– PLDT sets inauguration of innovation center in May

by Antonio M. Ajero

A MAJOR technological development will unfold in Mindanao with the launching in Davao City next month of an innovation laboratory and telecommunications education center (Innolab)  by the country’s largest telecommunications company, the Philippine Long Telephone Distance Co., Inc.
The Innolab will serve as incubation area or breeding ground of software, inventions and all sorts of business solutions and new technological discoveries, according to Ben Melasa, head of the company’s Corporate Business Group in Mindanao.
To be inaugurated inside the sprawling PLDT headquarters on Ponciano Reyes St. in Davao City in May, the center will serve as an area where startup businesses, software developers, inventors and researchers in the academe can pilot their new technological solutions and computer programs before these are used privately by their individual companies or offered to the market for propagation and commercial use.
Melasa told business editors and reporters meeting regularly at the MediSpa Clinic at SM City Davao that the use of the center will be for free and that the company may even buy or help market the solutions that will be developed or validated in the Innolab.
The Innolab, the fourth in the country, will also serve as showcasing center for the PLDT’s new solutions. “We will be able to showcase our new products to these startups,” he said. The other areas where PLDT has opened Innolab are Manila, Cebu and Subic.
As a melting pot of innovative ideas and venue where new products and cost-effective solutions are tested, Melasa said the Innolab is expected to lead to some kind of technological revolution in Mindanao since it is going to service the needs and requirements of  startup businesses, researchers, inventors and other stakeholders in the island region.
Aside from benefiting the academe in their research and development activities, the Innolab will also be very helpful in the solutions developed by members of the expanding information communication technology (IT) sector in Davao City.
Melasa first made a presentation about Innolab during a recent general membership assembly of the Davao ICT Inc. presided by Ms Lizabel “Wit” Holganza, head of the Medical Transcription Academy in Davao City.  
Earlier, Samuel Abrenilla, chair of the Filipino Inventors Federation Inc., a national organization, said that one of the projects that his organization is implementing is helping new solutions developers be able to market their products.
Abrenilla said that the federation is planning to partner with big companies to help these thriving startup businesses.
Also, he said the organization is partnering with schools in developing the inventions of students, including those that are needed for the information and communications technology industry.
Abrenilla complained  that while schools hold fairs for students to showcase their inventions, there is still not much effort provided to develop those inventions that can be mass produced.
“It is sad, but sometimes students are just contended and  happy that some foreign companies imitate their inventions, failing to realize that they could have made huge profits out of these inventions,” he lamented.

