By: Ian Ocampo Flora

A total of 66 “un-energized” public elementary and secondary schools in Central Luzon are set to receive their respective Department of Education (DepEd) Computerization Program (DCP) Packages this February.

The off-grid solar electric power systems and ICT equipment package include seven units of two-in-one tablet, one wireless router, one cable and peripherals laptop, three units of photovoltaic modules (solar panels), mounting structure, charge controller, inverter, and energy storage battery.

The number of school recipients per province are 13 schools in Aurora, 18 schools in Bulacan, two in Mabalacat City, four in Nueva Ecija, one in Olongapo City, two in Pampanga, seven in Tarlac, and 19 in Zambales.

DepEd tapped the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to procure and deliver the IT equipment packages to recipient schools not powered by local grids in Luzon and Mindanao.

During the preparatory activities orientation held at the DepEd regional office on January 30, Dr. Benjamin Paragas, OIC-assistant regional director, reminded the school principals and teachers to ensure the safety and security of these equipment once delivered to their respective schools.

“Please ensure that the packages that will be given to you will be put in a safe place, strengthen your partnership with your parents-teachers association, with your barangay and community people because if we have powerful partners in the delivery of quality basic education services as well as the protection of all our equipment and assets in school, we are assured the maximum utilization of the resources,” he said.

The DCP raises the Information Communication Technology (ICT) literacy of learners, teachers, and school heads by integrating ICT in the school system, and by providing computer laboratory packages to secondary schools and e-Classroom to elementary schools nationwide.

Source: SunStar Pampanga

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By: Ric Sapnu

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT— The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) recently released a total of P147 million of revenue shares to eight local government units (LGUs) adjacent to the freeport.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the revenue shares were given to help finance development projects on health, education, peace and order, and livelihood programs.

The funds will allow contiguous communities cope up with developments inside the Subic Bay Freeport and Special Economic Zone.

Based on SBMA records, Olongapo City received the highest revenue share of P34.35 million; followed by the municipality of Subic, Zambales with P22.46 million; and Dinalupihan, Bataan, with P18.32 million.

The other municipalities in Zambales that received the revenue share were Castillejos, with P13.69 million; San Marcelino, P17.66 million; and San Antonio, P12.65 million.

Morong and Hermosa towns in Bataan received P12.79 million and P15.31 million, respectively.

Mayors Rolen Paulino of Olongapo, Jay Khonghun of Subic, Jose Angelo Dominguez of Castillejos, Elvis Soria of San Marcelino, Estela Antipolo of San Antonio, and Joseph Inton of Hermosa receive their shares from Eisma.

Eisma said the P147.22 million distributed last week represented LGU shares for the second half of 2017.

The amount was 6.96 percent lower than the P150.46 distributed for the same period last year.

“SBMA is continuously working on every possible means to attract more investors to create more jobs and increase the LGU shares,” Eisma said during the turnover at the SBMA head office last Friday.

She urged the LGUs to help the SBMA develop estates in their respective areas and to start planning for the extension of the Freeport’s fenced-in areas because the SBMA is already running out of space to meet the space requirement of new and bigger investors.

“If we could no longer accept new investors, the LGU shares from SBMA would not improve further, and, worse, could even diminish,” she noted.

“We have to find ways to extend the Freeport area, so that we could grow and develop more businesses and create more livelihood opportunities for local residents,” she added.

Locators and investors operating within the Subic Bay Freeport remit to the SBMA a percentage of their gross income.

Of the five percent gross revenue, three percent goes to the national treasury, while two percent is distributed by the SBMA among the eight neighboring LGUs.

The LGU share is computed based on population, 50 percent; land area, 25 percent, and equal sharing, 25 percent.

Source: SunStar Pampanga

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By Jonas Reyes

Subic Bay Freeport – Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chair Atty. Wilma Eisma wants to privatize the management of the Subic Bay International Airport (SBIA), saying that the privatization of the management of the area is the best course of action.

Eisma, in an interview, said that she wants to make SBIA “a business aviation airport, general aviation, MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul), and (ready for) charter flights.” She added that passenger aviation should be focused in Clark Airport and not here.

“We can get spillover from neighboring airports like Clark, but I would rather court general aviation and business aviation heavily and have a niche for them to attract tourists with curated experiences,” Eisma added.

She said that she hopes to get a chunk of general and business aviation since the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is focusing more on passenger aviation.

On January 25th, the Asian Business Aviation Association (AsBAA) led by President Max Motschmann made an ocular inspection of the SBIA to determine the business potential of the area. Eisma told the group that the privatization of the SBIA is under the guidance of the US Trade Development Agency.

She said that the aim is to complete the study this year and start the privatization by next year, ensuring that the privatization is well within the term of President Duterte.

The SBIA was formally opened on September 30, 1996. The US$12.6-million passenger terminal built by Summa Kumagai, Inc. (a joint Filipino-Japanese venture) was inaugurated on November 4, 1996, in time for the 4th APEC Leaders’ Summit.

