President frets over Masbate Reds

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday said he is "deeply concerned" over the increasing activities of communist terrorist groups in Masbate which have instilled fear in the locals and resulted in the disruption of classes.

"We are deeply concerned over the incidents of violence in Masbate which had traumatized the affected civilians who were generally school children and their teachers," the President said in a social media post.

According to Mr. Marcos, although the military and police continue to gain ground in their fight against insurgency, the government "must be continuously

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“Now, Mr. Teves, we are looking for the mastermind. That's all I can say. What you think and what you say about you, it's up to you, as long as we can find the mastermind. The way things are, our evidence is strong,” he said at the sidelines of an event.

Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo, the widow of the slain governor, said almost 30 people have been allegedly killed by the camp of the recently-suspended congressman, who is being linked to the assassination after arrested suspects pointed to a “Cong Teves” as the one who ordered the hit.

Teves has denied involvement in the assassination while his lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, said he will not dignify the "atrocious allegations" of Mayor Degamo.

"I refuse to dignify such atrocious allegations. Baka puyat lang si mayor (Maybe the mayor lacks sleep). Why bring that up only now? Why not file cases in court?" Topacio said in an interview.

Regarding the “wish list” Teves supposedly gave as a condition forreturning home and facing the charges against him, Topacio said its contents will be revealed, “at a proper time.”

Also on Friday, police said they seized high-powered firearms and ammunition at the property of former Negros Oriental governor Pryde Henry Teves, brother of the congressman.

Philippine National Police spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group raided Teves'

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From A1 beginning, if it could be dived by a person, we would have done it already. But this depth is really different,” Commodore Geronimo Tuvilla, Incident Commander of Oil Spill Response Mindoro, told ABSCBN News. Most technical or expert divers can dive safely down to 100 meters (328 feet) but would still need special equipment to do so, the ABS-CBN report added.

Still, Remulla said the government has also hired a consultant to calculate how much oil, if any, is still left from the 900,000 liters of industrial fuel the tanker carried before sinking.

The Department of Justice chief said this was discussed with Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. during the meeting Thursday of the Oil Spill Inter-Agency Committee.

A group of fishermen in Oriental

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Mayor Dennis Hain said a total of 112 students of Gulod National High School Mamatid Extension were rushed to different hospitals due to dizziness and fainting after attending the fire drill in their school.

"Some had comorbidities. I was scared because some were shaking, some had eyes rolling," he said in a TeleRadyo interview.

According to the City School Division of Cabuyao City (SDO), twostudents remain confined at the Cabuyao City Hospital, and 79 students were already discharged and are now in stable condition.

"Our primary concern right now would be the condition of the learners affected," added Poa.

Classes were also suspended on Friday to ensure all learners hadenough time to rest and recover.

DepEd is also coordinating with the local government to provide financial assistance to those who fell ill during the fire drill.

Around 3,000 students of the school were already gathered around noon and were told to proceed to an open evacuation area at around 2:30 pm.

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The Department of Environment and Natural Resources urged Filipinos to observe “Earth Hour” on March 25 in support of the global efforts to protect the planet and fight climate change. The DENR also enjoined its regional and field offices, bureaus, and attached agencies vigilant so that such murderous abuses are avoided in the future."

The Department of Education (DepEd) has deplored “these acts of terrorism perpetrated by the New People's Army (NPA)" which caused distraught to learners and school personnel for experiencing "senseless violence."

DepEd Secretary and Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio was in touch with the business compound in Sta. Catalina town. nationwide to switch off the lights for this year’s event, which carries the theme “The Biggest Hour for the Earth.”

The search yielded several highpowered firearms, short firearms, and rounds of ammunition, but the inventory is still ongoing, Fajardo said.

Remulla said there was a pattern of impunity in the province.

On Friday, he said it is possible that the suspects behind the killings may “intersect at some point” or “may have a lot in common” with the suspects involved in the Degamo assassination.

At present, 10 suspects in the killing of Degamo are under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Remulla earlier said authorities were also looking into five to six “direct conspirators” in the Degamo killing.

Remulla said he and Mayor Degamo discussed the alleged murders in the province during a meeting at the Department of Justice on Wednesday.

He said their initial information revealed 17 victims.

“But there are more names coming up. But as I said we have to build up cases, we have to get the data, we have to investigate them systematically to get the necessary data,” Remulla said.

“Because many of the preliminary investigations for these cases never materialized, so we need to build them up from scratch,” he later added.

Remulla said they aim to file the cases over the Negros Oriental killings by the end of March, but he said he does not know yet if Teves will be among the respondents.

