SM Bacolod Hotel Soon To Rise

Despite the global economic downturn, SM Investment Corp. is said to be constructing the SM Bacolod Hotel near SM City Bacolod. The rumor has been going on in online forums and a source from SM City Bacolod disclosed that the construction may commence this year.

Truth be told, SM Bacolod Hotel may soon become not just a rumor but a reality since had a press released on their plans to build a “businessman’s hotel” either in Iloilo or Bacolod. Sm Hotel Bacolod may be built first since there’s already a design for the hotel done by Lor Calma Design, Inc.

The hotel is proposed to be located at the bay area so it will really have an excellent view of the sunset.

Photo by mooncake

SM Hotels will be named SM Casa and this is a 5 year plan to build 14 low-rise hotels, location of which will be selected from  SM City’s 31 shopping malls nationwide.

Main features of SM Casa are:

• 50 rooms minimum
• Average Rate Php2,000
• Room size – 24sqm
• Smart construction budget
• Tech smart
• International hotel operator
• Outsourced F&B to fastfood marketleader
• Wedding Hall

Interiors will probably look like this picture taken from  SM Hotel Investment Group.

SM Investment Corp. must be banking on the growing demand for hotel accommodations due to the increase in tourist arrivals and movement of people in Bacolod City.

SM Bacolod Hotel  will be a big boost to Bacolod City’s economy since a 50-room hotel could cost the company between P300 million to P500 million. This would also mean more jobs for the Negrenses since this project will be hiring locals for the construction and for hotel staff.

Flyover Soon to Rise in Bacolod City

Two flyovers will soon rise in Bacolod City in order to help ease the heavy traffic experienced during peak hours. The two flyovers proposed are to be located at the Lacson – B.S. Aquino junction and Lacson – Burgos junction.

Lacson Street is a main thoroughfare in Bacolod City where north bound vehicles pass by everyday. The B.S. Aquino drive is where two major hospitals are located and buses coming from the North Ceres Terminal pass by.

The road network in Bacolod City is one of the best in the country and current traffic is not really that worse compared to other urban centers. However, at the rate of economic development and real estate boom that Bacolod City is experiencing, it is anticipated that heavy traffic will soon become a problem.

The Lacson – B.S. Aquino flyover will be constructed first since boring tests are currently conducted at Lacson St. The flyover is part of the Mega Bridges for Urban and Rural Development Project of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and funded by the national government. The project was approved by the President on October 29, 2006 at a cost of P250 million for each flyover. The success of the Lacson-B.S. Aquino flyover will be the basis of whether to construct another flyover.

Do you know where Fr. Ferrero Street is?

The City Council recently approved the ordinance naming the street marked Road Lot 4 and Road Lot 9 in the Reclamation Area as Father Mauricio Ferrero, OAR Street. The street was inaugurated last January 19, in the eve of the Feast of San Sebastian

The street is bounded on the north by the property of the Bacolod Commercial and Industrial Park, on the south and west by the property of SM City-Bacolod, and on the east by the Bacolod Bays Center, Manokan Country, the Vendors Plaza and Barangay 10.

A Fitting Tribute

Fr. Ferrero was the one responsible for the construction of the San Sebastian Cathedral which was completed in 1888. Among his many achievements are the first stone fort in Bacolod known then as Puerto San Juan and now known as Provincial Jail, which was finally completed in 1890, and the biggest convent in the island of Negros, now known as the Bishop’s Palace.

The road network of Bacolod City has been the envy of many urban centers and most of it can be attributed to the foresight of Fr. Ferrero. Fr. Ferrero laid out the streets of Bacolod, designating the locations of the church, convent, school, etc.  Fr. Ferrerro was the one who opened the road that went out of Bacolod in the south in what is today Araneta Street and towards Mandalagan in what is today’s Lacson Street.

A street named after him is a fitting honor for somebody who was considered as Bacolod City’s first and foremost urban planner. Fr. Ferrerro became the  Parish Priest of Bacolod in 1871 at a young age of 27. He spent 38 years of his life as Parish Priest of Bacolod and has made great achievements and contributions to the development of Bacolod and Negros Occidental.

Bacolaodiat 2009 Opening

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

The Bacolaodiat 2009, Bacolod City’s own celebration of the Chinese New Year has officially opened with grandiose activities that showcase the best in Filipino and Chinese cultures.

The Lopues San Sebastian booth was the center of attention since it was all covered with Chinese lanterns.

A cultural show was held at the Triangle Island Plaza grounds to entertain the Bacoleños and introduce them to the rich and colorful Chinese culture which has greatly influenced Filipinos.

The Capitol Shopping Center, Bacolod City’s China Town was all lighted up as it is the center of  Bacolaodiat 2009 celebrations. A Lantern Park was set up at Shopping with lanterns of the 12 Chinese Zodiac signs were placed along the street.

A gastronomic treat await those who joined in the celebrations as major Filipino and Chinese restaurants in Bacolod City set-up booths at the Chopsticks Alley located along Narra and Tindalo Avenues.

As we all know, Filipino cooking was greatly influenced by Chinese cuisine. Already part of our daily menu are Chinese dishes which Filipinos have modified to suit our taste buds.

This is just the first day of celebrations and more activities were included in the 2009 Bacolaodiat schedule.

Bacolod City in Rated K

Different places in the provinces were featured in Rated K last Sunday for being The Best or  Number One in different areas. Bacolod City was featured because the city was named the Best Place to Live in the Philippines by MoneySense Magazine last year.

According to Heinz Bulos, Editor-in-Chief of Moneysense, Bacolod has the best of both worlds. It has modern facilities but at the same time the  lifestyle is typical of the province.

