PNP-Bicol regional director Chief Supt. Augusto Marquez, file photo.
Election hotspot Masbate province has all the eyes and ears of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the region.
After sending 700 policemen last week to the province under the regional task force, a second batch of 100 officers will beef up police presence in the island next month.
The new batch will come from the elite Special Action Force (SAF) commandos from the Cordillera Administrative Region but now under a test mission in the province of Compostela Valley in Mindanao.
PNP-Bicol regional director Chief Supt. Augusto Marquez confirmed these move despite the presence of 1,000 regular policemen of the Masbate Provincial Police Office.
On the part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, 100 more soldiers are reassigned to Masbate as confirmed by Southern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Ricardo R. Visaya.
Masbate province has been identified by the Commission on Elections as an area of concern in the region, with a history of election-related violence compounded with the presence of New People’s Army (NPA) and private armed groups (PAGs).
Visaya warned politicians employing communist insurgents as PAGs that they will be dealt with accordingly if found cuddling and giving money and arms to government enemies.
The Solcom commander’s warning came after local mayors in Masbate revealed in a dialogue here on Tuesday that powerful politicians in the province are employing NPA members, former and active soldiers, policemen from Mindanao as PAGs.
Local mayors also said that some politicians even swapped goons with their counterparts in Samar and Sorsogon provinces to threaten and kill people.
The mayors’ expose came out during the first joint AFP-PNP-Special Task Force Masbate dialogue with reelectionists and candidates running for various posts held at Camp Bonny Serrano here.
The dialogue aimed to address peace and security issues in the province as well as get the commitment of the provincial, city and municipal chief executives and candidates to ensure safe, clean, honest and peaceful elections here.
The AFP and the PNP initiated the joint dialogue with the candidates to seek commitment from them for safe, fair, honest and peaceful elections in May. (from PNA report)
Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of latest stories. By Signing Up, You Agree To Our Privacy Policy And European Users Agree To The Data Transfer Policy.
*18
****
SUGGESTED FOR YOU
****
Let's create community! Tell us your thoughts on this article. If logged in with any of your Wordpress.com, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or registered on this site before, then you can simply write your comment below. Thanks and appreciate your feedback. Cancel reply
Canadians react with disdain on government officials, which include PM Justin Trudeau and Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, due to garbage dumping in the Philippines. Watch how independent conservative YouTube channel shares reaction and more below: [At 1:40, notice the government official sitting right of President Duterte make face, reacting to […]
Sharing here the attendance of Vice President Leni Robredo during the 121st Independence Day rites this morning at Rizal Park in Manila. And below is the commemorative message of the vice president for the occasion: Sa araw na ito, bilang nagkakaisang lahi, ipinagdiriwang natin ang ika-isangdaan at dalawampu’t isang taon […]
A short clip derived from a PBS (US tv channel) documentary highlights a woman acquiring a “sense of peace” after aborting her two (twin) babies. The woman was shown getting clear instruction from the doctor on the dosage and timing of taking “medical” abortion pills. The doctor was so blatant […]
The most important and relevant documentary movie drops today. Will it be truth bites the plight of mass migration hurting Europe? We are referring to the much awaited “Borderless” movie by independent Canadian activist-journalist Lauren Southern and her team. After months enduring the rigors (and danger) of (clandestine) location filming, […]
Some world leaders, and even the mainstream media, didn’t get it. But at least, Pope Francis on Easter Sunday speaking after the special Easter ‘Urbi et Orbi’ message and blessing, expressed his “heartfelt closeness to the Christian community [of Sri Lanka] wounded as it was gathered in prayer, and to […]
This is a throwback post on the feature documentary about the Philippine Eagle. The much awarded and acclaimed film work about the rare and critically endangered Philippine Eagle was officially released less than a year ago. The feature documentary already shown outside the Philippines and gathered rave reviews and praises […]
Daring independent journalist Lauren Southern is on the hot trail of the illegal immigration happening now in most of Europe. On this her latest reportage the daring Canadian exposes the alleged human smugglers and traffickers operating in Greece as NGO’s like the Emergency Response Center International. ERCI is a self-described […]
