00:00 A series of Serbisho caravans for Kasambahay is set to kick off. Meanwhile, the Department
00:06 of Agriculture underscores the Bureau of Plant Industries' role in improving the agriculture
00:11 sector. These and more stories in tonight's Business News Wrap-Up by Sharms Espina.
00:19 The Department of Agriculture, or DA, recognized the Bureau of Plant Industries' contributions
00:23 to boost food production and modernize the agricultural sector. Secretary Francisco Chula
00:28 Varela Jr. emphasized the DA's contributions in enhancing agricultural practices, including
00:34 providing better seeds and planting materials, innovating farming technologies, controlling
00:39 plant pests and using biological control agents, promoting safe and sustainable crop production,
00:45 as well as licensing and accrediting private sector partners for development. He added
00:50 BPI's push for modernization of the Philippine plant industry is in line with President Ferdinand
00:56 R. Marcos Jr.'s plans to elevate the condition of Filipino farmers and ultimately food sufficiency
01:02 and security through mechanization and modernization. The Department of Energy, or DOE, lauded President
01:09 Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for signing the Administrative Order No. 15, which directs the accelerated
01:15 implementation of the Government Energy Management Program, or GEMP. This highlights the implementation
01:22 of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act in all government agencies under the executive
01:27 branch, including government-owned and controlled corporations, or GOCCs, government financial
01:33 institutions, their subsidiaries, and state universities and colleges, or SUCs. Meanwhile,
01:40 Energy Secretary Rafael Lotilla said President Marcos Jr. wanted to embrace energy conservation
01:45 measures in the use of electricity and fuel to mitigate energy demands amidst the El Nino
01:51 phenomenon. Finance Secretary Ralph Recto has lauded the Insurance Commission, or IC,
01:58 for its 75 years of keen-eyed monitoring of the country's insurance industry, which has
02:03 helped transform it into a robust and dependable sector for Filipinos. The IC is an attached
02:09 agency of the Department of Finance, or DOF, mandated to regulate and supervise the insurance,
02:14 pre-need, and health maintenance organization, or HMO, industries in accordance with the
02:19 provisions of the insurance code. The agency added the total premiums collected by the
02:23 insurance industry from life, non-life, and mutual benefit associations reached Php 289.60
02:30 billion in the third quarter of 2023. The Department of Labor and Employment, or DOLE,
02:37 is set to conduct a series of "servicio caravans" for kasambahays at the national and regional
02:42 levels in celebration of the Araw ng Mga Kasambahay. These activities aim to bring various government
02:48 services closer to the kasambahays, or house help, and at the same time educate them and
02:53 their employees about their rights and responsibilities under the Batas Kasambahay. It also underscored
02:59 that ensuring kasambahay safety in their place of work is core to its mandate and will be
03:04 its lasting contribution sa isang matatag, maginhawa, at panatag na buhay sa Bagong Pilipinas.
03:11 This is Sharmza Espina for The Nation.
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