Dec. 6, 2007
A Pasig City Regional Trial Court judge meted out 20 life terms to each of the 14 Abu Sayyaf members convicted of kidnapping 20 persons from Dos Palmas resort in Palawan in 2001. The judge also ordered the convicts to pay damages of between P50,000 and P300,000 to each of the victims or their heirs. This has given the Philippines the distinction, at the time, of having the biggest number of terrorists meted out long-term sentences in the world, according to then Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, who was also the spokesperson for the Anti-Terrorism Council.
Dec. 9, 2000
The conversion of the agricultural town of Muñoz in Nueva Ecija province into a science city was ratified in a plebiscite. With its ratification, the Science City of Muñoz became the fourth component city of Nueva Ecija and the first of its kind in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. About 12,468 voters favored the cityhood bid of Muñoz, while only 602 voters opposed the conversion. Muñoz was formerly declared by the Department of Science and Technology as a science community, the fifth to be classified as such in the country. Muñoz hosts 16 research and development centers and centers of excellence, such as Central Luzon State University, Philippine Rice Research Institute and Philippine Carabao Center.
Compiled by Kathleen de Villa, Inquirer Research
Sources: Inquirer Archives, DOT, officialgazette.gov.ph, dagupan.gov.ph