by Gregorio G. Deligero

DAVAO CITY and its neighboring agricultural areas comprise the second biggest producers of the country’s vegetables, second only to the Mountain Province.
But the industry faces a lot of challenges that need to be addressed with urgency.
Davao City is likewise one of the biggest consumers of vegetables with a daily consumption of around 280,000 tons of assorted varieties, making the city a crucial player in the industry. The problems which have remains unchecked have something to do with the demand and supply marketing patterns.
Although the city contributes a minimal share in the entire production of vegetables in the Davao Region, it serves as the trading center of supplies coming from neighboring provinces, including even those outside the region like Bukidnon and in Central Mindanao.
In Region 11, the biggest producer of vegetables are Kapatagan, Digos City, Davao del Sur; Marahan in Marilog District in Davao City; and Maragusan in Compostela Valley, according to Rey Acain, president of the Vegetable Industry Council of Southern Mindanao (VICSMin). Acain discussed the issues to be tackled by the summit during last Wednesday’s Club 888 Business and Tourism Forum at the Marco Polo Hotel.
He said both Kapatagan and Maragusan produce semi-temperate vegetables or the so-called salad type such as lettuce, cabbage and broccoli and tropical vegetables, or the so-called pinakbet type such as okra, eggplant and squash.
In Davao City, the top five vegetables consumed daily are cabbage, eggplant, ampalaya, squash and okra.
To help mitigate the effects of the global economic slowdown, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is pushing for the large-scale production, processing and manufacture of nutritious and affordable vegetable-based foodstuff like noodles, bread, burger patties, meatless sausages, cookies and juices for the consuming public, notably those in the marginalized sector.
Acain however said the volume of vegetable production that the farmers are willing and ready to produce will largely depend on the viability of the marketing structure engaged with the traders.
“Farmers will produce more if they believe they can earn more. But if they see that they cannot be compensated enough for their labor and capital, they will go for seasonal and limited production, mainly intended for their own sustenance, not for commerce,” he said.
“Low-pricing by traders has always been the complaint of farmers,” he added.
Another problem Acain cited among the farmers is the high rate of post-harvest losses and wastage due to poor transportation system and product packaging and handling.
“They normally load the vegetable products in sacks on which passengers sit,” he said, adding that post-harvest wastage reach as much as 30 percent of the total production.
Acain said that traders have repeatedly raised several issues against farmers, especially in their classification of the products’ quality and the lack of consistency in supply.
One classic complaint is that the farmers would place Class A products at the upper part of the sack or basket, but the middle or bottom portions are reserved for products of lesser quality although the pricing is based on what is in the upper portion. 
To address these issues, the VICSMin will spearhead the convergence of vegetable industry players such as farmers and traders through the conduct of the first National Vegetable Marketing Summit on April 22-33, 2009 being co-organized by the Department of Agriculture in Region 11.
Acain said the summit seeks to showcase the various issues and challenges related to marketing of vegetables in the country. It also aims to put together proposed action plans to “enhance the existing supply chain for vegetables through improved quality of produce, better post-harvest handling, more efficient logistics, more transparent trading system, direct linkages between growers and buyers and opportunities for higher value-adding.”
He said the participants, estimated at 700, will come from as far as Benguet Province, considered as the vegetable capital of the country.
“This event shall endeavour to promote government and private sector partnerships to enhance the local marketing system for vegetables. In particular, it will highlight existing market opportunities and linkages, promote business networking, identify specific market niches and showcase opportunities to improve over-all competitiveness of the local vegetable industry,” Acain said.

by Gregorio G. Deligero

WHILE the leaders of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII) are talking about the possibility of going to court to force the city government to stay the implementation of Ordinance 040-07 pertaining to the general revision of real properties, tens of thousands of property owners have gone ahead in paying taxes, in the process availing themselves of the discounts provided under the law.
As of the middle of March, City Treasurer Rodrigo Riola said  already around 50,000 property owners of varied landholding sizes have fully paid their real property taxes. The taxpayers availed themselves of the 20 percent discount that the law provides for those who make payments within the first quarter.
“Most of them opted to fully pay their taxes instead of paying it quarterly. This is a concrete indication that the increase in the fair market value of real properties for real property tax purposes currently being imposed by the city government is affordable to the people,” he said.
“Only the big landowners are opposing it,” Riola said.
As of December 2008, the city government updated the fair market value of 198,849 parcels of land under the General Revision of Real Properties with a total assed value of P16.8 billion. With a current tax rate of .025, the city government will be able to generate P420 million in total real property tax. 
Last year, the city government’s real property collections totalled P150.95 million, showing an increase of 4 percent from P145 million posted in 2007.
Riola expects that more property owners will avail themselves of the 10 percent discount that the ordinance provides for those who will opt to pay their taxes per quarter.

Untimely
DCCCI earlier released a position paper describing the increase as very untimely.
“The world is in the midst of an economic recession. We, in Davao City, have begun to feel its effects in the palpable slowdown of consumer spending. Shopping centers such as malls and public markets and retailers such as department stores, appliance stores, as well as restaurants and other establishments, are all experiencing declines in their sales. The burden of higher realty taxes at this time will be counter-productive and will help deepen the recession locally, rather than alleviate it,” the group said.
The group charged that the current increase in the fair market values of real properties of as much as 40 to 1,100 percent is unjustifiably excessive and confiscatory.
This has resulted in the dramatic increase in the assessed market value per square meter by up to 1,100 percent in many subdivisions in the city, the paper said.
“To cite a few examples, the market value of residential lots in Garcia Heights Subdivision has risen from P250/sqm to P2, 500/sqm (or by 900%). The value of residential lots in Ledesma Village has increased from P250/sqm to P3,000 /sqm (or by 1,100%). Newly developed subdivisions and several districts (e.g., Robinson Highlands/Crest, SM Drive, Ecoland Drive, Generoso Bridge, etc.), which had no pre-existing market valuations, have likewise been imposed market values of up to P4,000, which is higher than the values assigned to other existing subdivisions which are more progressive, developed, and with higher actual market values. The low cost housing in Emily Homes, Cabantian Buhangin — having an average of 100 square meters in area — has also increased the assessed market value from P10,000 to P50,000,” DCCCI said in its position paper.

