Authorities canceled flights at the Legazpi Domestic Airport on Tuesday due to Typhoon Jolina which has made landfall in Dimasalang town in Masbate, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Bicol said. In an update, OCD-5 spokesperson Gremil Alexis Nas said at least four Philippine Airlines flights (Manila-Legazpi-Manila) were canceled due to bad weather in Albay. Flights would resume once the weather condition improves in the coming days, he added. In a report, the OCD said the power supply was cut off in Masbate province on Monday due to technical problems experienced by the Masbate Electric Cooperative (Maselco). Meanwhile, the

A total of 76 villages here were placed under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) from Sept. 7 to 22, despite the city’s shift to general community quarantine with heightened restrictions (GCQ-HR) starting Wednesday. The City Information Office, in an advisory on Tuesday, said the measure was approved on Monday by the Regional Task Force for Covid-19 One Caraga Shield. The MECQ was based on the recent surge of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in these barangays. This city has a total number of 86 barangays. Mayor Ronnie Vicente Lagnada also issued Executive Order No. 41 (EO 41) on Monday which

A multi-sectoral agreement was forged on Tuesday to pave the way for the development of urban agriculture production by establishing urban community school micro-farms. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed via Zoom and is aimed at training communities on the benefits of vegetable production and processing, agro-enterprise development, and financial literacy in the communities in barangays Pagatpat and Tablon. Signatories to the MOU were representatives of the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP), Kids Who Farm (KWF), JCI Kagayhaan Gold (KG), and the barangay chairpersons of Pagatpat and Tablon. Angelie Collera, head of USTP’s Center for

The Commission on Audit (COA) can conduct a “special” audit of the Philippine Red Cross’ (PRC) spending, Malacañang said on Tuesday. This, after President Rodrigo Duterte earlier asked COA to conduct an audit of PRC, which is a non-government organization (NGO). In an online press briefing, Roque said Duterte has basis to urge COA to audit funds received by PRC. Citing Section 4.8 of COA Circular No. 93-003, Roque said PRC can be audited, once the government requests COA to carry out a “special audit” of NGOs like PRC “on case to case basis”. “May basehan ba ang sinasabi ng

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno has raised the possibility of establishing a direct settlement framework for the Philippine peso and the Japanese yen. “BSP is keen on pursuing other areas of cooperation with Japan such as the establishment of the Philippine peso-Japanese yen direct settlement framework,” Diokno said Tuesday in his speech during the virtual Philippine economic briefing for Japanese investors. A local currency settlement framework for trade transactions, among others, aims to reduce transaction costs and foreign exchange risks. Diokno highlighted the idea for the direct settlement framework since Japan has been among the Philippines’ major

The province of Pangasinan, except for Dagupan City, will be under general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions from September 8 to 30 as approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID). Governor Amado Espino III issued Tuesday Executive Order No. 0102 or the guidelines on the implementation of the province’s new quarantine status. “Any person below 18 years old, those who are over 65 of age, those with immunodeficiency, comorbidity, or other health risks, and pregnant women shall be required to remain in their residences at all times, except for obtaining essential goods