic will enable Acentic to grow its predominantly European market to include the Asia-Pacific region, the fastest-growing hotel market in the world. For this purpose, it is the intention of PhilWeb and ISM to organize and launch Acentic Asia to take advantage of the rapidly growing Asia-Pacific market.”

With PhilWeb participating in the acquisition of Acentic, the company would increase its business prospects beyond the Philippine market.

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RD Corp. to expand tuna cannery business

Roy — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:25:25 +0000

The RD Corporation, a Filipino owned company, is planning to expand its investment in the tuna cannery business and is earmarking about $15 million for its prospect. This was disclosed by RD Group chairman Rodrigo Rivera, who said that they will be starting the new cannery by the first quarter of 2010 and will be based in General Santos City. The group has already existing 6 canneries in the city.

With the planned cannery plant, the company hopes to increase their output of 140 tons per day to 200 tons daily. What more, the new plant will also create about 1,200 to 1,500 new jobs in the area. According to Rivera, tuna cannery is a very labor intensive business.

The company has 11,000 employees at present, of which 7,000 are in General City. Rivera said that 90% of their workforce is women.

Aside from the Philippine operations, RD Corp also has cannery plants in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The Indonesia plant produces 80 metric tons, while the Papua New Guinea plant produces 200 metric tons.

In the Philippines, they are the biggest exporter of canned tuna, with about 380 million metric tons of exports per year. RD Corp. exports 14 containers every day, and one container costs $40,000, said Rivera. Their exports comprised 30% of their canned tuna production. Aside from exporting canned tunas, they also sell scrap of fish overseas.

The RD Group is composed of four fishing companies. These are RD Fishing Industry Inc., RD Tuna Ventures Inc., South Sea Fishing Ventures Philippines Inc. and Asia Pacific Allied Fishing Ventures Corp.

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Hyundai capped 2009 with the launching of all-new Tucson

Roy — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:23:24 +0000

Last December 7, the yearend celebration in which Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI) was a part of, was held at the A. Venue Hall in Makati City. It was an event where HARI capped 2009 with a bang at the 2nd annual Media Noche Choral Festival where three groups from their media partners vied for the top prize.

As Christmas carols filled the air, a new car was unveiled by the end of the night.

The event was opened by Hyundai Motor Company’s SVP, Mr. Chun Young-Kil (via special video appearance), and Ambassador Choi Joong Kyung. In his speech, HARI’s president and chief executive officer, Ms. Fe Perez-Agudo thanked the people behind team HARI, their valued partners in the industry, the media and the motoring public. He said Hyundai exceeded past the 10,000 units sold milestone and landed 4th largest automaker in the world.

The event was made even more exciting by no less than Mr. Pure Energy himself, Gary Valenciano, who delivered his performance – a tribute to and inspired by the late Michael Jackson. During his performance, Gary V pulled the covers off the all-new Tucson.

The new car has two choices of engines: a Theta II 2.4-liter petrol engine (4WD) which churns out 177 ps @ 6,000 rpm, and a maximum torque of 23.1 kg-m @ 4,000 rpm. And a Theta II 2.0-liter petrol engine (2WD) which easily unleashes a maximum power output of 166 ps @ 6,200 rpm, and maximum torque of 20.1 kg-m@ 4,600 rpm. Power moves through either a 5-speed manual or 6-speed automatic to the front or all four wheels.

The exterior feature shows a flowing and graceful design with a new hexagonal grille, a sexy hood character line, with a “Z” form side character line, reminiscent of a sports coupe. The rear has the sloping tailgate glass meets swooping rear combination lamps and an oversized two-tone rear bumper. 18-inch alloy wheels add an even more athletic touch to its exterior design.

The interiors boast of a full leather seats with eight ways of adjustment. Its second row seats have spit-fold and full flat folding capabilities. It has premium sound system with a 6-CD changer and a built-in auxiliary input or USB port for multimedia capabilities. 4-door speakers, two tweeters and a subwoofer make listening while driving a real pleasure.

The new Tucson also has six airbags, the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) with Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Downhill Brake Control (DBC) and Hill-start Assist Control (HAC) as just some of the safety features. Prices for the Tucson variants (except Premium Variant) are as follows: Tucson Theta II 2.0 GL M/T 2WD, P988,000; Tucson Theta II 2.0 GL A/T 2WD, P1,038,000; Tucson Theta II 2.0 GLS A/T 2WD, P1,158,000; Tucson Theta II 2.4 GLS A/T 4WD, P1,458,000.

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SSS, other GFIs extends loan to SMEs

Roy — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:52:55 +0000

The pension fund provider for private companies’ employees, Social Security System, said it has extended so far a total of P1.2 billion in loans micro, small and medium enterprises. The agency provided the said grants under a credit implemented by government financial institutions.

Romulo Neri, SSS president and chief executive officer, said the loans were released over the past five years under the program called SULONG or the Small Unified Lending Opportunities for National Growth. SULONG was created in order to help businesses whose total assets does not exceed P100 million.

