BEST OFFER FOR SPACE        

 AT KIA 

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) through, Mr. Martin Terry, manager of Kalibo International Airport (KIA) invited to a meeting last month the temporary occupants of some spaces at the KIA being used as display of goods for sale. The matter discussed was the amount of monthly rentals of the spaces by the temporary occupants.

According to Mr. Terry, those present occupants are invited to submit their “Best Offer” for the use of the spaces they occupy at KIA as rental fees. Those Best Offers which CAAP will select will continue their operations using the spaces now they respectively occupy.

Should there be Best Offer from the new applicants, the right to use the said space of the present occupants will be terminated and the space will be given to the new applicants with Best Offer.

In the course of the discussion, the present tenants at KIA requested that the CAAP will stop looking for the Best Offers. Instead, CAAP may just compute the just, fair and mutually agreable amount the present occupants to pay as rental at the KIA  monthly.

Those who are now renting spaces at KIA are almost all from Aklan. They are afraid that the Best Offer will come from  non- Aklanons and even from foreigners. If this will happen, then what will they get from the tourist industry?  They asked.

Maybe, non-Aklanons will get the lucrative business and the Aklanons will just get the pollution like noise, and haze, high inflation rate and bad traffic condition. 

Problem

 at Kalibo Bridge

The 330 million pesos spent for the construction of Kalibo Bridge is becoming idle if not useless. The bridge is completed few months ago, but it cannot be used as intended.

Phase I and Phase II of the project are completed. However, Phase III is not yet started. This covers the approaches to the bridge from the Western or Numancia and the Eastern or Kalibo.  

The two storey buildings owned by the Rebesencios’ and that of the Ilejays’ had price tag bigger than the DPWH offer of 3.6 million pesos each. 

The Rebesencio building must be totally demolished, while that of Ilejay will only be partially demolished for safe vehicle passage. On the Numancia side, 3 buildings are affected but at lesser cost. 

This Kalibo bridge construction is one good example where DPWH authority approved projects for construction, but without working or negotiating with real property owners who are affected by the construction as regards the price in case of property demolition and acquisition of land. It is difficult to imagine why it is only now when District Engr. Noel  L. Fuentebella requested  Gov.  Florencio T. Miraflores to help in the speedy resolution of the problems on both approaches of the bridge with real property owners.

          SENATE APPROVES CREDIT FUND

The Senate approved on final reading a bill that seeks to provide micro, small and medium entrepreneurs more access to micro-financing.

Senate Bill No. 2909 by Sen. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, aims to expand and strengthen the current Credit Surety Fund (CSF) program of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) by making it easier for micro, small, and medium enterprises, cooperatives and non-government organizations, local government units, and government financial institutions  to gain access to credit facilities. 

Aquino, chairman of the Committee on Trade Commerce and Entrepreneurship, said the “lack of access to financing remains the biggest roadblock for the growth of MSMEs in the Philippines since the existing requirements for credit do not consider the nature of micro and small businesses.”

Aquino said the measure gives small enterprises with loan requirements ranging from P500, 000 to P5 million access to loans provided by banking institutions.

“By building up the capability of MSMEs, cooperatives and NGOs in the areas of credit evaluation, loan and risk management, and good governance principles, the measure is expected to generate more employment, which in turn gives more teeth to the poverty alleviation program of the government through increased investments and economic activities in the countryside,” Aquino said.

Under the measure, the BSP will spearhead the promotion, creation, and organizational development of CSF Cooperatives,  provide technical assistance such as training and seminars, assist the Cooperative Development Authority in setting the criteria and qualifications for CSF cooperatives, provide other forms of assistance as maybe determined by the Monetary Board.

The CSF is created to pool the contributions of cooperatives and NGOs, LGUs and partner institutions, and  allows MSMEs to borrow from banks using the CSF as security for the loan instead of conventional collateral.

 “This measure gives us the opportunity to take the next step in our quest to embolden our countrymen with the right resources and opportunities./MP