Metro Cebu has enough water supply for its 2-M users till June–MCWD

THE water distribution utility serving Metro Cebu assured its customers that there is enough water for its 2 million residents during the expected long dry spell and the supply will last until the scheduled rainy season in June.

Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) production and distribution chief Genaro Mejor said there is no need for water rationing in their franchise area as of yet.  However, he explained there will be lesser delivery hours and lower pressure in some districts as the dry spell takes its effect on the supply.

“We have anticipated the problem and, thankfully, we were able to augment the supply just before the dry spell,” Mejor said.

But he added that instead of a daily average of 22.5 hours of water for its franchise areas, they estimate the number will go down to 21 hours per day as the water supply needs to be distributed to more customers.

The Buhisan Dam in Cebu City already has signs of drying up, but Mejor said the facility, built in the early 1900s, supplies just a small portion of the water supply of the metropolis. Most of the supply of MCWD is still taken from underground wells.

The MCWD’s biggest water well field in Jaclupan in Talisay City cut production by more than half from an average of 45,000 cubic meters a day to just 18,000 cubic meters in March. MCWD was able to open more wells and commissioned several private bulk-water suppliers to augment the supply.

Early this year MCWD added more than 4,500 cubic meters of supply from several wells in the south district of the city and bulk-water suppliers with injection areas in the north.

Mejor said more wells will be opened in the summer, while existing bulk-water suppliers said they can increase their volume by up to 25 percent.

But while the hot summer months will not pose problems for existing MCWD consumers, the water district itself admits they are facing bigger long-term problems. The utility admits to servicing only 55 percent of its service area either because of shortage of supply or lack of infrastructure to bring water to more people.

MCWD serves more than 130,000 customers in Metro Cebu and produces some 160,000 cubic meters of water daily, but this still falls short to fulfill the pent-up demand—potential customers who have pending applications for water lines, but could not be served.

“Our priority is to provide the best service to our existing customers,” Genaro said.

With Cebu not having enough big bodies of inland water like lakes and rivers, most of Metro Cebu’s water is sourced from underground wells. Pollution and overextraction, however, forced MCWD to close some of the wells as contaminants and sea water have found their way into the water sources.

MCWD recently signed a huge 20,000-cubic-meter bulk-water supply deal with the city of Danao in the north, which should secure the water supply in the city for the next several years.

Source: The Business Mirror

Air Philippines to buy six Airbus planes

AIR Philippines, the low-cost partner of Philippine Airlines (PAL), is expanding its fleet this year with the planned acquisition of six Airbus units.

PAL president Jaime Bautista said this is part of the working plan of Air Philippines which is 99-percent owned by the Tan Group of Companies controlled by Lucio Tan.

“That is the plan but let’s just wait for the final announcement [which may happen] hopefully this year,” he said.  

Initially, the plan is for Air Philippines to lease six Airbus A320s, added the PAL president.

He also said the Airbus planes will service the airlines’ existing routes.  

Both PAL and Air Philippines are looking to strengthen operations with modest fleet and route network buildups. This, despite predictions by the International Air Transport Association of a dip in industry earnings due to higher fuel prices.

The two airlines have had close complementation in their flight operations, feeding passengers into each other’s networks and ensuring connections via their joint hubs at the Naia Centennial Terminal 2 in Manila and Mactan International Airport in Cebu.

Air Philippines earlier announced a new management team appointed to implement the airline’s new business model.

David Lim, president, and Cesar Chiong, executive vice president and chief operating officer, were tasked to fast track the airline’s conversion to a low-cost business model using a leaner workforce.

It said in a statement last year that the new business model involves the lease of Bombardier turboprop aircraft from PAL. The turboprop fleet flies to 19 towns and cities, operating out of two hubs—Manila and Cebu. From Manila, the airline flies to Tuguegarao, San Jose (Mindoro Occidental), Naga, Virac, Busuanga, Catarman, Calbayog, Ormoc and Surigao. From Cebu, it will service Kalibo, Iloilo, Bacolod, Tacloban, Butuan, Ozamiz, Cagayan de Oro, Gen. Santos, Zamboanga and from Zamboanga to Davao. 

