Home Blog Page 6353

Victorias Milling cleared by ERC  to connect 40-MW biomass power plant to Visayas grid

VICTORIAS MILLING COMPANY, INC. FACEBOOK PAGE

THE ENERGY Regulatory Commission (ERC) said it has given its approval to listed sugar miller Victorias Milling Co., Inc., which had proposed to develop and own transmission facilities linking its 40-megawatt (MW) biomass-fired cogeneration power plant to the Visayas grid.

In a decision posted on its website last week, the commission authorized Victorias Milling to connect the plant to the grid operator’s 69 kilovolt (kV) Victorias-Silay sub-transmission line.

However, the ERC denied the company’s application to operate and maintain the facilities, noting that the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) is in charge of such matters.

The transmission facilities of Victorias Milling include a 50-megavolt ampere substation, a 69 kV switching station, and a 2.4 kilometer 69-kV single circuit transmission line.

The company has set aside P172.15 million for the project.

Connecting to NGCP’s sub-transmission line will “provide flexibility in exporting energy to Bacolod City when nearby solar plants are producing power at their peak,” the commission said, citing the company.

In its ruling, the ERC ordered Victorias Milling to submit a certificate of compliance; provide a confirmation of commerciality showing that its 40-MW plant is eligible for the feed-in tariff; and pay permit fees of P1.29 million in line with Commonwealth Act No. 146 and the commission’s revised schedule of fees and charges.

The ERC also directed the NGCP to submit an update on the maximum allowable limit for intermittent renewable power under the law, which will be used as the basis for setting a ceiling on the plant’s limit.

The decision was signed by ERC Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer Agnes VST Devanadera and four other commissioners on April 28. — Angelica Y. Yang

Region’s central bankers back green bond investments

REUTERS

MEMBERS of the Executives’ Meeting of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks (EMEAP) have agreed to promote green bond investments through the Asian Bond Fund (ABF) to develop a market for funding sustainability projects. 

“This is aimed at helping to catalyze further deepening of local currency-denominated green bond markets in the region,” the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said in a statement.

EMEAP members include the BSP, Reserve Bank of Australia, People’s Bank of China, Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Bank Indonesia, Bank of Japan, Bank of Korea, Bank Negara Malaysia, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Monetary Authority of Singapore and Bank of Thailand.

The oversight committee for the EMEAP Asian Bond Fund has tapped IHS Markit, which maintains the iBoxx ABF Index. Officials asked IHS Markit to review the index rules to encourage the inclusion of green bonds. 

“The details will therefore be based on the outcome of the review and disclosed once confirmed by IHS Markit,” the BSP said.

The ABF includes the Pan-Asia Bond Index Fund and eight single-market funds. With the Bank of International Settlement (BIS) as its administrator, the fund tracks the iBoxx ABF Index and is passively managed by private-sector fund managers.

The ABF was launched in 2005 to deepen local-currency bond markets in the region.

Central banks have been promoting sustainable financing as the threat of climate change escalates. The BSP has invested $350 million in the green bond fund of the BIS, which is a component of its reserve management strategy. 

The BSP launched its sustainable finance framework in 2019 and gave banks three years to adopt its provisions. The framework directs banks to adopt sustainability principles in their governance frameworks, risk management systems, strategies and operations.

BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said monetary authorities are looking to unveil the second phase of regulation for sustainable financing. This phase will take into account climate change risk in the assessment of credit and operational risk management in the banking industry. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Completed bike lanes approaching 500-km mark

GREENPEACE/JILSON TIU

THE DEPARTMENT of Transportation (DoTr) said it has completed nearly 500 kilometers (km) of bike lanes with accompanying signage in three metropolitan areas.

In a statement Monday, the department said it will inaugurate bike lanes in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao this month after completing pavement markings, physical separators, and road signs covering 497 km.

Completed markings and signs in Metro Manila cover 313 km and cost over P800 million. The department completed lanes covering 129 km for P150 million in Metro Cebu and 55 km for P145 million in Metro Davao.

The project budget amounts to around P1.1 billion under the Bayanihan Bike Lane Networks Project. Funding was allotted under Republic Act No. 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, the stimulus package that recognized bicycles as an essential mode of transportation.

