Some 50 public schools in the Ilocos Region are being validated after they have been pre-identified for the pilot of face-to-face (F2F) classes in January next year. In a virtual press forum on Thursday, Joey Pimentel, a statistician at the Department of Education (DepEd) Ilocos Region, said these schools have submitted the requirements and are being assessed by the central office. Of the 50 schools, 28 are in Ilocos Norte, 19 are in Ilocos Sur, and three are in Pangasinan. In the same forum, education program supervisor Johnson Sunga, Policy Planning and Research of DepEd-1, said the schools are those
Local authorities on Friday raised the alert status of all police stations across the province following a blast from a grenade projectile that damaged a mosque here. Colonel Jibin Bongcayao, Maguindanao police director, said the police here have devised a security plan to prevent a repeat of the attack in this town on Thursday night. “Additional police personnel were deployed and more roadblocks were set up around the town,” he said in a statement. In a report, Major Radzak Musa, municipal police chief, said unidentified men fired an M79 grenade launcher toward the town government center at Barangay Poblacion around
The House of Representatives on Thursday night approved on third and final reading the proposed PHP5.024-trillion budget for 2022. With 238 affirmative votes, 6 negative votes, and no abstention, the chamber passed House Bill 10153, or the 2022 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), which is the last full year budget to be enacted under the administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. The House was able to pass its version of the spending measure on second and third reading on the same day following Duterte’s certification of urgency. Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said the House was able to fulfill its commitment to
House of Representatives Deputy Speaker and Sarangani Rep. Rogelio Pacquiao vowed to further accelerate the province’s development and progress as he formally launched his bid for the gubernatorial post on Friday. Accompanied by dozens of family members, close allies, and supporters, the second-term lawmaker filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for governor shortly before 3 p.m. at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) provincial office in Alabel town. He led the complete provincial slate of the ruling People’s Champ Movement (PCM), a local political party founded by his elder brother and presidential candidate Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao. “I am very happy
The Department of Tourism (DOT) on Friday welcomed the expanded indoor seating capacity for fully vaccinated persons in establishments in the National Capital Region. Based on the latest Inter-Agency Task Force resolution, indoor dine-in services are now allowed 20 percent seating capacity, with an additional 10 percent for establishments granted a Safety Seal by the government. The DOT noted that the allowed seating for outdoor dining remains at 30 percent but may increase by an additional 10 percent if the restaurant is also a Safety Seal recipient. “It is worth noting that the IATF-EID backed the proposal as 99 percent
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has augmented the assistance of National Capital Region local government units (LGUs) to their constituents with PHP22.1 million worth of family food packs (FPPs). Sixteen Metro Manila LGUs received 15,500 FPPs while 21,222 were released upon request to Caloocan, Pasay, Pateros, San Juan, and Quezon City, the DSWD said in a statement on Friday. Pasig City has not yet implemented any lockdown but the DSWD has assured that food packs are readily available if needed. The provision of FFPs is a co-sharing responsibility of the DSWD and LGUs, as mandated in Memorandum