The following flights are being operated by Air Philippines, as code shared with PAL with the latter as the marketing carrier. Tickets issued by PAL will be accepted for carriage.

PAL is set to announce tomorrow details of its new aircraft and new destinations.

PAL, said Bautista in an earlier interview, will resume flights to India after an absence for so many years. The flag carrier is appealing to the Philippine government to help negotiate landing rights so it can service the Manila-Bangkok-Bombay route.

“We want to fly back to India in Bombay. But the problem is the landing rights. We are talking to the government to negotiate for landing rights because Bangkok won’t permit us to pick up passengers there,” he said.

PAL ceased operating this route for commercial reasons. Now, Bautista said it is time for the flag carrier to resume flights on the back of strong demand. “There are many Indians flying to Manila but not so much the other way around. Even Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said there is a strong demand and the number of Indians that visited the country last year reached thousands and thousands.”

The PAL president is hoping that negotiations for landing rights will be successful so the airline can resume service as soon as possible.

Source: The Business Mirror

If elected, Gibo to prioritize bridge between Cebu, Bohol

CEBU, Philippines - Administration presidential aspirant Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro said the construction of the bridge linking Cebu and Bohol provinces will be given immediate attention if he is elected into office.
Teodoro who joined the first day of Suroy-Suroy Sugbo southern heritage trail said that the development of Cebu and Bohol will continue if they push through with the plan to link two provinces by constructing the bridge.
At present, visitors from Cebu who also want to visit Bohol may ride through fast craft and other vessels. Those coming from Manila may avail of direct flights bound for Tagbilaran City.
The anchors of the bridge will be Getafe and Cordova towns in Bohol and Cebu respectively. Passing through shallow waters between the two provinces, the bridge is estimated to be 18 kilometers long —a “baby” compared to the bridge linking Incheon Airport and Incheon City in South Korea, spanning some 45 kilometers, now undergoing construction.
Bohol Governor Erico Aumentado said he envisions the bridge to improve vehicular and passenger traffic between the two provinces. It can also carry cables to Bohol so it can get more electric power.
The additional power can meet the requirements for the establishment of a shipyard in Bohol while the fiber optics will link Bohol to the information and communications technology highway.
To recall, the Regional Development Council-7 asked the Department of Public Works and Highways to endorse to the Korean government their request for the funding of a feasibility study on the proposed multi-access friendship bridge that will link the provinces of Cebu and Bohol.
During the RDC-7 full council meeting last year, Aumentado asked the endorsement and support from the RDC for the funding assistance of the project.
“I am happy to report to the RDC that one of our mega projects, the Bohol-Cebu multi-access friendship bridge now has the support of EDCF,” Aumentado told members of the RDC, which is headed by Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia.
Aumentado said the Economic Development Cooperation Fund of Korea has already agreed to dole out $3 million for the needed feasibility study.
Aumentado said the bridge will hasten commerce and sharing of technology and exchange of power and water between Bohol and Cebu, if it will be implemented.
The bridge, which was conceptualized in 2006, is seen to cost at least P20 billion.
He also said that the completion of the airport in Panglao Island in Bohol will also add to the development of the two provinces. Teodoro also cited the need to construct a third bridge linking Mandaue City and Mactan Island.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

Maria Luisa Properties posts high sales, announces new development

CEBU, Philippines - The strong market in Cebu for house investments continues to grow as noted by the high sales of Maria Luisa Properties despite the economic downturn.
This was shared by Jovy Beltran, sales and marketing manager of Maria Luisa Properties, who said that the continuous support they gather from the public, especially their target market, which is the class A, has been very encouraging.
Beltran said that this was even proven as they announced their new development for Maria Luisa Subdivision where even if they did not have any formal launch yet, they already had three units sold.
The new project of Maria Luisa properties is the “Highlands at Maria Luisa” which boasts of its location within the established subdivision in Banilad, Cebu city.
Beltran said that with around 6.6 hectares for the Highlands, they expect to have a lot of takers for the soon-to-rise units since it is situated in the upper portion of the subdivision that has a perfect view of Mactan Island and the blue waters and a mountain-view on the other side.
“It is the exclusive part of the subdivision,” said Beltran.
He said that this is a joint venture project with the province of Cebu where they have 16 salable lots, three of these already sold.
Beltran explained that they have bigger lot cuts for the Highlands which range from 1,000 to 1,530 square meters.
Investments are welcome said Beltran with their P8,000 per square meter to P15,000 square meter price.
Beltran said that they have not formally launched the project since not like other companies and developers, they only launch their projects with everything done already.
But he said that despite only having initial advertisements for salable lots, they already had buyers which prove of their strong market in Cebu and the established presence that Maria Luisa has made.
According to Beltran, they are targeting the high-end class for the Highlands which has a price range of P8M to P22 M.
Beltran said that they are very eager with the new development and the support they would get in Cebu . “Cebuanos continue to invest in our houses and we have noted of this with the sales we had for the past year with our units in the other phases of the subdivision.”
He said that he was surprised with the show of sales amid the crisis but just proves that Cebuanos are looking for quality for their money which Maria Luisa could give.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

Villalons to take full control of Monterrazas development

CEBU, Philippines - Landco Pacific Corporation and Genvi Development Corporation officially ended their agreement to jointly develop the 210-hectare high-end hillside residential resort called Monterrazas de Cebu.
Genvi Development Corporation, owned by the prominent Villalon family in Cebu who is also the landowner, is now taking full control of the development, after the two companies terminated their joint venture agreement recently.
In a press conference, Genvi Development Corporation president and general manager Augusto Villalon said that the company is committed to stick with the original plan to develop the entire 210-hectare property with a capital expenditure of P5 billion in the next 10 to 15 years.
Despite the termination of Genvi’s partnership with Landco, Villalon assured property owners, and prospective buyers of Monterrazas de Cebu to fast track the project. The targeted completion of the phase one of the project was delayed due to drainage and environmental problems, among others.
Villalon said Monterrazas de Cebu will now become Genvi’s biggest real estate project, as the company had only been developing small low-cost housing projects in Cebu.
Although the company has not been known as developer of big residential and high-end projects, the Villalon family committed to continue the original masterplan. In fact, it has readied a P300 million budget to move the development faster in the next 30 months.
“We are laying our company on the line here. We have to fulfill what is expected from us,” said Marga Villalon, Genvi’s vice president and treasurer.
In an official joint statement, Villalon and Landco Pacific Corporation president and chief executive officer (CEO) Alfred Xerez-Burgos III said they have agreed for Genvi to take over as developer and landowner of Monterrazas de Cebu.
Villalon reiterated the Genvi’s commitment to pursue Landco’s original vision for the project, while Landco agreed to be a consultant in the next several years to ensure smooth transition.
Early last year, the Metro Pacific Investment Corporation (MPIC) trimmed down its stake of Landco from a majority 51 percent to 30 percent, after agreeing to sell part of its shareholdings to AB Holdings for P220 million.
AB Holdings acquired P500-million loan to MPIC, an earlier report said that AB Holdings used Landco’s shares in three mall corporations to pay up the loan exposure.
Landco is one of the country’s biggest real estate developers. The Monterrazas de Cebu could have been the company’s flagship showcase in its first entry in the Visayas.
Villalon, who is a well-known architect in the country, assured that the phase I of the project, which is composed of two cluster lots, is scheduled to complete in the next three years, and land owners can already build their houses by the end of this year.
Upholding their good name as Cebuanos, the Villalon family erased impressions on the project’s uncertainty, instead vowed a much faster completion of the development.
“We know there will be market apprehensions, it is expected. But the proof is our delivery. We have a fantastic team that is very experienced in this kind of development,” Marga Villalon said.
Landco and Genvi inked the joint venture agreement in December of 2006, to start the Monterrazas de Cebu project, which is one of the largest integrated residential development projects, being built in Cebu in the last few years. It is located in the huge 220-hectare prime hillside estates which covers several barangays in Cebu City Labangon, Sapang Daku, Guadalupe and Buhisan.
 The development, which will build complete line of real estate products, such as chic home address, townhouses, condominiums, commercial/lifestyle facility is targeted to complete in the next 10 to 15 years.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

