Malacañang reported that the fire incident in the LRT-2, the declining price of palay, and the reemergence of polio in the country were among the key issues discussed during the 42nd Cabinet Meeting President Duterte led Friday night.
According to Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo, Light Railway Transit Authority (LRTA) administrator Reynaldo Berroya and Corporate Secretary Hernando Cabrera narrated what happened in the LRT-2 Rectifier Substation Fire Incident.
Panelo said that while repair and replacement of the component are ongoing, LRTA and the Department of Transportation (DoTr) will continue their bus augmentation from Santolan to Cubao.
He added that the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), Inter-Agency Council for Traffic (i-ACT), and the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) participated as well in the bus augmentation.
The LRTA said last week that operations in the Santolan, Katipunan, and Anonas stations of LRT-2 will remain suspended for at least nine months following the fire that hit one of the train’s power transformers.
Price of palay
Meanwhile, Panelo said Agriculture Secretary William Dar enumerated the measures done by his Department to address the declining price of palay.
These include: increase of National Food Authority’s palay buying stations to service more farmers; issuance of NFA rice coupons; and investigation of rice cartels, hoarding and price manipulation.
Panelo said the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization, Philippine Rice Research Institute, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and the Land Bank of the Philippines allocated a certain amount of financial assistance to help our farmers.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the average farm gate price of palay slid to its lowest in eight years, noting that a kilo of palay was sold at an average of R15.96 during the third week of September.
Reemergence of polio
Panelo said Health Secretary Francisco Duque shared the Department of Health’s (DoH’s) response plans on the reemergence of polio and increase in diphtheria cases in the country.
“The DoH intensified its information drive for better understanding of diseases and what the people should do. The DoH advised the public to complete the rounds of immunization, maintain proper hygiene and participate in their supplemental activities,” he said.
Last month, Malacañang expressed concern about the reemergence of polio in the Philippines, 19 years after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the country to be free from the disease. The DoH earlier confirmed a polio case in Lanao del Sur and that the virus was also detected in water sewage samples in Manila and Davao. (Argyll Geducos)
