Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar on Wednesday urged the local government units (LGUs) to establish mechanism where people in the community can air their grievances against the government through dialogues to dissuade them from insurgency. “There should be a mechanism with which regularly the LGUs at various levels should have dialogues particularly on grievances in the community against government and other things,” Dar said. “We need to understand all these grievances and give proper consideration, to let them know that there is good governance at the LGU level.” Dar is the head of the Regional Task Force to
Persons who exhibit symptoms of the coronavirus or are close contacts of infected individuals should get tested to protect their families and co-workers, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said. Año said getting a swab test is the best option than costly hospitalization or even death. “It would be more dangerous if they refuse to get a swab test because if they turned out positive, they could infect their families and co-workers without them knowing about it. Once they get hospitalized, along with the family members they have infected, their medical bills could run in the millions of pesos, and worse of
The government is pushing for policies that will attract pharmaceutical firms to set up their facilities here that will boost the country’s capacity to manufacture generic medicines, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez said. In a webinar Wednesday, Lopez said the administration is pushing for measures to provide greater access to affordable medicines, especially for the poor. “One of the ways in which the DTI is working toward this goal is through the strengthening of the country’s capacity to manufacture and supply generic medicines. This is meant to ensure their adequate, equitable, affordable, and efficient supply especially
The town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao has received a PHP3-million community fish landing center (CFLC) from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform–Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MAFAR-BARMM). MAFAR-BARMM Minister Mohammad S. Yacob said Wednesday the CFLC aims to improve the socio-economic condition of Ampatuan town and other fishing communities surrounding the Liguasan Marsh, the 220,000 wetland bordering Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato provinces. “The Liguasan marshland is rich in flora and fauna resources, including the bountiful freshwater tilapia fish, among others,” Yacob said. On Tuesday, the MAFAR-BARMM awarded the CFLC to Ampatuan town in line with
Motorcycle taxi company, Move It, has partnered with service delivery company, Grab Philippines (Grab), allowing users of the Grab mobile application (app) to book motorcycle taxis from the two companies. In a joint statement on Wednesday, Move It president and CEO Francis Juan said Move It and Grab will collaborate on three areas—provide access to Move It motor-taxis on the Grab app, widen the market access and availability of Move It, and supporting the motor-taxi pilot study by providing the Motor-Taxi Technical Working Group (TWG) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) with more statistics. “Our customers and our riders will
The House of Representatives on Tuesday night approved on final reading a proposal imposing a 12 percent value-added tax (VAT) on digital transactions in the country to generate new funding sources for the country’s Covid-19 response efforts. With 167 affirmative votes, six negative votes, and one abstention, the Chamber passed on third reading House Bill 7425 seeking to amend Section 105 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) by taxing digital service providers that operate through online platforms. The bill seeks to clarify the imposition of VAT on online advertisement services, digital services in exchange for a regular subscription fee,
