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6/19/2012
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IF you have several
appliances at home, including an airconditioner, you may be consuming 200
kilowatt hours a month.
Based on a sample
computation of the impact of the June rate hike of the Visayan Electric Company
(Veco) for a consumer of 200 kwh, the private utility said you can expect to
pay P204 more this month.
(See table above.)
The Veco chart showed
that consumption of 200 kwh would cost an average of P10.03 per kwh in May,
before the rate hike.
That would amount to
P2,006 on your electric bill.
After the generation rate
increase in June, the average cost of power would be P11.05 per kwh.
In your bill, that would
be refleted as P2,210.
The difference is P204 to
the household customer.
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Sunday, June 24, 2012
How much more will I pay?
Tree planting, cleanups for Environment Month
6/2/2012
TREE planting and creek clean- ups will be held today in Cebu as
part of the celebration of Environment Month in June, said the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Central Visayas.
A parade on June 4 will be
followed by a sportsfest and presentation of 12 candidates of the “Mutya ng
Kalikasan” pageant. The coronation night is on June 27.
June 5 is World Environment
Day.
“Green Economy: Does it
include you?” The DENR posed this question to every Filipino as the theme for
the celebration of Philippine Environment Month.
Several activities are
prepared by the agency in leading the month-long environmental campaign.
A DENR Open House and
Market Week will run from June 11 to 15.
On June 8, soil potting
will be simultaneously done in various nurseries. On June 20, a mangrove
planting and coastal cleanup will be held.
A mine tour and forum on
responsible mining is set on June 22 at the Carmen Copper Corp. in Toledo City.
Tree planting in the Butuanon watershed is set for June 23.
Bohol and Negros Oriental
will host a benchmarking tour June 13-15 along with an exhibit or exposition on
June 18-22.
As defined by the United
Nations (UN) Environment Program, green economy “results in improved human
well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks
and ecological scarcities.”
“Everyone must take part in
ensuring the protection and conservation of our environment and natural
resources mindful of the present threats of climate change,” the DENR 7 said in
a press statement. /Jessa J. Agua,
Correspondent
Tomas O ‘poorest’ Cebu solon P5.1M
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6/1/2012
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CEBU City’s two congressmen yesterday gave copies of their 2012
Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) upon request of Cebu
Daily News.
Cebu City Rep. Tomas
Osmeña said he thinks all SALNS should be posted in the Internet for the
world to see.
With a declared net worth
of P5.1 million and no real property , Osmeña said he isn’t ashamed to admit
he’s the "poorest" of Cebu’s congressmen.
First-time legislator
Rep. Rachel “Cutie” del Mar recorded a net worth of P30,011,200 in her SALN,
most of it in three landholdings in Cebu City and a Makati condominium.
“As a public official, I
have to adhere to the principle that public office is a public trust, she
said.
A call for full
transparency was underscored by Tuesday’s ouster of Chief Justice Renato
Corona over his failure to declare his full cash assets in the SALN.
CDN asked nine Cebu
members of the House of Representatives to disclose their current SALNs which
are filed with the Secretary General ‘s office in Quezon City.
Rep. Red Durano of the
5th district and Rep. Luigi Quisumbing were the first to e-mail or fax copies
to the CDN newsroom.
Under oath, they
certified that their personal wealth was P15.8 million for Quisumbing and
P13.6 million for Durano.
Two other solons, 3rd
district Rep. Pablo John Garcia and 4th district Rep. Benhur Salimbangon
asked for more time, saying there was a period of revision to “correct”
entries reviewed by the House.
Osmeña yesterday said
"the SALN should be made available to the public. They (the House
leadership) should put it on the Internet,” he said. This would save him the
bother of photocopying it whenever someone requests for it, he said.
House Speaker Feliciano
Belmonte on Tuesday said he would discuss with congressmen how to go about
revealing the documents so that “everyone does it”.
Osmeña and del Mar both
declared the same income of P1 million per annum.
In the document dated
April 20, 2012, Osmeña’s assets have no real properties listed.
(With the death last Nov.
6, 2011 of his mother Lourdes dela Rama , however, he is expected to inherit
a share of sizeable landholdings in Negros Occidental and Cebu.)
As his personal and other
properties, the former Cebu City mayor said most of his wealth was in cash of
P3.9 million and “car and accessories” at P1.89 million, along with jewelry
worth P175,000, stock investments worth P660,000 and appliances and furniture
worth P320,000.
His residence with wife
Councilor Margarita Osmena is in 168 Don Gervasio Quijada Streeet in
Guadalupe, Cebu City.
The congressman said “six
units” of firearms were donated to him in 2011.
Total assets of P6.9
million were offset by two loans, a personal loan of P1.5 million from his
sister Maria Victtorio Osmeña Stuart and a Metrobank car loan for P380,000.