The DoTr in April announced it hoped to build over 535 km of bike lanes by the end of the year.

Transportation Assistant Secretary Goddes Hope O. Libiran, in a mobile message, said that the completed bike lanes represent “100% overall accomplishment” for the department. Additional bike lanes covering 32 kilometers in Metro Manila under a Department of Public Works and Highways fund will be finished this year, she added.

“We intend to provide commuters with access to faster and efficient means of mass transportation; and to open infrastructure for active transportation such as walking and cycling,” Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said in a statement.

MNL Moves Founder Adrin O. Pelicano earlier this year said that he appreciated the effort to build bike lanes but added that he doubts the public was consulted about them, noting that the design network needs to be connected to allow for seamless travel. — Jenina P. Ibañez

NGOs claim no action on expanding banned plastics list

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

MARINE CONSERVATION group Oceana Philippines said Monday it has received no response from the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) on its queries regarding the expansion of a list of single-use plastic products to be banned in order to preserve the waterways.

Civil society groups, including Oceana, had earlier announced plans to press charges against the NSWMC and other government agencies, alleging “inaction” in preparing the Non-Environmentally Acceptable Products and Packaging (NEAPP) list.

“More than two weeks have passed (since we issued the notices to sue), and we are still waiting for the responses of the government agencies. If they do not provide the necessary mandated action to mitigate this huge problem of plastic pollution, then we will pursue all available legal remedies as provided for by the constitution and the various laws in the country,” Oceana Vice-President Gloria Estenzo-Ramos said in a statement on Monday.

Under the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 or Republic Act 9003, the commission is required to release the list within a year of the law’s effectivity, and provide annual updates.

Products listed under the NEAPP, which are considered harmful for the environment, cannot be manufactured, distributed and used.

In February, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources said that the NSWMC approved a resolution identifying plastic straws and coffee stirrers as the first two products to be included in the NEAPP, adding that these “may be banned soon.”

“We must do our part to help in rapidly reducing the use of plastics to address what is already an escalating problem of pandemic proportions,” Ms. Ramos said Monday.

BusinessWorld asked the NSWMC to comment, but it had not replied at the deadline.

The Philippines produces an estimated 164 million sachets, 48 million shopping bags, and 45.2 million so-called “labo” bags, which are transparent and come in rolls, according to a 2019 waste assessment brand audit report by the Global Alliance for Incinerators Alternatives. — Angelica Y. Yang

The VAT refund that got away?

Two weeks ago, our Let’s Talk Tax article covered the new Value-Added Tax (VAT) rules on sale of goods to ecozone entities and exporters. This was pursuant to Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 9-2021 which imposed 12% VAT on certain transactions that were previously taxed at 0%. The RR met with strong opposition from various stakeholders because of the impact on the export industry, and taxpayers clamored for a clarificatory Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issuance. While discussions are still up in the air, it is apparent that affected taxpayers should also consider the possibility of going through the VAT refund process route for the 12% input VAT passed on to them.

However, applying for a tax refund in the Philippines is easier said than done. As a rule, taxpayers applying for a refund are subject to a mandatory audit by the BIR pursuant to its BIR Audit Program. This mandatory audit can cover other tax types and is not limited to the tax type which is the subject of the refund application. Accordingly, taxpayers fear not only the denial of their claim for refund but also the added burden of being subjected to deficiency taxes. The related complexity issues and concerns regarding tax assessment processes pose another difficult area to address.

The tax refund issues encountered by taxpayers do not end at the BIR level because several cases are rejected by the agency. Hence, it is likely that the case will reach the courts and once at the court level, it may take many years for a case to be resolved. If ever the taxpayers win after a long wait, there is no interest added to their claims that would account for the value of money from the time the claim is filed up to the time that the taxpayers get their money back.

The above scenarios could be likened to the proverbial sword of Damocles dangling over the taxpayers’ heads which could often lead to the abandonment of their rightful to claim for a refund. Truly, the VAT refund that got away!

While we praise the government for initiating tax reforms aimed at simplifying VAT refund rules to safeguard the interest of taxpayers, perhaps a question that should be answered is whether such simplified rules are being effectively implemented.

