Samal’s Mariculture Park attracts P200 million worth of investments

No less than P200 million worth of investments have been poured into the 244-hectare Mariculture Park located in the Island Garden City of Samal in Davao del Norte.

The Mariculture Park, which is a joint venture of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources XI and the local government unit of Samal, was implemented to offer locators a chance to invest in the fish caging venture as well as provide an alternative source of livelihood for Samal fishermen.

“This is the first Triple A Mariculture Park in Asia and it is being replicated in others parts of the country particularly in Calbayog, Samar, Zambales and in Datu Paglas,” IGACOS city administrator Cleto Gales said.

A total of 10 large scale investors and an estimated 100 small and medium investors have already located their fish cage businesses at the Mariculture Park. Large scale investors are those with investments of over P10 million, medium scale with investments of one to P10 million and small scale with investments below one million.

“A single fish cage is capital intensive with a 20 meter by 20 meter fish cage amounting to almost a million peso worth of investments,” Gales said. However, an investor can have a return of his investment after two harvests with a single harvest possible after three to four months.

Gales said the fish cages at the Mariculture Park is quite different from the common fishpond because fishponds are dug beside shorelines to allow partly salty water to come in and mix with fresh water to create brackish water.

The fish cages in the Park, he said, are cages that are floating in the sea. It is also different from Laguna de Bay’s fish pens since they cage the water there from surface to the bottom.

“The fish cages in Samal’s Mariculture Park are environmentally friendly because it is floating,” he said. The excess feeds that are not eaten by the fish inside the cages are eaten by other fishes like Talakitok, thereby encouraging small and large fish to congregate in the area, Gales added.

A single 20 meter by 20 meter fish cage yields twenty seven tons of fish per season or roughly 27 thousand kilos of fish every harvest.(lovely a. carillo)

P1B BLOOD Center to rise in Davao City

Dabawenyos can expect good economic and health prospects beginning the end of the year with the finalization of a plan to build a P1 billion sub-national blood center in the city.

“We hope to finalize plans for the construction of a sub-national blood center in the city by end of the year,” Department of Health XI director Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial said. The center is a grant from the Japanese government.

The establishment of a blood facility in Davao, which will serve the whole Mindanao area, is expected to result to more employment opportunities for the construction, health and other allied sectors. The center will take care of all blood-related procedures like blood separation and blood testing.

Rosell-Ubial said the establishment of a sub-national blood center in the city is a result of the government’s decision to close down all commercial blood centers in the city and in the whole country effective September 29. Similar centers will also be established in Cebu for the Visayas Region and in Manila for the Luzon area.

The closure of all private blood centers in the country is one of the provisions of a 1997 law establishing the National Blood Supply System in the Philippines. The legality of the said was questioned in court and its implementation postponed due to a Temporary Restraining Order. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that the said law is valid.

“The provision on the closure of private blood center seeks to ensure the safety of the country’s blood supply,” Rosell-Ubial said. It also seeks to promote risk pooling whereby the government can balance the demand and supply of blood in the whole country.

“Some areas in the region have more blood supply than demand; an example is Davao del Norte which has more blood supply but a minimal need compared to the demand in Davao City,” she said.

Three private blood centers in Southern Mindanao will be affected by the closure. Two of them are in Davao City while the other one is in Davao del Norte.

She said the people should not worry because the Philippine National Red Cross can assure them of a regular and cheaper blood supply. “We don’t have to fear exorbitant prices if the blood supply is handled by the government unlike the private sector which operates for a profit,” she added.(lovely a. carillo)

Bright future for coco farmers seen with discovery of SAPdrink

The recent discovery of a drink that is touted to be a better alternative to soft drinks may just make the country’s coconut farmers more in demand and financially richer.

“SAPdrink was actually discovered through the research project of one of the staff of the PCA Research Center,” Philippine Coconut Authority XI regional manager Lornito Orillaneda said in an interview. Millicent Secretaria, a PCA researcher, recently won as researcher of the year during the National Scientists Awards.

SAPdrink actually comes from “tuba” which is really the sap taken from the flower of the coconut, thus explaining its name. “Tuba” is more popularly known as a cheap alcoholic beverage. However, the discovery of the SAPdrink may just elevate the lowly tuba to the status of a healthier drink option.

“Tuba contains alcohol but if processed without passing fermentation then it becomes a non-alcoholic and healthy drink,” he said. The SAPdrink can also last for a month provided it is refrigerated.

SAPdrink is not yet available commercially, he said but PCA is trying to market it to encourage children and adults as well to patronize the drink. Orillaneda said they are not putting down the soda companies but SAPdrink is really a better alternative because it is very nutritious.

He said carbonated drinks have been known for causing increased blood sugar and UTI infection among children and adults. By patronizing this drink, he added, we are encouraging our people to be healthy at a cheaper price.

The tuba used for the processing of SAPdrink comes from hybrid coconut and not the ordinary coconut. Orillaneda said they have been distributing hybrid coconut seeds to farmers so they can replace their old coconut trees.

“Almost 100 percent of the new coconut plants in Southern Mindanao are already hybrid coconuts,” he said. However, he admitted that there are old folks who do not want to change the coconut variety they are planting.

Almost 16 thousand hectares all over Southern Mindanao are already planted to hybrid coconut and we expect the number of hectares planted to hybrid coconut to grow more, he said. (lovely a. carillo)

That Meralco ad

That Christmas advertisement from Meralco has got me and the not-so-bitter-half into some kind of an argument. I never really gave a serious thought to that advertisement which looked simple enough. The scenario: two neighbors, one neighbor lighting up his Christmas lights in tiem for the Holiday Season to the chagrin of his neighbor who, it appeared, was already prepared to give his neighbor a run for his money---errr---Christmas lights! Neighbor No. 1 looked pitiful when his minimal lights were dwarfed by his neighbor's lights which almost engulfed the whole house! Talk about lighting extragavance!

So what's the point here?

The not-so-bitter-half said it is a bad ad because it shows the Pinoys' crab mentality. Well, yes I said it indeed reflected a bad attitude among Pinoys. Despite our lovable characteristics, we Pinoys are faulted for pulling down our neighbors whenever we see their success overshadowing our own success. I said me because I believe that no one is exempted from this fault!

But come to think of it, I told him. It is easy to say it's a bad ad because it does portray a bad side of the Filipinos. But what if we take it positively and say that it is really good to be jealous of the success of our neighbors--sometimes. Especially if this jealousy pushes us to do more and to achieve more to be at par with the neighbor. Of course, uncontrolled yearning for material things without the cpaability of earning more can be disastrous because it can only lead one to DEBTS!!! But what if you use all your talent to find more work to earn more and to make life better for the family?

Some people become so content and complacent with what they have that they remain poor forever. Is it bad to yearn for things that can make your life better?

Well, that Meralco ad is not so bad after all.

70% of JIB call center grads now employed

The JIB e-Academy has achieved a 70 percent employment batting average for those who graduated from the 100 hours Call Center Finishing Course offered by the e-Academy in Davao and in General Santos City.

JIB e-Academy’s, which is accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, opened in the city last May 2006 and in General Santos City last October 2006.

“The 100 hours Call Center Finishing Course develops the necessary skills, confidence and abilities needed by an individual to work in a call center,” JIB e-Academy President Joji Ilagan Bian said.

Bian said they have produced a total of 485 graduates, 70 percent of whom have been absorbed and now gainfully employed by call centers in Davao City and in Manila. “We have successfully placed our latest graduates in good paying jobs with international call centers based in Manila,” she added.

“The General Santos Branch has produced 70 graduates and 73% of them or 53 graduates passed the first series of interviews done through teleconferencing,” she said.

About 45 percent of those pre-screened passed the final interview and were given job offers in Davao and Manila call centers while the rest were placed in the manpower pool for future accounts.

Bian said their partner call centers in Manila and Davao were very much impressed with the level of communication skills of the JIB e-Academy graduates. “Our Gen San graduates are hard working, committed and possess positive work values, which is one of the more important metrics that the BPO industry is requiring from their workers,” she said.

The employment statistics of the first batch of graduates from the GSC branch is already a good bench mark for a start. With this performance, she added, there is no doubt that Gen San is already prepared to accept investors in the Call Center Sector.

JIB e-Academy is the first in Mindanao to offer seminars and customized programs in English proficiency and training in the contact center industry. It is equipped with the most modern facilities and state of the art technology for effective learning.

Bian said it is also the only school in Mindanao that has for its partner, its own sister company, the Six Eleven Global Services, a 100% Filipino owned international call center operating in Davao City. Through Six Eleven Global Services, graduates are given access to employment provided they pass the standards.(lovely a. carillo)

PAL to start Seoul-Davao-Manila route Dec. 16

Philippine Airline’s decision to service the Korea-Manila route with connecting flights to Davao City may just make the city the top destination for Koreans by next year.

“PAL’s trial route from Seoul, Korea to Manila with connecting flights to Davao will start on December 16 this year using the Airbus 320,” Davao Tourism Association president and Marco Polo Hotel Sales Director Art Boncato said yesterday.

Boncato, who just arrived from a sales trip to Korea and China, was able to join the PAL-Department of Tourism road show participated in by 23 hotel and resorts. Only two Davao tourism establishments were invited including Marco Polo and Pearl Farm.

He said almost 200 tour operators were present during a business meeting where Davao City was introduced as a destination since the city is not yet known to the Korean market.

The Davao segment turned out very good, he said, and DOT secretary Joseph Durano even declared Davao as the next destination for Koreans.

The Korea-Manila-Davao route is expected to generate more excitement with the commencement of Air Macau’s charter flight from Seoul to Davao but flying in to Macau first on January 3, 2007.(lovely a. carillo)

Davao’s bid for 2007 ad congress foiled

Davao’s dream to host the well-attended bi-annual Philippine Advertising Congress may just remain an unreachable star unless the city invests in bigger facilities.

“We have been bidding for the Ad Congress for eight years now and we made it to the top this time,” Davao Tourism Association president Art Boncato said during the Club 888 Forum held at the Marco Polo Hotel yesterday.

Boncato said it was a toss up between Subic and Davao but the former won because “we do not have enough facilities to accommodate at least four thousand participants.”

Davao’s tourism sector has been bugging the local government and the private sector to capitalize on bigger facilities for future big conventions like the Ad Congress.

However, no one has yet taken on the challenge to build a bigger venue in the city so the honor of hosting the 2007 Philippine Ad Congress went to Subic.

“We hope an investor can invest in a facility that can fit at least five thousand people at any given time,” he said.

The Philippine Ad Congress is known for gathering a great number of participants. There were at least six thousand participants during the 2001 Ad Congress in Cebu and the number is growing every year.(lovely a. carillo)