STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS OF REDONDO PENINSULA ENERGY (RP ENERGY) RELEASED 60 NEW TURTLE HATCHLINGS AT A SEA TURTLE CONSERVATION SITE IN SAN NARCISO, ZAMBALES IN LINE WITH THE COMPANY’S PROTECT THE BAY INITIATIVE.

PawiCare Hatchery is currently managed by an environmental organization Katimpuyog Zambales, helping them are the local fisherfolks called La Paz Rangers and the local government of San Narciso.

“We admire the malasakit of the PawiCare volunteers who stay up all night to help preserve our rich biodiversity. Their story is worth replicating throughout the country,” according to Litz Santana, Vice President and Head of External Affairs at Meralco PowerGen, the parent company of RP Energy.

“I believe every Filipino, especially kids, should experience a pawikan-releasing activity at least once in their lifetime,” said Jason Gavina, Corporate Social Responsibility Officer of RP Energy.

“This is how we can effectively teach them the value of protecting our environment while at the same time, learning more about our rich biodiversity,” he added.

Protect the Bay is RP Energy’s CSR program to protect and conserve Subic Bay. Its members include: SBMA, LGUs, private sector to civic organizations such as JCI Olongapo, Kabalikat Civicom, and the Rotary and Rotaract Clubs.

Activities like coastal clean-up, recycled art competitions, river clean-ups, information drives, environmental forums, and other related programs are conducted by the group.

RP Energy is the developer of the 2×300 MW coal-fired power plant in Subic Bay.
Source: powerphilippines.com

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Photo Credit: Carmudi Philippines

NLEX Corp. said it expects higher revenues this year, boosted by the opening of a new toll road and an increase in vehicle traffic at the North Luzon Expressway and Subic-Clark Tarlac Expressway.

NLEX president and general manager Luigi Bautista said revenue was projected to reach P16 billion this year from P12 billion in 2018.

Bautista said the growth in revenue this year would be driven by higher traffic growth at NLEx and SCTEx and the opening of the NLEx Harbor Link Segment 10.

Traversing the cities of Valenzuela, Malabon and Caloocan, the 5.65-km, six-lane NLEx Harbor Link Segment 10 is seen to divert 30,000 vehicles daily away from the busy streets of Metro Manila. With the new link, travel time between C3 and NLEx will only take 5 minutes.

It will also facilitate the efficient delivery of goods as cargo trucks will have alternative access from the Port Area in Manila to the provinces in Central and Northern Luzon.

The elevated expressway will enable travelers from Manila to Central and North Luzon to have a shorter travel time as they can head straight to NLEx, bypassing Edsa and the Balintawak Toll Plaza.

The next phase of the project is the 2.6-km section from C3 Road, Caloocan City to R10, Navotas City.

NLEX and the government last week broke ground for the P23.3-billion NLEx Connector Road, an eight-kilometer elevated toll expressway over the right-of-way of the Philippine National Railways.

The project starts at the junction of NLEx Segment 10 at C-3 Road/5th Ave. in Caloocan City and will connect to South Luzon Expressway through Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 Project in Manila. Upon completion, the toll road is expected to benefit around 35,000 vehicles per day.

The NLEX spans approximately 95 kilometers, or 527-lane kilometers, and serves an average of 237,046 a day. It is the main infrastructure backbone that connects Metro Manila to Central and Northern Luzon.

SCTEx, meanwhile, is a 94-km, 2×2 expressway stretching from Subic-Tipo to La Paz, Tarlac, connecting the special economic zones in Subic and Clark and Olongapo City, to Tarlac City.

Source: manilastandard.net

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Subic Bay Freeport—The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority has released its revenue shares to neighboring local government units, this time in the amount of P222.13 million for the second semester 2018 dividends.

SBMA Senior Deputy Administrator for Support Services Ramon Agregado distributed the shares to representatives of eight LGUs at the SBMA Board Room on Tuesday.

The biggest share went to Olongapo City at P51,663,390.29, followed by Subic, Zambales with P33,960,079.44; Dinalupihan, Bataan, P27,628,579.88; and San Marcelino, Zambales, P26,622,181.11.

The rest went to Hermosa, Bataan with P23,129,326.47; Castillejos, Zambales, P20,791,833.84; Morong, Bataan, P19,303,258.14; and San Antonio, Zambales, P19,035,516.74.

The revenue shares are taken from corporate taxes collected from registered Subic Bay Freeport enterprises, which are rated at 5 percent of their gross income.

