News in Pictures: December 7, 2024
ROLLOUT OF CHEAPER BASIC GOODS
Market goers in Quezon City (First photo) and Pasay City (Second photo) on Thursday take advantage of the rice sold at P40 per kilo in public markets in Metro Manila after the Department of Agriculture announced on Nov. 29 the rollout of its Rice-for-All program for the capital region, in a bid to counter the high retail prices of the staple food.
Also on Thursday, residents in Manila’s Tondo district avail themselves of the “Walang Gutom” program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), forming a queue at Plaza Moriones to present to DSWD personnel food stamps that would entitle them to P6,000 worth of rice, bread, fish, meat and vegetables.
In Mindanao that day, President Marcos (Fourth Photo) leads the distribution of land titles and condonation certificates to land reform beneficiaries in Regions 11 (Davao region) and 12 (Soccsksargen, or Central Mindanao).
The certificates serve as debt relief to about 21,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries coping with some P1.5 billion in loans and interests. The issue of land reform, which dates back to the time of President Manuel Quezon, remains a complex task in government even as it is crucial to ensuring food security—still the overriding public concern, no matter the recent political tensions. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ, LYN RILLON AND THE PRESIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
VIGILANCE VS. CUSTOMER CHEATS
An establishment in Cubao, Quezon City, on Friday posts a sign on its counter warning against the presentation of fake person with disability (PWD) IDs.
On Thursday, the Senate ways and means committee disclosed that as many as 8.5 million fake PWD IDs are circulating in the country, way past the 1.8 million PWDs registered by the Department of Health as of November.
According to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the Senate tax panel, the government lost P88.2 billion in revenues last year because of the proliferation of the fake IDs. —LYN/RILLON
CHRISTMAS AT UP DILIMAN
An installation work by artist Kublai Millan, modeled after the vinta, or traditional outrigger boat from Mindanao, is presented on Friday during the “Pag-iilaw,” or annual Christmas lighting ceremony, at the steps of the Oblation statue at the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Quezon City. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
THANKING KIDNEY DONORS
Staff of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) in Quezon City led by its executive director, Dr. Rose Marie Rosete-Liquete (fourth from left), unveil the Vita Infinitum Monument at the NKTI premises on Thursday, together with the Philippine Red Cross and other stakeholders in public health.
The Vita Infinitum (Latin for “infinity of life”) is intended to honor deceased organ donors. Guests at this gathering released butterflies in memory of those unsung heroes. —LYN RILLON
