City of San Fernando, Pampanga –

A total of 107 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across the region will showcase their products in the upcoming 6^th Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) Regional Trade Fair on November 16-19, 2023 at the Event Center, Marquee Mall, Angeles City, Pampanga.

Participating exhibitors are beneficiaries of the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. The MSMEs are recipients of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) services and programs such as livelihood skills training, provision of Shared Service Facilities, product development assistance, and marketing support through exposure of products in fairs and market matching.

With the theme: Likha ng ARBs: Ipagmalaki at Tangkilikin, the fair will feature the best food and non-food products of CARP beneficiaries from the seven provinces of Central Luzon. Visitors will be delighted to see agricultural products, processed foods, handicrafts, woodcrafts, wearables, gifts and holiday decors, and bamboo and rattan products.

DTI-3 OIC Regional Director Brigida T. Pili reported that the Province of Pampanga has the most number of participants with 28 MSMEs. Following closely are Nueva Ecija with 17 participants, Tarlac with 15, Bulacan with 14, and Zambales with 12. Meanwhile, Bataan and Aurora will be represented by 11 and 10 participants, respectively.

“Our sales goal for this year’s CARP Trade Fair is set at ₱6 million. With Christmas just around the corner, the fair offers a variety of products for their gifts or personal use and consumption.

We hope to achieve or even exceed the target amount,” RD Pili said.

The participation to trade fairs is one of the marketing assistances that DTI provides as a venue for CARP beneficiaries for product promotion, sales generation and expansion of market niches.

Participants of the 25^th Likha ng Central Luzon Trade Fair last October 25-29 2023 at SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City earned a total of ₱64.86 Million in sales. The figure is 13% more than last year’s sales of ₱57.049 Million.

The annual trade fair was participated in by 165 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the region. Participating MSMEs exhibited products such as processed food, furniture and home furnishings, wearables, gifts and holiday decors, and other organic and cosmetic products.

Majority of the sales come from booked orders amounting to ₱43.95 Million. Cash sales generated were at ₱8.87 Million while another ₱12.02 Million are from sales under negotiation.

Based on reports from SME Development Division of the DTI Regional Office 3, Bataan generated the highest sales among the seven provinces with about ₱24.61 M. It is followed by Pampanga – ₱10.57 M; Tarlac – ̈́₱10.49 M; Nueva Ecija – ₱7.1 M; Bulacan – ₱6.6 M; Aurora – ₱2.7 M and Zambales – ₱2.5 M.

“The remarkable sales achieved during this Likha underscore the economic impact and potential of our micro, small, and medium enterprises.,” DTI-3 OIC Regional Director Brigida T. Pili said. She extended her gratitude to those who visited the fair and supported the MSMEs.

“We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the dynamic entrepreneurs, dedicated partners, and our supportive community for contributing to the triumphant success of the 25^th Likha ng Central Luzon Trade Fair,” she continued.

The trade fair was organized by the DTI-Regional and Provincial Offices in Central Luzon in partnership with Philexport-3, Regional Development Council-3, SM Supermalls, SOMAGO, and Central Luzon Growth Corridor Foundation Inc. (CLGCFI), which is composed of the 7 governors of the region with DTI as member. It served as a culminating activity of industry and trade related programs given to entrepreneurs in Region 3. Capability building seminars were conducted before the fair to develop the technical capabilities of the micro and small and medium enterprises especially in terms of negotiating with buyers and how to effectively dress their booths.  Product development activities were also done to come up with new designs and products that were showcased during the 5-day fair.

Skip the holiday rush as SM City Marilao and SM Center Pulilan bring the biggest 3-DAY SALE happening on November 17, 18, and 19.

Shop loud and proud as the sale mania falls from Friday, November 17 until Sunday, November 19. Take advantage of great discounts of up to 70% off that apply to countless items mall-wide. Check out the latest finds from The SM Store, SM Hypermarket, Ace Hardware, Watson’s, SM Appliance Center, Surplus, and Miniso.

Prepare your holiday wish list and fill your carts with great gift selections for friends and loved ones. There are lots to choose from: beauty, home, gadgets, toys, apparel, shoes, bags, and many more.

