Mayor shares anti-trafficking innovations

ZAMBOANGA City Mayor Celso Lobregat shared the city's anti-trafficking efforts before members of the national and international community in Manila last Tuesday.

Lobregat said close coordination between the city's Inter-Agency Committee against Trafficking (IACT) and non-government organizations such as the Visayan Forum Foundation, among others, is an effective measure.

Baguio mayor wants city's 4Ps listing cleaned

SOME 80 supposed beneficiaries of the Social Welfare department's conditional cash transfer program (CCTP) have been delisted from the list of beneficiaries as they do not belong to the poorest families in Baguio.

In a recent department heads meeting, Mayor Mauricio Domogan refused to sign the verification document, saying some of the beneficiaries, as surveyed by enumerators of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), are not poor.

Calling center for Pinoys in Japan opened

FAMILIES of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) deployed to Japan are anxious to know the condition of their relatives due to the recent turn of events after a magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck the country last week.

Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) OIC-Regional Director Evelyn Laranang said they are offering free five-minute calls through their Libreng Tawag program to families of OFWs based there. This is provided by Globe Telecom.

La Trinidad pitches in for Japan effort

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet is paying back to Japan through a small donation sent as a token of sympathy and friendship, Mayor Greg Abalos said.

Abalos said P25,000 financial assistance has been approved, as well as a Japan help booth to be set up in the town during the week-long strawberry festival.

Legal office tasked to sue market sub-lessors

MAYOR Mauricio Domogan tasked City Legal Officer (CLO) Melchor Rabanes to prepare a suit against former lessors at the market who subleased their stalls.

Senate discusses revised city charter

THE Senate committee on local government begins discussing the revised charter of Baguio, which was recently passed by the House of Representatives.

BenCab hosts nature talk

BENCAB museum is once again opening its doors for a learning experience.

Regulations commission still hunting down fake professionals

PROFESSIONAL Regulations Commission (PRC) Director-in-charge Evangeline Vergara has warned holders of fake PRC identification cards, especially those wanting to enter public service.

Police accost wanted robbers

BAGUIO police recently nabbed two suspects in a string of robberies in the city and nearby La Trinidad perpetrated by motorcycle-riding men.

4 Pinoys back in Benguet from Libya

FOUR overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Benguet province are home safe after fleeing Libya.

Suspect in councilor's slay surrenders

ONE of the seven suspects in the gun slaying of a lady councilor of Currimao town in October last year voluntarily surrendered to elements of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

Ombudsman reminds officials to submit SALN

THE Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon reminded all local government units and government employees in the province to submit their Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALN) together with a summary of compliant and non-compliant personnel.

Iloilo prepares for community college

EVERYTHING is in place and the Iloilo City Government is bracing up for the operation of a new community college opening on 2012, said Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog.

Mayor willing to meet cause-oriented groups on river issue

ILOILO City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog assured members of cause-oriented groups who call him anti-poor that he will meet and listen to their complaints regarding the demolition of fishtraps and fishpens along the Iloilo River.

"I would like to meet them, especially members of the Kadamay who were protesting the demolition of fishpens. They may have something to tell me and may have the solution to the burning issue of illegal structures at the river," Mabilog said.

Police implement innovative practices to foil robbers

POLICEMEN in Iloilo City have been implementing two innovative and practical practices to foil a robbery attempt that led to the killing of one suspect last week.

Police Regional Office Director Cipriano Querol Jr. said the foiled robbery is a milestone in the implementation of Police Integrated Patrol System (Pips) and Motorcycle Anti-Street Crime Operation (Masco), which augmented efforts of the Special Operations Group (SOG).

Visayas assistant Ombud denies SALN report

CEBU CITY (Updated 5:24 p.m.) -- A senior official of the Office of the Ombudsman defended herself Wednesday against a report that identified her as among those government officials whose copies of Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) are "nowhere to be found."

Surprised of the news, Assistant Ombudsman for Visayas Virginia Santiago said: "I am filing my SALN every year. In fact it's here, if you want a copy, I can give it to you."

4 die in Makati fire

MANILA (Updated 8:34 a.m.) -- Four members of a family died after a fire razed their house in Makati City early Wednesday.

A radio report said the fire broke out at Block 95, Lot 11, Water Lily Street in Barangay Rizal at 2:10 a.m.

