Murad urged to surrender followers in SAF 44 killings COTABATO CITY – Kin of police commandos who were killed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters demanded that rebel leader Murad Ebrahim, now Chief Minister of the Muslim autonomous region, to surrender those behind the gruesome murders of 44 mem-
Founded 2006
bers of the Special Action Force in Maguindanao’s Mamasapano town. The commandos were on a clandestine mission deep inside MILF territory to capture Malaysian bomber Zulkifli bin Hir, who was eventually killed in the operation in Tukanalipao village on January 25, 2015. Police commandos
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MILF rebel chieftain and now Chief Minister of BARMM with thenPresident Benigno Aquino.
were on their way to rejoin their more than 300 SAF members after killing Zulkifli and cutting off his finger for DNA analysis when MILF forces, aided by BIFF militants, attacked them and sparking daylong clashes. At least 18 MILF and five BIFF were killed in the fierce fighting that the Aquino government claimed was a mis-en-
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counter. Barely a month later, the MILF which signed an interim peace deal with Manila, surrendered at least 16 weapons it took from slain police commandos. The surrender of the weapons further bolstered accusations by lawmakers and human rights groups that MILF Continue on page 3
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Batuta ni Duterte! M
ULI NA naman nahaharap sa kontrobersyal ang Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte matapos nitong ipag-yabang ang kanya umanong “malaking ari” sa isang campaign rally sa Puerto Prinsesa City sa lalawigan ng Palawan kamakailan lamang. Pinagpistahan naman ito ng mga pino ay isang kabastusan umano ang international newspapers at news agen- naging pahayag ni Duterte. Sinabi pa ni cies, ngunit sa karamihan ng mga PiliContinue on page 4
Power crisis in Zambo Read Story on page 2
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April 15-21, 2019
Power crisis in Zambo
Zamboanga City Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar THE BUSINESS RIFT between the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative or ZAMCELCO and power supplier Western Mindanao Power Corporation or WMPC has taken its toll on the local economy and already affected businesses here with electricity consumers threatening to bring to the streets their demand for better utility services. Even Mayor Maria Isabelle Salazar, exasperated by the daily power outages, demanded that ZAMCELCO pay up its overdue accounts to WMPC and resolve the crisis. WMPC cut off electricity supply to ZAMCELCO - now under the management of Crown Investments Holdings, Inc. and Desco Inc. - after it refuses to pay its overdue account amounting to P460 million from only P235 million last month. Crown Investments Holdings, Inc. and Desco Inc. took over ZAMCELCO in January this year after bailing out the heavily-indebted and poorly-managed electric cooperative for P2.5 billion. Now ZAMCELCO claims that WMPC had over billed the electric cooperative since 2015 by P440 million and is demanding a refund. WMPC is being run by Alto Power Management Corporation, a partnership between Alsons Consolidated Resources, Inc. through Conal Holdings Corporation and Toyota Tshusho Corporation of Japan. It also operates diesel plants of the Mapalad Power Corporation in Iligan City and the Southern Philippines Power Corporation in Sarangani province. It was unknown whether former ZAMCELCO officials had knowledge of the over billing or not, but many executives had been sacked the past years by the National Electrification Administration on corruption allegations, but none of them had been criminally charged. Now both ZAMCELCO and WMPC are locked in a legal battle with Zamboanga suffering the brunt of the legal rift between the two companies. ZAMCELCO also stopped buying electricity from WMPC and is now scouting for new suppliers. It also acquired more expensive diesel-powered generators to be able to supply Zamboanga’s power demand of at least 80 megawatts. Salazar said rotational power outages, which began in February, have already affected the local economy with
