ALANGALANG, Leyte – A public transport terminal will soon rise here for nearly 700 public utility vehicles, the local government announced on Tuesday. The terminal will rise in Milagrosa village, 100 meters away from the national highway within an 800-square meter lot acquired by the local government from a private owner, Alangalang town Mayor Lovell Anne Yu said in an interview. The municipality and the provincial government of Leyte held a groundbreaking for the Alangalang Public Transport Terminal on July 2. The town has allocated a PHP14 million budget for the construction of the transport terminal sourced out from the

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The city government has launched its safety seal certification program to promote compliance among businesses with the health protocols and control measures amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. Karl Vincent Quiepo, chief administrative officer of the city mayor’s office, said the initial rollout of the initiative is underway on Tuesday based on Executive Order (EO) No. 29 issued last week by Mayor Ronnel Rivera. He said the program focuses on the certification and issuance of safety seals to business establishments that have complied with the minimum public health standards and adopted the contact tracing systems.

LEGAZPI CITY – To step up its advocacy against child labor across Bicol, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in the region is conducting seminars for parents and guardians on the risks it poses on the children’s welfare and education. As part of the agency’s initiatives, 13 parents of child laborers in Camarines Norte were educated late last month on Republic Act (RA) 9231, “An Act Providing for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor and Affording Stronger Protection for the Working Child”, and oriented on its services including the Kabuhayan Program and Project Angel, which the

TACLOBAN CITY – At least 78,437 informal workers in Eastern Visayas have benefited from the government’s emergency employment program from January to June 2021 for those affected by the pandemic. As of June 30, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has released PHP382 million for the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced (TUPAD) program in the region’s six provinces, said Norma Rae Costimiano, DOLE Eastern Visayas information officer, in a phone interview Tuesday. Each affected worker received one-time financial assistance of up to PHP5,000 under TUPAD, a community-based package of assistance that provides emergency employment for displaced workers, underemployed, and

CEBU CITY – The Regional Development Council in Central Visayas (RDC-7) has called on all stakeholders and government agencies to carefully study the impact of the proposed 234.8-hectare reclamation project in Consolacion, northern Cebu on the local economy. The reclamation project, spearheaded by La Consolacion Seafront Development Corp. (LCSDC), aims to create a so-called “Seafront City,” which would supposedly turn the foreshore, offshore, and seas within Consolacion into an international economic hub. “We hope that the Consolacion project is backed up by sound financials and business plans, as well as environmental impact studies. We also hope that their financial partner

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – A realty consultant has recommended the establishment of mass human settlement sites or townships here to effectively address the city’s housing problem. Lawyer Rey Cartojano, national president of the Philippine Association of Realty Consultants and Specialists Inc., said on Tuesday such strategy will help solve the city’s housing backlog for the poor and at the same time expand the area’s economic potentials. He said the city has available lands in various barangays that are ideal for the development of new townships. “It would be better if we focus our resettlement programs on this,” he said in