Photo Credit: elp.com

Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. may put on hold the development of a 660-megawatt coal-fired power until 2020 due to construction issues, an official said over the weekend.

RP Energy is a joint venture among Meralco PowerGen Corp., Therma Power Inc. of the Aboitiz Group and Taiwan Cogeneration International Corp.

“The management of RP Energy have engaged a consultant and the consultant’s recommendation is to stabilize the slope first. Issues like this with geological conditions is very tricky. In fact, one of the recommendations I believe, is to let it rest for one rainy season and that’s rainy season up to 2020,” said Aboitiz Power chief operating officer Manny Rubio said.

“There’s a hill behind the site, that’s the one that’s moving, not the site itself. We just want to make sure we protect ourselves from that geological condition once we make a decision on putting up the plant,” he said.

Once the solution is approved by the board, construction can be started on stabilizing the slope.

Source: manilastandard.net

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Clark Freeport—The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology is keeping a tight watch on Mount Pinatubo following reports of “unusual” smoke emitting from different areas near the volcano’s summit.

ACTING UP? The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology allays fears of Mt.Pinatubo eruption although it is keeping a tight watch on the volcano following reports of “unusual” smoke emitting from different areas near the volcano’s summit after the magnitude 6.1 earthquake and a series of aftershocks that jolted Luzon on April 22, 2019.

“The Department of Science and Technology-Phivolcs is closely monitoring 24/7 the Pinatubo Volcano. So far, the Pinatubo volcano-seismic monitoring network has not detected any changes in the condition of the volcano after the magnitude 6.1 earthquake [on April 22],” said Phivolcs in a statement posted on social media.

Philvolcs, however, said the steam activity may have been caused by rock slides.

The generation of dust clouds, blown by winds, was verified by a team of volcanologist who went to Sitio Pasbul, Barangay Camias, Porac, Pampanga on April 24.

Residents near the volcano have observed poor to zero visibility shortly after the earthquake, apparently brought by ash fall at Barangays Sta Fe, San Marcelino, Yangil and Banawen in San Felipe, Zambales. Similar events have been noticed in Brgys. Nabuclod in Floridablanca and Brgys. Inararo and Camias both in Porac, Pampanga.

“These observations were relayed to us after the earthquake that raised concerns on the effect of temblor on the volcano,” Phivolcs said.

The April 22 earthquake, left damages to private and government infrastructure including Chuzon Supermarket in Porac town that left more than a dozen of people pinned to death, according to Pampanga Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) headed by Angie Blanco.

The quake killed 18 people, including at least nine in a flattened supermarket in Porac Pampanga.

It also did P505.9 million in damage to more than 300 structures in Metro Manila, the Ilocos, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon, with Central Luzon bearing the brunt of the damage.

Phivolcs said there were no signs of volcanic unrest following the April 22 earthquake.

Source: manilastandard.net

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Photo Credit: insights.looloo.com

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — This premier commercial and industrial center has maintained its hold as the best tourist destination in Central Luzon in the last six years based on the number of local and foreign tourist arrivals.

According to the Department of Tourism (DoT) in Region 3 in its 2018 Report on the Regional Distribution of Travelers, the Subic Bay Freeport recorded a total of 1,729,435 guest arrivals last year out of the total 4,144,130 posted in the region.

This represented 41.73% of the total guest arrivals recorded the seven provinces of Central Luzon and the two economic zones of Subic and Clark Freeport in Pampanga.

Of these nine destinations, Zambales followed as second best destination with 674,359 arrivals, while Clark was a distant third with 473,162.

The rest performed as follows: Bulacan, 451,426; Nueva Ecija, 305,603; Pampanga, 266,612; Aurora, 176,818; Bataan, 53,339; and Tarlac, 13,376.

The DoT report indicated that most of the guests that arrived in Central Luzon were domestic tourists, with a total count of 3,798,848. Foreign arrivals were recorded at 338,305 while overseas guests numbered 6,977.

Subic recorded the most number of guest arrivals in December last year with 182,885, followed by 166,799 in April and 163,384 in May.

Central Luzon’s top tourist markets, the DoT also said, were Korea at 107,247 arrivals; Unites States of America, 52,249; China, 26,497; Japan, 12,686; and Australia, 9,823.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma took pride in the DoT findings and said that SBMA efforts to surpass its own tourism performance in the last few years were paying off.

“This is the result not only of the SBMA, or of the tourism establishments in Subic to draw more tourists, but of the whole Freeport community to make our place cleaner, safer, more secure and providing more memorable experiences,” Eisma said.

“The SBMA, the residents of the Freeport, and the companies, schools and other institutions that operate in the Subic Bay Freeport have been working hard together to maintain this outstanding tourism rating, and I’m so glad that we’re getting outstanding results,” she added.

The Subic Bay Freeport Zone has registered that highest number of local and foreign tourists in Central Luzon since 2013, according to figures compiled by the Department of Tourism.

In 2012, the DoT also named Subic the “Premier Convention Capital of Central Luzon.”

Subic has also been variously referred to as “Triathlon Capital” and “Theme Park Capital” of the country in recognition of its drawing power in sports and adventure tourism.

