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DENR to rehab degraded Calabarzon forests

By Czeriza Valencia (The Philippine Star) | Updated April 1, 2015 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is rehabilitating 17,000 hectares of degraded forests in the Calabarzon region this year under the National Greening Program (NGP).

DENR Calabazon director Reynulfo Juan said almost half of the programmed area for reforestation is located in Quezon province.

Since the implementation of the NGP in 2011, around 63,000 hectares in Calabarzon have already been reforested. The DENR Calabarzon targets to reforest 8,588 hectares in Quezon; 5,337 in Rizal; 3,019 in Laguna; 200 in Batangas; and 20 in Cavite.

Juan said specific sites have already been identified, as well as the tree species to be planted.

“These areas will be planted with more than nine million seedlings consisting of indigenous species of forest and fruit-bearing trees, and mangrove propagules,” he said. “We will also plant fuel wood such as kakawate, and economically viable plants such as coffee, cacao, bamboo and rattan.”

In Quezon province, more extension officers are being recruited to carry out the reforestation program.

“We have the support of 87 extension officers who are assigned in the Community Environment and Natural Resources Offices and they will assist NGP site coordinators in establishing new plantations, maintaining and protecting those already established,” said provincial environment and natural resources officer Alfredo Palencia.

The National Greening Program (NGP) is a massive forest rehabilitation program of the government established by virtue of Executive Order No. 26 issued in Feb. 2011 by President Aquin. It seeks to grow 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares nationwide within a period of six years, from 2011 to 2016.

Aside from being a reforestation initiative, the NGP is also seen as a climate change mitigation strategy as it seeks to enhance the country’s forest stock to absorb carbon dioxide, which is largely blamed for global warming.

It is also designed to provide alternative livelihood activities for marginalized upland and lowland households by engaging them to help in seedling production and care as well as in the maintenance of newly-planted trees.

As a convergence initiative among the Departments of Agriculture, Agrarian Reform and DENR, half of the targeted trees to be planted under the program would constitute forest tree species intended for timber production and protection as well. The other 50 percent would be composed of agroforestry species.

Areas eligible for rehabilitation under the program include all lands of the public domain including forestlands, mangrove and protected areas, ancestral domains, civil and military reservation, urban greening areas, as well as inactive and abandoned mine sites.
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Real estate loans still rising

By Julito G. Rada | Mar. 31, 2015 at 11:30pm [ manilastandardtoday.com ]

The real estate exposures of universal, commercial, thrift banks and trust departments stood at P1.221 trillion at the end of 2014, up 5.4 percent from P1.159 trillion at the end of third quarter, on higher real estate loans, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Tuesday.

Data from the bank regulator showed real estate loans increased 6.8 percent to P1.043 trillion quarter-on-quarter. RELs represented 85.4 percent of real estate exposures during the period.

“Sixty percent of the RELs were extended to land developers, construction firms and other corporate entities. The remaining 40 percent, on the other hand, went to individual households for occupancy,” the Bangko Sentral said.

Investments of banks in real estate securities, meanwhile, dropped 2.1 percent quarter-on-quarter to P178 billion at the end of 2014. Investments in real estate securities comprised 14.6 percent of the banks’ real estate exposures during the period.

“While REEs sustained an increase, the ratio of non-performing RELs of U/KBs and TBs followed a downtrend. At end-2014, the banks’ non-performing RELs represented 2.47 percent of total RELs from 2.80 percent at end-2013. This is the lowest posted for the quarterly indicator since December 2012,” the BSP said.

The Bangko Sentral regularly assesses the quality of banks’ real estate exposures as part of its mandate to foster the strength of individual banks as well as the systemic stability of the local banking industry.

Meanwhile, the gross non-performing loan ratio of U/KBs dropped to 1.82 percent as of end-December 2014 from 1.98 percent as of end-December 2014. This is the lowest NPL ratio posted by the U/KBs in the years after the 1997 financial crisis.

“The indicator reached a record low amid a month-on-month decline in NPLs and an increase in the banks’ total loan portfolio,” the BSP said.

The banks’ NPLs decreased to P93.06 billion at the end-2014 from P95.52 billion in November last year. Total loan portfolio of U/KBs rose to P5.118 trillion last December from P4.83 trillion a month earlier.

Aside from keeping the NPL ratio low, U/KBs continued to allocate substantial reserves for potential credit losses. The industry’s loan loss reserves at the end of December represented 142.43 percent of NPLs. The figure rose from the 140.91 percent recorded a month earlier.

“The industry’s gross NPLs also remained manageable across economic sectors, as seen in financial intermediation; real estate, renting and business activities; manufacturing; wholesale and retail trade; and electricity, gas and water supply. Said sectors received 72.4 percent of the U/KBs total loan portfolio at end-2014,” the Bangko Sentral said.
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DoubleDragon, SM joint venture opens first community mall

Posted on March 27, 2015 08:12:00 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
By Daphne J. Magturo, Reporter

DOUBLEDRAGON Properties Corp. on Friday opened its community mall in Roxas City, Capiz, the first of the 100 CityMall branches it plans to roll out nationwide over a five-year period.

