The country’s premier Freeport will host Ad Summit Pilipinas 2018, which will mark the return for the third time here of the biggest learning event in advertising and marketing industry in the country.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Administrator Wilma T. Eisma and Norman Agatep, chairman of the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of the Philippines (4As), recently signed a memorandum of agreement for the holding of the conference at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center here on March 7 to 10 next year.

SBMA Administrator & CEO Wilma T. Eisma and 4As Chairman Norman Agatep sign a memorandum of agreement for the holding of Ad Summit Pilipinas 2018 at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in March next year. Witnessing the signing are SBMA Director Stefani Saño (right of photo) and members of the Ad Summit Pilipinas 2018 working committee.

Organized by 4As, Ad Summit Pilipinas is a biennial gathering of industry professionals that highlights discussions by some of the best in the world of advertising and marketing today, and also showcases a trade exhibit featuring cutting-edge business ideas, industry trends, and state-of-the-art technologies.

“It means a lot for us this vote of confidence from 4As and the organizing committee,” said Atty. Ramon Agregado, who is SBMA senior deputy administrator for support services.

He added that the decision of organizer to bring back Ad Summit Pilipinas to Subic shows a strong partnership between Ad Summit Pilipinas and SBMA. “We guarantee that we will work twice as hard to make the third edition of the Ad Summit a great success,” Agregado remarked.

With the theme “DIY Your ROI” (or do-it-yourself your return of investment), Ad Summit Pilipinas 2018 is said to challenge current mindsets on the way marketing campaigns are being evaluated. It will also explore new ways of determining brand success beyond the return of investment (ROI).

“What we hope to accomplish in Ad Summit Pilipinas 2018 is to open our eyes and minds to see the different ROIs that can helps us sharpen our measure of returns for our brands,” said over-all event chairperson Norman Agatep.

The event aims to examine ROIs through the lens of clever customization, where a brand’s performance is measured against objectives that go beyond commercial success and cross over to such returns as brand love, behavioral change, social good, environmental impact, and pop culture influence.

“The world has changed today; it is not only the opportunity of measuring money, as there are lots of forms of return of investment to consider,” Agatep explained.

“If we look at a hammer, we only see a nail. But if we look closer, we will see ideas or innovations, or influence. Return of investment could be redefined as return of insights, return of intelligence or return of impact,” he noted.

As a convention tradition, Ad Summit Pilipinas will also be home to Creative Guild’s Kidlat Awards, which is intended to establish “Kidlat” as the most prestigious advertising competition in the Philippines, honoring some of the country’s enduring luminaries and most creative and excellently-crafted campaigns.

“These are all in line with our mission to nurture a marketing communication environment that redefines creative excellence that’s in tune with an ever-restless and evolving industry,” Agatep added.

First Published: subicnewslink.blogspot.com

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The Philippines is now pushing to establish Central Luzon as the ideal destination for Taiwanese investments under Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy that seeks enhanced economic collaboration with countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Australasia.

Speaking as a member of the Philippine delegation in the recent Philippine Investment Promotion Plan (PIPP) Investment Roadshow to Taiwan, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Administrator Wilma Eisma urged Taiwanese business groups in Taipei and Taichung City to take a closer look at the so-called Central Luzon Manufacturing and Logistics Zone (CMLZ) as a prime investment destination.

Photos from Team Invest Philippines in Taiwan c/o Ms. Jem Camba

She said the CMLZ, which is composed of the Clark Freeport, the Subic Bay Freeport, and the Freeport Area of Bataan, covers a land area of more than 90,000 hectares, has several advantages that make it a haven for businesses, and is managed by devoted agencies that have come together as one unit.

The first advantage of locating in CMLZ, she told the businessmen, is its strategic location. Eisma said the CMLZ “is a critical entry point to the ASEAN region populated by some 650 million people, as well as a natural gateway to East Asian economies such as China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea.”

Moreover, the CMLZ is at the crossroads of international shipping and air lanes, and accessible to the ASEAN region within three to four hours by plane via the Clark International Airport and four days by ship to and from the Port of Subic.

