The Philippine government has pledged USD100,000 or approximately PHP5.1 million to support the humanitarian response in Afghanistan, the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva said Friday. “(The) Philippines announces a voluntary contribution of USD100,000 to support the humanitarian response in Afghanistan. This is in line with our strong humanitarian tradition and solidarity with the Afghan people,” it said in a statement. The country’s voluntary contribution was made during a high-level pledging event that was launched by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and co-hosted by the United Kingdom, Germany, and Qatar. The UN-coordinated relief operation for Afghans is appealing
Eight more members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) have surrendered to government authorities amid continued combat operations against them in the province of Sulu, a top military official said Friday. In a statement, Maj. Gen. Ignatius Patrimonio, Joint Task Force (JTF) Sulu commander, said the eight ASG fighters surrendered Thursday at the municipal hall of Talipao, Sulu. The ASG members yielded through the efforts of the Municipal Task Force in Ending Local Armed Conflict (MTF-ELAC), the 2nd Special Forces Battalion, the 5th Scout Ranger Battalion, and the Talipao Municipal Police Station; and intelligence units. MTF-ELAC is Sulu’s counterpart of
The whole stretch of Kennon Road will be closed to vehicular traffic for three hours on April 3 to give way to bikers participating in a fundraising event. Based on the advisory of the Joint Inter-Agency Task Force Kennon (JIATF-Kennon) sent to the media on Friday, the 33-kilometer road will be closed from Camp 1 to Loakan Airport for the three-hour uphill bike ride fundraising event of the Rotary Club of Baguio Summer Capital that will start at 5 a.m. Albert Mogol, JIATF Kennon chairperson and Office of Civil Defense-Cordillera Regional Director, said the road will be immediately opened after
The implementation of a new number coding scheme to further lessen the volume of vehicular traffic in the National Capital Region (NCR) may begin after the May 2022 elections, an official of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said. In a Laging Handa briefing on Friday, MMDA General Manager, Undersecretary Frisco San Juan Jr., said studies on the proposed 40 to 50 percent vehicle reduction plans are still ongoing. “Nakikipag-usap pa po tayo sa other government agencies upang mabigyan din nila ng mga suhestiyon kung alin dun sa dalawa ang ating ipapatupad at maaari pong siguro after elections na po
Bishop Julito Cortes of the Diocese of Dumaguete on Friday called on parish priests to stop the reading of mass intentions of political candidates in the May 9 elections to prevent the use of the church as a campaign advertising venue. “It has come to my attention that during this time, when elections are fast approaching, local candidates offer mass intentions in the effect that their names are announced repeatedly,” he said in his letter to the clergy. Cortes went on to say that this “apparently (is) a means of advertising and name recall”. The prelate told the Philippine News
A joint security plan of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Negros Oriental is now in effect to ensure safe, clean, honest, peaceful and orderly elections on May 9. The joint security plan was officially signed on Friday during the 6th meeting of the Provincial Joint Security Control Center (PJSCC) at the Marian Priests’ Center in this capital. The signatories were Comelec-Negros Oriental provincial election supervisor-designate lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, provincial police director Col. Germano Mallari, and Brig. Gen. Leonardo Peña, commander of the 302nd Infantry Brigade
