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Bebeng intensified into a storm

Roy — Sat, 07 May 2011 12:32:56 +0000

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said on Saturday that tropical depression “Bebeng” has intensified into a storm. According to PAGASA, Bebeng is threatening to hit the Bicol region.

Bebeng was spotted 220 kilometers east of Legaspi City with maximum winds of 65 kilometers per hour near the center as of 4 p.m. Saturday. PAGASA has raised public storm signal no. 2 on the following provinces: Sorsogon, Albay, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, and Northern Samar.

The following areas were placed under public storm signal no. 1: Masbate, Ticao Island, Burias Island, Camarines Norte, Quezon, Polillo Island, Aurora, Marinduque, Easter Samar, and Western Samar.

It is expected to be around 69 kilometers northeast of Daet, Camarines Norte on Sunday afternoon, and by Monday, Bebeng is expected to be 110 kilometers north of Baler, Aurora or 70 km south of Tuguegarao City, Cagayan.

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRMC) advised residents living near rivers and lakes in the northern part of the country to “take appropriate actions.” The NDRMC said that the 26 low-lying areas near the Bicol River Basis are likely to be affected by the slow rise in the water. Flooding may also be possible as basin rainfall will likely be moderate to heavy.

Bebeng has also caused the cancellation of at least six domestic flights in 10 provinces in Northern and Central Philippines. According to the Manila International Airport Authority media affairs division, the cancelled flights included Air Philippines’ flight to and from Catarman. Cebu Pacific also had it flights to and from Catarman cancelled.

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JG Summit earmarked $700 M for its 2011 expansion

Roy — Fri, 06 May 2011 01:00:57 +0000

JG Summit Holdings Inc. is earmarking $700 million for the planned expansion this year. Most of these funds are allocated for its petrochemical and airline businesses.

JG Summit president Lance Gokongwei said the petrochemical business will be the company’s priority in the next three years. JG Summit also has stake in a property developer and may expand into power generation.

With sale of its stake in Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc. (Digitel) to Philippines Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), the company will also be able to cut its debt by $600 million, giving it “more room” for fund-raising. Also the asset sale is said to be “strategically good for JG Summit because it frees up capital that the company can invest in ventures that potentially will pay a higher return.”

Gokongwei said after the sale of its Digitel stocks to PLDT, “We will be very lightly leveraged. We will have a very good balance sheet.” According to data compiled by Bloomberg, JG Summit has bonds and loans worth P69 billion.

Last December, JG Summit said it may sell 31 percent of its stake in Cebu Air Inc. to fund expansion and pay debt, however, after the Digitel-PLDT deal, the company will have “no immediate” need to sell shares. JG Summit is the majority owner of Cebu Air, the country’s biggest budget carrier.

Gokongwei said JG Summit will invest about $200 million in a naphtha cracker plant worth $700 million that may start operations by 2013, snack and iced-tea maker Universal Robina Corp. may spend $80 million to $90 million, property unit Robinsons Land Corp. will spend as much as $200 million on capital expenditure this year, while Cebu Air will spend around $200 million.

JG Summit also plans to bid for airport projects that the government will be opening to companies for investment, and is mulling to build a power plant for its petrochemical business, said Gokongwei.

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PNOC-EC eyes expansion of coal production

Roy — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:35:27 +0000

The Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corporation (PNOC-EC) earmarked P900 million for the expansion of its coal mining ventures in Zamboanga Sibugay in Western Mindanao. The state-run oil exploration company said that its board of directors has already approved the special budget “to fund the development of existing coal mine” that will enable it to double its annual production of steaming coal to 500,000 metric tons.

The expansion is in line with company’s mandate to develop more sources of indigenous energy for the country’s needs. PNOC-EC’s coal mine in Zamboanga Sibugay is said to produce the highest grade of coal quality in the country. Developments in the mine are underpinned by the company’s coal operating contracts 41 and 152 as awarded by the Department of Energy.

Aside from its Zamboanga Sibugay mine, the company is likewise engaged in coal exploration and development activities in Isabela and Surigao del Sur via coal operating contracts 122, 141 and 140. PNOC-EC also operates coal terminals in Zamboanga Sibugay, Cebu, Batangas, and North Harbor for its integrated coal trading activities. These locations have been serving as handling facilities for local as well as imported coal which the company supplies to power plants and cement factories.