Purchases could even give you a heap of chances to bring home a brand-new Suzuki Avenis motorcycle! To join, shoppers may avail of P1000 worth of purchases to earn one e-raffle entry. Increase your chances of winning by getting additional coupons on Saturday (November 18) and Sunday (November 19) to double the entries. Shoppers may also access their SM Malls Online account and get five additional entries.

While shopping, also check out awesome dining deals at affordable prices from selected food tenants at SM malls in Marilao and Pulilan.

Get your calendars and mark November 17–19 all the way from 10am-10pm. Dig the best deals only at SM City Marilao and SM Center Pulilan’s 3-Day Sale blowout! For mall events and updates, follow SM Bulacan malls on Facebook and Instagram.

FORT MAGSAYSAY, Nueva Ecija — The members of Tangan-Tangan Abelling Tribe Association underwent a 4-day Rattan Handicraft and Preservation Training held at NIA Compound, Barangay Sula, San Jose, Tarlac from 07 to 10 of November 2023.

The training was initiated by the Municipal Task Force-ELCAC of San Jose headed by its Chairperson and Municipal Mayor, Hon Romeo G. Capitulo in collaboration with the Public Employment and Service Office (PESO) Tarlac and troops from the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army which aims to impart sufficient knowledge and proper management as part of the requirements in their livelihood projects.

According to Mayor Capitulo, the training and livelihood project of the Abelling will greatly support the welfare and livelihood of the people’s organization, particularly the IP community who lives in the Geographically Isolated and Disadvantage Areas (GIDAS). It can also help to grow and generate economic condition and tourism industry of said municipality.

“Napakaganda ng inyong napiling proyekto dahil dito na mismo sa ating bayan manggagaling ang mga ibat-ibang produkto na gawa ninyo, hindi na natin kailangang pumunta pa sa ibang lugar upang makakuha o makabili ng produkto na dadalhin dito sa atin,” said Mayor Capitulo.    

The members of Tangan-Tangan Abelling Tribe Association headed by its President, Reggie Mayuyo are very much grateful for the knowledge that has been shared with them which can help and benefit their daily needs and livelihood income.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Jeszer M. Bautista, the Commanding Officer of the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion, emphasized the efforts of the MTF-ELCAC of San Jose and PESO Tarlac for the continuous support given to the People’s Organization which were organized by the Community Support Program Teams of said Army unit.

“Hindi natin maisasagawa ito kung hindi dahil sa suporta at pakikiisa ng lokal na pamahalaan ng San Jose katuwang ang mga ahensya ng gobyerno. Ito ay nagpapakita na ang tagumpay ng ating kampanya ay nakasalalay sa kooperasyon at pagkakaisa ng bawat ahensya ng pamahalaan upang maisakatuparan ang kapakanan na maipaabot ang mga programang nakalaan para sa mga mamamayan ng Tarlac,” Lt. Colonel Bautista said.

Meanwhile, Major General Andrew D. Costelo PA, Commander of the 7th Infantry (Kaugnay) Division, Philippine Army lauded the strong and continued collaboration of the MTF-ELCAC and the 3rd Mech Bn in helping and promoting the livelihood products and programs for the IP Peoples Organization that can alleviate the living condition of Abeling tribe and tourism of San Jose, Tarlac.

“We vowed our consistent support to the efforts of the MTF-ELCAC in San Jose that promotes the programs and initiatives that will help improve the economic growth of the members of the Indigenous People’s community,” MGen. Costelo said.

The Social Security System (SSS) signed Memorandums of Agreement (MOAs) with the Provincial Government of Tarlac and Municipal Government of San Jose, Tarlac to help ensure the social security coverage of their job order (JO)/contract of service (COS) workers.

SSS President and CEO Rolando Ledesma Macasaet emphasized the importance of active SSS membership for JO/COS workers in the government, especially for their retirement, since they are not covered under the Government Service Insurance System due to the absence of an employee-employer relationship.

“Importanteng-importante po na may pension ang isang nagretiro para may dumarating na buwanang kita para pambili ng kanyang pangangailangan. Sa pamamagitan po ng SSS, ang ating mga JO at COS na empleyado ay may impok na para sa kanilang hinaharap,” Macasaet said.

Similarly, Tarlac Governor Susan A. Yap expressed confidence that the agreement will greatly benefit their JO/COS workers.

