The Department of Agriculture (DA) in Region 13 (Caraga) and the provincial government of Agusan del Sur have formally turned over the PHP152-million farm-to-market road (FMR) project to village officials in the town of San Luis. The FMR, funded under the DA’s Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), was completed last month and turned over to the local officials and farmers on Wednesday. Emmylou Presilda, information officer of DA-13, told the Philippine News Agency on Thursday that the FMR will be of great help to the residents, especially farmers, in Barangay Doña Maxima. “The FMR has a total length of 8.93-kilometer

The first batch of Philippine peso banknotes will arrive in the country by April next year, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said in a briefing Thursday. Diokno said the BSP and the Reserve Bank of Australia and its subsidiary Note Printing Australia have reached an agreement for the production of the polymer PHP1,000 banknotes. Australia is the first country to issue a full series of banknotes using polymer as material, and it has produced and supplied polymerized banknotes to other countries. “The PHP1,000 notes will begin circulating in mid-2022,” Diokno said, adding the Monetary Board has begun

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday welcomed the completion of infrastructure development projects in Zamboanga City, hoping that these would spur economic activity and employment in Mindanao and across the country. This, after he led the inspection of development projects at the Zamboanga International Airport (ZIA), including its newly renovated Passenger Terminal Building (PTB). In his speech, he thanked the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), and other public and private partners for a “commendable job” in the improvement of the Zamboanga airport. “I am excited to see a revitalized social economic activity that this newly

The Sandiganbayan has acquitted the incumbent mayor of San Fernando City, La Union on graft charges arising from a PHP38-million contract in 2018 for the rehabilitation of its plaza. In a 22-page decision dated November 29 written by Associate Justice Lorifel Pahimna, the anti-graft court’s Fourth Division, in clearing Hermenegildo Gualberto, said the prosecution failed to provide evidence that public bidding for the San Fernando City plaza upgrading project was undermined and likewise failed to “prove that the government suffered substantial damage”. It also said the prosecution failed to prove that Gualberto gave unwarranted preference or advantage to the contractor,

State pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) will release the 2021 Christmas cash gift amounting to PHP3.2 billion to its old-age and disability pensioners starting December 6. The benefit is also known to pensioners as their “Christmas bonus.” “Sa kabila ng hinaharap nating pagsubok dahil sa pandemya, hangad naming makatulong pa rin sa pagbibigay ng masaya at maginhawang Pasko sa aming mga pensiyonado. Kaya naman siniguro ng GSIS Board na maaga ang ecrediting ng Christmas cash gift sa kanilang mga UMID card o eCard (Despite the challenges we are facing because of the pandemic, we want to still help

Local shares bounced back on Thursday as bargain hunters looked for markets with no presence yet of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), while the peso ended the day’s trading almost unchanged. After dipping below the 7,000-level on Wednesday, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rebounded to 7,032.54, increasing by 85.48 points, or 1.23 percent. All Shares increased by 38.12 points, or 1.02 percent, to 3,772.50. All counters gained during the day’s trading, led by Mining and Oil, finishing at 9,468.83 points, followed by Industrial, Holding Firms, Services, Property, and Financials. “Investors finally became bargain hunters in