By Paolo Gabriel D. Jamer Vice Governor Imelda Papin has condemned Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte for allegedly slapping three security guards of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) at the provincial capitol complex in Cadlan, Pili, at around 9:00 PM on Jan. 20 after the guards refused entry and allow personnel sent by the lawmaker to install closed-circuit television (CCTVs) cameras inside the legislative building. In a press conference on Jan

By Mavic Conde Vice President Leni Robredo, who is also the lone woman presidential aspirant for the 2022 elections, believes that her gender is not a weakness. “Kung katapangan lang naman, hindi ito nakikita sa gender. Nakikita ito kung paano ka nagdedesisyon sa maraming aspeto ng iyong buhay,” Robredo said during her interview with veteran broadcast journalist Jessica Soho for the Presidential Interview aired over GMA News. Robredo gave that answer when asked if the Philipp

By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz The first package of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) Bicol project will begin construction in the first quarter of the year. In a press briefing in Malacañang recently, PNR General Manager Junn Magno said the package would consist of the PNR Bicol’s first 380 km. from Banlic, Calamba to Daraga, Albay. “The construction works will begin (in) the first quarter of 2022,” Magno said in Filipino. During the briefing, Department of Transportation (D

By Mar S. Arguelles A police officer and his brother were arrested after allegedly killing an Indian national and a barangay councilor. A police report said the suspects were identified as Corporal Bryan Aguilar of Barangay Maporong, a crime investigator assigned at the Polangui Municipal Police Station and Raymond Isaac Salanga, 23, of Barangay Mendez, also in Polangui. Maj. Maria Luisa Calubaquib, Bicol police spokesperson, said the victims were Parmindes Singh, an Indian n

By Mavic Conde Three mayors from Camarines Sur have denied that they are supporters of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is running for president in the 2022 elections. Recently, the Marcos camp claimed in a press release that the 11 mayors from Camarines Sur supported the candidacy of Marcos after meeting with him. Sipocot Mayor Tomas Bocago, Pamplona Mayor Boy Franco and Milaor Mayor Anthony Reyes have all denied the claim of the Marcos camp that they are supporting the presidentia

By Paulo DS. Papa and Joe Caguimbal Vice President and presidential aspirant Leni Robredo on Saturday, Jan. 22, officially endorsed the candidates of the Anduyog party who are running for various local, congressional and provincial positions in the May 9, 2022 polls during a conference in Barangay Abo, Tigaon, Camarines Sur. Robredo endorsed the following Anduyog candidates: Ex-Congressman Rolando “Nonoy” Andaya Jr., for governor; Reelectionist Congressman Gabby Bordado as

By Mark A. Gomez The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Camarines Sur announced that 414 barangays out of 1063 barangays in Camarines Sur were already cleared of illegal drug activities last year. PDEA Camarines Sur chief Mark Anthony M. Viray said that the agency’s anti-drug operations resulted to the clearing of the 414 villages of illegal drugs and led to the arrest of a very significant number of drug personalities. Viray said PDEA cleared 58 barangays of ille

By Mar S. Arguelles Albay Gov. Al Francis Bichara on Saturday, Jan. 22, has declared as fake news a post on social media that says he was among the four Bicol governors giving his support to the presidential bid of former Sen. Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos, Jr. Bichara on his Facebook post issued a fake news alert refuting the post made by Ang CN Radio – Bekool Radio Network that he has thrown his support to Bongbong Marcos, the son and namesake of the deposed dictator Ferdina

That nine (originally 11) of the 35 town mayors of Camarines Sur appeared in a picture published by a known national daily together with presidential aspirant and former Senator Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., Narvacan (Ilocos Norte) Mayor Luis Chavit Singson, president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines as well as Deputy Speaker Martin G. Romualdez, comes not surprising at all. In the same vein, seeing members of the prominent Raval and Fariñas clans of Ilocos Nort

It’s heartbreaking to hear my sister intermittently bark out a cough which sounds like it’s drawn from the depth beneath her throat. For all I know, I could have been fully or partly responsible for her acquiring that ailment. I was already becoming a fan of her immune system when she was still well when I had already been coughing for a couple of days. Then, a day or two later, she was echoing the sound that I was making. I guess it was inescapable. I also heard our cou

(This is a series of essays on the trains in Bikol, an interest triggered by this news that in the first quarter of 2022, the reconstruction of the Philippine National Railways will commence. It is said the line will stretch from Calamba in Laguna to Daraga in Albay, and later, at the second phase to Sorsogon) By the time Nora rode the train in 2016, the Philippine National Railways in Bikol has already lost its glory. The line has all but stopped except for the short trips t

Magayon pag romdoman an mga bulawan na pangaran sa linya nin komentaryo sa radio. Naoogma ako na ngonian na henerasyon sa radio igua nin sarong Irvin Borja na nag sisikat sa linya nin commentary, alas 6:45 -7:00 nin aga sa programming “Ano Daw Banwaan” (OK FM, an Radyong Balanciado). Si Ervin Borja, dai nanggad mina-atubang sa mikropono na dai pinag-aadalan an bubutasan na mga tataramon, tanganing makatao nin adal asin giya sa mga paradangog. Nagigiromdoman ko an mga koment

RPZ stands for Romualdo P. Zantua: Parokyalista, Atenista, Bikolano, Josefino, author, inventor, and a priest. He died last December 30 in Phoenix, Arizona. He was 78. Zantua was credited for inventing a computerized confession device for deaf Catholics. I first met Zantua, known as Romy to many in the Jesuit-run San Jose Seminary, in the mid-‘60s. However, I lost track of Romy after his ordination. I never bothered to ask from common friends where he was assigned or what h

Ma-consuelo an politika ngonyan ta huna mo baga sa aga na an eleksyon. Huna mo haman na an desisyon maski ngani dugay na, haloy pa bago an borotohan sa Mayo 9. An mga politiko, an mga tao pati an media, mainstream saka social, derecidido na kan saindang kampanya. An mga survey asin haka-haka mabarago pa yan. An pinaka-mahamot ngonyan pwedeng magbago pa an parong, an mga halangaw an puntos pwede pang magbaba, an mga popular pwede pang ma-ula. Sa ibong na lado an mga maluluya p

We write this column amidst the declaration by Philippine authorities that the Bicol Region is a “high risk” area. From the standpoint of Alert protocols, does this mean that we are on Alert No 4, and therefore travel to the Bicol Region is under certain conditions, such as only those with complete vaccination may be allowed or limited under a certain percentage? On the other hand, from TV and other print and broadcast media reports it appears that OCTA research authorities h