With the MOAs, the said provincial and municipal governments are now partners of the SSS under its KaSSSangga Collect Program (KCP) covering around 1,250 and 150 JO/COS workers, respectively.

As such, they will encourage their qualified JO/COS workers to register as SSS self-employed members, for whom they will facilitate a salary deduction scheme for the collection and remittance of their SSS contributions. Likewise, qualified regular employees of the said provincial and municipal governments may also join as voluntary paying SSS members.  

“Through active SSS membership, they will qualify to avail of our benefit programs such as Sickness, Maternity, Disability, Retirement, Death, and Funeral, as well as various loan privileges when contingencies arise,” Macasaet said.

In addition, Tarlac and San Jose will allow the SSS to take part in events, conventions, forums, and other activities to promote SSS in the said areas.

SSS will also conduct on-site registrations for all qualified JO/COS workers of its partners and assign an account officer to guide and assist them regarding their SSS concerns.

Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Over the past 24 hours, hospitals in Gaza have been under relentless bombardment. Al-Shifa hospital complex, the biggest health facility where Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff are still working, has been hit several times, including the maternity and outpatient departments, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries. The hostilities around the hospital have not stopped. Doctors Without Borders teams and hundreds of patients are still inside Al-Shifa hospital. Doctors Without Borders urgently reiterates its calls to stop the attacks against hospitals, for an immediate ceasefire and for the protection of medical facilities, medical staff and patients.

“We are being killed here, please do something,” texted one of Doctors Without Borders nurse from Al-Shifa hospital basement this morning, where he and his family were sheltering from the incessant bombing. ​​“Four or five families are sheltering now in the basement, the shelling is so close, my kids are crying and screaming in fear.”

“The situation in al-Shifa is truly catastrophic. We call on the Israeli Government to cease this unrelenting assault on Gaza’s health system. Our staff and patients are inside Al-Shifa hospital where the heavy bombing has not stopped since yesterday”, says Ann Taylor, Doctors Without Borders Head of Mission in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Al-Shifa hospital is the principal hospital complex in Gaza Strip, with 700 beds, providing emergency and surgical care. There are currently no other facilities in the Strip able to admit and treat as many patients with complex, sometimes life-threatening injuries. Despite regular attacks and shortages, the staff has managed to keep the hospital operational. Yesterday, Al-Shifa hospital lost electrical power. The ambulances can no longer move to collect the injured, and non-stop bombardment prevents patients and staff from evacuating. At the time of writing, our staff are witnessing people being shot at as they attempt to flee the hospital.

“There are a lot of patients already operated on and they cannot walk. They cannot evacuate, said Dr Mohammed Obeid, Doctors Without Borders surgeon at Al-Shifa hospital. We need an ambulance to move them, we don’t have ambulances to evacuate all of these patients”.

“We cannot leave because from [yesterday] morning until now, we operated on about 25 patients. If I am not here or the other surgeon, who will take care of the patients? asked Obeid. There is a patient who needs surgery, another one is already sleeping [under anesthesia].”

Doctors Without Borders denounces the death warrant of civilians currently trapped in Al-Shifa hospital signed by the Israeli military. There needs to be an urgent and unconditional ceasefire from all warring parties; humanitarian aid must be supplied to the entirety of the Gaza Strip now.

Doctors Without Borders has lost contact with a surgeon, working and sheltering in Al-Quds hospital with his family. Other health facilities, including Al Rantisi hospital which Doctors Without Borders has also supported in the past, were reportedly surrounded by Israeli tanks.

We urge the US, UK, Canada, Member states of the League of Arab States, Member states of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation and the European Union who have repeatedly called for the respect of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) to take action to ensure a ceasefire now. The horrors unfolding before our eyes in Gaza clearly show that calls for restraint and adherence to IHL have gone unheeded. Working purposefully to reach a ceasefire is the most effective way to ensure the protection of civilians.

Thousands of people have been wounded since October 7, many of whom are in critical condition and will require complex surgeries and sustained treatment for weeks, if not months. This can only be done with a total ceasefire and the unconditional supply of humanitarian aid including access to food, fuel and water; the survival of people in Gaza depends on this.