For business interests,
Osmena said he and his wife were stockholders in two firms in Cebu City -
Happy Stars Promotion & Consultant INc. and Southern Gems Fashion Inc. in
June 2006.
His relatives in government
are his wife Margot and elder brother Sen. Serge Osmena III.
Meanwhile, Cutie del Mar,
e-mailed a copy of her 2012 SALN to CDN.
It showed net assets of a
little over P30 million with no liabilties.
Her income of P1,000,121
a year was the same figure as Osmeña’s.
The single legislator
resides in Canyon Road, Beverly Hills in Cebu City and declared four real
properties with a total worth of P21.8 million, which was the bulk of her
personal wealth.
There were three lots in
Cebu City (Busay, Lahug and Ayala Heights), and a P16 million condominium in
Makati .
The properties were
bought in 1991, 1995, 2001 and the latest, the condominium in 2002.
She owns P2 million in
shares of stock acquired in 1989 and P6.2 million in cash and jewelry in
1987.
Although everyone knows
her as the daughter of former congressman Raul del Mar, Cutie has no family
members or relatives in government, according to the SALN. /Edison A Delos Angeles and Ador Vincent Mayol
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Tom O Capitol deal Filinvest’s ‘second choice’
May 30, 2012
There’s more than meets the eye in the Capitol’s new joint venture with Filinvest Land Inc., said Cebu City Rep. Tomas Osmeña.
Reacting to Gov. Gwen Garcia’s portrayal of the 1.2 hectare land
deal as more advantageous than Filinvest’s earlier deal with Cebu City for 50.6
hectares in the South Road Properties (SRP), the congressman said leasing the
province-owned lot in Salinas Drive for a BPO Complex was only Filinvest’s
“second choice” after SRP.
“Compare Cebu province with Cebu City? Gov. Gwen says the province
will have an increase in P5 billion in assets with the lease with FLI.”
“What she did not say is that FLI has the option to lease it for
up to 50 years. Do you think the building will be as commercially attractive
after 50 years? That would make it as old as Asilo,” he said in a text message
to Cebu Daily News.
“Filinvest is a good deal though because the city needs the BPO
space now. But 50 years from now, the province will have a hard time renting
out the old building.”
Osmeña said Filinvest’s interest in the province-owned lot in
Lahug where the Cebu city jail was once located was just a second choice after
the Cebu City government turned down Filinvest's request to acquire 10 more
hectares in SRP.
Osmeña and city officials had chosen instead to wait for land
values to go up in SRP with ongoing major commercial developments like SM City
and Filinvest.
"Note that Filinvest wanted to get 10 more hectares from the
SRP which we politely refused and the province lot was a consuelo - a second
choice," said Osmena.
The Province of Cebu and Filinvest broke ground last Saturday for
a P6.5 billion BPO Complex in Salinas Drive. The private developer will build
the structures under a Build-Transfer-Operate scheme and operate the BPO
complex for 25 years with renewal for 25 more years.
Last Monday, Governor Garcia said leasing the land instead of
selling it outright to Filinvest was a better deal and is favorable to the
provincial government.
The Capitol will receive P600,000 monthly rental and another P1.5
million a year from the joint venture's gross revenues.
But Osmeña said that looking years ahead, “Who will want to use
50-year-old elevators, air con and plumbing? By that time, the modern buildings
will rent out at much higher rates and the province has only a four percent
increase a year.”
Now that Filinvest is the Capitol’s new partner,
he said the governor’s brother Rep. Pablo John Garcia should “apologize” for
attacking the Filinvest-Cebu City joint venture in SRP as an anomalous
“sweetheart deal” in a 2009 privilege speech in the House of Representatives.
Rep. PJ Garcia earlier sought a congressional investigation into the deal. /Doris C. Bongcac, Chief Of Reporters
Monterrazas monitored for floods
6/1/2012
Water impounding ponds located below the Monterrazas de Cebu
project in barangay Guadalupe did not overflow despite the rains that started
last week.
But still, this may not yet
be the basis for the lifting of City Hall's cease-and-desist order (CDO) to the
real estate project, said Alvin Santillana, operations officer of the Cebu City
Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council.
A CDO was issued on the real
estate development project after massive flooding last year in barangay
Guadalupe and neighboring barangays was attributed to them.
To mitigate flooding impact
of their project, City Hall required them to regularly desilt their water
impounding ponds, install soil erosion and landslide mitigation measures and
improve the project's drainage system.
However, Santillana said
their observations on the impounding ponds alone may not be enough basis to
already lift the CDO issued last year.
"The lifting of the
CDO will depend on our group assessment," said Santillana.
He added that government
offices and agencies whom Mayor Michael Rama tasked to monitor the progress of
their compliance with city and environmental requirements are scheduled to
convene next week to discuss Monterrazas de Cebu's request for the lifting of
the CDO.
