Surigao Sur police chief denies

SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews) — The provincial police director of Surigao del Sur has denied he issued a memorandum ordering the police station in Lianga rendering legal assistance to alleged communist rebels.

In a telephone interview, Col. Dennis A. Siruno of the Surigao del Sur Provincial Police Office vehemently denied the memo came from him. He said this was fake, as he claimed his signature was forged. “Na-stress na ako dahil concerned na pamilya ko. Sinabihan ko ang aking mga anak hindi gawa ng papa ninyo yan (I was stressed because my family is concerned.

I told my children that their father would not do that),”

Siruno said, adding that aside from his family in Ilocos, his high school classmates were messaging him about the veracity of the report.

Siruno assured that he would conduct an investiga- tion starting Sunday, April 9, to track down those involved in the fake memo as he vowed to file administrative and criminal charges against them.

The memo allegedly issued by Siruno on March 29, ordered the police chief of -

Carol Anne A. General who was said to be assisting New People’s Army rebels in their criminal cases.

The memo noted that during the meeting between the Regional Intelligence Division and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency in March, “it has been observed that some legal personalities handling the cases of CTGs were repeatedly providing them assistance with regards [sic] to their criminal cases.”

The military and police refer to the New People’s Army as CTG or “communist terrorist group.”

The memorandum was

( /SURIGAO/10)

"They can slowly go back to their respective areas because we have already stabilized the situation and eliminated the threat because the armed they immediately sent reinforcements from the 48th Infantry Battalion after receiving the report that armed men harassed the police patrol base.

He also encouraged the continuous effort ( /ARMY/10)

Maguindanao Sur gov’s camp

-

COTABATO CITY (Mind

aNews) – The camp of the OIC Governor of Maguindanao del Sur is opposing the appointment of the OIC Governor of Maguindanao del Norte, claiming there is no vacant post that needs to

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. named Bangsamoro Senior Minister Abdulraof Macacua as OIC Governor of Maguindanao del Norte and

5. Marcos also appointed Mangudadatu as OIC Governor of Maguindanao del Sur.

Mangudadatu appealed to Marcos to reconsider his decision to appoint Macacua over Bai Ainee Sinsuat, who won as Vice Governor of the then-undivided Maguindanao in the May 2022 polls.

“ I respectfully request your good office to kindly reconsider your decision in regards to the appointment of Abdulraof Macacua as OIC of Maguindanao del Norte,” Mangudadatu said.

Sinsuat, whom Marcos appointed as OIC Vice Governor of Maguindanao del Norte, assumed the acting governor post on January 9 this year, bringing along 200 employees from what used ( /MAGUINDANAO/10)

MANILA – The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday that the unemployment rate in February this year stood at 4.8 percent, the same rate as in January.

In a press conference, PSA National Statistician, Undersecretary Dennis Mapa, said the number of jobless Filipinos in February reached 2.47 million, higher by 102,000 from January’s 2.37 million.

Mapa attributed the increase in the number of unemployed individuals to the higher number of Filipinos who joined the labor force in February.

Labor force participation rate went up to 66.6 percent in February from 64.6 percent in January, with 1.55 million Filipinos joining the workforce in the second month of the year.

Individuals in the labor force are those aged 15 years and above.

Of this group, Mapa said 48.8 million were employed in February, higher by 1.45 million from January.

Month on month, the sectors with the highest increase in the number of workers were led by agriculture and forestry, up by 997,000; followed by construction, aquaculture, up by 246,000; wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, up by 219,000;

GCash, e-money operators, asked to help reduce high remittance fees

MAKATI City Rep. Luis Campos Jr. has challenged GCash and other Philippinebased mobile money operators to go global and help drive down high remittance charges that burden overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“We want GCash and other mobile money technology players to forcefully compete with banks in the remittance market to put a downward pressure on transaction costs,” Campos said.

Mobile money allows users to receive, store, and transfer funds using their mobile phones.

Citing the World Bank’s

Remittance Prices Worldwide report, Campos said OFWs currently pay an average of 6.3 percent (of the amount sent) in fees to send $200 home to their families.

