P14-Million Pesos Worth of Shabu Seized in Iligan City

Authorities seized last Friday - March 4, 2016 two kilos of shabu worth P14 million at Gasaino Mall Iligan City. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Region 10 director Wilkins Villanueva told reporters that the anti-drug operation was the culmination of days of surveillance work. He said anti-drug operatives had been keeping an eye on a black Vios Sedan coming from Davao City, and according to an informer, has "Rodrigo Duterte" stickers.

P14-M shabu seized in Iligan City

Villaneuva said the informer told authorities that the target car was to deliver shabu to Iligan City. Police identified the four men arrested during the operation as Ryan Abdul Malik, Sanawiya Ampaso Calumbang, Khadaffy Aloyudan, and Jimmy Sarip – all were residents of Salvador, Lanao del Norte.

Villanueva said the suspects were trapped on Level 2 of the mall's parking area. Also, he said that this was the second attempt to smuggle illegal drugs into the city in months. Last year, a couple was arrested after yielding  a package containing a kilo of shabu.

Earlier, Iligan City's lone district Representative Vicente Belmonte Jr. and chairman of the committee on dangerous drugs said that the couple had been released. “Paiimbestigahan natin ito bakit napawalang-sala ang mag-asawang nahulihan ng isang kilong shabu at maging ang PDEA ay mag-iimbestiga rin,” Belmonte said in an interview on local radio.

Rape Victim OFW in Bahrain Seeking Help through Video

A video of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) seeking help after being allegedly raped and beaten by her employer’s son has been making the rounds on the Internet.

28 year old Abby Luna, a domestic worker in Hamad, Bahrain, narrated in a three-minute video uploaded on Facebook on Thursday how she had been raped, beaten and threatened by her attacker.

Luna, a native of Los Baños, Laguna, said she was raped on April 8 at her employer’s house.

Video of Rape Victim OFW in Bahrain Seeking Help

She said she sustained wounds and bruises after the attack by her employer’s son, whom she claimed was a drug addict.

Luna also said she was threatened by the rapist not to speak of the incident to her employer because she would be killed and buried in the desert.

image source: Facebook Screenshot

Though fearing for her life, she said she reported the rape to her employer who scolded her and asked her why she didn’t tell him right away.

The employer’s son, however, said Luna seduced him.

“Tulungan niyo ako (Help me), please,” a crying Luna said in the video.

“Sana matulungan ako na makaalis dito, natatakot na ako (I hope to get help so I can leave this place, I’m so scared).”

Luna said her employer had told her she had to wait for two months before she could leave and she would have to pay for her return ticket.

She was also told by the employer that if she got pregnant, she had to abort the fetus.

Luna then asked for help to contact the Philippine Embassy in Bahrain so she could be rescued.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Charles Jose told INQUIRER.net that the OFW is now in the custody of the Philippine Embassy in Bahrain.

Why Bill Gates’ Foundation Supports IRRI

Senior Officials of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) have visited the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Laguna to get updates on the food and nutrition programs the foundation has been supporting.

“We are thankful that the BMGF has come for updates on the food and nutrition security initiatives that they support,” Robert Zeigler, Director General of IRRI said in a statement.

“The foundation is a staunch partner in applying the best of science so that people in the rice-eating world will not go hungry,” Zeigler added.

Bill Gates

The IRRI said senior officials including Pamela Anderson, Director of the Agricultural Development Program, and Gary Atlin, Senior Program Officer visited the site and had a tour at IRRI’s research facilities.

Scientists gave briefings to the BMGF officials on key advances, including the latest on climate change-ready rice and healthier varieties that aim to help solve micronutrient deficiencies, which afflict about 2 billion people globally.

IRRI scientists showed to the BMGF team experimental rice plots for the development of flood- and drought-tolerant rice.

IRRI said the stress-tolerant varieties hold the promise of improving the livelihoods of the world’s poorest farmers who till lands most vulnerable to climate change.

The Inquirer earlier reported that Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates had a six-hour “confidential” visit at the IRRI’s headquarters in Laguna.

Immigration sources have said that Gates arrived in Puerto Princesa City on April 4 on a private jet with US registry number N887WM.

The American billionaire has evaded the public until he was sighted at the IRRI headquarters on Wednesday morning.

IRRI is a major grantee of the BMGF.

Read more news at Inquirer.net.