Misinterpretation
However, City Assessor Cesar Dataya said that the continued opposition coming from the business sector has stemmed from the misleading and wrong interpretation of figures embodied under the ordinance.
While the current increase in the fair market value on the real properties, ranged between 40 percent to 1,100 percent, Dataya argued,   it does not automatically translate to the same increase in assessed value of the properties or  the amount of taxes that the property owners will eventually pay to the city government.
With increased fair market value, he said,  the unit value of every real property is now P1,000 per square meter for the residential lots, way above P50 per hectare in 1994 schedule of value.
“But it does not mean that the increase in our taxation will be the same amount,” the city assessor said.
Under the ordinance, the base unit value of the property will be multiplied by the schedule of fair market value, then the result will be multiplied by the assessment level specifically provided for under the Local Government Code.
Under the Local Government Code, the assessment level for residential is 20 percent, commercial is 50 percent. Assessment level for industrial properties is also 50 percent.

Lowest
“Almost all LGUs apply the assessment level provided for under the Local Government Code but in our ordinance, both residential and commercial are even reduced by half their assessment levels with 10 and 25 percent respectively. We are among the lowest in the country,” he said.
“In short, if your property is residential, we only assessed 10 percent of your fair market value then multiply it with the current tax rate of .025 percent,” Dataya said.
Dataya cited as an example a commercial property with a fair market value of P3 million. The city government will assess it at ten percent or an equivalent of P300,000 which will be multiplied by the current tax rate of .025.
“The result would be only P7,500 for the whole year. You will even get a 20-percent discount if you had paid it during the first quarter. If you will decide to pay it in four quarters, you will still be entitled to a 10 percent discount,” Dataya said.
“It is not actually excessive if you just give attention in understanding its provisions and details,” he said.

Pro-business 
Dataya reiterated the City Hall position that the current increase in the fair market value on the real properties in long overdue.
“The business sector witnessed the fast-paced growth of Davao City during the past decades which naturally resulted to increased value of real properties. This is the reality that we cannot deny or alter. To say that it is untimely is erroneous,” he said.
Dataya said the increased fair market value on the real properties is even beneficial to the business sector because it result in  increased value of their properties.
“The city government cannot gain from the increased value of their properties. We can only generate income from the assed value,” he said.

Misleading
Dataya said that trying to link the realty tax implementation to the global economic crisis is also misleading as the entire process of coming up with the ordinance began long before the global economic turmoil.
He pointed out that the realty property tax code was submitted to the city council as proposed ordinance on early 2007, when the global crisis has not been heard of, based on the analysis and other processes involved in coming up with the ordinance conducted from 2004 up to 2006.
“To say that it is untimely is wrong and misleading as technically, the global financial crisis came only on the latter part of 2008, while efforts in coming up with the measure started years before,” he said.

