QUEZON CITY, Sept 2 - As the lead agency in social protection mandated to protect, serve and empower the disadvantaged and vulnerable sectors, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) supports the filing today at 10:30 am of the bill amending R.A. 8972 in the House of Representatives.

The haunting image of a stunned and bloodied Omran Daqneesh, the 5-year-old boy who was pulled from the rubble after another round of deadly bombings in the Syrian civil war, bespeaks what in essence our human rights are all about—that by not transcending our sorrows for a young child whose eyes are silently conversing with the gods in the unknown heavens, begging for mercy and compassion in the midst of an evil conflict, we have all become a party to his tragedy and misfortune. Prayers do not end wars. It does not make sense if we lose all hope, but the irreversible reality is that the failure of human institutions to protect innocent lives from the brutalities of war is the failure of the whole of humanity.

The Philippines may revive a nuclear power plant that was completed 32 years ago but never switched on due to safety fears, the government said Wednesday.

The spokesman for new President Rodrigo Duterte said the government is considering brining the $2.3 billion plant into operation to meet the country's growing power needs, despite entrenched opposition from activists and environmentalists.

 

“Rodrigo Duterte – the Donald Trump of the Philippines.” So we read and hear many times during the last months in newspapers, magazines, radio- and TV-programs all over the world.

It is obvious that there are similarities:

Asia’s Premier Prize – the Ramon Magsaysay Award will be presented today to this year’s laureates – three outstanding men, women and three organizations – who have greatly contributed to the betterment of many lives and their communities in ceremonies at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

TAGUIG CITY, Aug. 31 - “Public interest demands an appropriate intervention from both the government and the private sector to ensure consumer protection,” Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said as the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers (PSME) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) yesterday (25 August 2016) at the DOE’s Central Office in Taguig City.

MANILA, Aug. 30 - Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the Duterte administration is seizing on an “opportune convergence” of growth-friendly factors to reconfigure our tax system that is “crying out for reform” as a way to make Philippine communities safer and our society fairer for future generations.

QUEZON CITY, Aug. 29 - Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo put a stop to false reports circulating that the Pantawid ng Pamilyang Pilipino (4Ps) program of the department will no longer be implemented and that some 1.5 million of its current members will be delisted and no longer be beneficiaries.

Those of us who worked hard to make Rodrigo Roa Duterte the president of the Philippines never thought we would succeed. It was mission impossible. That is why he could not make up his mind for some time. To plunge or not to plunge to the unknown. He might have been a successful city mayor in one of the more neglected and troubled area of the Philippines – Mindanao – but that did not automatically mean he could win against the traditional politicians and oligarchs who would fight tooth and nail for their power and privileges in the status quo. But we kept on. We were aware that the PCOS machines were ready to be used for the Liberal Party candidates. How could we win against such odds? We did and as the more religious of us said it could be but only through a miracle.

Oslo (Reuters) — The Philippines government and Maoist-led rebels agreed indefinite ceasefires on Friday as part of an accord to accelerate efforts to end a conflict that has lasted almost five decades and killed at least 40,000 people.

The government expressed hopes that a peace agreement could be reached within a year after the Oslo talks, the first formal meeting for five years. The guerrillas, who reiterated demands for "revolutionary change," stopped short of setting a deadline.