DOTr Announces Common Station Ready to Go

Wazzup Pilipinas!

DOTr signs contract for the design and build of the Unified Grand Central Station (Area A)

There’s no stopping the construction of the Common Station, as the Department of Transportation (DOTr) formally signed the contract for the design and build of ‘Area A’ of the Unified Grand Central Station (UGCS), also known as the Common Station on 13 February 2019.

The Common Station, located at the north end of EDSA, marks the intersection of four railway lines – the LRT-1, MRT-3, MRT-7, and the Metro Manila Subway. It aims to provide a seamless transfer of passengers from one rail line to another.

The Common Station will feature a transit area for the riding public, operated by an automated fare collection system, which will give commuters better point-to-point mobility and comfort. It is expected to serve approximately 500,000 passengers daily upon completion.

DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade led the signing ceremony at the site of the construction, together with Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Reinier Paul Yebra and Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John Batan who signed the contract on behalf of the DOTr. Meanwhile, Lucila Gomez signed as authorized representative of the BF Corporation and Foresight Development and Surveying Company Consortium.

“What is the value of the Common Station? Three things: interoperability, intermodality, and interconnectivity. Those three are key elements in making the Filipino life comfortable,” Secretary Tugade said.

With the location of the Common Station stalled since 2009, DOTr Secretary Tugade, in the first 100 days of the Duterte administration, met with all parties involved and got them to agree on a location.

“Alam niyo ‘ho, ‘yung Common Station, matagal na ‘hong inumpisahan ‘yan. Nung nag-umpisa po kami, nagkapit-bisig tayo kasama ang mga tinatawag na economic tai-pans at sinabi nila, ‘makikiisa kami sa inyo. Magsama-sama tayong bigyang buhay at bigyan ng katunayan ang tinatawag na Common Station na inaasam ng madlang bayan’,” the transportation chief added.

The Common Station is a 13,700-square meter concourse comprised of three areas: Area A under the DOTr, Area B under Ayala Land Inc., and Area C under the MRT-7 Project facilitated by San Miguel Corporation (SMC). Since the groundbreaking in 2017, Ayala Land Inc. has started the construction of Area B.

Area A is set to be completed by 2020, while the entire Common Station is expected to be operational by 2022.

“November 28, 2006 – ‘yan po ang petsa kung kailan naaprubahan ang konsepto ng Common Station. Fast-forward to 2019, and we are now closer to what we have thought of more than a decade ago,” DOTr Undersecretary Batan said.

The construction of the Common Station is one of many projects under the Build, Build, Build Program of the Duterte administration, with the groundbreaking ceremony for the PNR Clark Phase 1 (Tutuban-Malolos) scheduled on 15 February 2019, and the groundbreaking of the Metro Manila Subway on 26 February 2019.

“Groundbreaking is one thing. Completion of a project is another thing. If you do not complete the project with the quality expected and within the timeline formulated, I will hold you accountable in the books,” Secretary Tugade emphasized.

DOE Thanks GIZ for RE Gains of SupportCCC II Project

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The Department of Energy (DOE) expressed its appreciation yesterday (13 February) for all the technical and financial assistance extended by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) to the Philippines at the culmination event of the Support to the Philippines in Shaping and Implementing the International Climate Regime (SupportCCC II) Project held at the Novotel Manila Araneta Center.

Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi stated, “For three consecutive years, the Philippines ranked first among 125 countries in terms of energy environmental sustainability. This couldn’t have been achieved without the strong collaboration among the different Philippine government agencies, as well as the technical and funding support from our international partners, like GIZ.”

The event featured presentations on the project’s major accomplishments with key implementation partners, the way forward to further enhance the country’s climate policy, lessons and capacity building measures in the implementation of the Paris Agreement, and the partnerships built among key stakeholders to ensure synergy in succeeding climate actions.

Sec. Cusi added that GIZ played an instrumental role in enriching renewable energy (RE) deployment and utilization in the Philippines.

Since the project’s inception in 2015, SupportCCC II has continually provided extensive technical assistance to the DOE and other relevant government agencies, such as the Climate Change Commission (CCC) and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, to further develop the national climate change policy.

Focusing on RE innovations, it has helped the Philippines learn the management of increasing amounts of variable RE (vRE) and adapt power planning with the mega trends happening globally, and facilitated capacity building for energy stakeholders, such as the grid operator and the distribution utilities, on the grid integration of vRE.

A high-level delegation visit to Germany was also arranged through the project, where decision makers learned about the grid and market integration of vRE. They also witnessed first-hand, the positive outcome of utilities’ learning to manage increasing amounts of RE over time, as evidenced by the 40 gigawatts (GW) of solar and 40 GW of wind power currently installed in the German system having only 11 minutes of annual down time.

In addition, relevant studies were also conducted which included an assessment of the power planning process, a policy review of the Feed-in-Tariff and net-metering for RE, a cost-benefit analysis of the power sector using the RE country diagnostic tool, and an analysis of the Negros solar situation.

The closing activity was attended by DOE Spokesperson Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella, Director Mario C. Marasigan, Officer-in-Charge of the DOE-Electric Power Industry Management Bureau, key officials from the Climate Change Commission and other government agencies, civil society groups and members of the academe.

ENCHANTED: Unlocking the Realms of Senses in Marketing

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We explored a new world by unlocking the realms of fresh knowledge and learning about sensory marketing when 4Dimensional Productions (BSBA-MM 4-4D) gave us the most awaited FREE ADMISSION academic marketing seminar entitled,

“ENCHANTED: Unlocking the Realms of Senses in Marketing” happened this February 15,2019 at PUP NALLRC Bulwagang Balagtas from 1:00-5:00 PM.

We got our eyes, ears and feelings allured by the fruitful talks from four (4) different experts in different marketing strategies that uses sensory marketing along with guest performers, prizes and many more!

Thank you, Marketistas!


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#4DimensionalProductions