General Santos City Chamber of Commerce and Industry turns 40!

In unity there is strength. Entrepreneurs and businessmen have long realized that by banding together in the true spirit of cooperation, mutual respect, and best-practice sharing, they become stronger, and their civic, commercial, social, and economic interests and rights protected. Such is the beauty of founding the General Santos City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (GSCCCII).

Born on October 25, 1974 as the local business community’s response to the challenge of countryside business development, GSCCCII has grown strong and evolved through the years. Like all growing organizations, it obtains its share of victories and challenges.

In the early 1980s, it was given real impetus and renewed vitality when the city’s tuna and fishing industries, complemented by the rise of the mainly agri-based sector, began its phenomenal growth. In 1988, GSCCCII expanded its membership and range of services.  As of to date, it has 160 individual and corporate members coming from all sectors of the business community.

These 160 individual and corporate members come from the following sectors: Industry and Manufacturing; Financial Services; Agriculture; Fishing and Aquaculture; Commerce and Trade; Transportation and Communication; Information Technology; Real Estate and Construction; Tourism; Livestock; General Services; and Sector-At-Large.

Young at 40, GSCCCII is still a growing organization. We advance as we prepare the business community to embrace the future, capacitate our members professionally, and ready everyone to welcome the full impact of the ASEAN economic integration. We will lead the business community to prepare, tackle, and mitigate the impact of climate change. We will continue to champion what is true, right, and just. Above all, GSCCCII remains steadfast in our quest for Excellence, unwavering Commitment, and effective Service.

We toast to our victories!

Excellence. Commitment. Service

The General Santos City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (GSCCCII) under the present leadership strongly pushes its projects and programs, all of which are strongly coordinated and collaborated with the local government of General Santos, national government agencies, civil society, and non-government organizations to achieve maximum positive impact for the city and its constituents. The efforts of the organization are directed towards creating opportunities for the City and its populace, and the business community.

GSCCCII’s competitive edge are anchored in the areas of Power Reliability and Sufficiency; ASEAN Connectivity; Solid Partnership with the local government unit, government agencies, non-government organizations, and civil society; Makar Port Development; Business Risk Assessment and the Management of Climate Change Impacts; and Conduit of Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro Peace Process.

POWER RELIABILITY AND SUFFICIENCY

In 2013, GSCCCII devoted time, energy, and resources to help South Cotabato II Electric Cooperative, Inc. look for sources of power to help resolve the power crisis afflicting the city and its neighboring areas. The efforts paid off when in April this year, SoEnergy International Philippines, Inc. started operating its 15MW modular gensets reducing the regular brownouts that plague the city. Moreover, in November, 2014, Peakpower SOCCSARGEN, Inc., a power company investing in General Santos City, will provide an additional 20MW power supply. GSCCCII supported Peakpower SOCCSARGEN’s Power Purchase Agreement to ensure power availability. The additional 35MW enables SOCOTECO II to meet its 120MW peak power requirement. The high impact of this advocacy is the resolution of the power crisis affecting the city and the proper forecast of the city’s power requirements for the next five years.

ASEAN CONNECTIVITY IN SUPPORT OF LOCAL BUSINESSMEN

Consistent with our solid advocacy to create a healthy business environment with the end-view of connecting local businessmen and entrepreneurs with their ASEAN counterparts and helping them find markets, GSCCCII in strong partnership with MinDA lobbied for the operationalization of the Davao-General Santos-Tahuna-Bitung (DGTB) Shipping Service. Towards this end, IPP RK Salangsang and RG RL Billena went on a mission twice to Jakarta, Indonesia on October 7, 2013 and August 19-20, 2014, respectively to finalize and harmonize all remaining works to ensure the full operations of the DGTB Shipping Route of P.T. Kanaka Lines. Moreover, President Daniel Pesik of North Minahasa Chamber of Commerce visited General Santos City on May 24, 2014 and met with local businessmen and government leaders of the city and Sarangani on the proposed shipping route and the goods that will be traded. MinDA also facilitated the Stakeholders Meeting re the DGTB Shipping Route of P.T. Kanaka on July 11, 2014 to further clarify issues, concerns, and shipping policies.

SOLID PARTNERSHIP WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF GENERAL SANTOS

Committed to its Mission of creating a livable, competitive, and socially-responsible General Santos City, GSCCCII involves itself in proactive governance by involving itself vigorously on the Proposed Revisions of Real Property Valuations and Assessment Fees. GSCCCII actively participates in all Committee Hearings and even formed a TWG to review the proposed increase in fair market value of real property. GSCCCII has submitted a Stakeholders’ Position Paper to the local Sangguniang Panlungsod to push for a reasonable adjustment. GSCCCII also strongly lobbied for the approval of the Revised Local Investment Code. To help local businessmen, GSCCCII convinced the local investment board to inform the Assessor’s Office that machineries were intended to be exempt from realty taxes upon the grant of incentives, and to include in the final draft of the new Local Investment Code such exemption. This was made possible through its Chairmanship of the Competitiveness Committee in the City Development Council of General Santos.  GSCCCII sponsored the first-ever General Santos City Economic Summit on October 3, 2013 that tackled major governance issues like Inadequate Traffic Management System and Mass Transport System, Shortage of Tourism, Entertainment, and Recreation Centers and other concerns. In February this year, GSCCCII initiated a Breakfast Meeting with City Mayor Ronnel C. Rivera together with all city department heads to follow through on the agreements made during the 2013 Economic Summit. The Chief Executive presented his Plans and Programs for the City and committed to set the 2^nd Economic Summit as a venue to check the progress of the Action Plan of the 2013 Economic Summit.

