For CaPItoL houSInG ProjeCt - Headline Gitnang Luzon

8 BUSINESS OCTOBERHeadlineGitnang Luzon11-13, 2013JICA officials tour Subicto gauge funded projectsSUBIC BAY FREEPORT--Officials of the Japan InternationalCooperation Agency(JICA) and other Japanesefinancial institutions haverecently visited this free portto assess the status and financialand economic potentialsof projects funded by the financialinstitution.Led by JICA chief representativeTakahiro Sasaki,the group was welcomed bySubic Bay Metropolitan Authority(SBMA) chairmanRoberto Garcia and other officialsfrom the SBMA seaportdepartment.Sasaki said the group’s visitto Subic was part of their twodaytour of the Philippines tounderstand the actual financialand economic potential ofthe country and also to introduceJICA’s projects and programshere.During the meeting, Garciaand seaport officials briefedthe visitors on the seaportfacilities available within thefree port, as well as the performanceof the New ContainerPort Terminal.The terminal project, alongwith the Subic-Clark-TarlacExpressway that connectedthe two former bases of Subicand Clark, was completedwith funding from JICA’s OfficialDevelopment Assistance(ODA).Last month, a group composedof members of theHouse of Councilors fromJapan also visited Subic andcommented that the Philippineshas a huge potential andthat it needs to take advantagethe growing manufacturingsector. ● (PNA)Coops managerstrained to sharpenbusiness skillsBy MICHAEL CIGARALBALANGA CITY -- Cooperativemanagers in this city and acrossthe province underwent a trainingon the “Compliance Seminaron Entrepreneurial and BusinessManagement” at the ProvincialCooperative Development Office(PCDO) training room at theCapitol building yesterday.Renown businessman PauloTibig, also known as the “EntrepChamp”, was the guest lecturerand speaker.He said this two-day trainingaims to empower the cooperativesand serve as opportunityto level up their business operations.Tibig, who is also one of thedirectors of the Authority of theFreeport Area of Bataan (AFAB),added that the coop managerswill definitely learn here on how toimprove their revenue generationand to devise a sustainable andprofitable approach in developingtheir businesses.Meanwhile, local fishermenand entrepreneurs here are invitedto partake in the 4th TilapiaCongress on October 17-18 at theFontana Leisure Park, Clarkfield,Pampanga.Themed “Tilapia: Isdang Pangkabuhayanat Pangkaunlaran,”the congress will hold discussionson the trends on local andglobal trade, food safety and adaptationto climate change.Interested parties are advisedto inquire at their municipalagriculture office in their respectiveareas. ●Power ‘to do it all’ withSun Value Plan 200If you are among themodern achievers ofour generation, you areprobably in that constantsearch for toolsthat will let you do itall. This translates fromthe grandest of lifechoices, and even downto choosing the perfectmobile subscription.This is where SunCellular comes intoplay with its newestand most affordableplan – the Sun ValuePlan 200. Simply by itsname alone, this offeringpresents a friendlychoice to value-seekers.Much more, if you takea closer look at its inclusions,there you will findan even bigger value.Sun Value Plan 200comes with unlimitedSun texts, 2 hours ofSun calls, 2 hours ofmobile internet and awhopping 500 texts toother networks. Looksquite good on paper, really,but for us to realizethe total value of theSun Value Plan 200, wehave to first break downthe use of each featureand relate them to ourday to day lives.First, the unlimitedSun texts is extremelyuseful, no questionabout that, especiallywhen many of yourfriends and loved onesare Sun subscribers aswell.Those times whenyou need to check upon mom or the kids arewhere the two hours ofSun calls come in handy.Those calls generally donot take longer than twoor three minutes, makingthe two hours of Suncalls relatively long incomparison.You also have twohours of mobile internetfor those times that youreally have to quicklyanswer your emailsand/or ask for one morelife in Candy Crush.Last but not theleast, 500 of texts toother networks. Theseare for those timeswhen you just have toreach a huge numberof people with little tono cost and effort, likeplanning those get-togethersor group messagingyour time away.The sheer amount oftexts messages that theSun Value Plan 200 willmake even the heaviestof texters jump withglee!You also get a freephone once your planreaches six months old--we just thought that wehad to throw that extrapiece of info in.These are just few ofthe daily habits that theSun Value Plan 200 cananswer, and the onlyway for you to knowwhat other use you canget out of it is to get onefor yourself! Do not forgetthat this plan costsa measly P200 a pop.Where else can you getthat much service inclusionsfor only P200?For more informationon this and otherservices that Sun Cellularoffers, log on towww.suncellular.com.ph. You can also checkfor updates by loggingon to their official Facebookpage: facebook.com/suncellularph oron Twitter: twitter.com/suncelltweets.Sun Cellular is amember of the PLDTGroup. ●In 2013 anti-red tape survey5 GSIS branchesget excellent ratingMANILA -- Five branch offices of the Government Service InsuranceSystem (GSIS) have recently been rated “Excellent”for exemplary service and for complying with the provisions ofRepublic Act 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA).The Civil Service Commission (CSC), the bureaucracy’spersonnel agency conducting ARTA survey among governmentoffices, has conferred on the GSIS Bacolod Branch Officethe CSC‘s Seal of Excellence last 13 September 2013 forobtaining a 91.57 ARTA rating. It is the first GSIS office toreceive the award.As the CSC continues conducting the survey, four otherGSIS branch offices have rebounded from “failed” ratings in2012 and earned “excellent” scores to date: Bohol (93.28%),Bulacan (93.01%), Laguna (93.01%), and Masbate (90.34%).From a final grade average of 63% for 13 branches surveyedin 2012, the current average for the same branch offices is89.70%. These include Palawan (89.35%), Tuguegarao(89.28%), Batangas (89.12%), and Lucena (89.11%).The ARTA passing grade is set at 70%, with no grade fallingbelow 70% in any of the five core areas - conformancewith ARTA provisions, frontline service, service quality, physicalworking condition, and overall (client) satisfaction.