NEWS BRIEFS | 15 November 2024

Camiguin a benchmark for disaster preparedness – OCD

The island province of Camiguin has been recognized by the Office of Civil Defense as a benchmark for disaster preparedness and response for other provinces in Northern Mindanao to follow.

OCD Administrator Ariel Nepomoceno said he had observed how local response units of Camiguin performed during an earthquake drill conducted in the province this week.

The quarterly drill was participated in by disaster and response teams of local government units in Region 10. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)

Dengue cases in Caraga up by 194%

Dengue cases in the CARAGA region has spiked by more than 194 percent from January to November this year, the Department of Health Region 13 said.

DOH region 13 data recorded 13,319 dengue cases in 2024 compared to 4,528 cases during the same period in 2023.

The province of Surigao del Norte reported the highest dengue cases in the region with 4,135 cases followed by Surigao del Sur with 3,440 cases. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)

Shabu worth P5.78k seized in Zamboanga City

Police arrested two persons and seized P5,780,000 worth of shabu during a buy-bust operation in Zamboanga City last Monday.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Zamboanga director Maharni Gadaoni-Tosoc identified the suspects as Nasser Usman, 63, and Fraiser Sahibaini, 44, residents of Sta Barbara and Zone 4 village in Zamboanga City.

Tosoc said PDEA agents seized 17 pieces of plastic bags of suspected shabu, P1,000 bill marked money placed on top of 949 pieces of counterfeit money during the buy-bust operation conducted at Martha Drive, Barangay Sta. Barbara. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)