On its ninth day of continuous daily repatriations, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) welcomed home nine Overseas Performance Artists (OPAs) who returned from Tokyo.

The contracts of the OPAs were pre-terminated due to the slowdown of the global economy brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The DFA and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), through the Philippine Consulate General in Osaka and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office - Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (POLO-OWWA), respectively, coordinated with the local manning agency of the OPAs to facilitate their repatriation.

Following the pre-determined protocol for returning Filipinos under these circumstances, the repatriates were asked to observe home quarantine.

The performing artists were based in Fukuoka before they were flown to Manila via Tokyo onboard All Nippon Airways (ANA). DFA

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Cebu police chief, cohort arrested for alleged robbery-extortion

The Philippine National Police- Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (PNP-IMEG) on Monday arrested the chief of Cebu City Police Station 3 and his cohort for alleged robbery-extortion in an entrapment operation.

Police Colonel Ronald Lee, PNP-IMEG director, said Corporal Wenefredo Olangayo and Jevy Rea Gelig were arrested after receiving the air condition unit they allegedly demanded from the complainant around 3:15pm at Barangay Tejero Sitio Silangan 2, Cebu City.

Lee said the complainant claimed the two suspects requested the item in exchange for downgrading criminal charges filed against someone arrested for illegal drugs.

“This is in line with our continuous effort to identify and arrest police scalawags despite the pandemic we are facing these days as part of the massive internal cleansing program ordered by Police General Archie Francisco Gamboa,” he said.

The accused are under the custody of the Central Visayas police facing administrative and criminal charges for robbery-extortion. Ella Dionisio/DMS