Day: November 26, 2025

Manila: Senator Joel Villanueva wants to increase funding for the establishment of medical schools in state universities and colleges (SUCs) nationwide to accommodate more scholars under the Doktor para sa Bayan law. In a statement on Wednesday, Villanueva said the allocation of the seed fund for the development of medical schools of SUCs in the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP) remained at PHP150 million, the same level as when it was first funded in 2021. According to Philippines News Agency, Villanueva highlighted that the budget for the current year, 2025, has significantly decreased to PHP150 million compared to the higher

Manila: The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has initiated legal action against Universal Robina Corp. – Sugar and Renewables (URC-SURE) Bais Distillery for alleged environmental violations following a wastewater spill into the Ta±on Strait Protected Seascape. According to Philippines News Agency, DENR – Negros Island Region Executive Director Charlie Fabre announced that the complaints were filed with the Bais City prosecutor’s office on November 21. The allegations involve URC-SURE’s officers during the time of the spill, citing breaches of Republic Act 11038, known as the Expanded National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS) Act of 2018. The specific infractions

Manila: The thriving softbroom industry in this town has become the bread and butter, if not an additional livelihood for residents. Isidro Doculan, 56, a softbroom maker and farmer, shared in an interview on Wednesday that there are approximately 600 to 700 individuals involved in the industry within their community in Barangay Tagudtud. Most families in the area have members engaged in softbroom production. According to Philippines News Agency, Doculan manages a 25-square-meter plantation of buyboy or tiger grass, which serves as the primary raw material for softbrooms. He mentioned that they sometimes sell these raw materials to other provinces,

Antique: Face-to-face classes in 18 municipalities of Antique are set to resume on Thursday. The local government units of San Jose de Buenavista and Belison announced the end of the suspension of in-person classes on Wednesday afternoon, as informed by the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO). According to Philippines News Agency, Local DRRM Officer III Michael Tolentino stated in an interview that classes had already resumed in 16 towns on Wednesday following the absence of any rainfall warning for the province from the weather bureau. He mentioned that the two remaining municipalities, Belison and San Jose de

Manila: Bargain-hunting reversed the slide of the local bourse’s main index on Wednesday, while the peso closed almost unchanged against the greenback. A day after declining to below 6,000-level, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose 0.48 percent to end the trading at 6,004.70 points, but the broader All Shares went down by 0.79 percent to 3,546.65 points. According to Philippines News Agency, most of the sectoral gauges tracked the main index, led by Property after it jumped 1.31 percent. It was trailed by Financials, which increased by 1.24 percent; Services, rising by 0.84 percent; Mining and Oil, gaining 0.10