Day: July 24, 2024

BACOLOD CITY: This city showcases the best of what Bacolod offers to some 230 United States-based delegates and 100 local tourism stakeholders during the three-day 2024 Very Important Pinoy (VIP) Tour, which runs until Thursday. Led by Consul General of New York Senen Mangalile, the guests were welcomed by city officials, among them Councilors Em Legaspi Ang and Jason Villarosa, during the Mayor’s Night held at the Bacolod City Government Center lobby on Tuesday. ‘The event aims to further strengthen ties and showcase the best of Bacolod’s culture and community to the distinguished guests,’ the city government said in a

TACLOBAN CITY: Two more towns in Eastern Samar have been formally declared completely free from the threats of the New People’s Army (NPA), the Philippine Army said on Wednesday. In a statement on Wednesday, Brig. Gen. Noel Vestuir, commander of the Philippine Army’s 802nd Infantry Brigade, said the declaration led by the town mayors of Hernani and Maydolong marked a significant milestone in the ongoing efforts to maintain peace and stability. ‘With no sightings of armed rebels for several years now, these towns have achieved insurgency-free status and, officially, stable internal peace and security conditions (SIPS),’ Vestuir said. A town

DATU ODIN SINSUAT: Maguindanao Sur – Police arrested here Tuesday afternoon an alleged high-value target during a drug buy-bust operation and seized from him suspected shabu with an estimated street value of PHP6.8 million. Lt. Col. Esmael Madin, Sultan Kudarat municipal police station chief, said the suspect, Morsalon Tantong, 31, first transacted with an undercover agent for the trade-off in Barangay Simuay, Sultan Kudarat. ‘However, the suspect moved the transaction venue to Barangay Awang in Datu Odin Sinsuat town at 4 p.m.,’ Madin said in an interview Wednesday. The suspect, who hails from Zamboanga del Sur, did not resist arrest.

MANILA: Finance Secretary Ralph Recto Ralph Recto on Wednesday said the Department of Finance (DOF) is ready to tap USD500 million of standby credit line extended by the World Bank to the Philippines to support the government’s disaster relief and rehabilitation efforts in areas devastated by typhoon Carina. ‘These funds will be immediately withdrawn and released once the President declares a state of calamity,” Recto said in a statement. “This will allow us to rapidly deliver critical services like healthcare, shelter, and food to those affected by typhoon Carina as well as fund post-disaster emergency response, recovery, and reconstruction efforts,’

CALAMBA CITY: The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Calabarzon has reminded employees that absences due to weather disturbances such as Typhoon Carina cannot be meted with administrative sanction from employers. Dale Villafuerte, DOLE Calabarzon assistant labor inspection sector officer, clarified that Labor Advisory No. 17 Series of 2022 on the suspension of work in the private sector due to weather disturbances and similar occurrences is still enforceable. ‘The advisory is still in effect since there is no other current advisory amending or repelling the same,’ he said in a phone interview Wednesday. Villafuerte said that under the advisory, it