Newest IT Park in Dumaguete embodiment of P-Noy’s dream
By Rachelle M. Nessia
DUMAGUETE CITY, September 7 (PIA) --- Pres. Benigno S. Aquino III has lauded the newest Information Technology (I.T.) Park now being constructed in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental which he called the “embodiment” of his dream of creating enough job opportunities for Filipino workers across the country.
The President, in his speech during a project inspection of the sprawling 11,164-sq.m. area where the LinkSy I.T. Park will rise in Dumaguete City, expressed his confidence that the park will spur job growth in the local Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) industry.
“I am confident that this I.T. Park will achieve success on the back of the pool of competent graduates from excellent nearby universities that they can choose to hire. Once completed, this park can surely become a significant contributor to our country’s reputation in the BPO industry,” said Pres. Aquino as he spoke before a crowd of around 100 chiefly composed of members of the local business and BPO community and industry stakeholders.
The I.T. Park inspection is the second stop of the President’s visit in the province today (Sept. 7). It recognizes the efforts of the private sector in helping the government produce enough jobs so that Filipino workers no longer feel the need to leave the country to find decent paying employment overseas.
Construction work on the first of three buildings that will predominantly be IT facilities within the park has already started.
Once completed, the park is seen to pump P40 million into the local economy, according to Danford Sy, general manager of July Development Corporation, which is undertaking the IT Park project.
Building 1 is expected to be finished and turned over to its locator, Qualfon, around March next Year.
With four floors that can accommodate 1,500 seats, it is expected to produce 4,500 jobs for agents and indirect employment.
In his speech, Sy assured the President that the local business community recognizes the potential of the information, communication, technolgy (ICT) industry.
“We see how it has provided jobs and given salaries much higher than the minimum wage. We realize we have to do our share in sustaining this growth,” he said.
Based on figures presented by Sy in his speech, the ICT industry has flourished from “zero employees in December 2004 to 4,000 employed by December of 2010, earning a conservative estimate of P34 million a month.”
Sy predicted the industry to go up by 50 percent by December this year, with over 6,000 ICT workers earning around P52 million per month.
According to Pres. Aquino, the I.T and BPO industry have generated $8.9 billion in revenue in 2010 alone, and produced full-time employment for more than half a million people. Some expect that this year’s revenues will hit the 11 billion dollar mark, and that the industry will be able to give 640,000 direct jobs.
The National Outsourcing Association of the U.K., from 2008 to 2010, also gave the Philippines the distinction of being the Most Outstanding Outsourcing Destination in the world. (RMN/PIA Negros Oriental)
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Bantay Peste Volunteer Brigades being organized in Negros Oriental
by Rachelle M. Nessia
DUMAGUETE CITY, Sept. 7 (PIA) --- The Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO) in Negros Oriental is organizing pest monitoring brigades in 13 local government units (LGUs) in the province identified to have a history of rice pest and diseases.
Selected farmers from these LGUs will undergo a two-day training after which they will be organized into pest scout brigades in their respective areas.
The creation of pest monitoring brigades is a community-based approach in pest monitoring and assessment wherein farmers are utilized as pest scouts in their own fields.
The 13 identified LGUs are Bais City, Mabinay, Manjuyod, Bindoy, Bayawan City, Sta. Catalina, Siaton, Zamboanguita, Tanjay City, La Libertad, Tayasan, Canlaon City and Ayungon, according to a statement from PAO.
The municipal agriculture officers and the PAO area coordinators have identified the farmers who will participate in the trainings. “These are the farmers who went through the Farmers Field School in their areas,” said PAO Information Officer Nittz Bangay.
The training’s team of resource persons comes from the Department of Agriculture- RFU 7 Regional Crop Protection Center and PAO Crops Division along with the provincial coordinator of the Office of Civil Defense.
The 13 brigades, which will be supervised by the agricultural technologists in the LGUs, are expected to form a provincial federation in the future, said Bangay.
Bangay said the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDDRMC) here is supporting the conduct of the province-wide trainings after Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo expressed his support to said program.
“The governor is supporting the program because he recognized the importance of protecting our farms as a primary food source,” she said. (RMN/PIA Negros Oriental)
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P-Noy opens the P265M “Mercado de Bais,” in NegOr
by Jennifer Catan-Tilos
DUMAGUETE CITY, Sept. 7 (PIA) -- President Benigno S. Aquino III led the inauguration today of the mall-like P265 million public market in Poblacion I, Bais City, Negros Oriental.
The President don in yellow T-shirt, arrived in Bais City this morning with his cabinet secretaries Proceso Alcala of DA, Gregory Domingo of DTI, Jesse Robredo of DILG, Mar Roxas of DOTC, and Felipe Remollo of Clark Development Authority.
The President proceeded to unveil the marker in front of the market building assisted by Bais City Mayor Karen Villanueva.
The presidential party, city and municipal mayors in Negros Oriental along with some other national and local officials witnessed the ceremony.
The modern two-storey multi-million market building is situated along the national highway contains a cold storage facility with ice maker and underground sewerage treatment at the ground floor, while at the second floor housed function, dining and transient rooms, and child minding area.
President Aquino appreciated the unique structure of the market using the new technology like an elevator. He said “this market, a center of commerce in the city provides positive business to all farmers, traders and producers.”
President Aquino said, one of the biggest new public markets in the country designed to boost the city’s farm productivity and economy.
The development of the market is in line with the national government's program to spur trading and economic activities in the neighboring towns in Manjuyod, Mabinay, and Pamplona, said Aquino. (PIA NegOr/mbcn/JCT)