The Philippine Army has condemned the New People’s Army (NPA) anew for attacking soldiers holding dialogues with residents of a remote village in Catubig, Northern Samar last weekend. Lt. Col Joemar Buban, commander of the Army’s 20th Infantry Battalion, denounced on Wednesday the communist terrorist group for deliberately attacking government troops despite the presence of civilians. “The attack shows a serious disregard for one’s life and is a clear violation of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law,” Buban said in a brief statement. It was on the night of March 5 when a band of armed rebels fired on soldiers
The Northern Samar provincial government is bringing its service caravan to more conflict-stricken communities in the province to end insurgency in remote areas. The local government will hold a caravan in Palapag town on March 10. This is the 10th round since its launch in November 2019 in San Isidro town, Northern Samar provincial information officer John Allen Berbon said. “The Kauswagan (progress) caravan is one of the flagship programs of the province under the stewardship of Governor Edwin Ongchuan with a goal of bringing government services closer to the people. The program is also in support of Executive Order
Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Wednesday said the contract for the 17 Russian-made Mil Mi-17 heavy-lift helicopters is unlikely to be scrapped for now despite the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. “No, we do not see any likelihood of (of the contract) being scrapped as of this moment,” he said in a message to reporters, when asked if the project will still push through despite the conflict. The DND chief added that the heavy-lift helicopter procurement project is a multi-year procurement contract and the delivery of the first batch will be in 24 months. “The
The Sandiganbayan has acquitted eight barangay officials in connection with supposed irregularities in the purchase of a laptop computer for the town nine years ago. In its decision dated February 28 and published online on Wednesday, the anti-graft court’s Seventh Division reversed the ruling of the Jordan, Guimaras Regional Trial Court Branch 65 and acquitted Rodolfo Galila, Mae Isabel Arevalo, Jose Henry Parcon III, Maribeth Galgo, Generoso Galgo, Nelly Badilla, Letecia Gedaca and Girlie Gaquit. Galila, the barangay chairperson, and the other accused who are concurrently members of the council and Bids and Awards and Committee of Barangay Poblacion in
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) announced that two of the six units of the Turkish-made T129 “ATAK” attack helicopters it has acquired arrived at Clark Air Base, Pampanga early Wednesday. “The PAF welcomes the arrival of two units of T129 ‘ATAK’ helicopters onboard the (Airbus) A-400M from Turkey at 30 minutes past midnight 09 March 2022 at Clark Air Base, Mabalacat City, Pampanga,” Air Force spokesperson, Lt. Col. Maynard Mariano, said in a message to reporters. The A-400Ms are cargo aircraft of the Turkish Air Force. In a separate message to the Philippine News Agency (PNA), Mariano said one of
Anti-narcotics operatives confiscated a total of PHP1.57 billion worth of shabu in the first eight days of March alone. In a press briefing late Tuesday, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Wilkins Villanueva said the amount includes the PHP1.088 billion worth of shabu from a Chinese national and his Filipino cohort in a buy-bust in Valenzuela City on Tuesday afternoon. “All in all, these anti-drug operations resulted in the seizure of 231.2 kilograms of shabu worth PHP1.57 billion,” Villanueva said. He said the operation that led to the arrest of suspects Tianzhu Lyu of Fujian, China, and Meliza Villanueva of
