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TARLAC CITY, Feb. 21, 2020 (PIA) -- Tarlac Police Provincial Office (TPPO) and its partner-agencies extended Thursday aid and government services to the community of Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in Sitio Sapang Kawayan, Capas town. About 65 families benefitted from TPPO’s Inter-agency Expanded Caravan that offered various services such as free medical, dental and eye consultation; PhilHealth registration; driver’s license registration; distribution of groceries and slippers; free reading glasses; free medicines; free seeds for farming and; free animal vaccination . In his message, TPPO Provincial Director Police Colonel David Poklay explained that government agencies and private organizations have converged to provide frontline services to people living in remote areas. “We are here to make government services accessible and available to your community. The government is always working for you and we, the uniformed personnel, are your allies,” he stressed. Also, Poklay underscored...

DAVAO CITY, Feb. 14, 2020 (PIA) -- The Davao Tourism Association (DATA) recently held the first-ever One Davao Culinary Night which featured indigenous inspired dishes concocted by its member chefs . Founded in 1974, the DATA is a group composed of stakeholders coming from tourism-related establishments in Davao Region. The One Davao Culinary Night at the Marco Polo Davao Ballroom on January 31 was held to coincide with the group’s belated 75th anniversary celebration. “What we really wanted to do is to define what is Davao cuisine. When we formed the DATA chef’s club composed of 10 chefs coming from our DATA restaurant members we were able to collaborate and learn from the immersion that we did with the two indigenous tribes we invited- the Kagan and the Tagabawa,” Gatchi Gatchalian, DATA president said. Gatchalian said they wanted the people to discover what Davao cuisine is, as people associate Davao cuisine to ihaw-ihaw (grilled specialties) and kinilaw (cerviche). Gatchalian...

PASAY CITY, Feb. 15, 2020 -- President Rodrigo Roa Duterte directed all local government units (LGUs) and concerned national government agencies (NGAs) to strictly enforce the national zoning and movement plan crafted by the Department of Agriculture (DA) to effectively manage, control and contain the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF). The President met with more than 1,500 local chief executives (LCEs), February 10, 2020, at SMX Convention Center, Pasay City, where they were briefed by Health Secretary Francisco Duque on the current status and preventive measures on the 2019 new Coronavirus (nCoV); and by Agriculture Secretary William Dar on ASF zoning plan, biosecurity, and quarantine measures. President Duterte recently signed Administrative Order No. 22 directing all LGUs and NGAs to harmonize efforts with the DA to effectively control the spread of ASF in the country. “The national ASF zoning plan and guidelines classify the country into various zones with respective move...

DAVAO CITY, Feb. 19, 2020 -- The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) signed partnership agreements on Monday, February 17, 2020, with various government agencies and a private institution for the sourcing of agricultural products from agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARB) in this province. These institutions are the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology Region XI, Department of Health Region XI, Davao Regional Medical Center, Southern Philippines Medical Center, and Medical Mission Group Hospital which all agreed to assist in the government’s fight against hunger and poverty in the countryside under the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty program (EPAHP). Cabinet Secretary and EPAHP Committee Chairman Karlo B. Nograles said these partnerships work in two ways. It provides institutions with a steady supply of food items, such as rice, vegetables, root crops and other farm produce, while the farmers gain regular markets for their farm yields. “EPAHP is our government’s...

QUEZON CITY, Feb. 14, 2020 (PIA) — The Government has lifted its deployment ban to Kuwait , as the two governments reached an agreement for better working conditions of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III announced on Friday the full resumption of deployment of workers to Kuwait after the POEA Governing Board approved Resolution No. 7 on February 13, allowing the resumption of processing and deployment of all types of workers bound to the Gulf estate. Bello, who chairs the POEA governing board, said the approval was made in view of the filing of charges against the suspected killers of OFW Jeanelyn Padernal Villavende. “After due consultation with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and with the filing of appropriate charges against the perpetrators [in the killing] of OFW Jeanelyn Villavende, the Governing Board of the POEA unanimously approved the lifting of the remaining ban in Kuwait with respect to the deployment of household workers,” B...

