Sun.Star Economic Forum

The Metropolitan Cebu Water District plans to increase water rates by 12 percent per year from 2007 to 2009.

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The energy department is encouraging power industry players to bring in additional electricity sources for Cebu and the rest of the country.

Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla said expensive power from bunker fuel will immediately be substituted with any new less expensive electricity sources. Lesser costs in generating power will translate to savings for electricty transmission utilities, he added.

In the case of Cebu, where there is not much hydro potential, bunker fuel-fired power plants cannot be done away with, said Lotilla. He added that coal is the only indigenous material capable of generating power in Cebu.

On the many issues raised against coal power plants, Lotilla said the coal power plant project in Naga uses cleaner and up-to-date technology compared with other similar facilities in the whole of Asia.

He said the move to privatize National Power Corporation (Napocor) and sell its power plants will give new owners the capability to expand.

The energy chief said that aside from providing reliable and continuous supply, the department is also keeping track of other objectives like barangay electrification. Only 94 percent of barangays have electricity but Lotilla estimates that 100 percent electrification will be achieved by 2008.

Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said the spirit of Cebuanos to unite for the community rather than personal interests provides the solution tothe energy security threats that the province is facing.

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Cebu has the biggest power demand in the whole Visayas at 42 percent of total demand or 430 megawatts but power plants in the island province can only supply 195 megawatts, said Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla during his speech at the Sun.Star Economic Forum in Cebu City.

Lotilla said Cebu gets additional power supply from the Leyte-Samar grid, which produces 630 megawatts of electricity but uses only 160 megawatts.

He said energy security is an area where Cebu is “vulnerable”, especially with terrorist and insurgent threats on public installations. Lotilla said the capacity of the submarine cable to transport power to Cebu from the Leyte-Samar grid is 400 megawatts but it currently transmits only 314 megawatts.

Lotilla cited the earthquake in Leyte six months ago that damaged the submarine cable as among the areas where Cebu, which is dependent on power from the island, is vulnerable.

The energy chief said that to achieve energy security, power supply must be brought as close as possible to the demand. He then expressed the agency’s support for the coal power supply project in Naga, Cebu.

Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla will answer this question in his speech shortly at the Sun.Star Economic Forum in Cebu City.

SENATE President Manuel Villar said Wednesday that Cebuano’s enterprenuerial spirit placed Cebu as the country’s best seller and one of the four fastest economies in the country.

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Cebu is the leading tourism destination in the country, said National Economic Development Authority (Neda) 7 Director Marlene Ca P. Rodriguez during her speech at the Sun.Star Economic Forum 2006 in Cebu City.

Rodriguez said Cebu growth in terms of tourist arrivals has consistently posted positive growth in the past four years. She also said Cebu captures 28.5 percent of total foreign tourist arrivals in the country.

Cebu is among the biggest contributors to the country in terms of industrial and services outputs. National Economic Development Authority (Neda) 7 Director Marlene Ca P. Rodriguez said Central Visayas, of which Cebu is part of, was the fourth biggest contributor to industrial output and second biggest contributor to services output.

Since the bulk of industries in Central Visayas is in Cebu, Rodriguez said it could be assumed that most of the industrial output of the region comes from Cebu. On service-oriented industries, Central Visayas posted the second highest output among regions in the country. Major service-oriented industries in Cebu are those that support tourism.

National Economic Development Authority (Neda) 7 Director Marlene Ca P. Rodriguez says macroeconomic figures are only down to regional levels and this poses a problem to getting economic data for the provinces. To show economic figures for the provinces, the economic agency just uses proxy indicators, she added.

National Economic Development Authority (Neda) 7 Regional Director Marlene Ca P. Rodriguez will touch on how Cebu’s economy is faring in 2006 in her speech shortly in the Sun.Star Economic Forum 2006.