Leyte provincial gov’t looking for MacArthur Beach investor

published January 29, 2009 in BusinessWorld

TACLOBAN CITY — The Leyte provincial government plans to award next month the 25-year contract to renovate and operate a government-owned hotel at the historic Red Beach in Palo town.

Leyte Governor Carlos Jericho L. Petilla, however, said they still have to find the right investor to sink in P300 million to renovate the 43-room MacArthur Beach Resort Hotel.

"My timetable is as soon as possible. By the end of September, the renovation would be done in time for the Oct. 20 Leyte Landing celebration," Mr. Petilla told BusinessWorld.

The governor declined to divulge the names of interested bidders. Applications are still being accepted, he added.

Management of the hotel has been transferred to the provincial government from the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) under Executive Order 756, which took effect this month.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued the directive last October.

Losing proposition

Mr. Petilla said the hotel has been losing, with the PTA subsidizing its operations at P400,000 a month.

The MacArthur Beach Resort and Hotel was built by First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos but was sequestered by the Aquino administration after the 1986 EDSA Revolution.

The property is at Red Beach, site of one of the greatest naval battles in history. The hotel is a few meters away from the MacArthur Landing Memorial in Palo, Leyte.

The hotel’s rooms are all decorated with native materials and MacArthur pictures. It has picnic grounds, swimming pools, picnic tents and tables, beach kiosks, volleyball ground, and indoor games facilities.

Mr. Petilla said the improvement of the hotel will pave the way for the development of the remaining vacant areas of the nearby government center.

A long-term plan is to turn the province-owned lot into an economic and leisure hub complete with a five-star hotel, a leisure park, an information technology facility, government offices, commercial areas and public transport terminal. – Sarwell Q. Meniano

Samar province on alert over increasing cases of salmonella infection among hogs

published January 28, 2009 in Leyte Samar Daily Express and BusinessWorld

TACLOBAN CITY — Hog mortality from salmonella infection rose in nine villages of Sta. Rita, Samar province.

Abraham Ibañez, agricultural technologist of Sta. Rita town, said residents of Sta. Rita are alarmed by the outbreak that has killed 296 pigs.

The 237 infected hogs have been treated with antibiotics and vitamins. Some 180 healthy animals were vaccinated by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the local government unit.

"We’ve been strict in implementing measures to stop the disease from spreading such as no slaughter of sick animals and movements of pigs in and out of the town," Mr. Ibañez said in an interview.

The first case was noted in the first week of December 2008 in Tominamos village. By Jan. 12, the disease has spread to the nearby villages of San Pascual, Dampigan, Bagolibas, Old Manunca, San Eduardo, Union, Santa Elena and Cabacungan.

"Our information has been intensified even during weekends to make sure that the infection will be stopped. We have to make people aware because most of the backyard raisers want to slaughter infected animals," Mr. Ibañez said.

Leo Cañeda, DA executive director for Eastern Visayas, said they have traced the infection to contaminated feeds.

Other factors were the heavy rains, poor waste disposal system of slaughtered animals and constant contact of animals with human beings, who are known as carriers of the salmonella bacteria. — Sarwell Q. Meniano

US call center to proceed with provincial opening

published January 28, 2009 in BusinessWorld and GMANews.tv

PALO, LEYTE — NASDAQ-listed business process outsourcing firm APAC Customer Services, Inc. is proceeding with the opening of its first provincial site despite the slowing global economy.

APAC kicked off this week its first round of training for 80 agents who will start taking calls when the office opens on March 2.

"It’s going to be a really big opening. We’ve invited President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and some local officials. Our president and Chief Executive Officer Michael Marrow will be here as well," said Doug Almond, APAC vice-president for international operations.

He said the production area was almost complete. APAC converted the 3,000-square meter gymnasium at the Leyte Information and Communication Technology Park into a P200-million call center site.

The facility houses a call area, conference room, training rooms, administrative office, board room, cafeteria and lobby.

Nizette Navia, APAC administrative service director, said the Leyte site has the same amenities as APAC offices in Alabang, Muntinlupa and Cubao, Quezon City.

It will take five weeks to complete two sets of training. Including the second and third batches, the site will be manned by 200 customer service representatives.

"Of the 200 agents we hired, around 100 came from Leyte. The rest came from a combination of Cebu and Samar areas," Ms. Navia said.

Training on basic skills and specific products were being undertaken by 17 members of the management team from Metro Manila and the US.

Mr. Almond said they planned to hire up to 1,000 workers by yearend.

"The expansion will go for the rest of the year. You’ll see incremental growth all the way through December. We are very excited," he added. Mr. Almond said he was confident that the Leyte operations would succeed.

After the opening, APAC will launch a near-hire program for students to establish a manpower pool for expansion.

