Photo Credit: Olongapo City Information Connection FB Page

Via Facebook Live, Olongapo City Mayor Rolen Paulino was able to take his constituents to a very important celebration. The newly-renovated newborn services unit, delivery room and operating room of the James L. Gordon Memorial Hospital (JLGMH) has officially been blessed. Being a highly Catholic country, the Philippines considers blessings of new properties as an essential for its future success.

We wish JLGMH the best, and may it serve more and more patients through the years!

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SOLAR POWER. Chinese Embassy Commercial Counsellor Jiang Jianjun (left), together with Department of Energy Undersecretary Benito Ranque, checks out the 46-kilowatt “peak” centralized solar power system in Sitio New Baliwet, Santa Fe town in Zambales on Thursday (June 27, 2019). The power plant is part of the “Brighten Up” project that will benefit at least 1,000 Aeta residents. (PNA photo by Oliver Marquez)

MANILA — At least a thousand members of two Aeta communities in San Marcelino town in Zambales province now enjoy the ease and comfort of having their own source of electric power.

Residents of New and Old Baliwet, who have been denied the benefits of modern civilization for so long, were recently illuminated, thanks to equipment and technical support supplied by a Chinese power firm.

In his speech at the formal transfer of solar-powered generators on Thursday, San Marcelino Mayor Elvis Soria expressed his gratitude to the State Grid Corp. of China for their kind gesture to the villagers of New and Old Baliwet.

“I would recall that all of the townsfolk relied on fire for the luxury of light and heat. Through time, we have improved and sought electricity but not all parts of the town experienced this convenience,” Soria said, adding that the Chinese firm made it possible for the Aetas in this far-flung area to be at par with the rest of San Marcelino and the world.

The sitios of New and Old Baliwet is about an hour-and-a-half ride from the nearest paved road that connects the native people to the municipality’s more progressive area.

Brighten Up project

The PHP31-million Brighten Up project was the first charitable project independently launched by a Chinese-funded enterprise in the Philippines. It uses solar micro-grid technology to provide centralized power supply with a power generation capacity of 76 kW, and a battery storage capacity of 414 kW hours.

This amount of power is reportedly sufficient for the needs of the 370 combined households and two educational institutions located in New and Old Baliwet.

In an interview, State Grid International Cooperation Development Executive Vice President Wang Zijan said they have been constantly in touch with the National Electrification Administration (NEA) and Department of Energy when scouting for areas that badly need power.

“The company seeks to prioritize those who are in far-flung areas, along poverty-level, places with issues of power shortage,” Zijan said.

He also noted that they prefer to put up these projects in communities with great potential for economic development to further hasten progress.

The State Grid Corp. of China will also provide a two-year warranty and lifetime technical support for their power generation equipment. In addition to power coverage, Chinese telecom company, Huawei, will also provide the necessary equipment for mobile phone signals and Internet coverage for schools and nearby villages.

Fast-tracking the energy department’s goal

In a separate interview, NEA chief Edgardo Masongsong said that in December 2016 they targeted to energize more or less 1.5 million households scattered around the country. “As of April 2019, the number of energized households already totaled to about 13 million — a million more of the data before we the new administration came in. We are 91 percent of the targeted 14 million households,” he added.

He also said that their goal is to energize at least 50,000 more households each year until the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in 2022. “Private grants, such as these, help us achieve and even go beyond our target,” he said.

Energy Undersecretary Benito Ranque also expressed his gratitude to the Chinese corporation for helping the government bring light to these unserved areas of the community.

“They are planning to add more beneficiaries and I suggested that they choose Indigenous Peoples’ areas, especially in Mindanao where most of them are,” he said, citing the Aeta tribe in Talaingod town, Davao del Norte.

Source: pna.gov.ph

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SBMA Chairman Wilma Eisma signs a cooperation agreement with Leonides Reyes, president of the Filipino-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston.

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has drawn strong interest from prospective investors in the United States during a series of investment promotion meetings last week with various business groups in the states of Texas and California.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma, who led the business mission, said that among the firm prospects they encountered was a $10-million hotel operation and management project from owners of the Ramada Hotel in National City, California.

“It was a fruitful mission overall, but the most successful was in San Diego County where we received firm commitments for the hotel project,” Eisma said in a briefing here on Wednesday.

She said the other areas that potential investors favored were ship repair, refrigeration facility operation, home care, fintech Paypal system and green energy.

Eisma said business groups, particularly in communities with a high concentration of Filipino expatriates, had responded positively to SBMA’s marketing efforts.

“Part of the attraction was the pitch for them to come back and give their original home a chance [to develop further],” she added.

“Because of this strong interest in Subic, they are now scheduling a counterpart trade mission to Subic this October,” she also said.

Eisma said the 10-day SBMA investment road show took them first to Houston, Texas, where she discussed Subic synergies and trade prospects with officials of the Port of Houston Authority led by Chief Commercial Officer John Moseley, and then signed a cooperation agreement to expand SBMA’s global network with Leonides Reyes, president of the Filipino-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston.