Other places featured were Cebu and Palawan. Cebu is the best in business since it is the business hub in the Visayas and a gateway to other provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao. Palawan on the other hand, is the best tourist destination because of Tubbataha Reef and the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River which are nominated in the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

For those who missed the Rated K episode, here’s the video courtesy of bacolodlive.

MV Doulos to Revisit Bacolod City

All book lovers in Bacolod City will surely rejoice on the return of MV Doulos on Feb. 12 to March 3, 2009.

I was one of the thousands of people who went on board MV Doulos several times when it first visited Bacolod City in December 2006. We got drenched by the rain several times but it was an experience I don’t mind going through again.

Constructed in 1914, only 2 years younger than the Titanic, MV Doulos is recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s oldest active ocean-going passenger ship. It is also the World’s Largest Floating Book Fair with 6,000 book titles on board which are donated by individuals and organizations.

Doulos is owned by GBA Ships, a non-profit organization in Germany, which aimed to bring “Knowledge, Help and Hope” to the people of the world.  It is manned by 350 volunteers from 50 different nations.

I have always loved reading books and have eagerly waited for the return of MV Doulos. In this digital age, nothing can come close to the experience of reading a book and flipping through its pages with your fingers.

The love of books, digital or otherwise, should be nurtured by everybody. Reading is fun, you can be someone else in a different place and time without leaving your home.

Emily Dickinson has better words,

THERE is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry–
This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of Toll–
How frugal is the Chariot
That bears the Human soul.

And So There Was Light

Several areas in Bacolod City including the downtown area experienced black-out last Friday night. Except for business establishments with generators, the rest of downtown area had no electricity. The “power struggle” between the city government and the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) had shown its ugly face and the consuming public are caught right in the middle of it.

Who’s to Blame?

CENECO disconnected the power connection of the Bacolod City Hall, new government center, Libertad Market and other government offices last Thursday morning citing the city’s failure to pay its accounts with CENECO.

As a result, the Bacolod City government padlocked the administrative building of CENECO after revoking its Mayor’s Permit for its failure also to pay its franchise taxes and real estate property taxes to the city.

CENECO claimed the black-out last Friday evening was because their vehicles were prevented by the City Legal Enforcement Unit from leaving their premises so they could not send their personnel.

This allegation was denied by City Legal Officer Allan Zamora in the newspaper. He  said they only closed the business operations of CENECO and not their maintenance department. He said the vehicles of CENECO were not prevented to go out and were even parked outside the CENECO premises.

No matter how the two sides keep throwing the blame at each other, it’s still the public that’s in the losing end. This has to stop since it has already affected public service and the business sector and sending a bad impression to the investors.

All’s Well That Ends Well

It’s a good thing somebody mediated between the City Government and CENECO before things really got out of hand. Councilor Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, chairperson of the Committee on Communications and Energy, was reported to have asked Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra to mediate between the city and CENECO.

The city government and the CENECO reportedly arrived at a compromise agreement during a closed-door meeting at the Bishop’s House last Friday night. Power was restored in the City Hall and other areas in Bacolod City late Friday night.

We hope this will be the last time this incident will happen since a repeat of this may have a long term negative effect for Bacolod. Most investors prefer investing in the city because of the “business-friendly climate” and we, the public hope it will stay that way.

All Set for 2009 Bacolaodiat

You don’t have to be a Chinese to enjoy the festivities of the Chinese New Year. Experience once again the merging of two cultures as the City of Bacolod and the Filipino-Chinese Communities bring you the 2009 Bacolaodiat Festival, the 4th time for the city to hold the festival.

Bacolaodiat was coined from Bacolod and Lao Diat, the Fookien word for celebration. The Bacolaodiat Festival was meant to showcase the best of the Filipino and Chinese cultures.

Different activities were already lined up for the  2009 Bacolaodiat Festival. The Year of the Ox will be welcomed on January 23-26 with lantern parade, fireworks, street dancing, food festival, and more.

Here is the 2009 BacoLaodiat Festival Schedule of Activities:

January 23 – Opening of Lantern Park at the The Capitol Shopping Center, known as the China Town of Bacolod City

Opening of the Chopsticks Alley will be along Narra and Tindalo Avenue which will cater to Chinese food.

January 24 - Street-dancing competition with 10 participating groups will kick off at 6:30 p.m. from SM Bacolod to the festival site.

January 25 – An animated and colorful parade  of floats, lanterns, lions and dragons alongside Chinese drum beaters and acrobats which will start from the plaza to the festival site.

A nightly display of fireworks which they call a “symphony of lights and sparks” wil also be featured.

San Carlos Bioethanol To Operate This January

The country’s first locally-produced fuel grade ethanol from the P2.5-billion ethanol refinery plant of San Carlos BioEnergy Inc. (SCBI) is expected to push through by mid-January in time for the January 2009 mandate of a 5% ethanol-blend in gasoline as provided by the Biofuels Law.

The integrated bioethanol distillery and power co-generation plant located in the San Carlos Agro-Industrial Economic Zone is the first in the Philippines and the Southeast Asian region. The plant has the capacity to produce 125,000 liters per day or 30M liters of ethanol annually and approximately 8MW of power.

The estimated 400,000 tons of cane required annually will come from the 9,000-hectare San Carlos sugar district. San Carlos City is the ideal location for the bioethanol plant since there is no sugar mill that currently operates there.

The San Carlos BioEnergy Inc. will not be the only company to put a bioethanol plant in Negros Occidental. Roxol Bioenergy Corporation will also put up a bioethanol plant in La Carlota City with a capacity of 100,000 liters per day. The Roxol bioethanol plant is expected to operate in 2010.

With these developments, there is no doubt that Negros Occidental is the Bioethanol capital of the Philippines.