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DTI to form task force to help retailers amid rice price cap
Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo Pascual has ordered his department' s officials to create a special task force that will ensure the efficient implementation of the Executive Order 39 setting a price cap on regular-milled rice at P41 per kilogram and well-milled rice at P45 per kilo. This was after various traders aired complaints against the EO, saying it would badly affect their businesses and could result in lower farm gate prices to the detriment of farmers. The formation of the task force followed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.s' order to immediately distribute financial aid to retailers who might be affected by the EO implementation. The DTI will implement the following forms of assistance to rice retailers/wholesalers, including small supermarkets that will be affected by the price ceiling: (1) financial assistance; (2) loan programs; (3) logistics support; and (4) market linkages and support. The Department of Social Welfare and Development, on the other hand, will provide financial aid or compensation to retailers/wholesalers in wet markets and neighborhood sundry stores to cover the difference between the cost of the current inventory of rice and the price ceiling. The government will likewise provide transportation in delivering rice from traders to retailers to reduce logistical costs. Further, market linkages will be established to link local farmers with supermarket chains and other retailers and promote bulk buying or advance purchase of supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, resorts and other commercial establishments. Members of the DTI Special Task Force will work in coordination with the Agriculture department, local government units and the Local Price Coordinating Councils. DTI will mobilize associations to gather a list of retailers and properly identify potential beneficiaries. "Currently, we are working with other government agencies to facilitate the profiling and validation of retailers, which shall be the basis for the distribution of financial aid by DSWD as early as next week. We are also set to conduct visits in warehouses in various locations to ensure that there is enough supply and discourage hoarding. As instructed by DTI Secretary Fred Pascual, the task force will ensure that consumers are protected and retailers will receive the assistance they need as the E.O. takes effect," DTI Assistant Secretary Agaton Uvero said. The price cap for rice will start tomorrow, 5 September, as the government's temporary solution to the skyrocketing prices of rice in the past weeks. The post DTI to form task force to help retailers amid rice price cap appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
ASG member nabbed in QC
The Southern Police District on Thursday reported that its operatives arrested an individual believed to be a member of the notorious Abu Sayyaf Group and listed as one of the most wanted in Zamboanga. SPD director P/Brig. Gen. Kirby John Brion Kraft narrated that the suspect — identified as Janhar Abdulhari alias Janjan or Julpikar Pendiwata — was arrested on 21 June at about 6:30 p.m. at Tierra Pura Homes in Tandang Sora, Quezon City. Kraft said that the suspect — listed as No. 7 Most Wanted Person (Municipal Level) and No. 5 (Provincial Level) of Zamboanga — was being hunted for a murder case and has been evading arrest for years. Operating teams composed of joint personnel of District Special Operations Unit of the SPD along with other units including the District Mobile Force Battalion, National Intelligence Support Group-NCR, Quezon City Police District-DSOU, 3rd Special Operations Unit of the Philippine National Police Maritime Group and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission joined forces to nab the suspect. The operation was conducted based on intelligence reports about the lair of the suspect in Quezon City. Initial reports showed that the suspect is operating under Kumander Wanning Abdusallam, who was killed in a joint military and police operation in 2016. The arrest warrant, issued by Judge Anthony dela Torre Isaw of the Regional Trial Court Branch 24 in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay, was in connection with a murder case with Criminal Case number 1-8776. Meantime, National Capital Region Police Office director Maj. Gen. Edgar Ala Okubo lauded the efforts of the operating units for their professionalism and dedication to eradicating terrorism in the National Capital Region, as he stated that they will further intensify manhunt operations against wanted persons. In other developments, a total of 111 members of the Communist Party of the Philippines–New People’s Army have surrendered to different police units in the Mimaropa region since January this year, according to Police Regional Office 4B director Brig. Gen. Joel Doria. Records showed that of 111, eight are listed in the periodic status report and the rest are alleged members, supporters and militiamen. Further, 53 of the surrenderers have turned themselves in since the assumption of Doria on 21 March this year. Among the latest surrenderers is “Ka Carlo,” a former member of Milisyang Bayan of Kilusang Larangang Gerilya Ignacio Calabria Magadia, SRMA 4D, ISLACOM, Lucio De Guzman Command, Southern Tagalog Regional Party Committee, who surrendered to the personnel of 1st Platoon, 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company at 1st PMFC Headquarters in Brgy. San Isidro, Victoria, Oriental Mindoro on 19 June 2023. The surrender of “Ka Carlo” was through the relentless efforts of the intelligence unit of Oriental Mindoro PPO, in collaboration with the 203rd Infantry Brigade, Philippine Army, and other partner agencies under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict. The post ASG member nabbed in QC appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Boying orders NBI probe of radioman’s slay
