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MANILA, Philippines — While drug tests are not mandatory, candidates may voluntarily submit drug test results along with their certificates of candidacy, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday.
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday presented a four-point appeal to the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) to ensure the efficient allocation of the 2025 national budget: scrutinize online gambling, provide safeguards for the contracting of foreign loans, improve housing programs, and provide targeted aid to Filipinos in need.
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) recently hosted a "Pagkilala sa mga Iskolar ng Repormang Agraryo" held in Dakak, Dapitan City last August 8. The event was attended by selected Department of Agrarian Reform Scholarship Program (DARSP) scholars from Bukidnon, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga Sibugay along with their parents. The event was graced by the presence of Assistant Secretary Vinci Araullo Beltran of the Human Resource Office, Director Agnes B. Mendoza of the Agrarian Reform Capacity Development Service (ARCDS), and Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Daisy Dell Digamon of DAR Central Office. Also in attendance were the scholarship program coordinators nationwide.
SENATE President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada on Tuesday said Republic Act 10699, or the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act, should be amended to equalize the amount of cash gifts given to national athletes who won in international competitions.
Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, who was recently proclaimed an adopted son of Alfonso, Cavite, and already recognized as an adopted son of CALABARZON with familial roots from Batangas through the Tesoro clan, inspected the Super Health Center in the town on Monday, August 12.
OceanaGold PH [OGP 13.40 ?1.2%; 204% avgVol] [link] and its parent company, OceanaGold Corp (OGC) held a media roundtable on Tuesday to discuss concerns about OGP’s weaker-than-expected Q2 production and provide guidance for what investors could expect for Q3 and Q4. OGC’s COO, Peter Sharpe, said that OGC and OGP “expect Q3 and then Q4 to be stronger than Q2.” The companies confirmed plans for OGP to declare and pay quarterly dividends, and reiterated their confidence in the ability of OGP to maintain a “high level dividend”. OGC said that OGP’s weak Q2 production was caused by unplanned downtime and a reconfiguration of its mine sequence to optimize later output. The companies said that they expect OGP to hit its output target of 120,000 ounces of gold and 14,000 metric tons of copper. As for the prices of those commodities, a representative for OGP said that “there are no indications that prices will go down.”MB BOTTOM-LINE: I like the involvement of OGP’s parent company and the interest in maintaining an open dialogue on OGP’s first quarter of public results and its first dividend. I especially like that the company put the Powerpoint presentation that it delivered to the media roundtable up on its website [pdf link]. Given how most international parent companies treat their listed PH companies and their investors, this was a welcome breath of fresh air. The only way to make it better is for OGP to post the presentation materials link in a same-day EDGE disclosure. Kudos to management and to the investor relations team for the transparency and investor engagement. One side note on prices: while gold and copper are both in price uptrends, there are simply no guarantees that prices will remain at these levels or reach higher levels. While there are no indications that prices will go down, just remember that a lack of indicators won’t mean anything if/when the prices do start to come down. They’ll just come down. As a lifelong goldbug I’ve been messing with the metal since $500/oz, but while the price is at lifetime highs for me, the path there was anything but straight up.
FOLLOWING the wage order issued in the National Capital Region (NCR), the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) – Region IV-A is expected to increase the minimum wage rate in Calabarzon by next month.
