Santiago City Police Office (SCPO)

The Santiago City Police Office (SCPO) arrested recently two drug users while in pot session at the Barangay Malvar, Santiago City

Police Regional Office 2 (PRO2) regional director Chief Supt. Rodrigo Purisima De Gracia identified the suspect as Virgilio Quejano, 36, and Harvel Pobre, 31, both residents of Mataas na Kahoy, Alicia, Isabela.

De Gracia said the joint anti-illegal drug operation of Intelligence Operatives and Police Station 1 in Barangay Malvar, Santiago City led to the arrest of Quejano and Pobre.

Confiscated from the suspects were one piece small heat sealed transparent sachet containing white crystalline substance believed to be metamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu; two pieces color blue lighter; one piece surgical scissor and four used strip of aluminum foil.

Davao City Police Office (DCPO)

The three district offices of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the city in cooperation with the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)mounted on Monday the "Operation Baklas", a clean-up drive aimed at ridding political propaganda materials off the non-designated poster areas.

Lawyer Aimee Ampoloquio, election officer of the District 1 of Davao City, said their operation yielded plenty of political propaganda both from the incumbent officials and aspiring candidates gunning for the local elections.

She observed even political materials bearing the names of candidates of the ruling coalition headed by the Liberal Party (LP)and the opposing United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) were forcibly taken away from the posts, trees, walls and even at the facade of commercial establishments, whose owners claimed they were not consulted when these materials were posted.

"These propaganda materials will be used as pieces of evidence by the law department of the Commission on Elections in filing election law-violations against the candidates who violated the rule on posting campaign materials," Ampoloquio said.

Section 3 of the Comelec Resolution No. 7767 bars political candidates and their supporters from nailing or stapling campaign materials on trees and bans posting on bridges, power and telephone lines, schools, islands and monuments.

Comelec Resolution 9615 requires candidates to post propaganda materials only on authorized designated common poster areas or private property with the consent of the owner.

The policy states that violators can be imprisoned from one to six years with the right to vote forfeited and would no longer be allowed to run for public office.

Ampoloquio said that with the resolve of Comelec-Manila to sue violators, it is certain that formal charges will be filed against them with the many pieces of evidence gathered as proof of defying election laws.

"There are violations even from candidates of contending parties. We have all the pieces of evidence like photos and materials taken from the non-designated poster areas," she said.

Senior Superintendent Ronald de la Rosa, director of the Davao City Police Office, who assisted the poll body said his members are also deployed in the two other districts of the city to assist the clean-up drive.

He said simultaneous clean-up drive is also done in Toril, Calinan, Sasa, Bunawan and Buhangin.

Lawyer Joseph Dominic Felizarta, chief of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) said they are still awaiting the order to participate in the clean-up drive from the poll body.

Safe and Secure in Boracay

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said they had tightened the security in this resort island to secure both foreign and local tourists coming amidst bombing cases around the world.

Coast Guard Caticlan Assistant Senior Chief Petty Officer Ronie Hiponia said Monday that aside from the tourists coming, passengers using the roro (roll on roll off) vessels will also be undergoing strict security measures.

"Aside from safety concerns, we also received reports on the existence of illegal drugs trade and other outside world syndicates in the roro vessel," Hiponia said.

Recently, the Highway Patrol Group of the Philippine National Police (PNP) had seized three sports utility vehicles which are suspected to be hot cars.

Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES)

The city government here has hired 400 student workers under its Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES) this year.

The Public Employment Service Office (PESO) said that the first batch composed of 200 workers have been deployed effective April 1 to various city government offices and barangays. Those assigned in villages undertake the skills registry system- a project that identifies and records skilled workers in the area.

Meanwhile, as part of the holistic approach of the city government to the program, SPES workers will not only be assigned regular office work but will also undergo several activities like leadership training and other socio-civic activities.

Over the weekend they attended a Coastal Resource Management Orientation and coastal clean-up activity.

The second batch, meantime, will be deployed to their respective assignments starting May 6 until May 21.

A minimum wage of 220 pesos will be paid the workers, who will have to work for 22 days.

The city government will shoulder 60 percent of the total wage of students, while the other 40 percent will be paid by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

PNP-AFP action centers (PAACs)

The Pampanga Police Provincial Office (PPPO) has activated the PNP-AFP action centers (PAACs) established within the territorial boundaries of the province.

