REDUCE POVERTY

VIGAN CITY, Ilocos Sur — A lady lawmaker appealed to the government for the full implementation of laws for rural livelihood to reduce poverty in the countryside. Senator Loren Legarda made her appeal as she agreed to the statement of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde that the Philippines should ensure inclusive growth, especially through support for rural enterprises, to reduce poverty. Legarda noted Lagarde’s observation that despite the positive economic growth in the country, 42% of the Philippine population is still poor. (Freddie G. Lazaro)

YOUTH WRITE ON ROBREDO LEGACY

MASBATE CITY — Campus writers in Masbate expressed their thoughts on the legacy of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse M. Robredo in the “Bicol 2012 On-the-Spot Essay Writing Contest” held over the weekend. Jointly sponsored by Kaya Natin Movement and Bicol Harvest Magazine, the office here of the Philippine Information Agency held the elimination on the provincial level at 7:30 a.m. last Saturday, at the Masbate National Comprehensive High School. High school juniors and seniors competed in the category I while first and second-year college students vied in category II. Ten winners in the elimination picked out from each category received prizes with the top three getting P5,000; P3,000 and P2,000. (PIA)

SECURITY MOVE

CAMP GEN. FLORENDO, La Union — Senior Inspector Benigno Sumawang has been assigned as Officer-in-Charge of Tubao Police Station, a move which Chief Superintendent Franklin Jesus B. Bucayu expects to improve the security situation in a town marred by recent killings. Bucayu ordered the relief of Senior Inspector Luis C. Liban as the town’s top cop following shooting incidents that killed a lawyer and a barangay official as well as an ambush of Tubao Mayor Dante Garcia, who luckily survived. Bucayu said that there is no incident related to politics so far in the region “but we are now closely monitoring the other areas." (Mar T. Supnad)

CONSUMER TILT

TRECE MARTIRES CITY, Cavite — The Munting Ilog National High School in Silang was the first runner-up in the just concluded Department of Trade and Industry-Calabarzon-sponsored “Dulaang Pangmamimili 2012” competition held at the Malayan Colleges Laguna auditorium in Cabuyao, Laguna. The school received P15,000 worth of cash and gift checks including plaques, trophies, and medals courtesy of sponsors. Batangas State University emerged as the overall champion while Regional Pilot School for Arts in Rizal was second runner-up. (PIA)

2 QUAKES HIT NORTH, SOUTH

SINAIT, Ilocos Sur — A magnitude 4.1 earthquake shook Ilocos province last Saturday afternoon but caused no casualties or property damage, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported yesterday. Phivolcs researcher Porferio De Peralta said the temblor at 6:08 p.m. Saturday had an epicenter 10 kilometers southwest of Currimao, Ilocos Norte with a depth of 17 km. Another quake, with a magnitude of 3.1, struck 20 kilometers southwest of Lubang Island, Occidental Mindoro shortly after midnight yesterday. Both tremors had no intensity. (Freddie G. Lazaro)