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Special Report | With budget cuts, technological state universities not so techie
Students from state universities are calling for higher budgets for science laboratories, classrooms, and equipment amid expectations of excellence. The post Special Report | With budget cuts, technological state universities not so techie appeared first on Bulatlat......»»
Marikina LGU comes to students’rescue
The Marikina City government has shouldered the tuition of more than 4,000 students who are no longer receiving financial support from the government under the Senior High School Voucher Program. According to Marikina Mayor Marcelino “Marcy” Teodoro, the Department of Education has stopped providing financial subsidies to Senior High School (Grades 11 and 12) through the voucher system due to budget cut, but the city government did not allow such impediment to happen. “We have 4,800 students affected by the loss of the voucher, so we had to have a supplemental for these students,” Teodoro told DAILY TRIBUNE in an interview over the weekend. For students entering senior high school in the National Capital Region or Metro Manila, the maximum voucher amount is P22,500. Under this program, students will be given subsidies ranging from P8,750 to P22,500, depending on the schools’ region and area. Teodoro said they have increased the number of enrollees in senior high school at the LGU-run Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Marikina. “PLMar has two campuses, so the number of enrollees in public high schools have been reduced and went to the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Marikina,” he said. “The good thing is that the program for the senior high school is integrated to tertiary education. They are enjoying free tuition from senior high school until college,” the mayor added. Teodoro also said that most schools in Marikina City are implementing single shift per day. “For now, based on the inspections and the data that were submitted to me, we have no shortage of classrooms and teachers,” he said. Just recently, the city government, with the help of Rep. Marjorie Ann “Maan” Teodoro, has opened a new school building in Industrial Valley to address shortage in the city. “The school population is small because we just opened the Industrial Valley National High School, a new school at the first district which is a project of Congresswoman Maan,” Teodoro said. The post Marikina LGU comes to students’rescue appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
From the moon to the sun: India readies next space mission
India's space agency takes aim at another milestone Saturday with the launch of a probe to study the Sun, a week after its successful unmanned landing on the Moon. Aditya-L1 will carry scientific instruments to observe the Sun's outermost layers, blasting off at 11:50 am (0620 GMT) for its four-month journey. The United States and the European Space Agency have sent numerous probes to the center of the solar system, beginning with NASA's Pioneer program in the 1960s. But if successful, the latest mission from the Indian Space Research Organisation will be the first by any Asian nation to be placed in solar orbit. "It's a challenging mission for India," astrophysicist Somak Raychaudhury told broadcaster NDTV on Friday. Raychaudhury said the mission probe would study coronal mass ejections, a periodic phenomenon that sees huge discharges of plasma and magnetic energy from the Sun's atmosphere. These bursts are so powerful they can reach the Earth and potentially disrupt the operations of satellites. Aditya will help predict the phenomenon "and alert everybody so that satellites can shut down their power", he said. "It will also help us understand how these things happen, and in the future, we might not need a warning system out there." Aditya -- the name of the Hindu Sun deity -- will travel 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles) to reach its destination. It is traveling on the ISRO-designed, 320-tonne PSLV XL rocket that has been a mainstay of the Indian space program, powering earlier launches to the Moon and Mars. The mission also aims to shed light on the dynamics of several other solar phenomena by imaging and measuring particles in the Sun's upper atmosphere. Budget program India has been steadily matching the achievements of established spacefaring powers at a fraction of their cost. The South Asian nation has a comparatively low-budget space program, but one that has grown considerably in size and momentum since it first sent a probe to orbit the Moon in 2008. Experts say India can keep costs low by copying and adapting existing technology, and thanks to an abundance of highly skilled