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate the killing of radio broadcaster Cresenciano Bunduquin in Oriental Mindoro last Wednesday. The order was issued upon the request of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security executive director Paul Gutierrez during their meeting on Wednesday. “That is the job of the PTFoMS to make sure that the media members feel secure about their jobs. And our job also is to make sure that this (killing) is not repeated,” Remulla said. According to a police report, Bunduquin was gunned down by two assailants while he was opening his retail store in Barangay Sta. Isabel, Calapan City at around 4:20 a.m. Meanwhile, Philippine National Police chief Benjamin Acorda Jr. on Thursday said an intensified manhunt is ongoing against the remaining suspect in the killing of Bunduquin. Acorda said a special investigation task group has been formed by Police Brigadier General Joel Doria, director of Police Regional Office IV-B, to probe the killing of the 50-year-old radio host at DWXR101.7 Kalahi FM. “Pieces of evidence gathered at the crime scene are now being carefully studied along with the testimonies of witnesses, which we hope will give our investigators solid leads moving forward,” Acorda said. One of the suspected gunmen was killed during a hot pursuit by the police. Acorda said the capture of the remaining assailant is the top priority of the SITG headed by Oriental Mindoro Police Provincial Director Col. Samuel Delorino. The post Boying orders NBI probe of radioman’s slay appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
CPP’s guerilla fronts weakening, says NSC
National Security Council assistant director general Jonathan Malaya on Sunday disclosed that the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines — the New People’s Army — is already weakening. Malaya — who also heads the agency’s Strategic Communications Office — said that at least 75 percent of all NPA guerrilla fronts have been dismantled and only 22 out of the original 89 fronts are still operational. “When we say weakened, they are running out of barangays or a mass base. That’s where they get their strength, from the support of the villagers... The remaining 20 guerrilla fronts, some still have weapons,” Malaya said. He added that of the 22 left, 20 are weakened and the remaining two are the subject of focused military operations and development efforts by NTF-ELCAC agencies. “We are monitoring them to eliminate and arrest them. It doesn’t mean that they can’t attack anymore... Let’s expect that there will still be attacks, but their previous formation, when they could organize 20 up to 40 people, that’s already gone,” Malaya said. “The military was committed to ending things this year. They are very, very hopeful that all the guerilla fronts will be finished. We will weaken them and wipe them out eventually,” he added. Malaya also called on Congress to support President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s continued trust to the NTF-ELCAC with marching orders to “sustain the whole-of-nation approach to peace and development” to prevent communist terrorists, their front organizations, and other lawless elements from recruiting, regrouping, and regaining power. “P10 million per barangay is just very small amount that are given to the residents who chose on what should be to prioritize (road, classrooms or livelihood),” Malaya said. “He (Marcos) also directed the Task Force and the local government units to continue working together to seize the gains in the regions and ensure that we carry this momentum towards total victory over communist terrorism under his administration,” he added. The post CPP’s guerilla fronts weakening, says NSC appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
US arrests two over Chinese ‘police station’ in New York
US authorities arrested two men Monday for allegedly setting up a Chinese "police station" in New York and charged dozens of Chinese security officials over a campaign to monitor and harass US-based dissidents. The arrests of Harry Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, are the first anywhere over a suspected campaign by China to establish surreptitious police posts in countries around the world, said Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn. The two men set up the office in Manhattan's Chinatown last year at the behest of the Fuzhou branch of the Ministry of Public Security, China's national police force, ostensibly to offer services like Chinese driver's license renewal, according to Peace. But in fact, their main job was to help track down and harass fugitive dissidents from the People's Republic of China (PRC), US officials said. "The MPS established a concrete outpost, an off-the-books police station right here