GOVERNMENT-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) said Wednesday that it has moved the bidding for the 289-megawatt (MW) Tiwi Geothermal Power Plant in Tiwi, Albay, and the 458.53-MW MakBan Geothermal Power Plant situated in Laguna and Batangas provinces to June 27 this year.

In a statement, PSALM said it decided to extend the bid submission deadline for the Tiwi-MakBan geothermal complex to heed the request of the nine prospective bidders for more time to complete their deliverables, including conducting their due diligence.

PSALM originally slated the bidding for the Tiwi-MakBan on June 4. In its Supplemental Bid Bulletin No. 3 dated May 6, PSALM said the submission of documentary deliverables was also extended by another week to give foreign bidders more time to secure their authenticated documents from the Philippine consular offices abroad.

PSALM said the bidders are expected to submit their respective documentary deliverables this week.

PSALM added that the issuance of the supplemental bid bulletin to the prospective bidders formalizes the changes, modifications and amendments made in the bidding schedule.

PSALM is confident of gaining the full support and participation of the qualified bidders in the upcoming bidding exercise after it allocated more than 400 MW of power-supply contracts to the sale of the Tiwi-MakBan power facilities, which will provide the new owner a ready market for the electricity that the power complex will generate.

With the expected sale of the Tiwi-MakBan geothermal complex, PSALM hopes to reach a significant output that will bring it closer to the 70-percent privatization target for the generating assets of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) in Luzon and the Visayas to fulfil one of the preconditions for implementing open access and retail competition in the Philippine electricity industry.  

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said several governors all over the country threw their support behind the government’s “rice self-sufficiency” program by committing to detail their agricultural extension workers to the DA’s regional offices and allocating a portion of their unremitted Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) totaling P12.5 billion.

A GROUP of German investors in the Philippines said the political infrastructure in the government plays a major hindrance in attracting more investments into the country, citing the absence of a resolution to the long-delayed opening of the $450-million Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).

THE country is losing thousands of potential German tourists to Indonesia and Thailand every week because big tour operators in Germany are currently avoiding the Philippines due to the absence of international airports in key tourist destinations here.

The Philippines has lifted the temporary ban it imposed on the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products including poultry meat, day-old chicks and eggs originating from Germany.

GOVERNMENT-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) said Wednesday that it has moved the bidding for the 289-megawatt (MW) Tiwi Geothermal Power Plant in Tiwi, Albay, and the 458.53-MW MakBan Geothermal Power Plant situated in Laguna and Batangas provinces to June 27 this year.

PATRIOTISM,” simply, is the love for one’s own country. It is a term generally used to describe: (1) the attitude that the members of a nation have when they care about their national identity, and (2) the actions that the members of a nation take when seeking to achieve (or sustain) independence/self-determination.