CityMall-Arnaldo Roxas is located on a 1.4 hectare prime property along Arnaldo Boulevard, with more than 7,000 square meters (sq.m.) of retail space.

The mall is already 100% leased out, the company said in a statement on Friday.

“Despite being new in the mall development industry, DoubleDragon was able to properly put together a well-built community mall that is expected to change the landscape of several provincial areas in the Philippines,” the statement read.

The company has secured 20 prime properties in key provincial areas for its community malls, and several sites are under construction as DoubleDragon plans to complete the first 25 branches within the year.

All CityMalls will have a “standard look and feel” with an average of about 7,000 sq.m. of retail space each. They will be powered by solar panels and source water through a rainwater harvesting system.

The company reported a 360% surge in its net income last year to P560 million, while revenues from real estate sales also soared by 134.83% to P1.2 billion.

The developer aims to hit P1 billion in net profit by 2016 and P4.8 billion by 2020, with the bulk coming from recurring rental income of the one million leasable commercial space it is building.

CityMall is 66% owned by DoubleDragon and 34% by SM Investments Corp.

DoubleDragon is a joint venture between Injap Investments, Inc. of Mr. Sia, -- the founder of the Mang Inasal grilled chicken restaurant chain -- and Tony Tan Caktiong, chairman and founder of Jollibee Foods Corp.

DoubleDragon shares lost 24 centavos or 2.67% to close at P8.76 each on Friday.
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SM Light Residences now has a mall

Posted on March 27, 2015 08:13:00 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]

SM DEVELOPMENT Corp. (SMDC), the residential arm of SM Prime Holdings, Inc., on Friday said it opened the mall component of Light Residences in Mandaluyong City.
 
Light Mall has a leasable area of 12,672 square meters (sq.m.), and is the fourth mall in the company’s portfolio after Jazz Mall in Makati City and Sun Mall and MPlace Mall in Quezon City, the company said in a statement.

It is the first SMDC mall to offer a digital cinema to residents, with three 100-seater movie theaters, SMDC said.

“With Light Mall, we wanted to offer our residents the utmost convenience, a home where they can entertain family and friends at the cinema and dine at a number of restaurants just a few floors down; a home where they can avail of multiple services and readily access mass transport systems to take them to work, school or any other destination of their choice,” SMDC Executive Vice President Jose Mari Banzon was quoted in the statement as saying.

Light Residences is a three-tower residential condominium launched in March 2010 near the Boni-EDSA train station of the Manila Metro Rail Transit System (MRT-3). Unit sizes range from 20 sq.m. to 44 sq.m., while prices start from P2.2 million and could go as high as P5.6 million.

Amenities include a fitness gym, function rooms, restaurants and shopping establishments, swimming pools, children’s play area, landscaped gardens, and jogging paths, among others.

Aside from Light Residences, SMDC has a total of 24 projects in its portfolio located in the cities of Quezon, ParaƱaque, Pasay, Pasig, Manila, Taguig, Makati and Tagaytay.

Shares in SM Prime closed on Friday at P20.15 apiece, up by 25 centavos or 1.26%.-- Daphne J. Magturo       
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Sta. Lucia Land adds nearly 180 hectares to landbank

Posted on March 27, 2015 08:14:00 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
By Daphne J. Magturo, Reporter

LISTED developer Sta. Lucia Land, Inc. on Friday said it entered into 16 new joint venture agreements and acquired several properties outside Metro Manila, in line with plans to purchase up to 1,000 hectares (ha) of land this year.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, Sta. Lucia said the new partnerships allowed it to expand its landbank by 142.33 hectares (ha) in Davao, Rizal, Pasig, Batangas and Laguna.

The company also acquired a total of 34.53 hectares in the provinces of Batangas and Iloilo.

“This is a testament to the continuing commitment of the company in focusing its projects in emerging and growing cities nationwide,” Sta. Lucia said.

Some of the projects are “extensions of existing developments,” such as Ponte Verde in Davao, Greenwoods Executive in Pasig, Metropolis East in Rizal, Golden Meadows in Laguna and Metropolis in Iloilo.

“We have new acquisitions almost every quarter. This year, we want to acquire up to 500 ha to 1,000 ha of land,” Sta. Lucia Chief Financial Officer David M. Dela Cruz said in a phone interview yesterday.

Asked about the joint venture model, he explained: “For example, we’re offered a 100-hectare lot and we develop it into 1,000 saleable lots. The ownership could be 50-50 or 60-40. The partner’s contribution is the land, and ours is development. We split the development according to the agreement.”

Originally incorporated in 1996 as Zipporah Mining and Industrial Corp., Sta. Lucia changed its primary purpose to that of a real estate company in 1996. Its portfolio consists of horizontal and vertical properties across the country, as well as a shopping mall in Cainta -- the Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall.
                                                          
Shares in the company shed two centavos or 2.35% to end the week at 83 centavos apiece. -- with report from Krista Angela Montealegre     
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