Zubiri wants Negros
to be biofuels center
SAYS LITO IS ACTING NBB HEAD
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri Saturday called on oil firms to moderate their greed amid the impending increase in oil prices to P60 a liter, as he stressed his plan to make Negros the biofuels center of the Philippines.

“I want other provinces to see that Negros is leading the way in alternative fuels,” Zubiri, who was in the province for the annual Panaad sa Negros Festival in Bacolod City, said.

Under the road map for the Philippines Biofuels Program safeguards will be provided to protect the country’s food security programs, Zubiri also assured.

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri Saturday announced the allocation of  P32 million  for projects in the 32 towns and cities of Negros Occidental, half of which has been released,  and  funds for indigent patients and a dialysis center for the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City.

Zubiri, who was in Bacolod City for the annual Panaad sa Negros Festival, said funding will come from his Senate allocation.

Half of the P32 million has already been released in Negros Occidental, and remaining amount will be given by the third quarter of this year, he said.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has given the go-signal for the construction of the 10-kilometer access road from Brgy. Bata, Bacolod City to the new airport in Silay City and it will start in the next three months, Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella said during a press conference Saturday.

Puentevella said the ground-breaking by the President of the 10-km access road is tentatively set in August or September and it is expected to be finished on March 2010 before her term ends.

The project will be financed by the Korean government through a soft loan at minimal interest to the government, he said.