engineers who earn a fraction of their foreign counterparts' wages. Last month's successful landing on the lunar surface -- a feat previously achieved only by Russia, the United States, and China -- cost less than $75 million. The touchdown was widely celebrated by the public, with prayer rituals to wish for the mission's success and schoolchildren following its final descent from live broadcasts in classrooms. India became the first Asian nation to put a craft into orbit around Mars in 2014 and is slated to launch a three-day crewed mission into the Earth's orbit by next year. It also plans a joint mission with Japan to send another probe to the Moon by 2025 and an orbital mission to Venus within the next two years. The post From the moon to the sun: India readies next space mission appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
India becomes first nation to land spacecraft near Moon’s south pole
India on Wednesday became the first nation to land a craft near the Moon's south pole, a historic triumph for the world's most populous nation and its ambitious, cut-price space program. The unmanned Chandrayaan-3, which means "Mooncraft" in Sanskrit, touched down at 6:04 pm India time (1234 GMT) as mission control technicians cheered wildly and embraced their colleagues. Its landing comes days after a Russian probe crashed in the same region and four years since the previous Indian attempt failed at the last moment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi smiled broadly and waved an Indian flag on a live broadcast to announce the mission's success as a triumph that extended beyond his country's borders. "On this joyous occasion I would like to address the people of the world," said Modi from the sidelines of the BRICS diplomatic summit in South Africa. "India's successful moon mission is not just India's alone," he added. "This success belongs to all of humanity." The Chandrayaan-3 mission has captivated public attention since launching nearly six weeks ago in front of thousands of cheering spectators. Politicians staged Hindu prayer rituals to wish for the mission's success and schoolchildren followed the final moments of the landing from live broadcasts in classrooms. Chandrayaan-3 took much longer to reach the Moon than the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s, which arrived in a matter of days. India used rockets much less powerful than the ones the United States used back then, meaning the probe had to orbit the Earth several times to gain speed before embarking on its month-long journey. The lander, Vikram, which means "valor" in Sanskrit, detached from its propulsion module last week and has been sending images of the Moon's surface since entering lunar orbit on August 5. Now that Vikram has landed, a solar-powered rover will explore the surface and transmit data to Earth over its two-week lifespan. Ambitious program India is closing in on milestones set by global space powers such as the United States and Russia, conducting many of its missions at much lower price tags. The South Asian nation has a comparatively low-budget space program, but one that has grown considerably in size and momentum since it first sent a probe to orbit the Moon in 2008. The latest mission has a cost of $74.6 million -- far lower than those of other countries, and a testament to India's frugal space engineering. Experts say India can keep costs low by copying and adapting existing technology, and thanks to an abundance of highly skilled engineers who earn a fraction of their foreign counterparts' wages. In 2014, India became the first Asian nation to put a craft into orbit around Mars and is slated to launch a three-day crewed mission into Earth's orbit by next year. Wednesday's landing had been eagerly awaited by the Indian Space Research Organisation after the frustrating failure of its previous mission at the last hurdle in 2019. Back then, mission control lost contact with the Chandrayaan-2 lunar module moments before its slated landing. 'Very, very important' Former ISRO chief K. Sivan told AFP that India's efforts to explore the relatively unmapped lunar south pole would make a "very, very important" contribution to scientific knowledge. Only Russia, the United States and China have previously achieved controlled landings on the Moon. Russia launched a lunar probe in August -- its first in nearly half a century. If successful, it would have beaten Chandrayaan-3 by a matter of days to become the first mission from any nation to make a controlled landing around the south pole. But Luna-25 crashed on Saturday after an unspecified incident as it prepared to descend. The post India becomes first nation to land spacecraft near Moon’s south pole appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
