COTABATO CITY – The Regional Board of Investments-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (RBOI-BARMM) has provisionally registered the PHP998-million petroleum project by the Esmaulana Global Ventures Company Inc. (EMGVCI) in the region under the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program (PCECP). RBOI-BARMM chairman Ishak Mastura revealed this in a statement Tuesday following a recent zoom meeting with DOE and EMGVCI representatives. “The proposed investment project covers the Liguasan Marsh in Maguindanao and the Sulu Sea but the areas that fall within the BARMM jurisdiction are subject to the joint determination by the BARMM regional government and the

SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – Fisherfolk in the municipality of Laua-an in this province will soon have additional income through their chicken layer projects. Benny Lagrimosa, president of the Lindero SAAD (Special Area for Agricultural Development) Fisherfolk Association, said they feel fortunate that aside from the assistance they received last year from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), they again received chicken layers from the Department of Agriculture (DA) through the SAAD project. Layer poultry farming means raising egg-laying poultry birds for commercial production Last year, the 35 members of their association were all able to receive

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