Day: January 28, 2025

Camarines Sur: The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Bicol (DSWD-5) awarded livelihood grants to seven eligible associations in Camarines Sur province through the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP). A total of PHP1.67 million in startup capital to support the establishment of various micro-enterprises within the SLP associations have been turned over to 120 program participants since December 2024, the DSWD said in a news release posted Monday. According to Philippines News Agency, in Del Gallego, Camarines Sur, three associations received seed capital for projects related to vegetable farming, broiler production, and rice retailing and wholesaling. In San Fernando, two

Manila: The Department of Agriculture (DA) announced plans to declare a food security emergency for rice in the first week of February. This decision follows a brief delay in receiving the official resolution from the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC). According to Philippines News Agency, DA Spokesperson Arnel de Mesa stated that the department anticipates receiving the resolution from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) within two working days. Post-receipt, the DA will conduct due diligence, and the declaration will follow shortly thereafter. This follows DTI’s commitment during a House Quinta committee hearing to release the resolution promptly. Under

Manila: The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) are urging the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) to include the island provinces of Region 4-B (Mimaropa) as part of the Luzon Economic Growth area. According to Philippines News Agency, the Luzon Economic Growth Area, also referred to as the Luzon Economic Corridor, encompasses the central and northern parts of Luzon, including key urban and industrial zones like Metro Manila, Batangas, and Central Luzon. The BuCor and PEZA made the call following the recent signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the establishment of an economic

Manila: Local broadband service provider Converge has blocked around 183 billion attempts to access illegal sites in 2024, around 18 times as much as the attempts from 2021 to 2023. In a statement Tuesday, Converge chief information security officer Andrew Malijan said these attempts were made to 683,000 uniform resource locators (URLs) or domains that were blocked by the company. According to Philippines News Agency, Malijan stated, “Acting on reports and submissions of government agencies as well as private entities, last year, we added 150,000 URLs or domains into our system that we tagged as illicit or unlawful. Traffic to

Manila: Senate President Francis Escudero dismissed anew allegations of irregularities in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), calling them unfair accusations that disregard the extensive legislative process undertaken by both houses of Congress. According to Philippines News Agency, Escudero’s reaction was in response to a petition filed before the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of certain provisions in the GAA. The petitioners, led by former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez and other former government officials, claim that specific budget allocations violate legal principles and should be nullified. “Para sa akin, unfair comment at accusation ‘yun lalo na sa bigat ng trabahong