The decision of senators to cut a significant portion of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’s (NTF-ELCAC) proposed budget for the Barangay Development Project (BDP) for 2022 shows their lack of appreciation of the hardships being experienced by those living in remote communities. “The move by the Senate Finance Committee to cut the Barangay Development Program (BDP) budget by PHP24 billion shows their lack of appreciation of the plight of our folks in the remote barangays,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a statement Thursday. This came after the Senate slashed the proposed PHP28.12 billion budget

The Department of Labor and Employment in Central Visayas (DOLE-7) has released around PHP3.5 million to some 758 beneficiaries of the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating mga Displaced/Disadvantaged (TUPAD) Program in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental. In a statement on Thursday, DOLE-7 regional director Salome Siaton said the beneficiaries were from the towns of Dauin, Mabinay, and Calindagan who were paid PHP404 daily, the highest prevailing minimum wage in Central Visayas. They were also enrolled in micro insurance and provided with personal protective equipment. Reference codes were given to beneficiaries which could be claimed in various remittance center partners, Siaton said. She

After years of suffering from rotational brownouts, residents of Bantayan Island are now assured of having a steady, stable, and more than sufficient power supply. This, after local government officials in Cebu and executives from Vivant Corp. inaugurated the new Isla Norte Energy Corp. (INEC) power plant in Barangay Bangbang on Cebu’s northernmost island Wednesday. In a statement on Thursday, Arlo Garcia Sarmiento, president of Vivant, said: “After three years and a half, we have a world-class power plant ready to serve Bantayan”. INEC is a joint venture of Vivant Integrated Diesel Corp. and Gigawatt Power Inc. After winning the

Quezon City is among the beneficiaries of the United Kingdom’s £27.5 million (some PHP1.8 billion) funding to help cities across the globe tackle climate change and transition to net-zero by 2050. “Backed with £27.5 million of new UK government funding, the UK Urban Climate Action Programme will directly support Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and Quezon City (Philippines) to develop in areas such as low-emission public transport systems, renewable energy generation, sustainable waste management, and climate-smart buildings,” the UK Embassy in Manila said Thursday. The UK Urban Climate Action Programme was formally launched on November 11 and is expected to assist cities

Farmers from the municipality of Valderrama are recipients of various livelihood projects under the Department of Agriculture Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) program. SAAD national program director Dr. Myer G. Mula visited the projects particularly its corn and egg production, and chicken layer for egg production, to check on the status of their implementation on Wednesday. “Director Mula during his visit expressed optimism that the projects will succeed because of the strong support of the local government unit (LGU) and the beneficiaries,” said Sonie Guanco, officer-in-charge of the DA Agricultural Program Coordinating Office in Antique, in an interview Thursday.

Returning Filipino workers or Balik Manggagawa (BM) workers are now allowed to go back to Iraq, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said on Thursday. In a Laging Handa briefing, POEA chief Bernard Olalia said this came after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) downgraded Iraq from Alert Level 4 to 3. “This is a very good development, the lowering of the alert level in Iraq, the POEA issued a resolution to announce to fellow Filipinos that the returning workers can come back to Iraq,” Olalia said. “They are the ones with existing and live employment contracts and they are