MANILA – Malacañang is one with the nation in praying for the victims of a Philippine Air Force (PAF) C-130 crash in Patikul, Sulu on Sunday. The Western Mindanao Command report as of 5:30 p.m. said of the 96 onboard, 50 were rescued but injured, 29 cadavers were retrieved, and 17 were still unaccounted for in the incident in Barangay Bangkal at about 11:30 a.m. Two civilians on the ground were killed while four are undergoing treatment. “We are deeply saddened by the C-130 mishap in Sulu,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement. “Rescue efforts are ongoing, and

A total of 44 families here have received the titles of the land they have been occupying for more than 50 years, under the government’s “Handog Titulo” program. The distribution held on Friday was led by officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Bicol and the city government. In an interview on Sunday, Mayor Noel Rosal said the title distribution was in line with the city’s commitment to give villagers the chance to own the public land they have been occupying for a long time. He recognized the efforts of the city council for passing a

MANILA – Taal Volcano recorded “anomalously high” volcanic SO2 (sulfur oxide) gas emission on Sunday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said in its 4:15 p.m. bulletin. The levels of volcanic SO2 gas emission were recorded at an average of 22,628 tonnes per day, the highest ever recorded in Taal. Since midnight, there have been a total of 26 strong and very shallow low-frequency volcanic earthquakes associated with magmatic degassing recorded beneath the eastern sector of the volcano island. “Some of these earthquakes were reportedly accompanied by rumbling and weakly felt by fish cage caretakers off the northeastern

To provide medical assistance to the townsfolk in Siargao, Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go led on Saturday the opening of the 125th Malasakit Center in the country. Go was joined by Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar and top provincial officials led by Governor Francisco Matugas and 1st District Representative Francisco Jose Matugas during the opening ceremony. The facility is situated at the Siargao Island Medical Center (SIMC) in the town of Dapa. In his message, Go, the chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, said it will serve all the residents in the municipalities of

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) regional office in Bicol is hiring 126 people to fill up various vacant positions starting this week until July 10. In a statement on Sunday, Geri Buensalida, DAR-Bicol spokesperson, said the agency has 117 entry-level and nine promotional positions that should be filled up this year. “These include Agrarian Reform Program Technologists (ARPT-SG10) for entry-level positions, while Attorney IV (SG23), Administrative Officer III (AO III-SG14), Engineer II (SG16), Senior Agrarian Reform Program Officer (SARPO-SG18), Senior Agrarian Reform Program Technologist (SARPT-SG14), Agrarian Reform Program Officer I (ARPO I-SG11), and Agrarian Reform Program Officer II (ARPO

Rice farmers of Taraka, Lanao del Sur, an old town beside the 34,000-hectare Lake Lanao, will be able to plant a second crop in one year with the opening of the first-ever local government-funded Solar Powered Irrigation System (SPIS) on July 29. In a statement Sunday, the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) said the six units of SPIS, funded through a loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), compose the first batch of solar-powered irrigation built in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). It is also the first SPIS to be established under the Mindanao Water Supply