Tarlac

Before his capture, Huang Mingmin had managed to blend in with the business community in Parañaque City, using several aliases to acquire properties.

Huang was also identified as having been involved in setting up the sprawling POGO facilities in Bamban, Tarlac, and Porac, Pampanga.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros is concerned that underground POGOs have evaded the government dragnet.

"We already passed the Anti-POGO Act, institutionalizing the ban on these operations once and for all.

It was also during that time that Senator Hontiveros exposed the infamous PESTIA scheme that involved bribing airport immigration personnel to smuggle in Chinese citizens hired by POGOs.

Soon, operators were also implicated in money laundering, prostitution, and the kidnapping and murder of Chinese citizens.

The POGO issue, however, grew into a national scandal in twenty twenty-four when government agents raided an eight-hectare gaming hub in Bamban, Tarlac, and found more than eight hundred Filipino and foreign workers being forced to run cyber scams.

It was revealed that the town mayor, Alice Guo, was part owner of the hub.

She criticized what she described as political theater disguised as accountability and called for evidence and genuine accountability instead of arrogance and political persecution.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assured Tarlac residents that the proposed PAC silica development would not threaten local livelihoods or ancestral burial sites.

In a press conference at Malacanang, he said the government respects cultural concerns and will protect community heritage sites.

Marcos added that the project should create jobs rather than harm local livelihoods.

He said it will help the Philippines join the expanding digital economy and artificial intelligence sector.

PacSilica is a proposed U.S.-led industrial center focused on semiconductors, AI, critical mineral processing, and advanced manufacturing.

The project may be built in a 1,620-hectare economic security zone in New Clark City, Tarlac.

The Philippine National Police is preparing to turn police stations and headquarters nationwide into water-efficient facilities as the country braces for possible El Niño impacts.

Both parties signed a memorandum of agreement on Thursday at the BCDA's office at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

It added that the partnership between the agencies will initially prioritize about fourteen hectares in New Clark City, which will comprise a ten-hectare property in Bamban, Tarlac, and a four-hectare property in Capas, Tarlac, with the Tarlac property intended to be a government center and other complementary developments.

The planned housing development in New Clark City is intended for workers and aims to create a walk-to-work township, bringing homes closer to employment opportunities.

The parties envision an integrated development that combines housing with commercial areas and facilities for rest, recreation, and other daily needs, helping workers and their families enjoy a more convenient and balanced way of life.