Category: General

MANILA: Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Secretary Frederick Go urged concerned national government agencies (NGAs) to address the ‘pain points’ of pharmaceutical industry players and strengthen the country’s manufacturing of healthcare products.

In his speech delivered by Undersecretary Jose Edwinel Guilas, during a joint briefing of the Anti-Red Tape Authority, Department of Health, Philippine Economic Zone Authority and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Quezon City on Monday, Go urged the agencies to ease the processes for pharma players.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s economic czar mentioned that the so-called pain points for medical drug and device manufacturers are the bureaucratic nature of existing policies of regulatory agencies; difficulty in exporting and importing medicine; and the difficulty of international pharma companies in investing in the Philippines.

‘Can we not consider the certificates of other countries with higher certifying standards a
s compliance with ours?’ Go said, adding that it will also address FDA’s lack of manpower and equipment.

For import and export processes, Go said an administrative order is underway to resolve the challenge.

To ease doing business for investors, the government is eyeing an exclusive ecozone for pharma manufacturing.

‘Our office, together with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and FDA has called a technical working group to make it easier for pharmaceutical companies to set up their operations in economic zones,’ Go added.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Monday said a new project will be launched to address the impact of climate change.

The new initiative would be implemented through the agency’s Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) once all the preparations are completed.

Dubbed as “Panahon ng Pagkilos”, the community-led climate adaptation project will cater to areas with high poverty incidence, severe climatic hazards, and a significant proportion of indigenous population.

‘The KALAHI-CIDSS is committed to institutionalizing its program and preparing a new project to help poor communities in dealing with the climate crisis,’ KALAHI-CIDSS national program manager Bernadette Mapue-Joaquin said in a news release.

She said the climate crisis is deeply intertwined with social inequality, which affects disproportionately vulnerable populations.

‘Addressing this issue requires integrated solutions that promote social justice an
d leverage local knowledge to ensure that adaptation efforts are inclusive and effective,’ she said.

She said in combating climate risks, the KALAHI-CIDSS has achieved significant milestones, transforming communities and enhancing their resilience.

The program, she said, helped build 1,250 community centers, multi-purpose buildings, and evacuation centers, providing safe havens during disasters.

The KALAHI-CIDSS had also supplied 928 disaster and pandemic response and rescue equipment that bolstered the preparedness and response capabilities of local communities across the country.

Recognizing the importance of healthcare facilities, the program also built 3,566 quarantine facilities, now re-purposed to help manage public health emergencies during disasters.

‘Effective local-level financing is essential to build resilience and adaptive capacity in these communities, ensuring that they can withstand and recover from climate-related disasters,” Mapue-Joaquin said.

Retooling efforts

In 2023 alone, the KAL
AHI-CIDSS completed 16,320 subprojects, benefiting 5.56 million households. This success is attributed to strategic retooling efforts, including clustering subprojects, streamlining requirements, and increasing engagement with local chief executives.

The retooling process expanded the scope of subprojects by introducing clustered subprojects, bringing together barangays within the same KALAHI-CIDSS municipality for larger community projects.

Mapue-Joaquin said this approach allows greater funding but with increased capacity.

For instance, instead of each barangay building its own evacuation center with limited capacity, communities can pool resources to build a single, larger center.

In Roseller Lim, Zamboanga Sibugay, 26 barangays collaborated to build a 15-room evacuation center that accommodates 300 people. Similarly, in San Pablo, Zamboanga del Sur, 22 barangays built an 8-room center.

Source: Philippines News Agency

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