The number of areas placed under granular lockdown has decreased to 832, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Friday. This is a slight drop from 844 areas recorded on Thursday. The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) has the most number of areas under granular lockdown at 240, followed by Cagayan Valley with 212; National Capital Region, 196. Ilocos Region, 165; and Mimaropa, 19. Three provinces in the CAR — Kalinga, Ifugao, and Mountain Province — have been placed under the stricter Alert Level 4 starting Friday until January 31. An escalation to Alert Level 4 means that an area has
The Diocese of Dumaguete’s Typhoon Odette Response Command Center began distributing on Friday about 2,000 food packs donated by the Banco de Oro (BDO) Foundation to families affected by the storm’s onslaught in December. Fr. Hendrix Alar, the diocesan command center’s emergency program leader, told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in an interview that the food packs were distributed to parishes in several areas in the province. “We started the distribution in Tayasan today and we target Jimalalud and Bindoy tomorrow. The rest will be scheduled depending on the availability of transportation,” Alar said in mixed English and Cebuano. Meanwhile,
A top official of the Philippine Army in Negros Island urged the remaining members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) here to surrender. Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade based in Murcia town, issued the call anew on Friday after two cadres of the NPA’s Northern Negros Front surrendered to the 79th Infantry Battalion in Sagay City, Negros Occidental and another rebel from the Central Negros Front yielded to the 94th Infantry Battalion in Ayungon, Negros Oriental earlier this week. “We are calling on those still hiding in the mountains to lay
Building permits have been released to 865 internally displaced families in Marawi City, allowing them to start the reconstruction of their war-torn houses inside the most devastated area, Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) reported on Friday. Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Secretary Eduardo del Rosario, the TFBM chairperson, said 2,418 families from Sectors 1 to 7, composed of 15 villages, applied for building permits. “They are ready to have their houses constructed provided they have the final requirements. So, everything is moving forward and we are optimistic that we can reach our target very soon,” he said in
An official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday said those who are not interested in casting their votes on May 9 should reconsider their plans. Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the public, especially registered voters should exercise their right to suffrage for their voices to be heard. “You’re not voting coz you think the politicians are all alike anyway? Think about this: If you don’t vote to change things, then things won’t change. #votesafepilipinas,” he said in a post on his Twitter account, @jabjimenez. Jimenez’s remarks were in response to some comments that no matter who they support
Poverty incidence in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has significantly decreased over the past three years, BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim said on Friday. Speaking during the culmination program of the week-long third anniversary of the region, Chief Minister Ahod “Murad” Ebrahim quoted a report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) stating that the BARMM’s poverty incidence has significantly reduced from 55.9 percent in 2018 to 39.4 percent in 2021. “We recorded the highest and the only double-digit reduction in terms of poverty incidence in the whole country. We achieved this despite the ongoing pandemic and despite