Government raises alert level 2 in Japan, Bahrain

MANILA (Updated 8:04 a.m.) -- The government has raised the alert level in Japan and Bahrain to two urging Filipinos there to restrict their movements due to the danger of staying in the two countries.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Rafael E. Seguis said Tuesday that "the two countries have been placed on alert level 2, which calls for restriction of movements and voluntary exit of Filipinos."

Sitio Kawatan residents vow to help anti-crime campaign

“EVIL triumphs when good men do nothing."

This was the common sentiment of community leaders in a sitio, which has become infamous due to the presence of lawless elements responsible for a series of heists in Talisay City.

Garcia, Osmeña argue over aid

IN their latest verbal tussle, Cebu Gov. Gwen-dolyn Garcia described Rep. Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City south district) as “out of this world” and “nayabag” (out of tune).

The governor said Os-meña, former mayor of Cebu City, should not be making new promises as he has not fulfilled his old ones. She was referring to Osmeña’s promise to give cash assistance to senior citizens of the Municipality of Cordova.

Fewer babies born in 2010

FEWER babies were born in Cebu City last year compared to 2009, an indication that the government’s family planning program is effective, a city health official said.

Records of the City Health Department showed that there were around 17,353 newborn babies registered in Cebu City in 2010, fewer than the 19,748 live births registered the year before.

Be on your toes: UN disaster rep to public

A UNITED Nations (UN) representative is urging the public to ignore hoax text messages about an alleged radioactive leak in Japan that could harm residents in the Philippines.

San Francisco, Camotes Vice Mayor Alfredo Arquillano said the public should wait for the right government agencies to issue official statements.

Council to probe fiscal’s traffic spats

MANDAUE City Mayor Jonas Cortes decided to let the City Council investigate the three traffic-related mauling incidents that allegedly involved City Prosecutor Bienvenido Mabanto.

Cortes said that while the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (Team) Board is willing to investigate Mabanto, it is more appropriate for the council to investigate the allegations against the city prosecutor.

Ingles takes oath as CA justice: ‘It’s still no to non-CA allowance’

WITH his wife and daughter beside him, and before a long-time friend, Gabriel Ingles took his oath of office yesterday as Justice of the Court of Appeals.

Ingles spoke about the vow that he and Executive Judge Meinrado Paredes, the man who administered the oath-taking, made in tongue-twisting Tagalog.

Aid women with cancer vaccine, migration ‘costs’

THE Cebu City Health Department (CHD) wants City Hall to subsidize the vaccine for cervical cancer, as it finds ways to help female cancer patients in the city.

Rep. Rachel del Mar (Cebu City, north district) also sought to improve the welfare of female overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in time for the observance of Women’s Month.

OBO to check condo for safety compliance

THE Office of the Building Official (OBO) will re-inspect today the condominium project at the corner of F. Ramos and Junquera Sts. in Cebu City where a construction worker died last Friday.

This after, R.F. Catli Construction, one of the sub-contractors of Asec Development and Construction Company, submitted its incident report and explanation to OBO.

NFA launches iron-rich rice to attract buyers, boost health

THE National Food Authority (NFA) has re-launched its iron-fortified rice (IFR), in a bid to attract more consumers and improve the nutrition of the public, especially of children.

“Because of the high prevalence of poverty, most people cannot afford complete nutrition,” NFA 7 Director Danilo Bonabon said at the launching yesterday.

Advise your relatives to leave: guv tells OFW kin

NEGROS Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. told families who have relatives in Japan to advise their family members to leave the country and not to wait for the worst.

Philippine Embassy personnel in Tokyo were airlifted to Osaka for their safety Tuesday after another explosion rocked another reactor of the crippled Fukushima’s Dai-ichi nuclear plant.

Couple eyed in Pique case stayed home, lawyer says

BELLA Ruby Santos appeared in public for the first time yesterday to deny any involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Ellah Joy Pique, a 6-year-old girl from Minglanilla town.

Santos and her partner, Ian Charles Griffiths, stayed at home in Naga last Feb. 8, the day Pique was kidnapped, said Santos’s lawyer, Anna Luz Cristal. The couple left for Singapore the next day, she said.

Reports of Capitol refusing to pay bills due to recall of escorts not true: Gwen

POWER supply at the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) was restored yesterday afternoon after the Police Regional Office 7 paid part of the bills.

Senior Supt. Orlando Ualat, regional logistics division chief, said in a text message to Sun.Star Cebu they paid more than P30,000 to the Visayan Electric Co. (Veco).