PNOC-EC is also into oil and gas exploration. It currently holds interest along prospect areas in Cagayan, Ragay Gulf, Offshore Mindoro, Calamian, West Calamian, West Balabac and East Sabina. Its biggest venture in oil and gas development to date is still the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project. Its Service Contract (SC) 38 for the Malampaya field is only the acreage in the production phase; while the rest are still exploration blocks.

The company is also aligning a budget of $100 million for its next round of investment in the Malampaya project. Given its current financial standing, PNOC-EC noted that it is all set for capital infusion once the project consortium-members comes off for a “cash call.”

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PAL is expecting increased number of passengers for Holy Week

Roy — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 07:00:26 +0000

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines is expecting the number of its passenger this Holy Week to be slightly higher than those that they had last year. PAL predicted that from April 17 to April 24, it will fly close to 200,000 passengers throughout its network of 26 international and 20 domestic destinations. The airline also said that it will maintain its regular domestic and international schedules with minor adjustments in domestic flights on Good Friday and Black Saturday.

PAL is expecting its international passenger to exceed 90,000 which reflects a 5% increase compared to its 2010 figure. On the other hand, its total domestic passengers are expected to reach about 100,000, up from its last year’s figure of 97,838.

The airline claims that the positive passenger numbers only indicates their continuing confidence in the flag carrier, in spite of the many challenges they encountered.

The Philippine Airline’s flight for Holy Week (except for 16 domestic flights) will follow published schedules.

In observance of Good Friday and Black Saturday, the following will not be operated:

April 22 – PR131/132 & PR157/158 (Manila-Bacolod, v.v.); PR849/850 & PR855/856 (Manila-Cebu, v.v.); PR185/186 & PR281/282 (Manila-Cagayan de Oro, v.v.); PR187/188 (Manila-Cotabato, v.v.); PR821/822 (Manila-Davao, v.v.); PR139/140 & PR143/144 (Manila-Iloilo, v.v.); PR393/394 (Manila-Tacloban, v.v.); and PR123/124 (Manila-Zamboanga, v.v.)

April 23 – PR843/844 (Manila-Cebu, v.v.); PR181/182 (Manila-Cagayan de Oro, v.v.); PR139/140 & PR143/144 (Manila-Iloilo, v.v.)

For PAL employees who are required to report for duty between April 21 (Maundy Thursday) and April 24 (Easter Sunday), the company said they will get a special incentive pay.

PAL is giving the additional P700 per day on top of the daily rate, holiday pay (double the daily rate) and overtime to those required to work during the holidays.

Those who will be reporting on the said dates include pilots, flight attendants, ground staff, administrative personnel and management officials.

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Cebu Pacific buys more planes to expand operations

Roy — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:33:20 +0000

Listed Cebu Air Inc. was the first company brave enough to hold an initial public offering (IPO) after the global financial meltdown. It was also the second largest IPO in the history of the Philippines Stock Exchange (PSE). From the IPO, the company was able to raise P23.3 billion. The bulk of the fund came from the sale of existing shares held by parent company JG Summit Holdings Inc. The company said that from its held IPO, only 30.66 million new shares were issued, which equals only to P3.8 billion fresh funds for expansion from the offering.

The operator of the budget airline Cebu Pacific has spent part of the proceeds from its IPO to purchase several new aircraft as part of its plan to expand operations. In its disclosure to the PSE, the Gokongwei-led airline said that from December 2010 to March of this year, it spent P619.12 million for pre-delivery payment of six new aircraft. As of March, Cebu Air had P3.12 billion left from the proceeds of its IPO, which is down from the P3.74 billion in IPO proceeds the company had at the end of last year.

In 2010, the airline company declared a $1.4-billion expansion program for the acquisition of new planes that would allow the airline to expand its domestic and international network. Cebu Pacific said it would buy 22 new Airbus A320 up to 2014, which will almost double the size of its current fleet.

Before the end of 2010, Cebu Pacific took delivery of three new Airbus A320 aircraft units with which to expand operations.

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Joint Foreign Chamber lauds open skies policy

Roy — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 02:16:04 +0000

A group of foreign businessmen is expressed their support for the implement of an open-skies regime by the Aquino administration via Executive Order (EO) 29. The Joint Foreign Chambers says this would better allow market forces to come into play and ultimately boost tourist arrivals in the country. The group said that the policy was in line with Aquino’s promise that “the Philippines is open for business under new management.”

EO 29 eases restrictions on foreign airlines in international airports outside Metro Manila. It gives the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) authority to grant additional frequencies or capacities to foreign carriers, but still prohibits cabotage, which refers to a foreign airline’s transport of people or good between two or more points within the country.

