Pres. Aquino to inspect Cebu infra projects today

 Ferliza C. Contratista

CEBU CITY, August 24 (PIA) --  Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III will arrive in Cebu today to inspect major infrastructure projects here.

Central Visayas is top eco-tourism destination in PH

BY: FAYETTE C. RIÑEN

CEBU, March 18 (PIA) – Central Visayas is the top eco-tourism destination in the country as the Regional Eco-Tourism Committee chaired by the Department of Tourism (DOT-7) is fast tracking the identification of eco-tourism sites in the region for tourism development.

RDC-7 eyes renting power bare to address Siquior power shortage

By Fayette C. Ri�en

CEBU CITY, Feb 28 (PIA) -- Renting a power barge unit to address the power shortage in Siquijor Province is being eyed as a viable option amid the daily brownouts being experienced by residents of the island. 

In a recent meeting of the Regional Development Council (RDC) 7 Sub-Committee on Power, Edmund Veloso of the National Power Corporation - Small Power Utilities Group (NPC-SPUG) said two of the three power barges in the Siquijor island have been badly damaged by Typhoon Pablo in December last year. (PIA 7) 

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C. Visayas economy one of the fastest in PH ‘GRDP is higher than nat’l average

By Fayette C. Ri�en

CEBU CITY, Feb 25 (PIA) -- The economy of Central Visayas continues to be one of the fastest in the country today backed by statistical data of its Gross Regional Domestic Product (GDRP) in the past two years. 

In 2010, the GDRP was the highest in the country at 12.5 percent while in 2011, Central Visayas posted a growth of 7.9 percent states a report from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) 7; these were higher than that of the national GDP average at 3.6 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively. 

Although the National Statistics Coordination Board has yet to release its 2012 economic report for the country, a top official of NEDA 7 expressed optimism that the region will again post positive GDRP growth last year. 

NEDA 7 Assistant Regional Director Efren Carreon earlier said that if previous trends are to serve as bases, then Central Visayas’ GDRP will again exceed the national average GDP growth of 6.6 percent. 

Last year, the country’s GDP for the first three quarters or the past nine months grew by 6.6 percent as Carreon disclosed they are confident Central Visayas posted a high growth in 2012 based on the past two years’ GRDP statistics. 

Growth in the region was largely driven by the industry sector particularly in construction at 21.5 percent and the service sector especially the real estate, renting and business activities which posted 10.9 percent, the NEDA 7 GDRP report shows. 

Carreon further said that 17 new foreign business process outsourcing (BPO) firms opened in Cebu, largely from the non-voice sector based from a report of the Cebu Investment Promotions Center (CIPC) while existing BPO companies expanded its operations employing more workers in the region. 

According to the CIPC, the BPOs sector in Cebu alone has an estimated 95,000 workers. 

With high paying jobs at the BPO sector and steady remittances of overseas Filipino workers, these have greatly contributed to the high purchasing power of the consumers, according to Carreon. 

Also posting positive growth in the region were the areas of tourism, aviation, shipping and exports, the same NEDA 7 report bares. (PIA 7) 

Tesda launches 2 anti-poverty programs in Cebu

By Rachelle M. Nessia

CEBU CITY, Feb. 5 (PIA) -- The Technical Education Skills Development Authority (Tesda) recently launched two projects in Cebu aimed at helping alleviate poverty.

Said projects are Coke-Tesda Sari-Sari Store Training and Access to Resources (S3TAR) and Tesda-DSWD Cash for Training (C4TP).

Tesda Director General, Sec. Joel Villanueva, led the launching of the two programs at the Convention Hall of JCenter Mall in Mandaue City, Cebu on January 30.

The S3TAR aims to empower 1,000 women retailers or those who own sari-sari stores in Cebu province by providing them with training and merchandising support.

This is one of Tesda’s public-private partnership (PPP) efforts and also part of Coke’s campaign to empower 100,000 women by 2020.

Around 1,000 women sari-sari store owners in Bogo City, Balamban, and beneficiaries/members of the Cebu Federation of Women’s Club Inc. were already trained in Cebu under S3TAR.

C4TP, on the other hand, targets to train out-of-school youths in the province to facilitate their employment while giving them entrepreneurship support so they can start their own small business.

The C4TP program, worth P1.3 billion, is seen to benefit 65,000 disadvantaged youths all over the country.

For Central Visayas, P161 million has been allocated for said program, with 3,826 scholarship grants for indigent beneficiaries aged 18 years old to 30 years old.

In his speech, Sec. Villanueva said Tesda’s various programs are all geared towards one clear goal.

“Sa kabila ng pagkakaiba-iba ng mga programa ay malinaw sa ating lahat ang nais nating puntahan. Wala pong iba kundi ang mapalakas ang mamamayan sa pamamagitan ng mga angkop na pagsasanay upang magkaroon ng mapagkakakitaan at magandang kinabukasan.” (RMN/PIA-7 Cebu)