Biz Buzz: War over parking
Chat groups of posh Magallanes Village in Makati City where many corporate executives and entrepreneurs live have been on fire recently, triggered by the start of classes at the bigger Singapore School, which welcomed its students for the new academic year earlier this month.
Irate residents as well as owners of businesses at the Paseo de Magallanes Commercial Center have been ballistic over the severe traffic jam caused by the cars and school buses transporting students going in and out of the school that had expanded since the pandemic.
Residents said that they have a hard time going into their own village while tenants of Paseo de Magallanes are complaining about a potential decline in sales since the traffic and the lack of parking space will likely turn off customers.
According to the chat groups, limited parking slots are being taken up by the cars of students’ parents or guardians waiting for their wards to leave the school at the end of the school day, edging out those who may want to stop over Paseo for a meal or transact business at the bank branches.
Magallanes Village is not alone as parking has likewise been a thorny issue in Alabang Hills, where residents are also complaining about traffic caused by San Beda College Alabang.
But over at Magallanes Village, meetings have fortunately been initiated and options are being discussed to ease the traffic problem, for the message is clear: the traffic issue must be resolved, and quickly. — Tina Arceo-Dumlao
Still safe to eat pork
Because of ASF, the local hog population has gone down by almost half.
The government and industry stakeholders have implemented various measures to control the contagion. That said, is it still safe to eat pork?
Consumers can eat pork—specifically those that are locally produced—as ASF is not a threat to human health, regulators and producers assured the public.
Stakeholders have banded together to deliver such message of assurance.
“There is nothing to worry about because all our pork products being sold in public markets and supermarkets were inspected by the NMIS (National Meat Inspection Service),” National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. chair Chester Warren Tan said on Wednesday.
To alleviate the worries of Filipino consumers, Tan said the private sector is helping local governments and the Department of Agriculture to screen livestock and ensure that only healthy hogs are sold at the retail level.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary Constante Palabrica also assured in a recent radio interviews that ASF is not transmittable to humans and would only infect hogs.
“That’s why we said, let’s not be afraid now. It’s been affecting us for the past four years. It is just moving from one place to another due to the absence of the vaccine against ASF,” Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura executive director Jayson Cainglet said.
The group, however, called for vigilance over unscrupulous traders’ rampant selling of thawed imported frozen meat, especially since the country has yet to finish the construction of its first border control facility to inspect imported farm products. — Jordeene B. Lagare
SG beckons to Pinoy travelers
Singapore was one of the first countries to open its borders when the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were eased, attracting many tourists who had been very excited to fly after years of lockdown. Filipinos are among those who have flocked to the popular Asian destination—and the Singaporean government intends to keep on welcoming more guests from our country.
In fact, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has teamed up with Philippine Airlines (PAL) to boost travel between the countries.
PAL chief operating officer and president Stanley Ng said that Singapore’s “dynamic culture has inspired the travels of countless Filipinos across our years of operations.”
“The Philippines is one of Singapore’s key markets and has recovered strongly with the support of long-standing partners like PAL,” STB chief executive Melissa Ow said.
Last year, the Philippines was Singapore’s sixth largest source of foreign tourists with nearly 700,000 arrivals. About 390,000 Filipinos visited Singapore in the first half of this year.
New attractions are awaiting the tourists in Singapore, including Harry Potter: Visions of Magic, Minion Land in Universal Studios Singapore and Disney Adventure by Disney Cruise Line. — Tyrone Jasper C. Piad