Nicanor Perlas

The world is speeding towards its destruction. The New World Order (NWO) cabal is implementing, full blast, its genocidal Great Reset agenda.

They are mobilizing all the institutions under their control to depopulate the planet, monitor and enslave those who survive, transform survivors into human cyborgs, and ultimately usher in the era of the post-human or transhuman world, governed by super-powerful artificial intelligence. In the process, the NWO is now destroying democracies around the world, including the US, so these once-free nations will not interfere with their nefarious and murderous plans for humanity.

A few days ago, considering this dystopian and apocalyptic state of the world, CCH made an announcement regarding its future focus and initiatives. As part of that announcement, CCH committed to helping its friends, subscribers, viewers, and readers conduct independent research to arrive at the truth. ^[1]

To properly deal with this global catastrophe in our individual and collective lives, the first essential, critical, and strategic step is to inform oneself where the truth really is. To take the appropriate action given one’s current condition and position in society means to be able to act on the basis of the truth.

CCH promised a kind of research guide to those who regularly monitor CCH research, articles, and videos. Below is the guide, a brief one. Use it in a totally free manner. Independently arrive at your own determination of objective truth by checking out the authenticity of the sources of information that you are using.

Discern the Truth No Matter What Information Source You Are Using

We live in a massive fog of disinformation. The trusted sources of information of yesteryears can no longer be trusted.

For example, the legacy media, the mainstream media (MSM), and social media controlled by Big Tech (Google, Facebook, etc.) have all either underreported, misreported, or lied regarding the war in Ukraine. Despite the obvious heavy casualties that Ukraine was suffering in the field, the controlled media kept on reporting on the ultimate victory.

Now, however, one of the top controlled media of the NWO, often used for disinformation, has come out with a highly critical article on Zelensky and Ukraine. Time magazine finally admitted that the Ukraine war was about to end with a Russian victory. Zelensky was “delusional” and his close advisers knew it and Ukraine was about to be finally defeated.^[2]

However, if one closely followed the Ukraine war and sourced one’s information from various sources, mainstream ones, and vetted independent media, one already knew that Russia would ultimately decimate and defeat the Ukrainian forces. Now the NWO media is admitting it.

This is not about being a Russian shill, a label often used so often against those who would uphold the real story. This is about reporting how things are unfolding as it truly is.

Be Aware: Alternative Media Sources Can Also Spread Lies

The alternative media has mushroomed as a result of disinformation and censorship, especially in the years of the Covid Scamdemic. But we need to critically examine these new sources of information. They have also had their share of mistakes and, in some cases, malicious attempts at disinformation.

I will give you one troubling example. Here’s a huge clickbait of an announcement. It came from an alternative media source: https://thepeoplesvoice.tv/putin-warns-globalist-terrorist-klaus-schwab-his-days-are-numbered/. The article claimed:

“World Economic Forum (WEF) founder Klaus Schwab is a ‘globalist terrorist’ who is ‘holding humanity to ransom’, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin who warned the elite that their New World Order has failed and their ‘days are numbered.’

…  “According to Putin, globalists including Schwab and his close advisors are ‘legitimate military targets’ because they have been actively attempting to seize power illegally via a globalist coup d’état.”

For those following the war in Ukraine and the role of the NWO in that war, this was huge news. So, I immediately checked the sources of this article. There was no such announcement by Putin against Klaus Schwab.

Maybe Putin did say it but it was buried somewhere in his almost two-hour speech in Valdai. Wanting to make sure and be thorough, I listened to the entire speech of Putin and other sources connected with it. That process ate up a good four hours of my time.

But then, I took a further step, I wrote an email to this alternative news outlet sharing the results of my research with them. I politely asked them to point out to me where in Putin’s speech the latter actually said that the days of Klaus Schwab are numbered.

One month has passed by. That alternative news outlet did not answer my request for clarification and confirmation.

In the end, it was clear to me that this headline from The People’s Voice TV was clickbait. Worst, it was disinformation. In trying to advance its narrative, and get people to visit their website, this outlet used disinformation hoping that maybe its reader will not verify the source of the story. (Other alternative news sources blindly shared this lie.) Clearly, The People’s Voice TV is not a reliable source of information and is a source of misinformation.

