Iloilo seeks investors to revive downtown, improve ports
ILOILO CITY — The city government here is looking for investors who can revitalize the central business district (CBD) downtown and improve the ports linking Iloilo and Guimaras.
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, who also heads the Metro Iloilo Guimaras Economic Development Council, said the city government and the provincial government of Guimaras lack the funds to undertake the projects.
“We don’t foresee the government to spend, thus it will be a public-private partnership. The city government will act as partner, while the private sector will put up and run the facility because it will be difficult for the city to operate a port. Once the port facilities are improved, more tourists will arrive which means more economic activities for the city and Guimaras,” Mr. Treñas said.
A pre-feasibility study conducted last year by the Consultants for Comprehensive Environmental Planning Inc. (Concep) on the CBD revitalization and the Guimaras-Iloilo Ferry Terminal System showed that the two projects are feasible, Mr. Treñas said. The Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) had granted P4.7 million for the study.
“We foresee that these projects are going to be attractive for them [prospective investors]. The pre-feasibility studies crafted last year show that the projects are financially feasible. The projects are attractive enough for investors,” Mr. Treñas said.
Nathaniel Von Eisiendel, head of the study team, said the port project will initially cost more than P10 million.
Mr. Treñas said the CDIA and the Asian Development Bank granted another $80,000 to upgrade the study. Some legal technicalities are being ironed out for the smooth implementation of the two projects, either through a build-operate-transfer scheme or joint venture between the local governments and the private sector.
The CBD project includes JM Basa, Ledesma, Iznart, Arroyo and Aldeguer Streets in the downtown or Calle Real area. It also covers the rehabilitation and improvement of the Iloilo Central Market and a 1.37-hectare compound along Iznart Street which will be transformed into an urban consumer market. Mr. Treñas said the City Hall will continue to manage the Iloilo Central Market within the CBD.
The Guimaras-Iloilo Ferry Terminal System project, meanwhile, will improve and modernize the Parola, Buenavista and Jordan wharves to cater to the expanding number of commuters between Iloilo and Guimaras. The Ortiz Port, which serves passengers bound for Jordan, Guimaras, will also continue to operate to preserve the livelihood of residents near the port. — Francis Allan L. Angelo
BusinessWorld
Vol. XXII, No. 189
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
http://www.bworld.com.ph/BW042909/content.php?id=053
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MORE NEW INVESTMENTS REGISTER
IN W. VISAYAS DESPITE CRISIS
ILOILO CITY – Western Visayas continues to register new investments despite the global financial crunch according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Russel Ildesa, SEC regional head, said a total of 142 new corporations and partnerships registered with their office in the first quarter of 2009, higher than the 100 new firms registered in the same period last year. Most of the new firms are based in the cities of Iloilo and Bacolod.
SEC data showed that the total capital of the newly registered firms amounted to P274 million.
A total of 125 non-stock firms registered with SEC Western Visayas for the first four months of 2009, Mr. Ildesa added.
SEC collected P2.56 million in filing fees from January to March 2009, higher than the P1.06 million collected in the same months last year.
February 2009 posted the highest collection of P1.67 million.
“The filing fee for registration is based on the authorized capital of the business ventures. The fact that new investors keep on coming in the region shows that businesses are still aggressive despite the crisis,” Mr. Ildesa said.
Mr. Ildesa, however, said that not all of the newly registered firms will immediately venture into their respective businesses.
“Some of these firms registered for purposes other than putting up their businesses. But over all, Ilonggos are very hopeful when it comes to business. We expected a slow down in new investments because of the crisis but the situation in Western Visayas is different because instead of a slump, investments soared,” Mr. Ildesa added.
The DTI also posted a 32 increase in business name registrations for the first quarter of 2009.
Ruby Melliza, DTI information officer, said 3,865 new firms (single proprietorship) in Western Visayas were registered from January to March 2009, compared to 2,919 registered in the same period last year.
Melliza said the increase can be attributed to the growing interest in entrepreneurship.
“The DTI and other government agencies have been encouraging and extending assistance to those interested in entrepreneurship. We conduct trainings and provide start-up capitals to aspiring entrepreneurs,” Ms. Melliza said.
Ms. Melliza said that as of April 3, 2009, they have conducted 143 basic entrepreneurship trainings for 6,195 participants. A total of 156 trainees have put up their respective businesses which generated P1.5 million in new investments and 199 jobs.
Service oriented
Dominic Abad, DTI Western Visayas director, said aspiring entrepreneurs decided to go into business after seeing an opportunity or failing to land a job in bigger corporations.
Mr. Abad also noted that most new businesses belong to the service sector which requires lesser capital.
“The trend in start-up capital of businesses is decreasing by 8-10% annually but the number of new registrations is on the upswing. This indicates that more people are going into service-oriented ventures which don’t require much capital. The service sector seldom suffers from decreased demands unlike the manufacturing and export sector,” Mr. Abad said.
Mr. Abad said 80-85% of businesses registered with DTI in Western Visayas are service oriented such as restaurants, spas and business processes outsourcing firms.
Another factor in the increase in business name registration is the decrease in business name registration fee from P300 to P150 and faster registration processes, Mr. Abad added.
“An applicant can process their registration in just 30 minutes. The discount in the business name registration fee, which will last until June 2009, also helped spur new ventures in the region.”
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CITY HALL GOES AFTER FIRMS WITH NO PERMITS
ILOILO CITY – The city government here has begun the crackdown on businesses that have no permits.
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said he has ordered the tax enforcement and business permit offices to go around the city and check the permits of business establishments.
