Troops kill 12 Abu Sayyaf bandits in clashes
ZAMBOANGA鈥擳he military said 12 Abu Sayyaf bandits had been killed in clashes as Army troops pressed an offensive in Sulu after the extremists were blamed for the deadly bombing of a Roman Catholic cathedral.聽 The Western Mindanao Command said the 12 militants were killed in four separate clashes on Thursday in Patikul town. The bodies of two of the slain militants were retrieved.聽 It said several army scout rangers were wounded.聽聽 The military said on Friday that the fighting involved 120 Abu Sayyaf members led by Hajan Sawadjaan and Radullan Sahiron near the village of Panglayahan.鈥擜P
Environmentalists tell Nestl茅: Stop using plastics
Environmental groups on Thursday demanded that global giant Nestl茅 end its dependence on single-use plastic, citing waste audit reports that named the multinational company as one of the top sources of plastic pollution. Interrupting the company鈥檚 annual general meeting in Switzerland, activists from Greenpeace and Break Free From Plastic Movement said the company should immediately invest in alternative delivery systems based on refill and reuse. The protest came a day after Filipino activists trooped to Nestl茅鈥檚 Philippine headquarters in Makati City to deliver an 鈥渋nvoice鈥� that detailed the impacts of single-use plastic packaging to human health and environment. 鈥淧eople can see with their own eyes the damage plastic pollution is doing to our oceans, waterways and communities,鈥� said Greenpeace international executive director Jennifer Morgan.聽 Greenpeace said Nestl茅 produced 1.7 million tons of plastic in 2018.鈥擩HESSET O. ENANO
2 would-be surrogate moms stopped at Naia
Immigration agents at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) stopped two women from boarding a flight to Hong Kong on Thursday night after admitting they were recruited to become surrogate mothers in China in exchange for P300,000. Bureau of Immigration (BI) port operations division chief Grifton Medina said human trafficking victims Ria, 32, and Ellie, 28, (not their real names) checked in for a Cebu Pacific flight bound for Hong Kong at Naia Terminal 3 but were intercepted by operatives from the BI鈥檚 travel control and enforcement unit (TCEU) at the immigration departure area.聽 BI-TCEU chief Erwin Orta帽ez said the women recounted that they were recruited through a website that invites women to bear a child for others in exchange for a fee. A surrogate mother is a woman who agrees to become pregnant and give birth to a child for another person.鈥擩EROME ANING
Cigarettes, alcohol top counterfeits seized in 2018
Cigarettes and alcohol were the most seized counterfeit goods in the country last year. Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPO) Director General Josephine Rima-Santiago said that of the total P23.6 billion worth of counterfeit goods confiscated in 2018, cigarettes and alcohol accounted for the 鈥渓ion鈥檚 share鈥� at 86 percent, or P20.3 billion. Pharmaceutical and personal care products came in second with P1.2 billion鈥檚 worth of counterfeits seized, the IPO chief said. Leather goods such as handbags and wallets, and optical media came in only third and fourth, at P821 million and P790 million, respectively. The total confiscations in 2018, Santiago said, represented a 188-percent increase聽 from 2017鈥檚 P8.2 billion.聽 At the ceremonies held at the Camp Crame grandstand on Friday, P65 million鈥檚 worth of 2018 confiscations were destroyed.鈥擩AYMEE T. GAMIL