Commuters bound for the northern part of the province are now assured of a faster travel time with the opening of the newly completed by-pass road in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on Friday announced the completion of the PHP136.294 million 1.75-kilometer road project in Barangay Tabucan. “This (bypass) road will decongest traffic in Barotac Nuevo town proper, hence, would facilitate faster and a more comfortable travel to various destinations in northern Iloilo and neighboring provinces of Capiz and Aklan,” DPWH regional director Lea Delfinado said in a statement. The new road will serve

Joint police and Bureau of Customs (BOC) operatives have seized another shipment of some PHP11.2 million worth of assorted smuggled cigarettes off the waters of Tumalutap Island, this city, a top police official announced Friday. This came a day after the same team of lawmen consisting of 2nd Zamboanga City Mobile Force Company (2ZCMFC) and BOC operatives seized some PHP4.5 million worth of smuggled cigarettes here. Brig. Gen. Ronaldo Genaro Ylagan, Police Regional Office-9 (PRO-9) director, said the shipment was seized around 3:30 a.m. Thursday east of Tumalutap Island, one of the 11 islands east of this city. Ylagan said

The City Health Office has confirmed the first case of the more transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in this southern port city. However, the index case has reported back to work in the vessel he is assigned and is no longer here after undergoing isolation and experiencing a full recovery. The announcement of the City Health Office was based on the samples sent in July by the Department of Health (DOH) regional office to the University of the Philippines – Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC). Dr. Dulce Amor Miravite, city health officer, said Friday the index case,

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez said on Friday the agency is ready to help poor communities via its livelihood program and small-scale businesses that will be affected by the two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila. In an interview during an online program, Lopez said they are distributing livelihood kits to poor communities nationwide. He added that the DTI’s regional and provincial offices distribute livelihood kits worth PHP5,000 to PHP10,000 as grants to those who would like to start their own micro businesses such as sari-sari store and carinderia (eatery) among others. To date, the

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) 10 (Northern Mindanao) is set to inaugurate and turn over a total of 42 irrigation projects worth PHP1.4 billion to different provinces in the region. NIA-10 manager Jun Banaay, in an interview Friday, said the projects would service 4,000 hectares of irrigation systems. Recipients also include the provincial governments of Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, and Lanao del Sur, as well as the Islamic City of Marawi, which, though part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, is under NIA-10 jurisdiction. Led by NIA chief Ricardo Visaya, the virtual turnover is