MINDANAO DAILY TRUTH | JUSTICE | PROGRESS
Volume XI, No. 046
www.mindanaodailynews.com
Tuesday, August 31, 2021
P15.00
Andanar honors Melo Acuña’s role in growth of PH journalism By RUTH ABBEY GITA-CARLOS
PRESIDENTIAL Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar paid tribute to veteran journalist Melo Acuña, who passed away early Friday. “Today, we lost a good friend and veteran journalist with the passing of Melo Acuña. A reporter through and through, he continued his work of delivering news while already confined at the Quezon City General Hospital. He was a media man until his very last breath,” Andanar said in a press statement. Andanar also hailed Acuña as “one of the pillars” of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) who “played a pivotal role in the growth of Philippine journalism with his extensive experience throughout his career as an accredited broadcast journalist.” He also praised Acuña for being “frank and straightforward” when asking queries. “He (Acuña) was a dedicated journalist and a committed partner in disseminating truthful information
BTA-BARMM Member of Parliament Dr. Saffrullah Dipatuan (P hoto courtesy of B angsamoro I nformation Office – BARMM)
Hospital for BARMM’s special area in NoCot proposed By NOEL PUNZALAN
COTABATO CITY – A lawmaker in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has proposed the establishment of a hospital that would serve the BARMM’s Special Geographic Area (SGA) in North Cotabato province. Dr. Saffrullah Dipatuan, a member of the BARMM’s interim lawmaking Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), said Friday he filed BTA Bill 98 on the setting up of an initial 50-bed capacity Ustadz Hashim Salamat See PROPOSED, page 11
Mr. Melo Acuña (Photo
from
Melo Acuna Reports Facebook
ARMY OFFICIAL TO MAUTE REBEL GROUP
“Surrender or get killed” By SONY SUDARIA MDNN BARMM News Bureau and OSCAR LEDESMA MDNN Bukidnon News Bureau
LANAO DEL SUR - “We will never stop or even delay pursuing them. The only option they have is to surrender; otherwise, they will be slain and destroyed in our series of military operations.” This was the strongest warning made by Lieutenant Colonel Fernando Payapaya, commanding officer of the 51st Infantry Battalion based in this province.
Payapaya and his men were among the highlytrained combat operation warriors in the hunt of the remnants of the Maute Brothers who were killed in their failed attempt to get Marawi City under their command and control. The failed attempt of said terrorist group supported by Dawlah Islamiyah was also due to strong resistance of the Duterte administration’s high morale Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the PNP organization. On August 21, Colo-
nel Payapaya and his men encountered more than 30 members of Dawlah Islamiyah-Maute Group (DI-MG) in a 3-hour exchange of bullets in the mountains between Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte. The DI-MG was a splinter group, who were remnants of the killed Maute brothers, hiding in Lanao provinces. During said encounter, the military has reported no casualty on the government side. The rebel group retreated to the outskirts See ARMY, page 11
See HONORS, page 11
page )
Harm reduction investments benefits public health
INDUSTRY investments in harm reduction or better alternatives to combustible cigarettes will bring benefits to public health, according to a fund manager that focuses on long-term, high-quality investments in the fastmoving consumer goods industry. Mr. Jonathan Fell, founder of U.K.-based Ash Park, is referring to smokefree nicotine alternatives such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products (HTPs) and Swedish snus. These
innovative devices are considered part of tobacco harm reduction, a strategy that aims to mitigate the impact of smoking on public health. “I think there’s a lot of upside from industry investment in harm reduction, if we can move the discourse beyond that ‘Big Tobacco’ mental model and refocus the conversation on a more open-minded conversation and look at what consumers want,” Mr. Fell, founder of U.K.-based Ash Park, said. Among the innovative See BENEFITS, page 11