Aboitiz Equity Ventures acquires Cebu thrift bank for P1.36 billion

MANILA, Philippines - Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV) is acquiring indirect full ownership of Cebu-based thrift bank City Savings Bank (CSB) for P1.36 billion.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, AEV said its board approved the purchase of up to 60 percent of CSB with the remaining 40 percent to be acquired by its wholly-owned unit Pilmico Foods Corp.
AEV, which currently owns 34 percent of CSB, said the acquisition of the additional stake is still subject to approval by regulatory authorities.
According to AEV, the acquisition would provide CSB with greater access to resources to sustain its high level of growth and to drive further expansion. 
‘The support that AEV can give CSB is vital to catapult the bank to its ambitious growth plan in the years to come,” said AEV president and chief executive officer Erramon Aboitiz.
CSB currently has over 300 employees serving over 90,000 borrowers and more than 53,000 depositors. It has 12 full branches and 11 extension offices in the Visayas and Mindanao areas.
CSB has total capital funds of over P700 million and total resources of over P6 billion.
As a thrift bank, CSB is primarily engaged in offering loans to school teachers under the Department of Education’s Automatic Payroll Deduction System. Teachers have been the main market of CSB since it began operations over 40 years ago.
The bank’s other products include salary loans to government and private sector employees, home mortgage and home improvement loans, as well as small business loans.
CSB has one of the best operating efficiencies in the thrift banking industry with a low past-due ratio and among the highest capital adequacy ratios.
For the last five Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) examinations, covering a period of 10 years, CSB has received an average CAMELS rating of “4”, which indicates its ability to withstand unfavorable outside influences.
In March 2009, CSB issued P1 billion worth of five-year peso-denominated corporate fixed rate notes via a private placement to primary institutional lenders. Proceeds from the issuance were used to augment the bank’s funding base and support its long-term asset growth objectives.
AEV is the publicly listed holding company for the Aboitiz Group’s investments in power, financial services, food and transport.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

Microsoft eyes iCafes as IT training ground

CEBU, Philippines - After implementing a nationwide campaign of offering the lowest software license fees exclusively for Internet Café owners, Microsoft Philippines is bent on pursuing its plan to make iCafes as training ground for Information Technology (IT) related courses.
Microsoft Philippines Inc. License Compliance Manager Fortune Abelo-Magsadia said that through its Microsoft iCafe Program, the company will soon introduce a program that will allow iCafe shops to offer short training programs to add value to its services, aside from generating revenues from internet gaming and surfing.
Abelo-Magsadia said that putting mini-training center facilities in iCafes in the Philippines will not only provide the proprietors the opportunity to earn more, but it will also provide more Filipinos the opportunity to learn IT skills.
The iCafé program is Microsoft's response to one of Internet café customers' unmet needs: secure and dependable computing experience in a shared PC space.
In an earlier announcement, Microsoft is going to build an online network access to authorize net cafés to accept consumers interested to avail of an online training.
This is a computer based and online training. Internet Cafes will provide the dedicated PCs for this purpose.
This program, will provide Internet Cafes another revenue channel, while any individual regardless of age, can get easy training access to different Microsoft programs.
Aside from partnering with the iCafe owners, by encouraging them to enroll in the Microsoft iCafe Program, the company will also forge stronger relationship with key government agencies, like the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), as well as the local government units (LGUs).
Empowering iCafe shops to offer educational services to consumers is part of Microsoft’s bid to make iCafes as one of the channels to push its program ‘bridging digital divide’, offering easier eLearning access to Filipinos.
Abelo-Magsadia said that this particular program will come later as phase-2 implementation of the long term Microsoft iCafe Program.
Recently, Microsoft rolled out the lowest prices for software products and licensing for the first time in history.
As an introduction to the program, Microsoft announced the major slash of Windows 7 (Operating Software) from P9,000 to P2,000 (plus) until May of this year
Microsoft Office on the other hand, is now pegged at P999 including rental rights fee.
The Bill Gates-owned company has picked Cebu as its pilot area for the national launching of this program
“There are a lot of benefits that an iCafe can take advantage of, once they will enroll in the program,” Magsadia said.
Aside from slashed prices, the program offers value added services for free, such as billing and metering tools, PC help tools, among others.
“We are trying to provide them [iCafe owners] value added services and products,” she explained.

