TACLOBAN CITY-Operatives from the Drug Enforcement Group of the Philippine National Philippines(PNP) arrested a driver, listed as a high-valued individual (HVI) in the PNP drug watchlist, during a buy-bust operation on Wednesday, October 9, in Barangay 97 Cabalawan, this city.

The operation, conducted at around 12:35 pm, resulted in the recovery of seven sachets containing white crystalline substances, suspected to be shabu.
The seized drugs weighed approximately 50 grams and had an estimated street value of P340,000.

Police Col. Joseph Boquerin, commander of SOU 8, identified the suspect as 37-year-old Elmer Pindos, a married driver and resident of Brgy. 97.

According to authorities, the suspect was caught selling one sachet of shabu to an undercover operative for P34,000.

During a body search, conducted in the presence of law-mandated witnesses, officers recovered five more sachets of shabu from a brown sling bag in the suspect’s possession.
Additionally, 68 pieces of P500 bills were recovered, with one bill marked as court-prescribed money for the operation, while the remaining 67 bills were boodle money used as bait.

The suspect was informed of his arrest and was read his constitutional rights, as per the Miranda Doctrine, in a language he understood.

Pindos now faces charges for violating Sections 5 (selling of illegal drugs) and 11 (possession of illegal drugs) of Republic Act 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The charges have been filed by the PDEG at the Bulwagan ng Katarungan in Tacloban City.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

PALO, Leyte – Some 2,778 non-teaching personnel have been hired by the government as part of its effort to remove additional paper work from public school teachers, the Department of Education (DepEd) regional office here said Tuesday.

The hiring of administrative officers is part of the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to free teachers from administrative tasks, said DepEd Eastern Visayas Regional Director Evelyn Fetalvero during the “Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas” press briefing at the agency’s regional office here.

“Hiring more administrative personnel will enable teachers to maximize their time in actual classroom teaching. Ideally, there should be one administrative for every school,” Fetalvero said.

This academic year, the region has 4,179 public elementary and secondary schools.
Of the 2,778 hired workers since 2020, some 1,280 of them are regular employees, and 1,498 are under contract of service. These include the 842 regular administrative officers hired this year.

Nationwide, the target is to hire 5,000 administrative officer II positions this year with a PHP27,000 monthly starting salary.

Included in the administrative tasks removed from teachers are personnel administration, property or physical facility custodianship, general administrative support, financial management, records management, feeding, school disaster risk reduction, and management, among others.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)