The Dinagat Islands provincial government, in partnership with the Philippine National Red Cross, capped Wednesday its distribution of food aid to 591 typhoon-hit families in San Jose town. Governor Nilo Demerey Jr. said the Oct. 11 -12 food packs and kitchen sets intend to help families devastated by Typhoon Odette in December last year. “We are grateful for all this support from the Red Cross and its partner agencies. This will help our residents as they continue to recover from the effects of the last typhoon,” he said in an interview. “More aid will come to Dinagat
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) continues its rollout of the BroadBand ng Masa Project (BBMP) by providing free Wifi connection to three islands in the southern part of Mindanao. In a press briefing in Malacañang on Wednesday, DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said these are the islands of Sacol, Pangapuyan, and Tictabon. He said Sacol Island, the largest of the three in the Zamboanga Peninsula, has a population of 12,000. “Ito po ay katuparan ng pangako ni President [Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.] na abutin natin ang mga liblib na lugar sa buong bansa (This
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) chiefs vowed on Wednesday to work together in providing intervention for the indigenous people (IPs) who traditionally roam around urban areas to ask for “pamasko” or Christmas gifts during the holiday season. During a Senate budget deliberation, DSWD Secretary Erwin Tulfo said there are existing government programs that can help the poor IPs in bringing them back to their provinces and providing them with their own livelihood there. Tulfo cited the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa (BP2) and the DSWD’s Kapit-Bisig Laban sa
Closer interaction between Beijing and Manila is expected once President Xi Jinping gets re-elected as China’s ruling party leader, an analyst said Wednesday. Xi is widely seen to take on a third term as general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in the upcoming 20th Party Congress, which would arguably make him China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. With Xi at the helm, foreign affairs and security analyst Lucio Pitlo III said there had been willingness on the part of China to develop political relations with the Philippines. “We have seen this in attempts
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is looking to help Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) workers that might be affected by the plan to ban operations of the industry in the country. “We have seen that most POGO-related companies are in the National Capital Region. We are analyzing this data. So we are looking at our labor market information very carefully so that we can assist them more urgently just in case they lose their jobs,” Undersecretary Benjo Benavidez said in a Laging Handa briefing Wednesday. He reported that DOLE issued some 23,000 alien employment permits (AEPs)
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin told senators on Wednesday that the recent travel of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to Singapore was upon the invitation of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hisen Loong. This, after Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III asked Bersamin about the trip during the Senate budget deliberation on the Office of the President and the Presidential Management Staff (PMS). Bersamin said the trip was “partly official and partly personal” but distinguishing the sources of funding for it was difficult which is why he called it “irrelevant” when asked by the media during a recent press conference.
