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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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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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Online gaming company gets listed in the PSE

Roy — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:25:23 +0000

Philippine online gaming publisher IP E-Game Ventures Inc. (IP E-Games) was finally listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). The company held its listing ceremony at the PSE last Wednesday. IP E-Games is the first online gaming company to be listed in the PSE.

A subsidiary of technology firm IPVG Corp., IP E-Games was able to get approval on an initial introduction of 33,545,554 common shares from the Second Board of the PSE last February 1, 2010. The company’s stocks, listed under the symbol “EG” on the PSE board, will be traded at an indicative reference opening share price of P50 each.

IP E-Games Chief Executive Officer Enrique Gonzales said after the formal listing ceremony, “The listing does a lot for the company. This raises the bar in terms of how we interact with our stakeholders namely our public investors. It gives us access to capital market and it establishes a clear validation for the company.”

He added, “I think what that means for our gamers, what that means to the online gaming industry in the Philippines is we are now positioned to access funds from the capital market and we are going to invest those funds in building up the online gaming industry in the Philippines.”

IP E-Games is the publisher of popular Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) CABAL Online and RAN Online, and also the beat game Audition Dance Battle.

The company is not yet required to go through an initial public offering because it was listed by way of introduction, but PSE regulatory requirements mandate that companies who enlist should conduct a public offering and conform with the minimum public ownership requirement within 12 months.

Gonzales said they are planning to hold their public offering on the third or fourth quarter of the year. He believes that upcoming elections would give a “tremendous boost to the local economy.” “Plus, there is a sense of optimism once new leadership has been elected,” he added.

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New SM mall in Cebu to rise in 2012

Roy — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:25:52 +0000

The country’s largest operator of mall chains, SM Prime Holdings Inc., is yet on another expansion as it announced its plan to start the construction of its new shopping mall located within the 240-hectare South Road Properties (SRP) in Cebu 2010.

According to SM Prime chief financial officer Jeffrey Lim, the proposed shopping center will be having a gross floor area of 250,000 square meters, which make it the biggest the retail complex in Visayas and Mindanao. He said that the proposed shopping mall would be a smaller version of the 60-hectare Mall of Asia complex along Roxas Boulevard.

For the proposed mall in Cebu, the company has earmarked at least P20 billion in investment over the next 15-year period for a mixed-used development project at SRP which will also house a convention center, hotels, high-rise residential condominiums, school and a hospital. SM Prime offered to acquire the 28-hectare property within the SRP for P11,000 per square meter, or approximately P3 billion. The said property is a land reclamation project by the Cebu City government.

For this year, SM Prime will be opening five new malls in the country and one in China, where it will be spending P12.1 in total investments. Scheduled to be open this year are Calamba, Laguna; Masinag, Antipolo; Tarlac; Novaliches and San Pablo, Laguna.

The company also plans to open three new malls in Chonggqing, Suzhou, and Zibo, China, which are targeted to be opened between 2010 and 2012. Presently, it has three existing malls in China – SM Xiamen, Jinjiang and Chengdu.

SM Prime is targeting to have a total of 41 malls before the end of 2010, with a total gross floor area of 4.5 to 4.8 million square meters. Its malls are presently enjoying foot traffic of over 2.5 million per day.

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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 to build the biggest shopping mall in Visayas and Mindanao

Roy — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:17:28 +0000

SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPHI), member of the SM group companies, the largest mall chain in the country today, will soon be building the biggest shopping mall in the Visayas and Mindanao. In three years’ time, the P2-billion land deal between SMPHI and the city of Cebu is expected to be finished.

The agreement has been signed by Cebu City Mayor Tomas R. Osmeña and SMPHI president Hans Sy last week, citing the conditional sale of a 3-hectare area in the city’s reclamation project, which is the South Road Properties (SRP).

Sy said the project was their way of expressing their gratitude to Cebu for their unwavering support and confidence to the SM group. He also credits Osmeña for his “unwavering sales pitch.”

“This is it. This is the start of a whole new ball game,” Sy said, “To me, this is a start for us to roll up our sleeves and deliver a project that all Cebuanos will be proud of,” he continued.

SMPHI earlier paid the city about P270 million as bid bond for the project, after the signing of the deed of conditional sale, Sy turned over to Osmeña a check amounting to over P406.4 million which represents the balance in the down payment of P677.428 million for the property. Sy said the company would pour in a total of P20 billion for the entire project. They expect the whole project to be finished in eight years.

Sy also said that the project is more than just another shopping complex, because they will integrate development projects in the area, which include, aside from a shopping mall, two hotels, a university, and a hospital which would cost P20 billion upon completion.

The shopping mall project was conceptualized based on what Osmeña had envisioned for the SRP, said Ronal G. Tumao, SMPHI vice president for marketing research and planning department.

