This week's rotating brownouts expose risks of heavy dependence on few facilities, transmission lines, energy analysts say.

Household helpers in Zamboanga peninsula and in the province of Sulu will receive  a pay hike after the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) approved a new wage order benefitting close to 19,000 kasambahays.

Up to 48 areas experienced danger-level heat index yesterday, with Tuguegarao in Cagayan and Casiguran in Aurora recording 46 degrees Celsius, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

 The Department of Tourism  yesterday defended business owners on Siargao Island in General Luna, Surigao del Norte following an attack on one of the shops by two tourists over the weekend.

Sugarcane plantations in the Visayas have been provided beneficial micro-organisms, foliar fertilizers and high-powered sprayers to help stop the spread of the red stripe soft scale insect (RSSI).

Power grids in Luzon and the Visayas were again placed under red alert yesterday as electricity supply remained strained, raising the risk of rotational blackouts in several provinces.

Bonifacio Drive in Manila will be opened to motorists today following the completion of its drainage upgrades, the Department of Public Works and High- ways said yesterday.

Sen. Raffy Tulfo has raised the alarm over the rising number of Filipinos suffering from chronic kidney disease.

The Department of Education yesterday entered into a partnership with the Land Bank of the Philippines to refinance the existing loans of DepEd personnel who are indebted to private lenders.

  A former official of the body formed to investigate anomalous flood control projects has been named commissioner of the agency overseeing state-run firms.