SM proposes to operate Olongapo Mall

The City of Olongapo Sangguniang Panlungsod, on motion of Councilor Edwin Piano, passed the other day Resolution 2009 R-162 -- A Resolution Approving the Long-Term Lease of Olongapo City Mall as Proposed By SM Prime Holdings, Inc. and the Competitive Challenge Procedure as a Mode of Awarding the Lease Contract Relative Thereto, Subject to Existing Auditing Rules and Applicable Legal Requirements.

SM, known for their numerous big malls around the Philippines with total investment in the country of more than P20 billion, including one of the world's largest -- the Mall of Asia with 42 hectares gross land area -- proposed a long term lease of the Olongapo City mall early this month.

The city's acceptance of the SM proposal does not yet bind Olongapo to enter into a lease contract but only serves as the "go signal" for further negotiations.

Looks like an Ayala-SM competition in our area is in the offing!

The details are not yet officially out but should soon be. Watch for it!!!

A local discussion board hosted by the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce invites readers to have your say on the planned projects. Follow this link to join the discussion.. http://subicchamber.org/DiscussionBoard/index.php?topic=222.0

Ayala inks 50-year Subic lease

AYALA LAND, Inc. has signed a deal with the government to develop a 7.5-hectare lot within the Subic Bay Freeport Zone into a mixed-use development.

In a disclosure yesterday, Ayala Land said the 50-year lease agreement with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority will involve development of a property on Rizal Highway or between the two main gates linking the Freeport Zone to Olongapo City. Ayala Land will invest P3 billion for the development of hotels, retail spaces, and business process outsourcing offices. Some 10,000 jobs will be created.

In August, the developer inked an agreement with the National Housing Authority to develop the 29.1-hectare North Triangle Property in Quezon City into a business district. It will cost P22 billion. bworldonline.com

Ayala land to spend P3-B for Subic project

Real estate giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is investing P3 billion to develop a 7.5-hectare property at the heart of Subic's central business district.

In a disclosure to the local bourse on Monday, ALI said it has signed a 50-year lease agreement with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) for the development of the property into an integrated mixed-use community.

Located along Rizal Highway within the Subic Bay Freeport, the mixed-use project will include a shopping mall, a business process outsourcing (BPO) building, and a hotel.

ALI said the project is expected to generate some 10,000 jobs from construction phase to operations.

"The company's development will be a catalyst for growth in the Subic-Olongapo corridor and will be a major mixed-use project in the Subic Freeport Zone that is well-planned, integrated, and environmentally sustainable," ALI said.

The mixed-use project in Subic is ALI's second major investment in the area. The company is currently developing the 320-hectare Anvaya Cove in Morong, Bataan. abs-cbnNEWS.com

Malls, other public places to serve as polling centers

Manila Bulletin

Shopping malls and other similar public places would serve as polling centers in the future where voters can cast their votes as easy as withdrawing cash form an Automated Teller Machine (ATM).

In a forum over the weekend, Sen. Richard J. Gordon said voters will no longer have to troop to the provinces to vote.

“In the future, one only has to go to the mall, find an automated polling machine, and cast his or her vote. The idea is they can vote only once. If they do that in other machines, they will immediately be barred to vote again,” said Gordon, author of the automated elections law.

Gordon expressed confidence that the experience in the autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) can be replicated in the next elections in 2010.

The automated elections in ARMM were successful despite the unstable security situation, inadequate communication and transportation infrastructure, as well as the prevalence of illiteracy and widespread poverty in the region.

Gordon noted that despite the lack of time for massive voter education, the voters in Maguindanao generally described their voting experience as “easy and amazing.”

Vince Dizon, spokesman for Smartmatic-Sahi, the company which provided the technology used in the ARMM polls, said the success of the pilot test in Maguindanao proved that the country is ready for full automation come 2010 and beyond.

In the ARMM automated elections, more than 2,000 teachers in Maguindanao had a first-hand experience in using the Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) machines in the voting and counting process.

“It was Sen. Gordon’s efforts in the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on election automation that pushed the Comelec to ensure automation of the ARMM elections. We owe it to him that we were able to successfully pilot test the technologies in preparation for the 2010 national elections,” Dizon, who was at the same forum, said.