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VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 321 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2025
Gov’t boosts hunt vs. ‘rogue’ POGOs SolGen to check assets of closed hubs By Charles Dantes
HE administration will intensify its efforts to hunt down and dismantle residual POGO activities following the nationwide ban that took effect on December 31, 2024.
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“We are observing indicators that some operators are downsizing to evade detection... These small-scale POGO setups often choose densely populated areas frequented by foreign nationals to avoid detection,” Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission Executive
Director Gilbert Cruz said. “Our enforcement agencies are actively monitoring these developments to ensure full compliance with the ban,” he added. State lawyers will likewise initiate a thorough inventory of assets of shut-
tered POGO hubs as the total ban on the industry took effect Tuesday. “The OSG’s massive post-POGO tasks will consist of cancelling all certificates of birth fraudulently acquired by aliens/foreign nationals and forfeiting their illegally acquired real properties and other assets in the Philippines,” Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said. “At this time, we have no definite figures on the aggregate value of these assets. The first order of the day is to
FIRST OF HER GENERATION. Baby girl Alea Jayde rests with her mother Lea
Mae Razo of Dagupan, Pangasinan who gave birth to the first Filipino Generation Beta at noon on January 1, 2025, at the new Fabella Hospital in Manila. Danny Pata
PH welcomes Alea Jayde, the country’s first ‘Gen Beta’ baby A BABY girl born to first-time mom Lea Mae Razo has made it to the history books as the first Filipino child born in 2025. The infant, to be christened Alea Jayde, was born at the stroke of midnight at the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Santa Cruz, Manila. Twenty-seven-year-old Lea Mae gave birth after some 13 grueling hours of labor, or since 11 a.m. on December 31. “Going through labor was really
hard. [I] felt all kinds of pain… but after seeing [my] baby… it was all worth it,” she said in Filipino. Lea Mae said the name “Alea Jayde” is an amalgamation of her and her husband’s names. “My only wish for my baby is for her to stay healthy, grow up fearing God, and have discipline,” the new mother added. Shortly after the baby’s delivery, Dr. Jeglen Cruz, senior house ofNext page
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Firecracker injuries down 64%; Illegal gun firing cases up to 27 By Ralph Rirao, Vince Lopez and Rex Espiritu FIRECRACKER-related injuries between New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day went down by 64 percent year-on-year, the Department of Health said yesterday. The Philippine National Police also recorded 27 cases of indiscriminate
firing – up from the 20 recorded in 2023 – that resulted in five injuries. PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo said Filipinos welcomed the new year in a “generally and relatively peaceful” way with no major untoward incidents. “Overall, in our assessment, there was no significant untoward incident
FAMILY TIME. Hundreds of families spend the first day of 2025 at Manila’s Rizal Park, hours after thousands more welcomed the New Year by watching fireworks at the Esplanade in Iloilo City, (top left photo), Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City (top center photo) and Manila’s City Hall (top right photo). Norman Cruz, Angie de Silva, Danny Pata.
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Manila envoy attending Trump inauguration PHILIPPINE Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez will represent the Philippine government at the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on January 20.
The Philippine diplomat said envoys will represent their countries as no heads of state were invited as a matter of policy. “Only ambassadors represented in Washington are invited,” he ex-
plained, confirming to GMA News Online his plan to attend the event. It can be recalled that Mr. Marcos phoned Trump to congratulate him shortly after the latter won his second Next page
Oil firms lower LPG prices by as much as P0.91/kg By Alena Mae S. Flores
troleum gas (LPG) by P0.90 to P0.91 This translates to a rollback of P9.90 per kilo effective January 1 to reflect to P10.01 per 11-kilo tank used primarTHE country’s oil firms implement- the lower contract price of LPG in the ily by households. ed a price rollback for liquefied pe- world market. Next page
PAGASA eyes first 2025 cyclone as Davao rains kill one, hurt 20 THE state weather bureau said a tropical cyclone may form inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility in January. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said the cyclone may make landfall near Eastern Visayas or the Caraga Region, according to an Unang Balita report on Wednesday. It may also deviate from the country. Reports said one person died, two remain missing, while 20 others were injured in Davao Occidental
province due to heavy rains spawned by an intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) since last week, the Office of the Civil Defense in Davao Region (OCD-11), quoted by a GMA News report, said on Tuesday. Earlier, reports said persistent rains caused by the ITCZ caused flooding and landslides in several municipalities of the Davao region, particularly in Davao Occidental, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental on December 26. In a statement, the OCD-11 said bad Next page