News Briefs: August 10, 2019

LTO to refund RFID fees starting next week

More than two years after the Supreme Court nixed their project for flouting bidding rules, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Friday said it would finally refund radio frequency identification (RFID) fees collected from motor vehicle owners in 2009 starting next week. LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante said around 85,657 vehicle registrants may start claiming their P350 refund, plus a minimal P9 interest (covering February 2010 to June 17, 2019), at the LTO district office, where it was collected, starting Aug. 15. —KRIXIA SUBINGSUBING

Duterte raises bounty for cop killers to P6M

President Duterte has raised to P6 million the bounty for the capture of the killers of four policemen who were ambushed in Negros Oriental province last month. He said he was raising funds to raise the reward to up to P50 million. His announcement came days after two suspects in the murders were arrested. The President has blamed communist rebels for the July 18 ambush of the policemen in Ayungon, Negros Oriental. “As of now, it’s P6 million. I will let it reach P30 million to P50 million,” he said at the promotion of police generals at Malacañang on Thursday evening. —JULIE M. AURELIO

More police commando battalions sought

President Duterte wants more commandos recruited into the Philippine National Police’s elite Special Action Forces (SAF) to help combat terrorism. The President said he would need about seven to 10 more commando battalions in addition to the six that were already on duty. “We will have terrorism. What I am fearful for is what they are doing. You know what I mean and I don’t want to raise an alarm before the public,” he added. On Thursday night, Mr. Duterte tasked PNP chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde to get started on recruiting more policemen to the SAF, the PNP’s elite unit. The President also vowed to give the PNP an additional P50 million for the conduct of intelligence operations to bring down the narcotics trade in the country. —JULIE M. AURELIO

Monsoon rains to persist over weekend

Rains caused by the southwest monsoon, called habagat, will continue to persist over Metro Manila and the western part of Luzon over the weekend, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said. Weather specialist Ana Clauren said Metro Manila would continue to experience cloudy skies, scattered rain showers and thunderstorms over the weekend. Meanwhile, the western section of Luzon, including Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Zambales and Bataan will continue to experience monsoon rains brought by the habagat.—Patricia Denise M. Chiu