00:00A free, fine, and fair Monday afternoon to all, yours truly Denise Osorio here for PTV
00:09News Now.
00:10And tops on today's set of stories, we dwell on a priority in the President's working
00:14agenda, peace and security, law and order.
00:18The month of March was when the nation began to feel the heat, literally temperatures surged
00:22and the mercury soared.
00:24At the same time, the men and women of the Philippine National Police also stepped up
00:28to put the heat on the agents of crime and elements of lawlessness on the street, in
00:32cyberspace and elsewhere.
00:34Earlier today, the PNP put out an official report on its anti-crime operations and activities
00:39for the month of March.
00:41The numbers on the CIDG's official reckoning show 1,629 arrests, yielded as a result of
00:47close to 1,100 anti-crime operations last month.
00:51Even better, 84% of those nabbed belonged to the wanted list, with 7 among the country's
00:55most wanted felons as determined by the NBI and law enforcement.
01:00Also taken into custody, a total of 231.
01:03Meanwhile, rape was accused of rape, sexual abuse, incest, parasite, human trafficking,
01:10harassment and violence against women.
01:13In addition, 27 nationals were taken into custody for, among others, cybercrimes and
01:18either expired, spurious or outright fraudulent claims.
01:22Additionally, 27 foreign nationals were also caught for engaging in criminal activities
01:27such as cybercrimes and abuse of internet gaming licenses online.
01:32All told, the PNP gathered over Php 895 million worth of evidence, 96 loose firearms, four
01:39explosive devices, a variety of magazines, and nearly 3,400 rounds of ammo.
01:47President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. just wouldn't let the issue slide unless full release
01:52was granted.
01:53Yes, the 17 OFWs who were rounded up and detained last week in Qatar for illegal assembly in
01:59their protest actions against the Philippine government and in support of ex-President
02:03Rodrigo Duterte detained at the Hague are now free, thanks to the relentless efforts
02:08and intervention by the President in his talks with the Qatari envoy to the Philippines.
02:13Palace Press Officer PCO Undersecretary Claire Castro confirmed the good news this morning
02:18after the President met with Qatari Ambassador Ahmed Saad Nasir Abdullah Al-Homidi in Malacanang.
02:24All charges apparently have been dropped or dismissed against the 12 male and 5 female
02:28OFWs taken by Qatari authorities over a week ago.
02:34Prides of Lions in Malawi's Majiti or Majete Wildlife Reserve are under birth control tests
02:40by animal experts to keep the lion population in check and ensure enough antelope and other
02:46prey species continue to thrive.
02:48VOA's Lameg Masina reports.
02:51The lions scramble for food but evidently they are getting enough as wildlife experts
02:59say the lion population here has grown to over 100.
03:04The experts say the population boom will likely lead to a decline in smaller species the lions
03:11prey on.
03:12We haven't seen any significant impacts on prey populations yet however based on learnings
03:16and other reserves all across the continent we know that those impacts will come so in
03:21order to avoid those impacts from happening we want to make sure that we reduce our lion
03:24population to a reasonable size.
03:26The target is to reduce the lion population at least by half.
03:31The Majete Wildlife Reserve is home to various animal species.
03:37Experts say animals at risk of depletion include rare species of antelopes, elans and
03:43heartbeats.
03:44Every now and then we see something out of the ordinary such as a sable but in general
03:49it definitely seems to be waterbuck, buffalo and warthog being taken the most.
03:54Greg says so far 13 other males and 15 other female lions have received contraception.
04:02We first requested in 2022 to have contraception of females.
04:05It was a Desmerellin implant that went in between the shoulder blades.
04:09Then vasectomizing the male lions started in about May last year.
04:13Some animal welfare campaigners fear the contraception methods may harm the animals health and they
04:20say moving the lions would be a better option.
04:24Conservation experts say they haven't seen any side effects from the contraception and
04:30say that in Malawi there aren't enough fenced-in reserves to safely put the lions.
04:36So it would be irresponsible to move lions to reserves that don't have fences.
04:41Now the only reserves in Malawi that have actually got fences right around the reserve
04:45are the AP Parks one reserve and the other one that we've got in Malawi is Luwande National
04:51Park.
04:52But Luwande's got its own number of lions and their numbers have also increased.
04:56In the meantime, authorities say with such safety concerns, contraception remains a better
05:02option to manage the booming lion population in Malawi.
05:07Lamek Masina, VOA News, Chikwawa District, Malawi.
05:16So we've come to the end of the show.
05:17Join us when you later on for our evening breaking stories at the hour.
05:21And make it a habit to always stay connected by catching the news right here.
05:25Denise Osorio and thank you for watching PTV News Now.
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