The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Tuesday said workers are exempted from the “no vaccination, no ride” policy. “They are exempted, our workers because they are rendering essential services. When you stop them, how will our businesses move? When there is no business there is no economy. Luckily, our workers are exempted,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said in a Palace briefing. At the same time, Bello urged agencies implementing the policy to start a massive information drive to avoid confusion among the public. “We just need more massive information drive to inform especially not only the public,

Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar said there is a need to import 60,000 metric tons (MT) of small pelagic fish to meet the demand for the first quarter of 2022 due to the damage incurred by the fishery sector from Typhoon Odette in December last year. Dar also announced on Tuesday the signing of the Certificate of Necessity to Import after the assessment showed significant damage and reduced fish production, especially galunggong (round scad), sardines, and mackerel. In a Laging Handa public briefing, Dar said they are working to remedy the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources’ projection

The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) on Tuesday said it assisted about 100 passengers bound for Zamboanga who were stranded at the North Harbor Terminal 4 due to the “no vaccination, no ride” policy of the government. In a Laging Handa briefing, PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago said the passengers were barred Monday due to incomplete documentary requirements. “Naayos po natin iyong kanilang kalagayan, subalit hindi na po sila pinasakay (We were able to help with their condition, but they were not allowed to board),” Santiago said. Aside from being unvaccinated, he said some of those barred from boarding also

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) awarded the single largest rail contract worth PHP142 billion, or about USD2.8 billion, to a Chinese joint venture to build a 380-kilometer Philippine National Railways (PNR) route. The construction will run from Barangay Banlic in Calamba, Laguna to Daraga, Albay. The contract was signed on Monday by DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade and representatives of the China Railway Group Ltd., China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group Co. Ltd., and China Railway Engineering Consulting Group Co. Ltd. (CREC JV). The contract includes the design, construction, and electromechanical works for the project. “Listed in both the Hong Kong

The government aims to bring down the unemployment rate close to pre-pandemic level of around 5 to 5.5 percent this year, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez said Tuesday. In a virtual presser of the Presidential Communications Operations Office-Office of the Global Media and Public Affairs, Lopez said the unemployment rate slowed down to 6.5 percent last November from a peak of 17.6 percent in April 2020. “Our goal in 2022 is to further increase our job generation efforts to close down (the) unemployment rate nearer to pre-pandemic levels,” he said. Last year, the Task Force Group

It is still early to think of any revisions in the 2022 growth target even with the Alert Level 3 implementation in several parts of the country, a National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) executive said Tuesday. While Alert Level 3 movement restriction has been raised until end-January 2022 in more than 80 areas around the country, including the National Capital Region (NCR), NEDA Undersecretary Rosamarie Edillon said the decision is partly made as a “balancing act” for health and economic aspects. “With respect to the target for the year, it’s still early days to be revising whether upwards or