PAL expands Cebu hub with new routes

Happening Now: Media Presscon at Radisson Blu today.   PAL expands Cebu hub with new routes, pioneer services

By Minerva Newman

CEBU CITY— Philippine Airlines (PAL) Philippine Airlines is expanding its Cebu hub and pioneering services as it launched new connections to Baguio, Borongan, Bangkok and BARMM in Dec 2022, with its "Larga Ta, Cebu!"campaign, introducing brand new regional and domestic routes out of Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

For December 2022, the Philippine flag carrier is pioneering services to link Cebu with Baguio in northern Luzon and Borongan in Eastern Samar. 

PAL will also connect Cebu with Cotabato City and Tawi-Tawi, the key commercial and tourist gateways for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Internationally, PAL is resuming flights between Cebu and Bangkok on December 9, adding a new regional connection to PAL's existing flights between Cebu and Tokyo's Narita Airport.

"Philippine Airlines hopes to build up Cebu as the Queen of Gateways, strategically positioned as the ideal gateway to the tourist islands and provincial economic centers of the Visayas and Mindanao, and beyond to Northern Luzon and Palawan," PAL President and Chief Operating Officer Capt.

Stanley Ng said during a press conference at Cebu's Radisson Blu hotel. 

"We aim to fly in visitors from

overseas and give them easy access to holiday resorts, business hubs and emerging economic centers throughout the Philippines via Cebu," Rabbi Ang, OIC-President of PAL Express.

Ang added, PAL's goal is to revitalize domestic travel and economic development by leveraging the strength of the Queen City of the South and enhancing its connectivity to all corners of the nation.  This is a vital step in support of the government's thrust to revitalize Philippine tourism and the national economy. 

From Mactan-Cebu, Philippine Airlines will offer more than 200 weekly flights to 19 destinations, comprising 17 cities in the Philippines as well as Bangkok and Tokyo. Philippine Airlines

Ateneo de Davao Electronics Engineers Passers

Congratulations to our new Electronics Engineers. Out of the 2,644 takers, 6 of our alumni passed the October 2022 Electronics Engineer Licensure Examination!

Engr. Nil Marc Badilles

Engr. Martin Benjamin Bonleon

Engr. Rafael Angelo Buensuceso

Engr. Edrian Cedrick De Leon

Engr. Trazon Guda III

Engr. Jayson James Pedrajas

AdDU Passing Rate: 6/12 (50.00%)

National Passing Rate: 785/2,644 (29.69%)

Kudos to Engr. Martin Benjamin Bonleon for ranking 6th in the Electronics Engineer Licensure Examination and 3rd in the Electronics Technician Licensure Examination.

Congratulations as well to the faculty and staff of the Electronics Engineering Department headed by Dr. Jenith L. Banluta

Your AdDU School of Engineering and Architecture is proud of you! 

#AdDUSEA

#AdDU

#electronicsengineering

#PRCExamResults

Foreign Borrowing of the Philippines

Monetary Board Approved US$178.10 Million Foreign Borrowing of the Public Sector in Q3 2022

For the period July to September 2022, the Monetary Board (MB) approved one (1) public sector foreign borrowing of US$178.10 million. This is 96 percent lower than the borrowings approved in the same period in 2021 amounting to US$4.66 billion and 95 percent lower than the approvals in the second quarter of 2022 amounting to US$3.54 billion. This borrowing of the Republic of the Philippines will fund the National Government's (NG) multisectoral nutrition project.

Under Section 20, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, prior approval of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), through its MB, is required for all foreign loans to be contracted or guaranteed by the Republic of the Philippines. Similarly, Letter of Instructions No. 158 dated 21 January 1974 requires all foreign borrowing proposals by the NG, government agencies and government financial institutions to be submitted for approval-in-principle by the MB before commencement of actual negotiations. The BSP promotes the judicious use of the resources and ensures that external debt requirements are at manageable levels, to support external debt sustainability.

Potential disruptions from global developments

FSCC REMAINS VIGILANT AGAINST SYSTEMIC RISKS

The Financial Stability Coordination Council (FSCC) remains vigilant against potential disruptions from global developments to ensure that Filipinos can rely on a functioning financial system.

"The Council will always choose to be pre-emptive against possible systemic risks," assured FSCC Chairman and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin E. Diokno during the recent meeting of FSCC, which also reaffirmed the country's strong domestic economic performance.

"The global outlook has changed significantly downwards over the last six months, and yet our Q1 growth was a strong 8.3 percent year-on-year. This reflects the resilience of the local economy," explained Governor Diokno.

The FSCC also noted that with Q1 growth outperforming market expectations, prospects for the economy differ significantly from global trends; and that the local growth momentum is expected to be sustained despite fluidity of markets worldwide.

This was validated by the recent International Monetary Fund statement which showed a higher growth forecast for 2022 for the country despite a significant reduction in global growth.

The FSCC noted that the rest of the world is already feeling the pressure from rising fuel costs and the recent policy actions of the US Federal Reserve.

The FSCC is an inter-agency council comprised of the BSP, the Department of Finance, the Insurance Commission, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is the venue for financial market authorities to identify, monitor, manage, and mitigate the build-up of systemic risks in the Philippine financial system.     

