Author: lwadmin

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY: The Misamis Oriental province allocated more than PHP5 million in its budget to hire additional staff to safeguard natural protected areas.

On Monday morning, Governor Peter Unabia signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Northern Mindanao (DENR-10) Executive Director Arleigh Adorable.

Under the MOA, the DENR will hire 25 forest protection officers, 15 land examiners, four “bantay lasang” or forest watchers and two “bantay dagat” or sea watchers.

They will work within the province to safeguard its identified protected areas, with an initial contract from July to December.

Unabia said the priority under the MOA is to conserve, protect and preserve the province’s watersheds.

Since most of the water sources in the province and this city come from river tributaries from Bukidnon province, Unabia said he has also engaged with Indigenous Peoples community living near the watersheds.

“According to the United States Agency for International
Development, we face a water crisis in the province. Yes, we are already dealing with a climate crisis, but when it comes to water, we need to intervene as soon as possible,” Unabia said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

ILOILO CITY: Western Visayas is targeting to bring home this year’s Palarong Pambansa crown after a second-place finish during the 2023 national sports event.

The region with its 933-strong delegation is also ready to defend three new records – two in swimming and one in athletics, Department of Education Western Visayas information officer Hernani Escullar Jr. said in an interview on Monday.

‘This is a big challenge for us because we ranked number two last year and third in the preceding year. We were one notch higher,’ he said.

In the 2023 Palarong Pambansa, Western Visayas set two regional records, including in the 50-meter freestyle and 50-meter backstroke in swimming and discus throwing in athletics, all in secondary boys.

The region bagged 60 golds, 45 silver, and 44 bronze medals, clinching the second post.

‘But you know this might be the last Palarong Pambansa with Negros Occidental team. We want to make sure that this year, we get the championship crown. Since we are the home of the champions, w
e really aim for the gold,’ Escullar added.

Negros Occidental contributed roughly 40 percent to 50 percent of the total medal count in 2023.

‘Although we are not short of potential because we have many of the best athletes from Panay and Guimaras, we will do our best to hone them once athletes coming from the Negros Island Region will separate,’ Escullar said.

The delegation from Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, and Guimaras will sail to Cebu evening of Friday, while the Negros Occidental team will travel in the morning of Sunday in time for the opening ceremony on July 9.

Source: Philippines News Agency

ILOILO CITY: To establish more police presence to ensure peace and order, the local government here welcomed four new police stations with 147 police officers under the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO).

Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief General Rommel Marbil will officially activate the four stations on July 2.

This will bring to 10 the number of police stations watching over the entire city.

‘We have procured the office desks, chairs, computers, and the rest. Three police cars have already been procured since the PNP will provide one. We will also buy them long firearms,’ Mayor Jerry Treñas said Monday.

Police Station (PS) 7 at the Tanza ICARE in City Proper District will serve 24 barangays with 26,835 population, while PS8 at the Barangay Hall of Bo. Obrero will cater to 12 barangays in Lapuz district with 30,384 residents.

Station 9 at the Uswag Youth Center in Jaro district will cover 29 barangays with 60,519 population, and the PS 10 will be at the ICARE Gaisano in Mandurriao district to serve
seven barangays and its 25,917 population.

Treñas said it would be easier to manage if the area of responsibility of each station is smaller.

The city government sought additional stations as early as 2019 but was put on hold because of the pandemic.

‘I am very happy. This is a dream come true for us,’ Treñas added.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: Immigration authorities arrested nine Chinese nationals suspected to be illegally working in vessels along Manila Bay in Parañaque City.

In a statement Monday, Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco said Li Weilin, Liu Peng, Wang Yong, Huang Haibing, Gong Yuan Ju, Zhang Tao, Dai Guang Yuan, Li Jiang Yu, and Kang Tian De were arrested on June 29 along the shoreline of the Parañaque Fishport in Barangay Dongalo.

He said the foreigners were caught while disembarking from three motorboats by the bureau’s Intelligence Division (ID), in coordination with military troops.

