Author: ltadmin

MANILA: The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday has placed Haiti under crisis alert level 3 due to the current “unstable security situation.”

Under said under the alert level, Filipinos are urged to voluntarily leave while deployment of new and returning Filipinos to Haiti are effectively prohibited.

At present, there are at least 169 recorded Filipinos in Haiti, with majority residing in Port-au-Prince.

“Filipinos living in Haiti are advised to remain vigilant, to avoid public places, and to restrict non-essential movement,” the DFA said.

The situation remains unstable in Haiti following the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, the United Nations reported.

The UN said airport, schools and health facilities remain closed in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, which is also beset with rampant gang violence.

According to United Nations agency International Organization for Migration, some 362,000 people are displaced in Haiti, including 15,000 newly homeless in Port-au-Prince.

Filipino
s are encouraged to contact the Embassy for repatriation through its Assistance-to-Nationals Section at [email protected], 202 467 9382 or 202 769 8049.

They may also reach out to the Migrant Workers’ Office at [email protected] or [email protected], 202 467 9426 or 202 467 9413.

Philippine Honorary Consul in Haiti Fitzgerald Brandt may also be contacted at (509) 3753 4622 or [email protected].

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: Death threats in recent months culminated in a gun attack on the vehicle of Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. at the Skyway in Quezon City on Tuesday morning.

The bulletproof pickup truck with plate no. WDQ 811 was on its way to pick up Deputy Director General for Administration Al Perreras.

Driver Cornelio Colalong and companion Leonardo Cabaniero, both Corrections Officers 1, were unharmed.

The BuCor report said unidentified suspects on board a gray sedan overtook the back-up car, carrying BuCor officers Edwin Berroya and Michael Magsanoc, and fired at the pickup.

The vehicle was hit at the rear windshield, which shattered the bullet proof glass without penetration.

The suspects’ car fled toward the Nagtahan exit going to Manila.

‘Catapang said that both he and Perreras have been receiving death threats since they implemented various reforms in the agency and this incident will not deter them from continuing what they started,’ BuCor said in a statement.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Antique: A total of 8,821 indigent college and post-graduate students in Antique have benefitted from the PHP52.9 million in education assistance extended by the provincial government.

Antique Provincial Youth Development Office (PYDO) head Irish Manlapaz said in an interview Tuesday that they began releasing the assistance on Feb. 2, with PHP6,000 for each beneficiary.

They can use the aid to purchase school materials and other needs for the current school year.

‘Of the 8,821 indigent students who had received the educational assistance, there were 3,809 who received only on March 16 and 18,’ Manlapaz said.

She added that they target to finish releasing additional financial support in June as 11,018 more students have qualified to avail of the privilege for the school year.

‘The educational assistance previously was given in the amount of PHP5,000 for the college students per semester, but because of the many applicants, it’s now being released good for the entire school year,’ she said.

To qualify, st
udents should obtain a certificate of indigency from their barangay captain to show that they need assistance, a registration form, and other documents.

The PYDO personnel, through their ‘PYDO on Wheels,’ visit the 18 municipalities to release assistance based on their given schedules.

Manlapaz said Governor Rhodora J. Cadiao initiated the education assistance program to provide opportunities for students from indigent families to finish school as she believes that education could help in the economic development of the province.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Nueva Ecija: The impacts of the El Niño phenomenon could now be seen in the power sector as the suspension of hydroelectric power plants in Nueva Ecija could come in earlier than expected.

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) has forecast that the Pantabangan Reservoir would reach its critical level of 177 meters by March 27.

First Gen Hydro Power complex head for the Casecnan and Pantabangan plants Richard Difuntorum told reporters here Tuesday that the suspension of the company’s hydropower facilities this year would be earlier than the past years amid the ongoing El Niño.

‘Actually, this time it will start early because we started the year with lower elevation,’ Difuntorum said in mixed English and Filipino, noting that there were fewer typhoons and a lower amount of rainfall last year.

‘Normally, (the shutdown is on the) third week of April,’ he added.

On Tuesday, the water level in the Pantabangan Reservoir was already at 179.97 meters even before the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and
Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) officially announces the start of the hot dry season.

Difuntorum said hydropower plants in Pantabangan go offline when they reach the 177-meter critical level.

He said that among the units that would halt operations and undergo regular maintenance are the two units of the Pantabangan Hydroelectric Plant (PHEP) and the Masiway Hydroelectric Plant (MHEP), which are owned by the unit of the Lopez-led First Gen Corp.

He said PHEP 1 and 2 currently have a combined power generation of more or less 50 megawatts (MW) or about 40 percent of its full capacity of 120 MW.

The MHEP has a power capacity of 12 MW.

Difuntorum added that aside from the 132-MW Pantabangan-Masiway hydroelectric plants, First Gen’s newly acquired Casecnan Hydroelectric Power Plant (HEPP) would also shut down its Unit 2 before the month ends to undergo maintenance until end of April or May this year.

Casecnan HEPP’s Unit 1 is currently undergoing maintenance and will go online on March 25.

Case
cnan HEPP sources its power from the Casecnan River in Nueva Ecija and Taan River in Nueva Vizcaya.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Antique: Intensified anti-drug operations in this capital town of Antique from the start of year to date resulted in the arrest of five suspects and confiscation of 200 grams of shabu valued at PHP1.4 million.

‘We have focused our campaign jointly with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on suppliers or high-value individuals to make sure that we could reduce the supply of illegal drugs in the municipality,” San Jose de Buenavista Municipal Police Station chief Maj. Geremy Ian Magbanua in an interview on Tuesday.

The focus is on the suppliers instead of small-time retailers or drug pushers.

Negros Occidental and Iloilo were the identified sources of the illegal substance.

Shabu’s prevailing street price in Antique is PHP7,000 per gram, Magbanua said.

Meanwhile, the San Jose de Buenavista police apprehended 43-year-old Elarde Villar, a tricycle driver and resident of Barangay Madrangca, who stabbed dead Indian national Avtar Sivia, 36, on March 17.

Sivia was driving a motorcycle when waylaid by
the suspect along Capadocia Street corner Salvani Subdivision without any apparent reason or provocation and stabbed twice.

He was declared dead on arrival at Angel Salazar Memorial General Hospital.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Antique: Intensified anti-drug operations in this capital town of Antique from the start of year to date resulted in the arrest of five suspects and confiscation of 200 grams of shabu valued at PHP1.4 million.

‘We have focused our campaign jointly with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on suppliers or high-value individuals to make sure that we could reduce the supply of illegal drugs in the municipality,” San Jose de Buenavista Municipal Police Station chief Maj. Geremy Ian Magbanua in an interview on Tuesday.

The focus is on the suppliers instead of small-time retailers or drug pushers.

Negros Occidental and Iloilo were the identified sources of the illegal substance.

Shabu’s prevailing street price in Antique is PHP7,000 per gram, Magbanua said.

Meanwhile, the San Jose de Buenavista police apprehended 43-year-old Elarde Villar, a tricycle driver and resident of Barangay Madrangca, who stabbed dead Indian national Avtar Sivia, 36, on March 17.

Sivia was driving a motorcycle when waylaid by
the suspect along Capadocia Street corner Salvani Subdivision without any apparent reason or provocation and stabbed twice.

He was declared dead on arrival at Angel Salazar Memorial General Hospital.

Source: Philippines News Agency