Source: The Freeman Cebu

Consumers warned vs low-quality cement

IMPORTED cement now being used in construction projects in Metro Manila is substandard and
was brought into the country without proper clearance from the government, a consumer
advocate warned.
“Cement imported from Vietnam is now being used without the required Import Commodity
Clearance [ICC] from the Department of Trade and Industry [DTI],” said Adrian Sison, a lawyer
known for his proconsumer advocacies.
Before an ICC is granted, the commodity being imported has to pass certain quality tests to
ensure that it will not endanger consumer welfare and safety, Sison explained.
Sison said an importer has already used the cement in a construction site on Tatalon Street,
Ugong, Valenzuela City, without any ICC. What is worse, he said, is that there are reports that
the cement used failed the quality test that the DTI conducted.
The cement bags, he pointed out, are also without the proper markings required by the DTI to
guide consumers on the product’s proper use. This enables the government to track the identity
of the manufacturer, who can be held accountable for any problems arising from the cement’s
use. These bags are also not in the 40-kilogram bags as required by law.
Sison pointed out that the cement in question was stored in a place different from what is being
claimed, thus making government monitoring of this particular cement shipment
difficult—constituting a third violation, the lawyer said.
Sison alerted the DTI of a similar cement importation in May last year. He is now again calling
the attention of the department to look into what he noted are violations of the law, as well as
DTI trading rules, in order to protect consumer welfare and safety.

Source: The Businessmirror Online

Real estate loans rise in ‘09

UNIVERSAL, commercial and thrift banks increased their exposure to the real estate sector in 2009 by extending more loans, central bank data showed.
Data released on Friday showed that total exposure of these lenders to the real estate sector reached P393.6 billion as of December, up by 9.4% from the previous year.

Universal and commercial banks accounted for almost three quarters of the total, while thrift lenders accounted for the balance.

“The additional exposure came primarily from real estate loans, which rose [by 9.67% year-on-year] to P383.7 billion,” a statement from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) explained.

“Investments in [debt and equity] securities issued by real estate companies also expanded by 1% to P9.9 billion.”

Total real estate exposure as ratio of banks’ total loans excluding loans they made between themselves rose to 14.47% from 13.96% from a year ago.

But Victor J. Asuncion, director for research and consultancy at CB Richard Ellis Philippines, Inc., downplayed the figures, pointing out that while loans to the real estate sector have been growing, the rise has been tempered by other funding sources available to developers.

“Real estate developers, if they can help it, don’t want to borrow from banks anymore... because loans that have floating rates make their borrowing costs more volatile... [Bank loans] are still a part of funding sources, but no longer the primary one,” he said.

Mr. Asuncion added that property companies prefer to fund projects with equity, bonds or from pre-selling projects, and the share of bank loans as a funding source could go down with the introduction of real estate investment trusts or REIT, a company that pools funds and invests these in properties.

Central bank data also showed that real estate loans for construction and development of commercial properties accounted for nearly three-fifths of total real estate loans at P221.1 billion, while the balance was granted for the construction or improvement of residential units by individual borrowers.

Of total real estate loans granted by universal and commercial banks, 73.7% or P203.1 billion were directed to commercial projects, while the balance of P72.6 billion went to residential purposes.

Thrift banks lent out P90 billion to finance the acquisition, improvement or construction of residential units for households, and provided only P18 billion for commercial real estate loans.

Soured real estate loans rose to P23.18 billion from last year’s P22.83 billion, but as percentage of total real estate loans, slid to 6.04% in December from 6.53% a year ago because of a higher growth in loans.

In February, BSP Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo said monetary authorities may further limit banks’ exposure to the real estate sector from the current 20% of total loans as a way of controlling excessive foreign capital flows that may stoke an asset price bubble.

The deputy governor noted that the central bank had done this before when it limited banks’ exposure to the real estate industry to 20% from 30% after the Asian financial crisis in 1997.

He said that while an asset bubble is unlikely to emerge in the Philippines, this policy tool is available to the BSP in case a slower than expected recovery in developed markets prompts investors to seek higher yields in emerging economies.

Source:  Businessworld Online