World-renowned humanitarian and esteemed founder of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Senator Richard J. Gordon is currently at the Subic Grand Harbour Hotel for his keynote speech for the 26th North Luzon Area Business Conference.

Senator Dick Gordon at the “One North Luzon” 26th North Luzon Area Business Conference.( Photo by: Edic J. Piano)

He is advocating an intensified investment into manufacturing facilities across the Central Luzon corridor. Pointing out the success story of the Freeport, he recounted the five Fs that allowed Subic Bay to prosper: to be “focused, fast, friendly, flexible, and forward-looking”.

He likewise promoted the harmonious operations of both the Subic International Airport (SBIA) and the Clark Internation Airport, adding that “”Clark and Subic should be one airport”. Furthermore, he extended an invitation to all delegates to visit the official Philippine Red Cross ship, M/V Amazing Grace, commissioned earlier this year.

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The Bases Conversion and Development Authority names 7 prospective bidders, including two Chinese firms once banned by the World Bank as well as the concessionaire of the award-winning Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

MANILA, Philippines – The group of Megawide Construction Corporation, two Chinese companies once banned by the World Bank, and R-II Builders Incorporated are among those setting sights on the P12.55-billion deal to construct a new passenger terminal building at the Clark International Airport in Pampanga.

NEW TERMINAL. The creation of a new passenger airport terminal in Clark is seen to increase passenger capacity by 8 million per year, from the existing 4.2 million passengers per year. Artist perspective courtesy of BCDA

As of Tuesday, August 22, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said in a statement that the following firms have bought bid documents for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract of the new passenger terminal building:

• joint venture of First Balfour Incorporated and Datem Incorporated
• consortium of Megawide and Bangalore-based airport operator GMR Infrastructure Limited
• Tokwing Construction Corporation
• Qingjian Group Company Limited
• R-II Builders
• China Harbour Engineering Company Limited
• China State Construction Engineering Corporation

The group of Megawide and GMR is the concessionaire for the Mactan-Cebu International Airport public-private partnership (PPP) deal. It has a P208-billion, 50-year unsolicited proposal for a more comprehensive expansion of that airport.

Megawide has bagged 4 PPP projects so far. If they push through with the Clark auction, Megawide’s group will go head-to-head with a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC), which was previously banned by the World Bank for bribery and corruption from 2011 to January 12, 2017.

It was in 2009 when the World Bank also banned China State Construction for 6 years for its supposed “fraudulent, corrupt, and collusive practices.”

Meanwhile, the BCDA and China Harbour Engineering in October 2016 signed a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of the Manila-Clark Railway.

China Harbour Engineering and R-II Builders, led by Reghis Romero II, are also the signatories for a memorandum of understanding involving the Manila Harbour Center Reclamation Project. (READ: ‘Shady track records’ hound PH-China infra firms)

The Department of Transportation and the BCDA on Tuesday started the auction process with a pre-bid conference in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, where a total of 43 local and international prospective participants attended.

“Your involvement showed your trust and confidence in this government,” Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said during the conference. “We will be as transparent and as accountable in this bidding as possible.”

INFRA PROJECT. The BCDA says the Clark International Airport’s new terminal building is expected to break ground in the 4th quarter of 2017 and would be completed in 2020. Artist perspective courtesy of BCDA

Two decades in the making

INFRA PROJECT. The BCDA says the Clark International Airport’s new terminal building is expected to break ground in the 4th quarter of 2017 and would be completed in 2020. Artist perspective courtesy of BCDA
INFRA PROJECT. The BCDA says the Clark International Airport’s new terminal building is expected to break ground in the 4th quarter of 2017 and would be completed in 2020. Artist perspective courtesy of BCDA

The BCDA said the Clark International Airport’s new terminal building is expected to break ground in the 4th quarter of 2017 and would be completed in 2020.

BCDA President and CEO Vivencio Dizon said the implementation would be a “no-brainer” since the expansion of the Clark International Airport has long been planned by the government for more than two decades.

“Now, we’re finally witnessing the development of the Clark International Airport,” Dizon said. (READ: EO 14 returns ownership of Clark Int’l Airport Corp to BCDA)

A pre-bid conference is part of the procurement process where prospective bidders can clarify terms of the contract.

The deadline to purchase bid documents for the airport terminal deal is on October 22, while submission of bid documents is on October 23.

The creation of a new passenger airport terminal in Clark is seen to increase passenger capacity by 8 million per year, from the existing 4.2 million passengers per year. Once the new terminal is completed, the Clark International Airport will be able to welcome 12.2 million passengers annually, according to the BCDA.

“The ultimate target is 80 million per year upon completion of the 4th phase under the latest master plan,” the BCDA said.

The project is under the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build infrastructure program.

First Published: rappler.com

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SAN ANTONIO, ZAMBALES – The Philippine Navy has enhanced its intelligence gathering after receiving a 28-meter class Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) from Washington on August 22 during a turnover ceremony at the Naval Education and Training Command – Philippine Navy (NETC) here.

By Jonas Reyes

According to U.S. Embassy, Manila Philippines Deputy Chief of Mission to the Philippines Michael Klescheski, “The new TARS will provide the Philippine Navy with intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities. This modern and sophisticated radar system will help the Philippine Navy detect vessels near the Philippine shores.”

Klescheski handed over the TARS to Philippine Navy Flag Officer in Command Vice Admiral Ronald Mercado. Mercado said that the NETC in Zambales was chosen to be the staging point since this is the largest real-estate property of the Philippine Navy with a flat terrain.

