DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines – Pangasinan has been chosen as site of another power plant, making it the third to be hosted by the province. But this time, a “green” company will be building the plant – a biomass power-generating plant that can generate 35 megawatts of electricity. Biomass is a renewable energy source that uses agricultural wastes to produce electricity.

MANILA, Philippines -- The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) announced on Sunday plans to mobilize and use privately owned generators in every precinct cluster to ensure that power outages would not disrupt the automated elections on May 10. An inventory of all power generators in the country was one of the key agenda items in a meeting of council officers and regional directors in Cebu City, said Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales, who also the NDCC chair.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The European Commission (EC) has poured in fresh funds to bankroll continuing humanitarian aid efforts for evacuees in Mindanao, acording to the European Union (EU) delegation to the Philippines. The new allocation, amounting to some 5 million euros (about P330 million), came along with other important humanitarian assistance decisions taken by the EC in recent weeks that included aid packages for Haiti earthquake victims, Afghanistan and Burmese refugees in Thailand, the EU delegation said in a statement obtained by Inquirer on Thursday.

MANILA, Philippines - Shipping company associations called off yesterday their planned shippingholiday this Monday after President Arroyo issued an order to defer the implementation of several new guidelines issued by the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) late last year to improve maritime safety. Christopher Pastrana, president of the Philippine Roro Operators Association (PROA) and spokesman for a coalition of shipping operators, said that they have deferred the scheduled protest action after the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) had reportedly initiated a process to defer implementation of the controversial Marina memorandum circulars they have been opposing and questioning over the past weeks.

MANILA, Philippines—The prolong dry spell that is triggering power and water shortages throughout the country is beginning to take its toll on vegetable, fish and livestock farms and on the rice and corn crops in certain regions. In Ifugao and Isabela, dead tilapia could be seen floating in fish pens, cages and ponds in the first incidences of “fish kill” as the worst of the El Niño sets in.