Category: General

Manila: The Department of Agriculture (DA) will have consultations with heads of large retail markets in Metro Manila next week to combat possible profiteering on imported rice. In an interview Tuesday, DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said prices of well-milled rice in the markets should not go beyond PHP50 per kilogram, considering the tariff cut on imported rice to 15 percent from 35 percent which took effect in July. He said importers claimed that they are selling wholesale rice at PHP38/kg, which should bring the retail price at around PHP45/kg. Reports reaching the DA alleged that some retailers are

Local businesses and public advocates are pushing to establish Cagayan de Oro as a regional Halal hub, coinciding with this year’s “Oro Best Expo.” During the event launch on Tuesday, Avalyn Cahulogan, president of the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation Inc. (Oro Chamber), highlighted halal’s economic potential for the city. Northern Mindanao is also supporting President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s socioeconomic agenda, including a halal strategic plan aimed at doubling output domestically and internationally by 2028. “With halal, we’re tapping into a robust and expanding market,’ Cahulogan said, adding that halal compliance ensures food safety by

MANILA: The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB)-Region 6 has approved an additional PHP32 to PHP40 increase in the salaries of the minimum wage earners in Western Visayas. In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said the RTWPB motu proprio issued Wage Order No. RBVI-28 last Oct. 22, granting the daily wage increase for private sector workers in the region. ‘This brings the daily minimum wage rates in the region to a range of PHP485-PHP513 in the non-agriculture sector and PHPP480 in the agriculture sector,’ it said. The RTWPB Western Visayas also approved a

ILOILO CITY – The National Dairy Authority (NDA) aims to increase the country’s milk sufficiency to 2.5 percent in 2025 from the current 1 percent, and bring it closer to 5 percent sufficiency with milk production of 80 million liters by 2028. ‘The Department of Agriculture, through the NDA, is hell-bent on doubling the milk sufficiency of the country by next year. While this increase may seem modest, it represents a groundbreaking achievement, the first substantial progress in dairy sufficiency in many years, if ever, occurring under the Marcos Jr. administration,’ NDA Administrator lawyer Marcus Antonios Andaya said in his

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday honored the 2024 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos, hailing them as the new faces of public service. In a ceremony in Malacañang, Marcos commended the 10 teachers, soldiers, and police officers for demonstrating what it truly means to be a ‘Bagong Pilipino’ (new Filipino). ‘You are the new faces of public service-dedicated, selfless, and committed to excellence-the living examples of what it truly means to be a Bagong Pilipino,’ Marcos said. The 2024 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos were teachers Ma. Ella Fabella and Franco Rino Apoyon; professors Dr. Maria Regina Hechanova-Alampay and