In practice, there have been cases where taxpayers were surprised by the denial of their claims by the BIR. There was even a case where a taxpayer received an unfavorable ruling which only stated that the claim for refund was denied due to lack of legal and factual basis. In the ruling, there was no detailed explanation of why the claim was denied. Such details could have aided the taxpayer in intelligently determining the propriety of its refund claim. Instead, the taxpayer had to elevate its claim to the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) for another round of scrutiny.

Further, in some decided court cases, refund cases were denied at the administrative level merely due to certain documentation issues that could have been easily threshed out early on, wherein the taxpayers have actually complied with the documentation requirements. True enough, in these cases, the claim for refund was decided by the court in favor of the taxpayer.

Is it worth the cost, time, and effort of a taxpayer to fight for what is rightfully theirs?

In an international study about VAT refunds, modern tax administrations were found to have implemented well-balanced and risk-based audit programs to mitigate the risk of VAT refund abuse and determine the propriety of refund claims. Such processes are limited to VAT, which include checking the taxpayer’s entitlement to a refund through close coordination with the taxpayer and the suppliers for purposes of substantiation. Further, in the same international study, some countries provide in their VAT laws that interest should be paid for late refunds upon determination of taxpayers’ entitlement to such VAT refund claims. The payment of interest is akin to compensation to taxpayers for the loan of money.      

Taxpayers remain hopeful that the VAT refund process in the Philippines will further improve.  Anyway, the recovered taxpayers’ money will ultimately be plowed back to the economy which, in turn, will stimulate industries and generate various opportunities for businesses. The funds could be used for more valuable investments, instead of being frozen as taxpayers wait for the resolution of their refund claims.

The discussion about challenges in the VAT refund claim process are inevitably coming to the fore nowadays, as these relate to issues being faced by exporters and ecozone entities related to passed-on input VAT. The adoption of best practices by successful tax administrations and continuous review for process improvement could be effective tools to strike the right balance between safeguarding the refund rights of the affected taxpayers and the interest of the government to address issues associated with the VAT refund process. 

It must be emphasized that while robust tax collection efforts will support the government in these challenging times, such powers must be exercised with caution, lest the tax collector kill the hen that laid the golden eggs.

Let’s Talk Tax is a weekly newspaper column of P&A Grant Thornton that aims to keep the public informed of various developments in taxation. This article is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional advice.

 

Daryl Matthew A. Sales is a senior manager of Tax Advisory & Compliance division of P&A Grant Thornton, the Philippine member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd.

pagrantthornton@ph.gt.com

US warns China against attack on Philippines

PHILSTAR

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter

THE UNITED States on Monday again vowed to defend the Philippines against potential Chinese attacks in the South China Sea, as the Southeast Asian nation marked the fifth anniversary of a United Nations-backed ruling rejecting China’s vast territorial claims in the waterway.

In a statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that an attack on Philippine Armed Forces in the South China Sea would trigger a Mutual Defense Treaty between the two countries.

“We also reaffirm that an armed attack on Philippine Armed Forces, public vessels or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke US mutual defense commitments under Article IV of the 1951 US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty,” he said.

That article also says “each party recognizes that an armed attack in the Pacific area on either of the parties would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common dangers in accordance with its constitutional processes.”

Mr. Blinken also said US President Joseph R. Biden had reaffirmed his predecessor’s rejection of China’s claim to more than 80% of the South China Sea.

“The United States reaffirms its July 13, 2020 policy regarding maritime claims in the South China Sea,” he said, referring to ex-President Donald Trump’s repudiation of Chinese claims in the waterway, which is rich in fish, oil, gas and other natural resources, based on a 1940s nine-dash map.

The Philippines under the late President Benigno S.C. Aquino III sued China before the arbitration court in the Hague given its island-building and military activities in the South China Sea. The court in 2016 favored the Philippines in a decision that China has ignored.

Mr. Duterte, who has sought closer trade and investment ties with China since he became President in 2016, in March belittled the legal victory, saying it was just a piece of paper that could end up in a trash bin.

“I pursued it but nothing happened,” he said in a televised speech in Filipino on May 5. He added that between scalawags, one could always say that “it’s just a piece of paper and I would throw it in the waste basket.”

