Category: General

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) has a new head following the latest reorganization of police officials.

In an order obtained by the Philippine News Agency which took effect Thursday, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rommel Francsico Marbil reassigned Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM) chief Maj. Gen. Leo Francisco as the new director of the CIDG.

Francisco replaced Maj. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr., who was named the new chief of the Area Police Command- Northern Luzon.

Meanwhile, Directorate for Personnel and Records Management (DPRM) chief Brig. Gen. Matthew Baccay will replace Francisco as chief of DIDM.

Source: Philippines News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Taarana School, an education and therapy centre for children with cognitive and sensory impairments, made remarkable strides in raising autism awareness by organising a dynamic ‘Walk for Autism’ at the PKNS Sports Complex on Saturday (April 27).

The RYTHM Foundation said the programme stands as a testament to the power of collective action in fostering awareness, understanding and inclusivity for individuals on the autism spectrum and other neurodiverse individuals.

‘Through the unwavering dedication of participants, volunteers and supporters, the event raised vital awareness and celebrated the achievements and contributions of those with autism,’ it said in a statement today.

Taarana School was established under the aegis of the RYTHM Foundation, the social impact initiative of the global conglomerate QI Group.

According to the statement, approximately 200 registered participants, including a QI group’s representatives, parents and children from Taarana took part in the 45-minute walk.

‘Th
e event’s highlight was not just the walk but the overwhelming sense of accomplishment it brought. The first 50 participants to complete the walk were celebrated with medals for their achievements and e-certificates of participation for all participants.

‘QI Group’s general manager Kuna Senathirajah, Human Resources and Administration director Boey Kho, Marketing and Sales director Pathman Senathirajah, Taarana’s principal Dr Sunitha Sivakumaran and several senior executives presented the medals,’ it added.

According to the RYTHM Foundation, the event buzzed with various engaging booth activities such as games and services that offered useful details about treatment and medical services as well as skills training for employability.

Head of the RYTHM Foundation, Santhi Periasamy said in the same statement that the programme was a vivid testament to the foundation’s commitment to nurturing a community founded on empathy, understanding and acceptance, values the foundation endeavours to cultivate and uphold.

A
parent of a Taarana student, Siti Fatimah emphasised that the programme extended beyond mere participation to build a community where everyone feels included and valued.

‘Initiatives like these go a long way in shaping a more understanding and supportive society for our children and future generations,’ she said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

A total of PHP36.6 million worth of shabu and marijuana were confiscated during the various operations of the Ilocos Police Regional Office (PRO-1) from April 1 to 30, 2024.

In a statement on Thursday, Lt. Col. Benigno Sumawang, deputy chief of PRO-1 Regional Community Affairs Development Division, said they conducted 95 operations leading to the seizure of 84,300 marijuana plants, 2,589.58 grams of dried marijuana leaves and 2,864.37 grams of shabu.

He said 106 suspects were also arrested.

One of the major anti-illegal drugs operations of the regional police office, in coordination with other law enforcement agencies, is the eradication of five marijuana plantations in Sitio Tangilig, Barangay Banga, Sugpon, Ilocos Sur on April 12, which yielded 26,700 pieces of fully grown marijuana plants with market value PHP5.3 million.

On April 13, authorities also destroyed 11,200 fully grown marijuana plants with an estimated value of PHP2.2 million at the mountainous area of Barangay Licungan, Sugpon, Ilocos Sur.

Sumawang said they also yielded PHP9.3 million worth marijuana plants in the boundaries of Benguet, Ilocos Sur, and La Union on April 16.

A total of 46,600 fully grown marijuana plants were uprooted and destroyed across the four sites in the boundaries of Barangay Badeo, Kibungan Benguet; Barangay Licungan, Sugpon, Ilocos Sur; and Barangay Tubaday, Santol, La Union covering an estimated land area of 4,000 square meters.

On April 20, separate operations of the police led to the arrest of four suspects in Vigan City and Dagupan City, and resulted in the seizure of 61 grams of shabu worth PHP414,800.

Sumawang said three high value individuals were arrested in a double drug-bust operation in Pangasinan and Ilocos Sur on April 22 that resulted in the confiscation of 102 grams of shabu worth PHP693,600.

Aside from the reduction in the supply of illegal drugs, Sumawang said the police force is also directed to help drug users by encouraging them to undergo a rehabilitation program.

PRO-1 director Brig. Gen. Lou
Frias Evangelista, in recent interview, said PRO-1 has revived the checkpoints set-up during the pandemic to further boost drive against illegal drugs.

“We do not have illegal drugs manufacturing here in the region so the supplies are coming from outside that’s why, we need to monitor our borders,” he said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

LABUAN, The Labuan Immigration Department has detained 52 illegal immigrants from January to April 30 this year through a series of operations targeting various hot spots across the duty-free Island said its director Raymond Entalai.

‘The illegal immigrants, predominantly Filipinos and Indonesians, were found to lack valid travel documents, possessing expired social visit passes and lacking work permits,’ he told Bernama today.

He said the department’s vigilant efforts have led to the identification and detention of individuals flouting immigration laws and also highlighted the significance of public cooperation in facilitating the department’s operations.

“The success of our operations was following public tip off…throughout the four-month period, a total of 833 individuals were screened, with only a small fraction found to be in violation of immigration regulations,’ he said.

In addition to the arrests, Raymond said 18 foreign nationals had opted for the Migrant Repatriation Programme (PRM), among them
15 are Filipinos, including one child, and three Pakistanis.

He said the Labuan Immigration Department remains committed to ensuring the integrity of the island’s immigration system and would continue to conduct rigorous operations to address illegal immigration activities.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is planning to put labels on local and imported rice to prevent the mixing of rice varieties.

In an interview, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said labeling rice in retail markets ‘provides the needed information to consumers who want locally-produced or imported rice varieties.’

‘That’s very important. We also plan to check on mislabeling activities on the ground,’ he said.

“Definitely, may mga ganyang posibleng mislabeling. Paghaluhin, kung mas mura iyong isang klase ng bigas tapos ihahalo doon sa mas mahal tapos ibebenta nang mas mahal (there’s the possibility of mislabeling. The cheaper class or rice is mixed with the more expensive, then it’ll be sold at the higher price),” De Mesa noted.

Federation of Free Farmers Cooperatives national manager Raul Montemayor agreed with the DA official, noting that some imported rice looks similar to local produce and can easily be mixed.

He also pointed out that while some traders typically blend rice ‘to satisfy t
he requirements of their market,’ unscrupulous traders are known to ‘re-bag’ imported rice and sell it as local rice to gain higher profits.

As of Thursday, the imported regular milled rice ranges from PHP48 per kilogram to PHP51/kg; and well-milled rice ranges from PHP51/kg to PHP54/kg.

On the other hand, the local regular milled rice is pegged at PHP50/kg while the well-milled rice ranges from PHP48/kg to PHP55/kg.

Montemayor said this is due to the price dynamics between the lowering trend in the global price of imported rice, and the increasing trend in farmgate prices, which ranges from PHP27 to PHP30.

‘It’s like a gamble on the part of the local traders that they will buy palay at a high price, knowing na pagdating nila sa retail, makakalaban nila iyong imported rice na medyo pababa ang presyo (that when it comes to the retail market, they will be going against the imported rice that is getting cheaper),’ he said.

Meanwhile, the DA assured that it is looking into the gap between the farmgate and re
tail prices of rice.

“Iyon ang pinag-uusapan, pinag-aaralan bakit mataas talaga iyong presyo despite na hindi naman ganoon kalaki, kataas iyong presyo sa farmgate (That’s what we are talking about, we are reviewing why the [retail] price remains high despite the fact that the farmgate prices are not that high),’ De Mesa said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz is only interested in focusing on his ministry after his name was linked to the post of Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president.

Tengku Zafrul said that, at the moment, his focus is to ensure all initiatives implemented by MITI (Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry) are run smoothly.

“I was informed yesterday that speculation was rife and several names had been proposed and discussed (as FAM president) in the mass media.

“To me, as a minister, I have a lot of responsibilities that I need to fulfil and my focus is to ensure all implementations in MITI run smoothly… that’s my focus,’ he told Bernama after attending the 2024 Bernama Open House at Wisma Bernama here today.

He also said that he had left the corporate world a long time ago and feels that other individuals, who are better qualified, should be nominated for the FAM top post.

“I was indeed in the corporate world for about 20 years, w
ith my final posting being the CEO (chief executive officer) of CIMB… so, I do have corporate experience. It’s just that now I have moved away from corporate life, now I’m in the government, so my focus is surely to give more time to my work in MITI,’ he said.

Yesterday, local media reported that three corporate figures, including Tengku Zafrul, were viewed as ideal candidates to lead and transform FAM and take it to a higher level.

The other two corporate figures named were Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chairman Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din and Malaysia Aviation Group Bhd (MAG) Group managing director Datuk Captain Izham Ismail.

“I believe there are many other good candidates, (for example) Capt Izham and Tan Sri Mohamad Salim as well as another name mentioned previously, KJ (Khairy Jamaluddin), who used to be involved in FAM,’ said Tengku Zafrul, who resigned from his post in CIMB in March 2020 following his appointment as the Finance Minister.

For the record, Tengku Zafru
l was previously appointed as Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president after Mohamad Norza Zakaria announced his intention to step down at the end of last year before making an abrupt U-turn to helm the association until today.

Mohamad Salim, when met here today, refused to comment on his name being linked to the FAM top post.

Previously, Khairy was touted as a candidate for the FAM president’s post, which has been held by Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin since 2018, following the emergence of a poison-pen letter discrediting the leadership and management of the national football governing body.

The FAM Congress is scheduled for next year.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

BUKIT MERTAJAM, Sungai Bakap assemblyman Nor Zamri Latiff of PAS, who was reported to have been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Seberang Jaya Hospital (HSJ), here due to inflammation in the stomach yesterday, is in stable condition.

His wife, Musalmah Yusop said the results of various examinations on his husbands, including the computed tomography (CT) scan, also showed that his treatment is working.

‘He was not put to sleep. The doctors just sedated him for a few days to enable him to rest for the treatment,’ she told reporters when met at the hospital.

Musalmah said the assemblyman, who is also suffering from diabetes and hypertension, complained of stomach pain and was taken to the Sungai Bakap Hospital two days ago, but was transferred to HSJ on the same day.

She also hoped that her husband would be allowed to recuperate in private and not be disturbed.

Nor Zamri, who is also Nibong Tebal PAS chief, contested the Sungai Bakap seat in the last state election in August and won against
Pakatan Harapan candidate Nurhidayah Che Rose, with a majority of 1,563 votes.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency