Open access to give firms choice on power

STARTING Dec. 26, electricity end-users with monthly peak demand of one megawatt (MW) can choose where to buy power.

That, as the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) set the date for the start of the open access, the day after Christmas.

Acai Berry company to offer new products

ORGANIQUE Inc., the brand that introduced the anti-oxidant drink Acai Berry in the country is investing P7 million for the expansion of its product line. The expansion is spurred by the double-digit increase of sales in the Philippine market.

Organique Inc. vice president Catherine Salimbangon said the surge of its flagship product Acai Berry drink was due to its wide retail network coverage nationwide.

Resort eyes Palawan expansion

AFTER recently opening its third resort in Panglao, Bohol, a resorts group is next eyeing a fourth one in the province of Palawan.

Julie Alegrado-Vergara, president of the Bluewater group of resorts, said the group recently acquired a two-hectare property in San Vicente, Palawan, which is about four hours north of Puerto Prin-cesa.

RE producer to construct $4B facility

MANILA - Global Biomass PLC Corp. announced yesterday it will begin construction of a $4-million research, development and manufacturing facility in Mina, Iloilo.

DOE: Demand for warranty

WHILE still waiting for international standards or guidelines for energy efficient products, such as LED (light-emitting diode) lightning systems, consumers should seek for warranties to ensure products are of high quality, an official from the Department of Energy (DOE) said.

Raquel Huliganga, DOE Energy Research and Testing Laboratory Services director, said warranty protects consumers from sub-standard products.

Biz summit set for MBM 2011

TO PROMOTE innovation and best practices in entrepreneurship, the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) will bring experts to Cebu next week.

MCCI tapped Andrew Hodges of Microsoft Asia, Mon Lopez and Dean Pax Lapid of Go Negosyo, Jorge Wieneke III of Asian Food Project, Enrique Soriano of Belo Medical Group, Donald Lim of MRM Worldwide, Dylan Wilk of Human Heart Nature and Yllac Diaz of MyShelter Foundation to showcase and share innovative success stories and best practices in entrepreneurship during this year’s Mandaue Business Month (MBM) summit.

PLDT: Profits dip due to strong peso

DESPITE a surge in its total cellular subscriber base, the Philippine Long Distance (PLDT) Co. reported a dip in its cellular voice and text revenues in the first half of the year.

The telecommunications giant reported that its net profit dipped 1.75 percent year-on-year in the first semester, hit by the peso’s strength against the US dollar.

Multi-tasking women land in list of Mandaue’s model entrepreneurs

MICRO entrepreneurs Baby Gene Abayon Ortega, 28, of Barangay Basak and Sarah Dellosa, 40, of Barangay Tipolo both from Mandaue City, are among the 23 contestants vying for the 2011 Search for Winners (Women In Need, Now Entrepreneurs and Role Models) of the Mandaue Business Month (MBM).

Trader diversifies, offers jobs to blind

ENTREPRENEUR Adrian Lee believes that doing business is not only about earning profit.

He also wants to create jobs, especially for people who have less chances of getting hired.

Toral: DTI’s sales promo permit

LAST July 29, I made a blog post sharing what was discussed in a briefing with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on the Sales Promotion Permit policy. This is where no-purchase-required promotions are required to get permit since 2010 (http://bit.ly/dtipermitnpa).

Innoland unveils new project

AS ONE of the world’s top outsourcing destinations, Cebu needs to have more office spaces especially in strategic locations, a developer said.

Innoland Development, Inc. said it will help meet this demand with The Link, which will be be built in Asiatown IT Park.

Smart to launch Rocket HSPA+ dongle

SMART Communications, Inc. has expanded its broadband portfolio with the new Smart Bro Rocket, a fast mobile broadband prepaid service running on the operator’s nationwide HSPA+ (Evolved High-Speed Packet Access) network.

Tax notes: Lessors to monitor BIR registration of their lessees

WITH the issuance of Revenue Regulations No. 12-2011, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will now require lessors to monitor and report to the BIR the registration profile of their lessees who are engaged in business. This is to ensure that owners or sub-lessors of commercial buildings or spaces deal only with BIR-registered taxpayers.

Reeves: Immigrating through marriage

MARRIAGE to a United States citizen is one of the most common ways to obtain a green card. When the couple has been married less than two years from the time conditional residency status is granted, the immigrant is given what is called conditional green card. Conditional means that their status is good for two years.

PSE to open in Cebu in September

TO INCREASE regional participation in the country’s stock market, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) will expand to Cebu this September.

Kathleen Therese Buenaobra of PSE’s Market Education Department said in an interview on Friday that PSE will open a marketing office here to encourage more Cebuano investors to participate in the country’s trading market.

Alegrados open Bluewater Panglao

FROM just 32 rooms in a resort in Mactan, a resort group has expanded beyond Mactan and now, beyond Cebu.