Under the said program, government financial institutions such as SSS extend loans to micro and small and medium enterprises providing them with manageable terms to help them expand and grow their businesses.

Neri said their agency shares in the government’s aim to spur economic growth by helping micro and small and medium enterprises gain wider access to credit through the SULONG program. SMEs make up over 99 percent of registered businesses in the country.

SULONG enabled SMEs to avail of loans of up to P5 million, payable within five years, including a maximum one year grace period. The agency releases the SULONG loans through banks.

Other government financial institutions (GFIs) which extend the SULONG loan program are the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank), the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), the Small Business (SB) Corp., Quedan Rural Credit and Guarantee Corp., Philippine Export and Import Credit Agency and National Livelihood Support Fund.

Landbank so far extended P93 billion from the program, while DBP extended P54.7 billion. SB Corp. president Benel Lagua said the SULONG program draws its success from efforts of GFIs and stakeholders in the private and public sectors such as the partner financial institutions (PFIs).

He said, “The PFIs help expand the program’s reach since their presence in the rural areas makes it easier for SMEs to access SULONG funds.” Lagua is also the SULONG Finance Committee chair.

According to the data from SB Corp, the government has already granted a total of P170.3 billion in loans for nearly 150,000 SMEs since 2004 through the SULONG program. SB Corp. is the program’s lead convenor.

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Philippine tourism targets Taiwanese tourists

Roy — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:57:38 +0000

Philippines beaches as an alternative to Hawaii.

This is what the Philippine government is pushing as it tries to promote to Taiwanese tourists Boracay, Palawan, Cebu and Davao, said the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO).

MECO director for tourism Ireneo Reyes said, “The beauty of our beaches remains one of our major draws for Taiwanese. Many couples looking to get married abroad do so in Hawaii, but Philippine beaches can more than hold their own, especially when is factored in.”

Hawaii is the leading beach wedding tourism destination among Taiwanese citizens today. The government is selling Boracay, Palawan, Cebu, Davao and other beaches in the Philippines as an alternative to Hawaii.

In its effort to accomplish this, MECO conducted product presentations in Kaohsiung, Taichung and Taipei last October 26 to 29. They also joined the Taipei International Travel Fair (TITF) which was held in Taipei World Trade Center last October 30 to November 2.

According to Reyes, Boracay is the top favorite destination in the Philippines among Taiwanese, followed by Cebu, Bohol, Palawan and Manila. Dive sites, golf and Filipino schools offering the English language program also got the interest of the Taiwanese.

In the recent travel fair, there was a bigger delegation from the Philippines headed by Tourism Undersecretary Eduardo Jarque, Jr., with the participation of 17 private tourism establishments, which include tour operators and hotel and resort representatives from Manila, Boracay, and Davao.

The participation of the Philippines generated good business leads for more Taiwanese visits for year. They were able to confirm 221 bookings for group tours, with more than 800 queries registered during the fair.

Boosting further this future influx of tourist from Taiwan is the addition of the Philippine Airlines’ Taipei-Kalibo route to the various charter flights from Taiwan to the Philippines. This route will on December 9 and it will be using a 150-seater A320 aircraft

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Noynoy, Mar and the senatoriables of LP, filed their candidacy

Roy — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:27:54 +0000

The Liberal Party (LP), led by its presidential and vice-presidential bet, Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Senator Manuel Roxas III, together with their senatoriables, was the first to file their certificate of candidacy as a group.

The senatorial line up of the LP include Anakbayan Partylist Representative Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, former National Economic Development Authority head Ralph Recto, lawyer Nereus Acosta, Congressman Ruffy Biazon, Teofisto Guingona III, and the wife of the late senator Raul Roco, Sonia Roco.

Meanwhile, former senator Franklin Drilon, who is also part of LP’s senatorial slate, will file his CoC separately. A slot in the LP line up was supposed to be reserved for former senator Sergio Osmeña III. He recently bolted the LP to protest the inclusion of Recto in the party’s slate.

Osmeña filed his candidacy last Thursday as an independent senatorial candidate. He said he does not approve of how the LP keeps recruiting “traditional politicians.” But he said that he will still support the candidacy of Aquino for the presidency.

Aquino however hopes that he (Osmeña) would return to the LP.

The party was originally to submit their CoCs on Friday, November 27, which is the birthday of the late Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr., Noynoy’s father, but later opted to file them on Saturday, November 28, instead. The reason being, Aquino had other activities lined up for the commemoration of his father’s birthday.

“There were so many activities lined up yesterday for his dad’s commemoration such as the inauguration of the volunteers’ headquarters in the afternoon. Senators Noy and Mar decided to file their CoCs today, which will be the only activity, and to give importance as well to the filing of CoCs of the senate slate,” said LP spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.

Before heading to the Comelec, the party marched from Roxas Boulevard to Intramuros, where they attended mass at Manila Cathedral and staged a mini-campaign rally.

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Opportunities in macapuno production

Roy — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:55:36 +0000

There is a big demand for the macapuno or the “mutant nut” in the Philippines as well as in other countries. This offers a big opportunity for Filipino entrepreneurs as they can venture into the business of producing planting or the nut itself.