Philippine legislators have been urging Mr. Duterte to boost Philippine alliance with the US. The tough-talking leader had criticized the US for what he claimed was its ill treatment of its former colony.

Under Mr. Aquino’s watch, the Philippines signed an enhanced defense cooperation pact with the US, the country’s key western ally.

Mr. Duterte had not decided whether to keep a visiting forces agreement with the US, his spokesman earlier said.

The President in February last year said he would end the deal on the deployment of troops for war games after the US Embassy canceled the visa of his ally Senator Ronald M. de la Rosa, his former police chief who led his deadly war on drugs.

‘SNATCHING DEFEAT’
The Philippines needs a foreign policy “that is neither pro-China nor pro-US,” Senator Panfilo M. Lacson, Sr. said in a statement.

The lawmaker, who heads the Senate defense committee, said the Philippines has yet to come up with a comprehensive pro-Filipino policy “to complete the victory we achieved five years ago today.”

He said Philippine actions under Mr. Duterte “has accrued little to our accumulated advantage in the South China Sea and in the context of Philippine-China relations.” “On the contrary, we may have done very little in stemming the tide of an increasing Chinese footprint into the ASEAN region’s foreign policy, economy and security.”

Mr. Lacson said the country could work with its Southeast Asian neighbors in invoking the 2016 Hague ruling.

“It is wrong to assume that there are only two ways to secure the West Philippine Sea — war or silence,” he said, referring to areas of the sea within the country’s exclusive economic zone. “Between war and timidity, there is the arbitral ruling. Let us stop snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.”

“The West Philippine Sea belongs to the Filipino people, and the landmark arbitral award affirmed this ownership and gave it a permanent fixture in the international legal system,” Senator Grace Poe-Llamanzares said in a statement.

She said much is at stake in the maritime area that is rich in fish, oil, gas and other natural resources. “Thousands of fishermen also rely on the catch area in the sea for their food and livelihood.”

“We stand united with them in asserting our rights to our waters and protecting our territory from invasion and illegal activities,” she added.

Meanwhile, Senator Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel urged the Defense department to expedite the building and expansion of facilities in the Spratly Islands.

The agency could work with local government and other agencies, such as the Science and Technology and Agriculture departments, to encourage civilian activity on the island, she said.

“We cannot treat the islands in the West Philippine Sea only as military outposts, but also as civilian territories that are simply part of the Philippines,” she said in a statement. “If the Executive can devise a way that will allow for more activity on the islands, accompanied of course by security protocols, it can contribute to consolidating our sovereignty.”

3.2M J&J vaccines arriving this month, says Health agency

REUTERS

THE PHILIPPINES will take delivery this month of about 3.2 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., according to the Health department.

The Janssen vaccines that will arrive on July 19 were donated by the United States through a global initiative for equal access, Health Undersecretary Myrna C. Cabotaje told a televised news briefing on Monday.

The shipment is part of the 16 million vaccine doses that will arrive this month, she said.

Ms. Cabotaje said the vaccines would be used for the inoculation of senior citizens and people in far flung areas.

The single-dose shot is recommended for people aged 18 years and older, according to the local Food and Drug Administration. It does not need to be stored under ultra-low temperatures.

Janssen on July 1 said its vaccine had shown “strong, persistent activity” against more contagious coronavirus variants including the Delta one that started in India.

The Department of Health (DoH) reported 5,204 coronavirus infections on Monday, bringing the total to 1.48 million.

The death toll rose to 26,015 after 100 more patients died, while recoveries increased by 5,811 to 1.4 million, it said in a bulletin.

There were 49,128 active cases, 89.6% of which were classified as mild, 4.7% were asymptomatic, 2.5% were severe, 1.72% were moderate and 1.5% were critical.

The agency said 12 duplicates had been removed from the tally, nine of which were tagged as recoveries. It said 156 cases had been tagged as duplicates — 150 recoveries and six deaths.

The agency said 75 recoveries had been reclassified as active cases. Sixty-two recoveries were reclassified as deaths. Eight laboratories failed to submit data on July 10.

Of the three million AstraZeneca vaccine doses that arrived last week, about a million doses donated by Japan would be used in the capital region and nearby provinces, Ms. Cabotaje said. Half-a-million doses will be used nationwide. —

Vaccine czar Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. had ordered that vaccines be given out in virus-hit and far-flung provinces in southern Philippines, including Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, she said.