Treñas said he will order the closure of establishments which did not secure necessary permits from the City Hall.
“There have been reports that more businesses are operating without permits especially those inside the city’s public markets. I am calling on all business establishments to comply with the permit requirement otherwise we will close their shops. We will do that after the Holy Week,” said Treñas.
Treñas said a team from the offices of the city treasurer and the business permits and licenses was fielded after Holy Week to go around and see the business stalls in all public markets and barangays.
The inspection will cover unregistered repair shops, junk shops, sari-sari stores, barber shops, dress shops, beauty parlors, food stores, mini-groceries and all other barangay-based businesses.
The team will also check recognized business district and public markets to inspect stalls and sidewalk vendors if they have permits.
Treñas said there will be no exemptions in the payment of business taxes
“Every entrepreneur must pay their corresponding permits with the city government to ensure that city continues to render basic services to the residents,”
Data from the business permits and licenses office showed that 9,553 business establishments registered with the city hall in 2008. The figure includes 8,393 existing businesses which renewed their permits and 1,160 new business firms.
For the first quarter of 2009, a total of 7,039 existing and new establishments secured permits from the city government. A total of 1,460 working permits were issued to food handlers and 367 special permits for street caravan and streamers.
Last year, the World Bank and the Department of Finance helped activate the computerization of the Iloilo City Hall’s business permits and real property tax payment systems.
The project has two components – the Real Property Tax Administration System (RPTAS) which covers appraisal and assessment and land tax payment and collection; and the Business Permit License Tax Administration System (BPLTAS) which includes business tax, regulatory fees, charges assessment, business permit application and payment and collection.
The project is worth P11.939 million with WB shouldering 50 percent of the project cost. A total of 30 computers were installed equipped with printers and nodes.
The installation of the project and encoding of data took only about three and a half months to complete.
A total of 20,432 businesses operating in the city have been encoded under the BPLTAS.
Under the 2008 RPTA system, a total of 498,473 records were transferred into the database including 153,211 were already cleansed.
Treñas said key cities in Metro Manila area have launched their business processing through computerization with seven signatures.
He said the city hall was able to hasten the business processing services which required five signatures through the assistance of WB.
The mayor added that Iloilo City’s local computerization project is one of the very few WB-funded projects in the country that have succeeded.
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DOLE APPROVES 19 LIVELIHOOD PROJECTS
ILOILO CITY – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Western Visayas has approved 19 livelihood projects under the Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Programs (CLEEP), an intervention provided by the national government to displaced workers to cushion the effects of the economic crisis.
Amy Judicpa, DOLE information officer, said 16 projects worth P3.16 million were approved under the Tulong Pangkabuhayan sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD), five of which already received financial assistance amounting to P1.33 million.
The P2.13-million assistance for the 11 remaining projects will be released soon, Ms. Judicpa said.
Capiz got the highest grant for four livelihood projects worth P698,500.
Three projects were also approved for the following provinces: Aklan (P550,000), Antique (P660,000), Iloilo (P627,000) and Negros Occidental (P626,000).
The Labor department also approved three projects under the Integrated Services for Livelihood Advancement of Fisherfolks (ISLA).
A total of P661,356 was granted to two projects in Talisay, Negros Occidental benefiting 133 fisherfolks.
Another 100 fisherfolks from Capiz will also receive funding from DOLE after submitting the required documents.
TUPAD is implemented by DOLE in partnership with the local government units (LGUs), Philippine National Police (PNP), TESDA and PhilHealth.
ISLA is undertaken in partnership with LGUs and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
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OWWA EXTENDS ASSISTANCE TO DISPLACED OFWS
ILOILO CITY – The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in Western Visayas is eyeing to release this month around P5 million in livelihood loan assistance to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) displaced by the global financial crunch.
James Mendiola, OWWA regional head, said they initially released Tuesday last week P2.5 million to 50 displaced OFWs as start-up capital for their chosen businesses.
“Each OFW received P50,000 so they can start their own ventures after a series of livelihood trainings. The loan is payable in two years with an interest of 5 percent per annum,” Mr. Mendiola said.
The loans were drawn from the P1-billion Filipino Expatriate Livelihood Support Fund earmarked by the government to help displaced OFWs.
FELSF, which is administered by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and OWWA, is supported by the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP).
Mr. Mendiola said the OFWs underwent trainings and seminars mounted by the Department of Trade and Industry on preparation of no-bake pastries, meat processing and ready-to-drink juice.
OWWA also coordinated with the Iloilo Technology and Livelihood Development Center (ITLDC) in conducting the training.
“We also evaluated the applicants thoroughly because there are some individuals who pose as displaced OFWs in order to get loans even if they cannot show their credentials. OWWA is being careful in lending start-up capital so that the rightful beneficiaries will receive the assistance,” Mr. Mendiola added.
The OWWA in Western Visayas earlier released P850,000 in loans to 17 displaced OFWs in the region.
Mr. Mendiola said they aim to extend financial assistance to 50 additional OFWs in Capiz and Negros Occidental before the month ends.
Data from OWWA Western Visayas showed that as of April 3, total of 129 displaced OFWs from Western Visayas have sought livelihood assistance.
Most of the displaced workers came home from the United Arab Emirates (44), Taiwan (29) and Qatar (13).
A total of 94 jobless OFWs are males (94) while the remaining 34 are female.
Most of displaced workers hail from Iloilo with 71, Negros Occidental-40, Capiz-8, Guimaras-5, Antique-4 and Aklan-1.
The displaced workers were gypsum board installers, machine operators, welders, factory workers, engineers, carpenters and domestic helpers.
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