Four of the workers have passports and hold 9G visas petitioned by an engineering company in the Philippines, while the remaining five are undocumented aliens.

‘We have reason to suspect that these individuals are engaging in illegal work in vessels along Manila Bay. Their visas limit their work to a company in Pasay City and nowhere else. Foreign nationals with valid working visas, if found to be working in a differen
t company, are violating the conditions of their stay,’ Tansingco said.

Meanwhile, ID chief Fortunato Manahan Jr. said they conducted months of surveillance and intelligence gathering after receiving reports of Chinese nationals boarding and disembarking vessels along the bay.

The foreigners are now detained at the BI’s facility inside Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City.

Source: Philippines News Agency

LEGAZPI CITY: The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Bicol (DSWD-5) has completed the implementation of Project LAWA at BINHI (Local Adaptation to Water Access and Breaking Insufficiency through Nutritious Harvest) with 12 partner local government units (LGUs) in the region.

In an interview on Monday, DSWD-5 disaster risk reduction and management division information officer Carl James Cabarles said the partner LGUs completed the three stages of the program on Friday.

These are Caramoran, Gigmoto, Viga and Bagamanoc in Catanduanes; Magallanes, Pilar, Casiguran, Donsol and Castilla in Sorsogon; and Balud, Batuan and Pio V. Corpus in Masbate province.

The stages of implementation involved a three-day learning and development session through cash-for-training; 15-day cash-for-work program supporting water sufficiency and food security; and two-day cash-for-training focused on implementation assessment and project sustainability planning.

“The 12 partner LGUs with the partner beneficiaries have c
ompleted projects related to ensuring water sufficiency and food security in their areas. We have a total of 3,642 partner beneficiaries that will receive PHP7,900 each for the 20-day cash for training and work,” Cabarles said.

He said this week’s scheduled payout will be in Catanduanes province.

Some of the outputs of the beneficiaries were the construction of small farm reservoirs, repair and rehabilitation of water-impounding facilities and multipurpose water infrastructure, he noted.

Cabarles said for food insecurity, the projects included school-based and community-based gardening, and planting of disaster-resilient crops and fruit-bearing trees.

He noted that the initiative aims to address and prevent adversities and challenges that may be caused by La Niña and establish long-term solutions to mitigate the impact of water scarcity and food insufficiency on vulnerable communities during disasters.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: Performance of Philippine factories in June recorded a positive score, the S and P Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reported Monday.

Philippine manufacturing PMI in June stood at 51.3, easing from 51.9 in May.

‘Strong improvements in demand trends earlier in the second quarter allowed manufacturing firms to raise their production volumes at a solid and sustained rate in June,’ S and P Global Market Intelligence economist Maryam Baluch said in a statement.

In the previous month, output and purchasing activity of manufacturers accelerated their pace.

Meanwhile, new orders and hiring activity slowed down last month.

Baluch said the cooling in demand conditions suggests weaker output as the industry moves into the second half of 2024.

“Future expectations also retreated, further alluding to softening sentiment in the outlook. However, inflationary pressures remained in check, despite a renewed rise in operating costs. Relatively soft and subdued upticks in costs and charges coul
d help the sector generate demand in the coming months,’ she said.

Indices above the neutral score of 50 mean stronger Philippine factories’ performance while those below 50 mean deterioration.

Source: Philippines News Agency

ILOILO CITY: The National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) Iloilo aims to raise public awareness and inspire appreciation of Filipino heritage with its Pambansang Museum sa Barangay (PMB) project.

NMP Iloilo officer-in-charge Maricyn De Los Santos on Monday said the PMB are mobile boxes brought to barangays for display and public viewing.

They have five boxes containing a replica of their national collections inside the museum to make them accessible to the public.

The boxes feature biodiversity conservation of West Visayas fauna, national cultural treasure (Oton Gold Death Mask), elephant and stegodon (The gentle Giants of Panay), and Haból Panay (The woven artistry of Western Visayas), among others.

