News

Medical board topnotcher wants to teach future doctors

30Mar

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

Nation, News

Medical board topnotcher wants to teach future doctors

March 2023 Physician Licensure Examination topnotcher Dr. Aira Cassandra Castro CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO ILOCOS NORTE (March 30, 2023)—"I WANT to teach at the Mariano Marcos State University College of Medicine (MMSU-COM) to train the younger generation of Ilocano doctors." Dr. Aira Cassandra Castro, the March 2023 Physician Licensure Examination (PLE) topnotcher, said as she expressed her willingness to be part of the academic community. Castro made history as the first graduate of MMSU who ranked first in the medical board examination with a rating of 89 percent, bringing the university and Ilocos Norte province into the limelight. The 25-year-old medical doctor said her plan to teach at MMSU-COM is also her way of giving back to the university and the Prov...

Searca empowers all-female farm school with agripreneurship training

30Mar

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

Nation, News

Searca empowers all-female farm school with agripreneurship training

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture will conduct a one-day learning activity for the all-female Balete Family Farm School at the conclusion of International Women's Month. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO LAGUNA (March 30, 20223)—The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) is emboldening the students of the Batangas province-based Balete Family Farm School Inc. (BFFS) in a learning event that will enable them to refine the business plans they developed as part of their family enterprise project and gain additional learning on agripreneurship. Dr. Glenn Gregorio, Searca director, said the BFFS has the distinction of being the only all-female family farm school in Asia. The BFFS te...

Didipio Mine gives P97.94-M in aid to 33 villages

28Mar

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

News, Nueva Vizcaya

Didipio Mine gives P97.94-M in aid to 33 villages

The Didipio Mine in the upland Kasibu town in Nueva Vizcaya province. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO KASIBU, Nueva Vizcaya (March 28, 2023)—The Didipio Mine's Community Development Fund (CDF) steering committee has approved P97,944,000 worth of community projects in 33 villages in the provinces of Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya. Didipio Mine's operator OceanaGold (Philippines) Inc. (OGPI) said it has been implementing various community projects in the said provinces in partnership with government agencies, local government units, communities and organizations. OGPI is the subsidiary of the Australian Canadian OceanaGold Corp. (OGC), which owns the Didipio Mine in the gold and copper deposit-rich upland village of Didipio in the town of Kasibu in this province. OGPI note...

27Mar

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

News, Nueva Vizcaya

‘Bugkalots have rights in Casecnan’

The Bugkalot Confederation led by overall chieftain Rosario Camma rejoices with the group of tribe elders and leaders as the Court of Appeals agrees that the tribe has a say and that there must be the conduct of free prior and informed consent by the operator or any interested firm to operate the Casecnan Multipurpose Irrigation and Power Project at Pelaway in Alfonso Castañeda, Nueva Vizcaya. PHOTO BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya (March 27, 2023)—The Bugkalot Confederation expressed victory with the Court of Appeals (CA) decision favoring the tribe of their rights over their ancestral domain areas covered by the Casecnan Multipurpose Irrigation and Power Project (CMIPP). In its Feb. 21, 2023 decision, the CA favored the conduct of a free prio...

Cauayan City village health center refurbished

26Mar

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

Isabela, News

Cauayan City village health center refurbished

BY VINCE JACOB VISAYA CAUAYAN CITY (March 26, 2023)—The newly refurbished health center of the barangay government of District 1 in this city was formally turned over by the SM Foundation Inc. (SMFI) in collaboration with Uniqlo Philippines at the barangay hall compound on Mabini Street on March 23 late afternoon here. The upgraded District 1 Health Center is a part of the foundation's Health and Wellness Program launched in 2001 in an effort to have social good collaboration with partners, said Connie Angeles, SM Foundation for Health and Medical Programs executive director. Angeles lauded barangay frontliners for providing "quality health care despite the pandemic and natural calamities." The foundation did not disclose the amount spent. Once a dilapidated warehouse, the bui...

