Marine Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo on Friday formally stepped down as commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Education, Training, and Doctrine Command (AFPETDC) and military spokesperson. Arevalo will bow out of military service upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56 on July 18. He was replaced as AFPETDC chief by Brig. Gen. Francisco Ariel Felicidario III in a joint retirement and change of command ceremony at the Tejeros Hall in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. “Throughout his military service, MGen Arevalo competently fulfilled various critical roles in the AFP. As the Commander, AFPETDC, and concurrent AFP spokesperson,

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Central Visayas (BFAR-7) on Saturday said it intercepted illegally shipped live corals worth PHP7.26 million at the Hagnaya Port in San Remegio town, northern Cebu. BFAR-7’s Fisheries Resource Protection Group (FRPG)–Fisheries Management, Regulatory and Enforcement Division counted more than 1,000 pieces of live corals, mostly doughnut corals. “(The office) accounted (for) about 1,210 pieces of live corals, 1,103 of which were in small sizes and 107 pieces were in medium size. The appraised market value would be at least PHP7,260,000,” an FRPG report said. On June 13, 2021, the local coast guard

The first batch of Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) single-dose Janssen Covid-19 vaccine that arrived here Friday is expected to inoculate more than 1.6 million individuals across the country. The 1,606,600 doses of the jabs are only the first half of a total of 3,213,200 doses donated to the Philippines by the United States government through the COVAX Facility. “There will be another 1.6 million arriving imminently. So a total of 3.2 million doses donated by the US. This is part of the 80 million doses that the US is donating around the world this month,” US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires John

Workers of a foreign agency helping residents of this city have narrowly escaped being trapped following a landslide along the lone highway that connects Barangay Ilomavis to the city proper. In an interview here Saturday, Psalmer Bernalte, head of Kidapawan City’s disaster response, said 12 workers and officials of the Action Against Hunger (AAH) were almost trapped in Sitio Sayaban in Ilomavis following a landslide on Friday morning. The AAH is an international non-government organization partner of the city government for the MOVE-UP4 Mindanao Project. Bernalte said the team went to Sitio Bowkanon, Ilomavis for a project site visitation and

Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte Mayor Ernesto Evangelista declared a diarrhea outbreak in Barangay Tulalian on Friday. In a statement on Saturday, the Municipal Information Office (MIO) said the declaration was due to the death of a resident while 47 others were confined in various public and private hospitals. As of Saturday, the Municipal Health Office said the fatality is a 58-year-old male resident who experienced loose bowel movement, stomach pain, and vomiting. “The 47 residents were rushed to both private and public hospitals; some are still recovering while others were discharged,” the MIO said. Puroks 1, 3, 4, 5,

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Friday credited President Rodrigo R. Duterte for the industrial peace being enjoyed by the country, such as that in the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) in Mariveles town, this province. “I want to put on record that the major accomplishment of our President in the field of labor and employment is industrial peace. Hindi kagaya noong araw na maya’t maya may nagwewelga, nagmamartsa, nagmumurahang employer at employees (Unlike in the past when every now and then, there were strikes and protests, and employers and employees cursing at each other),” Bello said as he led