WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The Visayas, in central Philippines, is smallest of the main island groups both in terms of total land area and population. It has only 16 provinces, grouped into three regions. While the Visayas accounts for only 20% of the country’s population, two of its regions are among the five most populous in the country. It is home to the most vote-rich province, Cebu, historically considered the Philippine capital in the larger south.
Spotlight Visayas brings you developing stories and special features from the regions of Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Eastern Visayas.
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Cebu City eyes staggered property tax collection
The city government of Cebu will implement a staggered real property tax (RPT) collection once the city’s tax code is revised, Vice Mayor Raymond Garcia said in a press conference on Tuesday, December 20.
In November, some councilors expressed concern over the possible steep RPT increases that would greatly affect the city’s constituents and businesses. The proposal to increase RPT was announced by the local finance committee in a press conference on August 8.
Garcia said the city needed to revise its tax rates due to the disparities in market values of real properties, especially those owned by private companies. He said the city government is looking at increasing the market value of properties in the South Road Properties to about P100,000 per square meter, for example.
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6 soldiers injured by anti-personnel mine in Las Navas, Northern Samar
Six members of the 20th Infantry Battalion were injured by an anti-personnel mine believed triggered by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Quirino village in Las Navas, Northern Samar, the Armed Forces’ Visayas Command (VISCOM) said on Monday, December 19.
The military statement said the wounded troops were securing the implementation of the water system project in the said barangay when the attack occurred.
Army Major General Benedict Arevalo, the Acting Commander of VISCOM, condemned the attack as a sign of the NPA’s “willful neglect [of] the safety of the community and the people who might be affected by the blast of these prohibited devices.”
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Cop suspect in Maasin, Southern Leyte, slay now under provincial police custody
The cop accused of administering the beating that resulted in the death of theft suspect Gilbert Dalogdog Ranes, 34, on Friday, December 9, in Maasin City is now under restrictive custody, Southern Leyte Provincial Police Office (SLPPO) Director Hector Enage announced on Tuesday, December 13.
In a phone interview with Rappler, Enage said investigators had filed a homicide complaint with Maasin City prosecutors against PSSG Ronald Gamayon, an intelligence officer assigned to the SLPPO.
Enage said four other members of the Maasin City Police Office had been disarmed and restricted to the provincial police headquarters while the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) investigates a possible administrative case against them.
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Killing in Maasin, Southern Leyte, sends hearts seething
Trigger warning: The report describes acts of violence.
The unconscious man wore dark, low-waist denim pants and a thin black shirt. He lay on his back. Blood had come out of his nose. His eyes were open, blank. His mask had slid down his neck. An earphone poked out of the mask garter when a foot rolled him over. He flopped like a rag doll, surrounded by black leather shoes.
One video shows a foot rolling the body of Gilbert Ranes, and then a voice barks in Binisaya to finish him off.
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