LAOAG: Fifty senior citizens and children from Barangay 1 San Lorenzo in this city benefited from the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) on Wheels program, eyed to service national ID applications of less fortunate individuals from far-flung villages.

Philippine Statistics Authority-Ilocos Norte provincial head Marilyn Vergara, in an interview Wednesday, said the mobile registration for the national ID aims to register at least 50 individuals a day.

‘The mobile registration process takes less than five minutes. It aims to allow those unregistered citizens to register and be immediately issued with ePhilIDs for them to enjoy the benefits of being PhilSys registered,’ she said.

PSA has simplified the requirements with just the birth and barangay certificates attesting that they are residents of the barangay where they presently reside.

So far, PSA-Ilocos Norte has registered over 100,000 individuals since it started to roll out off-site registration hubs last October.
Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday said the guns of police officers will not be muzzled for this year’s holiday season.

‘We received instruction from Maj. Gen. (Leo) Francisco (PNP Director for Operations) based sa guidance ng ating Chief PNP Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. ay iimplement pa rin natin yung practice natin in previous years na hindi na itetape yung mga baril ng ating mga pulis dahil naging effective naman ito in previous years (We will still implement our practice in previous years of not taping the guns of our police officers because it was effective in previous years),’ PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo told reporters in a press conference held at Camp Crame, Quezon City.

Fajardo, however, said police regional directors and field commanders must sternly warn their personnel against indiscriminate firing.

She added that the practice of gun muzzling might hamper police response.

‘Kasama sa naging consideration is yung dapat particularly yung mga pulis natin na nakadeploy ay
kung saka-sakali magrerender sila ng immediate police assistance ay hindi na sila mag aalala na hindi puputok yung baril nila dahil naka tape yun na maaaring maghamper sa mabilis na response nila (In addition to the consideration that should be given to our police officers who are deployed, in the event that they render immediate police assistance, they will no longer have to worry that their guns will not fire because they are on tape, which could hinder their quick response),’ she stressed.

Citing PNP records, Fajardo said 12 incidents of illegal discharge of firearms were recorded during this year’s holiday revelries.

This is lower than the 26 incidents recorded in 2022 and 25 incidents reported in 2021.

The PNP’s gun muzzling tradition for the yearend revelries was first stopped in 2016, under then PNP chief and now Senator Ronald dela Rosa.

Meanwhile, two ranking police officials have been included in the latest reorganization of the PNP.

Based on PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr.’s order, Brig. Ge
n. Roger Quesada was designated as the director of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 4B (Mimaropa) replacing Brig. Gen. Joel Doria who retired last Dec. 10.

Meanwhile, Col. Clint Bayacsan was designated as acting deputy director of the Civil Security Group (CSG).
Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: Speaker Martin Romualdez announced on Wednesday that funding for the new PHP60 billion Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita (AKAP) program will continue in 2025.

Romualdez made the statement as he welcomed the signing by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. of the PHP5.768-trillion national budget for 2024.

He claimed that Congress introduced AKAP, which aims to extend cash assistance to poor and low-income families, in the 2024 budget for the first time under the Marcos administration.

Each household with a monthly income of P23,000 or less would receive a PHP5,000 one-time cash assistance. The initial target for the PHP60 bilion program is 12 million families.

‘We intend this to be a continuing program to help our people. Thus, it is critical that we should make it work in its first year of implementation,’ Romualdez said.

Romualdez said he does not foresee any difficulties in implementing AKAP.

‘We just have to make sure that the beneficiaries are qualified under government criteria and the money reaches the
m on time and with sufficient safeguards in place,’ Romualdez said.

Romualdez, meanwhile, urged national agencies and local government units to prepare for the implementation of the 2024 national spending program, saying that they should hit the ground running in carrying out the budget at the start of the new year.

