"Thousands are expected to volunteer for the 25^th ICC Day to clean up coastlines and waterways in the region.

MANILA, Sept. 23 (PNA) - Acting Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo said Thursday he is eyeing his hometown Naga City, Camarines Sur as a pilot test area for the new and improved Small Town Lottery (STL).

He told reporters he already submitted recommendations to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) on how to strengthen STL operations, which the government has been promoting as an alternative to "jueteng," an illegal numbers game.

CAMP ELIAS ANGELES, Pili, Camarines Sur (22 Sept) -A SANGGUNIANG Kabataan (SK) Chairman  in San Isidro, Pandan, Catanduanes was summarily executed by suspected NPA assailants near his home, the 83^rd Infantry Battalion commander, Lt. Col. Danilo Aquino in Catanduanes province reported to the 9^th Infantry Division in this camp on Tuesday (Sept. 21).

Legazpi City (23 September) -- The Bicol Microfinance Council, Inc. (BMCI), a strong network of 18 Microfinance Institutions, in partnership with the Bicol Consortium for Development Initiatives (BCDI) and the Philippine Social Enterprise Development Center (SEDCen), is holding the Microfinance Summit and Regional Bazaar on September 22-26, 2010 at the Landco Business Park here.

Activities of the summit are basically grounded on the need to consolidate and sustain the efforts of the Microfinance Institutions in the Bicol Region to mainstream the micro-entrepreneurs.

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 23  - The Department of Health (DOH) in Bikol said Thursday that dengue cases shot up by 71 percent as compared to last year's incidence, prompting health authorities to be on heightened alert.

DOH data disclosed that at least 11 people have died and 1,889 people were hospitalized in various parts of Bikol mainly due to dengue, a mosquito-borne disease.

Legazpi City (14 September) -- Laboratory experts of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Bikol said that only 3.98 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride or "shabu" were seized on Wednesday by anti-drug operatives in Masbate and not 5.28 kilograms as earlier reported.

Sorsogon City- Education, health and city government officials of Sorsogon forged a partnership as government intensified its campaign against dengue which continues to rise in the Bikol region.

DOH officials led by Assistant Regional Director Virgilio Ludovice turned over Olyset Net worth P1.5 million to the City Schools Division led by Dr. Virgilio Real, Schools Division Superintendent, and the city government represented by City Health Officer Dr. Larry Garrido, City Coun. Mike Go, chair of the city council's health committee, and City Legal Officer Atty. Glenn Olbes.

Loyola Heights, QC-The 10th Ateneo National Writers Workshop, organized by the Ateneo Institute of Literary Arts and Practices (AILAP) with the support of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Office of the President, Ateneo de Naga University (AdNU), will be held on October 24-28, 2010 at the AdNU Campus, Naga City.

Naga City (14 Sept) -- The highest political power in the land has declared during the Peñafrancia Novena Week Naga City and the province of Camarines Sur as 'pilgrimage capitals' of the Bikol region.

In his Executive Order (EO) #33 dated September 10, President Benigno Aquino III, took cognizance of the annual celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Peñafrancia as an "epic historical event that [had] become part of our cultural heritage," and that Naga City "where the 300-year old image is enshrined, has long been recognized and considered as the pilgrimage capital of the Bikol region."

The President's EO stated that programs and activities held as part of the Peñafrancia Fiesta "must be assisted and maintained by the government, and that the solemnity and sensitivity to the nature and character of the festivities must be preserved."

Moreover, the EO stipulated that government must ensure that aside from respecting the essential activities of the feast, "commercial exploitation during the pilgrimage period such as street parties that may become rambunctious, drinking sprees in plazas, street vending that obstruct passages towards the pilgrimage sites, and other similar activities, shall be discouraged."