Metro Briefs: Aug. 28, 2019

Manila cops seize P1.3M worth of ‘shabu’ from Quiapo dealer

MANILA, Philippines — Manila policemen seized over P1.3 million worth of “shabu” (crystal meth) from a suspected drug courier in Quiapo on Tuesday morning.

Capt. Kherwin Evangelista, chief of the Manila Police District’s Station 3 drug enforcement unit, said that Candao Kasim was arrested in a buy-bust operation on Buenviaje and Coromina Streets at Barangay 391 around 3 a.m.

“We had just identified him as a drug personality in Quiapo. According to [the suspect], he has been distributing drugs in the area for two months,” Evangelista told the Inquirer.

Seized from the suspect were two plastic packs of shabu weighing almost 200 grams.

Evangelista said that each pack was being sold for P80,000 although its street value could shoot up to P1.36 million.

Kasim will be charged with the sale and possession of illegal drugs. —Nikka G. Valenzuela

San Juan’s 21 barangays to have Wi-Fi zones by yearend

MANILA, Philippines — San Juan can expect to be Metro Manila’s first Wi-Fi connected city before the yearend, said Mayor Francis Zamora, whose promise to suffuse the city with Wi-Fi zones had been a regular — and popular — fixture of his campaign speeches.

Zamora said in an interview on Tuesday that the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) had already started scouting for strategic areas where the various Wi-Fi access points could be installed.

“Definitely before the end of the year, it’ll already be in place,” said the mayor, who added that all 21 of the city’s barangays would have designated Wi-Fi zones.

These areas would not be limited to barangay halls or government buildings but would also extend to major public areas.

Zamora has been coordinating with Information Secretary Gringo Honasan on the project even before he won in the May elections.

Honasan chose San Juan, the smallest city in Metro Manila, as the pilot city for the DICT’s free Wi-Fi program.

This meant the Wi-Fi zones would be fully funded by the DICT, Zamora said.

He is also determined to prove that blanketing the city with Wi-Fi is no mere facile initiative, as Zamora is hoping it will lay the groundwork for a planned mobile app that will more easily connect residents to city hall. —Matthew Reysio-Cruz