MAKAR PORT DEVELOPMENT

GSCCCII co-managed and co-presented together with the Port Management Office and SOCSKSARGEN Area Development Project Office the pre-Summit Focused Group Discussions and the subsequent 1st Makar Port Development Summit on July 2, 2014 in the city. The Summit tackled the priority Port Development Projects, Port Development, Port Labor Relations, and Port Operations and Tariff. The Summit produced a Position Paper “Strongly Recommending the Improvement and Modernization of the GSC Makar Port to Enhance Sea Connectivity and Strengthen Trade for Greater Economic Opportunities.”

BUSINESS RISK ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS

To help prepare and equip our businessmen on business risk assessment and the management of climate change impacts, GSCCCII teamed up and co-organized with the local government of General Santos, WWF-Philippines, and BPI Foundation, the General Santos City Scenario-Building Exercise for Climate Change Adaptation on 12-13 August 2014. The outputs of the exercises will be presented by WWF, BPI Foundation, and Brain Trust to the city government, the local chamber, and the participants in another forum in December 2014. The impact of this project is to generate awareness and preparedness among the business community of the effects of climate change and formulate measures to mitigate these effects.

As a spirited Green movement advocate, GSCCCII actively engaged in the 1^st Climate Change Summit on July 31, 2014 at the KCC Convention, General Santos City with Executive Director BS Canlas acting as Presentor. Moreover, ED BS Canlas joined the Climate Change Forum and Focus Group Discussions on June 25-26, 2014 at the Tierra Montana Hotel, General Santos City.

In the Green Business Forum on July 18, 2014 at Phela Grande Hotel, this city, with Senator Franklin Drilon as keynote speaker, GSCCCII with its Executive Director and some members actively joined in the forum discussions as moderator and participants, respectively.

CONDUIT OF FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT ON BANGSAMORO PEACE PROCESS

GSCCCII in strong collaboration with the Third Party Monitoring Team actively supported the top-priority policy of the Aquino Administration by facilitating consultations on the Bangsamoro Peace Process on June 6, 2014. This was done in order to raise awareness among local business people on the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed bill. By laying the ground work for peace and harmony, future investors will not hesitate to take part in the growth of the city. More importantly, public security will be upheld at all times.

In March this year, GSCCCII joined, supported, and manifested its position at the KANDULI for Peace, an activity endorsing the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), at the Covered Court, Oval Plaza, this city. The signing of the CAB was on March 27, 2014. It was covered nationally and programs were simultaneously organized in major cities in Mindanao.

  

CONCLUSION

The hallmark of our strong advocacies as an organization is captured in our quest for Excellence, steadfast Commitment, and effective Service.

The Chamber is only forty years old. It is a very young organization. It has new horizons to conquer given the new challenges that the 2015 ASEAN Integration will bring about. We will sustain our strong advocacy points; strengthen our areas of improvement; think outside the box; be open to paradigm shifts, but most importantly, we will press on as the champion of the business community. 

Good governance mocked!

One of the saddest realities that confronted me while serving the government for sixteen solid years is seeing with my two naked eyes, supposedly government “servants” turn abusive, arrogant, high-handed, and totally unprofessional individuals mocking good governance.

Look around you. Look around your work place. They are lurking there. Plain-looking people pretending to be important to cover up for deep-rooted insecurities and utterly lack of skills. Pathetic. Why are they in government in the first place? Your guess is as good as mine. What a disservice to the government.

You can be sure their favorite past time is sowing and peddling intrigues poisoning the environment of the work place. I totally pity the office they are in. What a rotten office atmosphere they would create and inhabit. Woe to the rest of mankind.

Not only that, they congregate in small groups to form a power base. Ah, people and their insatiable love for power. These small-minded mediocre supposedly government servants think that by creating a power base through a group of like-minded scoundrels, they have become a powerful clique and a force to reckon with. Such insipid thoughts.

With their lack of brilliance (will they ever have one?), they will never know that power comes from within. But what do they really know apart from name-dropping, passing second-hand information, and exploiting government resources? Small wonder the younger employees – those who are supposed to be guided and mentored – get totally disillusioned about good turned “bad” governance. Poor kids.

