Day: June 22, 2023

The Antique provincial government has allocated PHP10 million in funds to assist backyard raisers in the town of Hamtic, who have been affected by African swine fever (ASF). The funds that can be used for the repopulation and rehabilitation of their hog industry will be released once the municipality is placed under a state of calamity, Governor Rhodora J. Cadiao said in an interview Thursday. Cadiao said her office has been informed of the results of serum samples taken from the municipality of Hamtic on June 21, showing that four of their five specimens were positive for ASF as per a laboratory test conducted by the Department of Agriculture -Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (DA-RADDL) in Iloilo City. ‘I am going to have a meeting with Hamtic Mayor Ronald Julius Pacificador today (Thursday) for they already have to declare a state of calamity with the ASF confirmation,’ Cadiao said. Once a state of calamity is declared, Hamtic could release assistance to hog raisers considering that many of them are considered backyard raisers, she added. ‘There are many hog raisers in the coastal area of Hamtic considered backyard raisers only,’ Cadiao said. The governor said that DA OIC-Regional Executive Director Jose Albert Barrogo, together with the ASF confirmation result, recommended that Hamtic implement immediate quarantine and disease control measures within the affected premises. ‘Contact tracing has also to be carried out now,’ Cadiao said. She said contact tracing is necessary for LGUs that are adjacent to Hamtic to implement quarantine within a distance of one kilometer from the affected areas. ‘I have already talked to San Jose de Buenavista and Sibalom mayors to implement quarantine,’ Cadiao said. The governor emphasized that LGUs should help prevent the spread of ASF in their municipalities while hog raisers from the town of Hamtic, meanwhile, refrain from breeding hogs

Source: Philippines News Agency

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is set to open several public utility vehicle (PUV) routes that would serve regular commuters of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) who will be affected by the temporary closure of select stations. Through Memorandum Circular 2023-020 released Thursday, the LTFRB said three routes have been opened for ‘qualification process’ – FTI-Divisoria via East Service Road, Alabang (Starmall) – Divisoria via the Southern Luzon Expressway (SLEX), and Malabon-Divisoria. These routes are set to open following plans to temporarily close some PNR stations to make way for the construction of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR). ‘A total of 30 public utility bus (PUB) units will ply the FTI-Divisoria route, 25 PUBs for Alabang (Starmall) – Divisoria, and five modern jeepneys for Malabon-Divisoria,’ it said. It noted that the number of units in these routes may change depending on passenger demand. The memorandum was issued by the LTFRB’s Franchise Planning and Monitoring Division, together with the PNR. Selection of the operators that will run the routes, it said, would be guided by Memorandum Circular 2019-013 or the ‘Consolidated Guidelines on the Process of Issuance of Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) and Provisional Authority (PA)/Special Permit (SP) Under the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines and Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).’ It added that the authorized units should not be more than five years old based on the vehicle’s certificate of registration, should operate under an SP for one year and renewable every year, or until the NSCR is fully operational. The existing fare for city buses, as authorized by the LTFRB, will be applied to the two PUB routes. The NSCR is a 147-km. urban railway network that will connect Metro Manila to Pampanga in the north and Laguna in the south. The rail project is expected to be completed by 2028

Source: Philippines News Agency

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. on Thursday urged local government units (LGUs) to promote active transport in their areas of jurisdiction and emulate the best practices of the recipients of last year’s National Bike Day Bike Lane Awards. ‘We continuously encourage our LGUs to provide means for active transport through the establishment of protected bike lanes, to help ease traffic congestion and promote sustainable mobility. We can take great inspiration from the LGU Bike Lane awardees who made it happen in their localities,’ Abalos said in a statement. He pointed out that LGUs can gain valuable insights recently shared by the awardees on how they were able to establish safe and accessible bike lanes and pedestrian infrastructure in their areas. The DILG chief was referring to the National Bike Day Awards: Knowledge Sharing Webinar held last Tuesday where last year’s Bike Lane Awardees – Iloilo City, Quezon City, and Mandaue City – shared their experiences and the challenges that they hurdled in establishing bike lanes in their areas. Exemplary awardees Alaminos City and Pasig City and finalists Baguio City and Taguig City likewise shared their respective initiatives. Organized by the Interagency Technical Working Group on Active Transport (IATWG-AT) led by the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the webinar aimed to share knowledge and various information about government plans, programs, and ongoing projects for the continuous expansion of active transport networks in our country. The DILG is part of the IATWG-AT. Meanwhile Abalos said the DILG will continue to work closely with the other members of the IATF-TWG to ensure that the ongoing active transport project led by the DOTr can be replicated and translated to localized projects within provinces, cities, and municipalities. The DILG has earlier issued Memorandum Circular No. 2020-100 on July 17, 2020 encouraging all LGUs to promote and make active transportation accessible as a means to support people’s mobility within their respective areas of jurisdiction

Source: Philippines News Agency

The Tiwi Geothermal Power Plant in Tiwi, Albay remains under normal operation and continues to transmit electricity to the Luzon grid despite the unrest of Mayon Volcano, its operator Aboitiz Power Corp. said. AP Renewables, Inc. president and chief operating officer Jeffrey Estrella said there are no significant temperature changes and fluid flow effects observed at Tiwi geothermal plant amid the increasing volcanic activities of Mayon. ‘The complex gross generation for the past week has been around 120 megawatts (MW) with no incident relating to Mayon’s unrest,’ Estrella said in a statement Thursday. Although the Tiwi plant is still far from the current seven-kilometer danger zone, Estrella said the firm remains ‘on safety alert for any possible eventualities’. The country’s first and oldest geothermal power plant is 24 kilometers away from the Mayon crater. He added Mayon’s volcanic activities have not yet caused any delays in the construction of a binary geothermal plant in Tiwi facility. It is set to be completed by the end of 2023, providing an additional 17 megawatts of clean energy. Meanwhile, the Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. has donated 10,000 sacks of five-kilogram rice to the evacuees in Camalig and Daraga. The situation remains under Alert Level 3, affecting around 20,000 individuals living inside the six-kilometer permanent danger zone. (PNA) Related Stories Full implementation of fare discount pushed amid LRT fare hikes Water impounding facilities to help farmers during dry season NDRRMC: Mayon unrest displaces nearly 10K families Rail lines resume ops after magnitude 6.3 quake PPA readies 25 ports vs. enhanced ‘habagat’ season Keep off Mayon’s PDZ as unrest may last for months, evacuees told Civil servants told to adapt to changes for better public service AFP to hold ‘Musikalayaan 2023’ for PH’s 125th Independence Day PBBM assures Fil-Chinese group of improved business climate in PH

Source: Philippines News Agency