Next, the SBMA team met with top executives of the Los Angeles Port Authority and the Federation of Philippine American Chambers of Commerce at the Port of Los Angeles in California, taking the opportunity to talk about connectivity between the Port of LA and the Port of Subic.

The SBMA official also briefed members of the chamber of commerce in Chula Vista, the second-biggest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, and received
inquiries on cold storage facility, ship repair and cruise ship home port projects in Subic.

Eyeing ties between the Port of San Diego and Subic Bay, Eisma also met separately with San Diego Port Commissioner Rafael Castellanos and Director Matthew Andersen of the US Commercial Service in San Diego, and San Diego International Airport Senior Director Hampton Brown and Domenic D’Ambrosio, VP for Marketing
and Innovation.

At a business forum in San Diego on June 14, Eisma said she highlighted Subic investment opportunities in manufacturing, shipbuilding, ICT, renewable energy, retirement, leisure and tourism.

Eisma’s US trade mission successfully concluded with her receipt of two awards: a “Bayani” award from the Olongapo City Bayanihan Club (OCBC) of San Diego County, and a citation from National City Vice Mayor Ron Morrison.

The first, signed by OCBC Chairman Elen Nobles and Vice Chairman Jimmy Yap, recognized Eisma’s exemplary contributions “by opening channels of opportunities in job creation, business development and community-based programs,” and hailed her as “a radiant symbol of optimism to the Filipino communities globally.”

The citation from Morrison, meanwhile, cited the SBMA official for “her vision and inclusive leadership in public service by creating economic opportunities for the families of Olongapo City with ties in San Diego, California, USA.”

Source businessmirror.com.ph

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CANDELARIA, Zambales – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) declared this town as the first drug-free municipality in the province.

PDEA officials said all of the 16 villages in the town complied with the parameters set by the Dangerous Drugs Board Regulation No. 3 series of 2017.

The awarding of the formal certification was held in Camp Olivas in San Fernando City, Pampanga on Monday and was attended by the town’s officials led by Mayor Napoleon Edquid. Joanna Rose Aglibot (Editor: Leti Boniol)

Source Inquirer

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OPPOSITION. Mayor Estela Deloso Antipolo says the development will leave San Antonio as one of the smallest towns in the Philippines. Photo from San Antonio FB

ZAMBALES, Philippines – Residents of San Antonio here declared their opposition to the plan of the Department of National Defense (DND) to transform almost 300 million square meters of land in the municipality into a naval facility.

Mayor Estela Deloso Antipolo leads residents and other local officials, including village chiefs, in opposing the DND’s plan to convert 289,051,550 square meters of land in Redondo Peninsula into the proposed Subic Naval Reservation.

“We strongly object and have conveyed our disapproval of the plan of the Department of National Defense. The proposed Subic Naval Reservation will encompass the entire Redondo Peninsula, leaving only 30% of our present land area. This will make San Antonio the smallest town in Zambales and one of the smallest towns in the Philippines,” Antipolo said.

The mayor said the development would disrupt their local tourism industry since they “stand to lose the Camara and Capones islands and the 5 coves for which San Antonio is famous for, which will all be under the direct supervision, control, and use of the Philippine Navy.”

Redondo Peninsula is divided between the municipalities of San Antonio in the west and Subic in the east. The west coast of the peninsula is indented by several coves and bays, namely Silanguin Bay, Nagsasa Cove, Talisain Bay, Agnaem Bay, and Anawangin Cove.

These areas are the prime tourism sites of the province.

Islands such as the Capones Island, Tabones Island, Silanguin Island, and Los Frailes Islands are also found near the Redondo Peninsula.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana earlier sent a letter informing President Rodrigo Duterte of the department’s plan of converting the said parcel of land located in Redondo Peninsula, which can be acquired through a presidential proclamation declaring the land into a naval facility.

“I wish to inform the President that ownership of the aforesaid location is an immediate solution to a long-term challenge of fulfilling strategic basing that addresses the improved deployment of forces, accommodating current, and future naval assets and enhancing logistics and maintenance system,” according to the DND correspondence dated April 16.

“This location places the AFP in a better position to defend the countrys interest in the West Philippine Sea that is emphasized by the need to stage, launch, and sustain naval operating forces in one of the most critical deployment areas,” Lorenzana said.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) then asked the local government of San Antonio to comment on the DND’s proposal.

“Sinagot na po natin ang sulat na ito ng DENR. Magkaisa po tayo na tutulan ang proposal na ito. Nakababahala na ang ating natural resources at ang ating tourism industry ay maapektuhan ng proposal na ito,” Antipolo said.

(We have replied to the DENR’s letter. Let’s unite in rejecting this proposal. The effect of this proposal on our natural resources and our tourism industry.) – Rappler.com

Source: Rappler

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