At the Speaker Yñiguez Hall of the South Wing Annex of the House of Rep., PAGASA was invited in the morning of 22 Feb. 2017 as a resource in the deliberations on the proposal for the creation of a  Food Security Council. Chaired by (L-R) Rep. Leo Rafael M. Cueva/Neg. Occ., Vice Chairman Rep. Gil Acosta/Palawan assisted in the hearing with Rep. Michael L. Romero, PhD. 1-PACMAN, Rep. Gabriel H. Bordado, Jr./Camsur, Rep. Jorge “Bolet” Banal/QC and Rep. Randolph S. Ting/Cagayan.  Also present were Rep. Kaka J. Bag-Ao/Dinagat Islands and the representatives from DA, DAR, LBP, Government Statistics Agencies and the different Nutrition Agencies under DOH.  PAGASA was the lone representative from the private sector at this Hearing.  STC stated that in behalf of the private sector, PAGASA felt there was no need to create a Council  on Food Security given that the objective was to oversee the funding and supply of food/nutrition of the poor citizens of this country.  STC agreed wit

On a sunny Sunday, fifth-year students from De La Salle University-Manila currently completing their thesis for their Applied Corporate Management degree, visited STC at PAGASA Office and checked on expiry dates of some promo products to discover how supermarkets and suppliers team up in pushing products and avoiding food wastage. Thesis of the four entitled “Food Waste Management Practices of Supermarkets in the Phils.” were carried out by (L-R) Rafael Lagdameo, Joy Lumantas, Eugenio Alfredo Gloria and Ramon Campos.

On 15 Feb. 2017, the Congressional Committee on Ways and Means headed by Rep. Dakila Carlo “Dax” E. Cua of Quirino held a public hearing at the Rolando Andaya Hall, South Wing Annex of the House of Representatives to address stakeholders regarding the tax proposals of the Department of Finance through its collection arms> the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs.  BIR Commissioner Dulay and the representative from the BOC backed up DOF Usec. Karl Kendrick Chua.  All seemed calm until Cong. Joey Sarte Salceda/Albay entered the room and questioned the power point presentation of BIR Dep. Comm. Nestor Valerioso regarding the BIR’s efficiency in collections for the last year. STC informed this august body the history of retail competition in the country and how support from suppliers have dwindled through the years as the big players dominated the scene.  Also, he intimated the fact that one of the reasons smaller stores sell out to the giants is because of challenges