President Rodrigo Duterte has lambasted the New People’s Army (NPA) for attempting to stall government infrastructure projects that would bring development to the countryside. Duterte, in his speech on Thursday afternoon during the formal opening of the Bicol International Airport (BIA) here, said atrocities by the communist rebel movement delayed the completion of the project. The construction of the BIA, which started in 2009, took 11 years to finish. “This NPA has been overtaken now by modernization, yong sinunog nila dito (those that they burned here) only showed the bankruptcy in their minds,” Duterte said, referring to the construction equipment

The Department of Labor and Employment in Central Visayas (DOLE-7) has awarded a livelihood grant of PHP500,000 to the Small Coconut Farmers and Farm Workers Association of Tabuelan town in northern Cebu. The grant provides working capital to support the association’s cattle fattening project, with 15 heads of cattle as a starter, DOLE-7 regional director Salome Siaton said in a statement on Friday. Aside from this project, the association is also engaged in cattle dispersal, and free-range chicken and goat raising. The cattle fattening project was chosen for the grant because of the sufficiency of resources and guaranteed market. This

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Friday said a repeat RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) test for workers who completed their 14-day quarantine is no longer needed as long as they have a certificate of completion. In a virtual briefing, Vergeire said this also applies to employees afflicted with the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) who recovered and finished their isolation. “As long as they already have their clearance from government or private physicians that they have completed their quarantine period or isolation period, dapat po tinatanggap na natin (we should accept them),” she appealed to employers. Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated

The province of Ilocos Norte is calling on displaced workers to register at the Provincial Public Employment Service Office (PESO) located on the ground floor of the Capitol building to avail of the “Negokart” (Negosyo sa Kariton) grant and get rolling in business. “We’re encouraging other interested negokart applicants to visit and register at PESO here at the Provincial Capitol for our next batch of beneficiaries,” Anne Marie Lizette Bitancor-Atuan said in an interview Friday after the distribution of at least 33 negokarts to displaced workers and ambulant vendors, mostly from this city. Each beneficiary was given a start-up business

Some 50 tablets were donated by a youth organization Kilos Kabataan Livelihood Foundation Incorporated (KKLFI) to the Army’s 4th Infantry Division (4ID) here in support of the “Education for All” peace campaign for indigenous peoples. In a statement on Friday, Col. Michele Anayron Jr., 4ID deputy commander for Retirees Reservist Affairs, said 13 units were immediately distributed to select indigenous peoples youth beneficiaries identified by the 8th Infantry Battalion in Bukidnon province, while the 4ID is finalizing the identification of other beneficiaries. Kristin Bangot, KKLFI’s founder and chief executive officer, said the endeavor is part of their “education for all’’

The Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) program of the government has offered other sources of profit for seaweed growers in Getafe town, Bohol. The Marianasan Seaweed Growers and Fisherfolk Association or MASEGAFA, which has 32 members from Barangay Jandayan Sur, recorded a gross income of PHP138,600 out of its milkfish or “bangus” fish cage project, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Central Visayas (BFAR-7) said on Friday. Based on the latest report from the Bohol Provincial Fishery Office (PFO), the MASEGAFA recently harvested at least 1,155 kilograms of bangus that were sold at PHP120 per kilogram. The