Local carriers, however, are opposing the implementation of the said executive order. The Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air said it would give foreign carriers undue advantage, while the foreign chambers said its benefits to the Philippines were far-reaching.

The foreign chambers said that with the increasing tourist arrivals, the result would be more and jobs and revenues for people who are directly and indirectly involved in the tourism service industry. The group also noted that for every foreign tourist who comes to the Philippines, an average of $1,000 is spent and one direct or indirect job is created, of which majority are in rural areas and less developed provinces.

“We wish to extend full support for President Aquino’s visionary leadership on civil aviation embodied in EO 29. The policy allows market forces to determine supply and demand for seats to secondary gateways throughout the country. With this new policy, the administration has taken a giant step toward its goal of doubling annual tourist arrivals to more than six million by 2016,” the Joint Foreign Chambers said.

The foreign chamber is also seeking the removal of the common carriers’ tax and the gross Philippine billings tax to unleash the creativity and dynamism of the private sector. “Continuation of these taxes risks losing some of the present international air services into the country, as well as deterring new ones, and departs from standard international practices,” the group said.

It added, “With these proactive reforms of the Aquino administration, we can look forward to continued rapid expansion of the aviation market in the Philippines, more competitive pricing and better service, and new routes to drive tourism, investment and employment.”

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BSP said banking system in the country is stable

Roy — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 07:52:31 +0000

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said that despite the closure of Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank last week, the country’s banking industry remains sound and stable. BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said they have not monitored any negative impact on the banking industry sine Banco Filipino was ordered closed by the Monetary Board (MB) last March 17.

“As we said in our statement, the banking system remains sound and stable. We have not observed any negative impact on the rest of the banking system,” he stressed.

Monetary authorities believe that 2010 was a banner year for the Philippine banks contributing largely to the country’s stronger-than-expected economic growth. Bank deposits went up by 9.8 percent to P5.1 trillion last year while banks’ loans posted a double-digit growth of 11 percent to P2.314 trillion as of January.

Income of Philippine banks doubled to about P4.1 billion as of end-June last year from P20.5 billion as of end-June 2009. The total assets of the banking system rose by 7.2 percent to P6.7 trillion as of end-September last year from P6.2 trillion as of end-September 2009.

The BSP reported that the banking system posted a capital adequacy ratio of 15.23 percent on solo basis and 16.21 percent on consolidated basis as of end-June last year. This ratio was well above the 10 percent minimum requirement of the BSP and the 8 percent standard ratio of the Basel Accord.

The implementation of BSP Circular 639 or the implementing regulation on the International Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP) this year would further strengthen the country’s financial sector. And to add to that, BSP also raised the minimum capital requirement for new entrants in the banking industry to boost their competitiveness and further strengthen the country’s banking system.

From the P325 million, the BSP raised the minimum capital requirement for thrift banks to P1 billion for those with head offices in Metro Manila. For those whose head offices are in Cebu and Davao, the capital requirement was raised from P52 million to P500 million. In other areas, minimum capital requirement for thrift banks was also raised to P250 million from P52 million.

This capital requirement will be implemented on new thrift banks, those converting their existing banks to a thrift bank, and those relocating their head office in areas of higher classification.

The minimum capital requirement for rural banks was also raised by BSP last November. For those with head offices in Metro Manila, it is now P100 million from the previous level of P26 million; for those whose head offices are located in Cebu and Davao, it was increased from P13 million to P50 million. Those in municipalities belonging to first to fourth class, it was raised to P10 million from P6.5 million, and those in the fifth to sixth class municipalities, it was raised P5 million from a previous P2.6 million.

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Aquino signs executive order allowing “open skies” policy

Roy — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 22:55:57 +0000

Executive Order 29 (EO 29) or the “open skies” policy was signed by President Benigno Aquino III on March 14, authorizing the Philippine air panels to offer third, fourth and fifth freedom rights to the country’s airport other than the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) without restrictions as to frequency, capacity, type of aircraft and other arrangements that will serve the national interest as may be determined by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB).

EO 29 authorizes the CAB to impose a period or other conditions on the availment or use by foreign carriers of such additional frequencies. It also prevents CAB from granting foreign air carriers cabotage rights or the right to transport passengers and goods from two points in the Philippines.

Another executive order, EO 28, which was also signed on the same day, reorganizes the Philippine air negotiating panel and the Philippine air consultation panel.

