President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law Republic Act (RA) 11589 that will strengthen and modernize the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP). During the ceremonial signing of the BFP Modernization Act on Friday, Duterte said the new law would help boost the morale, efficiency, responsiveness, and professionalism of the bureau’s personnel as they continue to fulfill their mandate to save people’s lives. “The Bureau of Fire Protection has been instrumental in the success of our collective efforts to provide rescue and relief operations in areas hit by destructive fire and calamities,” Duterte said in a keynote speech delivered at Malacañang Palace’s

House Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez on Friday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to order the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to release around PHP160 billion worth of For Later Release (FLR) funds. In a statement, Rodriguez said that even though the funds were classified as ”for later release” in a spending law, it is against the Constitution to “impound” the appropriations. He said this in response to the statement made by DBM officer-in-charge Tina Rose Marie Canda that the disbursement of FLR funds needs the approval of the Office of the President. “These are line items in the 2021 budget

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is seeking lawmakers’ approval for its PHP23.7-billion proposed budget under the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2022. During the House Committee on Appropriations budget hearing Friday, Secretary Ramon Lopez said a big chunk of the budget is for the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) amounting to PHP13.64 billion. The Office of the Secretary (OSEC) alone eyes PHP6.6 billion budget for next year. Lopez said PHP5.25 billion, or nearly 80 percent of the OSEC budget next year, will fund programs to increase exports and investments, development of industries, assisting micro, small, and

The Philippine Overseas Employment Office (POLO) in the Sultanate of Oman is expecting more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to enter the host country as both the Philippine and Oman governments have lifted the deployment ban this month. In a virtual forum on Friday, Labor Attaché Gregorio Abalos, Jr., said they are looking at over 1,000 Filipinos to be deployed since the entry of OFWs was stopped due to the deployment ban. He added that before the pandemic, they process more than 1,000 contracts a month. “We are expecting more because many were not able to go to Oman because of

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has “provisionally” approved the guidelines on the pilot implementation of granular lockdowns in Metro Manila, Malacañang announced on Friday. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, also acting as IATF-EID spokesperson, said the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) policy shift would only impose either the strictest enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) or the general community quarantine (GCQ) with four alert levels in Metro Manila. “Sang-ayon po dito sa policy shift na gagawin natin, dalawa na lang ang quarantine classifications. Ito po ang ECQ na ipapataw ng IATF o ‘di naman kaya ay GCQ

Three Daesh (Islamic State)-inspired Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) linked to atrocities in Datu Piang, Maguindanao surrendered Thursday afternoon to police authorities in the Bangsamoro Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). In a statement, Brig. Gen. Eden Ugale, police director for Police Regional Office- BARMM, said the 3 p.m. surrender of the terrorists, all belonging to the BIFF Karialan faction, was a result of diplomatic efforts by the local police of Ampatuan, Maguindanao. Lt. Gen. Jose Chiquito Malayo, commander of the Philippine National Police – Western Mindanao Area Command who visited PRO-BARMM, received the firearms from three BIFF surrenderers. The surrendered