Category: General

MANILA: A Zamboanga court has convicted a woman who served as a financial conduit for the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Tuesday.

In a statement, the DOJ said the Zamboanga City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 33 found Norkisa Omar Asnalul, also known as Norkisa Omar Ibno, guilty of three counts of violation of the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012.

The court sentenced her to 21 months imprisonment and PHP300,000 in fines.

Asnalul was convicted for her part in the transfer of funds from Myrna Ajijul Mabanza, the wife of ranking ASG leader Abu Anas aka Muhajirin.

Mabanza, 32, a designated global terrorist by the United States and is included in the United Nations Security Council Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or the Daesh and al-Qaeda Sanctions List, was arrested in Barangay Pasil, Indanan, Sulu last February.

Asnalul who was arrested last December is the wife of another ASG leader Ramji Asnalul aka Ramzie Ahaddin Asnaul.

Th
e two women were involved in the transfer of funds with the leader of Islamic State East Asia, the late Isnilon Hapilon, and served as intermediaries between Hapilon and Daesh elements in Syria.

The group also helped facilitate the travel of a representative of a Daesh-linked terrorist group, the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), from Indonesia to the Philippines to purchase arms and to set up training courses for pro-Daesh Indonesian recruits with local terrorist groups on firearms use and basic bomb-making.

From March to June 2015, Asnalul in Basilan received three money transfers totaling PHP21,000 from Mabanza who was at Zamboanga del Sur to fund terrorist activities.

Asnalul also received two international remittances amounting to PHP50,000 on two occasions from a certain Rosdy Bin Benjamin from Sabah and Santra Husin Aman.

Justice Secretary Remulla, meanwhile, welcomed the court’s ruling.

‘The conviction of a member of the terrorist group more so, a financial facilitator, strengthens the government’s r
esolve not to give in to their unlawful demands.’

Remulla, likewise, recognized the panel of prosecutors who worked hard for this conviction.

‘I congratulate you for a job well done. This serves as a big win against the ASG network,’ he added.

Source: Philippines News Agency

LEGAZPI: The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Bicol has accepted 110,582 applications since the start of the voters’ registration from Feb. 12 to May 4, this year.

In an interview on Tuesday, Maria Juana Valeza, Comelec-Bicol regional director, said among the applications their offices received were new and transfer registration, reactivation, change or correction of entries in voter’s record, and transfer of registration from foreign post to local.

“Different programs of Comelec like the ‘register anywhere’ and ‘special satellite registration’ really helped our fellow Bicolanos to register, and update their records. This is a good indication that they want to participate in the upcoming May 2025 national and local elections,” she said.

Valeza said she already instructed different election officers in the region to find a bigger area and venue for the start of filing of candidacy in October, as part of their preparation for the upcoming elections.

“We also started to visit schools and inventory of tea
chers who are willing to serve for the May 2025 elections. Our office also started to prepare for the procurement of materials needed for the national and local polls,” she added.

Valeza said they also started coordination with the Philippine National Police to ensure the security of their personnel, records, and offices for safe, clean, and honest elections.

“We are anticipating a rise in the number of voters by 200,000 to 250,000 who will take part in the upcoming elections. As of last year, we had a total of 3,918,170 registered and active voters, but by May 2025, we estimate that there will be over four million voters in Bicol,” she added.

Source: Philippines News Agency

A Vietnamese language class for the overseas Vietnamese (OV) community in Denmark has been opened in Copenhagen, aiming to keep and promote the language as well as the nation’s cultural identity in the European country.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

An art program celebrating the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory was held in the southern province of Vinh Long on May 7. The program saw the participation of singers and artists from Vinh Long, An Giang and Hau Giang province.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

MANILA: About 100 million kilograms of rice worth PHP29 per kg. will be made available at Kadiwa ng Pangulo centers by August, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said Tuesday.

According to NIA chief Eduardo Guillen, the project is part of the agency’s contract farming program that covers about 40,000 hectares of land nationwide.

‘Ang aming estimate diyan, mga nasa 29 pesos puwede na kaming magbenta, by August naman kami. We have around 100 million kilos of rice na projected na ma-produce po natin by August (Based on our estimates, we would be able to sell rice worth PHP29 per kg. by August. We have projected that about 100 million kg. will be produced under the program that can be sold by August),’ Guillen said in a Palace press briefing.

He said this after rice worth PHP20 per kg. has been sold at Kadiwa centers.

This, according to the NIA chief, was made possible through the initiatives of their partner irrigators associations.

‘Sabi nila noong kinakausap ko sila, bilang pasasalamat nila sa n
apakarami nilang tinatanggap na mga ayuda sa gobyerno natin, nag-o-offer din sila ng 20 pesos na bigas (They said when I was talking to them, as an expression of gratitude for the many forms of assistance they have received from our government, they are offering PHP20 per kg. of rice)’ he said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

ISTANBUL: Oil prices rose on Tuesday amid ongoing ceasefire negotiations in Gaza and the Israeli military’s assault on the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing.

International benchmark Brent crude traded at USD83.42 per barrel at 10:28 a.m. local time (0728GMT), an increase of 1.32 percent from the closing price of USD82.33 per barrel in the previous trading session.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate traded at USD78.55 per barrel at the same time, a 0.09 percent rise from the previous session that closed at USD78.48 per barrel.

Oil prices surged with heightened geopolitical tensions due to the Israeli military assault on the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that the Israeli army targeted buildings in the region with rockets.

These attacks weakened the prospects of a ceasefire in Gaza and raised concerns that the conflict in the region, which is home to most of the global oil reserves in the Middle East, could escalate further, supp
orting higher oil prices.

On Monday, Hamas said it had accepted a Qatari-Egyptian proposal for a Gaza ceasefire. Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh conveyed his group’s approval of the proposal during phone calls with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel.

After Hamas announced its approval of the Qatar and Egypt-brokered ceasefire proposal, the Israeli War Cabinet decided to continue attacks in Rafah.

Meanwhile, the strengthening of the of the US dollar against other currencies limited upward price momentum.

The US dollar index, which registered at 105.26 at 9:07 a.m. local time (0607GMT), is making oil more expensive for other currency-holding traders, dampening demand.

Source: Philippines News Agency