Local news

December 23, 2014
Business World
By Claire-Ann Marie C. Feliciano

HIGHER SALES of ethanol drove Roxas Holdings, Inc.’s (RHI) profit in its fiscal year ending September, the listed sugar miller said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

It said its net income after tax jumped 30% to P615 million in its October-September fiscal year from the previous year’s P473 million.

RHI Chairman Pedro E. Roxas attributed the result to strong ethanol sales after the sugar miller more than doubled the volume of production.

December 22, 2014
The Philippine Daily Inquirer
By Amando Doronila
 

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Free Trade Agreement that takes effect in 2015 looms as a threat to the Philippine sugar industry as the milling season for crop year 2014-2015 opens in Negros Occidental province, the heartland of the industry.

December 19, 2014
Sun Star Bacolod
By Teresa Ellera

NEGROS Occidental Third District Rep. Alfredo Benitez said the Sugarcane Bill which he authored in the House of Representatives was approved by the bicameral conference committee of both chambers of Congress Thursday.

Benitez said the highlight of the reconciled versions of the Senate and the House is the P2-billion mandated appropriation annually which will be used for the different projects of the sugar industry.

December 18, 2014
U.S. Grains Council
The U.S. Grains Council recently led a delegation of industry leaders representing the USDA, Renewable Fuels Association, and Growth Energy to the Philippines to assess factors contributing to the large exports of U.S. ethanol to Southeast Asia and evaluate future opportunities for growth.

AN OFFICIAL from the Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC) said the company is positive to breach beyond 1,000 megawatts (MW) power in the Visayas Grid by 2018 following the construction of another power plant in Iloilo City.

GBCP Executive Vice President Jaime Azurin said Wednesday in the city’s media fellowship that GBCP, the main firm of two energy generation plants in Iloilo City, is building another coal-fired power plant in Iloilo City with 150 MW slated for commissioning by 2016.

October 28, 2014
Marissa Luz T. Lopez
Business World
 

The agency said House Bill (HB) 3365, which seeks to amend the Tax Code by imposing a 10% ad valorem tax on carbonated drinks, on top of the 12% value-added tax on the products, could have consequences for sugarcane farmers.

Vince Alvic A.F. Nonato
27 October 2014

THE SENATE approved on third and final reading on Monday a measure seeking to make the sugarcane industry more competitive by consolidating small farms and reiterating the exemption of refined sugar for export from value-added tax (VAT).

In a statement, the chamber said Senate Bill No. 2400, or the Sugarcane Industry Development Act of 2014, sought to prepare the country’s industry for integration with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economic community by the end of 2015.

By Carla P. Gomez
Oct 28, 2014
Daily Star

The Senate yesterday approved on third and final reading by a vote of 16-0 Senate Bill No. 2400, or the Sugarcane Industry Development Act of 2014, Rep. Alfredo Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) said yesterday.

A bicameral committee will now  be created to reconcile the House and Senate versions of  the Sugarcane Act that President Benigno Aquino III will  then hopefully  sign into law before the end of the year, he said.

Manila Standard Today
Lance Baconguis
Oct. 28, 2014

Hundreds of hectares of farm land planted to sugar cane in Negros Occidental, which were placed under the coverage of the agrarian reform program, have been issued titles and sold to new owners, a peasant group said on Monday.

19 October 2014
Manila Bulletin

Sugar producer Roxas Holdings, Inc. has signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) to spur research and development initiatives in the sugar industry, with endowment fund of P7.5 million to finance researches.

RHI Chairman Pedro E. Roxas said the collaboration signifies the commitment of the sugar group, through its subsidiary Central Azucarera Don Pedro, Inc. (CADPI), to improve the situation of the sugar industry, in partnership with UPLB.