Year: 2024

ILOILO CITY – The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) has finished the implementation of 50 solar pump irrigation projects in Western Visayas, serving 918 hectares of service areas benefiting 661 farmer beneficiaries, an official reported on Tuesday. During the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas briefing, acting NIA Regional Manager engineer Jonel Borres said 28 other solar pump irrigation projects are ongoing, which when completed by the second quarter of 2025, will bring the total service area to 1,423 hectares benefitting 1,061 farmers in the region. ‘With NIA’s goal of modernizing irrigation in the country, the agency pushes for energy efficient and sustainable

Manila: The Regional Trial Courts (RTC) of Pasig and Quezon City granted on Tuesday the request of the Senate to allow Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) leader Apollo Quiboloy to appear before the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality’s resumption of its inquiry into the alleged abuses within the religious organizations on Oct. 23. Pasig RTC Branch 159 acting presiding judge Rainelda Montesa ordered the Pasig City Jail and the Philippine National Police’s Custodial Center to escort Quiboloy and co-accused Jackielyn Roy, Cresente Canada, Ingrid Canada, Paulene Canada, and Sylvia Cemanes to the Senate in Pasay City

Manila: The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) reported that six 69 kilovolt (kV) transmission lines in the Visayas and Luzon have gone out as of 2 p.m. Tuesday amid the onslaught of Tropical Storm Kristine. Five of the unavailable transmission lines are in the Visayas – the Paranas-Quinapondan 69kV Line, affecting the Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative’s (Esamelco) franchise areas; the Maasin-Baybay 69kV Line, affecting the Leyte IV Electric Cooperative (Leyeco IV); the Ormoc-San Isidro 69kV Line, affecting Leyeco III, Leyeco V, Biliran Electric Cooperative (Bileco), and the Don Orestes Romualdez Electric Cooperative (Dorelco); the Calbayog-Bliss 69kV Line, affecting

Manila: Police rescued a six-year-old boy from his mother and her partner who are engaged in online sexual exploitation in Laguna, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Tuesday. PNP-Anti-Cybercrime Group chief Maj. Gen. Ronnie Francis Cariaga said the entrapment operation in Barangay Pansol on Oct. 17 yielded four mobile phones used to record, livestream and store images of the child’s abuse. The operation was carried out following the arrest of a 33-year-old man from New South Wales, Australia on Sept. 19, 2024. The Australian identified the mother of the rescued child as the facilitator of the online sexual abuse and

Manila: Local cement manufacturers are ready to meet the increasing demand for housing in the Philippines as domestic production capacity improved over the years, Cement Manufacturers’ Association of the Philippines (CEMAP) said in a statement Tuesday. CEMAP president Reinier Dizon said domestic cement production has risen significantly with expansion projects and investments from new players. ‘In terms of capacity, the domestic cement industry has grown from 27 million tons in 2014 to 50 million tons in 2024,’ Dizon said. In July this year, Japanese cement manufacturer Taiheiyo inaugurated its new plant in San Fernando, Cebu, with investments amounting to PHP12.8