She added that the three free port zones in the CMLZ are perfect for targeted key industries like electronics, automotive parts and aerospace products for Clark; shipbuilding and maritime industries, including cruise ships for Subic; and high-end garments manufacturing for Bataan.

The Taiwan investment roadshow was organized by the PIPP, an aggrupation of 19 investments agencies that seeks to create quality jobs by attracting high-impact, innovative, and inclusive investments.

The SBMA is one of the seven investment promotion agencies that make up the manufacturing and logistics/IT-BPM cluster of the IPP.

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OLONGAPO CITY—Hindi na umabot pa ng 24 oras sa ospital ang jeepney driver na si G. Dionisio Villegas, 61, residente ng Brgy. Kalaklan Olongapo City makaraang sumalpok ang minamaneho nitong jeep sa isang company vehicle Martes ng Hapon sa harap ng Marikit Park, Rizal Avenue Olongapo City.

Ulat ni Lolito Ramada Go

Sa inisyal na imbestigasyon na isinagawa ni PO3 Adrian Amigo ng traffic investigation unit ng OCPO, lumalabas na kasalukuyang namamasada noon ang driver na si Mang Dionisio nang bigla itong atakihin sa puso na naging sanhi ng kawalan nito ng kontrol sa manubela hanggang sa tuluyan itong bumangga sa isang owner-type company vehicle na binabagtas naman ang salungat na direksyon sa nabanggit na kalsada.

Samantala, ayon naman sa driver ng company vehicle na si John Henry Marto, 25 at residente ng Dinalupihan Bataan, nagulat na lamang daw sya ng walang anu-ano’y biglang kumabig pakanan ang dilaw na jeep na hindi na nya nagawa pang maiwasan. Maliban kay Mang Dionisio, agad ding naisugod sa pagamutan ang 13 pasahero nito na nagtamo ng maliit na pinsala sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng katawan.

Ayon sa ilang pasahero na nakapanayam ng SBC news, nagawa pa umanong pulutin ni Mang Dionisio ang mga nagkalat na barya na kanya pinampasada kahit pa sumusuka na ito ng dugo. Labis naman ang hinagpis ng mga naiwan ni Mang Dionisio sapagkat ang pamamasada na lamang daw nito ang tanging kabuhayan ng pamilya.

Sa ngayon, wala raw silang planong magsampa ng demanda. Ang tanging panawagan nila ay mabigyan sila ng tulong ngayong wala na ang kanilang masipag na padre de pamilya na solong itinaguyod ang dalawang anak nito at maybahay.

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The Philippine Coastal Storage and Pipeline Corporation (PCSPC), which operates the fuel depot here and the fuel pipeline linking Subic to Clark Freeport, has expanded its operations here with the inauguration of three new 180,000 barrel fuel storage tanks and two tank-truck loading racks on Friday.

The groundbreaking ceremony at the Maritan Hill expansion site was attended by top officials from the PCSPC, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), and the Aboitiz Construction Group, Inc., which fabricated the new storage tanks.

Officials cut the ceremonial ribbon to inaugurate new fuel storage tanks at the PCSPC facility in the Subic Bay Freeport. From left: SBMA Senior Deputy Administrator Ramon Agregado, Ayta tribal elder Bonifacio Florentino, PCSPC Chairman Michael Rodriguez, SBMA Chairman Martin Diño, Aboitiz Construction President & COO Alberto Ignacio Jr., and PCSPC President & CEO David Attewill.

The operation of the three new tanks will increase PCSPC’s total fuel storage capacity to 5.2 million barrels, or 827 million liters, said PCSPC Chairman Michael Rodriguez.

“This considerable increase in storage is in response to our customers’ demand for quality and available fuel storage in Subic Bay, and we are pleased to be able to provide this new expansion to accommodate their needs.” Rodriguez said.

He also boasted that the construction of the three new storage tanks and the two tank-truck loading racks was completed within one year without any accidents.

The construction was “on time and on budget,” Rodriguez added.

SBMA Administrator Wilma Eisma lauded the PCSPC project and noted that the construction of infrastructures within the Freeport can be done without any untoward incident. She added that the expansion of the fuel storage facility would also boost business in the Subic Bay Freeport.

