Day: September 11, 2025

Bacong: Anti-illegal drug operatives have arrested a ‘high-value individual’ and confiscated suspected shabu with an estimated street value of PHP3.4 million during a buy-bust operation in Bacong, Negros Oriental on Thursday. According to Philippines News Agency, Lt. Stephen Polinar, spokesperson for the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (NOrPPO), stated that the 56-year-old suspect was apprehended around 1 a.m. The arrest occurred after the suspect allegedly sold illegal drugs to undercover operatives in Purok 4, Barangay San Miguel, Bacong. ‘The suspect has been under close surveillance for a while now and is a resident of Santa Catalina, a town in Negros

Manila: Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman on Thursday pledged to bolster the integration of gender considerations into fiscal policies to promote equality. “As your Budget Secretary, I commit to scaling up tracking and monitoring and to strengthening gender-responsive public financial management,” Pangandaman said during the Official Development Assistance – Gender and Development (ODA-GAD) Network’s meeting at the DBM central office in San Miguel, Manila. According to Philippines News Agency, Pangandaman made the statement as she highlighted that government agencies continue to meet and even exceed the minimum requirement for the 5 percent allocation of their respective budgets for GAD projects and

Iloilo city: The local government is currently awaiting guidance from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) regarding ongoing projects managed by firms owned by contractors Pacifico ‘Curlee’ Discaya II and Cezarah ‘Sarah’ Discaya in Iloilo City. Mayor Raisa Tre±as expressed this stance following her recent inspection of the flood mitigation structure in Barangay Barrio Obrero in the Lapuz District, implemented by St. Timothy Construction Corp. According to Philippines News Agency, a list of projects carried out by the Discaya firms was sent to the DPWH central office last week. Mayor Tre±as stated, “We will just wait for the

Baguio city: More than 250,000 consumers of the Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) will see lower electricity bills this September after the cooperative announced a rate reduction of PHP1.62 per kilowatt hour (kWh). BENECO General Manager, engineer Melchor Licoben, stated that the decrease is due to lower generation charges and the removal of certain billing components, including the Incremental Currency Exchange Rate Adjustment (ICERA), the Generation Rate Adjustment Mechanism (GRAM), and their corresponding value-added taxes. According to Philippines News Agency, the generation charge dropped by PHP1.1214/kWh, while the ICERA, GRAM, and their VAT charges amounting to PHP0.3714/kWh were discontinued. With the

Manila: The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has petitioned the Supreme Court (SC) to make a ruling on the PHP3.19 billion contract that the Land Transportation Office (LTO) entered into seven years ago with a German firm for developing its digital database platform. According to Philippines News Agency, the Solicitor General, Darlene Marie Berberabe, submitted a 10-page motion on September 9, seeking a restraining order from the SC. Berberabe urged the court to void the contract between the LTO and the German Dermalog joint venture concerning the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS). The Solicitor General argued that the LTMS