Day: August 12, 2025

Alamada: Corn farmers in Alamada, North Cotabato, are expected to increase productivity and income after the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) turned over a corn mill machine to the town’s Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) on Monday. The beneficiary of the corn mill, worth PHP285,000, was the Polayagan Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative. According to Philippines News Agency, the assistance is part of DAR’s program to boost the community’s post-harvest processing capacity and improve the livelihood of ARBs in the area. Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer (PARPO) II Evangeline Bueno said in a statement Tuesday that the corn mill was provided through

Manila: The proportion of non-performing loans (NPLs) of Philippine banks to their total loans continued to ease in June this year, data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed. According to Philippines News Agency, data released Tuesday indicated that the NPL ratio went down to 3.34 percent in June from 3.38 percent in May. The gross non-performing loans amounted to PHP530.29 billion. Sought for comment, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation chief economist Michael Ricafort said the recent easing in the NPL ratio may be attributed to the faster growth in bank loans which expanded by over 12 percent in

Baguio: Six years after winning a gold medal in the World Skills competition, Joshua Lizardo is paying it forward as a cooking ‘expert’ at the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority-Cordillera State Institute of Technical Education (TESDA-CSITE). ‘I feel blessed to share the knowledge I gained from TESDA and my mentors,’ Lizardo said in Filipino during an interview with the Philippine News Agency on Monday. According to Philippines News Agency, a TESDA scholar himself, Lizardo joined CSITE in 2018 as a job order employee and later earned a permanent employment status. Now, he trains students who are following the same

Manila: Senators Bam Aquino and Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday lauded the gains in education, vowing measures to address classroom shortages and further improve learning outcomes. Gatchalian said the improvement in learners’ reading proficiency is proof that ongoing programs such as the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) program are working. According to Philippines News Agency, Gatchalian expressed confidence in the progress being made, noting the significant improvement in reading proficiency among learners. He emphasized that the success of the ARAL Program is crucial in accelerating learning recovery and reducing the number of non-readers. The Department of Education reported a substantial

Bago: Preparations are underway in the cities of Bago and La Carlota in Negros Occidental for the decampment of their respective internally displaced persons (IDPs) affected by the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon later this week. A total of 61 displaced families in La Carlota are set to return home to Barangay Ara-al on Aug. 14, while 22 families in Bago are preparing to go home to Barangay Ilijan on Aug. 16. According to Philippines News Agency, the Bago City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) reported it is assessing the situation of the IDPs temporarily staying at Payag sang