DSWD 12 Raises Sustainable Livelihood Program Thru Convergence and Cooperation

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Officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Central Mindanao have met with various civil society groups and government agency representatives to identify areas of cooperation and convergence in a bid to seek potential partners that will augment its sustainable livelihood program.

“The convergence approach pushes us to go beyond our own boundaries. We believe that other groups can also share what they have in order to improve the lives of Pantawid families and that they will no longer go back to their previous survival status,” DSWD-12 Assistant Regional Director Gemma Rivera said.

Norayda Busran, focal person of Sustainable Livelihood Program, said the objective was to ensure the success of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) which implementation is being spearheaded by DSWD.

“We have listed all services of other groups and we will identify the appropriate services that will respond to the needs of our 4Ps families," she said.

Culinary Adventures at Eastwood’s Levante

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Eat’s going to be a fun foodie adventure in Eastwood as the Mercato Centrale group, organizer of the premier food and lifestyle night markets around the metropolis, brings to you Levante – the newest night food market in Eastwood Citywalk 2. Grand opening is on May 17, Friday from 6pm to 3am.

Enjoy a culinary adventure at Levante with its mouth-watering homemade cooking straight from the kitchens of Eastwood’s budding food entrepreneurs, along with your favorite Pinoy street foods and, of course, the best-selling dishes from your favorite Mercato Centrale vendors.

“Eastwood has always been very supportive of new food concepts, from their new fusion restaurants up to their gourmet food markets in the malls. We are very glad to bring the Mercato Centrale concept to Eastwood to further complement the foodie-friendly lifestyle they have created” said Anton Diaz, co-organizer of Levante. Diaz is responsible for the popular food and travel blog www.OurAwesomePlanet.com.

DOTC Announces 5 Prequalified Bidders for P 1.72-Billion AFCS PPP Project

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Five (5) out of the nine (9) consortia which sought to qualify for the P 1.72-Billion Automatic Fare Collection System (AFCS) Project have been shortlisted by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), the Transport Department disclosed on Wednesday (May 8, 2013).

The 5 bidders which prequalified are: (1) AF Consortium, led by the Metro Pacific and Ayala groups; (2) Comworks Consortium, which includes Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp.; (3) E-Trans Solutions Joint Venture, Inc. Consortium, which includes Eastwest Banking Corp.; (4) Megawide-Suyen-Eurolink Consortium, which will tap the experience of Singapore’s EZ-Link Pte. Ltd.; and (5) SM Consortium, led by several companies of the Sy family.

“We are pleased to announce that 5 interested groups have prequalified to bid for the AFCS Project, one of our first PPP (Public-Private Partnership) offerings. This means that we are getting closer to identifying who our private sector partner will be in bringing a modern commuting experience to the public,” said the DOTC.