many business establishments spending more on fuel to run their generators for hours on a daily basis. The lack of household electricity also put heavy burden on residents and many of them rely on ZAMCELCO for power supply because they cannot afford to buy their own generators. Letter to ZAMCELCO Salazar has written a strongly-worded letter to ZAMCELCO and demanding it to pay WMPC and to restore normal electricity supply in Zamboanga. A copy of the April 1 letter addressed to lawyer Jomar Castillo was also posted on Salazar’s Facebook page and reads: “This has reference to the current power situation in our City. As you know, Zamboanga City plays a key role not only in trade and commerce, but in national security as well. Residents and businesses are complaining of longer and more frequent outages since February 4 that adversely affected our local economy prompting me to write this demand letter.” “While we support the Investment Management Contract and laud your commitment to pump in P2.5 billion into ZAMCELCO, we can no longer tolerate the rotating blackouts. Whether there is legal basis to withhold payment to WMPC must be settled in the proper courts of law. In the meantime, our people cannot suffer further. We have been paying our monthly bills and we see no reason why we are made to suffer the consequences of the electric cooperative’s refusal to pay WMPC. For Zamboanga City that is hub of trade and commerce and also hosts to the Western Mindanao Command, the stakes are too high if power outages will continue.” In a press statement, Salazar also said electric consumers are demanding ZAMCELCO to provide them with proper utility services. “We have been appealing many times to ZAMCELCO to the extent that the local government even held talks with representatives of ZAMCELCO and WMPC for them to settle their differences or legal problems because everybody is affected by this inadequate supply of electricity. We cannot go on like this and this problem must be resolved quickly,” Salazar said. Aside from power outages, ZAMCELCO’s irregular supply of electricity here resulted in low voltage most of the time and residents blamed the utility firm for damages on their ap-
pliances. And worst, ZAMCELCO and WMPC traded accusations in the media while electric consumers suffer from the rift. Recurring crisis Since 2010, Zamboanga suffered from severe power curtailment – as much as 6 hours a day and at worst, 14 hours or more. And ZAMCELCO blamed the power crisis to El Niño weather phenomenon and the maintenance shutdown of hydro and coal-fired power plants in Mindanao. ZAMCELCO could only wait for the construction of the 100-megawatt coalfired power plant of Alsons Power Holdings which was originally set to begin operation in 2016 in the village of Talisayan. But Alsons failed to start building its facility and cited many reasons for the long delay – from the failed Moro rebellion here in 2013 to the P900-million enhancement program it was demanding from ZAMCELCO as an assurance it could pay them for the stable supply of electricity. Even today, Alsons has not started construction of its coal-fired power plant here and ZAMCELCO said it would not purchase electricity from Alsons or what it is called now the San Ramon Power, Inc. due to the current problems involving the two groups. In a 2015 interview by the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner to Edwin To, president of the Zamboanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said long hours of electricity blackouts increased the cost of business operation
and at the same time decreased the productivity of everyone, public and private offices. To said that business owners who can afford the use of power generators were also complaining because it adds up to the cost of running their establishment. Interruptible Load Program To, who is also the president of Budgetwise Supermarket, one of the biggest in Zamboanga; and the chairman of the modern Ciudad Medical Zamboanga, previously suggested that the government should push for the so-called Interruptible Load Program or ILP. According to the Retail Electricity Suppliers Association, the ILP - a program established by the Department of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission - aims to help mitigate the energy supply deficiency in the country until new capacities become available on the grid. Companies with stand-by generation capacities who participate in the ILP will be compensated under this program should they use their own generating facilities during instances of power supply deficit. But companies that will participate in the ILP will be asked by the distribution utility to “de-load” for particular hours in a day when the power supply in the grid will not be enough for the power demand. “De-loading” will mean having to run its embedded stand-by generation sets to provide for its own electricity requirements. (The Zamboanga Post)
