PCG inaugurates 1st quarantine facility By Vanessa Q. Rodriguez - PIA/IDPD
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) inaugurated last Oct. 10, 2020 its first quarantine facility that can accommodate up to 224 PCG frontline personnel. This is established for PCG frontliners who have contacted COVID-19 in the performance of their duties.
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Located at Coast Guard Base Taguig, it is made of good quality container vans equipped with sewerage, electrical and air conditioning systems. The facility is a medical station with sufficient PPE sets, medial supplies and medicines as well as 26-bed capacity.
Increasing local food production Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the Duterte administration continues to put premium on protecting the interests and welfare of the Filipino farmers and fishers, and that sourcing additional food commodities from other countries remains a “last resort” policy. “Our vision of a food-secure and resilient Philippines with prosperous farmers and fisherfolk remains, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and onto the new normal. We will only allow imports to fill in the deficit or what we cannot produce locally,”
Secretary Dar said. He issued the statement to debunk criticisms and perceptions that the current Department of Agriculture (DA) leadership “made the country food import-dependent” despite abundant land and sea resources capable of producing most of the food requirements of 110 million Filipinos. In fact, Secretary Dar said the country’s dependency on imported food has been increasing during the past 30 years, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
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DepEd, DICT partners for education By Melinda Quiñones- PIA/IDPD
Department of Education (DepEd) and Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) worked together to ensure the successful opening of the school year and continued delivery of education amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the leadership of Secretary Gregorio Honasan II, and its attached agency National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), DICT facilitated DepEd’s request in May 2020 to provide an online education platform, the DepEd Commons, and seek support from telecommunication providers for free access. DICT-NTC also provided airtime in television, radio and cable to broadcast educational materials and instructions nationwide. In addition, the partnership also initiated the installation and deployment of the Free WiFi Internet Access Service to public schools, upskilled the ICT competencies of teachers as well as providing physical security infrastructure or activity protocols to safeguard learners, teachers, and staff from any unwanted security breaches and exposure to harmful online content. In the long term, DepEd is tapping DICT for technical support for the Department’s Last Mile Schools Program through the augmentation of satellite capacity and the establishment of a fiber network connected to the far-flung schools. PIA Bulletin Online 4
NWPC to conduct webinar on business reconfiguration By Vanessa Q. Rodriguez - PIA/IDPD
The National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) organizes a webinar on driving productivity. Entitled, ‘Business Reconfiguration: Leading Practices in Transitioning to the New Normal,’ on October 15, at 10:00AM, livestreamed via NWPC’s Facebook page. Invited resource speaker is Ms. Jazmine Flores, founder and CEO of Leadworks Sales and Marketing Solution. She will discuss scalable practices for helping businesses recover and reboot post COVID19; as well as the adoption of growth-accelerating technologies and innovation, automation, shifting to new business models and work arrangements. The said responses have seen businesses bounce back with greater agility, resilience and sustainability and an even greater potential to accelerate productivity growth. Individuals may register at bit.ly/2020_NPC. 5 PIA Bulletin Online
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