CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga - A total of 422 individuals who committed various offenses were arrested and illegal drugs with an estimated street value of PHP3.4 million were confiscated in weeklong anti-crime operations in Central Luzon. Police Regional Office (PRO) 3 (Central Luzon) chief Brig. Gen. Jose Hidalgo Jr. said Tuesday the anti-criminality operations from Feb. 19 to 25 were part of their continuing efforts to rid the region of all forms of criminality. Of the arrested individuals, 122 have standing warrants of arrest, 159 were nabbed over illegal drugs, 135 for illegal gambling, and six for violation of other special laws. Of the 122 suspects with warrants of arrest, 17 were wanted for crimes ranging from murder and frustrated murder to rape. Operatives also seized PHP3.4 million worth of illegal drugs, PHP101,499 worth of bet money, and three loose firearms. Hidalgo attributed the accomplishments to the timely coordination, intelligence-driven operations of different pol
DATA CENTER. The country's strong push for digitalization and a huge number of young workers, among others, make officials of a regional data center player optimistic of their operations in the Philippines. Digital Edge chief product officer Jonathan Chou said they consider regional players as their competitors, thus the goal to provide world-class services to Filipino clients. (Photo by Joann Villanueva) MANILA - Officials of the country's largest carrier-neutral and regional data center in the country are already studying options for a second site ahead of the opening of a joint venture firm Narra 1's first center on Tuesday. In a briefing on Monday, Digital Edge chief product officer Jonathan Chou said they aim to provide a service that will compete with data centers overseas such as those in Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States. Chou said they consider regional players and not local counterparts as their competitors, thus the aim to "really work hard" to
MANILA - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) fully awarded both the seven-day and 14-day term deposit facility (TDF) tenors on Wednesday due to strong demand despite the uptick in rates. It lowered the offer volume for the seven-day facility to PHP150 billion from last week's PHP190 billion and the two-week facility to PHP130 billion from PHP140 billion previously. Tenders for the one-week TDF reached PHP159.827 billion while it amounted to PHP164.959 billion for the two-week facility. In a statement, BSP Deputy Governor Francisco Dakila Jr. said total bids submitted during this week's TDF auction "was slightly above the BSP's expected volume range." This, after the central bank lowered the offer volume "based on actual bids received last week." The average rate of the one-week TDF rose to 6.3886 percent from 6.3559 percent during the auction last Feb. 15. The rate of the 14-day TDF also inched up to 6.4180 percent from last week's 6.3802 percent.
MANILA - A resolution calling for a constitutional convention (ConCon) to amend the 1987 Constitution hurdled committee level at the House of Representatives. During the hearing on Monday, the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments approved the still-unnumbered resolution of both houses with 16 affirmative votes, three negative votes and one abstention. The ConCon will be composed of one delegate representing every legislative district in the country. "Among the three modes of amending the Constitution, the calling for a constitutional convention to propose amendments to the Constitution to be composed of elected delegates from all legislative districts of the country would be the most transparent, exhaustive, democratic and least divisive means of implementing constitutional reforms," the resolution read. The resolution cited studies showing that particular economic provisions of the Constitution need to be revisited and recrafted so that the Philippines may become glo
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga - The Department of Public Works and Highways in Central Luzon (DPWH-3) said on Monday it will implement a total of 2,452 infrastructure projects this year. DPWH-3 Regional Director Roseller A. Tolentino said some PHP98.47 billion was allocated for the implementation of various projects in the region. Tolentino said Central Luzon received a 35.24 percent increase in this year's budget compared to the PHP72.3 billion released last year. "Our big-ticket connectivity projects have been given appropriate funding to ensure that these access and bypass roads are fully operational at the earliest," he said in a statement. He particularly cited the construction of the Lubao-Guagua-Minalin-Sto. Tomas (LGMST) Road and the Palihan-Mabiga-SBMA Access Road which is now in full swing. Other big-ticket connectivity projects, he said are the San Ildefonso-San Rafael-San Miguel Bypass Road and Capas-Botolan Road which are set for completion by 2025 and the 6