Philippine News

CEBU CITY -- A 21-year-old woman who allegedly works as a "mule" of some known drug personalities in Cebu was arrested in a buy-bust operation in a village here on Sunday, the local police reported.Maj. Dino Alaras, chief of the Guadalupe police station under the Cebu City Police Office, said his men, in coordination with the Special Drug Enforcement Unit (SDEU) and City Drug Enforcement Unit (CDEU), arrested Julie Ann Villegas in a buy-bust operation at past 3 a.m. in Sitio Cahipa, Hipodromo village where she is reportedly staying.Alaras said in a radio report that Villegas was on the list of high-value targets and allegedly works as an associate of some drug personalities in this city.Although Villegas’ name appears in the police watch list, she was very hard to find as she hopped from one place to another, leaving police intelligence operatives tagging her in areas where she had drug trading operation.However, the operatives of Guadalupe police station were able to execut…

DAVAO CITY -- A gym instructor and his cohorts were arrested in an anti-illegal drug operation conducted in Digos by the city police and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 11 (PDEA 11)-Davao del Sur, on Sunday morning.In a statement, the Police Regional Office-11 (PRO-11), identified the suspect as Elnor Magali, 27, a gym instructor and resident of Purok Islam, Lopez Jaena Ext., Barangay Zone 1, Digos City.Also arrested were Amerodin Imam, 25, a driver and resident of Purok Islam, Lopez Jaena Ext., Barangay Zone 1, Digos City; and Christian Roy Daug-daug, 18, and resident of Purok Gemelina, Barangay San Jose, Digos City.Joint elements of Digos police and PDEA-11 seized 0.04 grams of suspected shabu and drug paraphernalia from the three suspects.“Illegal drugs seized from the suspects during the buy-bust operation had an estimated street value of PHP4,000,” Brig. Gen Marcelo Morales, director of PRO-11, said.According to him, the recovered pieces of evidence were brought to Davao Sur P…

CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan -- Three alleged drug peddlers were killed while six others were arrested during intensified buy-bust operations conducted in this province on Saturday.Col. Chito Bersaluna, Bulacan police director, identified the neutralized suspects as Harold Sunpongco, a resident of M. Perez St., Barangay Poblacion, Norzagaray town; Alfie Garcia, of Barangay Caingin, San Rafael town; and Julius Ace Lavarro, of Sitio Gulod, Camalig, Meycauayan City.Bersaluna said based on the report, the three suspects were killed in separate operations after they engaged the police operatives in a firefight.Meanwhile, separate buy-bust operations conducted by operatives of Meycauyan and Bocaue police resulted in the arrest of six suspects identified as Aridel Del Rosario, Marvie Labong, Joan Ralo, Jennifer Francisco, Jack Contante, and Rafael Guerrero.A total of 18 plastic sachets of shabu, assorted drug paraphernalia, and buy-bust money were confiscated from the suspects during the operati…

MANILA -- Traffic in Metro Manila is already a "crisis situation", hence the need for drastic measures like "no garage, no car policy," a government official said Saturday."Traffic is caused by many factors like lack of infrastructure spending, we were left behind by other countries but the government right now under ‘Build, Build, Build’ is investing some PHP1.7 trillion for public infrastructure, and others. But I think the main cause of traffic is the volume of vehicles in Metro Manila”, Department of the Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said in an interview at the Philippine News Agency's "Pros and Cons" program.Malaya added that the volume of vehicles includes public and private vehicles that are illegally parked on the streets."President (Rodrigo) Duterte called on the local government units, within 60 days, to remove road obstructions. During the meeting, the mayors asked if we're to clear roads of ille…

CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan -- The first 16 new jeepneys under the government’s Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) modernization program will start plying the streets in this province on Monday.The first batch of the modernized jeepneys will be servicing the route from Sampol Market in the City of San Jose Del Monte to Santa Maria and Meycauayan City.Jesus Sison, head of enforcement of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), during the modern PUV caravan held at the SM City Marilao on Friday, said this is the first route in the province to undergo PUV modernization.Under the PUV modernization system laid down by the LTFRB, public utility vehicles older than 15 years will no longer be allowed to travel on the streets as public transport.The units must be replaced with brand new or new configurations based on the Philippine National Standard (PNS), such as the Euro 4 crude engine.LTFRB regional director Ahmed Cuizon explained that a particular route would need to be dev…

CEBU CITY -- The Bureau of Customs–Port of Cebu celebrated its 133rd founding anniversary with an ambition to acquire a building of its own as a step towards obtaining an ISO certification of its management systems and procedures in the delivery of services to stakeholders.“This year’s theme, we take on PRRD’s (President Rodrigo Duterte) directives, professionalism, reforms, revenues, and diligence,” lawyer Charlito Mendoza, district collector of BOC-Cebu, told the Philippine News Agency in an interview on Friday.The celebration started with a Holy Mass and followed by a thanksgiving fellowship to recognize customs workers and retirees’ long years of service, as well as top importers who have contributed to the port’s revenue efforts, he said.Mendoza said Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero sent a team of auditors here to conduct audit in all offices of the port with the aim of improving the delivery of services to customs stakeholders.The team of 20 auditors from the Internal …

MANILA -- Claims that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in China are conducting spying operations against their host country is "preposterous", Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Sunday.This in response to Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua's statement that Filipinos working in China could also be accused of spying in wake of the DND chief's concerns over the operation of Chinese Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) centers near military camps and facilities, adding that its employees could easily shift to spying."That’s the most preposterous statement I heard in a long while. POGO workers here are not comparable to OFWs in China. POGO workers came over for a different purpose, e.g., likely just tourism, but eventually got visas to work in an activity at the POGO centers operating gambling operations which is prohibited in China," Lorenzana said in a message to reporters.Also, he pointed out that Chinese companies ar…

MANILA -- The government sees a positive reinforcing role for neophyte local chief executives in the national government's efforts to wipe out local communist armed conflict.Speaking during the Usapang Pangkapayapaan, Usapang Pangkaunlaran Pilipinas Program of the Philippine Air Force, Department of the Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Bernardo Florece Jr. said newly-elected Local Government Unit (LGU) officials extended very robust cooperation to the national government's whole-of-nation approach to eliminate local communist threats."Very positive dun sa mga newly voted (officials),bata pa sila, walang takot na nagsasalita at nakikita na very positive yung signs (The support from newly-voted officials is very positive. They are young and fearless in speaking their mind and see the positive signs about government's efforts) and very enthusiastic about Executive Order 70," Florece said.EO 70 institutionalized the whole-of-nation approach in attaining i…