New graft game in town
So amazing is its proposed P225-billion budget, it practically replaces the hoary “there’s money in the garbage” maxim of our jolly mayors. With that kind of budget for flood control projects, I wouldn’t put it past our jolly mayors to end up bleary-eyed while singing “There’s money in floods” now that there’ll be so much money to go around. While many of us have trouble wrapping our heads around what P225,000,000,000 means and what it could do for our meager lives, this government nonchalantly and confidently throws away hard-earned taxpayer money. Yet, even our jaded, weary senators are stunned by such profligate nonchalance. “It’s too big for tubig (water),” dishes out, for instance, a befuddled Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who says the proposed amount is larger than what is recommended for building new classrooms, hospitals, irrigation systems, and railway projects. “Flood control even beat our railway budget by over P100 billion. The railway budget is only P153 billion and irrigation is at P31 billion,” the amazed senator says. Strangely enough, the proposed spending for flood control is bigger than next year’s entire agriculture budget of P181 billion. Escudero says he just can’t see any rhyme or reason for how the executive branch can justify needing to spend more for “draining water and dredging rivers than for planting food.” We too are equally dazed and knocked senseless by such a strange doing. So much so that Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman’s pitiable attempt at top-spinning the issue doesn’t placate our nervousness about this government’s growing profligacy. Pangandaman’s excuse is that all projects of government are “equally important” and that the big budget for flood control is “timely” given the recent flooding in parts of the country. Given the fact that climate change isn’t going away anytime soon, does this now mean that this year’s huge allocation will be the first of hugely funded flood control projects? It’s a queasy question that somehow makes us agree with former Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson’s take on the hot issue last week. Lacson tweeted: “ANSWER: kickbacks are bigger and free-flowing; almost impossible to audit because the next floods will remove the traces of their failure to dredge. P215B will flood the pockets of the proponents until they drown with inundations.” Undoubtedly, Lacson means to say that grafters have a new milking cow, folks. Telling too is the fact that even our presumably sane budget boss, probably sensing that flood control projects are deep rabbit holes, is somehow washing her hands this early. Pangadaman says her Budget department “cannot identify the flood control projects” since only the Department of Public Works and Highways has the “internal formula for providing caps for every major project and program under the DPWH budget.” But given the DPWH’s fabled public mockeries — more than anyone can count — with its substandard public works projects, suspending our disbelief over the DPWH’s abilities and giving the agency our full trust and confidence is going to be one hard slog. Still, even if we by some miracles are willing to amend our vicious cynicism about DPWH’s engineering abilities — meaning that their construction of dams, river walls, embankments, drainage canals, and more are all sturdy and will last for decades — the agency is still a mess when it comes to telling us what they’re actually doing against floods and that they are actually forward-looking. Is the DPWH, for instance, actually taking charge of creating flood hazard maps all over the country, while actively working with the affected residents to inform them about flood risks? We haven’t heard much either if they’re taking seriously Japan’s long-term efforts to improve the DPWH’s flood control technologies and the training of its engineers in carrying out hydraulic tests or creating technical standards and manuals for the planning, designing, supervision, and maintenance of flood control projects. Our legislators, who are often suspected of taking cuts from public works projects, can’t recuse themselves either. Why, for instance, aren’t they seriously taking full stock of the decades-old Flood Control Act and updating it for the times? The post New graft game in town appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Proposed budget not enough to address classroom shortage, documents show
Despite the government’s repeated commitment to address the shortage of classrooms in public schools, the proposed budget for the Department of Education next year is not expected to make a dent in the years-long problem, according to official documents......»»