“Receiving those ratings is a welcome indication that thereforms toward service breakthroughs that we initiated in 2012and started implementing in 2013 are paying off,” GSIS Presidentand General Manager Robert Vergara said.He added that the ARTA ratings only affirm, among others,that “pursuing improved service and benefits for our membersand pensioners remains, as it should, the pension fund’s overarchinggoal.”In a related development, Vergara said that the Commissionon Audit recently released its unqualified opinion on thefinancial position of GSIS as of December 31, 2012.“This is the second time in a row that GSIS has received anunqualified opinion.”An unqualified opinion means that COA believes that the financialstatements of GSIS are sound and are presented fairly“in all material respects”.He said that 2012 was a “banner year for the pension fund”with total comprehensive income reaching P93.2 billion, fromP73.2 billion in 2011 and P63.9 billion in 2010.In addition, payment of claims for retirement, pension,disability and funeral benefits increased by 23% from P51.7billion in 2011 to P63.6 billion in 2012. GSIS also grantedP37.9 billion in various loans which benefited 1,583,887 borrowers.●GUT FEEL from Page 4of their activities that led to rice importationanomalies including smuggling. In theend, not only that local farmers were deniedstronger incentive to improve productionbut the rightful claim of their cooperativesto benefits were even coopted and abused bydubious ones.Bogus NGOs have been news for quitesome time now because of how they were reportedlyused to pocket billions of pesos frompork barrel. The scam only revealed the hugefunds that could have been made available toboost cooperative development and economicempowerment of people’s organizations inthe country. Civil society, led by legitimatenon-government organizations and cooperatives,now has the golden opportunity toreassert its mandated role in national development.There should be plenty of funds nowlying unreleased somewhere in the nationalbudget that need protection from scam artistsand that are just waiting to be tapped forproductive projects initiated by real people’sorganizations with good track records. Thekey here is a tight cooperation between thelocal government units and the NGOs.Some systems by which NGOs, includingcooperatives, are accredited by the local governmentsalready exist and are mostly subfunctionsof provincial, city and municipalcouncils. But other NGOs get integrated intothe developmental programs of the local governmentsthrough their various departmentshandling health, agriculture, social welfareand barangay affairs. What is needed is aneffective system of screening all of theseNGOs in terms of purpose, membership andtrack record in the community, granting renewableaccreditation and putting all theirrecords in easily-accessed database banks.What must be added also is a support systemof services that can provide legitimate NGOswith better fighting chance against the bogusones that are propped up by well-financedtechnical staff.Once the above is done, the selection of theNGO representatives to the various levels oflocal development councils and local boardsas mandated by law like the Local GovernmentCode can be done more objectively.These are the mechanisms by which localgovernment units can prove that they canidentify local priorities better and deservethe downloading of more program funds tothem in excess of their Internal Revenue Allotment.But at the same time, local governmentunits should start getting themselvesaccustomed to more aggressive public demandfor transparency once the Freedom ofInformation bill is passed. The FOI bill wasalready certified urgent by Malacañang asstrong clamor for its passage has accompaniedthe continuing outcry against the porkbarrel system. While corruption also rearsits ugly head at the local government level,the latitude here that could be given to civilsociety to monitor governance and discourageofficial wrongdoings is more workable.This is the setup that can dispute any argumentfor the pork barrel system.Cooperative organizations constitute themore stable non-government organizationsrepresenting civil society. The importanceof cooperatives to the country can better beappreciated if we look at the contribution ofthe movement to the country’s gross regionaldomestic product (GRDP). GRDP measuresthe goods and services produced in each ofthe geopolitical regions of the country. Basedon government data it could reach to aboutsix percent of the GRDP at present involvingmore than 6 million members. That is onebig chunk of our country that is underminedwhen the name of a cooperative or an NGOis used for the wrong purpose. That is whatmakes the Napoles NGOs so wicked and immoral.Coopting NGOs by bogus ones mustbe stopped. •