“We came up with the program for everyone who has difficulty accessing to go to the museum –we can go to their place. It is called Pambansang Museum sa Barangay because we bring the boxes to the barangay. Yung mandate kasi ng (Because the mandate of the) National Museum is to make the national collections ac
cessible to everyone,’ she said in an interview.

The traveling exhibition started in 2022 and expanded to schools, state universities, and barangays.

Last year, they brought the exhibits to Passi National High School, Santa Barbara Central Elementary School, and Northern Iloilo State University (NISU).

They also brought the exhibit to Iloilo State University of Fisheries Science and Technology (ISUFST)-Dingle campus last month and in Barangay Hibao-an Norte here in April.

They target to bring the exhibit next to Barangay Ingore in Iloilo City.

Source: Philippines News Agency

LONDON: The third Grand Slam tennis tournament this season, Wimbledon, kicks off in London on Monday.

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Czechia’s Marketa Vondrousova will defend their winning titles.

The prize fund stands at $63 million this year.

Russian players will compete in neutral status. In 2022, they were not allowed to participate over the events in Ukraine, after which Wimbledon was fined.

In 2023, Russian athletes were allowed to participate but they had to sign a declaration of neutrality. This year, players from Russia and Belarus will participate under the same conditions. The spectators are also banned from bringing flags of these countries.

The tournament will end on July 14.

Wimbledon, which has been held since 1877, is one of the oldest and most prestigious tournaments in the world.

The competition takes place on grass and all players must wear white during the matches.

Source: Philippines News Agency

BACOLOD CITY: Internationally acclaimed Negrense painter Nunelucio Alvarado has been nominated for the Order of National Artist by the City of Sagay in Negros Occidental, with broad support from the local art community and government units here.

Helen Arguelles-Cutillar, head of the City Information and Tourism Office, in an interview on Monday, said they submitted the nomination for Alvarado in the Visual Arts category to the office of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) on Sunday.

‘It’s a long way to go, but we are grateful for this milestone. Let us collectively pray for the guidance as we await the next step. Meantime, let us share about Nune’s art and his communities,’ she said.

A native of Sagay, the 74-year-old visual artist and his wife Rosalia, live in a house and studio, with a coffee shop underneath along the city’s Margaha Beach.

Alvarado continues to paint amid the challenge of overcoming dementia.

Considered as among the most influential artists and a pioneer in the art
movement in Negros, he is a member of the Black Artists of Asia, an awardee of the Thirteen Artists Awards of the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1992, a grand prize winner of Philip Morris Art Awards in 1997 and 1999, and a recipient of the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan sa Larangan ng Pintura Award in 2004.

To celebrate the works and the contributions of Alvarado, a ‘Haligi’ (pillar) installation for visual arts was put up on the Margaha Beach last June 11, together with the six other pillars, representing the various art disciplines, including dance, literature, music, theater, film and architecture.

Alvarado’s 20-foot ‘Haligi’ features colorful paintings, found objects and sculptures made by other visual artists and people in the community.

The nomination of Alvarado has received resolutions of support from the Negros Occidental Provincial Board, the City Councils of Sagay and Cadiz, and Barangay Councils of Old Sagay and Fabrica.

‘Mr. Nunelucio Alvarado is the epitome of a dedicated and remar
kable artist, whose enduring masterpieces have showcased the beauty of Filipino culture even in mundane everyday experiences, bringing honor and pride to the nation and beyond,’ the Provincial Board said.

The Order of National Artist is the highest national recognition given to a Filipino individual who has made significant contributions to the Philippines through their achievements in the fields of Architecture and Allied Arts, Dance, Design, Film and Broadcast Arts, Literature, Music, Theater and Visual Arts.

The order is jointly administered by the NCCA and the Cultural Center of the Philippines and conferred by the President of the Philippines upon recommendation by both institutions.

Source: Philippines News Agency