Zamboanga City Government News Bits – May 4, 2015 – The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper

Zamboanga City Government News Bits – May 4, 2015

Mayor Beng Climaco has declared as urgent the proposed ordinance granting incentives to businessmen who will enroll in the Interruptible Load Program- Time of Use (ILP-TOU) scheme aimed to help solve the crippling power situation in the city. The declaration will pave way for the edict’s swift passage in the City Council given the short time frame for the implementation of the ILP by ZAMCELCO. The ILP is a demand-side management solution regarded as one of the countermeasures meant to help mitigate the projected power supply strain in the summer months of 2015. It works by calling on consumers with loads of at least 1MW to run their own generator sets during peak hours instead of drawing power from the grid.
City Police Director Senior Supt. Angelito Casimiro today echoed his earlier appeal to all religious leaders in the city to help law enforcers in their continuing war against the illegal drug trade, especially among the youth. This, after a certain Muslim youth group had reportedly resisted the police raid on illegal drugs in Recodo, claiming that using shabu, known as the poor man’s cocaine, is tolerated in Islam.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) regional office based in the city is continuing and strengthening its case build-up against high-level drug personalities here even as it recognizes and commends the local police force for its drug war in the barangays. Marvin Santos, PDEA-9 chief of Operations and Planning Division said the agency is primarily mandated to go after high-level personalities in the illegal drug trade, while the local police are running after mostly small-time pushers, particularly in heavily drug-affected barangays.

The City Government is looking to secure human resources from within its ranks to augment personnel slated to operate the soon-to-open Integrated Bus Terminal (IBT) in Divisoria. The IBT Committee has requested the City Human Resource and Management Office to look into vacancies in the different offices of the local government to augment the number of personnel who will be manning the 24/7 operations of the terminal, according to City Administrator Antonio Orendain Jr.