News Briefs

NGCP to interconnect Mindanao, Visayas grids

National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) planned to interconnect Mindanao and the Visayas into one power grid by 2020. Lawyer Cynthia Alabanza, NGCP assistant vice president and head of corporate communications and public affairs, said the P53-billion Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP) was a flagship program of the company but assured that funding would not come from the government. “This is privately generated,” Alabanza said. Arnaldo Claudio, MVIP construction project manager, said the project had been “certified as an energy project of national significance by the Department of Energy.” —JULIE ALIPALA

Dela Serna, ex-Cebu governor; 66

Former Cebu Gov.  Vicente “Tingting” dela Serna died on Saturday after a battle with cancer. He was 66. “It was a peaceful death,” said his daughter, Dr. Frances dela Serna, in an interview. Dela Serna’s body would be cremated on Sunday. Dela Serna was one of the leaders of the anti-Marcos movement in Cebu in the 1980s. —ADOR VINCENT MAYOL

PDP-Laban gives teaser of Senate slate

The ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) is nearing the completion of a list of its senatorial candidates and gave a teaser on Friday during its assembly. According to Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, the list possibly included him, Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go and Representatives Karlo Nograles, Monsour del Rosario, Dakila Cua and Zajid Mangudadatu, and former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chair Francis Tolentino, who lost in the 2017 senatorial elections. —LEILA B. SALAVERRIA

De Castro deserved to be CJ, says Duterte

Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro deserved her new position, according to President Duterte who administered her oath in Malacañang on Friday. —LEILA B. SALAVERRIA