Day: April 23, 2024

SULTAN KUDARAT: Police arrested here Monday afternoon an alleged big-time drug peddler and seized from him over P2.7 million worth of ‘shabu’ drugs

Lt. Colonel Esmael Madin, municipal police chief, identified the suspect as Jobert Paches, 27, of Barangay Mother Poblacion, Cotabato City.

A team of police and anti-narcotics operatives nabbed the suspect during a 3 p.m. drug buy-bust operation in Barangay Limbo of this town.

Paches yielded eight huge sachets of shabu with a market value of P2,720,000, a minivan, boodle money, and other non-drug items, Madin said.

Since January this year, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region have confiscated over PHP50 million worth of illegal drugs across the region.

Source: Philippines News Agency

CAMP SIONGCO: Maguindanao del Norte – The leader of one of the three factions of the Moro militant groups allied with ISIS was killed along with his 11 followers in the military’s air and ground assaults Monday in the Maguindanao del Sur town of Datu Saudi Ampatuan.

Among the fatalities are Mohiden Animbang alias Karialan, chairman of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF)-Karialan Faction, and his brother, Saga Animbang, his operations chief, according to Maj. Gen. Alex Rillera, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

Rillera said the bodies of 12 slain extremists were recovered in a swampy area of Barangay Kitango with 12 assorted high-powered firearms following an hour-long clash.

‘The battle site was an open swamp area, and finally, we got him and his men. We have long been running after them,’ Rillera said of their 10:30 a.m. operation.

‘We hope this will bring about peace in these communities so that development will come to Datu Saudi Ampatuan,’ he added.

Rillera recalled that last
week, elements of the Army’s First Combat Brigade managed to tail three BIFF members who entered a Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) area.

‘We did not pursue them because, with respect to the peace process, we do not want to be peace spoilers. Until early Monday, they were monitored to have moved out of the village, and an encounter ensued,’ he said.

Two other BIFF groups – the Bungos and Toraife factions – operate in the Central Mindanao area.

Source: Philippines News Agency

COTABATO: The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (BARMM) massive anti-measles vaccination program is nearing its target of about 1.3 million children, health officials said Monday.

Zyrus Dabuco, the Ministry of Health (MOH)-BARMM immunization program coordinator, said that as of April 20, around 1,034,841 children 10 years and below had received anti-measles vaccines, which accounted for 75.5 percent of the target 1,371,284.

“We will continue the vaccination until next month,” Dabuco said during the MOH-BARMM radio program titled “Suara Kalusugan.”

MOH-BARMM could hit the target since the vaccination is still ongoing with minimal hesitancy on the part of their parents due to the support of the region’s religious leaders, he added.

Dabuco said the MOH-Measles Outbreak Response Immunization that started on April 1 will continue until May 10.

Since Jan. 1, MOH-BARMM has listed 905 measles cases, with four deaths in the region. The number of deaths due to measles remained at four.

Source: Ph
ilippines News Agency

MANILA: A new OCTA Research survey found that fewer Filipino families rated themselves poor and hungry in the first quarter of 2024.

According to the Tugon ng Masa survey conducted from March 11 to 14, 2024, the country’s self-rated poverty is at 42 percent, which is 3-percent lower compared to 45 percent recorded in a similar survey held in the fourth quarter of 2023.

This means that around 11.1 million families felt their situation got better in March this year, compared to around 11.9 million families in December 2023.

OCTA said the 3-percent decrease, translating to around 800,000 families, represents a “continuing downward trend in self-rated poverty” observed since July 2023 when self-rated poverty was at 50 percent.

“It must be noted that self-rated poverty has been going down at a modest rate for the last five quarters starting July 2023,” it said.

The pollster explained that among those who considered their families poor, the median amount they need for home expenses in order not to be called po
or anymore is PHP20,000 per month.

Self-rated poverty was highest in Mindanao at 71 percent, followed by the Visayas at 47 percent, Metro Manila at 29 percent, and Balance Luzon at 28 percent.

In terms of self-rated hunger, the survey found that around 11 percent, or an estimated 2.9 million Filipino families, experienced involuntary hunger in the past three months.

The March 2024 self-rated hunger figure is 3 percent lower than the recorded 14 percent, or around 3.7 million families, in the December 2023 survey.

Across major areas respondents who said their families experienced hunger were highest among those in the Visayas at 13 percent (from 19 percent), followed by those in Mindanao at 12 percent (from 18 percent), Balance Luzon at 9 percent (from 11 percent) and Metro Manila at 9 percent (from 8 percent).

Meanwhile, some 37 percent of the respondents, or an estimated 11.1 million Filipino families, said they consider their families as ‘food-poor’ or those who ‘struggle to obtain a sufficient and hea
lthful diet.’

This finding represents a significant 5 percent dip from the December 2023 survey that recorded 42 percent of those rated as food-poor.

The survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews of over 1,200 adults nationwide.

The survey has a ±3% margin of error at a 95 percent confidence level.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Philippines is eyeing to host the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF) Board which will allow the country to access more climate financing.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of Finance (DOF) said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. created an interagency technical working group to lead the Philippines in its bid to host the LDF Board.

The LDF is a global financial mechanism designed to provide support to countries that are mostly impacted by climate change.

President Marcos earlier expressed the Philippines’ intent to host the LDF Board and called for the LDF’s immediate operationalization to assist developing countries.

By hosting the LDF Board, the Philippines will gain significant traction from developed countries and development partners that can pledge voluntary contributions to finance the fund.

The Philippines’ active engagement in the LDF will also allow countries all over the world to collaborate with the Philippine government in tackling climate-related challenges.

It can also serve as
an avenue for the Philippines to showcase its game-changing initiatives in the adaptation and mitigation front.

Under the Marcos administration, the Philippine government pushed forward strategic investment and financing frameworks for climate and development positive actions.

It also enabled policies and measures to make the Philippines a destination for sustainable investments such as the initiatives under the National Adaptation Plan and Nationally Determined Contributions Implementation Plan and its Financial Strategy.

‘The DOF will lead the country’s bid to host the Loss and Damage Fund. We have already begun thorough preparations on this matter, and we believe that the Philippines is more than ready to take on this important role,’ Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said.

The DOF convened member agencies in a series of meetings of the newly created LDF Technical Working Group (TWG) which include the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Budg
et and Management, and the Climate Change Commission to discuss the strategies to be undertaken for the country’s hosting bid.

The DOF also led the discussion on the proposed roles and responsibilities of each TWG member, highlighting the members’ expected contributions to developing the country’s hosting bid.

Source: Philippines News Agency

BALER: Newly installed Governor Reynante Tolentino on Tuesday said he will prioritize infrastructure and health programs to propel Aurora to new heights of development.

He told the Philippine News Agency in an interview that his office is reviewing all the records of the provincial government, particularly on finances.

Tolentino assumed the top provincial post late Monday afternoon.

He replaced Christian Noveras after the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) enforced the Ombudsman order dismissing the latter, along with his father, Vice Governor Gerardo Noveras, and Michael Tecuico, a casual capitol employee, for grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best Interest of the service and conduct unbecoming of public officials.

The dismissal stemmed from a complaint on the printing of election campaign materials of the Noveras father and son during the 2022 campaign.

The printing was led by Tecuico using government properties such as printers, toners and shredders inside the printing r
oom at the Aurora Training Center, a government facility in Baler.

DILG Provincial Director Eno Cambronero delivered the dismissal order.

After an hour, Tolentino took his oath of office at the capitol before his brother, Dipaculao Mayor Danilo Tolentino.

Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Jennifer Araña is the new vice governor.

Source: Philippines News Agency