MARAWI CITY, Feb. 14, 2020 -- Pace of progress dramatically accelerated in just five months since three groups of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) contractors commenced the reconstruction/rehabilitation of 18.97-kilometer Marawi Transcentral Road Project -Stage 1 in Lanao Del Sur. The urgent rehabilitation of transcentral roads damaged by armed-conflict in Marawi City is part of the DPWH flagship infrastructure projects and Build, Build, Build agenda of the President Rodrigo Roa Duterte administration and DPWH Secretary Mark A. Villar. In his report to DPWH Secretary Villar following his inspection, DPWH Undersecretary for Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations and Technical Services Emil K. Sadain said that with the aggressive push of implementing office UPMO-Roads Management Cluster 1 (Bilateral) headed by Project Director Virgilio Castillo and Project Manager Francisco Sawali, construction activities of contractors are everywhere in every area of the P...

by Sunday Post Bohol Gov. Chatto negative for drugs but where's Che? Is she a false accuser? Gov. Edgar Chatto has tested negative for illegal drugs or any dangerous substances in separate credible examinations to which his falsely accusing political opponent did not submit herself. Not even a shadow of gubernatorial contender and Carmen Mayor Conchita De los Reyes did turn up for the twin drug tests at the state hospital and police crime laboratories on Monday. Many thought should she refuse examination for reason she only could tell, her mere presence would have saved her from inexcusable flak for her own dangerous gimmick that the governor is "engaged in illegal drug activities." Both the laboratory analyses of the Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital (GCGMH) and Philippine National Police (PNP) Crime Laboratory at Camp Dagohoy proved Chatto to have not indulged in prohibited drugs. As a consequence, the moral authority and ascendancy of the reelectionist govern...

First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of North Korea Kim Jong-un came out with two speeches at the party's plenary session here on Sunday. The session focused "on tasks the party faces in making a decisive turn in the process of accomplishing the Juche revolutionary course." The party's strategic priorities will embrace "reconstruction of the economy as well as a qualitative and numeric strengthening of nuclear delivery forces for self-defence purposes," the North Korean leader said at the session after visiting the mausoleums of his father Kim Jong-il and grandfather Kim Il-sun in Kumsusun Palace. He was accompanied by members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and of the Central National Defence Commission. North Korea "is not eager to use the nuclear weapons as goods for buying American dollars or as a bargaining tool for receiving humanitarian aid," he said. "W...

With North Korea churning out military threats, a key concern is that its young leader Kim Jong-un may reach a point of no return in provocative steps, a U.S. congressman said Sunday. Rep. Peter King (R-NY), former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said North Korea's statements may not be an "empty threat." "Kim Jong-un is trying to establish himself. He's trying to be the tough guy. He is 28, 29 years old, and he keeps going further and further out, and I don't know if he can get himself back in," he said in an interview with ABC News. "So my concern would be that he may feel to save face he has to launch some sort of attack on South Korea, or some base in the Pacific," said King, who now sits on the House intelligence and homeland security committees. He described the North Korean regime as "more like an organized crime family running a territory." North Korea has ratcheted up its threats to launch nuclear...

President Park Geun-hye instructed South Korea's military Monday to set aside any political considerations and respond powerfully in the event of North Korean provocations, as Pyongyang has churned out near-daily threats of war on the divided peninsula. Park made the unusually tough remark during a policy briefing at the defense ministry, saying she takes "very seriously" a recent string of North Korean moves and threats, such as the scrapping of a nonaggression treaty, the cutoff of a military hotline and the weekend declaration that inter-Korean ties have entered a "state of war." "The reason for the military's existence is to protect the country and the people from threats. If any provocations happen against our people and our country, it should respond powerfully in the early stage without having any political considerations," Park said. "As commander-in-chief of the armed forces, I will trust the military's judgment on abrupt a...

President Benigno S. Aquino III joins the Filipino nation in the observance of the Holy Week and called on the people to emulate the example set forth by Jesus Christ. "Bilang mga tagasunod ni Kristo, nararapat lamang na tayo'y tumulad sa Kanyang mabuting ehemplo," the Chief Executive said in his Lenten message issued on Wednesday. President Aquino asked his fellow Catholics and Christians to remember the great atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the sins of mankind. "Ngayong panahon ng Kuwaresma, ginugunita po natin ang natatanging halimbawa ni Hesukristo sa sangkatauhan. Nagkatawang-tao siya, nagpakumbaba, at iniligtas tayo sa kasalanan; naging huwaran Siya sa landas ng pagbubukas-palad, at wagas na pagmamahal sa kapwa," he said. The Chief Executive emphasized that one of the great messages of the Holy Week celebration is sacrifice. "Wala na nga pong tutumbas sa sakripisyong ipinamalas ni Hesukristo. At kung tutuusin, dahil sa d...

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili signed amendments to the country's Constitution on Wednesday, which reduce his authority and tip the balance of power toward the prime minister. The Georgian parliament passed the amendments, which include stripping the president of the right to appoint or dismiss the government without parliamentary approval, on March 25. "Today [on Wednesday] the Georgian president signed amendments to the Constitution, they will be published and will come into force later today," Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili said. The amendments also ban the dissolution of parliament during the period that starts in May, the month before the forthcoming parliamentary elections, and ends with the elected president's inauguration. The signing marks a new victory for billionaire Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose Georgian Dream coalition has been locked in a power struggle with Saakashvili's United National Movement after...