Under Republic Act No. 9400, which amended RA 7227 or the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992, business enterprises within the Subic Freeport Zone only pay a 5 percent tax on their gross income earned within the zone.

Three percent of the 5 percent corporate tax directly goes to the national treasury, while the other 2 percent is distributed to neighboring LGUs as revenue share.
The amount that an LGU gets from the SBMA collection is determined according to population (50%), land area (25%), and equal sharing (25%).

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the agency has now released a cumulative total of P1.87 billion to the neighboring LGUs in the last nine years that the SBMA had directly released shares to them.

However, Eisma said the agency does not have any record of what projects the LGU shares were used for, since the law did not require LGUs to report back to the SBMA on the disbursement of the shares.

“We just hope that the LGUs would be using the shares properly and accountably because these releases are precisely intended for them to be able to keep pace with the developments in the Subic Bay Freeport,” Eisma said.

According to SBMA records, Olongapo City has received a total of P448.45 million in LGU shares since 2010, the biggest among the recipients.

Next comes Subic with P280.38 million; Dinalupihan, P234 million; San Marcelino, P225.51 million; Hermosa, P192.41 million; Castillejos, P165.82 million; San Antonio, P163 million; and Morong, P162.35 million.

Source: manilastandard.net

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The remaining workers of the financially troubled Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction-Philippines on Friday, March 1, accused the giant shipbuilder of barring them from entering the company’s premises in Subic.

Virgilio Rodrigo, general secretary of the workers’ group Samahan ng mga Manggagawa ng Hanjin, said 100 workers staged a protest rally at one of the company’s main gates at 7 am after they were not allowed to report for duty.

The workers said they could no longer swipe their company IDs at the facility’s entrance.

According to Rodrigo, the workers who were locked out of the shipyard belonged to the remaining group which refused to accept the voluntary retrenchment package previously offered by Hanjin management.

The protesting workers held banners demanding the company to give them their jobs back.

Rodrigo said 15 more subcontracting companies of Hanjin have issued notices of closure effective March 31.

He said the workers were given the promise that they would receive their salary for March and separation pay.

Hanjin had earlier declared bankruptcy because it owed some $400 million from Philippine banks aside from $900 million in debts from lenders in South Korea.

The Korean company filed a financial rehabilitation plan before the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court Branch 72.

Last month, the court granted its petition for receivership and placed the South Korean shipbuilding firm under corporate rehabilitation.

Its liquidity problem had forced it to lay off more than 7,000 workers in December last year.

Source: rappler.com

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Photo Credit: magnaanimaeducation.wordpress.com

A Department of Education (DepEd) order uploaded on the agency’s website has mistakenly removed graduation rites for Grade 6 students.

In a memorandum issued on Friday, Education Secretary Leonor Briones apologized for the confusion caused by the error, clarifying that Grade 6 students will still have their graduation ceremonies at the end of the current school year next month.

“The moving-up ceremonies instead of graduation for Grade 6 completers is under discussion by the executive committee,” she said. “Should this be approved, DepEd assures all concerned that this will be announced with sufficient lead time.”

Two versions of DepEd Order No. 2, series of 2019 dated Feb. 18, were uploaded by the agency on its website.

In the first version, only Grade 12 or senior high school students would have graduation rites, while kindergarten and Grades 6 and 10 completers will either have moving-up or completion ceremonies.

The newer version reverted to the previous set-up, where Grades 6 and 12 completers will take part in graduation rites while kindergarten and Grade 10 completers will have moving-up or completion ceremonies.

The error caused confusion among schools, with local offices such as the schools division in Tagum City issuing a memorandum saying only senior high school students will have graduation rites.

The end of school year ceremonies will be held between April 1 to 5 in public schools, while private schools have the discretion to set their own schedules.

Briones previously called for “simple but meaningful” ceremonies that would encourage civil rights, a sense of community and personal responsibility.

“While these rites mark a milestone in the life of the learners, these should be conducted without excessive spending, extravagant attire or extraordinary venue,” she said.

“No DepEd personnel is allowed to collect any kind of contribution or fee for graduation, moving up or completing ceremony,” added the DepEd chief in connection with public schools.

She also warned school officials against turning end of school year activities into political events.

“The end of school year rites and moving up or completion ceremony shall be conducted in an appropriate solemn ceremony befitting the learners and their parents and shall not be used as a political forum,” Briones said.

Source: philstar.com

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