Managers: Phl remains on track
Despite the lackluster 4.3 percent in the second quarter, growth this year is expected to reach the target range of 6 percent to 7 percent gross domestic product expansion, according to Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno. “To do this, we will expedite the implementation of government programs and projects, to provide fiscal stimulus to increase the productive capacity of the public and private sectors and address the adverse recent impacts of typhoons.” Diokno added. Economic managers gathered in Fort Ilocandia in Laoag City to hold the Post-State of the Nation Economic Briefing that discussed the country’s economic situation and plans on 14 August. Diokno said in 2022, GDP increased 7.6 percent from 5.7 a year ago and a 9.5 percent contraction in 2020. Diokno said the economic team is determined to pick up government expenditure in the third and fourth quarters. Revenue collections remain robust from January to June as these totaled P1.9 trillion up 7.7 percent or P132.6 billion year-on-year which is also higher than the mid-year program by 2.7 percent. Hence, Diokno said they have already pipelined 194 infrastructure flagship projects worth P8.3 trillion of which 132 are located in Luzon that will address irrigation, water supply, flood management, agriculture, digital connectivity, physical connectivity, health, and power and energy. Diokno also highlighted some of the projects like the Laoag International Airport Development Project, the EDSA Greenways, the TPLEX Expressway Expansion Project, the Laguna Lakeshore Road Network Project, the Ilocos Norte-Sur-Abra Irrigation Project, and the Naga Airport Development Project. “The Philippines is determined to be a world leader in the race to net zero and the Ilocos Region will be a strategic partner in this mission. Dubbed to be the renewable energy capital of South East Asia, Ilocos Norte is emerging to be a promising player in the clean energy arena. Being home to the first and largest wind farms in the country,” Diokno stressed. In his address, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona Jr., said from a peak of 8.7 percent in January, headline inflation slowed to 4.7 percent in July due to improving domestic food supply conditions and lower global oil prices. However, he also admitted that core inflation remains high at 6.7 percent although it has already started to decline due to the monetary tightening. The BSP has responded to inflation by aggressively raising its policy rate, as of today, the BSP has raised policy rates by 425 basis points. Prices reined in “The good news is that inflation expectations are still well anchored. The markets continue to believe that we will hit our target range by 2024 and stay there in 2025,” Remolona said. Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman also gave an update on the use pf the budget for 2023. Pangandaman said at the end of July, the total amount of the national budget that has been released already is around 93 percent. “And we expect all our government agencies including all the cabinet members present here, to spend your budget so we can help grow the economy,” Pangandaman said. While for next year, the government budget will amount to 5.768 trillion and it is 21.7 percent of the GDP it has already been submitted to Congress last August 2 and the budget is expected to be passed earlier than expected. The National Economic Development Authority said it wanted to lower the poverty level to single digit. For Socioeconomic Planning Undersecretary Carlos Bernardo Abad Santos, the government has effective regional development plans. In the Ilocos Regional Development Plan from 2023-2028, the NEDA expects the Ilocos region to have a 7 percent to 7.5 percent growth while lowering the poverty incidence by 7.3 percent. ‘Build, Better, More’ under BBM;s watch Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan said the “Build, Better, More” program of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is very much aligned with the medium-term development plan for 2023 to 2028 and is consistent with the 8-point economic agenda of the president. Bonoan said that from July 2022 to May 2023, the DPWH has built, maintained, rehabilitated, widened, and upgraded 4,082 kilometer of roads, 497 bridges, built 2,103 flood control projects, 55 evacuation centers, 216 kms farm to market roads, 8 kilometers of farm to mill roads, 138 kilometers tourism roads, 18 kilometers of roads to seaports, railway stations, and airports, 4,038 classrooms, and 6,002 rainwater collector system. “Because of climate change, we have to address and be building and developing resilient and sustainable communities in the 18 major river basins in the country,” Bonoan said. Some of the major projects that the department would like to continue are