Category: General

MANILA – The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) has dispatched a rapid deployment team to Naga City, Camarines Sur to oversee the acceptance and distribution of relief for victims of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (international name Trami) in the Bicol Region. ‘This team will also facilitate the distribution of these essential items to affected areas,” OCD Administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno said in a news release. The OCD serves as the logistics coordinator for incoming relief supplies transported via aircraft, he added. The relief items sourced from various agencies are being transported to the Bicol Region for distribution across provinces. The

MANILA – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) continues to augment the resources of local government units (LGUs) that are still reeling from the impact of Several Tropical Storm Kristine (international name Trami). Special Assistant to the Secretary (SAS) for Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) and concurrent officer in charge of the National Resource and Logistics Management Bureau (NRLMB) Leo Quintilla said the augmentation of resources was upon the directive of DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian. Quintilla said the DSWD still has sufficient stockpiles prepositioned in the agency’s hubs, spokes, and last mile warehouses in all field offices (FOs)

MANILA – Women are underrepresented in peace processes, making up only 26.6 percent of the signatories in global peace agreements, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said Monday. Data collected by the United Nations (UN) Women in 2023 also showed that women comprised only 9.6 percent of negotiators and 13.7 percent of mediators worldwide. “These figures are far too low. We must do more. It is possible,” Manalo said at the opening of the three-day International Conference on Women, Peace and Security on Monday at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City. “And necessary, in light of evidence that when

MANILA – The Philippines, Japan and the United States convened an informal trilateral discussion on countering economic coercion and promoting economic resilience. In a news release on Monday, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the discussion last Oct. 25 intended to strengthen close coordination, based on the Joint Vision Statement from the leaders of the three nations issued at the historic first Japan-US-Philippines Summit last April. The three nations would cooperate to raise awareness of the issue among the international community and to enhance their resilience and ability to respond to potential economic coercion. The discussion was co-chaired by Board

MANILA – The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) on Monday filed human trafficking charges against former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. and two others for their alleged involvement in Lucky South 99 Corporation, a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub raided in Porac, Pampanga. In a supplemental complaint filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ), Roque, Mercides Macabasa and Ley Tan were added to the complaints filed against Cassandra Li Ong, and 53 others last month for violation of Republic Act (RA) 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of