What a sad reality in government. Public servants turned rotten eggs. Good governance mangled, mocked, and ridiculed by the very people working in it. And how do they do this? Simple. By conveniently leaving the office during office hours, in groups served by a government vehicle to do their personal errands including a visit to the parlor! Not only that. They have themselves driven to their homes in the guise of official trips. And mind you, a one-way trip to their hometown consists of a two-hour land trip from Gen. Santos City. Calculate the fuel consumed for these so-called official trips to serve the whim and caprice of abusive government personnel (to transport them to their hometown), multiplied by the number of days a government vehicle is used for a year, and you will see how much they have corrupted government funds.

On top of that, these erring government servants also use government vehicles after office hours and during weekends for their “other” activities. And they stay in government facilities as well, in the guise of being itinerant workers for years! Give me a break. Seven years of government aid because you can’t find your own boarding house? Pathetic. Always at the mercy of government? They are probably our modern day nomads.

Oh well, that is good governance mocked. Rotten government workers paying lip service to good governance. What a shame. You should be ashamed of yourselves! In fact, you should resign from government. The government sector does not deserve you.

You are a mockery to good governance.

Note: This article was originally written as a newspaper column in February, 2007.

Abusive tricycle drivers

Hello All,

I would like to present a community concern.

It's about city tricycle drivers and the exorbitant rates they charge. They are most abusive on students.

Case 1: A student takes a ride together with another student or some other students enroute Gensanville Subdivision. Each one pays P15.00 each (negotiated or pakyaw). When one student is dropped at Phase I, drivers are just silent. But when drivers start maneuvering towards Phase 2, they start complaining that Phase 2 is far away and RENEGOTIATE for additional pay. That really stinks! The poor student - if he/she can stomach the incessant grumbling won't add another centavo but if he/she is pestered by the grumbling driver, he/she has no choice but to add. WHO WILL PROTECT our young students from ABUSIVE tricycle drivers? That's not all. Even when the students NEGOTIATE (pakyaw), the abusive drivers still pick up passengers along the way.

Case 2: Most tricycle drivers do not grant students their discounted fare. They even overcharge. What's wrong with this picture? Who will protect our young students from abusive drivers? Who will monitor the rightful imposition of the student discounted fare?

Case 3: Take the bus. When you disembark at the regular drop sites, the tricycle drivers approach you and charge P40.00. Hello. What's happening here? Who is protecting passengers from abusive tricycle drivers?

I am presenting this to you. How can we help our young students? The commuters?

The system really sucks.

Thank you.

A teenager's thoughts on P-Noy's SONA

By Hezekiah Kit Sales Canlas

These past few days, a lot of people were busy criticizing our President’s State of the Nation Address which was delivered on July 25th. From what I have heard from the people around me, the President’s SONA concentrated only on the wrongdoings and the pitfalls of the past government led by the infamous ex-President (now Pampanga Congresswoman) Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. They said that if the current leadership would only focus on looking for the past sins of the former government and not on the current situation of the nation, our country would not improve. But because I haven’t heard nor read the address, I remained silent and just listened to their comments.

Because I did not catch the SONA on television, I surfed the internet and looked for the exact copy of the piece. From what I have read, the address somehow focused on the anomalies of the past government and how the current leadership is creating solutions to solve these. Most people also said that the SONA of President Aquino was somehow weak and does not have a vision for the Philippines.

At first I was disagreeing on what most people were saying. In my mind, I support the idea of solving these issues first. If we were to rise up as a nation, we should correct the past errors so that we can learn from it, and evade it in the future, and then concentrate on the current status of the country.

But after reading a blog on the internet about the SONA, my views somehow changed. “Yes, solve these issues. What next?” like what my mother always says. Instead of focusing on the faults of the previous government, the President and his team should focus on the things this country needs in order to progress. The President has honest subordinates. That’s why recently, more lapses of the past administration rose from the graveyard.

I think that the government should simultaneously work on the development of our country and on solving the issues of the previous administration. If our government now is strong just like what P-Noy said, and the people are actively working hand in hand with the government, then we can handle both of these challenges with ease.

It’s still a year after his inauguration; let’s give him a chance to prove his worth to lead us.

We should also prove ourselves as responsible and empowered citizens of our country by not waiting for the government’s assistance to help us clear and clean our garbage-stuffed canals and rivers. Instead, we should find the solutions to these common community problems and solve them ourselves.

My response to the news article "How’s cyberlife for Palace speechwriter? It sucks; Palace to issue guidelines"

That's the dilemma faced by a speech writer, more so, if you are appointed Assistant Secretary.

You are now a government official and so your responsibility has expanded. You are no longer a ghost speech writer. You are a "seen"speech writer. As such, ethical standards must govern your behavior anywhere, even on Twitter.

I agree that her remarks were the expressions of a young lady, no argument there, but remember once it's out; it's read all over the world. It's the global paradox. The world has shrunk and we have increased because of technology. The medium was powerful.

The communications group has so much work to do. Communications is the "in" thing these days. You can't afford to be the first group to always commit the flak; you are supposed to be the front liners.

Shape up.