With a few days more left before the end of the 60-day negotiation, the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corp. and the Bacolod City panel are still debating on the "upward adjustment" or increase in compensation for the management and operation of the port.

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia, head of the executive-legislative panel, said the parties started their meetings January 4 and technically, the end of the 60-day negotiation will be on March 6, since March 5 is a Sunday. "We assure the public that we will do everything we can to see to it that we are on schedule," he said.

Leonardia said they have also agreed to meet more often if needed because they are "very conscious of the self-imposed deadline, whether (they) agree or not."

DA campaign vs.
hotmeat stepped up

The Department of Agriculture through the National Meat Inspection Service has stepped up its campaign against the proliferation of hot meat.

The DA said in a statement that the NMIS has collaborated with the Bureau of Animal Industry, the DA regional field units and major farm operators to the control the sale of "double dead" meat from illegal sources.

Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban urged local government units to pass a law or ordinance that will support the NMIS in its campaign against hot meat.

Cyber services sector
mobilized as engine of growth

The Department of Labor and Employment said that the government is taking measures to mobilize the country's cyber services sector as an engine of economic and employment growth.

Acting Secretary Danilo Cruz said in a statement he issued that the cyber services sector is one of the nine key employment generating sectors to be highlighted in the 2006 National Manpower Summit in Manila on March 2.

The other eight sectors considered as key employment generating sectors are mining, health services, hotel and restaurant, agribusiness, medical tourism, aviation, creative industries, and overseas employment.

back to top