Koronadal residents warned vs. rabies KORONADAL CITY – The local government urged residents to vaccinate their pet dogs and cats and stay away from animals infected with rabies after a five-year old boy died from the virus. Government veterinarian Dr. Charlemagne Calo said the whole of Koronadal is now under “Code Red” because of the boy’s death. She said the have intensified efforts to contain the disease and prevent new infections. Calo said the lone
fatality was from Zone 3. No other details were available on the boy’s death. She said the have conducted a series of vaccination against rabies for dogs and cats to stop the possible spread of the disease to adjacent communities. “There were already some confirmed cases of rabies in some of our neighboring municipalities so we’re also monitoring that. Aside from the door-to-door vaccination, we also vaccinate pet dogs and cats in our
office at the city demonstration farm,” Calo said. He said Koronadal has over 13,500 pet dogs based on latest census and urged owners to make sure that their pets are vaccinated against rabies as well as monitor and take care of them properly. “Under the Rabies Act, the owners of unvaccinated pets that will bite humans will be responsible and cover all the costs for the treatment of the victims,” he said. (Anna liza Cabrido)
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The Mindanao Examiner
April 15-21, 2019
Murad urged to surrender followers in SAF 44 killings
Security officials inspect police weapons surrendered by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in this February 18, 2015 photo in Maguindanao province in southern Philippines. MILF rebels took the weapons from 44 Special Action Force commandos they killed in fierce clashes in Mamasapano town on January 25, 2015. Among those who also witnessed the handover of weapons were Brig.Gen. Carlito Galvez, Maj Gen. Dato Abd Samad bin Yaakub, Head of Mission of the International Monitoring Team, Senior Supt. Noel Armill, of the regional police force. (Mindanao Examiner Photo - Mark Navales) Continued from page 1 rebels had finished off wounded commandos and collected their guns, among others. The weapons were handed over to the police, but SAF sources claimed the weapons had been tampered and that many of its parts were either taken out or replaced with defective mechanism. Because of the killings, lawmakers shelved the Bangasamoro Basic Law (BBL) until inves-
tigations into the deadly clashes between SAF and MILF is completed. The BBL was eventually passed in the current administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, but families of the slain commandos were still crying out for justice. The MILF said it will not surrender those involved in the slayings. Just recently, police forces killed 3 of Ebrahim’s rebels who were accused of murder after
they engaged the lawmen in a firefight in Lanao del Sur’s Madamba town. More rebels engaged police in a gun battle in the villages of Tabaran and Illian. Four policemen and two civilians were wounded in the clashes, the Western Mindanao Command said. “Three MILF elements with warrants of arrest for murder were slain during the law enforcement operations conducted by the Philippine National Police in the villages of Illian and Tabaran, all in Madamba in Lanao del Sur at 10 a.m. today. The PNP troops were to serve warrants of arrest when they
engaged in a firefight with MILF elements led by a certain Abu Hanif.” “Four PNP personnel and two civilians were wounded in the encounter, based on information received from army units in the area. They are now recuperating in the hospital,” the military said.
Ebrahim’s group signed an interim peace deal with Manila in 2014 and the rebel leader became the chief minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao following a plebiscite early this year. (Mindanao Examiner)
Mga sibilyan takot maiipit sa labanan sa North Cotabato
KIDAPAWAN CITY – Balot umano sa takot ang mga residente sa bayan ng Magpet sa North Cotabato province dahil sa sunod-sunod na sagupaan ng mga sundalo at rebeldeng komunista. Nangangamba ang mga taga-Barangay Balite at Mahongkog na baka sila ang maipit sa sagupaan o kaya ay gawing hostage ng
mga rebelde o mapagkamalang mga rebelde. Ito ay matapos na 3 sibilyan ang inulat na nawawala ng maipit sa labanan ng dalawang grupo. Sinabi ni Barangay Balite Chairman Edgar Hantoc na takot na takot ang mga magsasaka na pumunta sa kanilang sakahan dahil sa mga sundalo at baka muling makasagupa
doon at sila ay madamay. May mga impormasyon na nagagawi umano sa mga barangay ang grupo ng mga New People’s Army dahil sa presensya ng mga sundalo doon. Hinihingian na rin ng mga identification cards ng militar ang mga residente sa nasabing mga barangay upang makasigurong hindi kalaban ang mga ito.
