General

Manila: The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday cautioned rice traders against exploiting the government’s ‘Benteng Bigas Meron (BBM) Na’ program to justify slashing their buying prices from farmers. This came amid reports that palay (unhusked rice) prices in Victoria, Tarlac have dropped to as low as PHP13/kg – allegedly due to BBM Na’s low retail price, which is even cheaper than rice bran. According to Philippines News Agency, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa stated in a press briefing that traders cannot use the PHP20 rice price as a basis to lower their buying prices from farmers. He emphasized

Agra: Jessica Marie Agra will compete in China and Japan this month to gain more world ranking points. The Filipino lawyer is the highest-ranked Filipino in the women’s division of the Federaci³n Internacional de P¡del (FIP) at No. 157. According to Philippines News Agency, Agra will leave for China on Thursday to join the FIP Silver category event scheduled for July 3 to 6 in Chengdu. She will team up with Yoshino Kushima, a member of the Japan national team. They reached the semifinal round at a Silver category event in Melbourne, Australia in January. Agra and Kushima, the No.

Mabalacat city: Law enforcement authorities seized a large cache of marijuana-based products during a buy-bust operation that led to the arrest of three high-value individuals (HVIs) in Barangay Bical, Mabalacat City, on Wednesday. According to Philippines News Agency, the afternoon operation was launched by the Station Drug Enforcement Unit (SDEU) of the Mabalacat City Police Station at around 2:52 p.m. and resulted in the arrest of suspects identified by their aliases ‘Jek-Jek,’ ‘Josh,’ and ‘Ana,’ all residents of Pampanga and Angeles City. Confiscated during the operation were 2 kilograms of dried marijuana leaves, 520 grams of suspected “kush,” 218 marijuana-laced

Davao city: Davao City has been ranked fifth among the 33 highly urbanized cities (HUCs) in the Philippines for its contribution to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, as reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) 11 (Davao) on Wednesday. The city contributed PHP532.54 billion, or 2.5 percent of the GDP, at constant 2018 prices, following Quezon City, Makati, Manila, and Taguig. According to Philippines News Agency, when the rankings are extended to include the 82 provinces and 33 HUCs across the country, Davao City stands at the 10th position in terms of GDP contribution. The top contributors

Kidapawan: Reelected Mayor Jose Paolo Evangelista on Tuesday intensified his efforts for transparency and good governance by working to improve anti-corruption policies and to boost the image of local public servants. Evangelista, currently serving his second term, highlighted five key changes that all elected officials and government workers in Kidapawan City should adopt and strictly follow. According to Philippines News Agency, the changes include strict compliance with a ‘No Gift Policy’ in all offices, extending to barangay local government units. “We are paid by the government; thus, gifts and tips are not necessary to perform our tasks,” Evangelista, a lawyer,