in New York City, to monitor and intimidate dissidents and other critics of the PRC within one of the United States' most vibrant diaspora communities," said David Newman, the Justice Department's principal deputy assistant attorney general for national security. Canada and several European governments have cracked down on similar "police stations." Last year the Spain-based human rights group Safeguard Defenders first revealed the existence of such outposts around the world. They often operate with little or no indication they are there -- though US officials said the Manhattan office had been visited by officials from the Chinese consulate in New York. According to Safeguard Defenders, the "police stations" have been involved in pressuring Chinese nationals to return home to face criminal charges. Canada has identified and closed several unofficial outposts in Montreal and elsewhere. In October, Dutch authorities said they were investigating reports of two Chinese police operations in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Lu and Chen were charged with acting as unregistered agents of a foreign government and obstruction for destroying evidence of their communications with Chinese officials. In a related case, the Justice Department announced charges against 34 members of China's MPS who were allegedly involved in harassing dissidents overseas, including the US-based Falun Gong religious movement. The indictees are allegedly members of the "912 Special Project Working Group," which the Justice Department described as an MPS task force set up "to target Chinese dissidents located throughout the world, including in the United States." The task force created thousands of fake social media accounts, according to the US charges, to target Chinese dissidents "through online harassment and threats." They also sometimes pose as people from the United States or other countries, the charges said, to push Beijing's official view or interpretation of global issues, from Democracy to the Ukraine war to American racial tensions. "This task force isn't a normal police force," said Peace. "It doesn't protect people or combat crimes. It commits crimes targeting Chinese democracy activists and dissidents located outside of the PRC, including right here in New York City." Another six MPS officials and two members of China's Cyberspace Administration were charged with conspiracy in an updated 2020 case of a China-based employee of Zoom acting to disrupt online meetings and discussions by anti-Beijing activists. The new indictment says the employee, Julien Jin, "worked directly with and took orders from" the MPS and Cyberspace Administration. In one case, in May and June 2020, Jin used his access to Zoom company systems to disrupt online meetings by activists to discuss the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen anti-democracy crackdown and massacre in Beijing. "It shows the PRC efforts to globalize the oppressive tactics used domestically in China to silence dissent," said Newman. "The efforts of the government of the PRC to export authoritarian methods to stifle free expression in the United States is a threat to American democracy that we will not abide." The post US arrests two over Chinese ‘police station’ in New York appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
PNP vows justice, forms task force for slain transgender man
The country's top cop on Saturday said he ordered the Quezon City Police District to form a Special Investigation Task Group to solve the murder of a transgender man. .....»»
Cagayan de Oro mayor assures backup plan for potential water disconnection
Cagayan de Oro Mayor Rolando Uy creates a special task force to look into the supply and distribution of treated water in the city.....»»
‘Abolish NTF-ELCAC’: Altermidya welcomes UNSR Khan’s initial findings after 10-day visit
This is the second time a Special Rapporteur has recommended the abolition of NTF-ELCAC. However, we stress that Executive Order No. 70 passed in 2018, which created the said task force, should also be junked......»»
Group hits Imee reaction on NTF-ELCAC
The progressive group Karapatan criticized the reactions of Sen. Imee Marcos and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict to the call of UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan to have the NTF-ELCAC abolished......»»
PH task force on media security’s efforts not enough, says UN’s Khan
United Nation Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion Irene Khan also emphasizes: Media killings should be considered work-related until proven that they are not.....»»
United Nations rapporteur urges NTF-ELCAC abolition; government says no
Following her 10-day official visit to the Philippines, United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan on Friday urged the government to abolish the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), which she said will address red-tagging and allow for more inclusive peace-making platforms in the country......»»
EDITORIAL - A dirty money black hole
On the first regular working day of the year, among President Marcos’ marching orders to several agencies was to get the country out of the so-called gray list of the Financial Action Task Force. Since June 2021, the Philippines has been in the Paris-based FATF’s gray list of countries and territories under close monitoring for money laundering......»»
