ZAMBOANGA CITY — Authorities have intercepted a shipment of PHP1.2 million worth of smuggled counterfeit cigarettes in an intelligence-driven anti-smuggling operation here, a top military official said Friday. Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief, said the shipment was intercepted Wednesday aboard a Bongo-type truck inside the local port by the Task Force Aduana […]
Top Stories
2 more NPA rebels yield in Lake Sebu
GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Two more New People’s Army (NPA) rebels surrendered to government troops in Lake Sebu town, South Cotabato province on Thursday, the second in the area in two days. 1Lt. Efren Halawig, civil military operations officer of the Army’s 27th Infantry Battalion (IB), said Friday the rebels decided to yield following negotiations with […]
P2-M worth of marijuana plants uprooted in DavOr town
DAVAO CITY –Authorities uprooted and burned some 10,000 hills of fully-grown marijuana plants worth PHP2 million in Lombong Sitio Tagbaloyan, Barangay Tubaon in Tarragona, Davao Oriental on Thursday. In an interview on Friday, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Region 11 Director Antonio Rivera said the marijuana was allegedly planted and cultivated by Melindo Malintad and his son Jurel. […]
P18.7-B Davao Bus system begins in 2020
DAVAO CITY — People of Davao City will feel the changes in their mode of transport starting next year, as the Department of Transportation implements the P18.7-billon “high priority bus system.” The DOTr last week announced that the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Board made a resolution approving the project’s implementation through the agency’s Davao […]
Duterte honors hero cop in Misamis school explosion
INITAO, Misamis Oriental — President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Thursday has posthumously conferred the Order of Lapu Lapu on a policeman killed by a grenade blast here last November 28. The President awarded the Order of Lapu-Lapu, Rank of Kalasag to Police Master Sgt. Jason Magno who died during an incident involving a man armed with […]
NEDA board approves Mindanao railway project-Phase 1
DAVAO CITY — The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board has approved the implementation of the Phase-1 of the Mindanao Railway Project (MRP) next year. The NEDA Investment Coordination Committee – Cabinet Committee (ICC-CabCom) gave its go signal by confirming the July 10 and September 27 approval for the Tagum-Davao-Digos segment or Phase 1 […]
Tacloban eyes single-use plastic ban in 2020
TACLOBAN CITY — The city government here has taken initial steps to regulate the generation of solid waste next year through the passage of an eco-friendly ordinance banning “single-use” plastic. In an interview on Thursday, Vice Mayor Jerry Yaokasin said an ordinance is needed since the sanitary landfill, which just opened this year and designed to […]
5.6 Magnitude quake jolts Davao Occidental
DAVAO CITY — A 5.6 magnitude earthquake of tectonic origin jolted parts of Southern Mindanao at around 8:24 Thursday evening, December 5. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) located the quake at 169 kilometers southeast of Jose Abad Santos in Davao Occidental. Reported Intensities:Intensity III – Glan, Malapatan and Alabel, SaranganiIntensity II – […]
PRRD vows to build 2K shelters after ‘Tisoy’ onslaught
MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday pledged to build about 2,000 shelters to relocate families living along foreshore areas in Albay province following the onslaught of Typhoon Tisoy (international name Kammuri). Duterte made this commitment after Albay Gov. Al Francis Bichara bared that several houses along the coastline have been heavily damaged by the typhoon. […]
Again, Duterte opens peace talks with CPP
DAVAO CITY—- Again, President Rodrigo Duterte opened the door for a peace talk with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Duterte issued the statement while presiding briefing on the effects of Typhoon Tisoy in Legazpi City, Albay, late Thursday afternoon, December 5. “I’m sending (Labor) Sec. (Silvestre) Bello…(to) talk to them,” “Basta I’m sending […]
Customs in Clark seizes 6.5-M worth of Shabu, 30ml Marijuana
DAVAO CITY — The Bureau of Customs-Port of Clark seized 1.026 kgs of Shabu worth P6.5 million from a shipment of aquarium filter from the Czech Republic and 30ml of marijuana on 3 December 2019. The shipment said to contain “external aquarium filter” but when it underwent non-intrusive examination, it revealed suspicious images which prompted […]
House OKs bill lowering gov’t retirement age on 2nd reading
MANILA — The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on second reading a measure lowering the optional retirement age of government employees from 60 to 56. Voting via voice vote, the chamber passed House Bill 5509, which seeks to amend Section 13-A of Republic Act 8291, otherwise known as the “Government Service Insurance (GSIS) Act of […]
BTA approves ₱65B FY 2020 budget
COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Government’s proposed P65-billion budget for fiscal year 2020 was approved by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) on its third and final reading on Friday, last week BTA-Cabinet Bill No. 31 entitled “An Act appropriating funds for the operation of the Bangsamoro Government from January 1 to December 31, 2020, and […]