DAILY STAR: Negros Oriental

The Department of Interior and Local Government reiterated that elected local officials who did not submit their Statement of Election Contribution and Expenditures, or SECE, cannot assume their posts today.

DILG regional director Pedro Noval Jr. said winning candidates should secure a certification that they have complied with the requirement upon submission of the document to the Commission on Elections.

Failure on their part to submit their statement of expenses does not only prevent them from taking over their positions but they can also be administratively sanctioned, he added.

Fire hits 12 houses
BY JUANCHO GALLARDE

A fire of still undetermined origin gutted 12 houses made of light materials in Purok Everlasting, Barangay Calindagan in Dumaguete City recently.

The fire reportedly started from a boarding house also made of light materials, and immediately spread to adjacent structures and another boarding house.

City fire marshal Maj. Ranulfo Sayson said he is still verifying the cause of the fire that damaged around P950,000 in property.

Video appeal made for
2 kidnapped filmmakers

MANILA – The family of two Philippine Muslim women filmmakers allegedly kidnapped by Islamic extremists in the country's south have made a heartfelt video plea on YouTube for their release.

Nadjoua Bansil, 39, and younger sister Linda, 36, were abducted on the strife-torn island of Jolo on June 22 while working on a movie about its impoverished residents, officials and their friends said.

“We implore your help, as fellow Muslims, to release them. They are not your enemies,” the victims' brother Mohammed Bansil said in the YouTube clip, which was uploaded on Friday.

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