Day: October 23, 2024

BACOLOD CITY – Negros Occidental’s Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) went on blue alert as Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) No. 1 was hoisted over northern Negros due to Tropical Storm Kristine Wednesday morning. In an advisory, the PDRRMC Emergency Operations Center said concerned offices, agencies, and local DRRMCs were told to ‘closely monitor respective areas of responsibility and send updates.’ ‘Blue alert’ requires the operation centers to be on standby and prepared to respond to any incident. As of 11 a.m., TCWS No. 1 was in effect in the northern portion of Negros Occidental, including Pontevedra,

LEGAZPI CITY – The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) 5 (Bicol) targets to expand the contract farming program with more than 3,000 hectares of rice fields to be planted by next year. During Tuesday’s “Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas” forum at the NIA-5 office in Naga City, NIA regional manager Gaudencio John De Vera said this would be done to produce and sell more Bagong Bayaning Magsasaka (BBM) rice being sold to vulnerable sectors for a much lower price of PHP29 per kg. He said the additional 3,000 hectares would be distributed to the region’s six provinces through NIA-assisted Irrigators Associations (IAs).

Manila: The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday reported that 60 to 70 percent of farmers in areas at risk of damage in nine regions have harvested early before the onslaught of Tropical Storm Kristine (international name: Trami). In a phone interview, DA Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa cited the early harvest as ‘good’ considering that at least 1.3 million hectares of rice and corn are at risk of damage in the Cordillera and Ilocos Regions, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol Region, Eastern Visayas, and Caraga. “Dahil doon sa utos ni (Because of the instruction of) Secretary (Francisco

Manila: Spillway gates of San Roque and Magat dams will be opened on Wednesday as Tropical Storm Kristine continues to batter parts of the country with heavy rainfall. The National Power Corporation (Napocor) said San Roque’s reservoir elevation needs to be lowered in anticipation of heavy inflow due to Kristine. As of 8 a.m., the dam’s water level reached 275.98 m., still below its normal level of 280 m. Napocor said San Roque’s Gate 2A will be opened at 0.5 m., with an estimated discharge of 53 cubic meters per second (cms). Meanwhile, as of 9 a.m., Magat Dam’s water

Manila: The Philippines will encourage its international development partners to invest more in initiatives that would advance women’s participation and role in peace and security, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said Wednesday. Pangandaman lamented that most projects from the country’s development partners do not include women, peace, and security initiatives. ‘If there is one, it’s not that big. The pie doesn’t show a big chunk of the budget on women, peace, and security. So, we would like to push that forward,’ she said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay. ‘More than anything else, we need the cooperation of the private sector,