Between the years 1992 to 1995, SBIA welcomed a total of around 100,000 commercial passengers. The airport was expected to handle 110,000 passengers in 1996. In 1997, SBIA topped the 100,000 annual passenger count. For the year 1998, the airport handled a total of around 1,000 international and 6,000 domestic flights, and almost 100,000 inbound and outbound passengers.

By 2007, the number of recorded passengers had dropped to 17,648, but due to the presence of the FedEx AsiaOne Hub the airport still handled 115,108 flights.

The FedEx hub lasted until February, 2009, when all operations were moved to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou, China. Due to this departure, as well as the planned expansion of nearby Clark International Airport, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Administrator and CEO Armand C. Arreza expressed interest in closing Subic Bay International Airport in favor of converting the area to a logistics hub in January, 2010.

In December, 2010, Guam-based Aviation Concepts, Inc. set up fixed-based operations at the airport, refurbishing a 100,000 square foot hangar to international standards, with the aim of eventually establishing a full-service aviation center.

In 2016, the airport began to once again be used for daily commercial passenger flights, with Air Juan flying their nine-seater amphibious aircraft to and from their private seaplane base in Manila South Harbor, located north of the CCP Complex.

Source: Manila Bulletin

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OLONGAPO CITY: President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Michael Ted “Mike” Macapagal, Olongapo-Zambales PDP-Laban chapter president, as a member of the Board of Directors of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC).

BY PATRICK ROXAS, TMT

Photo by: pbs.twimg.com

Macapagal took his oath of office before former president and now lawmaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday.

“I feel the burning need to deserve the trust and confidence given by President Duterte in me,” he said after his oath-taking.

“I intend to carry out the President’s vision, and execute his orders faithfully so as not to fail him,” Macapagal added.

He vowed to work closely with the rest of the CDC board and executive officers, as well as the rank-and-file, acknowledging “they have made great strides in tapping the CDC’s great potential, while doing a wonderful job in running this government-owned and -controlled corporation.”

“I have such high respect in the ability of Chairman Jose “Ping” de Jesus, the CDC board and the executive team,” Macapagal said. “I also commend the leaders of the BCDA [Bases Conversion and Development Authority] . I intend to build on their remarkable record of accomplishments.”

He said the objective is to make Clark an investment hub for light industries and a world-class tourist destination.

“I have heard a lot of talk about the new city being built in Clark. The Green City is an interesting concept, perfectly in line with the President’s decentralization agenda. Its an area where we can find a lot of shared ideas and common sense approach.”

Hence the priority, according to him, “is to attract more foreign and domestic investments. “Ultimately, our goal is to position the CDC in a strategic way that it is able to provide better jobs and economic opportunities for the people of Zambales, Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac and Nueva Ejica.”

“Our mission is to make Central Luzon the next Metro Manila. And Clark, I firmly believe, is the golden gate bridge that will connect us there,” Macapagal said.

He used to be division president of Stewart Title, one of the world’s largest title insurance companies. The firm, publicly listed on NASDAQ, has offices in the United States and several countries.

Macapagal disclosed that he had lived and worked in the US for many years but that he never became an American citizen.

As president of the PDP-Laban Olongapo chapter, he was in charge of the local party in the entire province of Zambales in the 2016 elections.

He lost when he ran for congressman in those elections.

He is the eldest son of the late Olongapo Mayor Teddy Macapagal, PDP-Laban founder in Central Luzon and a renowned pro bono lawyer.

His brother, Marvin Ted Macapagal, is serving as a member of the board of directors of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

source: manilatimes.net

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SUBIC BAY FREEPORT: Shipbuilding giant Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines (HHIC-Phils) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Alyansa ng Manggagawang Pilipino Organisado-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (Amapo-TUCP) for a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the company’s 18 subcontractors and its counterpart labor unions.

BY PATRICK ROXAS, TMT

Photo by: Manila Bulletin

Lawyer Ana Dione, Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE)-Region 3 director, witnessed the MoA signing between Kim Kyung Moon, representing the 18 Hanjin subcontractors and Roberto Flores, Amapo-TUCP president.

According to the agreement, Amapo-TUCP and Hanjin subcontractors will negotiate and enter into a CBA for the promotion and protection of the workers’ rights and welfare after the labor union completes the requirements for recognition and certification as exclusive bargaining agent in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Code of the Philippines.

It said that upon signing of the MoA, Amapo-TUCP will withdraw all pending petitions for certification of election of labor unions while Hanjin subcontractors will create a grievance committee to cater to all conflicts and disputes arising from labor concerns and grant of benefits, among others.

Also included is for Amapo-TUCP to refer cases of unfair labor practice (ULP) and pre-termination of employment disputes to the grievance committee.

Hanjin management, on the other hand, is committed to refrain from harassing workers over union-related activities.

Earlier, Hanjin was reported to be planning to terminate thousands of its employees under a retrenchment program.

Dione, however, clarified that Hanjin cannot just implement a retrenchment program without consulting DoLE and the labor department will address the issue with the company.

Hanjin employs more than 30,000 workers in its Subic shipyard mostly on contractual status.

source: manilatimes.net

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