CELL-SITE attacks by lawless elements have lessened considerably, Globe Telecom said.

Company president Gerardo Ablaza has said that Globe continues to seek assistance from the police and the military to stop rampant assaults against its cell sites.

“We have observed a reduction [of the number of attacks], definitely. The cell-site attacks happen in remote areas, so their efforts are quite isolated,” said Ablaza.

In end-2007, Globe had 6,217 2G cellular sites all over the country, with network and population coverage at 96 percent and 99 percent, respectively. The number of cell sites increased by 6 percent from a year ago.

Ablaza did not say how many of the company’s cell sites were damaged by assaults. “We do not see a significant impact on our revenues as a result of these attacks,” he added.

The latest attack happened on Sunday when Globe’s facility in Sorsogon was attacked by New People’s Army rebels. The police reported that the cell site’s control room was destroyed by the rebels who blew it up at about 12:45 a.m.

Last month rebels also attacked Globe’s facility in Compostella Valley. The motive for the attacks, reports said, was Globe’s refusal to the extortion demands of communist rebels.

Ablaza said Globe is taking measures to protect its cell sites. “We are also working intensely with the government, particularly the National Police and the Armed Forces. The attacks are still a source of concern for us,” he said.

Ablaza said he hopes that government will continue to assist Globe in protecting its facilities so that the company can continue providing telecommunications services to the public, particularly in the rural areas in line with government’s universal access program.

Globe has said the military is mandated to protect vital installations such as communications facilities.

Solons hit watering down of meds bill

THE principal author of the House version of the cheaper medicines bill on Thursday lamented what he described as the “drastic weakening” of the measure with the removal of the provision on the drug-price regulatory board apart from the “generics- only” provision of the original bill.

WHILE there is a 90-percent coverage of the metropolis for potable water supply, barely 10 percent of the area is covered by sewerage service. This worries the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), not to say environmentalists.

AFTER starting to dismantle illegal fish cages at Laguna de Bay, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is now faced with the bigger challenge of relocating some 50,000 squatters to rehabilitate the lake.

LIKE a scene in some romantic classic, a National Food Authority (NFA) laborer approached a woman in here early 20s, whose halter blouse emphasized the soft tone of her exposed shoulder, and offered to hand her coupon to the security guard manning the rationing of the three-kilo pack of government rice.

THE chief of the Metro Manila police on Thursday ordered a thorough investigation into the death of two passersby during a shootout between members of the Manila Police and alleged robbery gang members in Tondo, Manila, on Wednesday.

CELL-SITE attacks by lawless elements have lessened considerably, Globe Telecom said.

Company president Gerardo Ablaza has said that Globe continues to seek assistance from the police and the military to stop rampant assaults against its cell sites.

THE Land Transportation Office (LTO) launched on Thursday two major locally developed technological innovations which crack down on car smuggling and carjacking as well as strengthen environmental protection.