The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has already released PHP75.39 million under the unconditional cash transfer (UCT) program for poor families in Eastern Visayas. The distribution for the 2020 UCT grants, which started in August, has already benefited 20,942 recipients from the region’s six provinces. “This is a one-time payment for 12 months of 2020. Each beneficiary gets PHP300 monthly or a total of PHP3,600 for the entire year,” said DSWD Eastern Visayas regional information officer Abelardo Bibat in a phone interview on Thursday. The DSWD has identified 91,691 beneficiaries of the UCT program in the region’s six
The Philippine capital joins other Asian cities on the list of 30 top startup ecosystems in this year’s Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER). In the GSER 2021, Manila ranks 30th in the regional ecosystem performance. Manila was also named as the 10th most affordable talent in the region and 20th globally. “The Philippine startup ecosystem is rapidly developing with stronger government support particularly in high-growth services such as AI (artificial intelligence), Big Data, and fintech, among others,” the GSER 2021 said. It added government policies, such as the Philippine Innovation Act and the Innovative Startup Act, have helped the country
Fair weather will prevail over most parts of the country Thursday, a weather forecaster said. The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) will cause scattered rains over Western Visayas and Palawan, particularly in the afternoon. Light to moderate rains will be experienced, while thunderstorms are likely in the afternoon, said Benison Estareja of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). “Metro Manila and most areas in Luzon will have sunny weather, and it will be humid in the afternoon. The Bicol Region and Metro Manila’s temperature could be up to 33 °C,” he said. The rest of the country is
Local shares gained anew on Thursday following the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep key rates steady while the peso ended the day sideways against the greenback. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 0.36 percent, or 24.55 points, to 6,915.28 points. All Shares followed with an increase of 0.37 percent, or 15.93 points, to 4,302.50 points. Most of the sectoral indexes also gained during the day, including Industrial which rose by 1.39 percent; Property, 0.95 percent; Financials, 0.29 percent; Mining and Oil, 0.20 percent; and Services, 0.10 percent. Only the Holding Firms index ended the day in the negative
China has called for an end to economic sanctions on Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover. “Economic sanctions must be stopped. All kinds of unilateral sanctions or restrictions on Afghanistan should be lifted,” China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a G20 meeting hosted by Italy on Wednesday. He said Afghanistan’s foreign exchange reserves are its “national assets and should be owned by and used for the people, rather than being used as a bargaining chip to exert political pressure on Afghanistan,” a statement by China’s Foreign Ministry said. China calls on G20 members “to actively take practical steps to help Afghanistan
Plants conservationists have teamed up with firms that promote the use of technological innovations to encourage more people to protect endemic plants in the country. In an online briefing Wednesday night, Philippine Native Plants Conservation Society, Inc. (PNPCSI) vice president David Justin Ples said the tie-up aims to provide additional online sources, among others, that the public can access to inform them about diversity in the country and help them become citizen scientists. Aside from the planned citizen scientists mobile application that aims to connect people to conservation bids, the partnership also intends to tokenize native trees and carbon sinks,
