News Briefs: May 5, 2019

CIDG probes if politician owns seized firearms

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines — Authorities are now investigating if a local politician is the real owner of the cache of firearms and ammunition seized on Friday from a house rented by a woman in Lanao del Norte.

The suspect was identified by the Criminal and Investigation Detection Group in Northern Mindanao (CIDG-10) as Mary Ann Canoy, 36, married, and a resident of Barangay Labuay in Maigo town, Lanao del Norte.

CIDG-10 said Canoy, a former overseas Filipino worker, was arrested by a joint team of police and military operatives when they found firearms and ammunition under the bed inside her rented house.

Confiscated were a shotgun, three M16 rifles, two M1 Garand rifles, six pieces bandolier, a .45-caliber  pistol and two clips of ammunition, a holster, and three boxes of assorted ammunition.

Maj. Napoleon Carpio, CIDG-10 deputy regional chief, said the suspect might be working for someone else.

Carpio said that Canoy’s employer was a political figure whom he declined to identity. —Jigger J. Jerusalem

Palay prices fall due to rice imports

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines — Palay prices have fallen across the country as more rice stocks are imported due to Republic Act No. 11203 (the Rice Tarrification Act), the group Bantay Bigas said.

Palay prices dropped from P14 per kilo to P13 in Nueva Ecija province, and from P15 to P14 in Laguna. A kilo of palay now sells for P16 in Isabela province and P14 in South Cotabato, according to Cathy Estavillo, Bantay Bigas spokesperson.

Estavillo said the falling prices showed the “destructive impact” of RA 11203 which imposed tariffs on foreign grains that enter the country after fully liberalizing rice importation.

Estavillo said around 2.6 million metric tons of imported rice have entered the local market this year, citing government

data. —Tonette Orejas