Thin hot air now lords the climate which creates humid all day long which reminds us that its summer time. Everybody knows that most of our jails all over the country that house more than the capacity of inmates are the most affected during summer because they develop skin allergies and diseases. Skin diseases and allergies borne out of the extreme heat behind bars can now be cured easily. The Quezon City Female Detention (QCFD) of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) based inside Camp Karingal have developed a soap that can cure all kinds of skin diseases especially scabies usually found on inmates. In a rare interview, QCFD Wardress Chief Inspector Elena Rocamora told Philippine News Agency that the soap they have developed comes from "Acapulco plant" which can be found in their backyard inside the compound. "We have lady inmates who are task in taking care of plants including vegetables and other fruit bearing trees," said R...

With the cutting and lifting of the bow and "AMR" (Auxiliary Motor Room) sections of the grounded USS Guardian (MCM-5) completed, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Thursday said that the next major salvage step for US Navy salvors will be the final cutting and lifting of the vessel "MMR" (Main Motor Room) section. "The next major milestone of the salvage operation is the final cutting and lifting of the 'MMR' planned for March 30," said PCG Palawan District head Commodore Enrico Efren Villanueva. He added that salvage-related activities for Thursday include the continued non-structural hull cuts for the "MMR" and rigging of "MMR" and stern sections for hull lifts. That part of the hull weighs around 200 to 300 tons. On Wednesday, the "AMR" section of the USS Guardian, weighing around 200 tons, has been successfully cut and lifted around 1: 20 p.m. "AMR successfully cut and lifted then tra...

North Korea said Tuesday it had ordered its strategic rocket and long-range artillery units to target US military bases on Guam, Hawaii and mainland America, Reuters reported. The North's KCNA news agency said "supreme command" had ordered the units to assume "combat duty posture No. 1." South Korea's Defense Ministry said, however, that it had seen no signs of an imminent attack. The order is the latest in a series of fiery statements from isolated, nuclear-armed North Korea since joint military drills by the United States and South Korea began on March 11. The North threatened the United States with "pre-emptive nuclear strikes" earlier this month. North Korea is not believed to have the capability to hit the continental United States with an atomic weapon. But the US military's bases in the Pacific area are in range of its medium-range missiles, Reuters reported. Analysts believe a direct North Korean attack is extremely unlike...

The Davao Light and Power Company has announced that its three collection offices will be closed on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Black Saturday (March 28, 29 and 30) in observance of the Holy Week. The Davao Light and Power company serves electricity in this city and the neighboring Panabo City in Davao del Norte, Ross Luga, DLPC's assistant vice president for corporate communications and branding, said that payment service in the Ponciano, Bajada, and Panabo offices will resume on Sunday, March 31. Luga also said that payment arrangements, billing inquiries and complaints as well as metering service concerns will be catered on April 1.

Walking on the Great Wall from Jinshanling to Simatai (Beijing): The Great Wall, winding snakelike through the mountains, was meant to be walked. This magnificent 3-hour hike follows China's greatest monument through various states of repair, from freshly restored to thoroughly crumbling, over steep peaks and gentle flats, and through patches of wilderness and rugged farmland, with over two dozen watchtowers along the way.

Getting Lost in the lanes around Beijing's Back Lakes: No other city in the world has anything quite like the hutong, narrow lanes once "as numberless as the hairs on an ox." Now rapidly vanishing, the best-preserved hutong are found around a pair of man-made lakes in the city center. This area is almost the last repository of Old Beijing's gritty, lowrise charm, dotted with tiny temples, hole-in-the-wall noodle shops, and quiet courtyard houses whose older residents still wear Mao suits.

Exploring the Forbidden City's Forgotten Corners (Beijing) : No one fails to be impressed by the grandeur of the Forbidden City's central axis, which is all most visitors see. But the quieter maze of pavilions, gardens, courtyards, and theaters to either side have the greater charm.

The Criminal Investigation Department in Bukit Aman is now heading the investigation into the "intrusion of Sulu terrorists" into Lahad Datu, CID director Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin said. He said the CID team was gathering evidence in Sabah. "Our investigation is exhaustive and covers all angles, even on how the terrorists obtained their weapons and received aid. We are focusing not only in Lahad Datu and Semporna but over a wider area," he told reporters at his office here. Bakri said the challenge the investigators faced in gathering evidence was made even more difficult by the decomposing bodies of the terrorists killed in the government offensive. "Sulu terrorists" from the southern Philippines who entered Sabah on Feb 12 killed eight policemen on March 1 and 2 after dismissing a government offer to lay down arms, Malaysian police said. A government offensive launched on March 5 resulted in the deaths of 62 terrorists. A soldier was also killed in...