</s>(UPDATED) CEBU CITY—Five still unidentified men were found dead along the Transcentral Highway in Cebu City about 3 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 4.

Nagiel Bañacia, head of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, said on his Facebook post that the five men were already dead when emergency personnel from Barangay Taptap reached the area in Barangay Malubog, one of the mountain villages that form part of the Transcentral Highway, which connects Cebu City to northwestern Cebu.

The victims suffered gunshot wounds in the different parts of the body, said Bañacia.

Three of the victims were found slumped on the ground beside two motorcycles. The two others were inside a white van with plate number GFF 192.

“Short firearms were seen near the bodies,” said Banacia’s FB post.

Police had yet to give an official statement on the incident.</s>“UNTANGLING the gridlock,” a seven-part special report of Cebu Daily News, was named the grand champion in the print category of the Mega Cebu Investigative Report Competition 2018, which was announced during the 6th Mega Cebu Month celebration held at the Grand Convention Center of Cebu on Wednesday night, October 3.

The special report discussed the tangled traffic situation in Cebu, its effects on business, mitigating measures taken by government agencies and the “right projects” that should be worked on to resolve the traffic woes in the long run.

A look into the envisioned projects that are seen to improve the mobility within the metropolis based on the Urban Transport Master Plan of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (Jica) was also discussed in the series.

The seven-part piece was put together by the CDN team headed by Day Desk and Writing Editor Ador Vincent Mayol and composed of reporters Jose Santino Bunachita, Morexette Marie Erram and Nestle Semilla; and Correspondents Rosalie Abatayo, Jessa Mae Sotto, Norman Mendoza, John Aroa, Benjie Talisic, Futch Anthony Inso and USJ-R Journalism Intern Delta Dyrecka Letigio.

The competition was organized by the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board (MCDCB) for this year’s celebration of the Mega Cebu Month.

Gordon Alan Joseph, chair of the MCDCB Executive Committee and president of the Cebu Business Club, said the media has the power to shape the opinion of the public towards developments that are anchored to a better and liveable Cebu.

Mega Cebu, a multi-sectoral consortium of private sector and government stakeholders created in 2011, envisions of a sustained urban growth in Metro Cebu in the next 30 years.

“It’s (going to) take a lot of hard work and a lot of cooperation among the stakeholders, in particular, the government units. If we succeed in doing this, with successful coordination among LGUs and the private sector, we may make the most competitive and maybe once again the most beautiful city in the Philippines,” Joseph told CDN.

Other winners

 “Rising Water,” Sun.Star Cebu’s three-part report that tackled the flooding woes in Cebu City, bagged the second prize while The Freeman’s two-part entry on Cebu City’s solid waste management was third.

For the Radio category, Rowena Capistrano of dyRF Radyo Fuerza bagged the grand prize for her piece “Pansayan na, Basurahan pa,” while the second and third prizes were both won by Futch Anthony Inso of dyHP-Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) for his entries Temporaryo and Angkas, respectively. Inso is also a correspondent of CDN.</s>Officials of the Cebu City Government planned to lobby before the Philippine National Police (PNP) to investigate allegations that cops are involved in the spate of killings in Cebu.

Cebu City South District Representative Rodrigo “Bebot” Abellanosa said that the alleged involvement of the police is a big concern that the police leadership should address.

Aside from finding the situation as alarming, Abellanosa added that there is a better way to handle the drug problem in Cebu if indeed the police are responsible in the killings.

“It’s a really big worry that these things are happening, which did not happen before,” said Abellanosa.

For her part, Councilor Margot Osmeña found it ironic that the day when five men were killed in Barangay Malubog, Cebu City, was the same day when Cebu was declared a Justice Zone by the Supreme Court.

Councilor Dave Tumulak expressed fear over the worsening drug problem in Cebu City, suggesting to drug addicts and sellers to stay away from the city.

“I ask the drugs users, drug pushers and druglords to stay away from Cebu City. Hatagan natog chance ang Cebu City na malinawon,” said Tumulak.

On the other hand, Councilor Jun Alcover urged authorities to conduct a serious investigation and described Cebu City as a ‘crime city’.

“This is a very serious problem, dili nani nga komedya nga problema,” said Alcover.

Councilor Joel Garganera expressed worry over the spate of killings and encouraged the police and even the media to investigate the problem.</s>Authorities from the Mabolo police station in Cebu City are looking into the possibility that the assailants who robbed and killed a call center agent were the same suspects who robbed two Taiwanese nationals.

Chief Insp. Dindo Juanito Alaras, Mabolo police station commander, said that they believed that only one group was responsible for the two separate incidents

Alaras said witnesses disclosed that the two suspects were using a full face helmet during the robbery incident.

