N. Mindanao’s P20 wage adjustment only ‘2 cents’ worth

MALAYBALAY City -- The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) issued a wage order providing for a P20 adjustment in the minimum wage for workers in Northern Mindanao to be effective on June 20, an increase that a labor lawyer called was only “2 cents” worth.

The seven-member wages and productivity board–with representatives from the government, the business community and the labor sector–ordered that that P10 will be added to the worker’s basic pay and another P10 as cost of living allowance (Cola).

Cash for training project launched in Lanao Sur

MARAWI City – The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) launched recently the Cash for Training Project (C4TP) in the province.

The C4TP aims to assist disadvantaged youth by providing them with skills training and assistance towards gainful employment and entrepreneurial activities, said Tesda Provincial Director Tarhata Mapandi.

Customs bureau takes anti-oil smuggling measures

IN ITS continuing effort to counter the smuggling of imported products, particularly petroleum, into the ports of Northern Mindanao, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) trained some of its personnel in tank sounding and calibration seminar last week in a hotel in Tagoloan town, Misamis Oriental.

BOC-Northern Mindanao district collector Lourdes Mangaoang said the objective of the training was for the customs bureau to determine precisely the volume of processed oil (diesel and gasoline) contained in tankers that enter the local ports.

P313-M agro-export project approved in Davao, Bukidnon

THE Board of Investments (BOI) has approved the P313.353-million project of Maharlika Agro-Marine Ventures Corporation (MAVC) as new export producer of dressed ducks and its by-products.

The MAVC with facilities located in Davao and Bukidnon is scheduled to begin commercial operation in July. It will employ 207 personnel once operational.

Agri serves as the backbone of NorMin’s economy: RDC

THE agriculture sector continues to serve as the backbone of the economic activities in Northern Mindanao, the Regional Development Council (RDC) said.

R12 LGUs earn P31M from minerals industry

KORONADAL CITY — Revenues of local government units (LGUs) in Region 12 from the minerals industry reached P31.1 million last year, data from the regional Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) released Friday showed.

Last year’s collection was 53 percent or P10.8 million higher than the P20.3 million collected in 2011, it added.

Oro business chamber offers P12 wage hike

AFTER a series of public consultations and hearings for the proposed wage increase in Northern Mindanao, the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation Inc. (Oro Chamber) positioned on a P12 peso wage hike.

Lordilie Saligumba–Enjambre, Oro Chamber’s executive director, during Monday’s public hearing said that out of its 391 member-companies, 78 percent saw the need for wage adjustments.

It’s final: Laguindingan airport starts operation in April 30

MULTI-SECTORAL representatives during two public consultations held in Cagayan de Oro last week and Tuesday would have to accept their defeat, as the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) closed talks on whether or not it is timely to start the operation of the Laguindingan (International) Airport on April 30, 2013, amid calls to delay it due to safety concerns.

Caap’s Engr. Raul G. Glorioso, who presided the public hearings, assured public twice a “101-percent” safety.

From DH to super entrepreneur

“WE MUST overcome the notion that we must be regular…it robs you of the chance to be extraordinary and leads you to the mediocre.” Uta Hagen EVERYONE has the right to decide who they want to be and how they want to be. If your life is working the way you want, congratulations, you are doing a lot of things right. But if its not, consider asking yourself this: Am I aiming too low? Am I willing to be satisfied with what is happening in my life? Whichever way you’re feeling, you do know what to do.

Cable TV firm introduces new technology

SAY goodbye to your analog cable box as Cagayan de Oro’s leading digital cable TV company is setting up new trends by bringing in the first in Mindanao—the Voice Over Broadband (VOB).

VOB is the latest service that Parasat Cable TV is introducing through this cutting edge technology.

Mindanao on ‘acute’ power situation

TO hard-up more power supply for the Mindanao grid by 2015, the AboitizPower Corp. announced that construction of ongoing several projects can make it to given target.

