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Public utility vehicles (PUVs) 15 years and older should be phased out, said Negros Occidental governor Alfredo G. Marañon Jr.

The strike of passenger jeepneys today has forced the city government to suspended classes in public and private schools in all levels.

Small Town Lottery (STL) may be legal but it is immoral, a priest in the Diocese of Bacolod stressed.

Today, the former barangay captain of Intaluan, Pototan, Iloilo from whose house one kilo of shabu was recovered on Saturday will be charged with violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

A village councilman was shot dead and his companion wounded in Barangay Ilas Sur, Dao, Capiz.

Shabu worth P8 million was seized from the former barangay captain of Intaluan, Pototan, Iloilo – the biggest shabu haul of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Western Visayas so far this year.

The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in Region 6 and the Metro Iloilo Airshed (MIA) want to involve transport groups in the campaign for cleaner and healthier air. Vehicles are major contributors – 65 percent – to air pollution, according to Jeanette Sapilan, forester and concurrent chief of EMB-6’s Finance and Administrative Division (FAD). On Wednesday, EMB and MIA held a forum with public transport operators and drivers, specifically with the Association of Taxi Operators in Panay (ATOP) and Iloilo City Loop Alliance of Jeepney Owners and Drivers Association (ICLAJODA) at Regatta Hotel. Transport stakeholders should be involved in the advocacy because drivers are the most exposed to unclean air, said Sapilan. Polluted air from vehicle smoke emissions is 66 percent carbon monoxide and 20 percent volatile organic compounds, she said. Carbon monoxide can impair learning ability while volatile organic compounds can cause cancer, warned Sapilan. Proper engine maintenance can mitigate air pollution, drivers and operators were told. EMB also conducts smoke emission tests on vehicles. Meanwhile, MIA’s Anti-Smoking Belching Unit (ASBU) conducted a series of garage smoke emission tests from 2014 to 2016; 77 percent of the 2,045 vehicles tested passed. MIA-ASBU is composed of personnel from the Land Transportation Office; Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and local government units of Iloilo City, Pavia, Oton, San Miguel, and Leganes in Iloilo province. Sapilan, however, said random inspections conducted in 2015 to 2016 showed 77 percent or 148 of the vehicles tested failed, resulting to their impoundment. “This is one of our strategies para ma-appreciate ninyo (drivers and public transport operators) nga-a importante ang activity, para aware kamo and ma-maintain inyo vehicles,” said Sapilan./PN

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte once again linked Iloilo City mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog to the illegal drug trade.

Many commuters are expected to find difficulty reaching their destinations on Monday next week when transport groups stage a strike to protest the planned phaseout of old public utility vehicles, among other issues.

SEN. LEILA de Lima surrendered yesterday to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) operatives out to arrest her on illegal drug charges at the Senate in Pasay City.