Day: March 9, 2024

CALAPAN: The Marcos administration is extending more financial assistance to rice farmers here with the understanding that they, too, will participate in government efforts to build up the country’s rice stocks.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez on Saturday underscored this symbiotic relation between the government and the agricultural sector during the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair launch at Oriental Mindoro National High School in Barangay San Vicente here.

About 2,000 farmers gathered at the two-day event and received a PHP2,000 cash assistance under the administration’s Farmers Assistance for Recovery and Modernization (FARM).

In return, they must set aside at least 100 kilos of their rice harvest to sell to the National Food Authority (NFA).

Romualdez said building up the NFA rice reserves and maintaining a big buffer stock will allow the country to avoid shortages during times of calamity, drought and other emergencies.

He reassured the province’s agricultural sector that its interests continue to be
a top priority of the Marcos administration.

“I have come here along with several other congressmen to bring to you the FARM program, which serves to implement the President’s (Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.) vision of uplifting the plight of farmers. Mindoro is a rice granary… we recognize your contributions to supplying rice not only to the province, or the region, but the entire nation,’ Romualdez told the farmers in Filipino.

Oriental Mindoro is currently beset with a prolonged dry spell brought about by El Niño that has so far placed two municipalities, Bulalacao and Mansalay, under states of calamity.

Earlier this week, the Department of Agriculture, under its Rice Farmers Financial Assistance Program, distributed cash assistance of PHP5,000 each farmer in the two towns.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: PLDT trounced Capital1, 25-13, 25-15, 25-16, for its third win in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference preliminary round at Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City on Saturday.

Filipino-Canadian Savannah Dawn Davison scored 22 points built on 19 attacks, while Fiola Mae Ceballos chipped in 10 spikes for the High Speed Hitters, who claimed their third victory in four starts after 74 minutes.

‘The girls bring a lot of energy during game day and it’s good to feed off them,’ Davison, who also had nine excellent digs, said in the post-match interview.

Rhea Dimaculangan scored 12 while Kath Arado had 13 excellent digs and six receptions.

Coach Rald Ricafort attributed the victory to the team’s consistency.

‘We’re happy with the win, happy our role players contributed again,” he said.

“Skills-wise, it’s not so much about adjustment but about being more consistent. It’s because the pressure hasn’t been practiced. So I told them that this also needs to be brought to training so that it can
be handled properly in the game,” he added.

Heather Guino-o and Sydney Niegos scored six points each while Jannine Navarro added four points for the Solar Spikers (1-3).

Source: Philippines News Agency

CAPAS: Japan went unbeaten to eventually bag the gold medal in the 11th Asian Age Group Championships women’s water polo competition at New Clark City Aquatics Center here on Saturday.

Skipper Shoka Fukuda delivered nine goals while Kaho Shironoshita added six as Japan clobbered Uzbekistan, 24-6, for its sixth win.

“I am very happy now. Thank you to all the teams which played against us,” coach Tsubasa Mori, a member of the national team from 2012 to 2016, said.

Japan faced a tough challenge against the Thais before escaping with a 19-15 victory in its previous match.

“Thailand is a very aggressive and good team, our game was tight,” added the 32-year-old, who competed at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia.

Meanwhile, Thailand secured the silver medal, beating Kazakhstan, 15-11, for an overall 5-1 win-loss card.

The bronze medal went to China, which finished with a 4-2 record after pulling off a 21-4 victory over Singapore.

Kazakhstan was fourth at 3-3, followed by Uzbekistan and Si
ngapore with identical 1-4 slates, and Sri Lanka (0-6).

The medals were awarded by World Aquatics president Husain Al-Musallam of Kuwait, vice Ppresident Daichi Suzuki of Japan and executive director Seyed Faridedin Fatahian of Iran.

The battle for the men’s division bronze between China and Kazakhstan was ongoing as of posting time, followed by the championship match between Japan and Iran.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Marcos administration remains committed to creating a favorable business environment that could generate more job opportunities for Filipinos.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) made the statement following the recent Labor Force Survey (LFS) results that showed an improvement in unemployment and underemployment rates for January.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the country recorded an unemployment rate of 4.5 percent in January 2024, which is lower than the 4.8 percent registered during the same month last year.

The country’s underemployment rate in January 2024 dropped to 13.9 from 14.1 percent year on year.

“The government sustains its push to attract more job-generating investments by creating an enabling policy and regulatory environment. At the same time, linkages between industry, the academe, and the public sector will be strengthened to address skill mismatches in the labor market,’ NEDA chief Arsenio M. Balisacan said in a news release.

De
spite a drop in the unemployment and underemployment rate, the PSA survey showed that the overall labor force participation rate (LFPR) for January 2024 declined to 61.1 percent from 64.5 percent in the same period recorded last year, or about 1.6 million fewer individuals.

Most of the contraction was recorded among women (-1.3 million), the youth (-1.0 million), and junior high school graduates (-652,000).

The top reasons cited for not joining the labor force are household duties, age-related restrictions, such as being too young/old or having a permanent disability, and schooling.

The return to onsite work has limited women’s participation to 49.3 percent from 53.7 percent in January 2023.

Similarly, completely on-site schooling has brought the youth LFPR down to 29.6 percent from 34.8 percent in the same period last year.

‘We will remain responsive to the needs of vulnerable groups, including women, youth, older individuals, and those with disabilities. Our existing policy framework governing alternat
ive work arrangements will be revisited,’ Balisacan said.

He pledged to always pursue policies that protect women workers and those in vulnerable sectors.

‘Our pursuit of policies will be adaptive to the responsibilities of female workers and the evolving work landscape, with a focus on supporting the vulnerable, including those in the creative sector,’ he added.

Balisacan was also anticipating the implementation of more positive and transformative employment programs after the approval of the implementing rules and regulations or IRR of the ‘Trabaho Para sa Bayan’ (TPB) Act on March 5, 2024.

Signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in September 2023, the law aims to promote the employability, competitiveness, and productivity of workers, and to address such issues as unemployment and underemployment.

Source: Philippines News Agency

A fishing boat with nine crew members on board capsized off the southern coastal city of Tongyeong on Saturday, leaving five of them missing, the Coast Guard said.

Two South Koreans and seven Indonesians were aboard the 20-ton vessel when it overturned in waters 68 kilometers south of an island in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, at 6:29 a.m., according to officials.

The Coast Guard found four of the nine crew members, with three found unconscious inside the vessel and sent to a hospital. But they, including two Indonesian nationals, were pronounced dead.

One of the four members had been found in the waters, 13 kilometers from the location of the accident, as of 3:15 p.m.

The officials said 12 Coast Guard patrol vessels, four Navy vessels and six helicopters are conducting a search operation at the accident site.

The officials said they have not found signs of the capsized boat hitting another vessel or a submerged rock.

The capsized boat had departed the southern resort island of Jeju at 10:36 a.
m. on Thursday.

Source: Yonhap News Agency