Senator Christopher “Bong” Go personally met with the latest batch of beneficiaries of the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa (BP2) program before returning to their respective hometowns in Zamboanga del Norte. In strict compliance with the health protocols against Covid 19, Go and his team conducted the aid distribution for a total of 70 individuals, composed of 19 principal beneficiaries and 51 family members, at the BP2 Depot in Quezon City on Dec. 16. Go and his staff distributed meals, food packs, vitamins and masks, as well as new cellular phones and shoes to all the recipients. He wished them a

An official of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Sunday said despite the acquittal of 15 of 40 communist leaders and members, the grim fate suffered by Inopacan massacre victims in the evil hands of Jose Maria Sison and his co-defendants remains. Secretary Hermogenes Esperon, Jr., vice-chairperson of NTF-ELCAC, expressed disappointment to the decision of the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) to acquit 15 Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army – National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) leaders for their role in the Inopacan massacre in Leyte in 1985. “We are deeply saddened

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Sunday said 181,500 families residing in 2,209 barangays were affected by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette (international name Rai). In its 10 a.m. update, the NDRRMC said these barangays are located in Mimaropa, Regions 5 (Bicol), 6 (Western Visayas), 8 (Eastern Visayas), 10 (Northern Mindanao), 11 (Davao), 12 (Soccsksargen), 13 (Caraga), and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). It said 2,861 evacuation centers are now aiding 107,816 families or 427,903 individuals with the remainder being sheltered by relatives and friends. As of Sunday, the NDRRMC reported four confirmed

The city government here has sent over a hundred disaster responders to conduct relief and rescue operations in Bohol province, which was badly hit by Typhoon Odette last Thursday. A Facebook post of the City Government of Davao showed Mayor Sara Z. Duterte on Sunday leading the send-off ceremony for the delegation comprising 106 Dabawenyos. The team headed to the municipality of Ubay in Bohol is composed of rescue and medical teams from the City Health Office, Davao City Central 911’s Emergency Medical Services, Urban Search and Rescue, Fire Auxiliary Services, Southern Philippines Medical Center doctors, and social workers from

The province of Ilocos Norte is bent on temporarily suspending pebble picking in the coastal village of Caruan in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte to ensure that not only a few benefits from it. With a recurring problem on illegal pebble picking in the area, Governor Matthew Joseph Manotoc has announced that pebble pickers are given a month or until Jan. 21 next year to sell their remaining stockpile and stop operation for the meantime. On Saturday, provincial administrator Yvette Convento-Leynes said the Provincial Quarry Office has been conducting an inventory of the existing stockpile of pebbles since Dec. 15 in coordination