Day: July 16, 2024

LEGAZPI CITY – A total of 239 students from Albay province received on Tuesday a financial grant under the Student Monetary Assistance for Recovery and Transition (SMART) program of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). In an interview during the payout at Embarcedero de Legazpi, Jean Cardiño, CHED Bicol chief administrative officer, said each beneficiary received PHP25,000 in one-time assistance, totaling PHP5.97 million. “The SMART Grant Program is a project of the commission being given a one-time fixed financial grant to qualified students for as long as they are enrolled in an undergraduate program for the school year 2023-2024,” she

LEGAZPI CITY – To provide better medical access to women and children, a PHP300 million facility will soon rise inside the compound of the Bicol Regional Hospital and Medical Center (BRHMC) in Daraga, Albay. During a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, Ako Bicol (AKB) Party-list Representative and House Committee of Appropriations chairperson Elizaldy Co said to be constructed is Phase 1 of Women’s Health and Child Care Specialty Center, which will be a 10-story medical care facility for the townsfolk, especially pregnant women and children. The new facility will have a capacity of more than 120 beds. “As a Bicolano, I

MANILA: Nine women are among the ten examinees with the highest marks in the 2024 Shari’ah bar examinations (SBE), the Supreme Court said Tuesday. Supreme Court Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh, chairperson of the 2024 SBE, announced that a total of 183 out of 853 examinees, or 21.45 percent, passed the first digitalized and regionalized special exams for the Shari’ah courts. The top ten passers are Punginagina, Nurhaifah Hadji Said (86.75%); Gubat, Sittie Nasriyyah Gani (86.10%); Alonto, Sittie Fairoza Yahya (86.02%); Suwalawan-Hadjinoor, Jonaina Diamla (85.57%); Mambuay, Ayesha Aminah Alonto (85.35%); Usodan, Fatimah Sohra Lucman (85.10%); Acmad, Aznairah Orpilla (84.87%);

DAVAO CITY – The gross production value of mineral resources in Davao Region stood at PHP11.7 billion in 2023, an official of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau in the Davao Region (MGB-11) reported Tuesday. During the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas forum here, MGB-11 Officer-in-Charge Beverly Mae Brevante said the region is rich in mineral resources, particularly gold, nickel and copper. The value is based on the production of four large-scale mineral companies with collective excise tax payments of PHP487.7 million last year. ‘The excise tax goes to the national government,’ Brevante said, adding that the region currently has 41 large-scale

MANILA: The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) conducted boarding exercises on Monday as part of the ‘Vessel Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS)’ course in Port Area, Manila. In a statement on Tuesday, course director Lieutenant Commander Mark Jefferson Mangoyob said the course includes a simulation and a series of lectures on conducting boarding operations on vessels suspected of illegal activities. ‘By simulating real-life scenarios, they become adept in handling various situations at sea, thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of maritime security and safety,’ Mangoyob said. Boarding vessels, he said, are also conducted by PCG personnel to ensure a ship’s