Day: October 29, 2024

MANILA: The Japanese government is funding a JPY724-million (approximately PHP275 million) project that will help address women’s health needs and gender-based violence in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). In signing the exchange of notes on the project on Tuesday, Japanese Ambassador Endo Kazuya said the initiative signals Tokyo’s continuing support to the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda in the region. ‘Our human security cooperation with the Philippines in BARMM provides a strategic opportunity for seeking gender-sensitive solutions, especially in the conflict affected areas,’ he said in a side event at the 2024 International Conference on Women,

MANILA: The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB)-Region 6 has approved an additional PHP32 to PHP40 increase in the salaries of the minimum wage earners in Western Visayas. In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said the RTWPB motu proprio issued Wage Order No. RBVI-28 last Oct. 22, granting the daily wage increase for private sector workers in the region. ‘This brings the daily minimum wage rates in the region to a range of PHP485-PHP513 in the non-agriculture sector and PHPP480 in the agriculture sector,’ it said. The RTWPB Western Visayas also approved a

MANILA: Marginal representation of women in the government offices and peace building processes cannot be counted as leadership, the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) said Tuesday. On the second day of the International Conference on Women, Peace and Security (ICWPS) 2024 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, PCW Chairperson Ermelita Valdeavilla noted that attainment of 50 percent representation in decision-making is possible and easy for men but not so for women. The United Nations Women data collected in 2023 showed that women made up only 9.6 percent of negotiators, 13.7 percent of mediators and 26.6 percent of

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has pledged at least PHP1 billion in support for the coffee farming industry, with a focus on farmers in Northern Mindanao. During his visit to the Bukidnon Integrated Coffee Center in Malaybalay City, on Tuesday, DA Secretary Francisco Laurel Jr. said he would seek an additional budget allocation from President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. He said the DA wants to reduce the country’s annual coffee bean import rate by 10 to 15 percent. “We need at least an additional 30,000 hectares for coffee farming, which I hope we can secure,” Laurel said. While in Bukidnon,

MANILA: A House of Representatives leader on Tuesday denied allegations raised in a Senate hearing that Col. Hector Grijaldo was coerced by lawmakers to corroborate claims of an alleged reward system in the war on drugs by the Duterte administration. In a press conference, House quad committee co-chair and Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez refuted Grijaldo’s claims that he and co-chair, Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante, asked that the witness support the testimony given by retired police colonel Royina Garma about a purported reward scheme tied to extrajudicial killings (EJKs). Grijaldo said the closed-door meeting supposedly happened on