The La Filipina Uygongco Group of Companies will focus on investments in agriculture, its core business, and expand its exposure in the power sector.

Alfonso Uy, chairman of the Iloilo-based conglomerate, said they are just completing the implementation of its P1.6 billion investments program for 2009 on various projects.

“We will stay in our own fields of expertise,” Uy said.

The group has interests in post harvest facilities, sugar, flour and feed milling operations, livestock and power.

So far, the company is preparing for the opening of its P1 billion grains processing facility in Cauayan, Isabela. With a daily corn drying capacity of 2,000 tons, the Isabela facility is a much bigger facility than the existing drying facility in Bukidnon under the same corporate vehicle Mindanao Grains Processing Inc.

According to Uy, corn farmers in Isabela and nearby provinces incur losses because of their crude drying method.

“By providing them with state of the art drying facility, we can ensure that their corn is good for human being and for livestock consumption,” he said.

The company’s Philippine Foremost Milling Corp. is also introducing efficiency measures as it eyes additional market share for both its flour and feeds in the Visayas and Luzon areas.

The company is gunning to be in the top five among feed millers in the country from its current top 10 position. Its flour mill is the country’s second biggest.

For its hog production, Uy said its Excel Farms is undertaking a study to improve on the biosecurity and yields of the hog farm in Bulacan.