-Jacinto presents plan to Chamber members

THE P3 billion loan of the city government from the Land Bank of the Philippines is intended to pump-prime the city’s economy. However, it is not only designed to cushion the impact of the expected economic crisis, it is also to prepare the city for the expected upturn of the economy later.
This, in a nutshell, was the explanation of City Planning and Development coordinator Mario Luis J. Jacinto of the city government’s plan to borrow from Land Bank in his presentation before the general membership meeting of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. Friday night. 
He said the major items lined up for the P2.8 billion LBP loan are:  new infrastructure projects—P841 million; roads and maintenance projects—P754.4 million; phase 3 of the traffic signalization project—P705 million; crematorium and new city cemetery—P50 million; shelter program—P100 million and environmental management program—P395 million.
It is estimated that with 30 percent labor component, these projects will generate 923, 790 days of work.
“At P270 per day for the ordinary worker, this will translate to 2,962 employed persons over 12 months from start of  implementation of the projects,” he said.
Jacinto presented what he called “the pump priming wheel” focusing on the priorities of the program, among them the need to increase food production activities, sustaining livelihood generation, increasing infrastructure and development projects “basically for its multiplier effect and the impact on the local economy, on business, on people, on jobs,” and improving human resources for the city to remain competitive.
“The money that will go to the hands of the people will not only upgrade their capacity but also give a multiplier effect to the community they live in as well as the entire local economy,” he said.
He added that the program is “based on the assumptions that, among others, the magnitude of the impact of the global economic crisis on the city and its people remains uncertain and difficult to judge.”
The program is also intended to continue ensuring peace and security of the city, especially in times of crisis, and promote an environment conducive to business and development.
Since women and children are the most vulnerable sectors, particularly during “these desperate times,” Jacinto said the maternal health and child care programs shall be further intensified and strengthened.
“We have to optimize resources and position the city to take advantage of opportunities in the expected upturn of the economy,” he said. Jacinto admitted that in planning the LBP loan, the income of the city government from the revised Tax Code was factored in.

-Loan interest rate down to 6%, lowest in Pag-IBIG history
-P400,000-housing unit for only P2,400 monthly amortization

HUNDREDS of thousands of families, including some 470, 000 members in Southern Mindanao of the Home Development Mutual Fund (HMDF), more popularly known as Pag-IBIG Fund, will benefit from two positive developments in the housing sector.

The bonanza includes the reduction of interest rates in Pag-IBIG loans and the implementation of Republic Act No. 9507 establishing a socialized and low-cost housing loan restructuring and condonation program.

Jose W. Banzon Jr., Pag-IBIG Fund vice president for Southern Mindanao operations, told business reporters the Fund is now offering several new loan packages with reduced interest.

Accredited developers identified
For the convenience of housing borrowers, Pag-IBIG has also identified seven accredited developers who are offering the low-interest packages.

They are Kisan Lu (Santiago Villas), Foothills Realty (Samantha Homes in Bago), Primeland Properties (Wellspring Highlands, Vista del Rio Village, and Nakayama Village), Davao Joyful Realty (Victor’s Executive Homes), Uraya Land Development Inc. (Elenita Homes and Villa de Mercedes), 8990 Housing Development Corporation (Deca Homes-Cabantian and Deca Homes-Mintal), and LS Properties (Don Lorenzo Homes). Except for Nakayama Village in Digos City, all the housing projects are located in Davao City.

Banzon said Kisan Lu, which developed Gulf View Executive Homes at Lower Rapnaga, is offering a P400,000-housing package at an interest rate of 6 percent or a monthly amortization of P2,398.20 instead of the old P2,661.21.

On the other hand, Foothills is building homes at P500,000 at an interest rate of 7 percent or an amortization of P3,326.51 a month.

The reduced interest rate program is part of the P43-billion Pag-IBIG Fund share of the government’s national stimulus package of which P2.4 billion will go to Southern Mindanao, he said.

Lowest interest rate so far
He added that “six percent is the lowest interest rate ever prescribed by the government on low-cost housing.” In the past, it was nine percent.

The housing official said that the interest reduction program is aimed at increasing the Fund’s loan availment which stood at only 12 percent against Pag-IBIG membership of 470,000 in southern Mindanao.

“Of the 12 percent who availed themselves of housing loans, 18 percent are in arrears,” he said.

In Davao City, alone, he said, 4,000 borrowers were in arrears and of these, 1,127 have been foreclosed.

At the same time, the Pag-IBIG official bared that the newly approved RA 9507 took effect last March 16 for implementation by Pag-IBIG and other government financing institutuions (GFIs) during the next 18 months.

Who can avail of condonation?
Banzon said that if the original borrowers are no longer around, their legal heirs and successors-in-interest can apply for loan condonation and restructuring.

Those who have availed themselves of previous penalty condonation and restructuring are also eligible to apply.