DCPO activates Oplan Defense for Davao City security after MSU-Marawi blast
The Davao City Police Office (DCPO) has activated Oplan Defense in response to the powerful explosion that occurred during a Catholic Mass at Mindanao State University-Marawi's gym on December 2, 2023. Under the directive of DCPO Director Police Colonel Alberto Lupaz, all 19 police stations are leading the Oplan Defense, which involves conducting restrictive vehicle checks and border controls. The DCPO has also collaborated with other government and security agencies, particularly the Task Force Davao (TFD), to maintain peace and order in the city. DCPO spokesperson Captain Hazel Tuazon emphasized the coordination with other agencies to ensure peace and order throughout the city, especially during the Christmas Fiesta. The city remains on high alert, with personnel deployed in major Catholic churches and mosques and a one-entrance-and-exit policy implemented in these worship places. Tuazon highlighted the strengthening of the Davao defense system through checkpoints and police visibility in churches. In a press briefing, Mark Anthony Tito, spokesperson of the 10th Infantry “Agila” Division, affirmed continuous security monitoring in their jurisdiction following the bombing at MSU-Marawi. Oplan Defense is DCPO’s campaign against criminality and terrorism, aiming to preemptively secure residents and visitors of the area. The Police Provincial Office of Lanao del Sur (PPO-Lanao del Sur) has formed a Special Investigation Task Group-MSU Marawi (SITG-MSU Marawi) to expedite the investigation process, as two persons of interest linked to the DI-Maute group, a radical Islamic terrorist connected to the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), have been identified. The blast resulted in four deaths and over 50 injuries, including students, academic professionals, and members of the Catholic ministries. The city urges the public not to believe in fake news about the Marawi bombing suspect. In summary, DCPO has activated Oplan Defense to secure Davao City in response to the MSU-Marawi blast, collaborating with other agencies to maintain peace and order while intensifying security measures and investigation efforts......»»
MMDA: Nebrija went ‘overboard’
Suspended Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Task Force Special Operations Unit chief Bong Nebrija “went overboard” when he named Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. and a former lawmaker as violators of the EDSA Carousel policy, according to acting MMDA Chairman Romando Artes......»»
UN special rapporteur proposes abolition of NTF-ELCAC
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change Ian Fry yesterday recommended to the government the abolition of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, adding that a full and independent probe is needed to look into past operations of the NTF-ELCAC......»»
EDITORIAL - Wang-wang returns
The acting chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority yesterday suspended Bong Nebrija, head of the MMDA’s Task Force Special Operations Unit. Nebrija’s offense?.....»»
UN expert urges Philippines to disband anti-communist agency
Ian Fry, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change, said the government should "disband" the task force and revoke an anti-terrorism law......»»
Broadcaster’s slay: P100,000 reward up for info
Malacañang’s media security task force is offering P100,000 as reward for information that will lead to the arrest of those behind the murder of Misamis Occidental radioman Juan “Johnny Walker” Jumalon, who was shot while hosting his radio program at his home in Calamba on Nov. 5......»»
Contractor questioned over Cubao asphalt work
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority yesterday questioned a contractor in Cubao, Quezon City for an asphalt overlay project without presenting a schedule. The project was conducted in New York Avenue according to the report of the MMDA, that resulted in a traffic jam in the northbound lanes of EDSA along with the inner roads in Cubao. According to Bong Nebrida, chief of the MMDA Task Force for Special Operations, they saw the asphalt work at dawn yesterday which earned the ire of motorists in the northbound lane of EDSA. Nebrida said the main arterial route of New York Avenue is being used by provincial buses to reach their respective terminals. Due to the asphalt project the exit of the buses was delayed because New York Avenue was closed to traffic and they opted to go to EDSA resulting to traffic jam that reached Santolan Avenue. The post Contractor questioned over Cubao asphalt work appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
COMELEC reports second shooting incident of BSKE candidate
Commission on Elections chairman George Erwin Garcia announced on Friday that a candidate has been shot in Quezon Province. Garcia said they have monitored an ambush in General Luna, Quezon. “We have monitored an ambush in Quezon recently, the barangay chairman was taken in the hospital,” Garcia said. According to the report of the Quezon Police Provincial Office, the identified victim was Ruben Ilagan Pasia, 63, a resident of Barangay Malaya, General Luna, Quezon, and a running candidate for barangay chairman. This is the second BSKE candidate who has been shot in October. The first victim was running for barangay councilor in Bucay, Abra. “It’s sad because the election is almost two days away. Therefore, the increasing number of violence may not be election-related, other criminals are actually on it. We could not distinguish if it was election-related. What is important is for the police to be alert,” Garcia said. As of 26 October, the COMELEC Anti-Epal Task Force issued 272 show cause orders for illegal campaigning and filed petitions for disqualification against 10 candidates in violation of premature campaigning and three candidates against illegal campaigning. The post COMELEC reports second shooting incident of BSKE candidate appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»