Author: m4gaz1nclub

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday administered the oath of office to new Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Acting Secretary Kim Robert de Leon at Malacañang Palace.

At 32, de Leon is now the youngest member of the Marcos Cabinet.

He is an assistant professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman, where he graduated magna cum laude and class valedictorian with a degree in public administration in 2014. He later completed a master’s degree in urban and regional planning in 2019.

The new Cabinet secretary also topped the 2016 Environmental Planning Licensure Examination and earned a certificate in business process management from Queensland University of Technology.

This is not the first time de Leon will be taking a role at the DBM. He previously served as an undersecretary at the agency from September 2021 to July 2022. 

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has arrested several foreigners in three separate operations for allegedly engaging in illegal online activities.

In a press conference on Wednesday, NBI Director Melvin Matibag said that agents arrested five Koreans, six Vietnamese two Chinese and one Malé national.

According to the NBI-Special Action Unit’s agent-on-case, the five Koreans are involved in the alleged use of an online game called “Lineage Classics,” which he said is very popular in the Korean online gaming market.

He said two of the Korean nationals are based in Angeles, Pampanga, while the three others are based in Imus, Cavite. 

“They employed Filipino nationals to pilot or to play for them in exchange of money. Now, yung Lineage account kasi natin po is considered a digital storer of value. And since this stores a digital value, it has a pecuniary amount that can be exchanged in cryptocurrency and in Korean won,” the agent-on-case said.

Justice Acting Secretary Fredderick Vida on Tuesday said the culprits behind last week’s shooting inside the Senate building have already been “identified.”

“We’ve identified them, but I don’t want to preclude our panel, though it’s somewhat broad,” Vida said in response to a question inquiring about who the suspects are.

He explained that the investigation panel is not only probing the events of May 13 (Wednesday) — when the shooting occurred — but also the timeline which began on May 11 (Monday).

“As to who the culprit is, I don’t want to preempt it yet. As to the type of cases that will be filed, again, I don’t want to preempt my panel,” he said.

Meanwhile, Vida, in the same press conference, said the DOJ has received reports from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and these findings have been turned over to the panel.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is also set to submit its report on the shooting to Vida, which will be given to the probe team.

The Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Tuesday announced that the Land-Based Service Contracting Program (LBSP), which grants fare discounts to commuters, will end on May 22.

According to the LTFRB, the LBSP, which offers a 20 percent fare discount to regular passengers and a total 40 percent discount to students, senior citizens and persons with disabilities is set to end at 11:59 p.m. on Friday.

With the end of the program, LTFRB chair Vigor Mendoza II said he already advised all the agency’s personnel to remove and discontinue all activities related to the program.

These include the conduct of QR code and manual scanning; provision of the 20 percent discount being implemented under the program; and display, installation, or hanging of official LBSCP tarpaulins, signages and other promotional or identification materials associated with the program.

“You are directed to inform all onboarded beneficiaries under the LBSCP to cease and discontinue all activities related to the implementation of the program upon the expiration of the aforementioned date and time,” a memorandum issued by Mendoza read.

Meanwhile, the LTFRB also announced that the P10 per liter discount for the transport sector will continue as a total of 141,724 units of passenger jeepneys and UV Express were already uploaded to the fuel discount subsidy program, which means that these units can already avail of the discount for diesel.

Three “high-value individuals” were arrested after around P1.3 million worth of shabu was seized in a buy-bust operation in Taguig City on Tuesday, the Southern Police District (SPD) said.

According to the SPD, the three suspects—all identified only with their alias: “Nash,” 25; “Parouk,” 32; and “Dustin,” 18—were arrested on Tuesday evening inside a commercial establishment in Barangay Lower Bicutan, Taguig City.

They were successfully arrested after an undercover police officer acted as poseur-buyer and transacted with the suspects, which led to their arrest.

Authorities then recovered more or less 200 grams of suspected shabu with an estimated value of P1.36 million, along with buy-bust money, one white long envelope, and one black Vivo Android cellular phone allegedly used in the illegal transaction.

The suspects are now facing charges for violation of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

All three are currently under the custody of DDEU-SPD pending inquest proceedings before the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office.