00:00 [Music]
00:03 For those who are looking for cheap rice, the National Irrigation Administration has an announcement.
00:09 Administrator Eduardo Guillen said that starting in August,
00:13 they will sell 29 pesos per kilo of rice in their Kadiwa store in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao.
00:21 This is part of their contract farming project. Each family will be allowed to buy up to 10 kilos of rice in the Kadiwa stores of NIA.
00:30 In the price monitoring of the Department of Agriculture,
00:34 the local rice price ranges from Php 46 to Php 65 per kilo in Metro Manila.
00:40 While Php 48 to Php 65 is imported.
00:44 [Music]
00:47 Starting in August, the National Irrigation Administration will sell 29 pesos per kilo of rice.
00:53 Let's talk to NIA Administrator Eduardo Guillen.
00:56 Good morning and welcome to Balitang Hali.
00:59 Good morning. Welcome to our show.
01:02 Where did you get the idea to sell 29 pesos per kilo of rice? And why is it so cheap?
01:08 We have a contract farming project. We expect that in 40,000 hectares,
01:17 our initial project, we can get around 100 million kilos of rice.
01:26 This is part of our services for our farmers.
01:34 We can teach them the whole value chain of rice production.
01:39 Actually, NIA is not the only one involved in this.
01:43 This is our convergence project together with PIL Rice, National Rice Program, PILMEC, Philippine Crop Insurance, and CVA.
01:55 NIA is building our irrigation associations into cooperatives per town.
02:02 Let me just clarify, this is not subsidized.
02:06 This is the price that comes from the farmers themselves.
02:10 Yes, because there is no subsidy for the farmers.
02:14 The total that we will give them per hectare is around Php 100,000.
02:20 So, what NIA will return is 5 tons or 5,000 kilos.
02:25 So, in effect, we are buying 20 pesos per kilogram of wet rice for our farmers.
02:32 There are a lot of dry crops because of the heat.
02:34 What is the situation of irrigation in our country right now?
02:37 What happens is, during dry season, the water that we save from our reservoir type dams,
02:44 we use it for irrigation.
02:46 So, now, we are waiting for the rain to fill our dams.
02:52 This is the regular process.
02:55 So, when it rains, our dams will be filled again.
02:59 Okay. Thank you very much for your time this afternoon.
03:03 Thank you.
03:04 Thank you.
03:05 NIA Administrator Eduardo Gullien.
03:13 President Bongbong Marcos is targeting the water resources management office under DENR,
03:19 the communities that do not have a good supply of water.
03:22 According to DENR, 40 million Filipinos do not have a formal water supply
03:27 or those who rely on bucals, sapas, and rain to have water.
03:32 Most of them are in small islands in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region and Muslim Mindanao.
03:38 That is why the immediate solution is desalination or the filtration of salt water
03:44 to make it clean and drinkable.
03:47 DENR is already talking to their supplier abroad for desalination systems
03:52 that is planned to be delivered to 45 priority island barangays.
04:03 Ding dong, mga mary at paren! Here are the latest on some Kapuso stars.
04:08 Tune in now for the ultimate Ding Dong Day!
04:12 The grand reveal is tomorrow.
04:14 You will be there with Kapuso's prime time king, Ding Dong Dantes.
04:17 The live stream will be on 10.30am on official social media accounts of Kapuso Network.
04:23 Make your mama proud, King of Talk, Boy Abunda.
04:29 You can watch the talk series My Mother, My Story starting this Sunday.
04:34 It will feature different stories about mothers.
04:37 Some Kapuso officers went to the launch of the series.
04:40 Former President Rodrigo Duterte asked for a permit to hold a peace rally in a park in Dumaguete City.
04:52 I was angry. I went through the Freedom Park. That's what we wanted.
05:00 We went here, we asked for a permit.
05:05 They gave us. The day we arrived, they took the permit and destroyed the Freedom Park.
05:16 This is from Malacanang. It was the same in Bustos, Bulacan.
05:24 The former president's statement was a bit harsh.
05:27 The Freedom Park and the Capitol were in the middle of a riot before they were gathered.
05:32 He should be using any park and any other park in the Philippines owned by the national government.
05:39 The provincial government issued a short notice asking the group to hold a prayer rally in a public park.
05:46 The provincial government has scheduled activities in the park since Monday for the centennial celebration of the Capitol building on May 17.
05:54 The new heavy equipment that the provincial government bought for various LGUs was also scheduled yesterday.
06:01 They gave an alternative, a Freedom Park, as per the law.
06:06 Malacanang has yet to comment on the former president's statement.
06:10 The heat is not yet over. The heavy rains should be prepared due to the La Niña phenomenon.
06:18 According to Anna Solis, the Chief of the Climatology and Agro-Meteorology Division,
06:24 the La Niña could start in June and August.
06:29 The rain and floods in the country will be more severe in the last part of 2024 and the first months of 2025.
06:38 That's why the areas that are near or near to flood or landslide should be prepared and alert.
06:46 Here's the breaking news.
06:50 Some houses in Antipolo, Rizal lost electricity after a power pole fell down.
06:56 A truck was stuck in a line of cables.
06:59 A woman and her partner were injured after being hit by the police.
07:03 Two motorcycles were also damaged.
07:05 The truck's driver surrendered to the authorities
07:08 and was charged with reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property.
07:12 He did not give a statement.
07:14 Three Korean men were arrested in Talay, Cebu.
07:19 According to the Bureau of Immigration, the three men are on the Interpol Red Notice List
07:23 because of their high-tech way of entering houses in Korea.
07:26 They are studying the victims using a tracking device and a spy camera.
07:31 The first group to be arrested in Korea were the three men.
07:34 They went to the Philippines before the Interpol Red Notice was issued.
07:38 They are still investigating if they were victims here in the Philippines
07:41 before they were deported back to Korea.
07:44 The suspects who are detained in BI-Sabikutan are still trying to get their statement.
07:51 The unemployment rate in the Philippines increased by 3.9% in March
07:55 from 3.5% in February.
07:58 According to the Philippine Statistics Authority,
08:01 the 2 million Filipinos aged 15 and above lost their jobs in March.
08:06 That's more than 200,000 compared to February.
08:10 More than 49 million have jobs or 96.1% of the labor force.
08:16 Of that, 11% or more than 5 million are underemployed
08:21 or those who have jobs but are still looking for extra hours of work.
08:26 They say, "Driver, sweet lover."
08:33 A jeepney driver from Cebu has a sweet gesture to his passengers.
08:38 This is his burger. You're there.
08:41 Yes.
08:42 Passengers at the back, please move aside.
08:45 The plate or the massager is free.
08:48 There's a burger.
08:49 That's the birthday treat of Tal Villasan.
08:53 In 2018, while he was busy due to an accident,
08:58 he got better and was able to return to the road.
09:00 He started the birthday tradition of free ride and a burger as a snack.
09:06 And on his last day, the first 60 passengers got a burger as a gift.
09:10 Always remember, your heartwarming act is certified.
09:14 Good job!
09:16 You thought it was free, right?
09:18 You're lucky that 60 passengers got a free burger.
09:23 He's giving back his reason for getting a burger.
09:28 If you really lost your sight and that's your job, what a blessing.
09:33 [music]