Cebu City’s Project
Implementation and Monitoring Office (Primo) chairman Rolando Diola and CPDO
chief engineer Alipio Bacalso wrote Rama early this month and recommended the
lifting of the CDO after Genvi Development Corp., the developer of Monterrazas
de Cebu, has “substantially complied” with the conditions set under the CDO.
Even barangay Guadalupe has
already issued a "favorable recommendation" for the lifting of the
CDO after Genvi put in place flood, landslide and soil erosion prevention
measures, which include the planting of vetiber grasses and placement of
cocomats along the slopes to prevent soil erosion.
Genvi has also installed
diversion ditches and has been desilting their ponds at least twice a month.
They are also continuing to assisted in the rehabilitation of areas affected by
the July 2011 flooding.
Santillana said they last
vi sited the Monterrazas project area on Monday and saw that their siltation
pond especially the one located near the Bethany school did not overflow
despite the rain.
He said the flooding of the
nearby Francisca Village and Horse Shoe Drive was caused by the overflow of the
creek in the area.
"Ang Monterrazaas dili
na siya contributory sa flooding but we will have to further assess the
situation there before we decide on the lifting of their CDO," said
Santillana.
Santillana said that a
meeting is scheduled next week with DENR, city egineering and disaster
officials, Primo, city administrator Poblete and mayor Rama to discuss the
request for the lifting of the CDO against.
Santillana added they are
closely monitoring areas in the city that are high risk to flooding and
landslides especially that the rainy season has started. /Doris C. Bongcac, Chief of Reporters
Firm offers plan for Inayawan landfill
June 23, 2012
Cebu City's Solid Waste Management Board (SWMB) recommended a
private company to help the city government implement plans to improve the
Inayawan Sanitary landfill in the next 25 years.
Greenergy Solutions Inc.
(GSI) proposed a 25-year development project, which would include the
remediation or removal of pollutants, and waste-to-energy components, said Jade
Ponce, board chairman in a statement.
Ponce said the project
wouldn't cost the city a centavo.
It would implemented under
the city government's Private Public Partnership (PPP) program.
He said Cebu City Mayor
Michael Rama would only have to enter into an Integrated Waste Management
Agreement (IWMA) with GSI chairperson and chief executive officer Ruth P.
Briones, who is also a convenor of the Zero Waste Philippines.
The Solid Waste Management
Board passed a June 20 resolution endorsing the agreement to Rama.
The GSI proposal is a
landfill gas and waste-to-energy project.
It will involve the construction
of a waste-to-energy facility at the 17- hectare Inayawan landfill for the
treatment of industrial, commercial and household wastes and the recovery of
energy.
Ponce said the facility
would process up to 1,000 tons per day of residual waste and daily fresh waste
and produce about 24 megawatts of electricity.
The firm also plans to
convert the landfill’s 1.8 million tons of waste as feedstock to thermal
gasifier, which generates electricity to be sold as renewable energy. /Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac
DENR says water scarcity, pollution a threat for nation
May 30 2012
MANILA, Philippines — There is a real fear that the Philippines, a country surrounded
entirely by water, would not have enough of it in the future.
The Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said a scarcity of water could pose a
problem for the Philippines, which would be grappling with polluted water
sources and stresses like population growth and development.
The DENR will host later
this week the country's first international river summit in Iloilo City. Some
900 scientific experts and river managers from around the Philippines and other
countries are expected to discuss the effective management of rivers and river
basins.
Environment Secretary Ramon
Paje said the country had 421 principal river basins and, as an archipelago,
had control over 479 billion cubic meters of ground and surface water.
Paje said that
theoretically, this should be enough to sustain the country's economic
development and ecological needs at any given time, yet stresses posed by
population growth resulting in increased economic activity and pollution could
mean "the danger of a scarcity of water supply."
Stressors such as water
pollution due to improper waste disposal and sedimentation from indiscriminate
land development, the over-extraction of water resources, and flooding in
low-lying areas had led to poor water quality in many countries. Various
government agencies are also in conflict when it comes to water management, he
said.
"In many places around
the world, rivers act as convenient dumping grounds for waste. Many of these
rivers, once teeming with aquatic life, are now either biologically dead or
dying," he said.
"We all need to accept
our responsibilities as stewards of rivers not only as waterways or water
sources but also as habitats and ecosystems, and be willing to undertake the
laborious and continuing task of reviving and maintaining them, he said.
Vicente Tuddao Jr.,
executive director of the DENR's River Basin Control Office, had said that the
country had an abundant water supply, thanks to groundwater sources, various
inland water bodies and regular rains. But this was not being used in the most
efficient manner. Many major tributaries and basins were either polluted or
deforested, he said.
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