General

Asingan: Visitors and residents here shared more than 700 trays of “kankanen” (native rice cakes) during Saturday’s celebration of the Kankanen Festival. According to Philippines News Agency, Mayor Calos Lopez Jr. stated that the town’s 21 barangays, including 27 schools and 10 civic society organizations, collaborated to produce the native rice cakes for the event. In less than 30 minutes, the more than 700 trays, or “bilao,” of “kankanen” was consumed. “Everybody’s excited to taste the different kankanen. This year, aside from biko (‘inkalti’ in Ilocano), there are also suman, palitaw, tupig, latik, puto, bitso-bitso, and others,” Mayor Lopez remarked.

Manila: Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has directed the National Food Authority (NFA) to begin moving rice stocks to the Visayas in preparation for the launch of the PHP20 per kilo rice program. ‘It will take several weeks to transfer tens even hundreds of thousands of 50-kilo bags rice from NFA warehouses, particularly from Mindoro, to various parts of the Visayas,’ Laurel, who also chairs the NFA Council, said in a news release Sunday. According to Philippines News Agency, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has already secured clearance from the Commission on Elections to implement the PHP20/kilo program, a

Makati City: The country’s electronics and semiconductor industry is projecting a modest recovery in 2025, following two years of decline. Semiconductor and Electronics Industry in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. (SEIPI) president Dan Lachica told reporters in a chance interview that the local sector is expected to deliver a 1 to 2 percent growth this year. According to Philippines News Agency, Lachica spoke on the sidelines of the Aboitiz InfraCapital Economic Estates Industrial Summit 2025 in Makati City. He mentioned that the industry had contracted for two consecutive years and is now projecting flat growth, though there is optimism for modest

Lima: Eight Filipino weightlifters, led by Zamboanga City’s Angeline Colonia, are gearing up to compete at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Youth and Junior World Championships in Lima, Peru, scheduled from April 30 to May 5, 2025. According to Philippines News Agency, Colonia, who previously clinched a gold medal at the 2024 World Juniors in Spain and a silver at the 2023 Cambodia Southeast Asian Games, will compete in the junior women’s 45kg division. The squad from Zamboanga City includes Alexsandra Ann Diaz (youth women’s 40kg), Rosalinda Faustino (junior women’s 49kg), Jhodie Peralta (youth/junior women’s 55kg), Jay-R Colonia (youth men’s

Vancouver: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney assured authorities are ‘monitoring the situation closely’ as reports remained vague on the actual number of fatalities and injured at the ‘Lapu Lapu Day ’25 Block Party’ that ended in tragedy in Vancouver on Saturday night (Sunday afternoon in PH). A sports utility vehicle (SUV) drove into a crowd of people near Fraser Street and 43rd Avenue around 8 p.m., sending ‘people flying,’ according to local reports. According to Philippines News Agency, the Prime Minister expressed his devastation over the incident. “I am devastated to hear about the horrific events at the Lapu Lapu