converting the Daang Maharlika which is actually now Asian Highway 26 which starts in Laoag City and will go around Cagayan Valley and has extended all the way to Zamboanga City. Bonoan says that they want to convert this backbone of the national highway into seamless travel. “In other words, there should be no major stops along the way, along this Maharlika highway,” Bonoan said. Bonoan said they’re going to build 12 major bridges, and the first bridge is the Cavite-Bataan Interlink bridge with a span of more than 32 km. Should it be completed, this will be the second-longest bay bridge in the world. The department also plans to start the Luzon Spine Expressway which will run from Laoag City to Bicol, Bonoan says that this will be 1,073 kms more. As for Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, major Department of Transportation projects like the New Manila International Airport in Bulacan, Metro Manila Subway, EDSA Greenway Projects, EDSA Busway, MRT-3 Rehabilitation, LRT-1 Cavite, LRT-2 West Extension, MRT-7, and the modernization and capacity expansion of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport are proceeding. For the Department of Information and Communications Technology Ivan John Uy, there is already a cybersecurity plan for 2023 to 2028 which is a consolidated output of all the stakeholders in designing which includes the best practices all over the world. “We’ve ramped up in our cybercrime detection, we are busting cybercrime syndicates all over the country especially those that are dealing with scammers,” Uy said. Uy said agency is also enhancing cybersecurity status by designing courses to upgrade cybersecurity professionals. He admits that worldwide, there is a 3 million job vacancies on cyber security. DICT said by the end of the year, the department will have Two Terabits of capacity from Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan all the way to Manila and we should expect very good Internet connectivity by the start of next year especially on the Luzon area. These structures also open opportunities to data centers and BPOs along the places mentioned which produces employment. DICT expects that foreign investment opportunities and interest in those areas will boom. The post Managers: Phl remains on track appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Gov’t racing to fix ‘Egay’-hit classrooms before 29 August school opening
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday said that not all schools damaged by Typhoon "Egay" could be used for the upcoming school year. In an interview with reporters, Marcos said that the government is doing its best to repair the school damage, but the weather has been a significant obstacle. "When the typhoon hit, we asked ourselves what we could do in a month," Marcos said. "So far, we are doing what we can, along with our local government units, to repair the damage. The School Building Program should continue, but the weather is a major obstacle." Duterte, who is also the Department of Education secretary, said that the schools affected by Typhoon "Egay" are their priority for repair in this year's budget. However, she said that their schools will immediately implement their blended learning program if the 29 August opening doesn't complete their repairs. "We will continue with blended learning or in-person classes. Learning will continue even if there are problems with classrooms," Duterte added. Marcos said that the government's temporary solution is to return to the systems they developed during the lockdown if the school buildings and facilities still need to be repaired. "We'll go back to the systems we developed during the lockdown," Marcos said. "We have the technology and the resources to ensure that our students continue to learn, even if they can't attend school," he added. Last week, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers urged the government to complete the repair of school facilities that were damaged by the recent typhoon. The aim is to ensure that students and teachers can use these facilities when classes start on 29 August. Following the impact of Typhoon "Egay" and other weather disturbances from the southwest monsoon between late July and early August, 559 classrooms in 169 schools across nine regions have been reported as damaged. DepEd has estimated that the cost of reconstructing and rehabilitating these classrooms would be approximately P810 million. DepEd is presently focused on establishing its blended learning approach as a formal policy. This approach permits schools to temporarily transition to online and/or modular learning methods if the situation requires it. The post Gov’t racing to fix ‘Egay’-hit classrooms before 29 August school opening appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
How disaster-resilient are we?
