Officers and members of the Philippine Association of Medical Technologists, Inc. coming from different parts of MIndanao and Luzon are all ears, as Mayor Celso Lobregat talks about Zamboanga City in his speech during the socialization night Sept. 4. JOEY BAUTISTA

Sarangani - A member of the Philippine Army’s 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade, Light Armor Division, looks for a perfect spot to plant a coffee seedling during the tree planting activity organized by Smart Communications and Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) (Cocoy Sexcion/SIO)

Sarangani - PENRO workers join the tree planting activity in Kalminda village, barangay Lun Masla. (Cocoy Sexcion/SIO)

A Ramadan gift-giving (distribution of food and basic-need items) was held by the Western Mindanao Command under Lt. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino and Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines led by Capt. Robert Gusentine, U.S. Navy, last Monday in Barangay Arena Blanco

A lawyer of the Maguindanao massacre victims recently cautioned the public to brace for a lengthy trial of the multiple murder cases involving members of the influential Ampatuan family.

Government and media groups have acceded to a four-point consensus on the proper observance of safety measures to ensure that media coverages do not hamper police or security operations in times of crisis situations.

Soon the Sta. Cruz Islands (the Great Sta. Cruz Island and the Small Sta. Cruz Island) will be a must go tourism destination in Southern Philippines. For now, it is not as famous as Boracay Island or has the complete facilities of a high end resort, but eventually throngs of tourists will flock it and make it part of their itinerary because of its pink sand, cool sea breeze, and tempting blue clear water. Sta. Cruz will be famous and bring tourism prosperity to our city.

Sweet potato, cassava, taro and yam locally known as kamote, kamoteng kahoy, gabi, and ube, respectively are some of the starchy root crops found to have low glycemic index (GI).

Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said on Monday that the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III will continue to stand for the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program as an effective tool against poverty.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas view the bungling of the hostage crisis in Manila as a one-off event that should not derail the continued strengthening of the external sector where the numbers grow in direct proportion to the intensity of investigations going on.

Farm gate price of chicken has been reduced from P54 to P52 a kilo due to the proliferation of imported chicken parts in the market, Agham Party-list Rep. Angelo Palmones said on Thursday.

DAGUPAN CITY — A Chinese firm is setting up a tissue paper factory in Barangay Salay, Mangaldan, the first foreign investment that so far came to the town.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) had dispatched a team to examine the tourist bus parked at the Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig to establish the trajectory of the bullets fired on the bus.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Monday said the government and police officials should stop finger-pointing and admit the laxity in the hostage incident in Manila last August 23.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo on Monday clarified that the memorandum dated Aug. 9, 2010 was issued only to set the procedures to be followed in the issuance of a detail or extension of detail service of police personnel.