The other favorable features of the new condonation law are:
–no processing fee;
–no down payment;
–full condonation of accumulated penalties/ surcharges;
–condonation of portion of accumulated interest;
–uncondoned interest is non-interest bearing and shall be paid in equal monthly amortization during the term of restructured loan;
–interest rate of the restructured loan is the original interest rate or 12 percent whichever is lower;
–maximum term of 30 years;
–discount on interest for prompt payment;
–applicant’s savings/contributions with PAG-IBIG Fund may be used to update his/her loan obligation; and foreclosed accounts covered by the program provided one-year redemption period has not yet lapsed.

by Antonio M. Ajero

LOCAL government units (LGUs) and all other stakeholders in the private sector involved in tourism should synchronize and integrate their tourism plans at the regional level to better market their localities.
This was the strong advice of national tourism officials to more than 400 government officials and players in the tourism industry gathered at the biggest tourism congress here last Friday.
Undersecretary Oscar Palabyab of the Department of Tourism also stressed the futility of LGUs prematurely selling tourist destinations without first fully developing them, including providing all the needed amenities for tourists.
“What is needed in Davao is really to organize things in a business-like manner, to package tours, offer special tours. We have to be organized because there’s no doubt, each town, each province has its own attraction, but unless they are organized regionwide, we can not market the region,” said Department of Tourism undersecretary Phineas Alburo during the tourism industry-related Congress (Tricon) held last Friday at the Grand Regal Hotel, Davao City.
The DOT officials warned the LGUs and the private sector against promoting tourist destinations which have not been fully developed “as it is counterproductive to sell tourist destinations unless they are provided with the needed amenities.”
As an example, Usec Palabyab said it is pointless to promote an amazing tribal village if tourists will still have to hike for five hours to the place because the LGU had failed to build a road.
Usec Alburo also bared that the DOT has funds to help develop small scale tourism ventures, saying that the money is an outright grant, not a loan to be repaid.
“There is a lot of expectations from government. They’re asking what the national government can do for them. Many of them should really be local initiatives, before the national government will come in. Still, there are valid complaints in terms of how to put more life in the tourism industry of the nation,” he said.
Also present at the tourism congress was Davao del Norte Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario.

More players
Palabyab said the high turnout of participants at the congress “indicates that there many new players in the industry.”
“I notice that a lot more people are attending the gathering. Tourism council assemblies are a regular thing, but this is the first of its kind this year. This is our opportunity to share ideas among stakeholders, an opportunity for us to synchronize our activities,” he said.
“It is important for stakeholders to know that the department is moving. It is important for government to know what the stakeholders are thinking and doing so we will know whether our policies are correct,” he added.
Alburo said another indicator that local tourism industry remains vibrant amid the global economic turmoil is the fact that flights within the Philippines are always full while flights outside the Philippines are either half-full or half-empty.
“I noted that most flights in the Philippines are full, meaning to say that  that domestic travel is still going on and healthy, while international travel is not as brisk as before, maybe because of the high prices of plane tickets. Some travellers decided to go out only two times a year instead of three or five times a year,” he said.
“It could be that some travellers just confine their traveling within the region instead of to farway places like Europe and America,. It could be for many reasons but basically people in this generation will always travel, some two to three times a year. These days some people cut them to just two. People used to travel long haul, but many today limit heirs to short haul,” he added.

New tourism law
Meanwhile, local tourism players are expected to benefit much from the new tourism bill once President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signs it into law.
This was what Senator Richard Gordon, a former tourism secretary, told some 500 tourism stakeholders who attended the Tricon.
The bill features the establishment of tourism enterprise zones across the country. This alone is already expected to boost domestic tourism.
“With this law, local governments will now be pushed to develop their own tourism sites, come up with a package that would be attractive to potential tourists,” he said.
Gordon stressed that it is now the role of the LGUs to be more creative in having better tourism investments such that everything from hotel accommodation to products are all offered in a tourism site.
It is also the role of LGUs to develop their tourism enterprise zones as they would be competing with other cities and municipalities offering distinct sites and products.
Targets for the tourism enterprise zones include Cebu, Davao, Bohol, Laguna, Cavite, Boracay, Palawan, and Iloilo.
Undersecretary Palabyab said local tourist destinations must take advantage of cheaper air and sea transport fares being offered by various airlines and shipping companies.
“We observe that most domestic travelers have confined their travel within the region. Airlines have also opened flights to new areas like Laoag, Bosoanga, Zamboanga. This shows that there is a growing new market in local areas.” Palabyab said. [With PIA report]