News stories with accompanying photographs again flood the usual outlets of radio, television, print, and now, even social media, showing school children busy with their lessons while gathered under the shade of towering trees, tents, gymnasiums or basketball courts, crowded corridors of government buildings, even chapels. In previous seasons, the students were displaced from their schools by earthquakes or typhoons. Today, they are refugees fleeing from the lava flow and deadly fumes from a volcano, acting up with signs of worsening disaster ahead. Their schoolrooms have been taken over by entire communities whose residents have left their homes along the fringes of Mayon, the country’s most active volcano, because there is nowhere else to park their hastily-packed belongings and no space to sleep, eat and get on with their lives. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who visited the evacuation sites in Albay province, agreed with local officials that the situation could last longer than expected or at least three months before they could return to their homes. A news report said more than 17,000 students in five Albay towns were affected by the transfer, and more evacuees were distributed to about 20 emergency shelters. “We have to find ways to ensure the learning continuity,” a teacher told a news reporter, adding that learning modules used at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic were again being used. Still, one problem was tracking down the dispersed students. Because of its geography, the Philippines is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries, hosting natural hazards like typhoons (20 to 21 hitting the country a year), floods, earthquakes, storm surges, landslides and volcanic eruptions. There are 24 active volcanoes in the Philippines and more than 1,500 on Earth, which are in Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Ecuador, Italy, El Salvador and Kenya, are at higher risk of volcanic eruptions. As of 15 June 2023, 24 active volcanos have been recorded as erupting worldwide. Considering the statistics in the Philippines, how disaster-resilient are we? Local government units or LGUs on the frontline of building resilient communities want financial aid and technical skills in dealing with disaster risk reduction and resilience-building measures. Several Internet apps on early warning systems can enable local officials to develop real-time analyses and adopt swift solutions as part of disaster preparedness and mitigation efforts. The LGUs’ crucial role in this effort should cascade to their respective communities through early warning systems. Also, due recognition should be given to their powers, authority, and corresponding responsibilities to lessen the adverse effects of calamities descending on their shoes, especially in places with no previous history of disasters. But then again, the question of financial capability comes into play because no local governments are equal in the budget, with bigger LGUs getting a bigger slice of the pie from local revenues than the smaller ones. Observers have cited areas of concern: insufficient data and contingency funds of LGUs, lack of adequate disaster risk reduction skills among political leaders, and not enough planning and contingency measures on the part of school authorities on how to deal with problems arising from the use of their grounds and facilities as evacuation sites. The Philippines, however, is not alone in this regard. In the highly-developed United States, for example, it has been observed that not all state officials “have a game plan for local emergency management that encompasses pre-disaster resilience and long-term rebuilding and recovery. Most solely have a short-term emergency response strategy.” Still, it is never too late to catch up, even if this will require spending more on preventive measures like investing in equipment warning residents of impending disasters, anticipating the problems of evacuees by building safer and more permanent shelters instead of displacing school children from their classrooms, extending safety zones and relocating homes away from risk areas, and planning recovery steps once the disaster blows over. We can no longer afford to sit back and wait for the point of no return, acting only when calamity strikes. Being prepared can save thousands of lives, homes and livelihoods. The post How disaster-resilient are we? appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Over 33,000 people may be affected if Mayon’s unrest worsens — Lagman
At least 33,000 people may flee their homes if Mayon Volcano's unrest could last for "three months or more," Albay Governor Edcel Greco Lagman said on Wednesday night. Lagman said this as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. led a situational briefing on the status of Mayon Volcano and the government's response in Legazpi City, Albay, on 14 June. Lagman said that about 33,326 individuals—or 8,637 families—may be affected if Mayon Volcano's eruption worsens. Lagman also asked the national government for P166.7 million to continue providing help to the thousands of people who have been displaced amid Mayon's unrest. He explained that the money is needed to provide evacuees with food, water, shelter, and other essential services. Lagman added that the money is needed to help the local government of Albay rebuild the infrastructure that the unrest has damaged. However, President Marcos Jr. told his Cabinet to study the proposed budget for Albay, as the province's quick response fund of P30 million can only sustain evacuees for about 14 days. "They can only sustain the continuous support for evacuees for 14 days," Marcos said. "The final figure of P196 million is something that we can dig. I think the numbers the governor has given us are a good guide already. But we have to go into further details," he added. Marcos said the figure needed to be