News: Porac mayor, 10 more officials suspended

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Porac mayor, 10 more officials suspended

October 10, 2024

KAWIT'S POGO ISLAND Aside from Porac, Pampanga, and Bamban, Tarlac, the town of Kawit, Cavite has played host to a sprawling complex built for a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo). But unlike the other Pogo hubs, the facility built on an island has not attracted the same level of scrutiny in police or congressional investigations. File photo taken in December 2022. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

Hi there. Porac mayor, 10 more officials suspended over POGO hub

The Ombudsman has served a six-month preventive suspension on Mayor Jing Capil, nine other elected officials, and a licensing officer of Porac, Pampanga for gross neglect of duty relating to the illegal operations of a POGO in their town.

Still on POGOs — According to new Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, the POGO hub inside the 36-hectare Island Cove in Cavite, previously a resort owned by their family before being sold to businessman Kim Wong, will be shut down by Dec. 15.

"Mobilize all resources" to get OFWs out of Lebanon by all means: That's the directive of President Marcos to government agencies following Israeli airstrikes that have caused massive destruction in the southern part of the Middle Eastern country.

Legendary journalist Bob Woodward's new book, "War," contains the bombshell revelation that then President Donald Trump sent Covid-19 test kits to Russian leader Vladimir Putin despite a shortage of the vaccine in the US during the pandemic.

Our elections are no longer a "search for talent, moral uprightness, and heart for public service," laments Joel Ruiz Butuyan in Opinion. Thus, choose the few good candidates, because "Change will come from the voices of dissent and acts of defiance of those who confront power."

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FOOD

'My father and I connected through his broken English—and his food'

I am Filipino—an inheritor of a glorious past …" Chef Nicole Ponseca effortlessly recited the opening paragraph of Carlos P. Romulo's 1941 essay to explain that it served as the inspiration for the title of her 2019 James Beard finalist cookbook, "I Am Filipino: And This Is How We Cook."

By Ruth L. Navarra

REGIONS

Tarlac landfill closure delayed as TRO extended

MABALACAT CITY—A regional trial court (RTC) in Capas, Tarlac, extended the 72-hour temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) preventing the state-owned corporation from closing the 100-hectare sanitary landfill inside the New Clark City.

By Jun A. Malig

SPORTS

KQ, Kacey lead UAAP MVP race

Kevin Quiambao, La Salle's all-around cornerstone, and Ateneo's double-double machine, Kacey dela Rosa, are on track to win second straight MVPs in the men's and women's divisions, respectively, after first-round statistics for Season 87 of the UAAP basketball tournaments were released on Wednesday.

By Lance Agcaoili

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ESG

PH 'moderately improving' on jobs, economy, but...

The total number of employed persons in July 2024 was estimated at around 47.70 million, a decrease of almost 1 million from April 2024. The labor force participation rate (LFPR) for July 2024 stood at 63.5 percent, a slight decrease from the LFPR of 64.1 percent from April 2024. This translated to a total of 50.07 million Filipinos aged 15 years old and up who were in the labor force.

By Gibbs Cadiz

INQUIRER PLUS-EXCLUSIVE

PhilHealth: Benefit packages up by 50 percent by next month

Hounded by controversy for being flush with cash for improper implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) will further increase almost all of its benefit packages by up to 50 percent before the end of the year.

By Dexter Cabalza

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