Of the 13 million people vaccinated against the coronavirus, 3.52 million had been fully vaccinated, Ms. Cabotaje said.

The Philippines has ordered about 89 million coronavirus vaccines worth $1 billion, presidential spokesman Herminio L. Roque, Jr. told a televised news briefing.

About $400 million were already paid for through the national budget and loans from multilateral financial institutions, he told a separate televised news briefing.

Meanwhile, more Filipinos are willing to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to a Pulse Asia poll from June 7 to 6. It said 43% of Filipinos were inclined to get inoculated.

In a statement, Pulse Asia said 36% of Filipinos were still hesitant to get vaccinated, while 16% were undecided.

The polling firm interviewed 2,400 adult Filipinos for the poll, which had an error margin of ±2 points. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

Senators seek probe of troll farms that spread fake news

BW FILE PHOTO

TWELVE senators on Monday filed a resolution seeking to investigate reports that public funds were being used to boost the operations of state-backed troll farms that spread fake information on social media.

“Filipinos should know why the government spends public funds on troll farm operators disguised as public relations practitioners and ‘social media consultants who sow fake news,” according to Senate Resolution 768.

Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III and Senators Ralph G. Recto and Franklin M. Drilon filed the resolution.

Senators Maria Lourdes Nancy S. Binay, Leila M. de Lima, Richard J. Gordon, Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, Panfilo M. Lacson, Emmanuel D. Pacquiao, Francis N. Pangilinan, Grace Poe-Llamanzares and Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva also backed the resolution.

State auditors have flagged the hiring of 375 contract workers in 2020 by the Presidential Communications Operations Office, which denied having hired trolls.

The palace office said the workers performed tasks that were highly technical, including positions for videographers, editors, directors and social media specialists.

In its annual report, the Commission on Audit (CoA) said the “unrestricted and massive” hiring of the workers cost the office P70.6 million, “which could have been used for other programs and projects of the government.”

The workers accounted for 70% of the agency’s total workforce, state auditors said. The PCOO had 144 regular employees last year.

CoA also found that PCOO had no written guidelines on the hiring of employees, particularly under a contract of service.

The identification of people to be hired rests directly upon the request of the department heads and other agency officials, COA noted. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

President to attend meeting called by party vice chairman

PCOO.GOV.PH

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte will attend a meeting of his political party this week, his spokesman said, amid infighting between two major factions.

The President would attend the meeting called by Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) Vice Chairman Alfonso G. Cusi, his Energy secretary, in Pampanga on July 17, presidential spokesman Herminio L. Roque, Jr. told a televised news briefing on Monday.

Mr. Roque, a nonmember, said Mr. Duterte recognizes the leadership of Mr. Cusi.

The row within the dominant political party intensified after the faction led by Mr. Cusi held a party meeting in May that party President and Senator Emmanuel “Manny” D. Pacquiao rejected.

The group of PDP Laban officials led by Mr. Pacquiao on Friday expelled Mr. Cusi and other top officials for “showing allegiance to a political party apart from PDP Laban.”

The camp of Mr. Pacquiao accused Mr. Cusi of betraying party laws by backing the potential presidential candidacy of Davao City Mayor and presidential daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio, who does not belong to the party. Mr. Cusi had also asked Mr. Duterte to run for vice president.

Mr. Cusi has said the party would back either Ms. Carpio or the President’s long-time aide, Senator Christopher Lawrence T. Go, for president.

Mr. Pacquiao, Mr. Go and Ms. Carpio all come from Mindanao.

Mr. Pacquiao earlier said government corruption was rampant, accusing several members of the President’s Cabinet of graft. The senator had also criticized Mr. Duterte’s stance on the country’s sea dispute with China. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

NPC orders Pilipinas2022.ph site taken down for privacy rules violation

NPC.GOV.PH

THE NATIONAL Privacy Commission (NPC) has issued a cease-and-desist order against website PiliPinas2022.ph for voter data collection that violates privacy rules.

“Beware of a website that requires voters to give their full name, complete address, and mobile phone number so they can take part in a survey supposedly aimed at gauging the public pulse in the run up to the 2022 national elections,” the commission said in a statement on Monday.