Asked to confirm rumors that Teves was now in Cambodia, Remulla said he received the same information a few days ago.

Mindoro, the Samahang Mandaragat ng Banilad, want to sue the owner of the MT Princess Empress for the damage the tanker caused to their livelihood, their president Bernie Senorin said in a TV interview.

Meanwhile, the South Korean government has dispatched its coast guard to help in the cleanup of the oil spill off Naujan town.

“This is the first time Korea has provided assistance for the prevention of marine pollution, and Korea highly values the importance of restoring areas affected by environmental disasters and accidents,” the Korean Embassy in Manila said in a Facebook post on Thursday.

The Korean government would also give 20 tons of sorbet pads and snares, 1,000 meters of solid flotation curtain boom, and 2,000 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the Philippines.

The PCG said the Korean government would also provide technical experts.

The heat index in the city was around 39 to 42 degrees Celsius from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. according to a disaster official.

The Cabuyao mayor ordered the temporary suspension of all school fire drills in the city, which was organized based on a DepEd memo.

Hain said that based on their investigation, the drill started at 12 noon, when the students were crammed into classrooms despite the hot weather.

The students reportedly stayed inside the classroom on orders of the teachers, with help from so-called "scouts", for over three hours, while in cramped conditions. Some had not eaten, while others were parched, the mayor said.

The students were eventually let out but they were sent to an open field, where they stayed for 30 minutes under the scorching heat, allegedly without water, the mayor continued. This reportedly resulted in dizziness and seizures among students, while others also fainted.

A total of 104 students were sent to Cabuyao General Hospital, Hain said. Others were also medically treated in Ospital ng Cabuyao.

The teachers did not coordinate the drill with Brgy. Mamatid or Cabuyao disaster management officials, according to the mayor.

The Department of Health also encouraged Filipinos to join the rest of the world in observing Earth Hour on Saturday.

Started in Australia in 2007, the annual Earth Hour has become the world’s biggest grassroots environmental movement spanning over 7,000 cities and

Philippine Army division in the province to discuss the peace and order situation there following the March 20 clash between soldiers and communist rebels near a school in Barangay Cawayan. Mr. Marcos, meanwhile, recently directed the military, particularly the Army, to "be vigilant against elements that will undermine our hard-earned peace, our hard-earned stability" and "ensure that these areas will not fall onto the hands of those who intend to sow fear, discontent, and terror."

The Philippine Army, on the other hand, expressed regret that the students and teachers inside the school "experienced the horror" of being in

"That was the statement given to us a few days ago, maybe 10 days ago.

But we’ll see. We will know very soon where he is," he said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice has been asked to prosecute six more suspects in the March 4 killings of Degamo and eight other persons for multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder.

In a complaint, the NBI identified the respondents as Rogelio C Antipolo Jr., also known as Jun Jun; Rommel A. Pattaguan, Winrich B. Isturis, alias Gwen; John Louie L. Gonyon, alias JL; Dahniel P. Lora, alias Buboy; and Eulogio L. Gonyon Jr., alias Master Black. Remulla earlier said that most of the six suspects are discharged soldiers, with one of them a former military trainee.

With the filing of the complaints against the six suspects, a total of 10 suspects in the killings of Degamo and eight other persons in Pamplona town in Negros Oriental have been charged. Seventeen persons were also injured during the incident.

Earlier charged with multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder before the regional trial court (RTC) were Joric Garido Labrador, Joven Calibojo Javier, Benjie Buladola Rodriguez, and Osmundo Rojas Rivero.

All of those charged are in the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation.

Upon the request of Remulla, the Supreme Court has ordered the transfer of all cases related to the Degamo killing to the regional trial court in Manila.

Some of the suspects earlier charged in court had linked Teves to the killing, a charge the congressman has repeatedly denied.

MT Princess Empress was carrying about 900,000 liters of industrial fuel oil when it sank due to strong waves on Feb. 28. All 20 people on board were rescued.

As of Thursday, a total of 163,498 people or 34,553 families in Mimaropa and Western Visayas have been affected by the oil spill, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said.

A state of calamity was declared in 10 cities and municipalities, it added.

At least 192 people fell ill due to the oil spill.

Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reached out to communities affected by the massive oil spill.

In cooperation with the local government of Oriental Mindoro, Legarda’s office and the DSWD provided P2,000 worth of aid under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) program to 500 fishermen and distributed

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The BCM (Bilateral Consultations Mechanism), established and first convened in 2017, has served as the primary platform for confidence building and promoting maritime cooperation between our two countries," Lazaro said at the opening of the session.

