NEWS BRIEFS | 11 June 2025

4 nabbed in anti-drug operation in Cotabato City 

Police arrested four construction workers and seized 14 heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets believed containing shabu from their possession during an anti-drug operation in Cotabato City Friday las week.

Gil Cesario Castro, director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the BARMM, said the suspects were operating an alleged drug den in Rosary Heights 10 village.

Top NPA leader nabbed in Cagayan de Oro

An alleged high-ranking New People’s Army leader from southern Mindanao was arrested by intelligence agents who chased him all the way to a relocation community in Cagayan de Oro City last week.

Brig. Gen. Michael Santos, commander of the Army’s 603rd Infantry Brigade, said a joint police-military team found Edward Flores hiding in Habitat Phase 2, Indahag village in Cagayan de Oro City.

Santos said Flores had long been sought by authorities for being the secretary of the NPA Far South Mindanao Region in the area of Region 12.

Comelec to hold registration in BARMM to accommodate young voters

Reversing its earlier decision, the Commission on Elections has decided to hold a voter registration on July 1 to 11 in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia said they reconsidered the plan to prevent the disenfranchisement of 1.8 million BARMM residents aged 15 to 17 years old who voted in the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in 2023.

Garcia said Comelec offices nationwide will also open its doors for the BARMM youth to register as voters on said dates.