The appointment of new officials of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is now under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s consideration, Malacañang said Thursday. In a press conference, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said the names of new CHR appointees may likely be announced soon. “I can’t really say when the appointment is going to be made. I understand it is already under consideration. So maybe any day now, (the CHR appointees will be announced). I am not sure,” Cruz-Angeles said. During the deliberations at the House of Representatives on the commission’s proposed 2023 budget on Thursday, CHR spokesperson
A ranking House leader is seeking a stronger crackdown on violations of the Vaping Regulation Law amid reports that some online sales of vapes from abroad are being categorized on online platforms as “toys” and “electronics”. House ways and means committee chair Joey Salceda also said some online purchases through these sites are not being imposed excise taxes. “The advocates of the Vaping Regulation Law argued that it was a better way to regulate the sector and supposedly save lives. It also provided rules on the sale of vape online. Well, let’s prove it,” Salceda said in a
Vice President and Education chief Sara Duterte will not attend the United Nations education summit next week, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Thursday. In a press conference, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Kira Christianne Danganan-Azucena said DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo will represent the Philippines and attend in her stead. “We did receive confirmation from the Office of the Vice President that she will not be attending the education summit so, in her stead, Secretary Manalo will attend the summit,” she said. The Transforming Education Summit (TES) will be convened in New York on September 19 during
The last two scheduled payouts this September for the educational assistance in Western Visayas were canceled due to lack of funds, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development field office (DSWD-6) on Thursday. Atty. May Rago-Castillo, DSWD information officer, said as much as they wanted to continue with the distributions scheduled on Sept. 17 and 24, there is no more funds left for the specific program as the PHP91 million budget was depleted. “Based on our latest data, 36,131 students in crisis were released with educational assistance amounting to PHP101,326 million,” Castillo said in an interview.
A total of 4,653 corn farmers from the four provinces of the Ilocos Region have so far received their fuel subsidy worth PHP13.9 million, according to the latest report from the regional Department of Agriculture. As of September 14, the DA said this comprises only 38 percent of the 12,244 target beneficiaries. Florante Gallebo Jr., corn focal person in the region, said a total of 1,768 fuel discount voucher cards are ready for distribution next week mostly in Pangasinan followed by La Union, Ilocos Norte, and Ilocos Sur. This week alone, a total of PHP3.7 million worth
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has made a compilation of all agrarian reform laws and related issuances in a span of 102 years, from 1902 to 2022. In a press release issued on Thursday, DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III said this is in response to the call of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. “to provide good and solid data to ensure informed decision-making, as well as allow secure and seamless access to public services”. Estrella said they will make the compilation available to farmers and other stakeholders. He said all information on the evolution of various