The Philippine air negotiating panel would be responsible for the initial negotiations that should lead to the conclusion of air service agreements. It will be chaired by the secretary of trade or a duly authorized representative and its members would come from the Department of Transportation and Communication and Tourism, and the executive director of CAB.

While the Philippine air consultation panel will be tasked with undertaking the succeeding negotiations of the air service agreements or similar agreements. It will be chaired by the secretary of transportation and the CAB executive director will be its vice chair. Completing the members of the panels are representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry, Foreign Affairs, Labor and Employment and Tourism.

Third freedom rights refer to the freedom of an airline to carry traffic from a home country to another country for the purpose of commercial services, while fourth freedom right is the privilege to pick up traffic from another country to a home country for commercial services. Fifth freedom right is given to a carrier to carry traffic between two foreign countries on a flight that either originated in or is destined for the carrier’s home country.

Communication secretary Ramon Carandan said, “With this we look forward to an increase in traffic coming in to the Philippines that we hope will bring in more tourists, more investments and spur competition in the Philippine aviation industry and allow it to be more competitive internationally.”

Meanwhile, Cebu Pacific has urged the Philippine government to that ensure that whatever rights granted to foreign airlines under the new “open skies” policy should also be given to local carriers when flying abroad.

“EO 29 would afford foreign airlines benefits so critical that if they are not reciprocated by foreign governments, the growth and even the survival of Philippine carriers are at risk,” Cebu Pacific said.

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Philippines intensify tourism campaign in India

Roy — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 03:08:56 +0000

A Philippine delegation, headed by the Department of Tourism (DoT), will be flying to India, particularly in New Delhi and Mumbai, to conduct a sales presentation in time for the production of tour packages for the April-June Indian travel season. The DoT is looking to capture a bigger market share of the 15 million outbound tourists from India.

Secretary Alberto Lim of the DoT said that the on-going sales mission will serve as the department’s major drive to showcase Manila and Cebu as ideal destinations for Indian tourists.

Benito Bengzon, Jr., Assistant Secretary for International Tourism Promotions, said “With more than fifty percent increase on target arrivals from India, the mission will ensure that the Philippines will be in the 2011 tour offerings.” While DoT Marketing Team India head Raymund Glen Agustin said, “The program involves meetings with the presidents and CEO’s of top Indian tour wholesalers, one-on-one business meetings between Indian tour operators and their Philippine counterparts, as well as presentation updates on connectivity and entry requirements to the Philippines.”

In the first week of December, a group of 254 top producers of Nerolac Paints in India for their four-day incentive tour. The group personally chooses Philippines for their incentive. They visited Manila, Tagaytay, and Pagsanjan for some sight-seeing, casino gamin, night-life entertainment and shopping activities.

Agustin said the group was the largest incentive group which came from India this year. He said the tour was made possible by the Cutting Edge, an Indian-based tour operator, and its local counterpart Shroff International Travel Care. He added that the arrival of such huge group was the direct result of the department’s marketing and promotional efforts for the Indian Market.

“Cutting Edge participated in the DoT initiated familiarization tour for Indian travel agents last year and has committed to send next year incentive groups covering more than a thousand individuals on a staggered basis,” Agustin said.

For his part, Secretary Lim said aside from the incentive groups, industry partners from India, through their local counterparts, will be sending more tourists to the Philippines. And this will be made more possible with the resumption of the Philippine Airline’s MLA-New Delhi flights in March next year.

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Cebu dancing tax collectors

Roy — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 06:51:47 +0000

I am sure that by now, many have seen the viral video that was the dancing flight attendants. Not really sure if they were inspired by that video, but not long after that, the Cebu City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) came up with their own dancing tax collectors. And just a few days after their launched, the dancing tax collectors from the treasurer’s office have caught on with the taxpaying public.

No less than their boss, City Treasurer Ofelia Oliva leads the dancing tax collectors. She said that many people, mostly taxpayers, were calling their office asking for the schedule of the dancing collectors so they can go to their office and watch the presentation. “I cannot say it is because of the dancing tax collectors for I have not conducted any survey, but I can see that the taxpayers are really interested about them,” Oliva said.

Edward Kokseng, one of the owners of the restaurant Golden Cowrie in Cebu, who admits that he is a converted fan, went to their office to see the dancing tax collectors. “I usually ask my staff to pay the tax but when I read the news about the dancing tax collectors, I got interested,” he said. Kokseng added that the dancing was an effective measure to encourage taxpayers to pay on time and it helps the employees of the City Treasurer’s office to escape from their work-related stress.

