Maguindanao provinces’ police offices activated

The provincial police offices (PPO) of Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur were activated on Monday, following the deactivation of the PPO of the former lone province of Maguindanao.

Maguindanao has been divided into two provinces, Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur, its division ratified in a plebiscite last year.

The activation was graced by the chief of the Philippine National Police, General Rodolfo Azurin, Jr.

Secretary Benjamin Abalos of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and ex officio chair of the National Po- lice Commission (NAPOLCOM) signed on March 1 Resolution No.2023-0213, approving the establishment of Maguindanao Del Sur and Maguindanao Del Norte Police Provincial Offices under type “C” category. They are categorized under that criteria since they both have

In a bid to prevent the electrocution of the critically endangered Philippine eagle and other bird species, the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) has started the insulation of a 1.5-kilometer stretch of electric line at Mount Sinaka in North Cotabato as part of efforts to conserve the country’s national bird.

Dr. Jayson Ibañez, PEF director for research and conservation, said in a statement the power lines of the Cotabato Electric Cooperative Inc. (COTELCO) required retrofitting to avoid repeating an incident that killed a juvenile Philippine eagle in Barangay Tumanding in Arakan town in 2018.

A necropsy report noted some burn marks on the raptor while its heart and surrounding vessels ruptured as a result of electrocution after it landed on a nearby non-insulated power line of COTELCO.

Based on reviews of photographs by electrical engineer Floro Baguec, Jr., of the Apayao Province Engineering Office, he explained that the power pole where the bird landed held a bare, non-insulated “secondary line” with 220 volts of electrical power. The bird apparently came in contact with the two naked wires simultaneously, and that the full voltage passing through its body caused its death.

It was the second eagle death case for accidental electrocution from bare wires in the country.

The first was a captive-bred bird named “Kabayan” that was released at Mount Apo in 2004.

Ibañez said Asian Raptor Research and Conservation Network (ARRCN) of Japan funded the first segment of the wire insulation with the support of Japan-based beverage firm Suntory, which manages the Suntory Fund for Bird Conservation.

The installation of insulated wires at Sitio Bagtok in Barangay Tumanding, the first of the 4.5-kilometer retrofitting project, started last month and will be completed by June this year in time for the celebration of Philippine Eagle Day in homage to Arakan’s “bird jewel” declaration, he said.

In 2021, the local government of Arakan passed the ordinance “Declaring the Philippine eagle as the flagship species (bird jewel) of the Municipality of Arakan and providing for its protection and conservation and imposing penalties for violations thereof and appropriating funds therefor.”

He said the local legislation