“Our Holy Week preparations were very effective. Although we received some incident reports, we had a peaceful Lenten break here in Metro Manila as a whole.”—Chief Insp. Kimberly Molitas-Gonzales, National Capital Regional Police Office spokesperson
The Philippine National Police has identified 173 cities and towns in the Visayas as “election watchlist areas” in relation to the May 13 elections.
At least four feuding families agreed to bury the hatchet when they signed a peace covenant here on Thursday that the authorities hailed as timely in light of the approaching elections in May.
Poverty is the number one concern that candidates should focus on, INQUIRER.net’s survey reveals on Thursday.
The Philippine National Police on Wednesday parried criticisms that Metro Manila’s peace and order situation had been deteriorating, saying crime incidence in the capital actually dropped by 60 percent in the first month of the 2013 compared to the same period last year.
Commission on Elections Chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. on Thursday expressed his concern over the series of high-profile crimes in Metro Manila despite the election gun ban and police check points.
A Quezon City councilor sought the exemption of all barangay (village) chairmen in the city from the gun ban imposed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), claiming that the village chiefs should be considered law enforcers exposed to dangerous criminals.
If not zero, the Philippine National Police believes that there will be another significant decrease in the crime rate in the country on Sunday when Congressman Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao goes against Juan Manuel Marquez for the fourth time in their storied boxing careers in Las Vegas.
The improvement in the peace and order situation in the Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela) area for the past months has been due to the integrated patrol system, regular inspections and greater police presence and visibility, outgoing Northern Police District (NPD) director Chief Supt. Antonio Decano said.
Malacañang ruled out, on Thursday, the lifting of a state of emergency in Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City, which was imposed in November 2009, by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the aftermath of the Maguindanao massacre.
Contrary to the military’s claim, the four soldiers killed in an ambush by communist rebels in the Paquibato district here on Sunday were armed, a rebel leader said.
Sporadic clashes between followers of the feuding bothers Andy and Utto Montawal were continuing and more villagers in the municipality bearing their family name in Maguindanao were fleeing their homes, a military official said Tuesday.
A toddler was injured when members of two feuding clans clashed in municipality of Datu Montawal in Maguindanao, the police reported Friday.
