MANILA - The Procurement Service (PS), the purchasing arm of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), has convened a committee tasked to pursue and implement "Green Public Procurement (GPP)" in the Philippine government. In a news release on Sunday, PS-DBM executive director Dennis Santiago said the establishment of an Inter-Agency Technical Specifications Review Committee (IATSCR) will allow the agency to assess, review and evaluate existing Common-Use Supplies and Equipment (CSE) Technical Specifications to adhere to and comply with local and international standards. CSEs, which are items essential to the government's daily operations, include ballpens, papers, staplers, paper clips and folders that are procured from the PS-DBM on a quarterly basis. The IATSCR will also take into account the environmental, social and economic aspects of public acquisition, alongside Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 on Responsible Consumption and Production. "The establis
MANILA - The National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) is coordinating with the National Privacy Commission (NPC) and other relevant parties to stop and track the source of text scams, especially those that contain the names of their receivers. In a Laging Handa briefing on Friday, NTC consultant Edgardo Cabarios said the NPC is leading the investigation, with the NTC coordinating with telecommunications companies (telcos). "Mayroon pong nag-leak ng information kasi bakit iyong telephone number ay mayroong pangalan? Kung telephone number lang pupuwede pong sabihin natin na random, pero ito ay may pangalan (There has been an information leak because why does the mobile number come with a name? If it's just a number we can say it was random, but there's a name)," Cabarios said. Such text scams contain the name of the person the message was sent to and a link that when clicked, would result in more personal information being lost. These pieces of personal information m
'BALAY SILANGAN'. The fifth Balay Silangan drug reformation center in Pangasinan is situated in Asingan town. It was inaugurated on Aug. 15, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Romel Aguilar) ASINGAN, Pangasinan - The municipal government here has opened its own Balay Silangan drug reformation facility, the fifth in the province of Pangasinan. In a speech during the inauguration on Monday, municipal local government operations officer Catherine Velasquez said the facility aims to reintegrate the drug reformists into the community. "We need the help of the church and the community so we could integrate the former drug users and pushers into the community and remove the stigma into them," she said. Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Pangasinan provincial director Rechie Camacho, in his message, said the center is being eyed to be the first to be institutionalized in the province. "We hope this would be institutionalized immediately and the reformists could be enrolled in the
MANILA - Deputy Speaker Wes Gatchalian on Thursday said the proposed Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card Registration Act could help law enforcement agencies in tracking down delinquents who use mobile phones with SIM cards to pursue nefarious activities. Gatchalian made the statement after Congress ratified the report on House Bill 5793 and Senate Bill 2395, or "An Act Eradicating Mobile Phone, Internet Or Electronic Communication-Aided Criminal Activities, Mandating For This Purpose Ownership Registration Of All SIM Cards For Electronic Devices And Social Media Accounts." The measure is now awaiting President Rodrigo Duterte's signature. Gatchalian, a principal author of the bill, said all public telecommunication entities (PTEs) shall require the registration of SIM cards as a pre-requisite to the sale and the activation of the subscription to deter the proliferation of SIM card, internet, or electronic communication-aided crimes. These nefarious activities include t
DAIRY PROCESSING CENTER. The Department of Agrarian Reform turned over on Thursday (Jan. 27, 2022) a dairy processing center to the Bongabon Dairy Cooperative in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija. This was done under the department's Village Level Farm Focused Enhancement Development program. (Photo courtesy of Bongabon Dairy Cooperative) BONGABON, Nueva Ecija - A dairy processing center was established in this town to help boost the livelihood of farmers. Through its Village Level Farm Focused Enhancement Development program, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) turned over the facility to the Bongabon Dairy Cooperative (BDC) on Thursday. In an interview on Friday, Mayor Allan Xystus Gamilla said the facility, which qualifies BDC to further support from the National Dairy Authority, was constructed on a 62.5-square meter area within the cooperative's 144-square meter lot in Barangay Pesa here. Gamilla said the DAR also turned over PHP300,000 to the cooperative for the purchase of proce