Gokongwei eyeing expansion
in Bacolod, sugar mill products
BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO

“Mayor John Gokongwei. I like the way that sounds.”

That was how business tycoon John Gokongwei Jr. reacted to the conferment on him of the title honorary mayor of Bacolod City for the whole year at the culmination program of the 8 th BacoLaodiat Festival held yesterday at the L'Fisher Hotel.

Gokongwei was also conferred the title of an adopted son of Bacolod City by the Sangguniang Panlungsod led by Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, during the special luncheon, honoring him as a Filipino-Chinese, and for being the first major investor to put up a mall (Robinsons) in Bacolod City, paving the way for the entry of other investors.

Ethanol, power
ventures bared
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Business tycoon John Gokongwei Jr. yesterday said his business conglomerate, which owns five sugar mills, is expanding into the production of ethanol and power.

Gokongwei, the chairman of JG Summit Holdings, one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines, was named honorary mayor and adopted son of Bacolod City at rites held yesterday as part of the BacoLaodiat Festival.

Aside from exploring business expansion in Bacolod City, Gokongwei said his firms are also looking to expand in the sugarcane industry.

Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. yesterday said he was saddened that his opponents are now engaging in what he called gutter politics and pure and simple black propaganda.

The governor was reacting to the release of a digitally-manipulated photo of him waving beside a kangaroo, released as a press conference called by Pulupandan Mayor Magdaleno Peña was about to end at the Vice Governor's wing of the provincial Capitol in Bacolod City.

Asked what the computer-manipulated photo of the governor beside a kangaroo meant, Peña laughed and said he did not know who was responsible for releasing it..