Policemen of the PNP Center for Aviation Security (PCAS) under Supt. Ibar Padao intercepted yesterday a cargo loaded with dried fish where they discovered a concealed illegal deadly weapon about to shipped on board a commercial plane bound for Manila.

Padao, in an interview, said they suspected this could be the handiwork of unscrupulous persons involved in gunrunning activities using the airport in shipping out their weapons to the north and that this could have been going on the past prior to their awareness drive which they started only this March among the cargo forwarders situated near the airport.

Three persons were shot and wounded in separate violent incidents in the city last Thursday night and at dawn yesterday.

The victims were Julius Jumawan, 21, of Fermin Drive, Camino Nuevo, John Stevenson Tan of Sta. Maria and Lowel Gillen of Upper Calarian.

Another local bettor of the jackpot lottery draw of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) became an instant millionaire this year winning over P16 million as one of the three major winners of the P50 million jackpot prize last January.

PCSO Regional Office Chief Lilia Nuño, the lottery operations officer whose provincial district office covers Region 9 including Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan, announced yesterday that a bettor said to belong to the middle class placed his/her bet at Joan Pharmacy in downtown and hit the major jackpot prize along with two other bettors — one from Luzon and the other also from Mindanao on January 2 this year.

The Filipinos for Peace, Justice and Progress Movement (FPJPM) welcomes the Supreme Court ruling declaring Fernando Poe, Jr. as natural born Filipino citizen by a majority vote of 8-5 and putting the issue to rest once and for all.

FPJPM Deputy Vice President for Media Affairs (Mindanao) Mohammadnur “Nung” Ajihil, said FPJPM members and supporters of FPJ are elated to know that finally the truth has come out their candidate for president is 100% Filipino that no one can now question.

Congressman Celso Lobregat reiterated yesterday that he will remain with the opposition party and will support the national candidates of the opposition contrary to rumors and speculations being spread in the city that he will most likely throw his support to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the K-4 senatorial candidates.

“I have always been with the opposition and I am loyal to the party. The late mayor and I practice honorable politics,” Lobregat told newsmen in a press briefing.

Very soon, all the remote island barangays in the city will be energized not thru Zamcelco, but courtesy of AMORE (Alliance for Mindanao Off-Grid Renewable Energy Program) a non-government organization being funded by USAID (United States Agency International Development), in coordination with the Department of Energy (DOE), the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the private sector.

This good news was relayed Thursday by AMORE Area 2 Manager Nestor Banga who identified at least 4 island barangays in the city as the initial beneficiaries of their energization program thru the modern solar system adopted from the United States. The island barangays are Pangayupan, Manalipa, Ticabon and Tumalitap in the east coast.

In his commitment to help bring electric power even to the remotest barrio, Congressman Celso Lobregat turned over yesterday P1 million check to the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco) for the energization of Sitio Pole Grande, La Paz.

The money came from the National Electrifiction Administration (NEA) in a form of subsidy funds through the iniative of Lobregat.

Mayoralty aspirant Lepeng Wee has vowed to continue his previous humanitarian services in the barangay level which are rarely visited and attended to by the city government, especially their projects and community programs.

Wee said that barangay road rehabilitation project, construction of water impounding dam and water systems will take place in depressed areas of Zamboanga City.