PHLPost Releases Commemorative Stamp to Mark 100 Years of Victorias Milling Company

Wazzup Pilipinas

The Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) issued a commemorative stamp in celebration of Victorias Milling Company’s (VMC) 100 years in the sugar industry held at the Century Park Hotel in Manila.

Victorias Milling Company Chairman Emeritus Dr. Lucio Tan, Mr. Wilson T. Young, VMC Chairman, Ms. Minnie O. Chua, VMC President and Atty. Benjie S. Yotoko, PHLPost Area Director of Region 6 unveiled the specially designed Stamps to commemorate the company’s 100 years of existence.

Founded by the married couple, Miguel Ossorio and wife Paz Francisco Ossorio alongside Shiras M. Jones and Claudio M. Luzuriaga on May 7, 1919, VMC is an agro-industrial complex located in Victorias City, Negros Occidental. At its founding, it occupied 600 hectares, with a sugar mill that had the capacity to process 1,500 tons of sugar cane daily. 

VMC is one of the biggest suppliers of refined sugar in the Philippines, supplying about 26% of the country’s daily need for refined sugar. Today it is one of the 13 prolific mills located in Negros.

VMC began its refinery operations in 1928, making it the second established refinery in the Philippines. From then on, VMC and the North Negros Sugar Company (NONSUCO) sustained sugar exportation to the United States.

In the last quarter of 2018, the Department of Energy (DOE) certified the accreditation of VMC as a manufacturer of bio-ethanol with an annual rated production capacity of 16.5 million liters. From being a home-grown sugar refinery, VMC has now evolved into one of the largest integrated raw and refined sugar operations in the world.

PHLPost has printed 54, 000 copies of the commemorative stamps designed by PHLPost In-house graphic designer Victorino Z. Serevo, sold for P12.00 and P55.00 each. The stamp features the company's centennial anniversary logo.

Stamps, Souvenir Sheets, and Official First Day Covers of 100 years of Victorias Milling Company, Inc. are now available at the Philatelic Counter, Manila Central Post Office in Liwasang Bonifacio and area post offices nationwide.

Sec. Cusi Issues Guidelines on Financial Benefits of Indigenous Communities Hosting Power Generation and Energy Resource Development Projects

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The Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Circular to guide the indigenous communities in accessing and utilizing the financial benefits from their hosting of power generation facilities and/or energy resource development projects pursuant to the Energy Regulations (ER) No. 1-94 Program.

Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi stated that, “The DOE recognizes the right of our tribal and indigenous communities to optimize available social development opportunities and preserve their critical role as the stewards of our energy resources, particularly where the power plants and/or the energy resource development projects are located.”

The Department Circular DC2019-06-0010 prescribes the “Administrative Operating Guidelines for the Availment and Utilization of Financial Benefits by the Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples, pursuant to DOE Department Circular No. DC2018-03-0005”.

Under DC2019-06-0010, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) shall endorse all legitimate indigenous cultural communities/indigenous peoples (ICCs/IPs) beneficiaries to the DOE within 30 days from receiving all the necessary requirements from the ICCs/IPs. Thereafter, the DOE will notify the concerned generation company and/or energy resource developer of the inclusion of the host ICCs/IPs for the remittance of their financial benefits. The policy enables the host ICCs/IPs could to utilize the funds for the implementation of their social development projects.

“The Host ICCs/IPs’ receipt of financial benefits from power plants situated within their ancestral domain is a symbolic way to mark the 25th year of implementing ER No. 1-94. This arrangement with the ICCs/IPs further strengthens the DOE’s commitment to boost their participation, cooperation and sustained partnership in power development projects,” Sec. Cusi said.

DC2019-06-0010 was published on 12 July 2019 in Business World and Manila Times and shall take effect 15 days from its date of publication.

PHL’s Biggest Port PTB Opens in Cagayan de Oro

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The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) inaugurated the country’s biggest port Passenger Terminal Building (PTB) at the Port of Cagayan de Oro, 15 July 2019.

Located within the Passenger Terminal Complex of the Port of Cagayan de Oro, the new PTB is a massive two-storey building with a total floor area of 5,597 square meters.

The new terminal has a capacity of 3,000 passengers, triple its previous capacity.

DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade, together with PPA General Manager Jay Santiago and PPA Port Manager for Misamis Oriental/Cagayan de Oro, Isidro Butaslac Jr., led the inauguration of the new PTB.

“I have inaugurated many terminals during our term, and the truth is, this is the biggest passenger terminal building in the Republic of the Philippines. Ito ‘hong proyektong ito ay magbibigay tibay sa kagustuhan ng ating Pangulo na magkaroon ng mobility and connectivity sa Visayas at Mindanao. With this terminal, you will have a convergence of people for mobility that will lead to economic growth,” Secretary Tugade said.

The transportation chief also congratulated PPA GM Santiago and the whole of PPA for their efforts in completing the port project that will strengthen the Port of Cagayan de Oro as the “Global Gateway to Mindanao.”

“I thank PPA GM Santiago and the men and women of PPA for they have done a very good job. Napakarami nang natapos na port projects all over the country, kasama ang Cagayan de Oro. Ganyan kalakas at kaigting ang trabaho ng PPA at ni GM Santiago,” Secretary Tugade expressed.

For his part, GM Santiago cited the country’s biggest port PTB as a symbol of the agency’s 45 years of maritime service to the Filipino people.

“We are thankful that as the PPA welcomed its 45th founding anniversary, we have this huge PTB to stand as the emblem of our service and dedication. We believe in the role of seaports in developing our regions and boosting local economies. We hope that this new PTB will contribute to the socio-economic growth, not just of CDO, but of the entire Northern Mindanao region,” GM Santiago said.

The PTB features brand new facilities that will enhance the safety and security of the sea-traveling public. Services include security checkpoints with x-ray scanners for baggage, body scanners, CCTVs, passenger boarding stations, collector’s booth, public assistance desk, designated green areas, storage room, and offices for passenger-related agencies such as quarantine, tourist police, and the Coast Guard.

For the comfort and convenience of the public, amenities include a play area for children, child care station, ecumenical prayer rooms, drinking fountains, toilet facilities, urgent medical care room, food stalls, pasalubong centers, and a special boarding lane for senior citizens, PWDs, pregnant women, and women traveling with children below two (2) years old.

Adhering to the “Malasakit Initiative” of the DOTr, the PPA also announced that today marks the start of terminal fee exemption for students in all PPA-owned and operated ports nationwide. Senior citizens, PWDs, and active personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) are also exempted from paying terminal fees.

Other officials present during the inauguration were Misamis Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Emano, former Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Representative Maximo Rodriguez, Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno, DOTr Undersecretary for Finance Garry De Guzman, Undersecretary for Aviation and Airports Manuel Antonio Tamayo, Undersecretary for Maritime Fernando Juan Perez, Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Mark de Leon, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chairman Martin Delgra III, LTFRB Board Member Antonio Gardiola Jr., and other local government officials.

Aside from the PTB, the Port of Cagayan de Oro’s new electronic gate complex and the Opol Port in Misamis Oriental were also inaugurated earlier.