Photo Credit: 1Bataan

PILAR, Bataan — More drug surrenderers are expected to receive help in leading new lives with the inauguration on Monday of the newly-constructed Bataan Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center at the foot of historic Mt. Samat here.

Dr. Elizabeth Serrano, chief of hospital, said the center was built through funds from the Department of Health (DOH) and the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) amounting to more than PHP50 million.

Serrano said their operation began in an old building in Barangay Liyang here that was built in the 1970s by the Kabataang Barangay, then headed by Imee Marcos, now Ilocos Norte governor, as training center for the youth.

She said they started with a 50-bed capacity in October of 2008.

With the new center constructed on the same location, she said they now have a 220-bed capacity facility.

The new center, built on 1.7-hectare lot, will offer regular in-house program, outpatient treatment, after care treatment, and medical and dental services. There will also be an art room, prayer room and chapel for spiritual rehabilitation, Serrano said.

The center also has a room, where paintings and other forms of art of the “residents” or rehabilitees are displayed.

Serrano said at present, they have less than 90 “residents” and 300 outpatients. About 60 percent are Bataan residents and the rest from various parts of the country.

“Karamihan ng admissions are from the plea bargaining agreement. Galing sa jail na nag-plead ng guilty (Most of the admission were from the plea bargaining agreement. They came from jail and pleaded guilty),” Serrano said.

Residents undergo eight to 12 months of rehabilitation and the outpatients, four months.

Serrano said that thousands of residents have already graduated in their 10 years of operation. (PNA)

Source: pna.gov.ph

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CLARK International Airport aims to welcome 4.5 million annual passengers by 2022.

THE Department of Transportation (DoTr) said it is expecting total passengers at the Clark International Airport (CIA) to reach 2.5 million next month as the holiday season kicks in.

In a statement on Monday, the DoTr said Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) president and chief executive officer Jaime Alberto C. Melo reported the number of passengers in Clark is set to hit a record 2.5 million by the third week of December. In 2017, CIA recorded 1.5 million passengers.

“(Clark International Airport) is now one of the country’s busiest airports and this 2.5 million passenger mark is another record-breaking milestone for Clark,” he was quoted as saying.

The gateway in Pampanga currently handles 390 domestic and 184 intrnational flights every week. By next year, the Clark airport eyes 11 domestic and 24 international destinations.

“The increase in the number of passengers here at the Clark Airport means we help ease congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and in Metro Manila, and at the same time increase economic activities in the central and northern regions,” Mr. Melo added.

The Clark airport targets to register 4.5 million annual passengers by 2022. — Denise A. Valdez

Source: .bworldonline.com

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A Chinese group will finance the establishment of an industrial park in New Clark City, Pampanga.

MANILA, Philippines — As Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the country this week, a Chinese company will invest $2 billion or about P105.2 billion to establish an industrial park in New Clark City, Pampanga.

According to a report in the Financial Times, the China Gezhouba Group will sign a memorandum of understanding to develop 500 hectares in Clark.

This would be one of the largest projects under the Duterte administration’s “Build Build Build” infrastructure program.

It would also be one of Beijing’s biggest investments in the country.

The signing of the deal will coincide with Xi’s two-day state visit to Manila, the first by a Chinese leader since former President Hu Jintao.

Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president Vince Dizon said Chinese technology and manufacturing companies will be using the planned industrial park in Clark.

“You are talking about thousands of jobs that would be made available there once those industrial locators come in,” Dizon told the Financial Times.

An executive from Gezhouba said an intention and framework for investment has been established, the Financial Times reported.

The Chinese group has been waiting for official feedback from the Philippine government and is currently in the “stage of commercial confidentiality.”

“We hope to promote co-operation with the BCDA, with the help of the high-level government visit this time,” the Gezhouba senior official told Financial Times.

Gezhouba will be the second Chinese company to establish a major presence in the Philippines in recent months after China Telecom, which has expressed intent to become the country’s third major telecommunications provider.

The Philippines and China have agreed on $15 billion or P789 billion worth of infrastructure projects when President Rodrigo Duterte visited Beijing last year.

‘Debt trap’
However, implementation of China-backed projects have been slow with net foreign investment flows from Beijing amounting to about P9.48 billion in the first half of 2018, the report noted.

