Typhoon Lawin outside PH
Typhoon Lawin continues to move over the Philippine sea but is not expected to make landfall. Lawin is packing maximum sustained winds up to 120 kph near the center and has gustiness up to 150 kph. Signal number 1 was raised over Samar provinces. The typhoon will enhance the habagat winds and cause light to moderate rains over Western Visayas and Mindanao. Metro Manila will experience partly cloudy skies with brief rains and thunderstorms.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) receives 1.42B funding for administrative, training improvement
Through the Department of Budget and Managemnt, the AFP got P1.14B for engineering and architectural upgrades of their military camps, P282M for an Arms Readiness Training Center, and P592,000 for training and other command projects. There is a fund worth P21.788B dedicated to the modernization program (including procurement of new weapons/equipment/vehicles) of the AFP, in light of its recent territorial spats with China.
More prisoners get PhilHealth coverage
36,111 inmates from seven Prison and Penal Farms managed by the Bureau of Corrections will be enrolled into the social health insurance of the government of PhilHealth. These include New Bilibid Prison (Muntinlupa City), Correctional Institution for Women (Mandaluyong City), Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro), Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, Leyte Regional Prison (Abuyog, Leyte), Davao Prison and Penal Farm (Davao del Norte), and San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm (Zamboanga City). BuCor is said to partially or fully subsidize the premium contributions of its chosen beneficiaries.
Govt, MILF peace deal almost there
A deal, formalizing a ceasefire in Muslim-rich areas in Mindanao and setting in motion the roadmap to creation of an autonomous region before PNoy's term ends, is close to fruition. This deal will happen after nearly 15-years of violence-disrupted talks, ending a 40-year old conflict that has taken away 120,000 lives in the troubled south. However, there are still stumbling blocks like territory, internal security and wealth-sharing agreements.
Farmers call for more govt support in agriculture mechanization
With the continued decline of rice fields left for farming due to conversion into residential and commercial areas, farmers resort to maximizing the utilization of their remaining farm lands. This is the reason why they're calling for more government funding to get access to modern farm implements and improved rice seedlings, and to build farm-to-market roads thereby lowering the cost of farm goods which could directly influence the buyers/consumers, in what is termed as inflation.
