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Volume VIII, No. 233
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Wednesday, February 27, 2019
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9 cocaine bricks found in DavOr DAVAO City--Villagers recovered at least 39 bricks of cocaine off the coast of Barangay Santiago in the coastal town of Caraga, Davao Oriental on Sunday, police said. Chief Supt. Marcelo Morales, regional director of Police Regional Office 11, suspected that the cocaine may have originated from drug syndicates based in Colombia or Mexico. Morales added the bricks of cocaine found in Caraga, which is at least 260 kilometers from this city, has similarities in terms of packaging with the ones recovered in Dinagat Island, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur in the last two weeks. Eighty eight bricks of cocaine were recovered off the waters of Dinagat Island and Siargao Island in Surigao del Norte while 34 more were found drifting in the coast of Tandag City, Surigao del Sur in the Police Regional Office 11 Regional Director Chief Supt. Marcelo Morales presents to media in Davao City on Monday (25 February 2019) 36 bricks of cocaine worth P200 million recovered in the coastal area of Caraga, Davao Oriental past week.
Major oil price hike set Tuesday
THREE out of four Filipino women who want to plan their pregnancies end up having one child more than they wanted, results of the 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey by the Philippine Statistics AuthorChildren in Barangay San Vicente, Baungon town in Bukidnon share fun by playing with contraptions for ity (PSA) said. The survey found 75% synchronized walking on Thursday (Nov. 5, 2015). MindaNews file photo by H. Marcos C. Mordeno or 3 out of 4 women in the
childbearing ages of 15-49 years wanted to have only two children. Most women said they wanted to stop having children (60% of the 75%) and the rest wanted to have children at a later time to prevent pregnancies occurring too close to each other (15% of the 75%). Overall, the survey noted a 31% rate of unmet need for family planning among
sexually active women in both married and unmarried states, which consists of 17% of the age group 15-49 who want to practice some form of family planning (FP) but do not have access to them, and 14% who are using ineffective traditional methods such as withdrawal. PSA estimated that by
FILIPINO motorists may have to get used to higher pump prices again, as international oil prices continue marching upward. Both major and independent oil players have announced that they will implement substantial increases in the prices of petroleum products effective early morning Tuesday (Feb. 26). In separate announcements, Pilipinas Shell, Petron Corporation and PTT Philippines said they will hike the prices of their gasoline and diesel products by PHP1.45 per liter. Oil firms carrying kerosene will likewise increase prices by PHP1.35 per liter. Other oil companies have yet to make formals announcements, but are also expected to carry out similar price adjustments tomorrow. Oil market analysts explained that the upward shift in global crude prices is being partially fueled by expectations that US-China trade talks are likely to reach a happy conclusion. With an end to the trade war between the two biggest economies in sight, hopes are high that the world economy will be shifting into high gear again. This, in turn, has given rise to
See STUDY, page 6
See HIKE, page 6
ecutive director of the Social Action Center of the Archdiocese of Cotabato, urged the appointed officials of the BTA to work in unity and common good of the tri-people in the new Bangsamoro region. “Now is not the time to be divided. What we need is the consolidation of hearts and minds among
the members of the BTA to achieve what’s good for everybody,” he said. The priest, one of the convenors of the Christians for Peace Movement, said the BTA needs “people with integrity who can govern effectively and without a history of corruption.” Corruption has been cited as among the key fac-
tors why the autonomous Muslim region continues to be the poorest in the country. Fr. Benjamin Ariel Torreto, vicar of the Archdiocese of Cotabato, said that religious leaders in Cotabato City, both Muslims and non-Muslims, have forged a covenant to support the new Bangsamoro region,
See COCAINE, page 6
on Sunday. Mindanews Photo
75% of planned pregnancies among Filipino women fail: Study By H. MARCOS C. MORDENO MindaNews
Catholic priests welcome BTA with guarded optimism
SEVERAL Catholic priests in Mindanao’s newest region, the Bangsamoro Aut on om o u s R e g i on in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), have welcomed with guarded optimism the formation of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the body tasked to temporarily govern the new Bangsamoro territory.
On Friday, President Rodrigo Duterte led the oath-taking of the BTA members in Malacanang. Duterte appointed Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), as interim chief minister of the parliamentary transition government. Fr. Clifford Baira, ex-
where Christians are a minority. “We committed to enhance interfaith, interethnic dialogue on the recognition, respect and tolerance of Christian faith, religious practices and customs and traditions,” Torreto said. The diocesan priest See WELCOME, page 6
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