Unfortunately, they are not the only ones who have displayed this behavior. Some alternative news outlets, emotionally attached to their perspective of the world, would actually cross the red line from truth to disinformation in order to attract people to their side. This is unethical and does not serve to advance its cause.

Prelude to Good Research

I have given this example in detail for a number of reasons.

First, we know that the controlled mainstream media is no longer a trusted source of information and analysis. The evidence for this can be found etched in many Congressional hearings, revelations by Elon Musk, and exposures by others. We have many examples of disinformation by the mainstream media that we have covered on our website.^[3]

Second, in the guide that follows below, especially on alternative media, it would be important for CCH friends not to be naïve in their attitude toward these sources of information. What they write cannot be taken at face value. Subject them to equal scrutiny or you will end up living in a fantasy world. Worst, you will have no power to change anything because your action will be based on a quicksand of lies.

However, there is an important caveat here. Eventually, when one has to lie, it is unusual that one tells a full lie, that is, every part of the story is a lie. Liars rarely do that because others, less smart than them, could easily debunk what they are saying. So usually they would give some truthful facts but spice the other parts of their stories with lies. This would make their narrative more believable in the eyes of others. Therefore, you can use the truthful part of the lie for your purposes.

Therefore, if you think that you have been able to develop the powers of discernment between truths and lies, still include mainstream sources of information (whether NWO-controlled) and questionable alternative media sources (like the People’s Voice TV above) in your research. Just know how to discern snippets of truth from these sources and set aside the obvious rubbles of lies mixed with actual facts.

In the pursuit of improving your research effectiveness, try to keep a mental or written note on whether a source is mostly false or truthful. Place the most consistently truthful in your list of priority sources that you will use. However, never let your guard down. Make Truth an unshakeable part of your character and being. That will increase your credibility with yourself, your friends, and the world.

Sources of Information

CCH will now list sources for your research on the different aspects of world developments. CCH will avoid describing whether an alternative media source is reliable or not for reasons already explained above.

The list below includes some mainstream media outlets for whatever value you can derive from them. They cover all the categories listed below. But kindly note the massive disinformation in mainstream media and how to distinguish between their facts and disinformation. We discussed this above.

Many mainstream media have paywalls. Others do not. I have chosen to give the links for both kinds of mainstream media in case some of you want to pay a certain amount to get their news. However, even if you do not pay and cannot access the full news, it is sometimes important to see what the mainstream media is covering.

You will note that a number of media sources will be found in the different subject categories. This means that they also have extensive coverage on the subject matter.

You will also note that some of these links have extensive coverage of all kinds of topics. But I just placed them in one or a few categories. You will know their other areas of coverage when you take a look at them. In a sense, they are like some of the mainstream media cited below.

CCH has also included some social media links. We all know that Facebook and other giant social media are heavily censored. Facebook has banned CCH several times in the past. These social media platforms are a source of alternative news.

I have included X (Twitter) here because X has censorship but is not as problematic as the other platforms. In the uncensored part of X, there are important sources of information that are not so visible and accessible in both mainstream and alternative media. Also, one can find a lot of breaking news in X on almost all kinds of topics.

By the way, CCH is also in Telegram, a social media platform included below. Our channel on Telegram is Covid Call to Humanity (CCH1333)

You will note that the New World Order category holds the most links. This is because these websites cover all the other topics listed below, including the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the Covid scam, Climate lockdowns, censorship, the takedown of the US, the institutions that facilitate the implementation of the Great Reset, and so on.

In effect, when you search the articles and videos in the NWO category, you will also get news on the latest developments in all the other categories.

Most important of all, these websites are astute enough to contextualize their reports from the perspective of the plans of the New World Order for global genocide and control.

We can make a related observation with websites covering the war in Ukraine. They also tend to cover the war in Gaza.

By the way, the reverse is also true. A website may start with articles mostly focused on Covid. Then you will notice it graduates to other topics including censorship, disinformation, corrupt medical institutions, failure of regulatory institutions, cultural wars, the New World Order, and other larger and more comprehensive topics.

Why is this? Researchers in narrow areas of concern, including Covid, begin to notice that they cannot avoid looking deeper into the disinformation and even psychological warfare being waged upon citizens of the world. They follow the chain of causes.