Mercado also stated that the area fits the minimum space of 300ft by 300ft open area required to launch the aircraft. “Also, as the premier training institution of the Philippine Navy, personnel here can be trained using this system as one of the new competencies.”

Mercado also bared plans that any intelligence gathered by the TARS will be shared with other government agencies that are critical in keeping the waters of the Philippines safe and secure.
The aerostat is a large fabric envelope filled with helium, and can rise up to an altitude of 5,000 feet while tethered by a single cable. The 28-meter class TARS is a self-sustained, rapidly deployable, unmanned lighter-than-air platform that will bolster maritime domain awareness.

The TARS also includes a weather station that provides telemetry data to the ground station for the monitoring of ambient temperature, pressure, wind speed and other pertinent parameters in the operation of the system.

First Published: facebook.com

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You stayed up late partying with friends in Olongapo City. It’s closing time—to use the local bar lingo–and you suddenly felt your stomach rumbling. Where do you go? McDo and Jollibee don’t seem like great places after a late-night after-binge grub. If you’re like most Olongapeños, then you’d probably end up at Rico’s.

By Percy Roxas

Rico’s has been a perennial favorite of ‘Gapo late-nighters for as long as we can remember. It’s location on the corner of 4th and Corpuz streets — which is very accessible from the city’s main nightlife hubs — and its 24-hour operation, is a boon to many bar hoppers hungry for a quick, delicious meal after a drinking binge.

It was so popular that way, in fact, that Rico’s opened an extension branch in Baretto, another leading entertainment area in Olongapo. And a third one, we heard, is already underway.

While the original Rico’s in downtown ‘Gapo now boasts a fancier dining area than the last time we have eaten there, it is still – strictly speaking — a fast food eatery. Not fastfood in the McDO, KFC, or even Chow King style maybe, but a fastfood place still. I mean, you want food, you want it fast– you go to Rico’s, any time of day.

And, like all fastfood joints that have succumbed to “promos” like “set meals for the affordable crowd,” Rico’s now serve set meals such as bistek with rice, porkchop with rice, dinuguan with rice, and other Pinoy specialties for just a little over a hundred peso or so. There are a la carte options too, such as bulalo just to name a few, but of course.

The eatery was so successful because those who live in the surrounding areas find Rico’s a great option when they don’t feel like cooking, or when visitors come to stay for meals and they are caught unprepared. And these days, by the way, Rico’s is among the few locally owned eateries that have withstood the onslaught of outsider competition.

But our memory Rico’s as a true-blue Olongapeño eatery serving an array of delicious, affordable home-style Filipino food (“A pride of Gapo,” says many) the quality of the food has gone down a bit today, it seems – especially if you go there after 2 or 3 a.m.

Take my “Bistek Tagalog,” for example. Topped with uncooked sibuyas Bombay, and served with half-cut salted egg and rice almost as tough as plastic, I wasn’t able to control myself and complained to the staff: “Have you ever tasted this rice?” My friends’ rice tasted the same, so I guess it wasn’t just me being fussy. To be fair, the staff quickly replaced my rice with a newly cooked serving.

Now, I’m not here to bash Rico’s and I sincerely hope our recent experience there was an isolated one. In fairness, my friend finished his sizzling porkchop in no time at all. It must be good. And the bulalo soup wasn’t shabby at all.

Perhaps our timing was just off. But a few more customers came in after us, meaning many people go to Rico’s to eat during unholy hours so they must be prepared. They are open 24 hours right? Anyways.

Now pricewise Rico’s was right on, I would say, because our meal – for four persons – sans soft drinks or beer, cost us less than PHP500. I also notice their posters for all-you-can-eat buffets, at PHP150 and PHP170 only, respectively. I’d like to try these budget buffets mind you.

Anyway, we’re glad that Rico’s is still open when other eateries in the city are already closed. You’ll find it invaluable too when your hunger pangs attack during unholy wee hours.

But I just hope that they – and other local restaurants here — develop more service-mindedness and work their best to ensure consistent quality, not only in their food but also in their overall service. With a world-class Freeport just over the main gate of the former U.S. Naval Base, it’s not too much to ask, is it?

And anyway, why allow some bad rice or bad bistek ruin your reputation when — with just a little effort — you can rise up to your status of being a local legend? Beats me, Rico’s.

First Published: subicsun.com

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Thirty-two persons allegedly involved in the using and selling of illegal substances were arrested by the Olongapo City Police Office (OCPO) during the “One Time Big Time” (OTBT) anti-illegal drug operation conducted August 19.

By Patrick Roxas

Police said the arrests were made during 12 simultaneous buy-busts operations and through 24-hour checkpoints in the whole city manned by pesonnel from six police stations, which included the Olongapo Police Public Safety Company, City Intelligence Branch, police stations and the City Police Anti-Drug Enforcement Unit working as one in the relentless campaign against illegal drugs and criminality in the city.

The OTBT operation netted 70 pieces of heat resistant plastic sachets of shabu approximately weighing 12.62 grams buy-bust money, assorted drug paraphernalia, one tricycle and one Toyota Innova.

Those suspects are now facing charges for violation of RA 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002) at the City Prosecutor’s Office.

OCPO City Director Police Senior Supt. Melchor Baliuag Cabalza 3rd said this operation is just one of the many OTBTs that will be conducted to ensure that the Olongapo PNP is winning in the war against illegal drugs that it is waging in support of the nationwide “Project Double Barrel Reloaded.”

First Published: manilatimes.net

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