A leader of the House of Representatives on Thursday suggested tapping the quick response fund (QRF) from various government agencies to help raise President Rodrigo Duterte’s PHP10-billion pledge for immediate assistance to the victims of Typhoon Odette. House Deputy Speaker Isidro Ungab said the money that can be tapped from these QRFs may be utilized for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the areas ravaged by “Odette”, including the pre-positioning of goods and equipment needed to give relief and assistance to the calamity victims. He noted that under the 2021 General Appropriation Act, the following departments and agencies are provided with

One of the two suspects in a PHP30-million robbery in Pasig over the weekend has voluntarily surrendered to the vice mayor of Bulusan, Sorsogon, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said on Thursday. NCRPO Chief, Maj. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr., said Rowel Galan surrendered on Tuesday and was turned over to the Pasig City Police the next day. Galan and dismissed police officer Ferdinand Fallaria, who remains at large, were among the suspects who robbed a Japanese national and his Filipina partner of at least PHP30 million in cash and gadgets in Pasig City on Saturday. Other suspects were

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has exceeded its investment generation target by more than PHP300 million this year, the Bangsamoro Board of Investments (BBOI) said Thursday. In a statement, the BBOI-BARMM said PHP2.8 billion worth of investments were generated by the region this year, exceeding its PHP2.5 billion target for 2021. Lawyer Ishak Mastura, BBOI-BARMM chair, said the approved and registered companies that invested in the BARMM included the Al Muzafar Agriventure, Inc. with PHP950 million worth of investments; ES Maulana Global Ventures Company, Inc. (PHP998 million); Eight Z’s Building Property Rental (PHP398 million); Lanao del Sur

The social action arm of the Archdiocese of Manila has sent more than PHP9 million in cash assistance to dioceses that were affected by Typhoon Odette. Based on the latest data as of Thursday, Caritas Manila said it has provided PHP2 million to the Diocese of Surigao through Fr. John Young, president of Father Saturnino Urios University of Butuan City. The Dioceses of Tagbilaran, Maasin, Talibon, and Kabankalan, as well as the Archdiocese of Cebu and the Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay, Palawan, each received PHP1 million while the Archdiocese of Cagayan De Oro received PHP500,000. Meanwhile, the Apostolic Vicariate of

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) on Thursday started to use its floating assets as it began relief operations in areas isolated after Typhoon Odette. “The DA-BFAR will go all-out in our relief assistance to coastal communities affected by Super Typhoon Odette. More floating assets will be deployed in the coming days, including M/V DA-BFAR to carry more relief goods and boat repair materials,” Department of Agriculture (DA) -BFAR national director Eduardo Gongona said. In an email, the agency said that during the first leg of a series of relief operations, DA-BFAR’s BRP Lapulapu would sail to the