MANILA, Philippines – Irate netizens and environmental groups voiced their criticism on social media over Cove Manila’s attempt to land in the Guiness World Records with the largest balloon drop during its New Year’s eve countdown.

As of posting, Cove Manila’s announcement has garnered some 17,000 reactions, mostly disapproving of the event.

Cove Manila said in a Facebook post that the event is “not a whimsical effort to just ‘play’ with thousands of balloons” but an effort to make a new world record for the country and demonstrate fun in a responsible way.

“Firstly, the balloons are biodegradable. Secondly, the balloon drop has been planned with solid environmental management protocols in place to minimize, if not eliminate, any possible impact on the environment. And thirdly, we are recycling all the balloons and creatively turning them into something useful,” said Cove Manila in a post.

In a comment, Cove Manila also said that the balloon drop will happen in an enclosed space. They also assured netizens that the property consistently follows the local government unit’s waste disposal guidelines. These standards would be applied during the upcoming NYE2019 event.

But these assurances by Cove Manila did not stop individuals and groups in condemning the event.

The environment group The Climate Reality Project said that using plastic balloons is a wasteful act.

“Even if this will be done indoors, #DropBalloonDrop Cove Manila’s balloon drop must be stopped. It is unsustainable, wasteful and ecologically apathetic. How about 130,000 rose petals or 130,000 leaves? Or growing 130,000 indigenous trees to offset your carbon emissions?,” said in a statement.

Climate Reality also tagged Guinness World Records to remind them that they must be consistent with their stand of no longer recording environmental challenges.

According to the Guinness World Record website, record managers will no longer monitor actions that have detrimental impact on the environment.

“Record managers are sensitive to record attempts that prove detrimental to the environment. The record for the most kongming lanterns (sky lanterns) flown simultaneously, for example, was rested due to environmental concerns. The record was 15,185 and was achieved by the Middle Way Meditation Institute (Philippines) in Miago, Iloilo, Philippines on 24th May 2013,” as posted on Guinness World Record’s site.

Source: rappler.com

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The Port of Subic made history this year by collecting the highest ever recorded annual revenue amounting to P22 billion, surpassing the total P21.6- billion revenue goal for 2018.

The port’s P2.2-billion collection for the month of December already surpassed the monthly target by P270 million or up by 14.5 percent. The amount contributed to the annual surplus of P900 million or a deviation of +4.26 percent against its 2018 target.

Subic also posted a double-digit collection growth in the last quarter of the year, collecting import duties and taxes amounting to P2.182 billion in October, higher than its P2.095-billion revenue target for the month.

The actual collections of the port from import shipments in the entire month of November also reached P2.347 billion, the highest collection in its revenue history.

Last September, the port achieved a P93-million surplus for collecting P2.188 billion against its goal of P2.096 billion.

Subic has been consistently hitting an all-time high historical collection since the assumption of collector lawyer Rhea Gregorio.

“Port of Subic remains committed in its drive to collect revenues and vigilant in its efforts to prevent smuggling and the commission of fraudulent and illegal acts,” she said.

According to Gregorio, the positive performance of the port in ensuring that proper and correct duties and taxes are assessed and collected from import shipments is essential in meeting the collection target.

She also attributed the continuous improvement in Subic’s revenue collection to the implementation of tax reform law that imposed fuel excise tax hike and the higher exchange rate.

The government’s economic managers want the second round of the oil tax increase to push through due to the recent drop in world oil prices. Excise taxes on diesel and gasoline would be increased by P2 per liter effective Jan. 1, 2019.

Subic has been heavily relying on the entry of oil imports for its monthly revenue collections.

In February, then commissioner Isidro Lapeña Jr. came up with a memorandum stating that all district collectors, deputy collectors for assessment, chief of Formal Entry Division, examiners, appraisers and all personnel in charge of assessment of the collection districts who failed to meet the target will be relieved.

Lapeña designated Gregorio early September in Port of Subic, replacing district collector Segundo Barte Jr. who failed to meet the revenue goal for the month of August.

In attaining the revenue goal, Gregorio initiated a reform and impose new policy in Subic and pursued a strategic partnership with its stakeholders through constant dialogue and communication, which resulted to an increase in volume of importation by 50.52 percent compared last year. ?

Source: hellenicshippingnews.com

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MANILA, Dec. 24 — Food technology/ chemistry has long been in the area of specialty of Philippine researchers and scientists.

Utility Models (UMs) applications with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has historically been dominated by resident filings, considering it’s more affordable and relatively easier to acquire than invention patents. The UM is intellectual property dealing with minor improvements.

By field of technology, local UM applications have concentrated on food technology since 2014, proof that local innovators still think with their stomach, and that the food and beverage industry is still their target market.

