Check out the latest on the Bird Flu Outbreak in Pampanga, the Random Drug Testing among High school teachers and students according to Department of Education and the 9- year old Filipina who continues to dominate America’s Got talent all of that, here in the latest episode of Trending Klipps.
CLARK FREEPORT ZONE, PAMPANGA – Set to recognize this year’s regional winners, the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) Central Luzon held its annual recognition and incentives program called “Gawad Parangal” for Cooperatives on August 12, 2017 at the Royce Hotel and Casino.
The Awarding ceremony commenced with an opening message delivered by CDA Regional Director Marieta P. Hwang, who graciously welcomed this year’s guests and nominees. CDA Board Administrator Abad L. Santos also delivered his message, informing all participants about impending reforms in the CDA rules and policies. He also encouraged the cooperatives for their continuous participation and support to the programs of the CDA.
Attended by over 30 cooperatives from Central Luzon, the CDA Gawad Parangal is an awards and recognition program for cooperatives, local government units, and cooperative leaders in recognition of exemplary performance, best practices, and good governance to the community.
The CDA Gawad Parangal Central Luzon awardees are as follows:
Small Scale Category:
Limay Agri Business Multi-Purpose Cooperative
Bungabon Market Vendors Multi-Purpose Cooperative
Medium Scale Category:
Limay Multi-Purpose Cooperative
Sto. Niño De Padada Multi- Purpose Cooperative
San Roque San Isidro Savings and Credit Cooperative
Large Scale Category:
Bagong Barrio Multi- Purpose Cooperative
Saint Martin of Tours Credit and Development Cooperative
San Jose Del Monte Savings and Credit Cooperative
Iwahori Multi- Purpose Cooperative
Plaque of Recognition for Regional Winner of Outstanding Cooperative Leader:
Angelita Dela Cruz
Plaque of Recognition for Special Citations for Best Advocacy Mechanism:
Bataan Cooperative Development Council
Plaque of Recognition For Remarkable Feature or Programs:
Central Luzon Regional League- Philippine Federation of Credit Cooperative
Plaque of Recognition for Best Advocacy Development Mechanism:
Angeles City Cooperative Development Council
Best Performing Local Government Unit Cooperative Development Office:
Provincial Cooperative and Enterprise Development Office-Bulacan
Best Advocacy Development Mechanism to Mainstream:
Marilao Cooperative Development Council
Best Performing Local Government Unit Cooperative and Development Office-Municipal Level:
Municipal Cooperative Development Office of Marilao, Bulacan
Moreover, the regional screening committees and regional board of judges were composed of Alalay Sa Kaunlaran Inc., (ASKI) – Nueva Ecija, Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Bangko Central ng Pilipinas, and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
The regional awardees will automatically be Central Luzon’s bets in the upcoming National CDA Gawad Parangal 2017.
The House of Representatives agrees to postpone the Barangay polls to May 2018 while the Malacañang palace welcomes bloggers as social media practitioners. On the other hand, find out what movie is the highest grossing Filipino independent film, all of that in the latest episode of Trending Klipps.
Let’s wrap up the week with latest edition of Trending Klipps!
President Duterte extends Passport and Driver’s License validity, Sen.
Poe ensures public that Uber and Grab is here to stay, and LGU’s to create smoke free task force.
In a new edition of Trending Klipps, let’s look into the hottest news of the week.
Duterte hits back to critics during his second State of the Nation Address.
Department of Transportation, the first national agency to establish its headquarters in
Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga, and Typhoon Gorio strengthen as it heads out to Taiwan.
Local officials in mining areas throughout Caraga region have expressed hostility towards the Department of Environment (DENR) Secretary and long time environmental activist Regina “Gina” Lopez’s appointment.
The environment secretary said that she was seeking a “way forward” with miners, as she maintains her keen front against irresponsible mining. Lopez vexed the mining industry with suspension and closure orders for over 28 operating mines and browbeats to cancel 75 contracts.
However, a wave of detractors registered their protest against the naturalist and cited Lopez’s “incompetence” as DENR chief. Officials in Caraga, where mining is considered as the main source of livelihood, were troubled with the unintended consequences of Lopez’s drastic measures to put mining firms into a halt.
Surigao del Sur Gov. Vicente Pimentel apprised that the loss of mining jobs, where mining taxes comprise significant portion of local revenues could lead to increased criminality and further augment problems prevalent in the region.
“In Carrascal town, where I used to be mayor, we can expect the return of highway robberies, dynamite fishing and other problems that we had (already) addressed, as unemployment levels (could) rise with the loss of mining jobs,” Pimentel said.
The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, the sector by far the most affected by Lopez’s policies, was the most eager in its opposition, calling Lopez “unfit and unqualified to be the government’s lead regulator in natural resource development.”
According to the Regional Director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau- Caraga, Roger de Dios, the loss of mining jobs could affect 300,000 individuals, which includes dependents of mining suppliers, subcontractors and local businesses.
The first annual Tourism Enterprise Zone (TEZ) Investment Forum was held at Royce Hotel in Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga on February 27, 2017.
