Category: General

Three days before the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Surigao City government officially opened an exhibit featuring World War II memorabilia on Tuesday afternoon. The opening ceremony, led by Vice Mayor Alfonso Casurra and City Tourism Officer Roselyn Merlin, was attended by families of Australian veterans who arrived in Surigao City to participate in the upcoming commemoration. The Battle of Surigao Strait, fought at dawn on Oct. 25, 1944, is considered the “last big gun battle” and one of the “greatest triumphs of the US Navy” during World War II. Dignitaries from Japan, the United States,

MANILA: Malacañang on Wednesday announced the suspension of work in government offices and classes at all levels in Luzon on Thursday due to expected heavy rains from Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (international name Trami). The Office of the Executive Secretary (OES) said work in government and classes in schools are ordered suspended on Thursday following the recommendation of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). The NDRRMC made the recommendation, because of the ‘forecasted continuous heavy rainfall due to Severe Tropical Storm Kristine, and to aid in the rescue and relief operations of the government.’ The OES initially

BUTUAN CITY – About 4,800 beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) graduated in this city on Tuesday, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 13 (Caraga). ‘Most of those who graduated have improved their economic conditions, moving from survival to subsistence and toward self-sufficiency,’ Aiza Sarmiento, the 4Ps Butuan operations team leader, said in an interview Wednesday. Sarmiento noted that 98 percent of the graduates achieved self-sufficiency, while the remaining 2 percent completed the program due to natural attrition. Natural attrition refers to beneficiaries who no longer have children aged 0 to 18, the age

ILOILO CITY – The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) has raised its blue alert status on its emergency operations center and response clusters for heightened monitoring and reporting of the effects of Tropical Storm Kristine. Civil Defense Regional Director and RDRRMC chairperson Raul Fernandez on Wednesday said all rescue units and uniformed personnel were alerted, welfare goods were prepositioned, and evacuation centers were ready. ‘We will implement preemptive evacuation in flood-prone and landslide-prone areas,’ Fernandez said in an interview, citing as focused areas the coastal areas of Capiz, some parts of Aklan, Antique, and hinterlands of Leon,

Manila: The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported Wednesday that it has provided more than PHP2.3 million worth of humanitarian assistance to families affected by Tropical Storm Kristine. ‘The DSWD has already provided PHP2,326,978.60 worth of food and non-food items (NFIs) to the affected local government units (LGUs), specifically in the provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur, and Sorsogon in Bicol Region; Bacolod City in Region 6 (Western Visayas); and North Cotabato in Soccsksargen,’ Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said. Dumlao said volunteers in the National Resource Operations Center (NROC) in Pasay City are continuously