About 320 tax collectors, led by Oliva, performed to a dance medley of 10 songs, including “Material Girl”, “I Will Survive”, “Mambo No. 5”, “Poker Face”, “Let’s Get Loud”, and “She Bangs.” During the performance, Oliva and some of her employees also invite the taxpayers to dance with them.

International media such as Ian McLean, Hawaii-based producer and director of Global Media was said to have caught interest on the dancing tax collectors. He joined local media in covering the presentation and said he will upload it on YouTube.

A special Halloween presentation on October 29 is being cooked by the City Treasurer’s Office and a Christmas caroling number in December, according to Oliva who said that she is very proud of her dancing collectors.

Here’s their video on YouTube

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San Miguel to put the country’s first underwater hotel

Roy — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 14:11:05 +0000

The real estate subsidiary of conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SM) is planning to launch soon, the country’s first “underwater hotel.” The said project is part of the four new developments of San Miguel Properties Inc. (SMP) which will start next year, as the company’s foray into the tourism segment begins.

Alan Cruz, head of the SMP real estate development, said the four projects are, a “spiritual” hub in a 125-hectare property in Alfonso, Cavite; a midrise condominium cluster in a 2.8-hectare property along Outlook Drive in Baguio City; a 25-hectare mixed-use beachfront development on Boracay Island; and an ambitious underwater hotel off Busuanga Island near Coron Island in Northern Palawan.

Cruz said that all the project would happen next year as far as their implementation is concern, while the planning stages will all happen this year.”We are going to entertain the experts in the industry, in terms of operating a hotel or maybe a country club. That is applicable for Boracay and, to a certain extent, in the Cavite project,” he added.

In the recently concluded Philippine Real Estate Fair, SMP “rebranded and relaunched” itself in its bid to become a major property developer in the next five years. The company plans to launch its Cavite project first, from which a 33-hectare parcel of land was donated to the healing ministry of Companion of the Cross priest Fernando Suarez. The said property may house venues for weddings, baptisms, retreat houses, as well as a 100-meter tall statue of the Virgin Mary. In order to sustain the spiritual component of the project, SMP is planning to build residential and commercial projects in the area.

The company also stated earlier that it is spending P6 billion to develop a high-rise residential project in Makati City and an American-inspired gated community in General Trias, Cavite. Existing projects of the firm include Maravilla, Bel Aldea in General Trias, The Legacy in Las Piñas City and Buenavista Homes in Cebu.

SMP finance and administration head Gil Somblingo said in an earlier interview that they are expecting to generate P1 billion in sales this year.

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Convergys, to hire 3,600 more employees this year

Roy — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:40:49 +0000

Convergys Corp., the largest private employer in the Philippines, is planning to hire additional 3,600 new employees as it expands its five existing sites in the country to bring their total number of workforce to 25,000 by the end of 2010. Marife Zamora, country manager of Convergys Philippines, said the expansion is meant to meet the robust demand of its clients, who belong to the top Fortune 50 list of global firms.

“Drawing upon the outstanding service and support Convergys employees in the Philippines provide to our clients around the globe, in addition to the continued demand from these clients to house their customer support in the Philippines, it was only logical that we expand our existing capacities,” Zamora said.

At present, Convergys has 12 sites in the Philippines. Seven are in Metro Manila, three in Cebu City, one in Bacolod City and one in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. The five Convergys sites with expanded capacities are: UP TechnoHub in Diliman, Quezon City; Nuvali in Laguna; San Lazaro in Sta. Cruz, Manila; Cebu i3 in AsiaTown Cebu, and Bacolod. These sites would require 2,300 additional work stations for 3,600 workers.

The Philippines sites of the global contact center now serve 27 clients across a wide spectrum of industries including retail, telcos, cable, technology companies, healthcare, finance and automotive firms belonging to the top 27 of the top 50 Forbes list of companies. All of its clients are mostly US-based, except for one which is based in the United Kingdom.

According to Zamora, they – Convergys Philippines, has been a choice of companies because of their outstanding performance and also of the quality of the local talent pool.

For his part, Convergys director for business development Jose Mari P. Mercado said they are concentrating on building its brand. He said they have mounted a branding strategy to ensure they are on top of mind for the targeted manpower pool.

“Branding is a very critical element and our intention is to be on top of mind and top of heart among jobseekers. In an industry where there is a strong competition for talent, there is a need to establish your brand, he said

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Second Philippine-Russia business forum to be held in Cebu

Roy — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 22:35:20 +0000

The second Philippine-Russian business forum exhibition will be held on October 21 to 24, 2010 and will be hosted by Cebu City. The business forum, which aims to promote tourism, trade, investment and greater economic and socio-cultural exchanges between the Philippines and Russia, will take place at the Cebu International Convention Center (ICC) in Mandaue City. The announcement was made by Philippine Consul to Russia Armi Lopez Garcia.

