Ongpin, business tycoon, passes away in Balesin
Roberto Ongpin, a former Cabinet member of the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr, passed away at 86 years old in Balesin, a top-level island resort in Quezon, Saturday night, his nephew Apa said in his Facebook page Sunday.
The younger Ongpin said wake details of his uncle, who was chairman of Alphaland Corp., will be announced.
Ongpin, who was with accounting firm SyCip, Gorres and Velayo, was recruited by the elder Marcos to become trade minister from 1979 to 1986 and he played a part in trying to stabilize the peso against the dollar in the last three years of the old Marcos administration.
''From 28 (pesos against the dollar), we were able to bring it down to 14 (pesos) in three years,'' he said in a 2011 ANC interview.
After the Marcos family left in 1986, Ongpin went into business and became one of the richest men in the country with interests ranging from real estate, tourism and gaming. DMS
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Marcos admin boosts energy mix push with 440 MW peak Isabela Solar Power Project
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. welcomed the P18-billion 440-megawatt (MW) peak Isabela Solar Power Project seen to boost the administration’s renewable energy thrust as well as local job generation.
Officials of the San Ignacio Energy Resources Development Corp. (SIERDC), the main project implementor, briefed Marcos on the project this week in Malacañang.
SIERDC is part of the Nextnorth Energy Group, which is developing solar and hydro projects in Northern Luzon.
The company will begin construction next year on a 400-hectare land in Ilagan City, Isabela, currently being used for sugarcane and bioethanol production. The solar power facility will start its operation by 2025.
According to project proponents, the solar power project could generate around 700 gigawatt-hours per year, which is equivalent to the electricity consumption of around 1 million households.
Around 2,200 workers could benefit from the project during various phases of construction, and more permanent workers when the facility becomes operational.
SIERDC is an affiliate of the Nextnorth Holdings Corp. (NHC), a Philippine-based renewable energy (RE) developer of solar and hydro projects with around 480 MW potential energy capacity.
SIERDC partners with French RE company Total Eren in implementing the project. Total Eren owns more than 3,700 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind capacity in operation or under construction and also has over 4,000 MW of projects under development worldwide.
The company has a 60-MW peak solar PV plant in Tarlac.
TotalEnergies, another France-based company, is Total Eren’s shareholder, and has been operating in the Philippines since 1998.
One of the world’s largest energy companies, TotalEnergies is involved in solar power project development, fuel and lubricants distribution and petroleum logistics and storage in the country.
SIERDC and Total Eren signed a joint agreement in December last year to invest in the development of the Isabela solar project, with the latter providing financial and technical expertise. Presidential News Desk
