Breaking News

KORONADAL CITY --- A villager perished and two footbridges over two rivers were damaged by flashfloods Tuesday in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato that affected hundreds of villagers, mostly ethnic T’bolis.

Rolly Aquino, OIC of the South Cotabato Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said Wednesday the cadaver of the villager who was drowned in rampaging floodwaters in Barangay Ned, Lake Sebu had been recovered by local emergency responders.

GUINDULUNGAN, Maguindanao  – An early morning ambush in a remote village here left nine persons dead, officials said.

Involved in the ambush were two luxury vehicles traveling in convoy, according to Mayor Midpantao Midtimbng Jr of Guindulungan town.

He said the ambush occurred in Sitio Dam, Barangay Malumamis, Guindulungan at past 8 a.m.

Responding police counted nine dead bodies inside and outside a maroon Mitsubishi Montero (RNW-889) and Black Ford Ranger (LAC-6907).

COTABATO CITY – The local government minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) remains optimistic that the good practices of local government units (LGUs), recognized and awarded during the BARMM 3rd founding anniversary, will be replicated by other towns and localities.

Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, BARMM interior and local government minister, said the awarding of performing LGUs in the region forms part of the “recognition mechanism” the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) has put forward to improve governance.

COTABATO CITY - Regional COVID-19 tracker as of January 18, 2022 (6:00 PM)

TWO-HUNDRED-SEVENTY-EIGHT (278) NEW CONFIRMED CASES

FORTY-SIX (46) NEW RECOVERIES

ONE (1) NEW COVID-19 RELATED DEATH

One (1) reported death from General Santos City. The 58,317th reported confirmed case, 77 years old female. Cause of death is Acute Respiratory Failure, Community-Acquired Pneumonia High Risk, and COVID -19 Confirmed.

BREAKING NEWS: Isang unit ng Mindanao Star bus na biyaheng Davao City - Cotabato City ang pinasabugan ng bomba malapit sa checkpoint ng Aleosan, North Cotabato nitong umaga ng Martes.

Ayon sa panayam sa isang motoristang nasa area, bandang alas 8 nitong umaga ng masaksihan nila ang biglang pagsabog sa loob mismo ng bus partikular sa likurang bahagi nito.

Sa inisyal na ulat apat ang sugatan mula sa 20 sakay ng bus.

This is a developing story

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – Fourteen Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighter (BIFF) combatants surrendered anew to Joint Task Force Central forces at Barangay Salunayan, Midsayap, Cotabato on January 06, 2021.

MANILA – The country is now classified high risk for Covid-19 following the increase in cases toward the end of 2021, a health official said Monday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the epidemic curve shows the current average daily cases have increased significantly by 570 percent this week – December 27, 2021 to January 2, 2022 – which is seven times higher than in previous weeks.

KIDAPAWAN CITY --- Two co-owners of a roadside eatery and two policemen perished in a shootout in Barangay Bialong in Mlang, North Cotabato early Wednesday.

The two policemen, Master Sgt. Fletcherlyn Dominic Pido and Staff Sgt. Arman Alquiza Bada, were in a team tasked to arrest the siblings John Kevin and Jerson Rey Papna right in their establishment in Barangay Bialong, Mlang but the mission turned haywire when the duo resisted, provoking a clash.

MANILA - The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday reported two imported cases of the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant detected from the 48 samples sequenced Tuesday.

In a joint statement with the University of the Philippines - Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC) and the University of the Philippines - National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH) the DOH also reported 33 cases positive for the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant while 13 had no lineage assigned.

COLUMBIO, Sultan Kudarat ---- Authorities uprooted and burned 11,000 marijuana plants in an operation Tuesday in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat.

Naravy Duquiatan, director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-12, placed at P2.2 million their estimate of the marijuana plants reportedly propagated by a certain Vincent Estrada and an accomplice named Vergil.

The marijuana plants were neatly planted in rows in an upland area in Sitio Asmakul-Basag in Barangay Sinapulan, Columbio.