Regions Briefs: Jan. 16, 2019

Baguio chills as temperature drops

BAGUIO CITY — Temperature in this city plunged at 5 a.m. on Tuesday to its lowest this year at 12 degrees Celsius, from 13.2 C on Monday.

But the weather bureau said the drop was normal as Baguio usually experienced its coldest mornings between January and February.

It was colder on Mt. Santo Tomas, in Tuba town, Benguet province, at 2,260 meters above sea level, where the temperature dropped to 9°C.

The cold spell was triggered by the northeast monsoon.

Residents and tourists were advised to wear jackets and sweaters as the mercury was expected to drop in the coming weeks.

The lowest temperature here in 2018 was 11.2°C, recorded on March 11.

In 2017, the temperature dropped to 7.3°C on Feb. 14, still far from the 6.3°C on Jan. 18, 1961. —Valerie Damian

Bello asks Isabela firm to release workers’ 13th month pay

CITY OF ILAGAN — Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Monday ordered a shopping center here to release the 13th month pay, amounting to P400,000, that its employees should have received last month.

Bello said Enjoy Shopping Center Corp. faced criminal and civil charges should it refuse to give the mandated pay.

Disgruntled workers had sought help from the police after the firm’s branch manager allegedly hurled invectives at them when they asked for their bonus.

Some workers also complained of receiving a daily wage below the required P340 minimum for service and retail workers in the province. —Villamor Visaya Jr.