Kinumpirma naman ito ni Lt. Col. Rey Alvarado, commander ng 72nd Infantry Battalion. Ayon kay Alvarado, nagpapatrulya ang mga tropa sa naturang bayan dahil sa mga ulat na may mga rebelde sa mga barangay. Seguridad umano ng mga sibilyan ang pino-protektahan ng mga sundalo. (Cherry Mae Exim)
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The Mindanao Examiner
April 15-21, 2019
Batuta ni Duterte! Diokno, na nag-silbing chairman ng Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) at founding dean ng Dela Salle, ay hindi pinalampas ni Duterte. “Eh, wala parang magsalita tsetse. Yung tatay niya, doon ako saludo. Pero ito? Kalaki pa ng gilagid mukha, ‘yung, pangit,” wika pa ni Duterte. Ang ama ni Chel ay ang abogadong si Jose Diokno, na naging senador at Justice secretary noon at siyang founder ng FLAG na siyang nagbibigay ng free legal services sa mga maralitang walang kakayahang kumuha ng abogado. Ipinag-yabang rin ni Duterte ang uma-
President Rodrigo Duterte (PCOO) Continued from page 1 Duterte na malimit itong maglakad ng nakahubad sa dormitoryo noong ito ay nag-aaral pa. “Sa totoo, ang lalaki is measured by his character. Pagwapo-gwapo ka diyan tapos paglabas ng titi, maliit pala. Pasalamat ako sa tatay ko. At least pinalabas niya ako sa buhay, highly equipped,” sambit pa ni Duterte. Sa kahat ng mga naging Pangulo ng Pilipinas ay tanging si Duterte lamang ang “pinaka-bastos” - mula sa paghahalik sa mga kababaihan sa publiko, pagmumura sa Santo Papa at mga alagad ng Diyos, at gayun rin sa mga Presidente ng ibang bansa at opisyal ng United Nations, at ngayon ay tungkol naman sa kanyang ari ang naging paksa sa harap ng maraming tao, kabilang ang mga kababaihan - ayon sa mga kritiko ng Pangulo. Subali’t kung tatanungin si Duterte
ukol sa mga puna at paratang ng kabastusan sa kanya ay ipupukol naman nito sa “dilawan” o sa Liberal Party at ibang oposisyon ang mga bintang at sasabihing “black propaganda” lamang ito kontra sa kanya. Ilang beses na rin sinabi ni Duterte na ang nakikita at naririnig ng publiko sa kanya ay ang tunay nitong katauhan at hindi rin nito babaguhin ang mga puna laban sa kanya. Sinabi rin nito kanyang sasabihin ang anumang naisin dahil siya ang Pangulo ng bansa. Kaliwa’t-kanan rin ang banat nito sa “Otso Diretso” sa bawat campaign rally, ngunit pare-pareho lamang rin ang kanyang mga sinasabi tungkol sa mga kandidato nito sa Senado. Maging si senatorial candidate at abogadong si Chel Diokno ay tinira rin ni Duterte at tinawag pang “pangit.” Ultimo gilagid at mga kilos at salita ni
no’y pagkakaroon ng maraming girlfriends at hinamon pa si Chel ng paramihan ng babae. “Ang sabihin niya…pangit ka rin. O! Sige, totoo ka? Harapan diyan sa Luneta, magdala ka. Ilan ang girlfriends mo? Sige kay dalhin ko ‘yung akin. Yung pinaka-maraming girlfriend, yun ang gwapo,” ani Duterte. Sa mga tagapag-tanggol ni Duterte, ilang beses rin nilang sinabi na dapat ay huwag seseryosohin ang lahat ng sinasabi ng Pangulo at kalimitan ay pawang mga pagbibiro lamang ito upang patawanin ang publiko. (Mindanao Examiner)
Deployment of OFWs in Libya stopped MANILA HAS banned the deployment of Filipino workers in Libya because of the escalating violence there. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello the order was issued upon the advice of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). “Upon the advice of the DFA, we are imposing a deployment ban of workers to Libya to ensure their safety and security and to avoid getting caught in the escalating violence in Libya,” he said. Bello said they are closely coordinating with the DFA to closely monitor the situation and assess the possible repatriation of
OFWs, to ensure the workers’ safety and security. DOLE is ready to provide repatriation assistance to our Filipino workers who will signify interest to come home,” he said. “An augmentation team will be dispatched this week to ensure the welfare of our workers, and assist their possible repatriation. Also, we are prepared for any exigency of forced repatriation if the situation deteriorates,” Bello added. The DFA raised Alert Level 3 in Tripoli and some areas within a 100-kilometer radius of the capital, which is considered as vol-
untary repatriation phase. The implementation of the deployment ban will take effect until the situation normalizes or until further advice by the DFA. Bello said they are constantly assessing the situation and will issue appropriate advisories from time to time. The reintegration assistance from Overseas Workers Welfare Administration awaits OFWs who may be repatriated from Libya, he said. There are some 2,600 documented OFWs in Libya, mostly professionals, composed of medical workers and skilled workers. (Ferdinand Patinio)
