General

Pasay City: The law-mandated Random Manual Audit (RMA) for the May 12 midterm elections is set to start on Wednesday in Pasay City, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Monday. The auditing process, which involves the manual examination of ballots to validate the results from vote-counting machines (VCM), will take place at the Citadines Bay City Manila and cover 762 clustered precincts and online voting posts. According to Philippines News Agency, Dir. Abigail Claire Llacuna of the Comelec Education and Information Department, who is also part of the technical working group for the RMA, stated that they aim to

Bicol: The Police Regional Office in Bicol (PRO-5) has successfully confiscated illegal drugs valued at PHP2.6 million during a weeklong operation conducted from May 5 to 11. This operation led to the arrest of 21 individuals, including four high-value targets and 17 street-level individuals. According to Philippines News Agency, PRO-5 Director Brig. Gen. Andre Dizon reported that law enforcement officers seized 392.884 grams of shabu and 1.60 grams of marijuana during the operation. The province of Albay recorded the highest value of confiscated illegal drugs, amounting to PHP1.71 million, followed by Naga City with PHP877,296. Other provinces reported lower values,

Iloilo City: The midterm elections in Western Visayas have begun with a largely peaceful atmosphere, although police are currently investigating two separate incidents potentially involving violations of election rules. According to Philippines News Agency, Lt. Col. Arnel Solis, spokesperson for the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO6), stated that as of midday, no major election-related violence has been reported. “So far, the conduct of the elections has been smooth and orderly. We’ve only recorded two isolated cases-one each in Aklan and Capiz,” he said in an interview. In Madalag, Aklan, a 56-year-old man was arrested at a checkpoint in Barangay Poblacion

Bacolod: The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported an increase in Kanlaon Volcano’s seismic activity on Monday. Seventy-two volcanic earthquakes were recorded from 12 a.m. to 12 p.m. Their magnitudes ranged from 0.3 to 3.1, and were 0 to 8 kilometers deep beneath the northern and northwestern flanks of the volcanic edifice. According to Philippines News Agency, Phivolcs said 135 volcanic earthquakes were recorded since 12 a.m. of May 11, and these included relatively strong volcano-tectonic (VT) earthquakes. VTs are generated by rock fracturing processes and the increase in VT activity strongly indicates progressive rock fracturing beneath the

Manila: Power demand across the Philippines dropped on Monday, which was declared a special non-working holiday for the midterm elections, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said Monday. According to Philippines News Agency, as of 11 a.m., the NGCP reported a normal power situation across the grids of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. The reduced consumption can be attributed to the closure of offices, schools, and many business establishments, keeping the country’s power grids stable and within capacity. The significant drop in electricity usage is a typical trend during national holidays, as commercial and industrial activities slow down.