General

Riyadh: Filipino excellence took center stage at The Filipino Times Watchlist Awards 2025, recognizing 71 outstanding Filipino professionals for their contributions to engineering, architecture, and healthcare in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The event, held at the Crowne Plaza Riyadh Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 20-21, was the first edition of the awards dedicated solely to honoring Filipino professionals in both countries. According to Philippines News Agency, the landmark awards event was organized by New Perspective Media Group, publisher of The Filipino Times, and recognized winners carefully selected by a panel of experts from a competitive

Manila: The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) announced the launch of a nationwide sale of its ‘Bagong Bayaning Magsasaka (BBM)’ rice, in collaboration with local government units (LGUs), set to commence in August. NIA Administrator Eduardo Guillen revealed the plans during a phone interview, emphasizing the immediate nationwide rollout, with each province participating in the initiative. According to Philippines News Agency, the initiative stems from a memorandum of agreement signed on May 27 between the NIA and the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP). This agreement aligns with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directives focused on enhancing food security. In

Manila: Growth of the Philippine economy is seen to remain the strongest in the Southeast Asian region amidst the impact of the United States’ tariff policies and other global economic risks, with output projected at 5.4 percent. According to Philippines News Agency, the latest figure is lower than HSBC’s 5.6 percent growth forecast earlier, but Aris Dacanay, HSBC ASEAN economist, said this is just a sequential change given the surprise slowdown in the first quarter of this year to 5.4 percent compared to the 5.9 percent last year. The first quarter growth, as measured by gross domestic product, is, however,

Manila: Nine overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Pangasinan and Ilocos Sur have safely returned to the Philippines after being repatriated from the Middle East, following tensions between Israel and Iran. According to Philippines News Agency, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA)-Ilocos regional office reported that eight of the OFWs came from Israel and one from Jordan. Their repatriation was facilitated on June 24, despite earlier flight disruptions caused by Qatar’s temporary airspace closure. Their flights were successfully re-routed, and they arrived at NAIA Terminal 3 accompanied by Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac and Undersecretary Venecio Legaspi.

Manila: At least 21 local government units (LGUs) in Eastern Visayas received laptops from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) during the launch of Project Courses for Literacy in Internet and Computer Knowledge (CLICK) in Palo, Leyte. According to Philippines News Agency, recipients of the laptops include the provincial government of Biliran and one of its municipalities, Caibiran; the municipalities of Sta Rita, San Sebastian, Marabut, and Jiabong in Samar province; Liloan, Anahawan, and Saint Bernard in Southern Leyte; Alangalang, Tolosa, Calubian, Carigara, MacArthur, and Matag-ob in Leyte; San Julian, Hernani, Lawaan, and San Policarpo in Eastern Samar