The forum is organized by the Philippine Russian Business Assembly, Embassy of the Russian Federation and the Philippine Exhibits and Themeparks Corp.

Russian ambassador to the Philippines, Vitaly Vorobiev, said this year’s event promises to be venue that will be useful business groups to network and explore opportunities that will expand trade and investments between the two countries.

Guests and participants the Philippine – Russia forum will be welcomed by Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia. The unveiling of the Leo Tolstoy bust, which will be brought here by the Russian delegates will be one of the highlights of the openings rites on October 21. During the four-day event, a Philippine-Russian trade exhibition will also be featured. The exhibit will have art show, photo exhibit, and cultural dances, which carry the theme: “Moving Forward Together.”

Products and services that are slated to be showcased in the trade exhibition are those related to the following industries: trade promotion and development; tourism and wellness; retirement facilities and real estate development; mining and energy; education and culture; and labor, placement services and outsourcing.

Delegates from both Russia and the Philippines will be composed mostly of investors, real estate developers, businessmen/decision makers, exporters and importers, national government agencies, and local government units. Business sessions and round-round table discussions on the different industries mentioned will also be held simultaneously.

Part of the activities of the four-day event will be a tour to cement factories, food manufacturing plants, development areas, beer brewery, export furniture companies, jewelry makers, and real estate properties, among others, in the whole province of Cebu.

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CEB offers Go Lite seats

Roy — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:09:33 +0000

A P499 seat sale, which it called the “Go Lite” is being offered by the Cebu Pacific (CEB) for select Luzon destination and another “Go Lite” package amounting to P999 is also up for Taipei seat sale. These seat sale promotions of CEB will run from June 22 to 24, 2010.

The P499 “Go Lite” seats are available for passengers from Manila to Laoag, Cauayan and Tuguegarao, and those from Cebu to Clark. They should travel from July 1 to August 31, 2010. A P999 “Go Lite” seat is available for those who wish to travel from Cebu to Ozamiz, for the same travel period.

Passengers travelling from Manila to Taipei and Ho Chi Minh from August 1 to September 30, 2010 can avail of P999 and P1,499 “Go Lite” seats. An additional P100 upon booking is required for those with check-in luggage. Candice Iyog, CEB vice president for marketing and distribution said, “CEB flies to the most number of destinations to Luzon, and we continue stimulating the market with our trademark low fares. A P499 ‘Go Lite’ seat is comparable to bus fares, without the couple of hours spent more on travel.”

She added, “Taipei and Ho Chi Minh also have a lot to offer the business and leisure traveler. We encourage guests to book their flights now.”

With flights to Laoag, Tuguegarao, Cauayan, Naga, Virac and Legazpi, among others, CEB has the most of number flights with Luzon destinations. CEB also flies from Cebu, Bangkok, Macau, Hong Kong and Singapore to Clark. “We continue to explore possible new destinations and routes, to maintain our extensive network in the Philippines. In June alone, we opened two new routes in Mindanao, namely Manila-Pagadian and Manila-Surigao.”

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PSALM opens Naga power complex for bidding

Roy — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 05:07:39 +0000

The Naga power plant in complex Cebu. The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) opened the bidding process for the independent power producer administrator (IPPA) contract to manage the output of the said power facility.

The state-run agency said it already issued the invitation to bid (ITB) to parties who might be interested to join the bidding for the Naga IPPA. Interested parties will have until June 14 to submit letters of interest for the Naga power plant.

Aside for the letter of interest, they will also be required to execute a confidentiality agreement and undertaking with PSALM, and the payment of a non-refundable participation fee of $5,000 on or before June 21.

A pre-bid conference to discuss the details in the bidding procedures for the Naga complex IPPA selection will be conducted by PSALM on June 25, while the bid evaluation for said power complex IPPA selection will be on August 18.

Winning bidder of the Naga complex IPPA will manage the Naga contracted capacity, which is the aggreage of the contracted capacities of the 39-megawatt (MW) Cebu diesel power plant 1 and the Cebu 1 and Cebu 2 coal power plant complexes,with a total installed capacity of 110 MW.

PSALM is mandated by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, as the agency who will initiate the privatization of at least 70 percent of National Power Corp.’s power plants and its contracts with third-party power generators.

