The Department of Transportation (DOTr) calls on the public not to engage or transact with a Facebook account “Transportation in Manila,” which is allegedly giving away free transport cards for the entire year as part of the agency’s 126th anniversary celebration. The account, which has a Facebook handle @Transportation-in-Manila or Transportation in Manila, is supposedly giving away Beep Cards by …

By Rose de la Cruz With a record importation of 4.78 million metric tons of rice last year, it would not be surprising at all, that P34 -billion tariff was collected from the legal and legit arrivals of the grains. But how about the smuggled volumes, they could even more than the recorded imports, for which tariff denied our country …

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) attained a milestone achievement by surpassing the P2.848 trillion Emerging Goal target set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) last March 2024. Although the numbers are still being finalized, the BIR confirmed that they have definitely reached the Php 2.848 trillion mark for 2024. “The exact figures will be finalized by around mid-February, …

BingoPlus, the country’s most comprehensive digital entertainment platform, celebrated yet another milestone. A lucky player won a massive jackpot prize of 312 million pesos. To commemorate this big win, a special awarding ceremony took place on January 10, 2025 at a hotel in Manila. Doubling the previous jackpot prize, the avid BingoPlus player broke the record for winning the biggest …

METRO MANILA – BingoPlus, your comprehensive digital entertainment platform in the country, hosted another exciting movie experience with the 50th Metro Manila Film Festival entry, The Kingdom, starring BingoPlus male endorser Piolo Pascual, on January 9, 2025. The Kingdom is set in an alternate reality where the Philippines was never colonized, referred to as the “Kingdom of Kalayaan.” Piolo Pascual …

Leading home improvement retailer MR.DIY Philippines marks a major milestone with the opening of its 700th store in Bagontaas, Valencia City, Bukidnon. Dubbed as the “City of Golden Harvest,” and Bukidnon’s economic hub, Valencia blends agricultural richness with growing commercial activity, serving as a lifeline for surrounding communities. This new store highlights MR.DIY’s commitment to bridging urban and rural gaps, …

Beyond EllipticalBy Rose Marie de la Cruz Because of the continued disability of the National Food Authority to import rice and have control over the market and to support the Department of Agriculture’s cheap rice program– which it implements in its Kadiwa ng Pangulo (KNP) centers at P40 per kg.– the DA is now pleading with importers to ship in …

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is expanding its copra meal project to Western Visayas to provide a cheaper protein source alternative for animal feeds in the region. Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said he ordered the expansion of the Protein-Enriched Copra Meal (PECM) commercialization project to the region to boost local livestock production. He said this development is expected …

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will organize a youth hub in the Philippines in 2025 to engage young people in agriculture. FAO Philippines’ representative Lionel Dabbadie said part of the initiatives that FAO works globally include agrifood systems, which are related to innovations, indigenous peoples, and the youth. “We are at the stage of organizing …

The Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund under Republic Act 12078 has been extended to 2031 from tariffs of imported rice and the annual budget was raised from P10 to P30 billion supposedly to fund the modernization of the rice industry.  RA12078 was signed by President Marcos Jr. on December 9. RCEF programs include: seed distribution (of inbred and hybrid rice seeds); …