Chairman Eisma also noted that Subic has been named the fifth “hottest” destination in the Philippines today by Traveloka, which is Southeast Asia’s leading online booking platform for hotels.

This was after Subic recorded a +95% in tourist arrivals from 2018 to 2019, which was higher than the average 74% increase for the top 12 local destinations that Traveloka has monitored for the same period.

As the fifth hottest destination in terms of visitors count, Subic only came after Basco in Batanes, which was at the top slot with +386% arrivals; Legazpi City, +197%; General Santos City, +174%; and Laoag City, +160%. (Dante M. Salvana)

Source: iorbitnews.com

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By Jonas Reyes

Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero (left), Subic District Collector Maritess Martin (middle) and a customs official present to the media the container full of smuggled fireworks at the New Container Terminal 1 in Subic Bay Freeport on Friday. (Jonas Reyes)

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – The Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Subic recently seized P60-million worth of misdeclared Thailand refined sugar and fireworks at the New Container Terminal 1 (NCT1). The BOC presented the seized goods on Friday.

Port of Subic District Collector Maritess Martin said that 34 of the 35 containers contained smuggled Thailand refined sugar, while the remaining container was jam-packed with fireworks. Both shipments arrived from Hong Kong on March 31 and April 7.

Martin said that the BOC Port of Subic received an information regarding the smuggling of these contrabands, prompting her to order a hundred percent examination of the said containers. She added that the containers were consigned to JRFP International Trading, a port user and is not a Subic Freeport locator.

Martin said that the 34 containers, misdeclared as floor mats and plastic floor coverings, yielded 21,760 bags of Thailand refined sugar. The other container meanwhile contained several boxes of firecrackers.

Warrant of Seizure and Detention were issued against the shipments on April 12.

Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero (middle), Subic District Collector Maritess Martin (right) and a customs official present to the media the container full of smuggled Thailand refined sugar at the New Container Terminal 1 in Subic Bay Freeport on Friday. (Jonas Reyes)

Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero immediately ordered the revocation of the customs accreditation of both the importer and the customs broker. Appropriate charges will be filed against them for violation of Section 1401 of the Customs Modernization and Tarrif Act (CMTA).

“We will not allow illicit traders to continue to violate our laws. The Bureau of Customs is consistently working on boosting our anti-smuggling measures through the acquisition of upgraded tools for inspection and examination and close coordination with our partner-agencies such as the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the Philippine Coast Guard and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to beef up our fight against smuggling,” Guerrero stressed.

Earlier, a thorough search was conducted with the presence of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Law Enforcement Department to determine if there are illegal drugs stored inside the containers. SBMA LED’s K9 team inspected the containers and found out to be negative of drugs.

Source: facebook.com

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Photo Credit: panda.org

MANILA, Philippines — Chinese poachers are making “thousands of dollars” by extracting clams in the Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea and selling them, a US think tank expert said. But such a lucrative business has also destroyed the resource-rich waters’ marine environment and could cost coastal communities their livelihoods.

According to an ABS-CBN News report, the Chinese continue to harvest giant clams at Scarborough, locally known as “Panatag” and is considered as a traditional fishing ground off the coast of Zambales on the western shores of the Philippine island of Luzon.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. tweeted this week that the Philippine government will be taking legal action against Chinese nationals harvesting giant clams in Scarborough, but struck a conciliatory tone saying Manila and Beijing should not go to war over clams.

Replying to one of Locsin’s now-deleted tweets, Gregory Poling, director of Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, said that while Chinese clam poachers earn thousands of dollars, their activity has wiped out vast swaths of reefs — threatening food security in coastal areas.

“The Chinese poachers aren’t eating them either. They can get thousands of dollars for each shell for jewelry & figurines. They toss the meat into the sea,” Poling said.

“They’ve destroyed over 40,000 acres of reef via clam harvesting. That’s more than 10x as much as their island building killed,” he added.

They've destroyed over 40,000 acres of reef via clam harvesting > That's more than 10x as much as their island building killed. Here's a before and after (thx John McManus) of a reef near Thitu/Pagasa before & after the Chinese clam boats arrived. https://t.co/GPb1Mb8Igz pic.twitter.com/IOCa4rOoXI

— Greg Poling (@GregPoling) April 18, 2019

Ties between the Philippines and China have significantly improved under President Rodrigo Duterte, who has set aside a landmark ruling from a United Nations-backed tribunal that struck down Beijing’s “Nine Dash line” claim that encompasses most of the resource-rich sea.

Duterte’s management of the maritime dispute has frustrated nationalists, who criticized his seeming inaction towards China’s military buildup in the strategic waterway.

In a report dated September 13, AMTI said the South China Sea — which accounted for about 12% of global fish catch in 2015 — is “seriously threatened” by overfishing encouraged by government subsidies as well as harmful fishing practices.

Meanwhile, large-scale clam harvesting and dredging for island construction in recent years destroyed over 160 square kilometers of coral reefs, which were already declining by 16 percent per decade, AMTI also said.

Citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the US-based think tank said the Philippines could work with other claimant nations on management of fish stocks without comprising its claims over the sea.

It added that the only way to arrest the degradation of South China Sea is through multilateral cooperation among claimants, which involved the creation and management of the fisheries zones “regardless of the location of their territorial and maritime claims.”

Source: philstar.com

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