This developed as maritime forces from France and the Philippines conducted joint maneuvers in the South China Sea, apparently to develop interoperability between their forces.

In a statement, the French Embassy in Manila said that the French Navy frigate FS Prairial (F731) and the Philippine Coast Guard patrol vessel BRP Capones (MRRV-4404) participated in a passing exercise (PASSEX) in the highlycontested waters last March 20.

The embassy stressed that the exercise was "an excellent way to develop interallied interoperability as part of France’s multilateral approach in this region."

Meanwhile, Sun stressed that Manila and Beijing must commit to "good neighborliness."

The Chinese official also pushed to deepen the mutually beneficial cooperation and enhance mutual understanding and trust as "this is the

180 countries and territories.

This year’s Earth Hour activities in the country will be held at Quezon City Circle, Quezon City. The DOH, together with the World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines (WWF-Philippines), said the annual event takes the initiative of generating awareness to help address the climate crisis and promote measures that help reduce energy consumption through the the proximity of the encounter between communist rebels and government soldiers.

Southern Luzon Command Public Information Office (SOLCOM-PIO) chief Army Colonel. Dennis Caña explained that soldiers of the Army's 2nd Infantry Battalion (2IB) were responding to information about an armed group in the area and that their purpose was to authenticate the veracity of the information and to secure the civilians from any threat.

“Unfortunately, they were fired upon, wounding two soldiers. The ensuing incidents were heard by the students and school personnel," the Army official said.

Vince Lopez

Teves had also been charged with multiple murder before the DOJ in connection with the deaths of three persons in Negros Oriental in 2019.

He is also facing criminal charges for alleged illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

Teves, who traveled to the United States for “medical reasons” has not returned to the Philippines since March 9, the last day of his authorized travel.

The House of Representatives has unanimously ordered him suspended for 60 days.

It has not yet responded to the governor’s widow’s request that he be expelled.

The PNP said it is now focusing its investigation on the “main players” in Degamo’s assassination.

“We are looking at their possible accomplices, intermediaries, and possibly the alleged brain behind this case," PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said in an interview on Thursday.

Fajardo also said their investigations have already moved out of Negros Oriental and their investigators are now sifting leads in adjoining provinces based on information provided by the arrested suspects.

Aside from these testimonies, she added that the police force is now in possession of "forensic evidence" that will help fully resolve the case.

She declined to give more details, however.

As this developed, Department of National Defense chief Carlito Galvez Jr. assured the public that the government is making every effort to apprehend the culprits behind the attack.

2,000 food packs to the affected families in the municipality of Pola.

Aside from Pola, the municipalities of Naujan, Bongabong, Pinamalayan, Roxas, Gloria, Bansud, Mansalay, Bulalacao, and Calapan are also affected by the oil spill as identified by the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) of Oriental Mindoro.

Legarda also met with DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian to discuss the other assistance needed.

On March 10, Legarda called on the concerned Senate committee, with the cooperation of all government agencies, to immediately conduct an inquiry on the environmental, health, and tourism impact of the oil spil.

The PCG, meanwhile, has sought the assistance of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPCF) to boost the country’s efforts in cleaning up the oil spill off Naujan town in Oriental Mindoro. (See full story online at manilastandard.net) only right path for us to develop the bilateral relations."

"Maritime issues are an important part of China-Philippines relations that should not be ignored," Sun said.

"In the past years, through friendly dialogue and consultations, our two countries have generally managed and effectively dealt with our differences on maritime issues and we have also advanced our practical cooperation and mutual trust."

On Thursday, diplomats from both sides convened for a two-dayconsultative meeting that aimed at discussing the Philippine-China bilateral relations as well as the countries' dispute over the South China Sea.

China and the Philippines continue to fight for territorial sovereignty over the waters, with Manila consistently protesting the Chinese incursion into the internationally-recognized Philippine waters.

Lazaro stressed that the Philippines believes strengthening the countries' diplomatic relations, amid differences, "can be achieved through the exhaustion of all diplomatic means and through recently established communications mechanisms."

"We need to properly deal with these issues through friendly consultations," Sun said, reiterating China's oft-repeated positions. Rey E. Requejo (See full story online at manilastandard.net) one-hour switch-off.

Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, as the Vice-chair for Disaster Preparedness of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, encouraged all provincial governors, city and municipal mayors, and village leaders to embark on Earth Hour activities that are aligned with the new global action plan for nature for the coming decade. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)