“Lower remittance fees will mean higher disposable income for Filipino households dependent on cash froming into our economy,” Campos, one of the authors of the law creating the Department of Migrant Workers, said.

Currently, banks dominate 87 percent of the remittance market, and they also collect the highest fees at an average of 11.69 percent of the amount sent, according to Campos.

Campos pointed out the United Nations’ (UN's) Social Development Goals include the target to slash remittance costs to an average of 3 percent globally by 2030.

The UN estimates that remittance-receiving families around the world would save an additional $20 billion annually once fees are reduced to an average of 3 percent.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas statistics show that OFWs sent home via the banking system a total of $32.5 billion in cash remittances in 2022, and public administration and defense compulsory social security, up by 213,000.

Meanwhile, Mapa said the underemployment rate in February declined to 12.9 percent from 14.1 percent in January.

In a separate statement, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the country’s labor market has continued to record solid

SSS plans to install solar tech

SOCIAL Security System (SSS) President and CEO Rolando Ledesma Macasaet disclosed on Tuesday that the SSS plans to install solar on electricity expenses and promote the use of renewable energy.

Macasaet said the SSS aims to have the pilot implementation of the project in its where 445 solar panels with combined capacity of 200 kilowatt-peak (kWp) shall be installed.

DA to help cut production cost as rice prices increase

MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Tuesday assured intervention to help farmers lower production costs, which is considered a major factor in the rising market prices of rice.

In a teleradio interview, DA Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista said the department is closely coordinating with the group of rice farmers as prices increased to as much as PHP5 per kilogram.

“ Tinitingnan ng ating kagawaran kung paano ba natin sila matutulungan kung paano pababain ‘yung kanilang cost of production. ‘Yung ating distribution po ng ating machinery not only for production po, but also for post-harvest facilities din po (The department is looking into how to aid farmers in lowering production cost. [That includes] our distribution of machinery not only for production but also for post-harvest facilities),” she said.

Evangelista cited various challenges that contributed to the rising farm-gate and market prices, including higher cost of agricultural inputs and climate change.

According to Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG), the Philippines is not the lone country affected by the mounting production cost but other rice-producing nations.

“So kung makita natin doon sa merkado, ‘yung presyo ng local natin, tumaas na rin ‘yung presyo, pero mas mataas pa rin ‘yung imported. Nakita natin ‘yung Thailand, Vietnam and itong India, and Pakistan, tumaas din ang presyo. Maski imported man o local, tumaas (So if we check the market, the local price [of rice] increased, but the price of imported rice is still higher. We saw Thailand, Vietnam, India and Pakistan, and their prices also increased. Whether imported or local, the [price] increased),” SINAG chairperson Rosendo So said in a teleradio interview.

So said the market price of local well-milled rice in-

(

Naming animals

THERE is this entertaining song about how we got to naming God’s creatures penned by Bob Dylan in 1979. Hearing it for the as they reminded me of the early ragtime genre in the 50s. While others may rate the rhymes but not yet in the company of the awardee for Literature (2016) who wrote the to all the Animals here are some excerpts: discrimination) were among the raging topics of the time. feel as people. He said that while we read about many openly loose-tongued and more racist in our name-calling.

Endearing himself to the MUPs

where to place himself when dealing with issues that arement of certain sectors of society.

comes our way.

a person may see a gay person and casually south and becomes heated to the point of drawing appreciation from spectators (who are familiar with the same).

He saw animal as smooth as glass Slithering his way through the grass

Dylan’s truly a genius.

EDITORS’ NOTE:

affected by his stand.

six years of his administration always got the support of the majority of the people. This is one fact that was well learning fast in the way his mentor reads the sentiment cushions on his stand by saying that should there really the military or the police and other men in uniform retires the pension amount that is due for the person holding the On the other hand Go did not depart from the way or support related to the military and uniformed personnel managers that he understands their concerns. But he pleaded that what they intend to do as a solution to the problem they foresee should not be at the expense of the deducted from their salary of a percentage as their

Publisher: issue at bar is concerned we can be certain his position bureaucracy.

WHAT is it all about, we may ask. For those true friends -