PCSPC officials said the new tanks are on par with international standards and will increase the company’s total fuel storage by 540,000 barrels for various fuel products such as diesel, gasoline, jet and fuel oil.

The expansion also completed the PCSPC’s commitment to the SBMA to invest and build 1.8 million barrels of fuel tank storage at the Maritan tank farm.

The PCSPC’s strategic location inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone provides efficient importation of fuel products for storage and onward distribution along the network of well-maintained toll roads to Clark, Manila, Central and Northern Luzon.

“The Freeport also provides an efficient coastal location for hub operations with imports from regional refineries for onward export distribution to the region,” Rodriguez said.

The company has been operating the petroleum storage and pipeline facilities of the former US Naval Base in Subic. The facility was originally constructed in 1953 with a capacity of 2.4 million barrels, but PCSPC has doubled the fuel storage capacity over the past six years, with plans to further expand operation in the future.

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Good news kept coming out of the Subic Bay Freeport in the first half of this year, as the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority reported continuing growth in revenue, dividends, investments, exports and tourism.

In a report to President Rodrigo Duterte, who is set to make his first State of the Nation Address on July 24, the SBMA indicated increases in all aspects of its performance from January to May this year, said SBMA Administrator Wilma Eisma.

SBMA Earns and grows

She said that in terms of the agency’s financial performance, it recorded a 7.7 percent growth in revenue from a total of P1.16 billion in the first five months last year to P1.25 billion in January-May 2017, and a 3.4 percent increase in operating income for the same period.

“But the most revealing item here is SBMA’s net income which went up by more than 126 percent, because from the P106.27 million that was recorded in January-May 2016, we’re now at P240.21 million in just the first five months this year,” Eisma said.

“Apparently—and this cannot be denied—the SBMA has continued well in its growth path in the last few years and we are actually breaking old records here,” she added.

Eisma also said that because of the upsurge in its financial performance, the SBMA has managed to contribute bigger shares to the government than ever before.

This includes a 30.58 percent increase in the revenue shares to local government units that went from P115.22 million in the first half last year to P150.46 million this year; and a 30.42 percent increase in the government’s 3% share from the gross income earned in the Subic Bay Freeport, which rose from P178.37 million in January-May 2016 to P232.63 million in the same period in 2017.

Still, the dividends paid by the SBMA to the national government through the Bureau of Treasury, Eisma added, reached a huge 352.7 percent increase, as actual remittances grew from P145.91 million to P660.69 million.

Eisma said the favorable financial picture in Subic also extended to new investment commitments, which surged by 642 percent from P5.6 billion in January to May 2016, to P40.55 billion in January-May 2017. Likewise, the number of new business locators grew by 58, bringing the total number of Subic-registered businesses to 1,527, while expansion projects of existing locators jumped by 85 percent, or from 13 last year to 24 this year.

“The huge increase in new investment commitments is due primarily to the approval of the investment project of Dynamic Konstruk International Eco Builders Corp. (DKIEBC), which amounts to P39.92 billion,” Eisma explained.

DKIEBC will engage in general construction, renewable energy and industrial hub development at the Rodondo Peninsula, with projected employment ranging from a minimum of 10,000 to a maximum of 50,000.

Eisma said other major business developments in Subic this year included the soft opening of Datian Subic Corp.’s shoe factory, which now employs 1,000 workers; the ground-breaking of Toyota Subic, Inc.’s P150-million multi-level showroom and service center; the start of Teekay Swan’s and JOVO’s ship-to-ship transfer operations with an expected annual port revenue of P200 million; and the start of DM Leisure Corp.’s P4.6-billion golf course and leisure complex project.

Meanwhile, the SBMA also gave positive reports in tourism, with a 1 percent increase in visitor arrivals and a 3 percent growth in actual revenues that stood at P10.54 million in January-May 2017.

Relative to tourism, Eisma also reported that the Subic Bay Freeport became the first free port zone in the country to have declared non-smoking zones in compliance with President Duterte’s EO 26 that called for the establishment of smoke-free environments in public and enclosed places.

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