Day: August 23, 2024

MANILA: Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian has underscored the substantial improvement of the agency’s budget utilization rate. He said the DSWD’s obligation rate in July 2023 was only 39 percent, with a disbursement rate of 67 percent. ‘We did a comprehensive housekeeping by conducting a thorough review of our processes and implemented significant improvements. We are pleased to report that the DSWD has made substantial progress in financial management,’ he told the House Committee on Appropriations’ deliberation on Aug. 21. “This year, the DSWD significantly surpassed this performance with an obligation rate of almost 51

LONDON: An Ipsos poll on Thursday revealed a deepening sense of division in British society amid continued public concern over extremism and the state of the nation. The poll, conducted between Aug. 9 to 12 in the aftermath of recent riots and unrest, highlights the public’s anxiety about various pressing issues, including extremism, the economy and public services. According to the poll, 85 percent of Britons believe that society is more divided than ever — a sentiment that has remained consistently high since 2021. This figure marks a four-point increase since March, underscoring the growing sense of societal fracture. Concerns

MANILA: The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) on Friday temporarily shut down the cooling system of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 due to ‘chiller troubleshooting.’ ‘As a precautionary and necessary measure to prevent potential major damage to the entire cooling system, MIAA was constrained to temporarily shut down the chillers to determine the cause of the problem,’ the MIAA said in a statement. The MIAA said descaling, cleaning, and swabbing procedures were also conducted on the affected chillers to ensure optimal operational conditions. It said elevated temperatures are now being addressed after observing high operational temperature of