College offers free education to workers

TO UPGRADE the quality of workers in manufacturing firms, a manpower agency recently launched Ikon College in Lapu-Lapu City to serve as a mentoring facility and offer free college education to workers who are undergraduates.

Nozomi Fortune Services Inc. founder and chairman Alexander Arnados said the setting up of the education facility is meant to address the gap between industry requirements on quality of manpower and the graduates produced by the academe.

Limpag: CE-GNU-LUG keeps, spreads the faith

LITTLE John looms large in the Cebu open source community. In installfests, he towers.

My first encounter with John Clark “Little John” Naldoza and his merry band of local open source advocates was in an installfest, a gathering hosted by a Linux users’ group (LUG) where people can bring their computers for installation of a Linux operating system (OS), in about 2000.

Brokers dash for licenses

BEGINNING next week, real estate brokers and appraisers who have not renewed their licenses with the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) will not be allowed to practice in the real estate service.

Those who have not renewed their licenses with PRC began scrambling to complete their requirements, unaware that they had a deadline to meet or else they would have to take an exam to be able to continue practicing.

Aboitiz Equity’s net income hits P5.6B

POWER contributed the bulk of earnings for Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV), which declared P5.6 billion in consolidated net income in the second quarter, for an 11 percent expansion year-on-year.

The Cebu-based holding firm told the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that its power strategic business unit (SBU) accounted for 75 percent of its April-June income, while banking contributed 18 percent, and food, seven percent.

Almirante: Wages pending appeal

A LABOR arbiter rendered a decision declaring the dismissal of respondent Geraldine Velasco illegal. The National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) affirmed the same, but deleted the award of moral and exemplary damages. The Court of Appeals (CA) upheld the validity of respondent’s dismissal but directed petitioner PFIZER Inc. to pay respondent her wages from Dec. 5, 2003, the date of the labor arbiter’s decision, up to Nov. 23, 3005, the date of the Court of Appeals’ decision. Was the CA justified insofar as the order of payment of wages is concerned?

‘To win, invest in talent, training’

TO SUSTAIN the growth of the game development industry, the country should continuously produce skilled talents, a top official of a game development firm said.

“The biggest challenge in the industry is not about sales, it’s the lack of talents,” said Christine Rom, president and chief executive officer of Podd, a game development studio in Cebu City that develops casual and educational games for mobile and desktop platforms.

Innoland's 3rd project launched

CEBU CITY -- The Innoland Development Corporation (IDC) had its groundbreaking ceremony Thursday in Asiatown I.T. Park, in Lahug, Cebu City, for its newest business process outsourcing (BPO) project.

Lack of workers slows BPO growth

THE business process outsourcing sector may be one of the fastest growing in the country, players admit there are just not enough qualified personnel that would allow them to expand even faster.

Butch Sison of Convergys said they remain “hopeful and passionate” about the industry’s growth in Cebu but admitted that some two-thirds of clients wanting to acquire services from their Cebu branches had to be turned down because of the lack of talent.

Havaianas sees Cebu growth

RUBBER flip-flops brand Havaianas sees room for growth in Cebu despite the tough competition in the market with the opening of new malls here.

Leanne Florendo, managing director of A.L. Amizade Mktng., the exclusive sub-distributor of Havaianas for Central and Eastern Visayas, said in an interview that the booming real estate and retail industry here has opened opportunities for foreign brands like Havaianas to penetrate the Cebu market.

Ng: Google+, circles of contacts

EARLY this month, Google launched its new social network, Google Plus. Obviously, it is designed to compete with Facebook. Google had originally started Orkut several years back, but it did not fly. It tried again to launch Buzz a year or so back but it was heavily-criticized for privacy issues and that put off a lot of people from trying it. This is their third time at social networking and it seemed to be doing well.

Veco texts customers power bills

CUSTOMERS of the Visayan Electric Company (Veco) can now get their monthly bills through text.

The power utility firm has launched a mobile phone texting service that will enable its clients to immediately access their bills anytime and anywhere.

DOE seeks passage of energy measure

THE Department of Energy (DOE) will push for the passage of the Energy Efficiency Bill as it would significantly reduce energy consumption and conserve the country’s power supply.

At the sidelines of the 1st Philippine Energy Efficiency Forum (PEEF) 2011 Cebu on Tuesday, DOE Undersecretary Loreta Ayson told reporters her department wanted energy efficiency and consumption measures legislated.

TM announces mobile Web service

WITH the growth of mobile data in the Philippines, Touch Mobile (TM), Globe Telecom’s prepaid brand, has launched its own mobile Internet service. TM subscribers can now surf the Internet using their mobile phones at a “very affordable rate,” the company said.

Tourism officials step up campaign

JUST how much is the government willing to spend for the Philippines’ lone entry to the New Seven Wonders of Nature search?

A lot, if a P7-million raffle grand prize and a host of other prizes is at stake.