"When we did the first job fair, we got almost 2,000 applicants and we’ve hired roughly 200 of those. After completing near-hire training, we will have around 400 to 600 agents," he said.

APAC provides customer care services and solutions to companies in health care, finance, publishing, communications, travel and entertainment.

It is headquartered in Deer-field, Illinois and has operations in Arizona, Florida, Iowa, New York, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin and the Philippines. — Sarwell Q. Meniano

40 NFA workers to lose jobs this Jan.

published January 27, 2009 in Leyte Samar Daily Express and BusinessWorld

TACLOBAN CITY — Around 40 rank-and-file employees of the National Food Authority (NFA) in Eastern Visayas stand to lose their jobs this month as the agency implements its personnel rationalization plan.

The grains office will abolish redundant positions as part of the agency’s cost-cutting measures, said Rebecca Ada, NFA regional administrative officer.

She said they expect no resistance from the employees in this region because many of those affected have been planning to retire from government service.

"We served notice to affected workers late last year but we’re still waiting for their feedback," Ms. Ada said in a telephone interview. The workers were given 60 days to decide on the notice.

The NFA-Employees Association in Metro Manila has protested the plan and urged the government to stop the implementation of Executive Order 366, which would trigger the abolition of hundreds of rank-and-file positions in the NFA.

The Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Achievement of Government Employees (Courage) disclosed that around 800 NFA workers nationwide will be affected by the scheme.

Among the affected personnel in the region are those in marketing assistance as well as clerks, statistical aides, utility workers and laborers.

Ms. Ada said that employees have the option to stay in government or retire from government service.

Affected employees who have been in service for 31 years or more are entitled to an incentive bonus equivalent to 100% of their basic salary while those with 20 to 30 years of service will receive 75% of their basic salary. Employees who have served for less than 20 years but for more than 3 years will be entitled to 50%.

"If they will decide to continue working in the government, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) is tasked to place them in other agencies," she added.

Under Executive Order 366 issued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004, she instructed the "scaling down, phasing out or abolition of functions, programs and projects that duplicate or unnecessarily overlap with other activities within the government."

Also listed are those that directly compete with those of the private sector that can be done more efficiently and effectively by said sector and those which have been devolved to local government units.

The Department of Budget and Management together with the CSC were asked to coordinate the implementation of the rationalization program. — Sarwell Q. Meniano

Erosion in Samar affects more families

published January 24, 2009 in BusinessWorld online

TACLOBAN CITY — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) continues to receive reports of families affected by coastal erosion caused by big waves in Samar.

In Llorente, Eastern Samar, at least 23 houses were destroyed as sand eroded brought about by big waves, the municipal social welfare and development office (MSWDO) yesterday reported.

Some houses were totally damaged by erosions while some owners deliberately destroyed makeshift houses and transferred these to safer grounds, said MSDWO chief Lucila Cardona in a mobile phone interview.

Since last week, some areas in Brgy. 8 of Llorente town have been affected with erosion and destroyed dilapidated houses disturbing at least 85 persons.

Ms. Cardona said the number of displaced families has tripled from only seven households affected during the weekend.

"We have prepared the Central Elementary Schools and the sports complex as evacuation centers but affected residents prefer to stay with their relatives or rebuild houses in safer areas," Ms. Cardona told BusinessWorld.

The local government unit provided food packs containing rice and sardines to displaced families. The village is prone to big waves and flooding.

"Big waves, generated by wind caused the coastal erosion," Ms. Cardona said.

The DSWD regional office is also set to deliver an additional 1,000 food packs to feed residents of two isolated islands off Guiuan, Eastern Samar.

Vina Aquino, DSWD regional information officer, said the relief goods will be brought to Guiuan town anytime this week.

"We have enough stocks of food in our office if in case local government units (LGUs) asked for augmentation of their relief assistance. But still the LGUs are in the frontline in responding to the needs of affected families," Ms. Aquino told BusinessWorld.

The bulk of the food packs will be distributed in the nine barangays of Suluan and Homonhon islands. These have a combined population of 11,214. Some food packs will also be sent to the flood-hit areas of Dolores and Oras town in Eastern Samar, where some 620 families were affected.

Guiuan Mayor Analiza Kwan said residents of Manicani Island also demanded for relief goods. Food supply to the islands has been cut because the bad weather condition has prevented bancas from traversing the Pacific Ocean between the mainland and the islands.

"The stores on the isolated islands have run out of food since last week," Ms. Kwan said.

The first batch of relief assistance from DSWD was sent to Guiuan town last weekend through the Department of Public Works and Highways. DSWD operations division chief Virginia Idano said they were also preparing to undertake rehabilitation works after the delivery of relief goods.

Ms. Idano said project evaluation team officers have been sent to affected areas to determine the alternative livelihood activities that may be undertaken by the affected residents. — Sarwell Q. Meniano