In December 2001, Landco Pacific Corporation opened Landco Business Park in Legazpi. The masterplanned business park is envisioned to be the city’s premier central business district. Centrally located in the Legazpi Port District, Landco Business Park is easily accessible to all major thoroughfares, as well as the integrated terminal and the Legazpi Public Market.

The provincial government of Albay and Pfizer, a multi pharma company, have signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the full implementation of “Kalusugan Para sa Mamamayan” (KASAMA) of Albay. Albay governor Joey Salceda explained during the MOA signing held here, Thursday, that KASAMA program goal is in line with the government’s thrust to expand access of Filipinos to quality health care.

The Aquinas University of Legazpi (AUL) has implemented a project dubbed “Urban Agriculture through the High-Value Commercial Crops Techno-Demo Farm” within its expansive campus here. The project features 60-square-meter greenhouse where vegetables highly sensitive to rain and changes in temperature like broccoli, lettuce, cauliflower and honeydew melon are being propagated.

With the church maintaining its strong opposition for any form of gambling, the city government opted to stop the potential of casino operation despite initial popular support from the business community and the public. The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. applied for a casino operation on a 24-hour basis at the soon-to-operate P1 billion commercial complex known as Embarcadero.

Legazpi City — Local government units (LGUs) all over the country look up to Albay as model in the implementation of disaster management and control measures, it was reported here. Many of these LGUs are sending their technical personnel to Albay to study its disaster-management programs and activities. Some local government officials said they are studying Albay’s disaster-preparedness and risk-reduction measures after it was cited by the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).

The province of Albay, headed by Gov. Joey Sarte Salceda, received the Gawad Kalasag Award for Best Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council from the NDCC (National Disaster Coordinating Council) in an awarding ceremony held at the Malacañang Palace last August 12, 2009. Meanwhile, the city of Legazpi also bagged the Gawad Kalasag Award for the Indpendent/Component city category along with the cities of Dagupan, Bayawan and Tagum.

The Albay province will host the National Livestock Summit set on September 16 to 18 this year at the Albay Astrodome, this city, a provincial agricultural officer said on Tuesday. The three-day summit with a theme “Coping with Emerging Challenges to Livestock and Poultry: Climate Change, Global Trade, Emerging Diseases and Food Security,” will be a joint project of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the provincial government of Albay.

Experience one of the most grueling, physically-challenging (yet scenically-rewarding) races in the Philippines when Mayon Trail Run returns this October 2009! This will be the second Mayon Trail Run after the successful race held last year just in time for Legazpi’s Ibalong Festival.The race is designed to help in the awareness campaign for environmental issues such as global warming and climate change.

State-owned CIIF-Oil Mills Group is recommissioning starting tomorrow its P400-million copra-crushing plant in Arimbay, Legazpi City, which can immediately bring in $3.75 million in foreign-exchange earnings per month if its output is exported. Jesus Arranza, CIIF-Oil Mills president and CEO, said President Arroyo will join the local coconut farmers, community leaders, Legaspi Oil Co. chair Josefa Imperial Aquino and other officials of the Oil Mills Group in the re-opening ceremony of the facility.

Homegrown and overseas bets shared top honors in Sunday night’s Mutya ng Pilipinas beauty pageant held in Baler, Aurora. Legazpi City’s Jane Banares bagged the Mutya ng Pilipinas-International title while Northern Germany’s Jacqueline Schubert won the Mutya ng Pilipinas-Tourism