The Bacolod City government and the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corp. failed to agree on the increase in compensation for the management and operation of the port during their final meeting yesterday.

The city is pushing that BREDCO pay P17. 5 million annually but BREDCO is proposing only P1.4 million, P600,000 higher than its present P800,000 annual rental that has been in effect for several years now.

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the city panel agreed to start evaluating what transpired during the 60-day negotiation period and to frame what is to be embodied in their report.

Cadiz City eyeing
casla plantation: MBCCI

Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante has offered an area in their city to be planted with casla or jatropha, a potential source of bio-diesel, Roberto Montelibano, president of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said yesterday.

Montelibano said MBCCI is working with local government units, along with their agriculturists, to ensure the feasibility of planting commercial crops.

He said casla in combination with rubber and coffee can also be used to reforest barren lands, adding that in inter-cropping the three, casla can become a cash crop as it could be harvested early than the others.

Boracay tourist arrivals
on the upswing

ILOILO CITY-Tourist arrivals in the island-resort of Boracay enjoy a continued upswing despite the economic difficulties last year, records from the Tourism department showed.

The number of visitors last year reached 499,457, 16.48 percent higher than the 428,755 recorded in 2004. The tourists poured in P8.18 billion which is 38 percent higher than the P7.88 billion earned in 2004.

Domestic tourists comprised the bulk of the visitors reaching 321,893 compared to 156,774 from other countries. Overseas Filipino visitors reached 21,820. Among the foreign visitors, East Asians dominated the number of visitors reaching 114,926, followed by Europeans (23,191) and North Americans (11,327).

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