General

LEGAZPI CITY – A total of 239 students from Albay province received on Tuesday a financial grant under the Student Monetary Assistance for Recovery and Transition (SMART) program of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). In an interview during the payout at Embarcedero de Legazpi, Jean Cardiño, CHED Bicol chief administrative officer, said each beneficiary received PHP25,000 in one-time assistance, totaling PHP5.97 million. “The SMART Grant Program is a project of the commission being given a one-time fixed financial grant to qualified students for as long as they are enrolled in an undergraduate program for the school year 2023-2024,” she

MATANOG, Maguindanao del Norte – Amid incessant moderate rains and gloomy weather, police personnel from the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR) on Tuesday continued clearing flood debris and rocks to restore normalcy here. This town was the hardest-hit area in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) following flash floods and mudflows on July 9 that left five children dead. Brig. Gen. Prexy Tanggawohn, PRO-BAR regional director, said 120 personnel have already been deployed, and 400 personnel are on standby to serve as a Reactionary Standby Support Force (RSSF). As of July 15, a sufficient number of designated

LAOAG CITY – A total of 53 owners of micro and small enterprises from Ilocos Region graduated Tuesday from the three-month mentoring program under the Go Negosyo’s Kapatid Mentor Me-Money Market Encounter (KMME-MME) program. Twelve of the graduates were from Ilocos Norte while the rest were from the provinces of Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan. The partnership between the Department of Trade and Industry-Region 1 (DTI-Ilocos) and the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship – Go Negosyo empowers micro-enterprises with business development tools. Ilocos Norte’s first Business Incubation Center in this city serves as a co-working space and a one-stop-shop for

BACOLOD CITY – The Bacolod City Comprehensive Health Program (BacCHP) already has 104,000 registered members as of Tuesday. Of the total, almost 5,000 cardholders have already availed of hospitalization services since the flagship health program began in May 2023. Under the BacCHP ordinance, the city government guarantees PHP15,000 for the hospital bills of each cardholder and their dependents. In an interview, BacCHP focal person Mae Cuaycong said the city government spends PHP9 million to PHP10 million each month for patient admission payments in all partner-hospitals. ‘Our funds are getting low so the last instruction of the mayor (Alfredo Abelardo Benitez)

LEGAZPI CITY – To provide better medical access to women and children, a PHP300 million facility will soon rise inside the compound of the Bicol Regional Hospital and Medical Center (BRHMC) in Daraga, Albay. During a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, Ako Bicol (AKB) Party-list Representative and House Committee of Appropriations chairperson Elizaldy Co said to be constructed is Phase 1 of Women’s Health and Child Care Specialty Center, which will be a 10-story medical care facility for the townsfolk, especially pregnant women and children. The new facility will have a capacity of more than 120 beds. “As a Bicolano, I