Congratulations to the Catanduanes campus journalists for a successful campaign in the 2026 National Press Conference held in Ormoc City, Leyte recently.
The delegation led by Dr. Gina Bonifacio-Pantino, Education Program Supervisor and Campus Journalism Coordinator, brought home the bacon, so to speak, courtesy of two first-place winners: Photojournalism (English, secondary) champion Jian Franco V. Rubio of Catanduanes National High School; and, Science & Technology Writing king Joemiguel Zydrik S. Magtagnob of San Andres Vocational School.
The same congratulations goes to their coaches: Jefferson Arcilla of CNHS and Axel James Tomes of SAVS.
The islanders’ Collaborative Publishing (English) team from CNHS also placed 4th in the national competition, thanks to team members Maria Erika Tablizo, Joshua Santino Rojas, Jose Joshua Ariola, Jamilla Pamela Urchella Guerrero, Lenoir Missouri Sapaula, Kit Valerie Brojan and Alyssa Marie Romano, and their coach, Aimee O. Soquerata.
Another CNHS student, Jieshanen Matienzo, also coached by Tomes, made it to the podium as 3rd placer in the search for Best Anchor in Radio Broadcasting (Filipino).
As far as I can remember, this is the third time that student writers and photographers distinguished themselves as champions in the nation’s top campus journalism competition.
A team from CNHS was the first to rule the Collaborative Publishing contest when it was still a demonstration event while a talented student from SAVS copped first place in photojournalism a few years back.
The Catanduanes team was also instrumental in the Bicol delegation’s school paper exhibit being declared as the People’s Choice winner in the 2026 NSPC.
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For lack of space in this issue, this column accommodates the reports on the local police’s unrelenting campaign against the proliferation of illegal drugs.
The Catanduanes police successfully pulled off two separate operations against illegal drugs last week.
Last April 13, 2026, joint elements of the Pandan police station and the Catanduanes Police Provincial Office led by PCpt. Renee R. Albao, acting chief of police, served a search warrant issued by RTC Vice Executive Judge Candice Guada Cresilda C. Almodovar-Tordilla against a resident of Del Norte, Pandan.
The police confiscated from the target, allegedly identified as one Arnel Icaro Bien, various drug and non-drug paraphernalia, including several plastic sachets containing suspected shabu, aluminum foil with residue, improvised burner, tooter and lighter.
The following day in Comagaycay, San Andres town, a newly identified street-level drug personality was arrested in a buy-bust operation mounted by the town police together with the Catanduanes police intelligence unit and the Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit.
A source identified the suspect as one Alejandro Manlangit Briones Jr, a plumber and resident of barangay Belmonte.
He yielded a sachet of suspected shabu with an estimated weight of 0.13 gram and street value of P920, along with a genuine P500 bill and a fake P500 bill used as boodle money.
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TWO ACCOUNTANTS are in a bank when armed robbers burst in.
While several of the robbers take money from the tellers, others line up the customers, including the accountants, against a wall and proceed to take their wallets, watches, etc,
While this is going on, one of the accountants stuffs something into the other accountant’s hand.
Without looking down, the accountant whispers, “What’s this?”
The other accountant replies, “It’s that $50 I owe you.”