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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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Creative process outsourcing pushed by local animators

Roy — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:37:51 +0000

Our local animators have already proven themselves in the international arena, and their works have sought by many big international animation film companies. Now, they are hoping that Filipino animators would gain an even bigger spot on the world animation map.

The Animation Council of the Philippines Inc. (ACPI) is advocating “creative process outsourcing” CPO and believe that the country could be a leader this sector after proving to be a formidable force in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.

ACPI president Rowena Bagadion said in a statement, “I am personally advocating to various agencies like the Business Process Association of the Philippines, Department of Trade and Industry, and Department of Foreign Affairs that the Philippines should claim CPO, given the Filipinos’ inherent talent in designing anything from print animation to product modeling.”

Bagadion is also pushing for creative industries to be consolidated under one umbrella organization, this it will be easier for the country to market such services and create a brand for itself in the international arena.

An umbrella organization for CPO should cover the animation and game development industries, music and sound engineering, advertising, film, industrial design, architecture, comics, photography, publishing, and also those that fell under corporate communication such as writing and conceptualization.

“We want our brand of animation. If one is familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the Filipino industry has matured to a point where we are now seeking for self-actualization,” she said.

Because of consistency in workmanship, quickness in delivering output, English proficiency, understanding of concepts and story lines, and not to mention a lower cost for international companies, our local animation industry has been making its mark in the world.

More than 5,000 jobs to local animators are being provided by the industry, and contribute to the dollar inflow of the country. Last year’s animation revenue stood at $110 million.

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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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BIR fielding out personnel to check on companies’ year-end inventories

Roy — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:47:49 +0000

The last week of the year will see the field personnel of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) going out and visiting businesses and their warehouses. The revenue agency will be deploying its personnel to check out and monitor taxpayers’ year-end inventory.

BIR Commissioner Joel Tan-Torres issued Revenue Memorandum Order No. 40-2009, which seeks to validate the correctness of inventory lists for taxable year 2009.

Tan-Torres said, “We can expect our people to celebrate the New Year in warehouses to check inventories of taxpayers. The best way to ensure that the inventories are properly reported by the taxpayers is for our revenue officers to be present during the conduct of the annual inventory taking.”

In line with the RMO No. 40-2009, the BIR Commissioner ordered revenue offices in a separate memorandum, to augment the pool of assessment offices.

The takeoff point of the inventory, according to the order, will be the financial statements and inventory lists for taxable year 2008, which were submitted to the revenue district office.

Revenue district offices will be preparing a list of taxpayers whose peso value of ending inventory is 50 percent more than its declared sales for the year. With the exception of car dealers, excise taxpayers, drugstores, supermarkets, groceries, and other taxpayers who maintain fast-moving goods.

The agency has authorized its regional tax officials last week to move their personnel to new assignments as part of its strategy to improve collection efficiency and tax administration.

The BIR missed its P810-billion target last year. It was only able to collect P778 billion then. This year, the tax bureau is required to collect P798.5 billion and P875.1 billion next year.

Officials of the agency said that this year’s goal would be missed because of various tax cuts and a slower economy. The government has also lowered the bureau’s goal next year.

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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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Ongpin group gets back in the mining business

Roy — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 04:09:59 +0000

The group of Roberto V. Ongpin will return to the mining and oil exploration business soon after it acquired Atok-Big Wedge Co., Inc. Earlier, the company of former trade minister Ongpin sold its mining firm Philex Mining Corp.

It its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Atok Big Wedge said it had a management and board shake-up reflect the entry of Ongpin’s group, as it sought to raise the company’s stock to P10 billion from P60 million.

The group, which also included former Philex president Walter Brown and Ongpin’s nephew, Petro Corp. president and former finance undersecretary Eric Recto, has also committed to infuse P500 million to Atok Big Wed through private placement, whose final terms is yet to be determined.

After the shake-up, Ongpin emerges as the elected chair, Recto as vice chair and Brown as president. The new board also approved a resolution to change the primary purpose of Atok Big Wedge from a holding firm to a mining, oil, gas and natural resources development company.

Aside from his inclusion in the Atok Big Wedge board, Brown is also the chair and president of Monte Oro Resources and Energy Inc. and Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp. He is also the president and CEO of National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, director of Philippine Realty and Holdings Corp., Philodrill Corp., and Ongpin-led ISM Communications Corp.

Meanwhile, Mario Oreta, ISM Communications/Philweb Corp. director and Alphaland Corp. president was named as vice president and director of Atok Big Wedge, and Philweb president Dennis Valdes was named treasurer and director.

Completing the line-up of the nine-member board are Deflin Wenceslao Jr., and Victor Kalaw. Mario Locsin and Development Bank of the Philippines president Reynaldo David were named independent directors.

The proposed P10-billion increase in capital stock will be divided into 10 billion common shares with a par value of P1.

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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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Bidding for three hydro-power facilities set by PSALM

Roy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:10:24 +0000

The bidding for the last set of management contracts for National Power Corp. (Napocor) assets to be auctioned off this year has been set on December 15 by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM).