US Vice President Mike Pence has warned Asia Pacific countries of falling into China’s debt traps.

“Projects they support are often unsustainable and of poor quality. And too often, they come with strings attached and lead to staggering debt,” Pence said during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, meanwhile, assured the public that the Philippine government is “very careful” in choosing projects with China.

“We are very careful. Number one, we choose the projects we want… Second, we would step around for the best terms,” Diokno said. — Patricia Lourdes Viray

Source: philstar.com

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Photo Credit: garlete.com

MARIVELES, Bataan — The privately-owned Seafront Shipyard and Port Terminal Services based in Barangay Lucanin, here, is now producing local but quality ships that can compete with vessels made by other shipbuilding companies abroad.

This positive development came after a huge maritime training ship was successfully commissioned in a blessing last week that was witnessed by local and shipping officials in the State-owned Orion port.

“This is another breakthrough of the province and a big help to the Maritime industry,” said Gov Abet S. Garcia, impressed by the local ship product of Seafront.

The commissioning of the JBL Vanguard Maritime Training Ship was led by Garcia, Dr. Mary Lou Arcelo, owner of the training ship; Carlo Ignacio, vice president of Seafront Shipyard and Port Terminal services that manufactured the vessel; and other guests.

The governor said that the commissioning of the ship was a big boost to the Maritime industry in the country, and came at a time when the world is in demand of more international seafarers.

Arcelo told The Manila Bulletin that the training ship will be open to other Maritime schools to help train their students.

The JBL maritime ship, however, will be sailed to its home port in Iloilo City, to be operated by the John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University.

Ronaldo Sebastian, CEO of JBL, pointed out that the P200-million training ship was just a Second hand vessel but underwent for almost a year of massive renovation by Seafront Shipyard in barangay Lucanin, Mariveles town.

Asked why the company needed to go all the way to Bataan for its renovation considering there are a lot of ship repair facilities in Manila and Visayas areas, Sebastian said that it is more economical to have their ship repaired at Seafront Shipyard because aside from being cheaper, its (Seafront) technical expertise is above par.

Source: news.mb.com.ph

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By: Carmelito Q. Francisco

Plastic waste gets processed into a chair at the Winder Recycling plant in Davao City. — CARMELITO Q. FRANCISCO

DAVAO CITY — Winder Recycling Co. is preparing to roll out prefabricated houses made from plastic waste by next year, according to Managing Partner Winchester O. Lemen.

Mr. Lemen, who also heads the Zambales-based Envirotech Waste Recycling Inc. (EWRI), which produces furniture from plastic trash, said they have designed a 28-square meter house that is estimated to cost not more than P350,000.

The house, he said, is “suitable for rural areas because aside from it can be built fast, it will use solar panels and can even collect rainwater.”

Mr. Lemen said they are planning to partner with the Home Development Mutual Fund, better known as Pag-IBIG Fund, to allow members to apply for a loan for their product.

“We will make sure that Pag-IBIG Fund will know about this project,” he said.

Each housing unit will require about three tons of plastic waste.

Winder Recycling’s Davao plant can mold about 60 tons of plastic per month.

Aside from furniture and house production, the company is also pursuing partnerships with local government units (LGUs) and national agencies on plastic waste management, including transfer of their technology.

“We can help them manage their (LGUs’) plastic wastes,” he said.

Under the scheme, an LGUs must look for a corporate sponsor for the facility that would cost about P12 million to set up and requires at least 800 square meters, while Winder Recycling will provide training to those who will operate the plant.

He cited one partnership in Claver, Surigao del Norte, wherein a mining company funded the facility that could employ at least 40.

“We are encouraging other companies to do their share (by partnering with LGUs in setting up the processing plants),” he said.

The EWRI processing plant in Candelaria, Zambales, mainly produces chairs for schools and offices.

The school chairs, which cost an average of P1,700 each, are usually purchased by companies through their corporate social responsibility fund and donated to public schools.

Mr. Lemen said they are also working on potential expansion opportunities in other countries, including India, Nepal, and France.

In France, he cited, a company wants exclusivity for the processing plant that it wants to install “as soon as possible because they know what is happening” in terms of the global problem on plastic waste.
Source: bworldonline.com

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