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- Price of pork in Negros Occidental down, chicken up
- Noceco, Noneco drop power rates, too
- Labor: Barring private firms from procuring vaccines discriminatory
| Price of pork in Negros Occidental down, chicken up Posted: 22 Mar 2021 08:52 AM PDT The Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) of Negros Occidental has noted a drop of P0.29 per kilogram in the average price of pork in the province. Based on the latest Prevailing Market Price of Livestock and Poultry Monitoring issued by the PVO Monday, March 22, 2021, the average price of pork is P228.33 per kilo. The report covers the monitoring period from March 15 to 21, 2021. The amount is lower than P228.62 per kilo during the second week of this month, from March 8 to 14. Provincial Veterinarian Renante Decena said the drop in the price of pork is attributed to the movement in supply and demand. "The buying capacity of some consumers in various local government units (LGUs) was low while the supply is high," he added. Earlier this year, the PVO noted significant increases in the price of the commodity in the province. It was mainly attributed to the higher cost of all agricultural commodities during that time. The increase was also relative to the African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak in Luzon. The PVO, on the other hand, noted an increase of P0.24 per kilo in the price of dressed broiler chicken. From P182.69 per kilo during the previous monitoring, the price went up to P182.93 per kilo. Decena said "the supply was also low that week." Average prices, meanwhile, of other meat products in the province remained steady. A kilo of carabeef (carabao meat) is still P268.07; beef - P280; chevon (goat meat) - P338.22; and dressed native chicken - P253.24.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Noceco, Noneco drop power rates, too Posted: 22 Mar 2021 08:52 AM PDT LIKE Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco), the two other power distribution utilities in the province have also announced a decrease in their respective residential power rates for this month. The Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative (Noceco), which caters to electric consumers in the south, from Pulupandan to Hinoba-an, reported a drop of P0.4683 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for its March billing. From P9.3925 per kWh in February, the effective rate for this month moved down to P8.9242 per kWh. The cooperative, in an advisory, said the main driver of the lower electricity rate this month is the P0.3781 per kWh decrease in the generation charge, which moved from P4.7188 to P4.3407 per kWh. It said the decrease in generation charge is due to the reduction of P1.0785 per kWh. The current average price in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) is P2.5711 per kWh, compared to its previous month cost of P3.6496 per kWh. Other factors that contributed to the overall reduction in rates included decreases in the systems loss rate of P0.0541 per kWh; transmission rate for residential customers - P0.0328 per kWh; and value-added tax (VAT) on transmission - P0.0049 per kWh, it added. Noceco explained that the overall rate decreased despite the increases in the price of Kepco Salcon Power Corp. (KSPC) from which the distribution sources out a portion of its power requirement, at P0.073 per kWh. For its power supply agreement with Palm Concepcion Power Corporation (PCPC), there's also an increase of P0.2732 per kWh. These are on top of other increases like subsidy rates totaling P0.0001 per kWh and VAT on generation at P0.0015 per kWh. Noceco said its distribution, supply and metering (DSM) charges remain unchanged despite the reduction in the overall electricity rate for this month. It urged member-consumers to conserve energy and to be aware of their energy consumption to avoid paying high electricity bills despite the decrease in the overall electricity rate. For the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco), the utility announced a decrease of about P0.04 per kWh in March from its previous month's rate of P10.3314 per kWh. The cooperative attributed it to the lower price of WESM from which Noneco also purchased a portion of its requirement. Noneco caters to electric consumers in the north, from E.B Magalona to San Carlos City. It can be recalled that Ceneco earlier announced a drop of P0.0658 per kWh in its residential power rate this month. From P11.5696 per kWh in February, it went down to P11.5038 per kWh in March. The power distribution utility caters to the largest number of electric consumers in the province, including cities of Bacolod, Bago, Talisay and Silay, and towns of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto. Ceneco acting general manager and project supervisor Danny Pondevilla, in an advisory, said the power rate reduction can be attributed to the decrease in the fuel cost of PCPC and price of WESM. Pondevilla said the pass-through charges for this month equivalent to P10.3172 per kWh of the total power rate included the generation and transmission costs. The amount also comprised those of the Energy Regulatory Commission approved adjustments, government subsidies and taxes. "Only P1.1866 per kWh of the power rate goes to Ceneco through the DSM charges and reinvestment fund for sustainable capital expenditures for its administration and operational services," he said.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Labor: Barring private firms from procuring vaccines discriminatory Posted: 22 Mar 2021 08:50 AM PDT NEGROS Occidental-based labor group General Alliance of Workers Associations (Gawa) has asserted that the government is sending a mixed signal to the people in the implementation of its policies on the procurement of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccines. Wennie Sancho, secretary-general of Gawa, said the country's policymakers are set to review laws barring private firms from procuring Covid-19 vaccines. "It's discriminatory to the workers who are the primary social economic force that drives the engine of our economic growth," he lamented. Sancho, also the labor representative to the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) - Western Visayas, said it is counterproductive because workers are deprived of their rights to be protected from Covid-19. "Our economic recovery depends on the toiling hands of the workers," he said, adding that the government should reevaluate its policy whether it is practical or not. The labor group claimed that the redeployment of Covid-19 vaccines to the National Capital Region after it has been allocated to the local government is a trial and error policy. It said the government is "changing the rules at the middle of the game." Gawa said the Department of Health (DOH) and Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) should refrain from issuing orders that would intensify the confusion on Covid-19 issues. "As for example, our health authorities and experts declared that the spread of the virus is prevalent among families at homes and yet the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) encourages workers to work from home," the group said. It added that despite the fact that according to the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) virus contamination seldom occurs in the workplaces, drastic measures were applied to reduce the personnel and number of hours in many workplaces, increasing unemployment and reducing the purchasing power of the workers. Its secretary-general asked, "how can we achieve economic recovery when our policies are inconsistent with our goal? Our laws and policies on Covid-19 have been allegedly reduced to a continuing political contest, its meaning is always subject to eleventh-hour interpretation from Malacañang." Sancho said restoring a strong public voice on the vital issue of the Covid-19 vaccine is one of the difficult problems the country is facing today. "Our government is awash in information, propaganda and rhetoric, yet none of it communicates timely warning to the people," he added. "It seems that democracy has been deformed by the breakdown of its different self-correcting mechanisms. Most of the people, particularly the critics of the government had been incapacitated, quite literally, because they no longer speak up," Sancho said. The complicated issues of Covid-19 confronting us are difficult to discern including the bewildering facts and even fiction. But they represent the real source of general discontentment of the people on traditional politics. They are likewise the unpleasant truths that people wish not to face, he said. "Our struggle with economic recession leaves us to shoulder most of the burden. It was compounded by the pandemic wherein the government restricted our rights and made us beg for money," the labor leader said, adding that some observers are saying that true democratic expression nowadays allegedly, becomes more expensive and dangerous.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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