Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Wednesday, November 2, 2022.
READ: 'Paeng' death toll hits 110
THE National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Tuesday said deaths from Severe Tropical Storm "Paeng" (international name: "Nalgae") have reached 110, with 101 injured and 33 missing. A report from the agency said that as of Monday night, 59 of the confirmed fatalities were from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), which suffered massive floods and landslides. A total of 741,777 families or 2,418,249 individuals from 6,158 barangay (villages) were affected by the storm. Houses damaged numbered 6,542, of which 5,035 were partly damaged and 1,507 were totally damaged, for a loss of P12,415,000. The NDRRMC said total damage to infrastructure was P760,361,175 and to agriculture, P1.3 billion with 58,086.852 hectares of crops destroyed. A total of P50.327,122.52 in government assistance was provided to affected residents.
READ: Marcos calls for better disaster response
PRESIDENT Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Tuesday urged local government units (LGUs) and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to have closer coordination and have more joint projects for the easier facilitation of government aid in times of disasters and calamities. Marcos said joint efforts between the LGUs and BARMM are vital to ensure better response coordination in times of emergency to address the needs of those affected by the calamity while at the same time reducing the impacts of disasters.
READ: Filipinos flock to cemeteries to mark All Saints' Day
FILIPINOS clutching flowers and umbrellas poured into cemeteries across the Philippines on Tuesday to pay tribute to their dead loved ones on All Saints' Day for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Rain fell as thousands walked or took free motorized tricycle services to tombs scattered across sprawling graveyards in the capital Manila where many poor families live alongside the dead in shanties or mausoleums. Ahead of the "day of the dead," a powerful tropical storm unleashed landslides and flooding across the archipelago nation, killing at least 110 people and leaving dozens missing.
READ: Pinoys' heroism soon taught in New Jersey
The heroism of Filipino veterans of World War 2 will be taught in a high school in Bergenfield county here to highlight the "alliance and shared history" of the United States and the Philippines. Bergenfield, New Jersey Mayor Arvin Amatorio, a Filipino American, revealed this on Monday to visiting Filipino journalists. The mayor said he earlier had "a chance encounter" with retired Army general Antonio Taguba, the second highest ranking Filipino American officer in the US Army. Amatorio noted that Taguba was the author of the "Abu Ghraib Report" wherein he exposed the atrocities against Iraqi prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison at the hands of American soldiers. When Taguba retired, he continued his advocacy, through philvet.org, he said.
BARRING unforeseen circumstances, it's all systems go for the 2022 Bar Examinations, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday. Brian Hosaka, Supreme Court spokesman, said this year's bar exams will be held on November 9 (Wednesday), 13 (Sunday), 16 (Wednesday), and 20 (Sunday), 2022.
READ: PNP on full alert for face-to-face classes
THE Philippine National Police (PNP) said it was ready for the resumption of face-to-face classes today, and it will remain on full alert in Metro Manila until Friday, November 4. PNP spokesman Col. Jean Fajardo on Tuesday said regional directors will be responsible for implementing the alert status in their areas of responsibility. Police assistance desks will be set up near schools to secure parents, students, teachers and school staff.
BUSINESS: PSA sees higher Q3 'palay,' corn output
Topping business, palay (unmilled rice) and corn output could have increased in the third quarter from a year earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said last week. The estimates, detailed in an October 31 update, were disputed by a farmers' group, which claimed that high farm input prices had weighed on production. Palay production for the quarter, the PSA said, could increase by 2.2 percent to 3.83 million metric tons (MMT) based on results as of August 1. Output a year ago was lower at 3.75 MMT. The latest estimate is slightly lower than the 3.5 MMT announced in July. The rice harvest area, meanwhile, was estimated to improve by 1.7 percent to 928.20 thousand hectares from 912.66 thousand hectares a year ago. Yield per hectare was also expected to expand to 4.13 MT or 0.5 percent from 4.11 MT.
SPORTS: Yulo on track for 4 medals at Worlds
Over to sports, Filipino Olympian Carlos Yulo advanced to the finals in floor exercise, vault, parallel bars, and all-around events in the 51st FIG World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool, United Kingdom on Tuesday (Philippine time). Needing to finish in the top eight of each apparatus to advance to the medal round, Yulo placed second in vault with 14.849 points where the 22-year-old Filipino is the defending champion. Yulo finished fourth in parallel bars with 15.300 points and first in floor exercise with 15.266 points. The 4-foot-11 Yulo was the champion in floor exercise in the 2019 edition of the world meet in Germany. Yulo did not make it to the finals in the three other events: the rings, horizontal bar, and pommel horse. He placed 10th in the rings with 14.066 points, 31st in horizontal bar with 13.533, and 102nd in pommel horse with 11.766 points. Yulo's total score of 84.664, however, was good for third place in the all-around, more than enough for him to make the finals. Ahead of Yulo were Japanese Wataru Tanigawa and reigning Olympic champion Daisuke Hashimoto with all-around scores of 84.731 and 84.665, respectively. The top 24 gymnasts in the all-around advanced to the finals.
Rigoberto Tiglao, Fr. Ranhilio Aquino and Daphne Oseña-Paez are today's front page columnists. Tiglao gives propaganda tips, Fr. Aquino discusses death and the dead, while Paez tells her story of narrowly escaping the crowd crush in the Itaewon district in Seoul, South Korea last Saturday.
Today's editorial calls on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to wait on proposed mining sector changes. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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For The Manila Times, this is Kim Isabelle Dignadice.