They ultimately confront the reality of a world power, the New World Order, in this case, that manipulates governments, media, medical institutions, and so on. In short, they can only fully understand the lack of science, the fraud, the lies, and the massive violation of laws that litter the desolate landscape of Covid when they understand the larger sinister power behind all this corruption and destruction.

This was certainly what happened to CCH itself.

In short, many of the websites below may initially focus on a specific topic area, eg. Covid or Climate lockdowns, and eventually end up reporting on related topics that are driving forces behind the phenomena of Covid and other issues in the world.

Thus, if a website is placed under a specific category, it would be possible that, when you open the website, you may find articles not about Covid but about something else, most likely the war in Gaza, which has currently captured the world’s attention. But scroll down to find other topics. Then you will find that, indeed, the CCH has properly placed the website in its specific category.

The category of censorship and disinformation does not seem to have many links. However, the links in the other categories have a lot of articles on censorship and disinformation because these latter are now so pervasive. The same can be said on the topic of “culture wars”.

Reality is difficult to place in neat categories. Reality is seamless and interrelated. One can differentiate points of emphasis but not divide websites into tight categories. Reality cannot be straight-jacketed into cognitive placemats of the human mind. We need to be the ones to adjust to Reality.

The listing of websites below is not complete. There are literally thousands of websites out there that can be useful in one’s research. But we only have so many hours in a day. However, if one is clear about one’s research questions and purpose, then one can easily navigate through the websites below and beyond.

There are websites that I have included below that may no longer be accessible. One of them is Daily Clout. This is one of the most important websites on the Covid issue. It is a non-stop analysis of the tens of thousands of pages of Pfizer confidential documents that a US court ordered to be released to the public.

This website has been so effective that it is now shadow-banned. I can no longer access the website. But I am still including it in case the shadow ban is lifted in the near future. Or maybe you can access them but I cannot access them because I am the one who is being shadow-banned. Hard to know.

There are also cases of some who have had a huge massive impact in a specific area but have no dedicated website documenting in detail his/her work. This is the case with Dr. David E. Martin in the area of the Covid Scamdemic. He was the whistleblower hero of Pandemic 2, the documentary that has reached almost a billion views despite being heavily banned. Dr. Martin also gave a talk before the European Union on May 2023 on why the so-called Covid pandemic was, in reality, a bioweapon designed to inflict millions of genocidal deaths on humans all over the world. Over two billion people have viewed that talk.

In the list below, we just placed the proper search term, “David E. Martin on Covid”, for those interested in looking further into his work. That search will bring to them to most of the important work of David Martin, articles and videos, scattered all over the Internet. They cannot be found in one place.

Another is Scott Ritter, a former intelligence officer, former US Marines, and UN nuclear weapons inspector. Based on his first-hand experiences, Ritter has provided very powerful counter-perspectives on the wars in Ukraine and Gaza that have neutralized disinformation in these war theaters. As a result of his effective truth-telling, the intelligence operatives in Ukraine have placed Ritter on its hit list of persons to be assassinated.

While he has a website, this website does not contain all the dozens of video interviews with him by people from different parts of the world. One may agree or disagree with his views. But he is definitely an important source of information on these topic areas.

The most important part of the journey is your question. What is your burning question? That will guide you through the entangled process of discerning between truth and lies as you read through one article or another; as you view one video to the next. Eventually, using your powers of discernment, you will find the appropriate, objective answers to your questions. Then you will be prepared to face the world confident about what your stance and action will be in that world.

Here we go. All the best in your research work.

NLEX Corporation has recently received the Platinum Certification from Investors in People Philippines (IiP), a standard for people management, offering accreditation to organizations that adhere to the Investors in People Standard.

Investors in People (IiP) is the UK’s leading people management business improvement standard, designed to help organizations develop performance through their people.  Only 2% of the organizations worldwide are IiP Platinum accredited, with NLEX hailed as the leading company in the construction sector of the country in terms of handling people and promoting positive working environment.

NLEX Corporation President J. Luigi Bautista gave the  honor to NLEX employees for their contributions in making NLEX a workplace dedicated to continuous learning and development.  “This award will not be possible without the efforts of all NLEX employees to build a motivating and supportive environment, where everybody works as one in delivering excellence.”

