Day: July 14, 2025

Manila: The Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to hold consultations with farmers and lawmakers in a bid to strengthen the government’s response to unscrupulous rice traders. The move came after Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. ordered on-the-ground consultations in preparation for the deliberations of House Bill No. 1 or the RICE Act that seeks to amend the Rice Tariffication Law and restore regulatory powers to the National Food Authority (NFA). According to Philippines News Agency, Tiu Laurel emphasized that consultations would help the government understand the challenges faced by farmers, especially amid allegations that the P20 rice program

Manila: Coral reefs in Pag-asa Reef 1 have sustained environmental damage due to the grounding of a Chinese ship there last month, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) said Monday. In a statement expressing concern over the incident, NTF-WPS reported that the Chinese vessel with bow number 16868 remained grounded in the area for nearly three hours before it managed to free itself without assistance. According to Philippines News Agency, the vessel was later escorted out of the area by the China Coast Guard (CCG) and two other Chinese vessels. Although the ship did not run

Davao: Davao Region’s inflation rate for the bottom 30 percent income households declined to -1.9 percent in June from -2.0 percent in May, the regional office of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA-11) reported Monday. In its bulletin, PSA-11 noted that the region’s inflation rate for this segment was significantly higher in June last year, at 4.8 percent. The downtrend in the June 2025 inflation was primarily due to slower price movements in several key commodity groups. According to Philippines News Agency, contributing to this decline were lower annual increments in food and non-alcoholic beverages, which fell to -4.8 percent from

Manila: Upticks in ancillary services (AS) rates for July primarily drove the higher transmission rates for this month, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said Monday. Julius Datingaling, NGCP business and regulatory development head, highlighted that AS rates, which are the pass-through costs for power supplied by AS providers, rose by 9.32 percent from PHP0.56/kilowatt hour (kWh) for the supply provided last May to PHP0.6182/kWh the following month, reflecting on the July billing of consumers. According to Philippines News Agency, overall equivalent average transmission rates for the billing period last June increased by 5.49 percent to PHP1.2113/kWh, from

Negros island region: The Commission on Elections in the Negros Island Region (Comelec-NIR) is anticipating a minimal turnout during the voter registration period from August 1 to 10 for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE). According to Philippines News Agency, Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, the regional election director for Comelec-NIR, noted that this pattern is typical, particularly after the national and local elections held last May. He mentioned that they expect only about a 5 percent increase or even less in registrants, as the registration process excludes voter transfers this time. Castillano clarified that only first-time voters aged 18,