Take it from Fairie Anne Acebedo-Domingo, a graduate of Food Technology and assistant Professor of Food Product Development at the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in Ilocos Norte. Acebedo-Domingo registered an oddly amusing innovation of a method to create pink noodles – using her locale’s sought-after produce, the dragon fruit. Dragon fruit is a high value fruit. The peel, of course, is part of the weight from which the cost is computed.

While currently not available on a commercial scale, the Pink Noodles showcases the innovative streak of Filipino researchers – in this case, capitalizing on the abundance of the dragon fruit while helping her province’s drive to be the dragon fruit capital of the Philippines.

Similar to the trash-to-treasure principle of the famed Cebu mango biorefinery plant [link to story], Ms. Acebedo-Domingo hoped to transform the waste from the dragon fruit, the peel, into a usable product.

“We were actually targeting production of jams and baked goods, and we didn’t want to throw away the peel. I got to thinking: how can we use the peel to minimize waste? That’s when we thought of incorporating it with the flour and make noodles out of it. It’s just a by-product,” said Ms. Acebedo-Domingo.

But this innovation is not just for the sake of quirkiness; Acebedo emphasized that some of the technology from the dragon fruit product development is being taught to dragon fruit farmers, as an extension activity of MMSU. This way, pia.gov.ph

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Taiwanese manufacturers Winstron Infocomm Corp. and Catcher Technologies are preparing to move out of China to relocate to the Philippines in 2019, the Board of Investments said.

The BoI said Winstrom revisited the list of incentives it enjoyed during its stint in Subic Bay Freeport and decided that the incentives they were given here were still the best package. Winstron is a parts supplier for Apple.

Catcher, a supplier or aluminum casing for mobile phones and laptops, committed to invest in a manufacturing plant in the Philippines.

“What happened was that Taiwan has grown increasingly bullish about the Philippines for a number of reasons. First, it can have access to the world market via the FTA and GSP agreements the Philippines currently enjoys with partner countries. A stable wage economy and less strikes regime were other come-ons for Taiwanese firms “ said BoI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo.

Taiwan has a thriving electronics manufacturing sector and is heavy on toll manufacturing. However, it cannot sign free trade agreements with other countries because of the One China policy.

The only FTA it has is with Singapore and New Zealand.

Earlier reports indicated that Winstron was eyeing Vietnam or the Philippines for its manufacturing plant, but the company subsequently announced that the Philippine would host its operations as a returning investor.

It also proposed to bring with it one of its biggest suppliers, Catcher Technologies, to produce aluminum casing for iPhones and Apple laptops. The company asked for at least 60 hectares of land where they can build the facility.

Rodolfo said both companies did not disclose yet how much they would invest in the country, “but they have firmed their commitments with us.”

He said Japan was also raring to invest in the Philippines after a Philippine trade mission visited 30 to 40 companies in Japan. Their only concern is the impact of the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-quality Opportunities or Trabaho bill on foreign investments.

“I told them that they will be given a choice once they locate here. They can avail of the classic or current set of incentives or they can go to Trabaho bill,” Rodolfo said.

He said both Taiwan and Japan were eyeing the Philippines as an attractive place for investments because of its growing economy, respect to intellectual property rights and English proficiency.

Source: manilastandard.net

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A bill that strengthens and expands the powers of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Development Authority has been passed at the House of Representatives by a vote of 200 to six without abstention.

Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, principal author of House Bill No. 8720 mandates the SBMA to have authority and jurisdiction over all economic activities in the free port zone.

The measured amends Republic Act No. 7227 or the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992.

The expanded authority of the SBMA includes the power to inspect and register leisure ships and pleasure yachts of any ship owner.

For this purpose, the bill provides the SBMA shall administer and maintain an open register of leisure ships and pleasure yachts subject only to such rules and regulation to be promulgated by the SBMA in consultation with the Department of Transportation.

The bill also mandates the SBMA to administer and implement incentives granted to its registered business enterprises.

Likewise, the SBMA shall fix and impose just and reasonable rates and prices for the establishment, operation and maintenance of infrastructure, services and businesses in the Subic Special Economic Zone pertaining to electronic, web and cloud data operators and providers and telecommunications; shipping and maritime business and activities; airport operations; and all other similar matters inside the economic zone.

Once enacted, the bill hopes to improve the revenue collection of SBMA and thereby increase the shares of the local government units affected as well as that of the national government.

Among the changes introduced by HB No. 8720 is the inclusion of a provision that the municipalities of San Antonio, San Marcelino, and Castillejos of the province of Zambales and the municipalities of Morong, Hermosa, and Dinalupihan of the province of Bataan may cede in whole or in part their entire municipal territory to the Subic Special Economic Zone for a period of not less than 50 years.

Source: manilastandard.net

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