MANILA, Philippines — Authorities allegedly made up the informant whose testimony was used as the basis for obtaining the search warrant used against political prisoners Vicente Ladlad, Alberto Villamor and wife Virginia, according to the testimony presented by their lawyers in court on Tuesday. Ladlad, 76, a peace consultant for the National Democratic Front of

MANILA, Philippines — The recent spate of campus violence has led to a new kind of activity in public schools. The Department of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday conducted for the first time a drill simulating an “active shooter” scenario within school premises. The initiative was deemed necessary by DepEd particularly after the June 22 shooting

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan wants to look into the government’s readiness to protect the agriculture sector and ensure the country’s food supply ahead of El Niño, which is forecast to worsen and persist until early next year. Earlier this week, Pangilinan filed Senate Resolution No. 515 directing the agriculture committee, which he

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) is forming a technical working group (TWG) with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (Opapru) to recommend how to resolve or prevent clan wars called “rido” at the community level. A memorandum of agreement was signed between the DOJ and Opapru at

COTABATO CITY, BARMM, Philippines — A gun ban is in effect starting today throughout the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), marking the official start of the election period for the historic regional polls where some 2.3 million voters will finally elect 80 members of the Bangsamoro parliament on Sept. 14. The gun ban

BACOLOD CITY, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines — Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the provincial government would “go green” in the fight to eradicate the red-striped soft-scale insect (RSSI) that had infested the province’s sugarcane fields, vowing that they will not fund the proposed islandwide aerial spraying of chemicals. The provincial government will only support

OLONGAPO CITY, ZAMBALES, Philippines — Sen. Robinhood Padilla has filed a resolution seeking a Senate investigation into the reported operation of an alleged illegal open dump inside an Aeta ancestral domain in Subic, Zambales. In Senate Resolution No. 513, Padilla, chair of the Senate committee on cultural communities and Muslim affairs, called for an inquiry,