Jan. 12, 2018
The P350-million Soccsksargen Dangerous Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (DDATRC) broke ground in Alabel, Sarangani province.
The Chinese-funded drug rehab center, which has a 150-bed capacity, was turned over to the provincial government in December 2018.
The turnover rites were attended by Chinese Commercial Counselor Jin Yuan, Chinese Consul General to Davao Li Lin and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
The rehab center is part of the “China-aid Philippines” DDATRC projects, one of the agreements reached during talks between President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in October 2016.
The project was launched after the Duterte administration waged a brutal war on drugs.
Jan. 12, 2019
Three globally endangered black-faced spoonbills (Platalea minor) were spotted flying over Bangkung Malapad islet in Sasmuan town, Pampanga province, more than 100 years after its last recorded sighting in Manila Bay in 1914.
A rare migrant in the Philippines, the black-faced spoonbill is the only spoonbill species that remains categorized as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of threatened species.
Sightings of the black-faced spoonbill in the last decade were limited to Puerto Princesa City in Palawan province, Candaba town in Pampanga, Bicol River Estuary, Olango Island in Cebu province and Batan Island in Batanes province.
Compiled by Kathleen de Villa, Inquirer Research