NEWS BRIEFS | 16 January 2025

Phillipine Navy rescues passengers, crew of stranded vessel off Tawi-Tawi waters

A Philippine Navy patrol boat rescued 106 passengers and 15 crewmembers of a vessel that was stranded off the waters of Tawi-Tawi province.

Rear Admiral Francisco Tagamolila Jr., chief of the Naval Force Western Mindanao, said that personnel of BRP Jose Loor Sr. rescued the passengers and crew of M/L Sayang 1, a wooden-hulled passenger ship that had been adrift for six days due to engine failure.

Tagamolila said M/L Sayang 1 was reported missing last January 8 until local fishermen found it drifting on Tuesday, January 14, off Siklangkalong Island in Panglima Sugala in Tawi-Tawi province.

Bill seeks CDO as country’s whitewater rafting capital

A bill declaring Cagayan de Oro City as the “Whitewater Rafting Capital of the Philippines” has been filed before the House of Representatives.

Representative Yevgeny Vicente Emano (2nd district, Misamis Oriental), primary author of the measure, said that House Bill 11108 aims to integrate whitewater rafting activities to the national and regional promotions of the Department of Tourism (DOT).

The DOT said 775,024 tourists visited Cagayan de Oro City and Misamis Oriental in 2023, and 20,000 of them experienced whitewater rafting activities along the Cagayan de Oro River.

First Blaan doctor in Koronadal honored

The local government of Koronadal City honored the city’s first Blaan doctor in a ceremony attended by fellow indigenous peoples and other stakeholders.

“Never stop dreaming. Never stop believing. Never stop trying and never stop learning,” Doctor Jennie Magaling told the audience during the ceremony hosted by the city government.

Magaling graduated from the Davao Medical School Foundation in Davao City. She was a scholar of the Catholic Mission for the Indigenous Peoples under the Diocese of Marbel. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)