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The Mindanao Examiner
April 15-21, 2019
Troops comb Sulu’s jungles, islands in Sayyaf hunt SULU – Government troops continue their assault on Abu Sayyaf lairs where security forces have been combing the hinterlands and islands in the southern province of Sulu. Just recently, soldiers killed 2 pro-ISIS militants, but three infantrymen were also wounded in the clashes in Bangkal village in Patikul town. The military said one of those killed, known only by his alias Barak Ingog, allegedly helped carry out a twin suicide attacks by an Indonesian couple on a Catholic
church in the capital town of Jolo in January this year that killed and wounded dozens of people, mostly civilians and soldiers. The other slain militant, Nasser Sawadjaan, was a nephew of Abu Sayyaf leader Hajan Sawadajaan. The military did not say whether soldiers recovered the bodies of the slain militants, although it reported that troops recovered an M16 rifle in the area. It said Ingog was one of the facilitators of the bombing of the Cathedral in Jolo town on January
27 this year while Sawadjaan was a nephew of Abu Sayyaf leader Hajan Sawadjaan. There were no reports of civilian casualties, but Governor Toto Tan has deployed social workers and dispatched food aid since March to assist villagers who were affected by the military campaign. It was unknown whether the regional government had sent aid to Sulu, one of 5 provinces under the newly-created Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. (The Zamboanga Post)
Banana growers want ‘protocol issues’ with Japan resolved DAVAO CITY - Banana industry players in Mindanao wants the Duterte administration and Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) to meet and resolve protocol issues surrounding the banana export industry. Stephen Antig, executive director of the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA), underscored the importance of the protocol issue, adding this can only be done through government-to-government action. Antig said the protocol issue was raised in August 2018 on Fipronil exceedance of the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) after Japan required 100 percent mandatory testing of Philippine bananas enter-
ing the country. “The 100 percent mandatory testing delays the release of the bananas to the market,” he said. He said the issue remains unresolved despite the corresponding actions by concerned exporting companies when MHLW of Japan required the Department of Agriculture (DA), thru the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) and Plant Quarantine Services (PQS), to submit the protocol for the export of fresh banana to Japan. Antig said PBGEA wrote a letter to DA Secretary Emmanuel Pinol about Japan’s feedback that the interventions implemented by the BPI are not enough or not the ones required by Japan’s MHLW. He said that while they
offered to facilitate a study tour, including meeting with the MHLW, the latter “will not entertain any meetings with PBGEA until the Philippine government, particularly the DA, shows concrete steps to address the MRL problem”. Antig said the inaction of concerned government agency kept them in limbo, “as this problem has been there for the past eight months”. “Given this, the economic impact of the Philippine banana export industry will be a financial nightmare if the processing of imports will not be attended to and the fruits are left at the wharf or the warehouses for the duration of the Golden Week celebration,” he added. (Digna Banzon)
First ever black hole image released
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The first ever picture of a black hole: It’s surrounded by a halo of bright gas pulled in by the hole’s gravity. EHT COLLABORATION ASTRONOMERS HAVE taken the first ever image of a black hole, which is located in a distant galaxy. It measures 40 billion km across three million times the size of the Earth - and has been described by scientists as “a monster”. The black hole is 500 million trillion km away and was photographed by a
network of eight telescopes across the world. Details have been published today in Astrophysical Journal Letters. Prof. Heino Falcke, of Radboud University in the Netherlands, who proposed the experiment, told BBC News that the black hole was found in a galaxy called M87.
