NEWSBRIEFS

TACLOBAN CITY

Prostitutes get free condoms

PROSTITUTES in this city continue to receive condoms from the city health office despite possible backlash from Church-based groups.

City Health Officer Jaime Opinion said the distribution of free condoms to sex workers is not meant to promote artificial family planning, which is opposed by the Church, but to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

The Catholic Church is opposed to artificial means of family planning, including the use of condoms, which could lead to promiscuity. But Opinion said the use of condom was among the best ways to control the spread of STDs. He  said the condoms were donated by international groups like the United Nations Population Fund.

MAASIN CITY

Woman nabbed for ‘shabu’

A JOINT police team arrested a mother of five for allegedly selling methamphetamine, or shabu.

Police said Rosita Magallanes Aguilar, 47, of Barangay Salug, Esperanza, Agusan del Sur, was arrested during a buy-bust operation in an apartment in Barangay Asuncion.

Police confiscated from Aguilar two sachets containing the alleged shabu and cash.

LAGUNA

33 arrested in drug raid

POLICE arrested 33 persons in a raid on a suspected drug den in Barangay Parian in Calamba City on Tuesday.

City police chief Supt. Joel Pernito said they had served 18 search warrants in the suspected shabu tiangge (flea market).

Police recovered 57 sachets containing suspected shabu and 66 tea bags of suspected marijuana, with a street value of around P70,000.

LEGAZPI CITY

924 computers for 84 high schools

EIGHTY-FOUR public high schools across Bicol will receive 924 computer sets that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is giving out to help hasten computer literacy among students.

Each recipient school would be provided 11 personal computers, one printer and a wireless broadband router, according to DTI regional director Jocelyn Blanco.

The following was the distribution list per province:  Albay, 12; Camarines Norte, 5; Camarines Sur, 38; Catanduanes, 6; Masbate, 10; and Sorsogon, 13