Libel Case Filed by Samar Governor

STATEMENT ON THE LIBEL CASE FILED BY SAMAR GOVERNOR MICHAEL TAN AGAINST REPORTERS JAZMIN BONIFACIO AND GABRIEL CEJAS AND ITS DISMISSAL.

(May 25,2022)

Eastern Visayas News and Metro Tacloban Times faced squarely and with pride the libel case filed last March 4, 2022 by Samar Gov. Michael Tan , against reporters/journalists Jazmin Bonifacio and Gabriel Cejas relative to the airing of the "Reporter's Diary, episode 1- titled " An Kasakit han Samar "  (The Agony of Samar) via the said media outfits. 

Mayo 17, 2022 nakarawat han Eastern Visayas News ngan Metro Tacloban Times an desisyon han Catbalogan Prosecutors Office kasumpay han Libel nga kaso nga igin sampa kontra ha ira. Diin gin disisyonan han piskaliya han Catbalogan  nga IGBASURA ( DISMISS) an nasabi nga kaso.

 EV News and Metro Tacloban Times would like to express our thanks, First, to God,  for you have never failed us, giving us the courage and strength in times when we are weak.

Ha Piskaliya han Catbalogan nga nag tratar hin patas nga pag tagad han amon kaso.

Ngadto han amon legal counsel,  Atty. Alma Uy, thank you so much for your hard work, you worked tirelessly to ensure the best possible outcome han amon kaso, and we can't thank you enough.

To our friends, Atty. Edgar Navales, Atty. Annie Rose Labine, to  Mirriam Desacada of Phil. Star, Ronnie Yanuario of Magic Fm & to our Rappler Family,  and all the followers of EV News and Metro Tacloban Times, who stood for us, when there was none by our side. Thank you for all the support and love.

Transparency and accountability are non-negotiable.

Eastern Visayas News and Metro Tacloban Times, together with Jazmin Bonifacio and Gabriel Cejas will not be cowed by libel case which is clearly meant to harass and force them to stop airing the misfeasance, malfeasance and corruption committed by those in the government especially against those people who controls the reigns of the provincial government. Instead, the filing of the libel case/s against the Eastern Visayas News and Metro Tacloban Times, and against Jazmin Bonifacio and Gabriel Cejas, will not deter them, and all the more give them more zealousness and courage, to make public truthful  and issues and concerns that affect the interest of the people of Samar. It is the best interest of all the people of Eastern Visayas, and the people of the Province of Samar in particular, that the EV News and MT Times, and Jazmin Bonifacio and Gabriel Cejas, take pride in protecting above all other interests, political or otherwise. 

We will not stop bringing to light and to the knowledge of the people of Samar all the evils of governance committed by all the public officials who put their personal interests above the interest of the people whom they swear to protect.

JAZMIN BONIFACIO | GABRIEL CEJAS

Eastern Visayas News & Metro Tacloban Times

Manny Piñol Sorghum Contract Growing Starts In Central Mindanao

First 2,000 hectares by Manny Piñol

Sorghum Contract Growing

Starts In Central Mindanao

Even outside of government, I am pursuing the Sorghum Development Program which I believe would ease the pressure on the livestock, poultry and aquaculture industry because of the high cost of feeds and the unpredicatabiity of the supplies of raw materials.

Starting next month, a small agri-aqua ventures group which I have formed, will engage farmers with areas totaling 2,000 hectares in a contract growing scheme for Sorghum. 

The Sorghum seeds from Scott Seeds of Hereford. Texas have arrived and I will be flying to the US this week to finalize the seeds supply agreement between my group of Scott Seeds.

Sorghum is a grass which produces grains with high protein content and is used in the production of animal, poultry and aqua feeds.

When I was Secretary of Agriculture, I reintroduced Sorghum in the Philippines hoping that this would help boost the local poultry, livestock and aqua industries.

A budget of P100-M was allocated to start the program following successful field tests but when I resigned from the Dept. of Agriculture, the funds were realigned to other programs.

Today, as prices of corn and wheat skyrocketed and the supply had become unpredictable, the best option for us is to plant Sorghum.

Under the Contract Growing Scheme which I designed, we will select farmers who are willing to venture into Sorghum farming.

The farmers will be provided with Sorghum seeds payable after while their counterpart would be land preparation, planting and harvesting.

My group will buy the Sorghum produced by the farmers at an agreed price not lower than P12 per kilo which, assuming that his average harvest is 6-metric tons, would earn him a gross of P72,000 per hectare.

The good thing about Sorghum is its ability to survive with less water, the low-cost of seeds and it could harvested three times without replanting.

The additional benefits would be the stalks to be used as animal silage which could provide the farmer an additional income.

This program will be initially concentrated in areas surrounding our small village-level feed mill in Kidapawan City which means that the idea planting areas would be in North Cotabato, Davao Del Sur, Maguindanao, South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.

An orientation seminar will be conducted before the launching of the program.

#KungGustoMaramingParaan!

#TargetFoodSufficiency!