Day: March 13, 2024

SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA: Forest fires damaged 116.43 hectares covered by the National Greening Program (NGP) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)in six Antique municipalities.

Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) chief Louie Laud said the areas affected by the forest fires this year are in the municipalities of Laua-an, Bugasong, Valderrama, Patnongon, Sibalom, and San Remigio.

‘The forest fires were due to a cigarette butt that has been thrown away or other human interventions,’ he said.

The damage is estimated at PHP2.02 million since the fire destroyed plants and trees, including coffee, guyabano, bamboo, and timber.

Laud said they are requesting local government units to hire more Bantay Gubat (forest guards) to augment their personnel in averting similar incidents.

‘LGUs in partnership with the CENRO are requested to help in the information and education campaign among the farmers and upland communities on how they could help protect the NGP,’ he said.

In addition to the NGP project, two fire incidents this month also affected 14 hectares of the preserved area at the Sibalom Natural Park in Barangay Cabladan, Sibalom town.

An assessment and validation is still ongoing to determine the cost of the damages.

He added that the forest fire depletes or brings back to zero the forest cover in affected municipalities, and the livestock will have no more areas for pasture.

‘The biodiversity and wildlife will also be affected,’ he said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: Apart from the USD4 billion worth of investment deals presented to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. during a business forum in Berlin, the Chief Executive has received a separate investment commitment of USD1.03 billion (PHP56 billion) from a German renewable energy (RE) firm.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said in a statement Wednesday that Bremen-based wpd GmbH is investing in onshore wind and solar power farms in the Ilocos Region, and the provinces of Bulacan, Antique, Aklan and Iloilo.

The DTI said these five RE projects have a combined capacity of 565 megawatts of clean energy.

These renewables projects are currently in the pre-development stage, and are expected to be completed between 2027 and 2030, it said.

In a Viber message to trade reporters, the DTI said wpd’s investment pledges are an outcome of its meeting with Marcos and DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual in Berlin.

House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC
) Berlin Special Trade Representative Nicanor Bautista were also present during the meeting with wpd executives.

Wpd was represented by its chief finance officer Björn Nullmeyer and general manager for Asia Hans-Christoph Brumberg.

During the meeting, Pascual cited the country’s One-Stop Action Center for Strategic Investments (OSAC-SI) under his agency that endorses green lane treatment for big-ticket investments.

‘The DTI will continue to assist wpd in navigating its way through the regulatory bureaucracy in the Philippines. Through the Board of Investments (BOI), one of our attached investment promotion agencies, we will work closely with your company to fast-track your application for green lane under Executive Order No. 18, which constitutes Green Lanes for Strategic Investments,’ Pascual said.

Currently, wpd has PHP392.4 billion registered projects with the BOI for the establishment of offshore wind farms in Cavite, Negros Occidental, and Guimaras.

This is the single largest investment from Germany
to date, the DTI said.

‘These agreements [not] only signify the confidence that German businesses placed in the Philippines, but they also underscore the alignment of our economic priorities,” Pascual said.

Source: Philippines News Agency