Senior Supt. R'win Pagkalinawan, Pampanga provincial police director, said that the activation of the PNP-AFP action center is intended to secure the entry and exit points in the province that would help ensure a peaceful and orderly May midterm elections.

The PNP-AFP action centers were activated for the apprehension of those who violate the gun ban and seize illegal firearms, inspect suspicious individuals and vehicles to avoid violence especially election-related incidents, Pagkalinawan said.

The PNP-AFP action center is a joint project of the Pampanga police, Philippine Army, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) through the initiative of the provincial government.

At present, there are four PNP-AFP action centers which are located along boundaries of the province: Barangay Mapalad in Arayat; Barangay San Roque in Magalang; Barangay Dolores in Mabalacat and along the Floridablanca-Dinalupihan boundary.

Meanwhile, the Regional Special Operations Task Force (RSOTG) is likewise conducting regular checkpoints in various municipalities in support to the municipal police personnel to prevent lawless and private armed groups from interfering with the holding of 2013 midterm elections.

The police likewise intensified the campaign against unlicensed firearms following the launching of "Katok Operation" in December last year.

This resulted to confiscation and voluntary surrender of firearms by the gun holders whose supporting papers are expired or application for registration is still pending.

Narco politics in Philippines

A top official of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Thursday confirmed the existence of "Narco politics" involving known political personalities in Northern Mindanao.

PDEA regional director Emerson Margate said there are incumbent government officials who are now the object of PDEA's intensive surveillance.

Margate made the disclosure following the conviction by a regional court here of Geodeguil Ursal, a member of the provincial board in Misamis Oriental, to life imprisonment for violation of the anti-drug laws.

"Ursal was an example of 'narco-politics' because in the first place Ursal was an incumbent government official while at the same time found engaged in illegal drugs," Margate said.

He said based on information gathered, Ursal already sold illegal drugs amounting to P 2 million in December 2010 prior to his arrest in a buy-bust operation in October 2011.

Margate said Ursal was the highest government official arrested and convicted for violation of the anti-drug laws in Northern Mindanao.

He said that the PDEA has a list of top government officials engaged in "narco-politics" in the region.

According to Margate, these officials have already established linkages in the region and are now being watch closely.

Certificate Program on Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education

The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) signed an agreement with the

University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) that would help improve the quality of instruction of teachers handling Kindergarten and Grades 1-3 pupils in public schools last March 21 at RAFI Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center.

Through the "Certificate Program on Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual

Education (MTB-MLE) for Public School Teachers", 80 teachers from Cebu province will be given intensive training on the utilization of the MTB-MLE in the teaching-learning process. The usage of the mother tongue in Kindergarten to Grade 3 is one of the features of the K-12 educational program.

The 80 teachers will be selected over the summer by a panel composed of

representatives of RAFI, USJ-R College of Education, and Department of Education 7. They will be enrolled in USJ-R for two trimesters under the Master of Education in Early Childhood Education Program, where they are expected to come up with quality MTB-MLE instructional materials and mentor their colleagues on effective MTB-MLE

instruction.

Complementing the teacher's training is a language mapping research in Cebu, which will be conducted to serve as the basis for the designs of the instructional materials. The university's research team will also study the effectiveness of the MTB-MLE instruction.

The training aims to equip the public school teachers with theoretical and

practical approaches that would be best used in the implementation of the MTB-MLE, which is already employed in Kindergarten and Grade 1, and will be executed in Grade 2 by June.

The partnership is supported by RAFI's Grants through the RAFI Development Fund. It aims to contribute to the improvement of education quality by making relevant and effective resources available and providing access to better learning opportunities.

This year, RAFI once again seeks proposals for projects in Cebu province to

receive financial assistance through the RAFI Development Fund. Priority projects this year include curriculum development, integration, and management; alternative delivery mode (ADM); alternative learning system (ALS); technical and vocational education and training; and initiatives that support or enhance the K-12 program.

Philippine Election Ballot Printing

By Janice M. Cave

Printing of ballots for the May 13 mid-term polls is almost 98 percent complete, an official of the state-run National Printing Office said Monday.

NPO Assistant Director Raul Nagrampa said as of 12 midnight, ballots printed is at 52.1 million or 97.6 percent of the required 53.4 million ballots.

At least one million ballots are left to be printed, he added.

He said they expect to finish the printing of ballots tomorrow, April 2, or three weeks ahead of target schedule.

