SCUTTLEBUTT

No fanfare, no fuss,

no hoopla, the FL way…

She may be married to the country’s most powerful politician, but First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, unlike most top politicians’ wives, disdains fanfare and hoopla when going about her duties doing what she has to do in her husband’s stead.

For instance, last Saturday, she flew to Bago City in Negros Occidental province where her family — the Marciano Aranetas — has its roots.

Her purpose? To accompany the small group which included Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian and Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. that delivered relief assistance to the people displaced by the recent eruption of Mt. Kanlaon Volcano.

Wearing a simple white shirt and jeans, she handed over relief goods to the people in line assisted by Secretary Gatchalian, Secretary Abalos and Bago City Mayor Nicholas M. Yulo. No speeches were made. After handing over the last package, she made her way down the stage, waved at the people, and promptly boarded the chopper that would ferry her and her group back to the Bacolod-Silay International Airport where her plane was waiting to fly her back to Manila. She was in and out of there in 30 minutes flat.

Is the bus scourge over soon?

The easing of road congestion may soon come for Metro Manila if a plan to put sanity on the road by relocating the pernicious bus terminals is realized.

Buses plying Metro Manila roads may soon be relocated to more centralized hubs to ensure their routes’ efficiency while helping ease the traffic congestion in areas where they used to have their terminals.

Scuttlebutt learned the Department of Transportation (DOTr) confirmed to Daily Tribune over the weekend that it will push through with its long-delayed plan to establish integrated terminal exchanges (ITX).

“The DoTr is still pushing forward with plans to establish ITXs by working on the construction of the Taguig City Integrated Terminal Exchange (TCITX) and the North Integrated Terminal Exchange (NITX),” Transportation Undersecretary for Roads Andy Ortega said in a mobile message on Sunday.

The department pushed for a central terminal hub in Metro Manila as per Execute Order No. 67 issued in 2012 to improve mass transportation and promote economic growth.

This included the creation of two international standard transport terminals, one of which is the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX).

Notably, in 2019, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board issued regulations aimed at moving the provincial bus terminals from EDSA to the ITX terminals to reduce congestion.

However, a legal dispute with provincial bus operators led to a court order blocking the regulations, preventing the DoTr from relocating the terminals in the meantime.

All options on the table

Challenges mount in ensuring energy security due to its erratic power supply and unsubsidized rates. 

To address this, Aboitiz Power Corp.’s chief corporate services officer, Carlos Aboitiz, proposed an “all-options-on-the-table” approach for the energy transition during a recent energy forum.

Aboitiz emphasized the significance of optimizing existing capabilities, integrating emerging technologies, and combining dispatchable and variable renewable energy sources with battery energy storage systems.

This approach would aim to ensure grid stability, meet electricity demand, and gradually reduce carbon emissions.

Highlighting the advantages of natural gas as an energy source, Aboitiz emphasized its flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and dispatchability. 

He noted AboitizPower’s recent acquisition of a stake in Chromite Gas Holdings, which intends to purchase a majority interest in two gas power plants and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal.

In line with the government’s renewable energy targets of 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040, AboitizPower aims to build 3,700 MW of new renewable energy capacity, progressing toward 4,600 MW by 2030.

These projects encompass solar, wind, geothermal, hydro and battery energy storage systems.