The Department of Education (DepEd) said that parents and students in Metro Manila welcomed the start of the random drug testing in secondary schools.
Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said that 85, 000 students will undergo the test until November this year.
Ten students from each school will undergo the drug test.
For the Overseas Filipino Workers who wish to get professional jobs for a brighter future abroad, the government started the Skills-Retooling program.
Professional Regulations Commission will carry out the examination for the granting of professional license for the workers in the country they work in.
This is the beginning for a brighter occasion for the OFWs to get a higher salary, according to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her meeting with Filipino community there in Saudi.
Arroyo says that this will increase the skill of the Pinoy worker especially those with no license yet.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde confirms that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo accepted the invitation from US legislators to attend the National Prayer Breakfast to be held in Washington, D.C.
The National Prayer Breakfast is held annually in Washington DC every first Thursdayof February, which is today.
Frank Carlson, a former US Representative, Governor, and Senator started this event since 1935 in which 3,500 guests were from over 100 countries worldwide.
Arroyo looks forward to meeting President Barack Obama that is said to be one of the speakers in the said activity.
During her meeting with the Filipino community in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia On February 3, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced that the government has earmarked P1 Billion for the Filipino Expatriate Livelihood Support Fund (FELSF). It is one of the safety nets for Overseas Filipino Workers displaced in the current global economic crisis.
The FELSF is supported by government lending institutions like the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP).
Under the FELSF, a displaced OFW may borrow up to P50,000.00 for him or her to start a livelihood project or business enterprise. The loan is available at five percent interest per annum with no collateral and is payable for over 24 months with an interest-free grace period of 80 days.
Another of the government’s scheme to upgrade the skills of Filipino workers is – the skills-retooling program for Filipino expatriate workers is going where the Filipino workers in foreign countries are.
Under the scheme, professional licensure examinations for Filipino in selected countries like Qatar, Hong Kong and now, Saudi Arabia, will be conducted to prepare OFWs for skilled jobs that command higher salaries, President Arroyo said.
The objective is to sustain the upgrading of the capabilities of Filipino workers, who are already the employees of choice in various countries for their honesty, industry, reliability and capability to easily learn new skills.
The Office of the City Accountant (OCA) refused to process the discretionary funds of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) members. Thus resulting to a tension between City hall’s executive and legislative arms.
City Accountant Kurt Adolph Bungabong told the SP that his office could not process the financial aids of the vice mayor and councilors to the barangays since they failed to submit liquidation papers for the previous aids. The same could happen to the assistance intended for non-government organizations (NGOs) and people’s organizations (Pos).
A city council insider asked why should they be faulted for others’ lapses, referring to the non-liquidation by the barangays, NGOs or POs of the previous financial aids given to them.
