Good day. Here are the top stories of The Manila Times for Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.
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READ: Kristine death toll hits 100
RESCUERS in the Philippines dived into a lake and scoured isolated villages on Sunday to locate dozens of missing people as the death toll from Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (International name "Trami") hit 100. Kristine, which rammed into the Philippines on October 24, was among the deadliest storms to hit the country this year. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the storm forced more than half a million people to flee their homes, and at least 36 remain missing. Police in the hardest-hit Bicol Region recorded 38 deaths, most due to drowning. Bicol regional police director Andre Dizon told Agence France-Presse said "many residents" in Camarines Sur were still trapped on roofs and the upper floors of their homes. The death toll in Batangas has risen to 55, provincial police chief Jacinto Malinao told AFP. The police, coast guard and a Marines diving team were searching on Sunday for a family of seven at Taal Lake in Batangas. The national disaster agency said Sunday that about 560,000 people had been displaced by floods, which submerged hundreds of villages in swaths of the northern Philippines. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., over the weekend, assured that government systems are in place to help those affected by Kristine, particularly those in the Bicol Region.
READ: Comelec sees up to 5M new voters for 2025
THE number of registered voters in the 2025 midterm polls is likely to increase by 4 million to 5 million or a leap to between 70 million and 71 million from 66 million in 2022, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said. Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said over the weekend that based on reports from 93 percent of the Election Officers nationwide, as of October 26, the number of registered voters stands at 68,571,499. Garcia said they were still waiting for the figures from overseas voters and the Bangsamoro Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Also, Garcia said that printing of ballots will start before the end of the year, and the number should correspond to the total registered voters. Garcia also assured the public of complete transparency in the printing of ballots at the National Printing Office in Quezon City. At the end of the voter registration period, Comelec records showed 6,442,112 applied for registration. Of the number, more than three million were new voters, including more or less 100,000 reactivated. Garcia, however, said that 5.3 million deactivated voters failed to reactivate their status. Voters are placed on the deactivated list if they fail to vote in two successive elections. One is also removed from the list because of a court decision and because of death, among other reasons.
READ: Fossil fuel exploration threat to Coral Triangle – report
CALI, Colombia •— Fossil fuel exploration is threatening an ever-expanding swath of the Coral Triangle, one of the most biodiverse marine areas in the world, a report said Saturday (Sunday in Manila). Issued to coincide with the UN's COP16 summit on biodiversity in Colombia, the report warned that expansion in oil, gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Indo-Pacific region was putting at risk marine species and the communities that rely on them. Dubbed the "Amazon of the seas" for its species variety, the Coral Triangle covers over 10 million square kilometers (some 4 million square miles) in waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands.It contains three-quarters of the world's known coral species, said the report by monitoring bodies, including the threat-mapping research project Earth Insight, satellite imaging watchdog SkyTruth, and the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development, a Filipino think tank. The triangle is home to six of the world's seven marine turtle species and acts as a feeding ground for whales and other marine mammals. More than 120 million people rely on it for subsistence. Yet, oil and gas concessions and production areas overlap with tens of thousands of square kilometers of marine protected areas, said the report. It noted more than 100 known offshore oil and gas blocks producing in the region. Another 450 blocks are being explored for future extraction.
READ: Women, Peace and Security conference starts
MANILA will host starting today the International Conference on Women, Peace and Security (ICWPS). The two-day conference is expected to bring together representatives from over 80 countries as well as national and local officials, partners from civil society, the private sector and the academe. Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said the ICWPS "is a conversation profoundly important to the country and the global community." The meeting "will reflect on the gains nations have achieved in pushing frontiers for women as integral actors in peace and security processes and governance," Manalo said. Manalo said peace advocate and 2023 Ramon Magsaysay recipient Miriam Coronel-Ferrer is the "first woman in the world" to sign a final peace agreement. "We deploy women amongst Filipino troops in UN peacekeeping missions."
Topping Business
READ: Remolona: PH to exit 'gray' list in Feb 2025
THE Philippines is expected to exit a global dirty money watchlist February next after a watchdog found the country to have acted on previously identified deficiencies, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli Remolona Jr. said. The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) late on Friday said that the Philippines — which has been on the "gray" list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring since 2021 — had "substantially completed its action plan" to strengthen the effectiveness of its anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) systems. An onsite assessment will now follow to "verify that the implementation of AML/CFT has begun and is being sustained and that the necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain implementation in the future." Asked when the Philippines could possibly expect to be removed from the gray list, Remolona replied "February." The FATF, in its latest assessment, said the Philippines had implemented key reforms, including: demonstrating that risk-based supervision of designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs, which include casinos, real estate agencies, and casinos) is occurring; demonstrating that supervisors are using AML/CFT controls to mitigate risks associated with casino junkets; implementing the new registration requirements for money or value transfer services and applying sanctions to unregistered and illegal remittance operators; enhancing and streamlining law enforcement agency access to beneficial ownership (BO) information and taking steps to ensure that BO information is accurate and up-to-date; demonstrating an increase in the use of financial intelligence and an increase in money laundering investigations and prosecutions in line with risk; demonstrating an increase in the identification, investigation and prosecution of terrorism financing cases; demonstrating that appropriate measures are taken with respect to the non-profit organization (NPO) sector (including unregistered ones) without disrupting legitimate activities; and enhancing the effectiveness of the targeted financial sanctions framework for both terrorism and proliferation financing.
In Sports
READ: Cabana sparks BEST's 4-gold haul in Japan
THE Behrouz Elite Swimming Team (BEST) continued its dominance, capturing four additional gold medals, including three from Kristian Yugo Cabana, at the 2024 Buccaneer Invitational Swimming Championships being held at St. Mary's International School swimming pool in Tokyo, Japan. Cabana, hailing from Lucena City, remained unbeaten after sweeping all three events in the boys' 13-14 category on the second day of competition. The 14-year old Cabana dominated the competition, starting with a victorious 100-m butterfly performance, clocking 58.71 seconds. He outclassed silver medalist Nicolas Radzimski of Poland (1:02.16) and bronze medalist Luca Hashimoto of Japan (1:05.03). Cabana's winning streak continued as he ruled the 400-m individual medley and 100-m freestyle events, completing a three-event sweep. Cabana will compete in three more events on the final day, aiming for gold in the 100-m backstroke, 200-m butterfly and 200-m individual medley.
READ: Dodgers down Yanks, take 2-0 lead
LOS ANGELES — Freddie Freeman blasted his second home run of the World Series as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees, 4-2, to take a 2-0 stranglehold on the best-of-seven showdown on Saturday (Sunday in Manila). Freeman — who smashed a sensational grand slam to seal victory in Friday's dramatic opener — followed a two-run home run from Teoscar Hernandez in a decisive burst of scoring in the third inning. Game three of the series takes place in New York on Monday.
READ: Opinion
Deepening Moscow-Pyongyang ties threaten Asia-Pacific security, according to the Times in today's editorial. Read the full version on print or digital or listen to the Voice of the Times. Featured columnists on today's front page are Rigoberto Tiglao, Fr. Ranhilio Aquino and Francisco Tatad. Tiglao says SMC's Ang starts bold NAIA reforms; Aquino publishes a Statement of concerned Tuguegaraoeños while Tatad says that in the 2025 midterm elections, there are too many to choose from, but not enough good pick
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