Benjamin A. Cariaso Jr., Therma South president and chief operating officer, in a statement said Mindanao is now experiencing acute power shortage on a daily basis and is expected to worsen with the coming summer months and the ensuing low rates in Lake Lanao.

Fashion store opens 8th branch in Oro

PARFOIS, the leading women’s fashion accessories brand, formally opened its eighth store in the country at the ground floor of Centrio Mall in Cagayan de Oro over the weekend.

Feminine, young and independent women Kagay-anons will surely enjoy affordable range of updated accessories, bags, belts and shoes in trendy mix-of-colors, textures and prints designed.

Nestlé opens satellite coffee bean buying station in Bukidnon

NESTLE Philippines Inc. (NPI) is expanding its network of satellite coffee bean buying stations in the country as it opens a new station in Valencia, Bukidnon, enabling hundreds of small farmers and small-scale intermediaries in the area to directly sell their high-quality green coffee beans to Nestlé.

Since their establishment, satellite buying stations have played a pivotal role in ensuring that coffee continues to become an attractive crop to grow, making it a sustainable source of livelihood for local growers in the country.

Dole holds discussion on wage reform

A MAIDEN public discussion on the wage reform geared toward the Two Tiered Wage System (TTWS) was conducted last March 4 at the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole)-Northern Mindanao Training Center in Cagayan de Oro.

The activity was part of the continuing education and orientation on the different programs and services of the Dole-Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) in Northern Mindanao.

Electric coops group to hold power congress

THE Association of Mindanao Rural Electric Cooperatives Inc. (Amreco), in partnership with the Mindanao University of Science & Technology (Must) and the Institute of Power Sector Economics (Ipsec), set off its MinCARED 2013 (Mindanao Congress of the Advocates for Renewable Energy and Rural Electrification and Development) congress launching and signing of a memorandum of agreement (Moa) on March 12, 2013, at the Must in Cagayan de Oro.

This is the second time that the groups are organizing MinCARED as an essential event shaping the need of seeking sustainable solutions for the Mindanao power crisis, a statement from Must said. The congress is set May 27 to 28, 2013 in Cagayan de Oro.

Aboitiz nets P24 billion 2012 income, up 13% vs 2011

ABOITIZ Power Corporation claims 2012 as banner year for the company in terms of financial performance, with a consolidated income of P24.4 billion up by 13 percent compared to 2011.

Erramon Aboitiz, Aboitiz Power President and CEO, said 2012 was another year for the company, with both distribution and generation segments experiencing strong electricity growth on the back of a vibrant economy.

Skills registry system now ready

THE Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) in Northern Mindanao and the local government of Cagayan de Oro signed recently a memorandum of agreement for the implementation of the Skills Registry System, the labor department’s initiative to monitor the number of skilled individuals who may want to land a job locally or abroad.

A City Hall report revealed that the agreement includes the Dole’s donation of equipment, software, manpower training, technology transfer and monetary assistance to fully establish the newest system to inventory skilled but unemployed individuals in the city.

Enrile: Food security paramount

FOOD sovereignty by strengthening Mindanao’s agriculture sector will be the core program of senatorial bet Jack Enrile if given a seat at the Senate in May 2013’s Midterm polls, the member of the United Nationalist Alliance (Una) told reporters in Cagayan de Oro, Wednesday.

For a genuine agricultural development in the island, Enrile said there should be a comprehensive land use policy in the country. This, he added, will in turn ensure food security.

Airport passengers to brace for higher fees

FLYING passengers will have to brace for higher terminal fees at the newest international airport in Misamis Oriental.

This, as the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) Tuesday held a public consultation in Cagayan de Oro on the proposed standardized terminal fee of P700 a passenger going international destinations in all international airports in the country including that in Laguindingan town in Misamis Oriental.

Fraud in family businesses

“We learned about honesty and integrity - that the truth matters... that you don't take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules... and success doesn't count unless you earn it fair and square.” -- Michelle Obama

TRUST is inherent in business. But that trust which is so necessary to the operation of a business is also the impetus for thieves to profit.

