TARLAC CITY, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) Regional Field Office 3 recently distributed at least 177 shallow tube wells to corn farmers in Tarlac under the Agri-Pinoy Corn program. DA Regional Director Andrew Villacorta said Thursday that the recipients and the agency shared the cost of the water pumps.

Farmers with lesser funds, Villarcorta said, chose the cheaper brand of Curuco while the rest opted to buy the Kubota pumps. He said the farmers here leads in the planting of yellow corn in Central Luzon. Some 15,000 hectares of land is devoted to yellow corn with an expected harvest of 87,500 metric tons. (Franco G. Regala)

Quezon battles spread of dengue

LUCENA CITY, Quezon — The Quezon provincial government, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) joined hands to prevent and control the spread of dengue in this province. Based on the latest records, 813 persons have been afflicted with the disease with six fatalities this year.

Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) have been mobilized for an information campaign to warn the public about dengue and how to combat dengue-carrying mosquitoes while the DepEd conducts the same information drive in schools. (Danny Estacio)

Laguna schools get 5,000 books

CALAMBA CITY, Laguna — SM Foundation Inc. and SM City Calamba officially turned over more than 5,000 books to 50 public high schools in Laguna.

The principals and head teachers formally received the allocated sets of books for their schools during the turnover ceremony held at the mall event center in cooperation with the Laguna DepEd officials represented by Dr. Hereberto Jose Miranda, Assistant School Divisions Superintendent.

Bob Navida, project manager of the drive, said more than 15,000 public and secondary schools have been recipients of the program since it started. (Ferdinand F. Castro)

Day care workers receive aid

LUCENA CITY, Quezon — Some 1,000 day care workers from 40 towns of Quezon received financial assistance from the provincial government during the 18th annual anniversary and convention of National Federation of Day Care Workers of the Philippines Inc, (NFDCWPI)-Quezon Provincial Chapter on Wednesday, Aug 24 in Quezon Convention Center, this city.

Quezon provincial social welfare and development officer Sonia Leyson said that each day care workers received P6,000 financial assistance funds from provincial government with the total amount of P7.8 million. (Danny Estacio)

CDC bag Red Cross awards

CLARK, Pampanga — The Clark Development Corporation (CDC) Health Services Office took home three citations bestowed by the Philippine National Red Cross, which recognized the valiant contributions of individuals or firms in the agency’s annual blood-letting and training programs.

CDC-HSO Manager Dr. Clemencita D. Dobles said the PNRC has bestowed a Merit Certificate Award to the state-owned firm for supporting the PNRC Pampanga-Angeles City Chapter in its Safety Services (SS) by conducting regular SS trainings among its employees and different locator firms inside the Clark Freeport. (Franco G. Regala)