On Wednesday, April 3, Nagrampa said they will have a ceremonial printing of the last ballot with Commission on Elections Chairman Sixto Brillantes.

As of today, the NPO is still printing ballots for the National Capital Region.

Nagrampa added that the NPO has turned over 48.8 million ballots to the Comelec.

Earlier, the Comelec directed the NPO to complete the printing by April 25 or less than three weeks before election day. The printing of ballots started on Feb. 4.

Upgrade of Philippines' sovereign ratings to investment grade status

The local stock market rallied to a new record high on Wednesday
following Fitch Ratings upgrade of the Philippines' sovereign ratings
to investment grade status.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained remarkable
182.35 points or 2.74 percent to close at 6,847.47 from Tuesday's
6,665.12 finish. This is the main index 24th record close for this
year.

The broader All Shares index followed the same fate, advancing 70.60
points or 1.70 percent to 4,234.31.

"We are now officially an investment grade country with this upgrade
by the Fitch Ratings agency and this is an achievement that we all
should be proud of. We have been talking about this in the past 12
months and we think it is well deserved," PSE President and Chief
Executive Officer Hans B. Sicat said.

"Hopefully, the other rating agencies will follow suit so we can start
seeing more investors participate in the growth of our listed
companies and the economy," he said.

Jonathan L. Ravelas, Banco de Oro chief market strategist, said the
credit rating upgrade crystallizes the positive developments in the
country from government to financial markets.

"This could further bring more foreign investors to the country," he said.

Fitch Ratings on Wednesday declared the Philippines "Investment
Grade," the first-ever such rating achieved by the country from a
major western credit rating agency.

The upgrade of Philippines' sovereign ratings took into account the
country's strong sovereign external balance sheet, a persistent
current account surplus underpinned by remittance inflows and robust
economy that grew 6.6 percent last year, among others.

In Wednesday trading, almost all counters rose significantly, with the
market rally led mainly by property stocks that advanced 3.88 percent
or 105.83 points, services by 2.41 percent or 47.45 points and
industrial by 2.28 percent or 229.24 points.

The sub-indices of holding firms also rose by 2.17 percent or 126.37
points while financials by 1.73 percent or 30.32 points.

Only the mining and oil sector declined moderately.

Volume of trade reached 2.29 billion shares worth P12.92 billion.

Advancers won over decliners, 110 to 44, while 35 issues were unchanged.

Poor Dinagat Island in Philippines

Interior and Local Government secretary Mar Roxas on Wednesday told
local officials and residents of Dinagat Islands that the
socio-economic development of the province remains a priority of the
national government.

"Lifting the lives of our poorest people is one of the priority goals
of our government," Roxas said after he and Transportation and
Communication secretary Jun Abaya distributed 77 "multicab" units to
different barangays and LGUs under the program "Bangon Dinagat, Para
sa Bag-ong Kaugmaon." Abaya also distributed ceremonially checks for
five barangay ports.

Roxas said that since President Aquino assumed office in June 2010, it
has been the long-standing policy of the national government to "bring
the government closer to the people."

According to Roxas, the 77 units of multicabs distributed to all
barangays of Dinagat Island is to bring national government closer to
the people through delivery basic services.

In his speech before Dinagat Island residents, one of the barometers
to measure the country's progress under the President's leadership is
to see the number of people living under the poverty line go down in a
province historically poor compared to the national average. Dinagat
Islands is among the 14 poorest provinces in the country.

He said that the country's economic surge should lift all boats,
emphasizing, "magiging ganap lamang ang pag-asenso ng Pilipinas kung
kaakibat nito ang pag-unlad ng Dinagat Islands."

"Walang ibig sabihin ang pamumuno ninuman kung walang laman ang tiyan
ng mamamayan. [Leadership is nothing with empty stomach.] Hindi
masasabing maunlad ang bansang Pilipinas, kapag hindi maunlad ang
Dinagat Islands. [No one can tell that Philippines is prosperous if
Dinagat Islands remains poor,]" Roxas pointed out.

"In our vision of national development, no province, no locality,
should be left behind; and for economic growth to be meaningful, it
must embrace all Filipinos. We've made modest progress towards this
goal," Roxas further explained.

He said the turnover of the 77 multicab units signals the beginning of
a more vigorous cooperation between the LGUs in the province and the
national government agencies to spur socio-economic development.