CAAP completes probe at Cessna crash site

26Mar

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

Isabela, News

CAAP completes probe at Cessna crash site

CLOSURE TO A TRAGEDY Members of retrieval teams arrive at the crash site in Isabela to retrieve the bodies of the pilot and the five passengers of a Cessna plane that went missing almost two months ago on Jan. 23, 2023. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS BY VINCE JACOB VISAYA CAUAYAN CITY (March 26, 2023)—Six investigators and mechanics from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) have wrapped up their field investigation in the crash site of the Cessna 206 plane with tail number RP-C1174 in Barangay Ditarum, Divilacan, Isabela, the local Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) officer said. Engineer Ezikiel Chavez, Divilacan DRRM officer, told reporters here that the CAAP probers completed the field investigation and were safely back to the village proper after their sortie wit...

Army, govt agencies hold leadership summit for youth, kids

26Mar

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

Nation, News

Army, govt agencies hold leadership summit for youth, kids

KIANGAN, Ifugao (March 26, 2023)—Some 120 children and youth from the different barangays (villages) of Tinoc town in this province attended a three-day Children and Youth Leadership Summit from March 24 to 26, 2023 at the Evacuation Center in the Sitio (sub-village) of Mugao, Impugong village here. The summit was a collaborative effort of the 54th Infantry (Magilas) Battalion under the 5th Infantry Division, the local government unit here and various government and non-governmental agencies. These agencies are the Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine National Police (14th Special Action Battalion, Tinoc Municipal Police Station and Ifugao Police Provincial Office), Department of Education, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and Write Your Legacy Book Writing., ...

NVSU visits Runruno Mine for educational tour

21Mar

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

News, Nueva Vizcaya

NVSU visits Runruno Mine for educational tour

Some 18 participants composed of professors and graduate school students from the College of Business Education of Nueva Vizcaya State University, Bayombong Campus, were accommodated by FCF Minerals Corp. in Runruno, Quezon town in Nueva Vizcaya for an educational mine tour on March 18, 2023. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO QUEZON, Nueva Vizcaya (March 21), 2023)—The Nueva Vizcaya State University (NVSU) visited the FCF Minerals Corp. here for an educational mine tour on March 18. The NVSU delegates who are newly exposed to the mines were 18 professors and graduate school students from the university’s College of Business Education in its Bayombong town campus. Lorne Harvey, FCF Minerals Corp. general manager for operations, noted that like any other who are new to th...

Women excel in male-dominated Runruno Mines

16Mar

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

News, Nueva Vizcaya

Women excel in male-dominated Runruno Mines

Mildred Binay-an, president of Runruno Livelihood Development Association in Quezon town in Nueva Vizcaya province presents their business model during the Dinapigue Mining Corporation benchmarking. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO QUEZON, Nueva Vizcaya: A London-based mining company here has been promoting a working place where women are seen to excel in different environments perceived to be exclusive to men. Lorne Harvey, FCF Minerals Corporation general manager for operation, said gone were the days when society regarded women’s most significant profession is on wifehood or motherhood alone. “Nowadays, women are seen to excel in the different work environments in the mining industry that most people thought it is only for men. This manifests that the days are gone ...

MGB Region 2 finds FCF Minerals compliant with ISHES implementation

7Mar

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

News, Nueva Vizcaya

MGB Region 2 finds FCF Minerals compliant with ISHES implementation

MINING AUDIT. Seven technical personnel from the Mine Safety, Environment, and Social Development Division of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau in Region 2 conducted an Integrated Safety and Health, Environment, and Social Development System audit at FCF Minerals Corporation in Barangay Runruno, Quezon, Nueva Vizcaya from February 27 to March 3, 2023. The audit finds compliance by Runruno Mines. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO QUEZON, Nueva Vizcaya (March 7)—An audit conducted by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in Region 2 shows that the London-based mining company here has been determined to be compliant. According to the Mine Safety, Environment, and Social Development Division (MSESDD) of MGB Region 2, the FCF Minerals Corp. has been determined to be compliant in...