Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) has asked the House of Representatives to restore the around P90-billion worth of funding that was removed in the proposed 2024 budget, claiming that it would be crucial to ensuring food security and preparing for the El Nio season. Letters sent by NIA Acting Administrator Eduardo Guillen to House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez — copies of which were released to House reporters on Thursday — showed the NIA head is asking for the restoration of their proposal of a P132.3 million budget for 2024. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM), which prepares the National Expenditures Program (NEP), alloca…

Keep on reading: To fight El Niño: NIA asks House to restore P90-B budget that DBM slashed

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has exempted the fuel subsidy program for public utility vehicles (PUVs) along with other transportation projects from the 2023 barangay and sangguniang kabataan elections (BSKE) spending ban. In a memorandum dated Sept. 20, Comelec Chairman George Garcia approved the recommendation of then Comelec Law Department to exempt the Department of Transportation and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s Fuel Subsidy Program, PUV Service Contracting Program and PUV Modernization Program. The Comelec said the petition to exempt the programs was filed by the DOTr on Tuesday. Befo…

Keep on reading: PUV fuel subsidy program exempted from poll spending ban

  MANILA, Philippines — 615 out of 1,841 examinees passed the September 2023 Agricultural and Biosystems Engineers licensure examination, the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) announced on Monday. The exams were administered on September 14 and 15. Lee Castro of the Bataan Peninsula State University topped the examination with a rating 84.03 percent , followed by Trixie Teodoro from the University of the Philippines – Los Baos (82.70 percent) and Jesriel Casinillo from the Visayas State University – Baybay, (82.38 percent). Two universities were named as the top-performing schools for this year: the Central Bicol State University of Agriculture -…

Keep on reading: PRC: 615 pass Agricultural, Biosystems Engineers board exam

SINGAPORE – Oil prices fell nearly $1 on Wednesday ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, with investors uncertain when peak rates will be hit and how much of an impact it will have on energy demand. Prices fell despite a bigger-than-expected draw in U.S. oil stockpiles and weak U.S. shale output that indicated tight crude supply for the rest of 2023. Global benchmark Brent crude futures were last down 88 cents, or 0.9 percent, at $93.46 a barrel by 0650 GMT. Brent hit $95.96 on Tuesday, its highest since November. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures shed 1 percent, or 97 cents, to $90.23 a barrel, after climbing to a 10-month high of $93.74 a barrel …

Keep on reading: Oil falls $1 ahead of Fed rate decision

MANILA, Philippines — The two remaining priority bills of the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) will be approved by the House of Representatives before September ends, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said on Wednesday. In a statement, Romualdez said he presented a report to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. during the Ledac meeting at Malacaang earlier, stating that the House had approved 18 of the 20 bills marked as priority by the council. The two remaining bills are House Bill No. 8969, or the proposed Military and Uniformed Personnel Pension (MUP) System Act, and the consolidated version of the proposed Anti-Agr…

Keep on reading: 18 of 20 Ledac priority bills OKd; 2 others by Sept. – Romualdez

Runaway Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen will be determined to roar back at Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix after his record streak of 10 straight wins ended in Singapore. The Dutchman finished fifth under the Marina Bay lights after starting 11th on the grid, meaning he will not be able to clinch his third straight world title at Suzuka. But Verstappen, who has won 12 of the 15 races so far this season, can move to the cusp of retaining his crown while his Red Bull team can seal the constructors’ championship. The 25-year-old told reporters after struggling with Singapore’s street circuit, where overtaking is all but impossible, that “this track is so different t…

Keep on reading: Verstappen primed to roar back at ‘old school’ Japan Grand Prix

While SexBomb’s Aira Bermudez and Sugar Mercado understood where their bandmate Izzy Trazona-Aragonis coming from regarding her son Andrei’s drag career, they said that the mother and son should have settled their issues in private rather than putting them on display on social media. Bermudez and Mercado spoke about Izzy’s relationship with her son during a “Fast Talk with Boy Abunda” interview, which was uploaded on GMA Network’s YouTube channel on Tuesday, Sept. 19. The topic was brought up after Abunda asked the dancers to share their two-cents on the matter. Earlier this month, Trazona-Aragon expressed dismay on Facebook over Andrei’s drag career on Facebook. This prompted …

Keep on reading: SexBomb’s Aira, Sugar weighs in on Izzy’s rejection of son’s drag career

Dani Barretto and her husband Xavi Panlilio held a “Peppa Pig”-themed celebration for their little girl Millie, who recently turned four years old. Through a pair of Instagram posts, Barretto gave her followers a glimpse of her daughter’s birthday party, which seemingly was a dream playground for any kid with all the toys and fixtures to enjoy. In one of her posts, she uploaded a video of several snaps from Millie’s special day, which featured mascots of characters from “Peppa Pig,” which is a British animated series. The video showed the birthday girl having fun as she took the slide down to a ball pit, jumped inside an inflatable bounce house, and rode the swing. There wer…

Keep on reading: LOOK: Dani Barretto, Xavi Panlilio throw ‘Peppa Pig’-themed party for daughter

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Monday turned over its donation of ten motorcycles to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Motorcycle Riding Academy. The donation was a part of DILG’s commitment to support MMDA in its efforts to promote road safety and decrease motorcycle-related accidents in Metro Manila. “I’m in full support of the MMDA and the Motorcycle Riding Academy. This Academy, malaking bagay ito para maturuan ang ating mga kababayan kung paano ang gagawin ‘pag may injury, kung paano bumagsak, lalo na para sa ating mga kabataan,” said DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos at the turnover cer…

Keep on reading: DILG donates 10 motorbikes to MMDA Motorcycle Riding Academy

MANILA, Philippines–The next three days will see the perennial contenders of the Philippines Football League test their mettle against some of their counterparts in the Asian region when they kick off their respective continental campaigns on home soil. PFL champion Kaya-Iloilo hosts Chinese Super League side Shandong Taishan in an 8 p.m. start at Rizal Memorial Stadium on Tuesday for its latest foray into the top-tier Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League. “We’ve been working hard for the past six weeks and there’s really a lot of excitement within the team,” said Kaya coach Colum Curtis ahead of the first Champions League match in the country. Stallion-Lagun…

Keep on reading: PFL teams begin AFC Champions League campaigns