MANILA: The Philippine News Agency (PNA) and Italian newswire Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA) on Tuesday signed a news exchange deal, the latest in the former’s growing list of agreements with foreign agencies. The deal was signed virtually by News and Information Bureau (NIB) Director Raymond Robert Burgos and PNA Executive Editor Demetrio Pisco Jr. and ANSA Chief Executive Officer and General Manager Stefano De Alessandri. NIB Assistant Director Lee Ann Pattugalan and PNA Deputy Executive Editor Luis Morente witnessed the signing of the agreement that would allow the sharing of news articles, photos and videos between the two agencies. Burgos said this deal strengthens PNA’s links abroad and brings the Philippines closer to another part of the world where there are overseas Filipinos working. “This is an important development as far as PNA’s relations with foreign news agencies are concerned,” he said. “President Ferdinand R. Marcos’ message is he wants to make the Philippines prosper and his aspiration is that there will be an economic boom. This is one of the messages back home that we want to deliver,” he added. Pisco hoped the signing would also increase the flow of information about the Philippines that can attract Italian companies to turn to Manila for business opportunities. De Alessandri, for his part, said the deal would give them a “much better view and coverage of the Philippines” that could eventually develop into a broader cooperation. “This is the first step and the second step will be to develop a commercial relationship between us meaning that Italian clients, Italian companies, public or private, that are interested in being more present in the Philippines and vice versa, will be part of this commercial development agreement,” he said in his remarks. Citing investment in blockchain technology and artificial intelligence to reinvent their operations, the ANSA executive said his agency could also share best practices with Manila in the future. “We will be glad to share from our side and to learn from your side what you are doing and what we can do together. We will be more than happy to have you here and maybe start soon with an operational meeting to improve this cooperation,” he said. Italian Ambassador to the Philippines Marco Clemente, who witnessed the signing, said the Philippines’ position in the region also brings added significance to the agreement. “(The almost 200,000 Filipinos in Italy) deserve to get to know more about what’s happening not only in their own country but also in this part of the world. The Philippines enjoy a very crucial geographical position in an area which we all know is getting more and more important,” he said. “They say that the 21st century will be the Indo-Pacific century and I tend to believe that this is true for good and for bad,” he added. Founded in 1973, PNA is the Philippine government’s official web-based newswire service and is one of the oldest news agencies in Southeast Asia. It also maintains active news sharing agreements with members of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA), among others. ANSA is a newswire owned by 26 newspapers and magazine publishers, and is currently present in more than 50 countries Source: Philippines News Agency

Business & Finance
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MANILA: The prices of vegetables are expected to increase less than two weeks before Christmas, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

 

In a Laging Handa public briefing on Tuesday, DA deputy spokesperson Rex Estoperez said they have received information that prices of some vegetables have gone up, which he said is a normal occurrence during the Holidays.

 

“Mayroon kaming impormasyon na iyong atin pong mga gulay, galing doon sa northern area, nagtaasan din, lalung-lalo na sa panahog natin sa pansit. Pero base doon sa information natin, bumaba na rin po iyong presyo dahil sa dami ng supply rin doon sa mga area na iyon. So we’re expecting na sana naman na ang atin pong mga gulay na ‘yan na kailangan natin sa Pasko ay ang presyo din dapat reasonable din (We have information that our vegetables from the northern area have also increased, especially those used as ingredients for the Filipino noodle dish. But based on our information, prices have also dropped because of high supply. So we’re expecting that the prices of our vegetables that we need for Christmas should also be reasonable),” Estoperez said.

 

Vegetables normally used as ingredients for the noodle dish include cabbage, carrot, celery, pea pods, onion, and garlic.

 

As of the Dec. 13 price monitoring watch of the DA, cabbage is sold at PHP140 per kilo, or PHP20 higher than the day before; carrots remained at PHP100 per kilo; onions still at PHP300 per kilo; and imported and native garlic likewise unchanged at PHP100 and PHP250 a kilo, respectively.

 

The per kilo prices of potatoes and tomatoes dropped by PHP10 at PHP130 and PHP90, respectively.

 

Estoperez said vegetables coming from upland Baguio should not be priced beyond consumers’ reach.

 

“Pero naglilitanya po iyong ating mga retailer. May binabayaran silang ganito, may binayaran na gasolina, iyong handling, iyong tubig, iyong puwesto. Iyon ang litanya nila (But our retailers are complaining – they pay something for this, they pay for fuel, for handling, for water, for the place – those are their complaints),” Estoperez explained.

 

He said market administrators should help the DA and local government units monitor prices

 

Source: Philippines News Agency

 

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