“What we see is larger than the size of our entire Solar System,” he said. “It has a mass 6.5 billion times that of the Sun. And it is one of the heaviest black holes that we think exist. It is an absolute monster, the heavyweight champion of black holes in the Universe.” (By Pallab Ghosh - Science correspondent, BBC News)
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‘Bikoy’ is as farcical as his story By Jun Ledesma
“BIKOY”, the phantom character conjured by the opposition to demonize the family members of Pres. Rodrigo R. Duterte, reflects the desperation of the vanishing Yellow generation of politicians in the Philippines. Yellow is associated with the Aquino political block whose image diminished progressively along with ineptitude and corruption which, during the reign of the Benigno S. Aquino III, pushed the country on the abyss of a failed state. The Yellow politicians are facing total extinction. Even the critical Rappler cannot suppress the rising tide of the popularity of the Hugpong Ng Pagbabago senatorial bets. In its post on Facebook, writer Pia Ranada gives a spotlight on the latest Pulse Asia survey, her lead paragraph reads “A little over two months before the May 2019 elections, 10 out of the 14 probable of the senatorial race are Hugpong Ng Pagbabago (HnP) candidates-a virtual domination of administration allies. Giving focus on the unprecedented rise of former Special Assistant
to the President, Bong Go, Rappler quoted Pulse Asia’s research director Ana Tabunda as saying she “has not seen anything like it. Nothing like his spectacular rise. That’s unique”. Bong’s performance is indeed one for the Guinness book of record. From a virtual tail-ender in March 2018 with 5.9% when he was perceived to be a candidate for the senate, he did a sharp vertical rise to 53% in February 2019. Pulse Asia predicts that given that trajectory it is not far fetched that Bong Go will topple Grace Poe and Cynthia Villar. Let’s face it, Bong Go’s unparalleled record in the surveys reflects his boss popularity and trust rating which sustained either at “very good” or “excellent”. This, despite the concerted denigration of the Yellow opposition. With 10 HnP bets leading the pack in the May 13 senatorial race nothing can save the Liberal Party from extinction except by demonizing who else but Duterte. There is a popular adage in Tagalog which says, “hampas sa kabayo sa ka-
labaw ang latay”. Assailing Duterte and family to inflict damage and hamper the foray of HnP senatorial bets to victory will not help the Yellows. The desperate political opposition which had been joined in by hypocritical clerics, legal fronts and armed New Peoples Army of the Communist Party of the Philippines have ran out of legitimate issues and are now using rehash issues among them questionably high bank deposits of the Duterte and his children and linking them, including an innocent Kitty the youngest of the brood of the President, to drug trade. This time the cabal employed a hooded ghost they called “Bikoy” to spell the beans on the family but even with the dirty craft they commit all the funny snafus. Hooded “Bikoy” produced a document but with the signature of HnP Rajah Buayan Mayor Zamzamin Ampatuan appended to it. Mayor Zam can only helplessly express his astonishment on how and why the spooky “whistle blower” got wind of his signature. ‘Bikoy’ is as stupid
as his creators because aside from using the signature of Mayor Zam he impleaded Kitty, a minor and an unknowing kid. The opposition have ran out of credible gimmick. Otso Deretso which had disintegrated early in the race, recently posted photos on FB touting President Duterte to ride a jet ski to the Scarborough. It’s a moronic display which utterly lacks savvy but funny. The sinophobia failed miserably in putting the blame on Duterte on the issues of the West Phillippine Sea disputes. The nation had read enough of the bungling of the Aquino regime. They opposition stonewalled the fact President Noynoy Aquino and the DFA Secretary Albert del Rosario abandoned the Spratlys group of islands and fhe secret mission of Sen. Antonio Trillanes whom they dispatched to talk with China was a multi-million dollar flop. The apparent agenda of the opposition to subject Duterte and his family to an unkind and crass black propaganda to erode the people’s trust on the President and di-
minish the winnability of the HnP senatorial bets had failed miserably. In the case of Bong Go, even Rappler acknowledged that Bong Go is “his own campaign manager. Go’s organizing skills had already been tested in 2016
when he was campaign sortie manager of Duterte’s wildly successful presidential campaign”. “Bikoy”, just like the compendium of issues leveled against Duterte and his family, is nothing but a farce.
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Sub-standard products seized in Cebu, Bohol
C
EBU CITY – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it has seized sub-standard products from construction materials to household appliances during a crackdown on business establishments in Cebu and Bohil that do not comply with the product standard laws. DTI Regional Di- materials, household ap- ippine Standard and Imrector Asteria Caberte pliances, electrical and port Commodity Clearsaid among those seized other consumer products ance marks. items were construction that did not bear the PhilCaberte said the con-
fiscation was the result of intensified enforcement operation against erring establishments in the region that do not comply with the product standard laws. She did not identify the establishments and
owners of the seized products. “The DTI encourages our manufacturers, importers, and distributors to sell only those critical products that passed quality and safety tests,”
Caberte said. She said they will continue the campaign against establishments that sell uncertified, inferior or substandard products. (John Rey Saavedra)
First Standard Finance Corporation Zamboanga City 0995-5202358 RUSH SALE FOR SALE FOR SALE FOR SALE
Fortune G P690, 000
ARMM
Montero GLS SE P720, 000
Eastern Mindanao
Mitsubishi Strada P740, 000
Western Mindanao
Hyundai Accent P550,000
Cebu
Manila