Alaras said that they are now coordinating with the family of the victim, Loraine Temple, who is now laid at a funeral home in Cebu City.</s>MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Philippine officials say nine drug suspects have been killed and 117 others have been arrested in police-led raids in a central province, as the government pressed a massive crackdown that has left more than 4,800 suspects dead.

Regional police Chief Superintendent Debold Sinas says nine drug suspects were killed separately in gunbattles with law enforcers in dozens of coordinated raids from Wednesday to Thursday noon in central Cebu province. Nearly 1,000 packets of methamphetamine, a banned stimulant, and 78 firearms were seized in the raids.

President Rodrigo Duterte has said his war on drug will be "as relentless and chilling" as when he launched it after taking office in 2016 despite facing two complaints for mass murder before the International Criminal Court and criticism from Western governments and U.N. watchdogs.</s>Officials from the Cebu City Government are now in Naga City to provide additional assistance to the victims of the landslide in Barangay Tinaan.

Workers and department heads of the Cebu City Hall turned over more than P50,000 worth of cash assistance to Naga City Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong on Thursday morning (October 4). Employees of the Cebu City Hall and residents of the city donated the cash money.

Barug Team Rama-PDP Laban councilors Raymond Alvin Garcia and Renato Osmeña Jr. also provided additional cash assistance to Chiong.</s>Over 86,000 voters in Cebu Province have registered from July to September 2018 based on the recent count of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC).

Lawyer Lionel Castillano, Provincial Election Supervisor, said that the number of registrants is higher this year compared to last year.

Castillano, however, said it is too early to tell if the higher number of registrants would also result in an increase in voter’s turnout.</s>MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine police, backed by troops, killed nine drug suspects and arrested more than 100 others in two days of raids that ended Thursday in a central province as the government pressed…

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine police, backed by troops, killed nine drug suspects and arrested more than 100 others in two days of raids that ended Thursday in a central province as the government pressed a massive crackdown that has left more than 4,800 suspects dead.

Regional police Chief Superintendent Debold Sinas said the nine suspects were killed separately in gunbattles with law enforcers in dozens of coordinated raids from Wednesday to Thursday noon in central Cebu province. Nearly 1,000 small plastic bags of methamphetamine, a banned stimulant, and 78 firearms were seized in the raids, he said.

“All nine suspects exchanged fire with my men after sensing they were dealing with undercover officers,” Sinas said of the slain suspects, adding that law enforcers carried out 48 “buy-bust operations” in which undercover police pretended to be drug buyers.

Police said 103 of the 117 suspects arrested in the raids in Cebu have been linked to illegal drugs. The law enforcers served more than 70 search warrants in houses of drug suspects and 11 other search warrants for people suspected of illegally possessing firearms and ammunition, they said.

President Rodrigo Duterte has said his war on drug will be “as relentless and chilling” as when he launched it after taking office in June 2016 despite facing two complaints for mass murder before the International Criminal Court and criticism from Western governments and U.N. watchdogs.

Human rights groups have cited much higher death tolls than the 4,854 suspects the government’s Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said were killed in clashes with police between July 2016 and Aug. 31 of this year. They say many suspects may have been killed in police rubouts in which they were made to appear to have fought back by placing guns in their hands.

Duterte and police officials have denied condoning extrajudicial killings in the crackdown, although the volatile leader has repeatedly threatened drug suspects with death. Since the crackdown began, more than 155,000 drug suspects have been arrested in more than 108,000 anti-drug operations, the government said.

Officials have cited the massive arrests to argue that many suspects have not died in police raids and that most of those who perished fought back and endangered officers. The deaths of mostly poor drug suspects are unprecedented in scale.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>Upon completing relief work in Benguet and Pangasinan, AMDA personnel arrived in Cebu which was devastated by the monsoon. After procuring food and medical goods in Cebu’s capital, the personnel moved to Naga, the hardest-hit area in the region.

First, AMDA personnel paid a courtesy call to the city mayor of Naga and learned that 1,719 families have been seeking shelter in 11 evacuation facilities. While it is unclear as to when the situation gets normalized, the death toll reached 72 with 10 people missing. AMDA collaborated with the Philippine Navy to provide food aid to 672 families in total at two evacuation shelters. Meanwhile, thanks to AMDA Philippines, AMDA personnel was able to provide antihypertensive drugs and other medicine to Naga City Medical Operation Center that handles medical information gathering of the evacuees. The medication will be distributed by a local mobile medical team that goes around each evacuation site every five days. The evacuees thanked AMDA for the aid in the midst of uncertainty and exhaustion. AMDA will be completing the mission shortly, however, will keep an eye on the local situation by closely corresponding with its local partners from now onward.
At least 14 people are killed in separate drug-related incidents in Cebu Province, Philippines.