Muntinlupa
revives migration monitoring centers
TO monitor the inward migration of people, Muntinlupa Mayor
Aldrin San Pedro issued Executive Order No. 4 recently reviving the city’s
Migration Information Centers (MIC) in all barangays.
San Pedro said the MICs will help city planners monitor
population growth and improve delivery of basic services to residents.
San Pedro said the establishment of the MIC a few years ago
was based on Republic Act 7279 or the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992
which stressed the need to establish a mechanism to monitor population movement.
An existing city ordinance mandates the establishment of MIC in every barangay,
he added.
Under the MIC system, transients who move to Muntinlupa are
required to register with the barangay migration officer who will issue them
identification cards and regularly update city hall on the number of people in
his barangay. The system will also enable city hall to monitor and prevent the
proliferation of illegal squatters in its jurisdiction.
Muntinlupa has a land area of 46.70 square kilometers, nine
barangays and a population of 452,953 as of 2007. – Ashzel Hachero
Migrante blasts GMA, DDB
AFTER President Arroyo made it clear that Filipinos abroad
who are caught for drug trafficking cannot expect any help from the Philippine
government, migrant workers’ group Migrante hit both Dangerous Drugs Board chair
Vicente Sotto III and the President herself for allegedly abandoning overseas
Filipino workers despite their contribution to the country’s economic growth.
DDB earlier warned OFWs that the money they would earn by
agreeing to work as drug couriers for syndicates is not worth being sentenced to
death when caught. DDB’s Sotto also quoted President Arroyo as saying there
would be no help forthcoming for OFWs arrested on drug charges abroad.
Migrante insisted that government should provide Filipino
migrants adequate legal assistance regardless of offense.
DDB figures showed that from January to July this year, 116
Filipino travellers had been arrested for carrying illegal drugs into China from
Hong Kong, Malaysia, Macau, South America, the Middle East, Europe, United
States and South Asia.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency director general Dionisio
Santiago said his agency is working with the Bureau of Immigration and its
international counterparts on the cases of several Filipinos now languishing in
Chinese jails on drug smuggling charges. "The case involving drug mules is
essentially a human trafficking case, where the Filipino nationals involved were
later utilized to smuggle illegal drugs to foreign countries," Santiago said.
– Randy Nobleza
PNP cadet dies
trying to save schoolmate
A GRADUATING cadet of the Philippine National Police Academy
died by drowning Saturday afternoon after he tried to save a plebe from the same
fate at a creek inside the academy grounds in Barangay Tartaria, Silang, Cavite
during a heavy downpour.
A report to Camp Crame said the fatality, Cadet First Class
Reagan Amoranto Marquina, 25, a native of Silang and a member of the Delta
Company of the PNPA Kaisang-Bisig Class of 2009, was "sick in quarters" that day
but logged out of the Delta Barracks at around 2:45 pm Saturday with a certain
Cadet Fourth Class Alvarez to go to the clubhouse to buy food.
On their way back to the barracks, and while crossing the
creek, Alvarez slipped and fell in. Marquina tried to save him and fell into the
creek himself. Alvarez managed to save himself but Marquina was carried away by
the strong current and was later found dead in a nearby lagoon. – Raymond
Africa
Kidapawan school principal
shot dead
UNIDENTIFIED gunmen shot dead a public school principal in
Kidapawan City, North Cotabato Friday afternoon, a belated PNP report yesterday
said.
A report to Camp Crame said victim Felipe Ternio Sr., head of
the Naungan Elementary School, was walking home when two men on a motorcycle
blocked his path and shot him in different parts of the body.
Although wounded, the victim still managed to run away but
his assassins chased him and finished him off. Police are investigating for
motive and culprit. – Raymond Africa
Another Globe cellsite bombed
THE New People’s Army bombed yet again another
telecommunications tower of Globe, this time in Barangay Palatao, Claver,
Surigao del Norte, due to what police theorized was the company’s continued
refusal to pay revolutionary taxes to the communists.
The incident took place a little before 5 am Sunday, a report to Camp Crame
said. Seven armed men reportedly forced their way past a lone security guard at
the cellsite and escaped after completing their mission. The bombing caused
signal interruption in some parts of Claver. The cost of the damage is still
being determined. – Raymond Africa