The purpose is the said agency is to create an era of open access and retail competition in the power industry, which would allow consumers – from the bulk power users, to choose their power suppliers. This initiative hopes to spur efficiency and competition in the once state-controlled power sector that had previously been the single biggest drain to public coffers.

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Cebu Air’s planned IPO deferred anew

Roy — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:11:17 +0000

The Gokongwei-led Cebu Air Inc. recently announced its plan to hold an initial public offering (IPO) this year. However, as of date, the airline company is still undecided whether it will push through or not. Chances are it will be deferred.

JG Summit president Lance Gokongwei said that the IPO might need to wait further until market condition have improved or stabilized. “It’s not a good time to push ahead with Cebu Air’s IPO. It would depend on market condition,” he said.

The IPO was earlier deferred until after the May 10 elections. It was originally scheduled on May 3, which could have raised as much as P25.7 billion for the airline and its parent company JG Summit. Gokongwei said the airline will push through with its expansion program, with or without the funds from the planned IPO, adding that they enjoy the support of the export credit agencies.

On its approved registration statement filed with the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), Cebu Air would sell up to 235.562 million shares at an indicative price of P95 each share. Shares which would be issued through the IPO would be 125.25 million, while the remaining 110.309 million shares would be issued by selling shareholders. Another 35.33 million shares over-allotment option was also provided, which would generate an additional P3.36 billion.

Gokongwei said they are not going to lower the IPO price, even there were feedbacks that it was deemed too high by some institutional investors. He believes the market would be receptive given Cebu Air’s very strong revenue growth, world-class structure and high return on equity.

“It’s a good company. Clearly, the market will be receptive,” he said.

Cebu Air is the Philippine’s leading domestic airline by passengers carried. It enjoys a market share of 48.7 percent as of December 2009. The company intends to capitalize on its leading position in the domestic passenger market by growing its international passenger traffic, flight frequencies and introducing new international destinations to capture the under-served markets.

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Energizer plans to put up its own BPO facility

Roy — Thu, 27 May 2010 05:41:47 +0000

One of the leading manufacturer of batteries in the Philippines is considering of putting up its own business process outsourcing facility in the Philippines. The Energizer Philippines Inc., maker of the Eveready and Energizer batteries, plans to put up a call center facilities because according to company president and managing direct Esteban Vorbeck, support for Energizer’s United States customer were currently being performed out of Manila through third-party service providers.

Vorbeck said, “We’re looking at the Philippine BPO sector. We’re thinking of possibly setting up our own facility. We have a number of roles here that are performed for the region. We’re looking at the Philippines as a support or back-office organization. We hope to align the growth of our business with something that’s already been proven.”

If plans push through, the call center facility could either be located in Metro Manila, because of the company’s local headquarters there, or in Cebu where it’s manufacturing facility is located. “The Philippines is a great learning center. You have ease of facility because of the language. It’s easy to communicate here,” Vorbeck said.

Next to its plan of putting up a BPO facility in the country, the company is also conducting research and development on new battery-powered devices that they could introduce in the market to push the sale of batteries in the country. Vorbeck admits that their industry has experienced decline in sales for the past years.

This was attributed to the higher levels of electrification, the onslaught of multi-function or converged devices, improved battery performance, and the introduction of energy-efficient gadgets. But Vorbeck said that they were the things that they need to adjust to. That is why they are taking a more proactive approach to it by introducing battery-powered devices. He did not disclose though as to what type of devices they would be introducing.

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Cebu Pacific breaks travel record, offers seat sale promo

Roy — Sun, 09 May 2010 22:03:10 +0000

Cebu Pacific was able to break passenger loads for April. The country’s low-fare airline flew 903,118 passengers for the previous month, which broke its own record of its best performing month, which was March 2010 with 857,041 passengers. To celebrate this, CEB announced a seat sale to select domestic and all international destinations from May 8-11 2010.

For July 1 to September 30, 2010 travel, passengers can avail of the ‘Go Lite’ seat sale fare of P999 from Manila to Taipei or Kota Kinabalu. Meanwhile, P1,499 seats are up for grabs for Clark flights to Hong Knong, Macau, Singapore or Bangkok as well as Cebu to Hong Kong and vice versa. For Manila flights to Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau and Bangkok, the ‘Go Lite’ seat sale fare goes for P1,499.

