The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is calling on the Senate to give its nod to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which is set to take effect on January 1, 2022.
Department of Social Welfare and Development-Mimaropa Director Fernando Villa Jr. (Photo courtesy of DSWD-Mimaropa) MANILA - The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) strengthened its campaign against hunger and poverty with the signing of the memorandum of understanding with its partner agencies for the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP) Program on Thursday. The EPAHP is one of the banner programs of the Inter-Agency Task Force Zero Hunger, created under Executive Order No. 101, whose objective is to mitigate hunger, ensure food nutrition security, and establish sustainable agriculture by 2030. The DSWD said the EPAHP will have nationwide geographical coverage with the help of one of its partners which is the EPAHP-Regional Convergence Team (RCT). "The essential goal of the EPAHP is to help mitigate hunger, ensure food and nutrition security, and reduce poverty in urban and rural communities, including marginalized communities," DSWD-Mimaro
Coffee farm in Ibaan, Batangas (Photo courtesy of DOST-Calabarzon) MANILA-Barako coffee farmers and processors will greatly benefit from the Regional Inclusive Innovation Center (RIIC) initiative in Calabarzon, Department of Science and Technology Region IV-A Director Emelita Bagsit said. "Kapeng barako is the focus commodity of RIIC as this is an important commodity in the region. It would also help re-establish the branding and reintroduce barako coffee," she told the Philippine News Agency in an interview on Friday. Barako coffee (Coffea liberica) has a strong taste and popularly grown particularly in the provinces of Batangas and Cavite. RIIC in Calabarzon is a partnership initiative of the DOST, Department of Trade and Industry, Batangas State University (BatStateU), NEDA, PCCI, with support from USAID STRIDE. The DOST-Calabarzon has committed PHP1.4 million to strengthen this. DOST-Calabarzon and its partner agencies eye the RIIC to be a dynamic one-stop-shop for prospe