If you’re frustrated because you still haven’t received your plastic national ID card, then you may be in for even more frustration.
That’s because according to the grapevine, even after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) terminated its contract with supplier All Card Inc. (AllCard)—citing supposed substantial delays in deliveries—AllCard is trying its best to keep the contract alive.
To recall, at the time the contract was terminated last August—four years after it was awarded—AllCard delivered 49.9 percent of its commitment to supply raw materials for the production of 116 million blank cards.
The card supplier justified the delays, pointing to, among others, production challenges caused by the pandemic.
Indeed, in hopes of reversing the contract termination, AllCard filed for arbitration, proceedings of which are ongoing.
Biz Buzz sources say BSP lawyers are exhausting all legals means to get a favorable ruling from the arbitration tribunal, so that the National ID project would not suffer any more delays.
For the regulator, that can only happen if the government will be allowed to move on and tap another supplier. —Tina Arceo-Dumlao
More Golden Visas for Hotel101 buyers issued
The Golden Visas just keep on coming.
In less than 60 days, the second batch of these prized visas was received by qualified unit owners of Hotel 101-Madrid.
The special residence permit is issued by the Spanish government to non-Europeans who make substantial investments in the country.
Securing three Hotel101 units will meet the investment requirement of at least 500,000 euros or around P30 million.
Key benefits of getting a golden visa in Spain include the grant of a one-year temporary residency visa that is renewable for two years at a time and the privilege to travel visa-free throughout the 26 Schengen Area countries.
Plus, after two years with the Golden Visa, the holder can then apply for citizenship.
Hotel101 says the issuance of the second batch of visas is expected to “further materially increase” the unit sales revenue of Hotel101 from buyers coming from all over the world, not just from the Philippines.
The first three Hotel101 overseas projects are expected to generate foreign exchange inflows of $471 million to DoubleDragon Properties Corp. led by tycoons Tony Tan Caktiong of Jollibee fame and Edgar “Injap” Sia II.
The 680-room Hotel101 Madrid is scheduled to be completed end-2025.
Other overseas projects are Hotel101 in Niseko, Japan, and Hotel101 in Los Angeles in the United States with more soon to be added to the list. —Tina Arceo-Dumlao
Wanted: Land for dairy farms
Do you own land that could be suitable for dairy farming? Are you interested to get into the dairy business? If you answered yes to both questions, then you may just be what the government needs to help increase local milk production.
To get started, send a letter of intent to the National Dairy Authority (NDA) and they will guide you through the process.
“We want to emphasize that it is so easy for everyone, for each Filipino, to become a dairy farmer,” NDA Administrator Marcus Antonius Andaya said over dinner with journalists.
“Many people think dairy farming is difficult. All you have to do is, if you have land, then send a letter of intent. We will evaluate that, we will assess your land if it is suitable for dairy farming, and if it is, you are okay,” Andaya said.
Andaya said once the NDA’s technical people confirm that the land is appropriate for dairy farming and evaluate the interested farm owner’s capacity, the applicant will be added to the list of recipients eligible to receive cattle to take care of.
“Alam niyo po, simula nang dumating na po dito sa NDA, nagmukha na akong ahente kasi lahat ng mga kausap kong kaibigan na may mga lupa, sinasabi ko sa kanila, pwede ka mag-dairy farming. Pag may kilala akong may lupa, pwede ka. Hindi nila alam (You know since I assumed the top post at the NDA, I have become like a land agent because I convince all my friends who own a land to engage in dairy farming. I tell them you can become a dairy farmer. They don’t know.),” he added.
The NDA has been coordinating with the commercial sector and local producers to absorb a certain portion of milk output.
For the longest time (or maybe more than a decade at this point), the Philippines has been virtually dependent on milk imports to fulfill the demand for this commodity.
Even though the country’s milk self-sufficiency level has increased to over 1 percent as of June year, the path of achieving full self-sufficiency remains a challenge given the limited budget.
We can only hope that the NDA will be able to attain its target of 5 percent milk self-sufficiency level by the end of the Marcos administration. —Jordeene B. Lagare