According to the president of PSALM, Jose Ibazeta, the bidding for the appointment of the independent power producer administrators (IPPAs) to manage Napocor’s contracted capacities in the Bakun, Benguet and San Roque hydroelectric power plants, has been approved by their board.

“I am sure this will be an exciting one because there are lots of bidders,” Ibazeta said, as he expressed hope that the nine groups who have earlier expressed their intention to bid will participate. Ibazeta also stressed that there will not grant request for extension of bidding, “There will be no more extensions. We will proceed as scheduled.”

It could be noted that the original schedule of the bidding of the Bakun, Benguet and San Roque IPPAs was on November 11. It was however moved upon the request of the bidders.

To be bid out this time are Napocor’s contracted capacities in the 70-megawatt (MW) Bakun hydroelectric power plant, the 30-MW Benguet mini hydropower plants, and the 345-MW San Roque multipurpose hydroelectric power plant, which are all located in Northern Luzon.

The Benguet mini-hydro facilities is in the Cordillera Administrative Region and the Bakun plant is located in Alilem, Ilocos Sur. The Bakun and Benguet contracts will be bid out as one package. Meanwhile, the San Roque hydro plant is based in San Manuel, Pangasinan.

Participating bidders should bid for all the hydro power facilities. Those who will only submit an offer for just one contracted capacities will disqualified. Joint bid for any of the contracted capacities will not be allowed also.

A bidder can win as many as he can. According to the PSALM rules, qualified bidders may be declared the winning bidder for any or all of the contracted parties.

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Trade fair to feature products from Cordillera Autonomous Region

Roy — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:00:25 +0000

To help entrepreneurs, especially those who were affected by the recent typhoons, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said that they will be staging the trade fair called Impakabsat.

A yearly regional trade fair of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Impakabsat features products from Ifugao, Mountain Province, Abra, Kalinga, Apayao, Benguet and Baguio, where the events name was derived.

This year though, DTI said the event will be executed in a bigger scale. The trade agency said the event will prove that Northern Luzon people can quickly recover even in the face of calamities. Literally motivated by the Ilocano word “kabsat” or “kinnabsatan” which means “brotherly pact,” the SMEs from this region were able to learn what it meant to be competitive while being productive.

The event, spearheaded by the DTI, will be fully supported by the regional and provincial government units in CAR. Participating manufacturers will display their food and beverages in the event, such as fruit wines and veggie-noodles. It will be opened on December 22, 2009 at the Megatrade Hall 1, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City.

From a mere selling of products, Impakabsat has evolved into a celebration and exposition of upland culture that also promote the tourism and investment potential of the upland region.

Aside from the food and wine products, the usual trade displays include furniture and furnishings, woodcrafts, loom woven products, bamboo craft, silver craft, more processed food s and other items.

The Impakabsat 2009 will also feature new designs and creation by Cordillera craftsmen through the RDC Souvenir Products Development Project, and the identified One-Town-One-Product (OTOP) companies and product of CARP beneficiaries of the different municipalities in CAR.

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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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iRemit acquired license to operate in Europe

Roy — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:57:21 +0000

I-Remit Inc. continues to expand its presence all over the world. This time, the Filipino-owned non-bank remittance company has acquired a license to do business in Europe. The company said it received a copy of a letter which came from Banca D’ Italia Eurosistema advising of the registration of iRemit Europe in the general list of financial intermediaries as a provider of money transfer services under Art. 106 of the legislative decree of Italy’s Banking Law.

With the registration, iRemit said it will be able to widen its market reach, “allowing it to service the remittance needs of more Filipinos living and working in Italy.”

Italy is the second most popular destination-country of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Europe. These comprises of about 200,000 of vast majority in the domestic service sector, while a number are also employed in the nursing, skilled, and semi-skilled fields.

iRemit signed a joint earlier, a joint venture agreement with the Elite Exchange Remittance Services S.S. which will allow them to provide remittance services to Filipino workers in Greece. There are about 4,000 Filipinos in Greece, according to the statistics from the Philippine Embassy.

At present, the company has established its operations in 27 countries across Asia Pacific, North America, Europe and the Middle East, with almost 5,000 payout partners in the Philippines.

Recently, it also opened another branch in Canada, located in West Edmonton Mall, the largest shopping mall in North America and the fifth largest in the world. The new outlet, which is iRemit’s fifth in Canada, is aimed not only to service the Filipinos working there, but also the Chinese communities in the area as well.

That is because, the company was able to have a special agreement with the Bank of China Ltd. (BOC), one of China’s four state-owned commercial banks, wherein iRemit was able to offer same-day processing of remittances which beneficiaries in China may withdraw from any Bank of China’s over 12,000 domestic branches.

Meanwhile, iRemit is also securing a license to operate in Macau to further expand its customer base.

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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.