He also assured the company’s full support to programs and practices that will continuously improve the well-being of employees and promote career development.

Moving forward, we will continue to build on this success and work even harder to foster an environment that encourages innovation, creativity, and personal growth,” Bautista added.

Guided by the ICARE culture – a culture of Innovation, Corporate Sustainability, Agility, Responsiveness, and Excellence, the tollway company has shown excellent programs on leadership and people management practices such as Coaching Bingo, Building Leadership Depth (BuiLD) Program, NLExemplary R&R, ONELIFE wellness program, and Innovation Olympics, all aimed to enhance employees’ skills, wellness, and leadership potential.

NLEX’s commitment to fostering the value of “malasakit” to its employees makes them at par to over 50,000 organizations in 66 countries around the world who are committed to the IiP global benchmark in people management.

NLEX Corporation is a subsidiary of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), the toll road arm of the Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC).

By Jason De Asis

BALER, Aurora-The Philippine Army’s 91st Infantry “Sinagtala” Battalion participated in the nationwide simultaneous earthquake drill (NSED) on Thursday, Nov. 9 to promote the importance of disaster preparedness and mitigation to all stakeholders, as well as to strengthen the response mechanism and interoperability of all local key players held in Barangay Esteves, Casiguran, Aurora.

Lt. Col. Julito B. Recto, Jr., commander of 91st IB said that the Sinagtala troopers took part in the activity to ensure the safety and preparedness of the government agencies, security forces, responders, community among other in the event of a real earthquake, tsunami and its aftermath.

Recto said that personnel of 91st IB personnel along with other agencies and organizations, demonstrated the proper way to respond to an earthquake by conducting a drop, cover, and hold drill. He said the government’s initiative to conduct nationwide earthquake drills every quarter aims to encourage disaster preparedness and resilience in the residents of Aurora.

Based on the simulation exercise, at 9 in the morning, a normal weekday, a powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake rumbled through Barangay Esteves, Casiguran, Aurora and sent shocks of panic and confusion to the community. In the aftermath of the earthquake, the community faces another terrifying threat.

A few minutes after, what was feared had happened, a monstrous tsunami, towering 3 meters high struck with unimaginable force surging toward the shoreline with unstoppable momentum.

As the water subsided there were victims of floating in the waters and lying near the shorelines at Sitio Buwaya. Upon receiving the report, the Search Rescue and Retrieval (SRR) Team arrived at the scene composed of 91st IB, Philippine Army, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Navy and other local disaster personnel.

The SRR team navigated through debris, mud, and wreckage left by the tsunami. Boarding a boat the brave SRR team navigate the shoreline and retrieve the floating bodies of lifeless victims.

A total of 3 bodies were retrieved by the team at Sitio Buwaya. Recto congratulated the NSED participants, saying that the activity was fruitful. “Our local government units and the general public will be aware and prepared in case a big earthquake happens. We should continually do the training, preparations and awareness programs to embark in the minds of our people to be always ready and prepared in case of disasters. NSED serves as a vital reminder of the importance of disaster readiness in a country prone to seismic activities,” Recto said.

On the other hand, lawyer Benjamin “Benhur” C. Abalos, Jr., Department of Local Government (DILG) Secretary said the 4th Quarter NSED is an opportunity to prepare the people (Kababayans) for the challenges of earthquakes in the country.

He added that this is the perfect time for such groundwork and practices, for earthquakes come with no advance notice. “I salute the NDRRMC, particularly the OCD and Phivolcs, for relentlessly and tirelessly spearheading the NSEDs and other disaster-proofing initiatives. Maraming salamat po sa inyong pangunguna at sa pagtugon sa panawagan ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. na ihanda ang mga Pilipino sa nakaambang “The Big One”,” Abalos said in his message as read by DILG Aurora Provincial Director Ener Cambronero.

It is further said that more and more local government units or LGUs across the country are joining hands and participating in the NSED in their own localities. “I express my gratitude to these LGUs for seeing the urgency and relevance of these drills in ensuring the safety of their constituents. Nothing beats a prepared LGU when it comes to disasters.

The DILG, as the Vice Chair for Disaster Preparedness of the NDRRMC, remains united with the national and local governments in bridging and capacitating the communities towards disaster resilience,” he said.