Regions Briefs: Jan. 23, 2019
Peace council: Remove solon, 16 others from narcolist
DAGUPAN CITY — The Regional Peace and Order Council in the Ilocos region recommended the removal of Pangasinan Rep. Jesus Celeste and 16 other officials from President Rodrigo Duterte’s list of suspected narcopoliticians, after it concluded that “there was no evidence of their involvement in illegal drug activities.”
Aside from Celeste, also cleared of dealings with illegal drugs were Naguilian Mayor Reynaldo Flores and Bauang Mayor Martin de Guzman, both of La Union province.
Another politician, former La Union Rep. Eufranio Eriguel, was among those cleared of the charges.
Eriguel, however, was killed on May 12 last year when armed men attacked a village and Sangguniang Kabataan meeting at Barangay Sta. Barbara in Agoo town. —Yoland Sotelo
Marijuana plants seized in Mountain Province
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency seized on Sunday 120 fully grown marijuana plants from a vegetable farm in Bauko town, Mountain Province.
The farmer cultivating the plants at Barangay Sadsadan in Bauko escaped, the agents said, adding that they were scouring nearby areas to determine whether other vegetable gardens were being used to grow marijuana. —Karlston Lapniten
Bible translated in 3 more PH languages
BAGUIO CITY — The governing body of Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW) has released Bibles in Cebuano, Waray-Waray and Tagalog, and distributed these to more than 300,000 native speakers in the country.
The release of the new Bibles coincided with the National Bible Month in January.
More than 200,000 people across the country got their free copies on Sunday, according to Mark Sanderson, a member of the governing body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
He said the New World Translation (NWT) version used modern language to encourage Bible reading and “to make it easy for God’s message to reach the heart.”
In September last year, the new Iloko Bible was also released in several Ilocano-speaking provinces. At present, NWT Bibles are available in six languages.
The Hiligaynon and Pangasinan versions were earlier released. Bibles in several languages are available online at jw.org and can be downloaded for free on JW Library app. —Gobleth Moulic, Contributor
