Binay tapped for UN advisory group on gov’t

Makati Mayor Abigail Binay has been appointed as a member of the United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) Advisory Group on Local and Regional Governments, making her the only Philippine mayor in the assembly. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres underscored the importance of the Advisory Group in strengthening the engagement of local and …

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Hontiveros to ERC: Probe NGCP claim

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Thursday urged the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to investigate and verify claims made by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) that it is spending P8.7 billion on janitorial and security services. The NGCP earlier said the budget is being used for 583 facilities, each …

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DFA puts Gaza on Alert Level 3

Rest of Israel under Alert 2; Movement, deployment of Filipinos still suspended The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday put Gaza under crisis alert level 3, which calls for voluntary repatriation of Filipinos there, as heavy Israeli bombardments continued to hit the Palestinian enclave. Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega …

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Magnitude 5.0 earthquake rattles Batangas

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake took place on Friday morning in Batangas province, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs). Phivolcs director Teresito “Toto” Bacolcol said the tremor happened around 8:24 a.m. some five kilometers southwest of Calaca, also in the same province. Tectonic in origin, the quake …

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World Bank needs to get ‘better,’ ‘bigger’

MARRAKESH, Morocco: The World Bank’s new president, Ajay Banga, said on Wednesday that the global lender must become “better” and “bigger” to boost its capacity to help developing countries battle climate change, poverty and pandemics. Banga, who was appointed in June, made his plea at the annual meetings of the …

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