PNA

MASBATE CITY, March 10  - Candidates vying for local elective positions and leaders of contending political parties in Masbate vowed to shun violence and vicious political rivalry as they forged a covenant of peace for honest and credible national elections in May.

The signing of the peace covenant was the highlight of a multi-sectoral mobilization of civil society organizations in Masbate on Tuesday dubbed "A Walk for MY HOME" (Masbate Yearning for Honest, Orderly and Meaningful Election).

NAGA CITY, Feb. 23  - Some 15,400 farmers tilling 5,512 hectares of rice farms in five towns and one city in Camarines Sur stand to suffer P375 million in palay losses due to the limit imposed by the Buhi municipal government in the release of water for irrigation from Lake Buhi.

MANILA, Feb. 18 - A special task force organized by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to oversee the conduct of peaceful and credible elections in Masbate province was launched on Wednesday morning at the Masbate Coliseum, a Philippine Army official said.

LEGAZPI CITY, Feb. 12 -- The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) warned climbers, tourists and guides against entering the six-kilometer radius permanent danger zone of Mayon Volcano as it still poses danger under alert level two.

MANILA, Feb. 5 -- Inter-agency cooperation among the Philippine Navy and local authorities in Bikol resulted to the recovery of 400 flitches of illegally cut logs and capture of a vessel engaged in illegal fishing, it was reported Friday.

Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo said Diesel Fast Craft 321 (DF 321) with a SEAL team and intelligence operatives on board recovered the logs seven kilometers off Dalahican, Quezon while being towed by two separate vessels early morning of Wednesday.

LEGAZPI CITY, Feb. 2- The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Bikol generated some P12.09 million last year from various permits, rentals and administrative fees.

Of the amount generated, P8.86 million were collected by the Land Management Service (LMS) while P3.23 million were collected by the Forest Management Service (FMS), according to the DENR 2009 annual report.

DAET, Camarines Norte, Jan. 27 -- All systems go for the Palarong Bikol 2010 in this province set on Feb. 1 to 5.

Department of Education (DepEd) regional director Celedonio Layon said delegations from the elementary and secondary levels from different provinces and cities across Bikol region are expected to arrive starting Wednesday.

Prior to the sports competition, organizers slate the rehearsal and pictorial of candidates for Search for Palarong Bikol on Jan. 28; literary, musical and folkdance contest on Jan. 29; and talent competition on Jan. 30.

MANILA, Jan. 9 -Senator Richard J. Gordon is optimistic that millions of employees of delinquent employees could now re-avail of their benefits from the Social Security System (SSS) with the enactment of the SSS condonation law.

Republic Act No. 9903, or the Social Security Condonation Act, would also help ease the burden from non-compliant companies that were facing economic difficulties.

MANILA, Dec. 30 - The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said on Wednesday the reported death of four people staying at evacuation camps in Albay could be attributed to disease and not to poor care of the government.

DSWD Secretary Esperanza I. Cabral said in an interview that the victims were already in poor health condition prior to their admission to evacuation camps in Legazpi City and Guinobatan.

She also stressed that the government is focused on providing quality care on the more than 50,000 evacuees sheltering in the said camps.