‘The budget is the most important piece of legislation Congress passes each year and the President signs into law. It is the blueprint for national development, for sustaining economic growth, for creating more job and income opportunities, and in general, for improving the lot of our people,’ he said.
Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: Second seed Jallen Herzchelle Agra defeated No. 4 Shaniah Francine Tamayo in the fifth round to boost her title bid in the Queen of the North chess tournament at the Ilocos Norte National High School gymnasium in Laoag City on Tuesday.

Agra, a native of Claveria, Cagayan province, prevailed over Tamayo of Laoag City, Ilocos Norte after 23 moves of Caro-Kann defense.

‘I hope I can keep the momentum,’ said Agra, who drew with No. 3 Precious Eve Ferrer of Lingayen, Pangasinan in the fourth round.

Ferrer downed No. 12 Elizsa Gayle Cafirma of Bacarra, Ilocos Norte in 53 moves of King’s Indian defense to share the lead with Agra, garnering 4.5 points each.

Tied for second place with 4.0 points were No. 1 Woman National Master Mhage Gerriahlou Sebastian (Flora, Apayao), who conquered No. 24 Rachelle Joy Pascua (Bacarra, Ilocos Norte) in 28 moves of Modern defense, and No. 25 Shantelle Marie Root (Laoag City) beat No. 20 Kimberly Gumallaoi (Bacarra, Ilocos Norte) in 30 moves of Sicilian defense.

The cham
pion will receive PHP60,000 in cash courtesy of Mayor Michael Keon and UP Vanguard Incorporated (UPVI) 102nd Homecoming chairman Aldwin Galapon.
Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The local bourse finished the day almost flat while peso strengthened on middle of the week’s trading.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slipped by 0.01 percent, or 0.52 points, to 6,520.75 points, while the broader All Shares inched up by 1.70 points to 3,434.41.

‘The local bourse saw a marginal decline of 0.52 points (0.01 percent) to 6,520.75 as more investors booked gains following the market’s rise in the past few days. Investors were also finding new catalysts to drive the market upwards,’ Philstocks Financial, Inc. assistant research manager Claire Alviar commented on the stock market’s trading on Wednesday.

Sector performances were mixed, with gainers led by Mining and Oil, followed by Holding Firms and Services.

Those in the negative territory were led by Industrial, followed by Financials and Property.

‘Despite the market’s decline, foreign investors were net buyers, registering a net inflow of PHP166.8 million. Market participation was also strong with a net market value turno
ver of PHP5.3 billion,’ Alviar added.

Advancers surpassed decliners on this day’s trading at 96 to 89, with shares of 42 firms left unchanged.

Meanwhile, Philippine peso rebounded by 0.20, closing at 55.75 to a US dollar from Tuesday’s 55.95-finish.

It opened the day slightly weak at 55.85 from the previous day’s kick off at 55.80.

The currency pair traded between 55.73 and 55.90, bringing the average level for the day at 55.81.

Trade volume increased to USD1.59 billion from last day’s volume of USD1.3 billion.
Source: Philippines News Agency

DAVAO CITY: The Department of Agriculture in the Davao Region (DA-11) has turned over PHP36.9 million worth of agricultural machinery to farmers cooperatives and associations (FCAs) in Davao del Sur, an official said Wednesday.

In a statement, DA-11 Director Abel James Monteagudo said 21 FCAs received 52 agricultural machinery and equipment under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund to help boost the productivity and competitiveness of the local farmers.

The set of machinery consisted of 19 units of floating tillers, 10 hand tractors, seven rice combine harvesters, six four-wheel tractors, four mobile rice mills, two walk-behind transplanters, two units of riding-type transplanted, and two rice threshers.

During the turnover on Tuesday, Monteagudo, who delivered the message of Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., assured the FCAs that the department ‘will continue to carry on to with the government’s goals of achieving national food security and ensuring the prosperity of farmers.’ He encouraged the fa
rmers to enrich the benefits of the free machinery provided to them.

Laurel also underscored the pressing issue of the declining number of future farmers.

‘DA will continue to focus on advancing programs that will involve the youth in farming,’ he added.
Source: Philippines News Agency