NPC has asked the National Telecommunications Commission to take down the site, which the Commission on Elections said it is not affiliated with.

The website, NPC said, could harm those who participate in a survey because it “masquerades as an online political survey platform but does not specify its purpose in collecting the data.”

The website neither provides a privacy notice nor confirms informed consent from those providing personal data.

“Not only are data subjects misinformed about the true purpose and further processing of their personal information, but they are also left in the dark as to who will be held accountable in case their personal information is used for unlawful purposes,” NPC said.

Deputy Privacy Commissioner John Henry D. Naga, who wrote the order, said voters should also be more cautious about joining initiatives that collect their personal data “with questionable intentions.”

PiliPinas2022.ph must file its comment within 10 days after receiving the order and must stop processing personal data until the commission issues a decision based on the comment.

The order was sent to the email address linked to the website. Its operators have not yet been identified.

The Data Privacy Act or Republic Act No. 10173 requires those processing personal information to declare its legitimate purpose for doing so before or just after information is collected. Violators of the law could be imprisoned or fined.

The website’s operators, in a Facebook post on July 1, said the site is under server maintenance.

Its operators have not yet responded to requests for comment as of deadline time, but they said in a statement in June that they run a survey company that has no ties with political groups.

The addresses were to be used for an electorate map feature on the website, while the contact numbers were for one-time pins for participant log-in, the statement said. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Rights group calls for SC review on cases with search warrants from Manila, QC judges 

A HUMAN rights group has called on the Supreme Court (SC) to review the cases of political prisoners who were served search warrants from Manila and Quezon City judges who were recently stripped of the authority for such issuances.

“Kapatid hails the (Supreme Court’s) resolution limiting the power of judges to issue search warrants and prohibiting the multiple application for search warrants,” Fides Lim, spokesperson of Kapatid, a support group for families of prisoners, said in a news release on Sunday.

“For accountability and justice to hold sway, we press that a review be made of all cases that emanated from the sala of those judges who turned their courts into a search warrant factory that led to the arrest and outright killing of activists,” Ms. Lim added.

The High Court, in its rules on requiring law enforcers to use body cameras in the implementation of arrest and search warrants on July 9, has removed the power of executive judges of Manila and Quezon City courts to issue search warrants outside their judicial regions.

In the High Court’s 2004 circular, vice-executive judges of the Manila and Quezon City courts were allowed to issue search warrants in the absence of executive judges, and that in serious cases such as illegal possession of firearms, these warrants could be served in areas outside their jurisdiction.

Such policy was questioned following the death of nine activists in the Calabarzon provinces in March as police served them warrants from judges in these courts.

“The (SC) decision should be pursued to its logical conclusion toward the release of all political prisoners who are the direct victims of these judges’ wrongful and culpable actions,” Ms. Lim said. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago 

Dumaguete City a step closer to ‘zero waste’ goal with trash recycling machines

DUMAGUETE LGU

MACHINES THAT will convert trash into construction materials and other products are now being set up at Dumaguete’s main materials recovery facility, bringing the local government a step closer to its goal of becoming a “zero waste” city.

Mayor Felipe Antonio B. Remollo inspected last week the installation of machines and equipment for the pyrolysis gasification process that will produce pavers, hollow blocks and other construction materials out of waste, according to a press release from the city government.

The facility’s output will be used for local infrastructure projects and road maintenance. The recovery facility will also have machines for processing biodegradable wastes into organic fertilizers.

Mr. Remollo said achieving a “Zero Waste Dumaguete” is possible through these investments “coupled with the people’s cooperation in reducing consumption, practicing waste segregation and recycling.”

The city recently closed down its 35-year-old dumpsite as the recovery facility was opened. A sanitary landfill is also planned for construction in the area.

About P100 million has been allocated for the past three years by the city government for the waste management plan, including the closure and rehabilitation of the dumpsite, and the purchase of land and setting up the recovery and recycling facility.

Dumaguete, the capital of Negros Oriental province, covers an area of 3,362 hectares with a population of 134,103 based on the 2020 census. The coastal city is home to Siliman University, best known for its programs on marine sciences. — MSJ