Day: May 31, 2023

COTABATO CITY – Following the recent killing of a teacher and wounding of another in Pikit, North Cotabato, the military has started providing security escorts to public school teachers in critical villages of the municipality. Lt. Col. Rowel Gavilanes, the Army’s 90th Infantry Battalion commander, said Wednesday that his unit also deployed motorcycle-riding soldiers “in full battle gear’ to protect public school teachers as they travel to their respective schools and on the way home. ‘The Department of Education has been alarmed by the attacks against teachers in Pikit, so we are here providing them security,’ Gavilanes said in a radio interview. On May 26, unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen attacked and killed Joel Reformado, a teacher at the Damalasak Elementary School in Pikit, and injured his co-teacher Elton John Lapinid, while both were onboard a motorbike. They were among the victims of gun attacks that hit the town since last year. The local police listed more than 30 victims of shooting in different villages of Pikit as of this posting. Education officials have condemned the killing of Reformado and urged authorities to take steps to ensure the safety of teachers and students. Pikit Mayor Sumulong Sultan has ordered all village chairpersons to come up with their own security plan and address the threats confronting their respective areas. (PNA)

Source: Philippines News Agency

BUTUAN CITY – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 13 (Caraga) on Tuesday handed over a PHP3.5-million tribal center to another Indigenous People (IP) community in Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur. The center was funded through the DSWD’s Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services Payapa at Masaganang Pamayaan IP Community-Driven Development Program. ‘This multi-function tribal center was once a dream of the IPs in Barangay Mt. Ararat. It will benefit the entire Manobo tribe in the village,’ the DSWD-13 said in a statement Wednesday. Datu Marlon Sagdon, the village tribal chieftain, described the center as the second home of the Manobos in the area. ‘We are thankful to the government for this new center,’ Sagdon said of the facility established in Mt. Ararat, which will serve as a venue for gatherings and special occasions. Sagdon said the Mt. Ararat center, to benefit 111 Manobo families in the village, is the second newly-completed infrastructure turned over by the DSWD-13 to the IP communities in the province. Last week, the agency also handed over a PHP3.4-million multi-function center to an IP community in Barangay Claro Cortez in the same city. (PNA)

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA – End-of-the-month window dressing and the impact of the latest Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) rebalancing resulted in the negative close of the local bourse’s main index but the peso strengthened to the US dollar on Wednesday. After rising the previous day, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 0.51 percent, or 33.31 points, to 6,477.36 points. All Shares followed with a decline of 0.48 percent, or 16.75 points, to 3,458.30 points. Most of the sectoral indices also slipped during the day – Property, 1.87 percent; Services, 1.02 percent; Industrial, 0.32 percent; and Holding Firms, 0.20 percent. On the other hand, Financials rose by 0.44 percent while Mining and Oil was almost unchanged after rising by 0.01 percent. Volume reached 2.27 billion shares amounting to PHP24.54 billion. Decliners led advancers at 94 to 83 while 49 shares were unchanged. Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales, said local stocks tracked the mixed results of their US counterparts. Limlingan said among the drivers in equities trading in recent days is the debt ceiling issue in the US. ‘The Fiscal Responsibility Act appeared poised to pass a key committee hurdle on Tuesday, with a full house floor vote expected on Wednesday night, according to a tentative house voting schedule,’ he said. Meanwhile, oil prices fell in the international market ‘on concerns about whether US Congress will pass the US debt ceiling pact and as mixed messages from major producers clouded the supply outlook ahead of the OPEC+ meeting this weekend.’ Limlingan said Brent crude oil futures fell by 4.58 percent to USD73.54 per barrel and the West Texas Intermediate by 4.42 percent to USD69.46 per barrel. Despite the negative close of the main equities index, the peso gained against the US dollar and ended the day at 56.15 from its 56.31 finish a day ago. It opened the day weaker at 56.3 compared to the 56.07 start in the previous session, trading between 56.34 and 56.1 and averaging 56.241. Volume declined to USD1.07 billion from the previous session’s USD1.39 billion. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the peso corrected partly because of the drop in global oil prices, which increased expectations for continued deceleration of the inflation rate. He forecast the peso to trade between 56.05 and 56.25 against the US dollar on Thursday, noting that the next important resistance level since seven months ago is between 56.30 and 56.95. (PNA)

Source: Philippines News Agency