TAGUDIN DECLARED JUETENG-FREE
TAGUDIN, Ilocos Sur: “Only the financers of jueteng gain from its operations,” said Mayor Roque Versoza Jr., as he declared the town of Tagudin in Ilocos Sur province jueteng free.

This town will remain jueteng free, Versoza disclosed. “I have been pressured by operators and other politicians to give a green light for jueteng operations in my town, but I said no,” he said. If one wants to stop jueteng operations, it only takes political will, he added. Tagudin is the only town in the region that is jueteng free. THOM F. PICAÑA

PHILEX COMPLETES COMMUNITY CONSULTATIONS
The country’s biggest mining company on Monday said that it has completed the consultations for the prepara-tion of the rehabilitation program for its Silangan copper–gold project in Surigao del Norte province, which would create sustainable development for host-communities upon mine closure. Victor Francisco, vice president for Environment and Community Relations at Philex Mining Corp., said that they have formulated the Final Mine Rehabilitation and Decommissioning Plan through a third-party expert and in consultation with the host-communities, in order to ascertain that stakeholders carry out the rehabilitation program after the project’s mine life. “We assure the community that Philex Mining will take care of the Silangan Project even after its operations,” Francisco said in a statement. He added that Philex Mining would work for the sustainable development of the community, in order to make it self-sufficient even after the life of mine. JAMES KONSTANTIN GALVEZ

11 LAWMEN AWARDED FOR BRAVERY
ILOILO CITY: A total of 11 policemen of the Iloilo City Police Office were cited by its mayor, Jed Patrick Mabilog, on Monday of October 29, 2012 for bravery in the conduct of a checkpoint in Jaro district that resulted to the death of suspected hired killer Gilbie Peñafiel Principe on October 13. The police also tagged Principe, a native of Brgy. Iwa Macatol, Pototan, Iloilo as the one behind several robbery cases in the city and province of Iloilo, particularly in the recent Kings Oil holdup in Pavia. Mabilog said that the awarding of city policemen follows a successful conduct of police checkpoint at Brgy. Our Lady of Lourdes in Jaro town and a hot pursuit operation against Principe in the house of Gregoria Baterna in nearby Del Carmen St. The suspect entered a comfort room followed by policemen PO3 Fidel Mosquito and PO1 Christian Lava and both policemen suffered shrapnel wounds when the suspect unpinned a hand grenade that also killed him. LYDIA C. PENDON

DRAGNET VS. LOOSE FIREARMS EXPANDED
ILOILO CITY: The Philippine National Police (PNP) regional command is working closely to expand its operation against loose firearms in Western Visayas. PNP regional chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz had issued an ultimatum to gun holders with expired gun licenses to renew and avail of legitimate permit to carry and gun permit at home as the deadline nears on December 31, 2012. The firearms and license division reported that there are 37,821 registered firearms in the region and 33,675 firearms have expired licenses. The un-renewed licenses include 29,573 individual firearms and 4,102 juridical firearms. LYDIA C. PENDON

ANGELES CITY GETS HONORS FOR GOVERNANCE
ANGELES CITY: The city government of Angeles City has received three prestigious awards on transparency and good governance, the city’s information office (CIO) said. CIO head Deo Sambilay said that the awards were presented by Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in the ceremony held at the Oxford Hotel, Clark Freeport Zone. These are the Local Governance Performance Management System (LGPMS) Certificate of Recognition-Top 10 for two years in a row; Seal of Good Housekeeping for second straight year; and, the very prestigious Gawad Pamana ng Lahi Award?Highly-Urbanized City category. Angeles City joined the list of the Top 13 provincial, city and municipal governments that gained the highest scores for 2011 in the DILG-administered LGPMS, which is being done annually. FROILAN E. MAGTOTO