The Philippine Coconut Authority Albay Research Center scientists were able to develop the Embryo-Cultured Macapuno in 2008, which made the production of “true-to-type” macapuno easy.

Cristeta Cueto, one of those scientists said that because of the big demand for the product, technology was able to offer big opportunity to prospective investors into tissue culture laboratory and nursery operations. Or, they might also be interested to produce the nut itself for domestic and foreign consumption.

Cueto, during her talk in the recent forum of investors at Nido Fortified Science Discover Center at the SM Mall of Asia last November 25, said that there is a wide gap between the supply and demand for macapuno nuts. The data from the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) confirms this.

That is why in 1999, 134,000 Embryo-Cultured macapuno was required to plant 1,160 hectares and serve the eight million macapuno nuts required to serve the market’s demand. “Since then, massive planting of laboratory-raised seedlings had been encouraged to retain the status of being the largest macapuno nut-producing country among the coconut-growing regions,” Cueto added.

She cited the opportunities in nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and industrial macapuno-based products waiting to be explored.

Cueto also mentioned the studies conducted by Dr. Ma. Judith B. Rodriguez of the PCA-ARC in the utilization of the nut’s highly viscous liquid endosperm that has high content of galactomannan, a polysaccharide, which can be used as alternative raw material for the production of hand and body lotion, hand sanitizers, hair cream, facial masks, hair gel, shampoo, conditioner, and even as biodegradable edible film.

This technology of producing embryo-cultured macapuno however is available only for commercial production of true-to-type macapuno planting materials. For investors interested in the mass production of embryo-cultured macapuno, seedling will be provided as well as complete technical training in the developed protocol, Cueto said.

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Sucess from a secret halo-halo recipe

Roy — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:29:45 +0000

His halo-halo business literally brings him called “cold cash.”

Xavier Mercado, a 28-year old entrepreneur from Iloilo, built his restaurant on a secret Ilokano recipe for halo-halo. “I love halo-halo, I consider it as one of the best desserts ever,” Mercado said.

His love story with halo-halo, a favorite summer concoction of Filipinos, started when he was just 10 years old. At the tender young age, he is already selling the dessert and snack treat in front of their house in San Fernando City.

In 2004, he opened his restaurant, “Halo-Halo de Iloko,” embarking into the entrepreneurial world with nothing but his passion for his favorite childhood treat, together with the support of his friends.

Mercado said, “We started from scratch. I borrowed the freezer and refrigerator from my parents. My partner, whose family is in the food catering business, borrowed her mom’s kitchen utensils. Sometimes, our friends would come by to help us serve our customers.”

Soon, through patience and consistent quality of product and service, their halo-halo eventually attracted people, gathering customers even during the rainy season. And all through this continuing success, Mercado’s secret remains to be a secret.

“I cook the ingredients at home. Then these are delivered to the store. I’m the only one who knows the recipe. Not even the restaurant’s personnel know what ingredients go in the halo-halo,” he said. Although he said that the main ingredients were sourced from other La Union towns.

But aside from the halo-halo, Mercado’s restaurant also offers other delectable snacks. He made sure that their menu would carry affordable Ilocano dishes, like emparedados, a native hamburger made from homemade longganisa and garlic bread; pinakbet with bagnet; pinapaitan and okoy.

Mercado said that the restaurant’s name was derived from the Museo de Iloko in Agoo town. He claimed it to be unique and inviting when you hear the word ‘de Iloko’ especially to those who come from other places.

“Halo-Halo de Iloko is my inspiration. It’s a product of my passion for cooking, of being creative to come up with authentic food,” Mercado said.

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Google offers stimulus package to RP businesses

Roy — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:18:17 +0000

Internet giant Google has come to the aid of Philippine business as it offers business stimulus package to local businesses. Google, together with STI Colleges has offered to build free websites for 200 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Aside from that, they will also be given P2,000 worth of free credits on Google AdWords.

This one-time offer, said Derek Callow, head of marketing for Google Southeast Asia, is meant to give local business a push and boost their online presence as they help them harness the power of the Web to grow their enterprise.

Callow said, “Any Philippine company that has a product to sell and a valid business permit can apply for the package.” The first 200 businesses who will sign up at the www.google.com.ph/stimulus until December 15, 2009 will have their company websites developed by STI College for free.

Subsequent participants, Callow added, will only have to pay a one-time free of P3,000 to STI College for the website development work.

There will be no hosting charges to the companies because the websites will be hosted on Blogger.com, which is owned by Google. The business stimulus package, Callow said, is “unique to this region.” It will enable local businesses to harness the cost-effectiveness and reach of the Internet to access a wider market and increase sales.

This project is being undertaken by Google in partnership with the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), Go Negosyo and STI Colleges.

“We had to take a step back and show businesses how to build a website first. It’s the first step in communicating with your buyers in a cost-effective way and promoting your products on the Web,” Callow said.

CICT Cyberservices group head Monchito Ibrahim said the government fully supports the project, which aims to develop an ICT-enabled economy.