ECC to improve compensation program

THE Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC), an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), is planning to make some innovations to the employees’ compensation program (ECP).

The agency is working towards expanding the coverage of the program and increasing its benefits and services, according to ECC Executive Director Stella Zipagan-Banawis.

Transport firms required to report when hired

OZAMIZ CITY -- All transportation companies engaged in the operation of transportation facilities during the election are required to report the use, rental or hiring of their facilities by any candidate, political party, coalition of political parties, or groups or organizations in connection with the election campaign.

Lawyer Stalin A. Baguio, provincial elections supervisor of Misamis Occidental, said the report, which will be submitted within 30 days following the day of the election, include the amount paid for such use, rental or hiring.

Co-operative decade launched in Northern Mindanao

THE International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), through the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) in Northern Mindanao, launched recently the Co-operative Decade, a worldwide campaign to take the co-operative way of doing business to a new level.

In a statement, the ICA said by 2020, Co-operative Decade (2011-2020) is aimed at making the co-operative form of business to become the fastest growing form of enterprise; the model preferred by people; and become the acknowledged leader in economic, social and environmental sustainability.

Filinvest’s planned coal-fired plant in Misamis Oriental likely blocked

THE establishment of a multi-million-peso power generation investment of Filinvest Development Corp. (Filinvest) in Villanueva town in Misamis Oriental would likely be a failure as another environmentalist group in Northern Mindanao has been releasing statements to possibly block the entry of another coal-fired power plant in the area.

Sulog, a group of environmentalists based in Cagayan de Oro, claimed future environmental concerns should the project is pushed through by the multi-national investor.

‘Premature’ airport opening alarms NorMin biz groups

THE business community in Northern Mindanao expressed alarm over what its members claim a “premature” opening of the Laguindingan (International) Airport in Laguindingan town, Misamis Oriental in April 2013.

In a statement, the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation (Oro Chamber), Iligan Chamber of Commerce Inc. (ICCI), Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Northern Mindanao (PCCI-NM), Misamis Oriental Fil-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MOFCCCI), backed up by the Regional Development Council (RDC), said the planned opening has to be deferred pending commissioning of the airport’s air navigation and support services facilities (ANSSF).

LG opens concept store in CdeO

WITH the advent of technology, some people would think they are left behind if they cannot buy the new gadget being offered in the market, especially mobile phones.

Coop activates Pag-IBIG membership

TO further strengthen the bond between Pag-IBIG Fund and the Cogon Multi Purpose Cooperative (CMPC) of El Salvador City in Misamis Oriental, a signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the latter’s membership activation was held recently.

But even before the MOA signing, CMPC president Ramon T. Jamis already remitted the members’ initial savings payment at the Pag-IBIG Fund Cagayan de Oro Branch last January 31.

Giordano SM City No. 1 in sales

CAGAYAN DE ORO -- The SM City branch of Giordano was awarded as the Best Shop of the year for 2012 among all its 54 branches nationwide for having attained the highest in sales.   In the recent annual gathering of all Giordano branches in Manila, the SM branch was recognized for having attained P2.4 million in sales, beating Manila branches.

Italianni’s Resto offers 50% discount

IN WELCOMING the Chinese New Year and as an early Valentines treat, the newly opened Italianni’s Restaurant, known for its Italian-American goodness, offers 50 percent discount on its signature dishes to all City Bank Card holders from February 4 to 7.

Barley products innovator honors Pinoy distributors

AS A leading Barley products innovator, Sante International honored top distributors for their valuable contribution in leading a healthy lifestyle for Filipino consumers while gaining from business opportunities.

The event, dubbed as ‘Unang Salvo: Sugod Tayo,’ awarded the top performing distributors and highlight the continuing benefits of barley-based products such as food supplements, barley juice, coffee and soap as the best source of nutrients and aid to detoxify the body.