News Briefs: August 4, 2019

FDA bans pork imports from 4 more countries

MANILA, Philippines — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) added Hong Kong, North Korea, Laos and Germany to a blacklist of countries affected by African swine fever and banned the importation of pork products from them.

Under Advisory No. 2019-229, the FDA warned consumers  against purchasing and consuming processed pork products from blacklisted countries.

Other counties in the list are China, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, Zambia, South Africa, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Mongolia, Moldova and Belgium. —Jovic Yee

Constructive possession raps vs NDF couple slammed

MANILA, Philippines — Quezon City prosecutors ordered on July 30 the release from detention of National Democratic Front (NDF) peace talks staff Alexander and Winonda Birondo amid questions on their arrest and the evidence against them.

The couple were detained for supposedly stopping and assaulting policemen who were out to arrest Rolando Caballero, who had a standing warrant of arrest for murder from a regional trial court in Northern Samar.

But the prosecutors slammed errors in the arrest and questioned whether there was constructive possession of firearms.

The charges against the couple are still undergoing preliminary investigation and the Birondos’ lawyer Rachel Pastores complained that they have not been released at press time. —Mariejo S. Ramos

Lawmen nab taxi driver for conning tourists

MANILA, Philippines — Airport authorities arrested on Friday a taxi driver for overcharging Chinese tourists P6,000 to be transferred from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1.

One of the tourists, Wang Wei, said she and her friends just paid in order to catch their return flight to China.

The authorities later arrested taxi driver Eugene del Rosario, who was found in possession of a phony fare matrix he uses to fool tourists.

The authorities said they would return the money fleeced from the Chinese tourists. —Jerome Aning