The police force’s Highway Patrol Group (HPG) has been directed to assist and coordinate with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) regarding the 30-day pilot study on the gradual increase in passenger capacity in public transport. In a statement on Monday, Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, said part of the HPG’s assistance is to ensure that minimum public health standards are strictly observed by commuters. This came after the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved the increase in the operational capacity of public utility vehicles (PUVs) and railways from the current 50

Some two insurgency-cleared barangays in Guipos, Zamboanga del Sur will each receive PHP20 million worth of Barangay Development Program projects from the government. Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, Army’s 53rd Infantry Battalion commander, in a statement Monday, identified the two barangays as Dalapan and Datagan, which were previously conflict-affected and declared clear from the communist influence in September 2019 through the Army’s Community Support Program (CSP). Herrera said the BDP is the flagship program of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). “The NTF-ELCAC was conceptualized to finally address insurgency by bringing sustainable solutions and basic services

Oil prices declined on Monday with the easing of the global supply crisis after China announced the sale of its gasoline and diesel reserves. International benchmark Brent crude was trading at USD83.45 per barrel at 0625 GMT for a 0.32% percent decrease after closing the previous session at USD83.72 a barrel. American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at USD83.11 a barrel at the same time for a 0.55 percent fall after ending the previous session at USD83.57 per barrel. Price slumps emerged when the world’s largest oil consumer, China, said it released gasoline and diesel reserves to improve market

Domestic growth is expected to remain in positive territory for the third quarter at 6.5 percent amid the diminishing low base effects and the impact of lockdowns, an economist said. “GDP (gross domestic product) growth for 3Q (third quarter) 2021 could quantitatively ease year-on-year (from +11.8 percent in 2Q 2021), but still positive at higher single-digit levels, largely due to fading low base/denominator effects,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort said in a reply to questions from the Philippine News Agency. GDP in the first half of the year stood at 3.96 percent. This, after the economy

After nine weeks of oil price hikes, firms will roll back prices of kerosene and diesel. Starting Tuesday morning, Caltex, Cleanfuel, Petro Gazz, Petron, Seaoil, and Shell will cut diesel prices by PHP0.35 per liter but they will increase gasoline prices by PHP1.15 per liter. Caltex, Petron, Seaoil, and Shell will also reduce kerosene prices by PHP0.30 per liter. In the past nine weeks of oil price hikes, diesel has increased by PHP9.10 per liter, PHP8.35 per liter for gasoline, and PHP8.06 per liter for kerosene. According to Department of Energy’s (DOE) oil bulletin for trading days October 11 to

Broken promises have led more farmers in Silay City, Negros Occidental to cut ties with the National Federation of Sugarcane Workers (NFSW), a group identified as a legal front of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA). The Philippine Army said 750 farmers from five associations in Barangay E. Lopez have declared their breakaway from the NFSW and denounced the abuses of the communist terrorist group over the weekend. In a statement on Monday, Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade, said he hopes more groups will emulate the Silaynon farmers. “We call on all