CAGAYAN DE ORO — The Iligan City council has deferred the Swiss challenge for the 103-megawatt Iligan diesel-fired plant complex as it awaits the Commission on Audit’s recommended updated ceiling price for the power asset.
Conal Holdings Corp., under the Alcantara Group, last year submitted an unsolicited offer of P300 million for the two-plant complex.
While the period for the Swiss challenge was originally scheduled to end on Oct. 13, the city council decided last week to hold off the exercise until the Commission on Audit (CoA) recommended a ceiling price, Councilor Moises G. Dalisay, Jr., chairman of the ad hoc committee on the power plants’ disposal, said in a telephone interview last weekend.
Norberto J. Oller, vice-president of the Lanao Power Consumers Federation, noted in a separate phone interview that previous appraisals placed the power complex’s value at P2.1 billion (CoA, in a 2007 report), P1.9 billion (National Power Corp.) and P1.8 billion (Lanao Consumers Federation).
The City of Iligan acquired the 7.9-hectare power plant complex under a compromise agreement with the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp., following the latter’s failure to settle real estate tax liabilities for the asset.
The $110-million power plant complex was commissioned in 1993 as a joint build-operate-transfer (BOT) undertaking of the Alcantara Group and Tomen Corp. of Japan, called Northern Mindanao Power Corp. (NMPC).
Previously designated as NMPC-1 (60.9 megawatts) and NMPC-2 (42 megawatts), the plants were renamed as Iligan Diesel Power Plant 1 and 2 when ownership of the two units was turned over to the National Power Corp. on July 31, 2003 and on Feb. 9, 2006, respectively, after the BOT contract expired.
Three investor groups subsequently expressed interest to bid for the power plant complex and conducted due diligence on the units.
However, only Conal Holdings and Energy Developer Co. Ltd. of Seoul, South Korea — a company involved in renewable energy generation — were eventually deemed qualified by the city’s bids and awards committee to vie for ownership of the plant. — M. D. Baños
BONGAO, TAWI-TAWI — Once considered one of the most inaccessible provinces in the country, Tawi-Tawi is experiencing a surge in business activity and investor interest. Through a partnership between the Philippine and US governments, the Tawi-Tawi airport runway was upgraded.
This month, Cebu-Pacific begins new commercial flight routes daily from Zamboanga City to Sanga-Sanga airport in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, using an Airbus A319.
Earlier, Airphil Express began flying a 77-seater along the same route, with connecting flights to Manila and Davao.
“The presence of two commercial airlines means more competitive transport rates, which is good for business,” said a local entrepreneur.
The Department of Transportation and Communications, the provincial government of Tawi-Tawi, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program implemented the runway project.
“Linking Tawi-Tawi to the rest of the country and the world is in line with the Philippine Government’s efforts to ensure the physical integration of Mindanao through major transport infrastructure,” said Secretary Luwalhati Antonino, chairperson of the Mindanao Development Authority, which oversees implementation of USAID’s GEM Program.
The Tawi-Tawi runway was extended by USAID from 1,608 to 1,920 meters, and widened from 18 to 30 meters. It is now all-concrete, and able to accommodate larger aircraft such as Boeing 737s and Airbus 320s.
“The A319 has a large cargo hold, which is convenient for shipping live fish to buyers in Manila, Hong Kong and other destinations, without having to repack the cargo,” said Nazrullah Masahud, vice-president of the Tawi-Tawi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He added that the air links would support the expansion of the mariculture industry in Tawi-Tawi, home to the Sulu Archipelago’s only multi-species hatchery.
The chamber and the provincial government worked with the airlines and the CAAP to expedite the establishment of the new flights
Previously, travelers going from Zamboanga to Tawi-Tawi had to endure a 17-hour ferry ride.
The easy access by air has drawn investors and domestic tourists to the island-province, where in recent months two small beachside hotels have opened, in addition to the expansion of existing resorts.
Redentor Lauddin, director of the Tawi-Tawi Board of Investments-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said that Malaysian investors have expressed interest in linking Tawi-Tawi with the thriving tourism industry in nearby Sabah.
In addition to resort development, there are investment opportunities in power generation, cold storage, and housing development which are opening up in the wake of the new flight routes, said Mr. Lauddin.
Pagadian City – The Mindanao Development Authority’s (MinDA) advocacy for an increased budget has finally paid off following the approval of the P157-million budget for tourism development in Mindanao this year by the Tourism Infrastructure Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA).
Speaking before the 20th Mindanao Business Conference (Minbizcon) held in Pagadian City, Secretary Luwalhati Antonino, MinDA chairperson, said that in the last 10 years, Mindanao only got an average of 7-10 percent budget share from TIEZA (then Philippine Tourism Authority).
“I am happy to report that in our recent meeting with the TIEZA board, Mindanao got a hefty share of 35 percent from the P448.84-million TIEZA priority infrastructure projects this year,” said Antonino.
Antonino, who sits as member of the TIEZA board of directors, also said that Region 9 or the Zamboanga Peninsula got two of the 29 approved projects for Mindanao, namely, the development of Pulacan falls in Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur and the construction of the Cogon Eco-tourism development project in Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte.
Antonino added that MinDA shall continue in its efforts to secure financing support for the Mindanao imperatives by engaging more public-private partnerships while advocating for a fair share in the national budget.
