Day: July 3, 2025

Bicol: Police seized some PHP80.1 million worth of illegal drugs and arrested 644 drug suspects in operations conducted from January to June this year, the Police Regional Office in Bicol (PRO-5) reported Thursday. According to Philippines News Agency, PRO-5 Director Brig. Gen. Andre Dizon stated that for the first six months of the year, 661 anti-drug operations yielded a total of 80,461.81 grams of marijuana and 10,359.8174 grams of shabu. The operations resulted in the arrest of 644 suspects, among whom 37 were identified as high-value targets, 142 as street-level drug personalities, and 465 as newly identified drug personalities. These

Guimaras: Around 1,000 beneficiaries from vulnerable and poor households in Guimaras are set to benefit from the PHP20 per kg rice initiative under the ‘Benteng Bigas Meron Na’ (BBM Na) program, scheduled for launch on July 8. Guimaras Provincial Agriculturist Alvin Nava announced that they are finalizing details for the program’s rollout, initially targeting 1,000 beneficiaries. According to Philippines News Agency, the provincial government of Guimaras entered into a memorandum of agreement with Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) in early June to procure 5,000 bags of rice from the National Food Authority (NFA), aiming to assist approximately 25,000 households across the

Manila: The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has expressed concern over the proposed Anti-Red-Tagging Bill, saying it is not a safeguard for democracy but rather a dangerous shield that can be used by those who enable terrorism under the guise of legality. According to Philippines News Agency, the task force noted that framed as a protection against malicious labeling, the bill threatens to criminalize legitimate national security disclosures, muzzle the voices of former rebels and victims of insurgency, and embolden the underground networks of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army –

Dubai: Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the United Arab Emirates will continue to enjoy free remittance fees when sending money to the Philippines, even as the Emirates National Bank of Dubai (NBD) announced that it will soon charge fees for most international money transfers. According to Philippines News Agency, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac revealed in a news release that Emirates NBD informed clients it will impose a fixed rate fee of 26.25 UAE dirhams, inclusive of VAT, on most cross-border transactions through its DirectRemit service, effective September 1, 2025. However, the Philippines is among six countries exempted from