checked to see if it would be sufficient. "Let's go into that in terms of the requirements the evacuees are going to need… Round numbers are never quite right. We have to get it right," Marcos said. Affected individuals OCD Administrator, Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno, said that a total of 9,571 families or 37,231 individuals had been significantly impacted in 26 barangays across Camalig, Daraga, Guinobatan, Legazpi City, Ligao, Malilipot, Sto. Domingo, Bacacay, and Tabaco as of 14 June. Of this total, 4,417 families, or 15,502 individuals, sought refuge in 22 evacuation centers. The OCD also assisted 185 families, or 659 individuals, outside these centers. The evacuees are from 26 out of the 30 barangays located within the six-kilometer radius permanent danger zone. The agricultural sector in Albay has also experienced the consequences of Mayon's unrest. A total of 217 livestock, including carabaos, cattle, and goats, were preemptively relocated to Daraga and Malilipot. According to Nepomuceno, the affected residents in various areas of Albay have already received a total of P35 million in assistance from the national government, local government units, and private institutions. In addition, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has pledged to deploy personnel, resources, and equipment to support the ongoing evacuation efforts in Albay. The response assets provided by OCD Region 5 and other government agencies consist of 1,154 responders, 103 rescue teams, and 141 vehicles for mobility purposes. OCD taking steps for long-term response Meanwhile, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) is taking steps to prepare for a long-term response to the ongoing unrest at Mayon Volcano. Civil Defense Operations Service Director Cesar Idio, who was present during the situational briefing, said the OCD had identified four strategies to address the ongoing unrest at Mayon. The first approach involves preparing for an extended three months or longer response period. The second strategy is to plan for the logistical requirements of such a lengthy response. The third approach is for local government units (LGUs) to facilitate the permanent relocation of residents residing within the six-kilometer radius of the permanent danger zone (PDZ). Lastly, the fourth measure entails requesting additional evacuation centers to prevent the disruption of classes, as some classrooms are currently being used as temporary shelters for evacuees. Meanwhile, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. mentioned that he had already coordinated with Albay Governor Edcel Lagman, OCD Region 5 Director Claudio Yucot, and Renato Solidum Jr., the Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), to ensure more efficient and expedited coordination of logistics. He told Marcos that the coordination aims to avoid redundancy or wastage of resources in anticipation of the expected lengthy response. "We will work on this coordination in order to be the funneling point between and among the LGUs and the national government," Teodoro said. The post Over 33,000 people may be affected if Mayon’s unrest worsens — Lagman appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Baltimore bridge collapse could lead to delayed shipments, higher shipping costs
The closure of the Port of Baltimore in the US following the collapse of the Baltimore key bridge is expected to lead to shipment delays and higher shipping costs......»»
NBI nabs 8 bogus DBM officials
Eight people allegedly posing as officials of the Department of Budget and Management were apprehended by the National Bureau of Investigation in Mandaluyong on Tuesday......»»
P1.1 billion released to restore heritage school buildings
The Department of Budget and Management has released P1.1 billion to conserve and restore heritage school buildings in the country......»»
DPWH continues construction of Sta. Margarita Diversion road
Samar First DEO now continues the construction of Sta. Margarita Diversion road under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for FY 2023......»»
Davao City Council moves hearing on traffic-causing road construction works
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews – 26 March) – The Davao City Council rescheduled to Tuesday, April 2, the second hearing on the suspended road construction works in the locality after key officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) – Davao region failed to show up Friday. The DPWH-Davao key officials are reportedly in […].....»»
Illegal road works?: Alarm raised over road development within watershed areas in Barangay Carmen
A DAVAO City Councilor has raised concerns regarding road construction within the watershed areas of Barangay Carmen, Baguio District......»»
Low subsidy forces LRTA to cut budget for train rehab
The Light Rail Transit Authority is cutting its budget for the restoration of trains to make the most of the lower subsidy given to the agency this year......»»
The real pasaways
The local internet came down hard last week on an anonymous teacher who was caught on livestream giving her students a scorching tongue-lashing for what she claimed was their lack of respect and discipline. Almost hysterical, Teacher X called them good-for-nothings without a future. Predictably, netizens deplored her derogatory language, which they equated with child abuse, and called on the Department of Education to investigate the incident and impose some disciplinary measure on the teacher concerned......»»
The reluctant teacher and the VIPs who know best
The reluctant teacher and the VIPs who know best.....»»
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga sets world premiere date at Cannes
The fifth film in the series stars Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa, a character played by Charlize Theron in 2015's "Mad Max: Fury Road," which also premiered at Cannes in 2015......»»