Spearheaded by Department of Tourism (DOT) Region 3, the forum was attended by key representatives from different tourism enterprise companies and Philippine government attached agencies namely, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA), and the Philippine Export- Import Credit Agency (PHILEXIM).
Having tourism as one of the world’s biggest industries, which accounted 9.8% of the global GDP in 2016 and employed 284 million people in the same period. In line with this, TIEZA encourages potential investors to venture and develop their properties into a TEZ.
TEZ is the Philippine government extending a hand to the private sector through incentives that greatly reduce the risks associated with large investments. The goal is to accelerate the development of the next tourist frontier by stimulating investments, and by giving operators the elbow room they need to expand rapidly.
TEZ is also a tract of land with defined boundaries, master planned for development into an integrated tourism complex with prescribed carrying capacities, to host tourism enterprise facilities and services within. According to TEZ ACOO Joy Balauitan, these are the following qualifications that make a geographical area in the country eligible for becoming a TEZ:
TIEZA is the sole entity in the Philippines with the authority to designate a TEZ. To further encourage future investors, TIEZA laid out both of their fiscal and non- fiscal benefits during the forum.
The granting of fiscal incentives to TEZ operators and registered tourism enterprises will help pave the way for a more competitive Philippine tourism industry. Operators now have much needed leeway as well as a safety net to think bigger, and expand more aggressively.
After a dismal end last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said that Foreign portfolio investments also known as “hot money” were off to a good start, January of 2017.
Initial data released by BSP shows that overall Foreign portfolio transactions net inflow are at a total hit of $301 million, compared to the bleak net outflow in January 2016 with $130 million, and December 2016’s outflow of $315 million.
Together with the positive reactions of investors with the 6.6% GDP growth, the registered investments for January is at $1.1 million, reflecting an 8.7% increase from the figures recorded in December 2016. According to the BSP, this may have attributed to the optimism about the new year.
On the other hand, outflows for the month was down to 38.8%, a decline of up to $846 million from a staggering $1.4 billion outflow of December 2016. The year- on- year outflows also declined to 11% from the massive $950 million.
The 95.4% registered investments in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE)- listed in securities going mainly to banks, food, beverage, holding firms, property companies, tobacco firms and utility companies. Transactions from these gave off net inflow of $360 million.
The United Kingdom, United States, Singapore, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong were the top 5 investor countries for the month, with combined share to total of 79.6%. The BSP also noted that the US continued to be the main destination of outflows, receiving 89.3% of total remittances.
After the heartbreaking fall of Nokia last year through the infamous Microsoft shut down, the techno company is said to jumpstart its comeback with a new lineup of cellular devices this 2017.
HMD Global Oy (an independent Finnish company) secured the exclusive Nokia brand licensing rights in mobile phones in the late 2016. The Finnish company now plans to announce four handsets at the Mobile World Congress later this February.
According to Venturebeat, aside from the newly revealed Nokia 6 in China, but not yet elsewhere, HMD Global is hovering the idea of launching Nokia 3 and 5. With the intentions of salvaging the shoddily acclaimed handsets from the downmarket, the company is said to launch these devices with new and improved specs to deliver quality to the core features.
Unlike Nokia 6’s features of a full HD 5.5- inch display and a 16 megapixel primary camera, the other two devices will have lower specs to hit lower price range. The Nokia 5, for instance, is said to have a reduced display of 5.2 inches at 720p and a decreased image sensor of 12 megapixels.
But perhaps, the most interesting of these devices, especially for the standpoint of most nostalgic phone enthusiasts would be the comeback of the Nokia 3310. It was a cockroach of a phone, known for being the toughest, most indestructible handset to date.
The incarnation of the iconic device is said to come with an undisclosed twist, due to be revealed on HMD’s launching event on February 26 in Barcelona, Spain. Nostalgic phone users will have their trip down memory lane through the new and improved Nokia 3310, for only €59 (Php 3,146).
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) reviews a P700 billion international airport project by conglomerate San Miguel Corporation (SMC) in Bulacan, Philippines.
Some of the details of SMC’s unsought proposal was released by DOTr Undersercretary Roberto Lim on Wednesday, February 15. Lim’s presentation revealed perspective of an enormous airport city complex of about 2, 500 hectares in Bulakan, Bulacan province.
A proposal under a build- operate- transfer scheme, SMC will operate the airport under a 50 year allowance. With a span of 1,168 hectares and a proposed six parallel runways with an initial length of 3.5 kilometers each, the presented air terminal complex is said to accommodate even the largest passenger aircrafts.
Meanwhile, its initial passenger capacity is at an estimated 100 million passengers per year. An expressway will also be established in order for the airport to be connected to North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) in Marilao. The expressway will also be connected to the SMC operated Metro Rail Transit (MRT) line- 7 in San Jose Del Monte Bulacan.
Many have agreed that the establishment of the new landing strips serving Manila and other nearby areas is needed. Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) opened in the 1980’s is said to have been exhausted and has been operating well beyond its design capacity.
If granted, the proposed construction of the massive international “aerotropolis”, is said to be completed within six years.