“Unlike before that we only had a measly share of their [TIEZA] budget, Mindanao is now given attention”, said Antonino adding that tourism has a multiplier effect in terms of job creation.
The Mindanao tourism industry welcomes the increased budget of the island-region, which has been their clamor for the past decade.
“TIEZA has made an unprecedented move to develop a strong backbone for tourism in Mindanao”, said Mr. Art Boncato, Department of Tourism (DOT) regional director for Region 11. Boncato said that tourism is a major economic driver for Mindanao. The island-region’s potential for nature-based and cultural tourism is one of the bests in the country and that “strategic infrastructure support ensures its sustainability”, he said.
The advocacy for Mindanao’s equitable share in the national budget is one of the strategies identified toward achieving the overall peace and development goals for Mindanao in the next 20 years.
According to the Mindanao 2020 Peace and Development Framework Plan (Mindanao 2020), tourism development can be a win-win for the economy and environment and must be pursued vigorously through policy reform and public investments.
The promotion of the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) as premier ecotourism destination also provides substantial growth potential in Mindanao tourism.
In the medium term (2011-2016), DOT has taken a cluster approach in pursuing tourism promotion, with nine defined clusters for Southern Philippines (Mindanao) highlighting various types of tourism assets.
The clusters include the Surigao-Dinagat islands, Cagayan de Oro-Tangub Coast and Hinterland, Zamboanga Peninsula and the Bukidnon highlands among others.
CAGAYAN DE ORO — Plans to build a P500-million highway leading to the new Laguindingan international airport have been endorsed to the national government by a group of public and private sector officials in Northern Mindanao.
The interagency group, the Regional Development Council-Region 10, proposed a road interchange project consisting of a two-lane elevated highway with an estimated length of 1.5 kilometers, coordinator Jaime H. Pacampara said.
The road will include a 25-ton, 60-lineal-meter bridge, Mr. Pacampara said.
This should address traffic congestion prior to the airport’s opening which could be next year, he said.
Plans for another road said to be complementary to the airport, meanwhile, has moved forward after the Cagayan de Oro City council agreed to expropriate a private property lying in the highway’s path, Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez (2nd district, Cagayan de Oro) said.
The P1.2-billion Cagayan de Oro Coastal Highway whose first phase runs from the Bitan-ag Creek in San Juan, Lapasan to Barangay Puerto is seen to be a four-lane concrete highway with a four-meter jaywalk.
It will ultimately link the Puerto flyover now under construction with the Puntod-Bonbon Third Bridge.
Intra-city traffic will have a bypass road through which they can quickly negotiate the city from east to west.
Emmanuel D. Abejuela, city council committee on infrastructure, said the city government would pay the property owner with the fair market value of his property.
He also committed to initiate an ordinance that would compel truck and bus operators to use the coastal superhighway when traveling through the city from points outside it.
These proposed highways come on top of other plans to improve roads in the region.
Cagayan de Oro is also looking to complete by the end of this month the P363-million Puerto-Sayre flyover in Barangay Puerto at the junction of the Iligan-Cagayan-Butuan Road and the Sayre highway of Bukidnon.
Oscar Villanueva, President’s Bridge Program officer, said the 195-lineal-meter double-lane permanent flyover is part of the so-called Mega Bridges for Urban and Rural Development Project bankrolled by a loan from the French government.
District engineer Cesar L. Hipona, Jr. said the flyover is just one of a package of intercity projects intended to address the increasing traffic volume along the national highway, specifically along the Iligan-Cagayan-Butuan Road.
Two other flyovers are now under construction by the city government: the P107.8-million Velez-C.M. Recto flyover and P119.7-million Macanhan-Carmen junction flyover. — Michael D. Baños
The Philippine Star
By Ma.Elisa P.Osorio
July 9, 2011
MANILA, Philippines – The Board of Investments (BOI) has given its approval to the P174.4 million project of Nakeen Corp.
The firm is a new domestic producer of oil palm fruits and is a wholly owned subsidiary of A Brown Energy and Resources Development Inc. (ABERDI) which is a BOI-registered domestic producer of crude palm oil and palm kernel oil. Nakeen has an existing oil palm plantation at Impasugong, Bukidnon.
The project involves the growing and cultivation of oil palm trees in a 600-hectare public land located in Sitio Tingalan, Salawaga, Opol, Misamis Oriental. It is awaiting Department of Natural Resources (DENR) approval on its application for 25- year lease of the land under the DENR’s Upland Agro-Forestry Program (UAFP).
Oil Palm trees bear small reddish fruits in large bunches which are called Fresh Fruit bunches (FFB). The Palm fruits are made up of oily, fleshy pulps (called pericarp), with seeds (palm kernel) which are also rich in oil. Oil Palm trees grow up to 30 feet tall and reach a life span of 25 years. Fruiting starts three years from planting. Average weight of FFB is around 25 kilos.
Oil Palm Seedlings will be imported from Thailand and Papua New Guinea while farm inputs such as fertilizer and other inputs will be sourced from local suppliers.
The proposed P174.4 million plantation will have a full production capacity of 13,000 metric tons (MT) of FFB per year and a manpower requirement of 209 personnel. Start of commercial operation is slated to start on January 2014. Total production of FFB will be sold to ABERDI.