This should be the first walking tour for inmotion channel, I mean, a walking exploration. So here I was at the churchyard of the main Catholic church in my hometown which is the Parish church of Our Lady of La Porteria. Welcome to inMotion. And many thanks and appreciate for […]
Yes, totally true. The epic fails in Ilocos Norte. One of which was the “cable cart” ride which amused the passengers at first. Then afterwards lost the interest for the operator obviously had difficulty maneuvering the cart up its destination and back. But hey, it was a good try. The […]
Culled from the online news portal itself, Rappler reports agents from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested Rappler CEO and executive editor Maria Ressa early Wednesday evening, February 13. The arrest was done in connection with a cyber libel case filed by the justice department. NBI officers in civilian […]
This Philippine province of almost two million people, or 1.9 (1,952,544) million warm bodies according to the official census count of 2015 is the biggest in the Bicol region in terms of population and land area. While it is rich in natural resources and beautiful scenic places, majority of its […]
I am back, yet again, after a long hibernation of sorts. I fixed some personal issues, settled what should have been done before and still in the process of accepting and facing some other health circumstances that is part of life. And then I completely pushed aside into the backburner […]
After posting the article covering the much vaunted Pantao regional port located in Libon town of Albay province we dig a foot deeper and decided to go ahead with an update and rejoinder about the project. Envisioned to boost a “robust economic corridor in southern Luzon, specifically for Daet, Naga […]
Time magazine’s 2018 acknowledged person(s) of the year (POY) received mixed reaction from netizens. Before the end of year, the US-based news magazine picks a POY of their choice who has done the most to influence the events of the year. This 2018, it came out with not one, but […]
As many expected, former Philippine senator Bong Revilla on Friday was acquitted by the Sandiganbayan of the plunder case in relation to the misuse of P224 million pork barrel funds. Pork barrel funds were coated as Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of previous administrations. His co-accused, bussinesswoman Janet Lim Napoles […]
We get it. Bicolanos and travelers to and from the region will have to get used to flying and landing on four dated airports, one each in Legazpi, Pili (for Naga), Virac and Masbate. The one and only, but much vaunted, Bicol International Airport, or the Southern Luzon International Airport, […]
The domestic airport in Pili serving metropolitan Naga and the provinces of Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte will soon be capable of catering to evening flight take-off and landing operations. The Naga airport, which is operated by the Air transportation Office (ATO) of the Department of Transportation and Communications, has […]
To get a good grasp of the illegal immigrant crisis in the United States (America), and in Europe (European Union), we are sharing below two video coverage, one for each. These are different takes on the massive migrant caravan that began marching from Central America, mostly coming from Honduras, with […]
The town of Daraga in Albay province, has total assets of P1.029 billion making it to the top of the list among the richest municipal local government units (LGU) for 2017, besting 106 others in Bicol region, according to the Commission on Audit (COA). Daraga, aside from topping the list, […]
Ownership of the University of Nueva Caceres change hands. Kind of. For decades, the Hernandez family of Naga city and Libmanan town used to own and manage the first and largest university in Bicol. But not anymore as the education arm of the Ayala Corporation, the AC Education, Inc., (AEI) […]
Naga City, Bicol’s financial, business, educational and religious capital now has a total net worth of over P4.675 billion, making it the richest local government unit (LGU) in the region, according to the Commission on Audit (COA). The City of Ligao, in Albay province, followed far second, with a total […]
Why Fuentebella’s Partido Development Administration got the axe. The administration is cleaning up the mess of the past. Or, so it seems. Recently, Malacañang abolished a Bicol-based Government Owned or Controlled Corporation (GOCC) created during the administration of former president Fidel V. Ramos. The Partido Development Administration (PDA) was snapped […]
While I am not required to explain why I am using English as the medium or language of this channel, I am too happy to explain why. Also, I think it is time to share our reason. Hello friends, Thank you for dropping by and watching this post. At the […]
Today, I temporarily place under my drawer the primary concern of growing more subs. Because today we go Chinese. I mean, I will talk in passing about the Chinese Zodiac as very soon the Chinese New Year will come with a bang on Feb 16, 2018 and end on Feb […]
The Malacanang palace on Saturday made known an official denial it has got no hand in the subpoenas issued by the National Bureau of Investigation to online xocial news network publisher Rappler chief executive officer (CEO) Maria Ressa and two others over cybercrime raps, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said on […]
President Rodrigo Duterte has designated Undersecretary Rosalina Bistoyong as Officer-In-Charge of the Department of Agrarian Reform. She will occupy the vacated post of Rafael Mariano whose nomination was rejected by the powerful joint congressional Commission on Appointments last September 6. Bistoyong is a career executive service professional in the government […]
The residence of Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog of Iloilo city on Thursday afternoon was the subject of initial inspection from a team of the National Bureau of Investigation.. Witness to the arrival of the inspection team include Ariel Castañeda, the head of the Local Economic Enterprise Office (LEEO) of the […]
My English classes in Grade Six will be the first set of pupils under the K-12 curriculum moving up to Grade 7 come March this school year. At this point, even while it is too early, I try to foresee the probable challenges and impact on their learning curve due […]
President Rodrigo Duterte’s blogger-supporter and now amply rewarded as Assistant Secretary in the office of Presidential Communication Operations Office has courted, again, the ire of netizens, specifically Twitter users. This time, tweets criss cross the internet calling for the ouster or removal of the former sexy dancer from her Malacanang […]
Thanks to the long known advocacy of the Greeenpeace group, the 4th Annual sky lantern flying activity in Legazpi city was eventually canceled by its organizers. The organizers of the 4th Annual sky lantern flying activity have decided today to cancel the event after it was met with strong opposition […]
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas wants you to know that it would be very difficult to produce a counterfeit of the new generation Philippine bank notes now in circulation. With the very stringent process, the bank note paper used made up of cotton with Philippine abaca, and all other security features […]
In its disclosure with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Monday, the Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. (BDO) registered a P13.3-billion net income in the first half of 2017, much higher than the PHP11.7 billion in the same period in 2016. The leading unibank of the country traced the improvement of […]
This should confirm the long suspected plunge of the peso vis-à-vis the US dollar. Now the peso is seen to weaken further beyond the range of 48-50 until the end of year 2017. If it does, which is srongly possible, President Rodrigo Duterte’s economc managers are missing something. Yet, it […]
Soon, piggy bank savers will have to unload before the coins become worthless. It is because the Philippines’ Bangko Sentral (BSP) is set to release new generation coins with security features before the end of this year. Coins that will have a makeover include the one centavo, fifty centavos, one […]
We speculate on the fate of Ninio Hilario Fetalvo, Bicol’s man in Washington, USA. Will he stay longer, like maybe beyond August of 2017? Fetalvo earlier worked as Florida Communication Director for the Republican National Committee under Sean Spicer before joining him in the White House as Assistant Press Secretary. […]
You only have to set foot on Calabanga’s heart (the ever commotion-packed Parada) in order to know its language. “Oatat ka man magmarat nin iwos?” a Calabangueño would ask you if you are a stranger. Several dialects would come rushing into your mind but not a single word from the sentence just uttered would equal that which you think you know.
LEGAZPI CITY, March 9 — The suspect in the killing of a cousin of Camarines Sur Governor Miguel Luis Viilafuerte surrendered to Senior Supt. Marlo S. Meneses, Albay Philippine National Police provincial director, on Sunday morning inside Camp Gen. Simeon A. Ola. Meneses identified the suspect as Manny Rey, 40 […]
Regrettably, the conversation between President-elect Rodrigo Duterte and the news media has turned sharp and shrill. All but lost in the noise is the two parties’ common duty in law and tradition to serve and to inform the Filipino people on issues, events and policies that affect their interest and […]
SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao, May 9 — Police and military authorities here are hunting down about 20 men who barged inside the Maguindanaon Elementary School and forcibly took at least 10 Vote Counting Machines in Barangay Katuli, Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao. Senior Insp. Esmael Madin, the town police chief, said […]
The call of Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Gina Lopez’s to review all permits and operations of coal-fired power plants in the country gets a loud support from the environmental advocacy group Greenpeace Philippines. The organization’s energy campaigner Reuben Muni also challenged DENR to take the initiative further […]
The giving of nickname is popular among Bicolano families. Or I would rather say a part of our culture. I grew up in a family where calling someone the real name is a “crime” for a seemingly unsound connotation.
MANILA, Nov 12 — The Philippine government is issuing additional allotment of P50 million to the Department of Foreign Affairs for its overseas Filipino repatriation program. Fund being released by the Department of Budget and Management to the Department of Foreign Affairs will augment DFA’s P100-million emergency fund to help […]
LEGAZPI CITY, Feb. 21 — The Filipino-Chinese community and the Albayano culture and traditions blended during the Fiesta Tsinoy Chinese Lunar new year celebration on Thursday here, the first time ever. Tourism department’s Bicol regional director Ma. Nini-Ong Ravanilla, infused the Pastores Bicol in this year’s Fiesta Tsinoy new year […]
Posting and sharing photos on one’s Facebook page is so OK. But be careful in adding a description or comment, more specially when it can offend other people. Take this case when an immigrant worker Michael McFeat from Abernethy, Perthshire, Scotland (Great Britain) posted on December 31st a New Year […]
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) get slapped with a P1 billion fine in connection with the US $81 million cyber bank heist from Bangladesh Bank. The BSP said the policy-making Monetary Board-approved supervisory action against the bank was made “in connection with the special examination conducted by the Bangko Sentral […]
The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan granted on Tuesday afternoon the request of former President and Pampanga congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to attend the wake of her late brother Arturo. Arroyo’s lawyer, Atty. Lawrence Arroyo, said the anti-graft court, in a two-page resolution, allowed his client to attend Macapagal’s wake daily for four […]
MANILA, April 2 – Senators on Friday condemned the violent dispersal of farmers, mostly lumads, who gathered along the Cotabato-Davao highway in Kidapawan City to protest and demand for immediate relief from the devastating effects of El Niño. Initial reports disclosed that two persons were dead, identified as Rogeli Daelto […]
MOSCOW, Aug. 17– The US Pentagon employees have been issued a ban on playing the global phenomenon game, Pokemon Go, on their work phones. amid fears of espionage. It follows reports that suggest the game could be used to pinpoint the locations of secure facilities. It has been revealed that […]
We focus our attention on the volunteer devotees, the people that paddles manually the boats all stringed together pulling the “vancuerna” or “pagoda” or the barge that carries about one hundred fifty people including the images of the Virgin of Peñafrancia and the Divino Rostro.
MANILA — A total of 52 clustered precincts from 11 towns, many in the Autonumous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Eastern Visayas will hold a special voting on Saturday, May 14. This was confirmed as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has declared failure of elections in 11 municipalities in the […]
Rumor mill says Liberal Party to junk Robredo for Escudero to stop a Marcos return. This early in the election campaigns of presidential and vice presidential bets, rumors that circulate are routine. While in Zamboanga, standard bearer Mar Roxas had to dismiss rumors of a Liberal Party Plan B to […]
MANILA, July 12 — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) issued a statement Tuesday on the ruling released by the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration which favored the Philippines on its arbitration case against China over the West Philippine Sea row. “The Philippines welcomes the issuance today, 12 July […]
The Supreme Court of the Philippines (SCOTP) en banc on Thursday affirmed with finality its earlier ruling ordering the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to activate the printing of the voter receipt on the May 9 synchronized automated national elections. The justices voted 12-0. The ruling was made after the conduct […]
Manila — Many supporters, observers and detractors are waiting for this. Now, Interior and Local Government Secretary Mike Sueno finally made an order for the conduct of a lifestyle check for all members of the, hold your breath, Philippine National Police to identify and remove wayward officials involved in illegal […]
In an annual survey conducted by New York-based Travel + Leisure magazine, readers were asked to rate destinations all over the world according to their activities, sights, natural attractions, beaches, food, friendliness and overall value. Results revealed that Palawan hurdled the top rank after receiving the highest score among readers […]
The Philippine Senate on Monday passed on third and final reading a bill seeking to increase maternity leave in the public and private sectors to 100 days regardless of the mode of delivery. The senators voted 19-0 to approve Senate Bill No. 2982 would change the current laws that 60 […]
I am a Filipino. I am a writer. Our tools are vigilance and memory. A growing number of writers and journalists gathered their thoughts together for a united statement. And sharing here is the English only version, although it has a Tagalog translation. A MANIFESTO I am a Filipino writer. […]
President Aquino is a skipper, really! Now we can say it again. President Benigno S. Aquino, III is a skipper, really! The latest event the Philippine head of state snubbed and skipped was the second year commemoration of the super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ anniversary of survivors, more particularly in Tacloban City. […]
Talk or reference of informal settlers are confined mostly in the country’s urban centers, most specifically in or around the Mega Manila area. But that phenomenon is not common in urban centers alone. It is a basic fact which prevails in small and big towns in the country. It is […]
