‘Illicit tobacco trade in Central Luzon, illegal cigarettes in Mindanao prevalent’
Art Dumlao — January 28, 2025
Billions of pesos in public infrastructure contracts os central in the plunder probe against Cagayan Rep. Joseph Lasam Lara and his family, with investigators examining alleged financial ties to construction firms doing business with the government.
The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the dismissal from service Urdaneta City, Pangasinan Mayor Julio Fernandez Parayno III, Vice Mayor Jimmy Dereje Parayno, and six city councilors over consolidated administrative complaints involving their alleged defiance of a presidential suspension order.
A proposed law creating the Cordillera Autonomous Region drew calls for rejection this Tuesday, with ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio and Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) chair Windel Bolinget warning it could undermine Indigenous self-determination and local control over natural resources.