For P2,4999 ‘Go Lite’ seat sale fare, passengers can travel from Manila to Kuala Lumpur, or Ho Chi Minh, and from Manila or Cebu to Singapore. P2,999 ‘Go Lite’ seats are also available from Manila or Cebu to Incheon, Cebu to Pusan, and Manila to Jakarta or Shanghai. Travels to Osaka, Japan would allow to passengers to avail of the ‘Go Fare’ of P2,999.

For Domestic flights, ‘Go Lite’ seat sale fare is available for travel from June 1 to July 31, 2010. These are P499 ‘Go Lite’ fares to and from CEB’s Cebu hub, and to and from Davao and Cagayan de Oro. P699 “Go Lite’ fares are also available from Manila to Bacolod, Calbayog, Catarman, Coron (Busuanga), Iloilo, Naga, Puerto Princesa, San Jose and Tuguegarao and vice versa. Those with check-in luggage will only need to add P100 to ‘Go Lite’ fares upon booking.

CEB vice president for marketing and distribution Candice Iyog said, “We thank every Juan for their continued support, making Cebu Pacific number one. CEB hopes passenger can take advantage of its trademark low fares for their more frequent domestic and international travel.”

To avail of the ‘Go Lite’ seat sale promo, passengers can call reservation hotlines (02) 7020-888 or (032) 230-8888, or visit their website at www.cebupacificair.com. They may also inquire from the travel agents nearest them.

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Cebu Pacific to get 22 more new planes

Roy — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:40:19 +0000

The Cebu Pacific (CEB) Airline is investing on 22 new aircraft as part of the $1.4 billion expansion over a five-year period, in anticipation of a 50 percent increase in the number of passengers in 2013.CEB president Lance Gokongwei said the 22 brand-new Airbus 320 aircraft will be delivered from 2010 until 2014. These are on top of an existing order of 15 A320s. Gokongwei said they have an additional firm order of seven A320s.

Gokongwei pointed out that their aircraft expansion does not depend on the initial public offering (IPO). The airline’s planned IPO was deferred until after the May elections. The proceeds of the said IPO were partly intended to finance the pre-delivery payments, instead the new aircraft will be financed from internally generated funds, loans and export credit agencies.

The CEB expected 10 million total passengers to be flown this year, and this was forecasted to grow to 13 million passengers by 2012, and reaching 15.1 million by 2013. Gokongwei said, “We are expecting 28 percent more passengers for us in 2010 compared with 2009 in an industry that is growing at a rate of 15 to 20 percent.” He added that they expect their first quarter 2010 revenues to grow 35 percent to P7.2 billion compared to the same period last year.

Gokongwei also said that CEB’s revenue for the whole of 2009 grew by 30 percent compared to the previous year. “Operating earnings are expected to grow faster than that. We expect CEB to show very strong earnings and operating cash flow,” he said.

The first 180-seat aircraft is expected to arrive on October and will be used to add routes and frequencies on CEB’s network of 33 domestic and 14 international destinations. “This will enable us to have the largest fleet of Airbus 320 family in the Philippines, and the second largest in Southeast Asia, allowing us to offer our trademark low fares to even more Filipinos,” Gokongwei said.

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Davao tops list of Next Wave Cities of BPO

Roy — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:41:23 +0000

Davao City is being considered to be the next big investment for the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, as well the information and technology sector.

According to Oscar R. Sañez, CEO of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP), Davao was ranked number 1 in their list of Top 10 Next Wave Cities 2010 because of the city’s abundance of graduates and workers, and also the low cost of doing business there as well as in the outlying areas. Other factors that were considered by the BPAP were the city’s infrastructure and business environment.

Sañez said that in their selection of the next wave cities, they scored the quality of roads, access to international and domestic flights, presence of providers of fiber optic networks, reliability of power supply, availability of property sites, and cost of labor office space, among others.

The only thing going against Davao City is its proximity to areas of conflict in Mindanao. Many foreigners tend to associate the island with war and kidnappings. That is why in spite of being top in the BPAP list, it still ranked low in terms of risk management and travel advisories.

Joining Davao in the list of Top 10 Next Wave Cities 2010 were Sta. Rosa, Laguna; Bacolod-Iloilo; Metro Cavite; Lipa, Batangas; Cagayan de Oro; Malolos, Bulacan; Baguio and Dumaguete. These cities are expected to contribute $1.2 billion in additional revenue over the next two years, and at the same time, increase the employment of the BPO sector by 60 percent.

Sañez said that the Next Wave Cities would provide a “great avenue for local empowerment” as the cities are able to redefine themselves and create fresh business opportunities as those in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu.