Over 5T nubain vials seized in Cebu City by police, PDEA-7
(06 April) - Over 5,000 ampules of Nalbuphi ne Hydrochloride popularly known as nubain have recently been seized by police together with operatives from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-7 during a buy-bust drug operation.
Police Regional Office (PRO) -7 Director C/Supt. Ager Ontog scored the efforts of the Investigation Detective Management Branch of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) and the PDEA-7 in the continuing pursuit against lawless elements involved in the selling of prohibited drugs.
“The confiscation of 5,200 ampules of nubain showed that we are determined to crush out illegal drug peddlers as the fight against illegal drugs continue,” according to Ontog.
Operatives of the CCPO and PDEA-7 arrested Joselito Dacalan Garcia and Randy Wenceslao Torres, owners of Botika Sugboanon in Cebu City during a buy-bust operation in late February at the Capitol Site wherein a policeman posed as a buyer of the illegal drugs.
Confiscated were 51 boxes containing 100 ampules of Nalbuphine Hydrochloride, this is said.
The arrest came in the wake of the new classification of nubain as a prohibited drug by the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB).
Nubain is a narcotic pain reliever similar to morphine and may be habit-forming intended for use only as prescribed.
PDEA-7 Legal officer Atty. Mauro Licen said the new classification of nubain as a prohibited drug was based on a DDB resolution early this year.
“Nubain pushers and users are warned against peddling this illegal drug as those arrested will face the same sanction imposed on dangerous drugs such as shabu,” Licen declared.
Cebu Provincial Police Director S/Supt. Patrocinio Commendador who once served as CCPO director previously said they were able to apprehend some individuals who yielded with 5,000 nubain vials but later released them as nubain is not classified as a prohibited drug. (PIA-Cebu/Fayette C. Rinen)
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Building another plant will boost Cebu’s power supply, says DOE
by Eli C. Dalumpines
Cebu City – Plans to put up additional power plant in Cebu is a good development as it help in securing the power supply requirements of the province in the near future, Department of Energy Regional Director Engr. Antonio Labios informed in an interview Tuesday morning.
According to Director Labios, the recent plans of a Korean firm to build a coal-fired power plant in the province will avoid power shortages in the future like what Cebu has experienced a few months before.
This statement came as a reaction to the plans of Korean Southern Power Co. Ltd. (Kospo) to build a 400megawatt coal-fired power plant in Cebu.
The firm, however, has yet to come up with the specific location where in the province is it going to put up its plant.
Representatives of Kospo met with Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and the heads of the different government agencies in the region on Monday to clarify requirements for the project.
To recall, Cebu had suffer from rotating brownouts sometime last year due a power shortage resulting from the failure of the power plants in Leyte and Panay to met Cebu’s power requirements.
Engr. Labios clarified though that Cebu’s power supply at present is already sufficient.
But in an earlier interview he said that the province will need additional supply of electricity in the next four years. (PIA 7)
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NTC 7 warns public on text scams
By Eli C. Dalumpines
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) here warned subscribers of cellular phones to be always on guard against text scams that continued to proliferate.
NTC Legal Officer Atty. Alan Felix J. Macaraya, Jr., in a forum sponsored by the Regional Association of Government Information Officers (AGIO) and aired over DYMR – Radyo ng Bayan-Cebu on Tuesday morning, said that the problem on text scams in the country becomes so rampant because there is no existing law which compels telecommunication companies to have the cellular of their subscribers registered.
Atty. Macaraya informed that his office has been lobbying in Congress for eight years now to regulate the sale of cellular phone cards containing the mobile phone numbers so it would be easy to run after authors of text scams but they met strong opposition from the telecommunication companies who are apparently protecting their profit from the business.
Since then, they have already received already received thousands of complains from the public regarding text scams, he said. The NTC Regional Office 7 is receiving an average of four to five complaints daily regarding said problem, he further informed.
The NTC Legal Officer admitted that the battle against text scams may seem almost hopeless due to the absence of an effective legal framework, which supports the campaign but he said that his office is doing its best to inform the public on how to avoid getting victimized.
He cited the effective campaigns of other countries on similar issues, specifically the United States where their police can approach the telecommunication companies to trace the number of the culprits right away and effect immediate arrests. But such setup is absent in the Philippines so that complainants have to follow the usual procedure of applying a court order which takes quite long.
In this connection, he warned the cellular phone subscribers to always be alert whenever they receive text messages that they won raffle prizes using a regular 11-digit number because the numbers of the content providers which are authorized to do so consist only of four digits.(PIA 7)
“We have to immediately address the growing concerns over the many issues surrounding the worsening state of the rice terraces in order to determine the remedial measures that must be introduced to ensure that this national treasure is protected,” Legarda said. (PIA-7/Minerva BC Newman with reports from the Office of Senator Legarda)
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Save PHL’s Eighth Wonder of the World--Ifugao Rice Terraces
Manila, April 06 (PIA) --The Ifugao Rice Terraces is dubbed as the Eighth Wonder of the World and inscribed in the World Heritage List in 1995 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
It was however included in the 1999 World Monument Watch’s list of 100 most endangered sites and the 2001 UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger due to its deterioration.
The Philippine Rice Research Institute discovered that worms were damaging the roots produced by germinated rice seeds and eroding the terraces by digging out their walls.
Rats were also eating the rice flower heads that contributed to the terraces’ erosion with their burrowing.
According to UNESCO, the degradation of the Ifugao Rice Terraces is the result of the absence of the necessary monitoring mechanism and management plan to preserve and ensure the sustainable development of the national landmark.
Senator Loren Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Cultural Communities concerned with reports on the rapid deterioration of the Ifugao Rice Terraces urged the Ifugao Cultural Heritage Office to conduct an inquiry on the continuous degradation of the site.
Legarda also called on other concerned government agencies to ensure that various efforts are in place to save it from total degradation.
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NTC receives an average of 5 complaints daily
By: Hazel F. Gloria
Cebu City , April 6 (PIA) -- The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) in Cebu received an average of not more than five (5) complaints daily, revealed Atty. Allan Felix Macaraya Jr., Legal Officer of NTC.
Illegal deduction of load and text scam messages are top complaints from the subscribers, Macaraya continued.
He explained that these problems become so rampant in the country because there is no existing law that requires telecommunication companies to have the cellular of their subscribers registered.
Macaraya advised the subscribers to file formal complaints to NTC to address the problems.
However, NTC doesn't have the authority to regulate the selling of cellphone cards so it's difficult for them to run after those people liable of text scam messages, he continued.
Macaraya also revealed that their office is lobbying to Congress the implementation of “Antitrust Law” or the Competition Law to promote or maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct in order to control the prices and break the chain of monopoly between the telecommunication companies.
“It is good if more telecommunication entities will be opened to lessen the competition of prices and monopoly and it also gives great advantage for the consumers. (PIA-7/HFG)
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Filipinos need P1403 to stay out of poverty
(2009 official Poverty Statistics)
By: Minerva BC Newman
Cebu , April 06 (PIA) – Results of the 2009 official poverty statistics show that a Filipino needed P974 to meet his/her monthly food needs and P1,403 to stay out of poverty.
National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) chief, Poverty, Labor, Human Dev’t & Gender Statistics Division, Bernadette Balamban reported that in 2009, a family of five needed P4,869 monthly income to meet food needs and P7,017 to stay out of poverty.
“A family of five needed P231 daily income to stay out of poverty,” Balamban shared these information during the meeting of the Regional Kalahi Convergence Group (RKCG) today at the NEDA-7 conference room.
In Central Visayas annual per capita poverty threshold for 2009 was P17,848. This means the minimum income and expenditure required to meet the basic food and non-food requirements.
NSCB figures show that poverty threshold levels in 2009 were highest for Cebu at P18,675 followed by Bohol at P18,062.
Negros Oriental annual per capita poverty threshold in 2009 was at P15,539 while Siquijor at P16,631 to meet the basic food and non-food requirements of a family of five.
In Central Visayas, 2009 data showed that there are 415,303 poor families with Cebu having the highest number of poor families at 213,162 or 51.33 percent of the region’s total.
Bohol has 102,522 poor families in 2009; Negros Oriental at 91,387 and Siquijor had the lowest number of poor families at 8,232.
NSCB data further showed that Caraga and ARMM consistently posted the highest poverty incidence among the families in 2006 and 2009.
Data revealed that regions 7, 5 and 6 continue to have the biggest share in the total number of poor families.
Zamboanga del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Maguindanao, Bohol and Masbate were consistently included in the bottom cluster of provinces in 2003, 2006 and 2009, NSCB statistics read.
Cebu and Negros Occidental continue to have the biggest share in the total number of poor families among the provinces in the country.
According to Balamban, these estimates were generated based on the refinements in the official poverty estimation methodology that the NSCB executive board approved on February 01, 2011.
These refinements were adopted on the official poverty estimation methodology to address issues and concerns regarding the estimates of the food threshold, poverty threshold, incidence and other measures of poverty, and improvement of the relevance of official poverty statistics.
The refinements in methodology also addressed the issue on the comparability of poverty estimates across space and over time.
NSCB data further said, the estimates for 2009 as well as back estimates for 1991, 2003 and 2006 using the refined methodology have been released to be able to look at the trends in poverty using the same methodology, specifically for the MDG monitoring. (PIA-7/MBCN)