Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Thursday, October 31, 2024.
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READ: Heavy rains feared as Leon races to PH
VILLAGERS in Batanes province were forced to evacuate on Wednesday as Super Typhoon Leon continued to move closer to the nation still reeling from Tropical Storm Kristine that left at least 182 dead and missing and emergency shelters crammed with displaced people. The state weather bureau placed Batanes under Storm Signal No. 4. Signal No. 3 was raised over the eastern portion of Babuyan Islands and the northeastern portion of mainland Cagayan, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said in its 2 p.m. bulletin. While Leon was expected to blow off the northern Philippines, its extensive rain band with a width of more than 600 kilometers could lash the entire main northern region of Luzon, the country's most populous, the government said. Leon (international name: Kong-rey) was last tracked 350 kilometers east of northern Cagayan province, with sustained winds of up to 185 kph and gusting up to 230 kph. Forecasters said it could further strengthen at sea.
READ: 'Where did flood control funds go?' Imee asks
SEN. Imee Marcos wants government agencies to account for the 132 billion pesos in flood control funds allotted since 2018 for the Bicol provinces after they were inundated by Severe Tropical Storm Kristine. The public "deserves transparency" on where these funds went, the senator said in a statement on Tuesday. She said the 2024 General Appropriations Act showed that the Bicol region alone received 31.94 billion pesos this year, "totaling nearly 133 billion pesos for flood control efforts over the past six years." Despite these allocations, she said Kristine had left the region devastated, with flooding at critical levels and inadequate infrastructure to protect affected areas.
READ: War on drugs led to more crime, panel chiefs say
THE war on drugs, with its extrajudicial killings during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte, led to more crimes, leaders of the House quad committee said, disputing his assertion that crime was on the rise under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Quad committee co-chairman and Sta. Rosa Rep. Danilo Fernandez said data from the Philippine National Police (PNP) belied the former president's claim. The PNP, added Fernandez, noted that index crimes from July 1, 2022 to July 28, 2024 dropped by nearly 62 percent to 83,059 compared to 217,830 during the first two years of Duterte's term as president.
READ: Pangandaman calls for gender mainstreaming in natl budget
BUDGET Secretary Amenah Pangandaman on Wednesday stressed the need to mainstream gender and development (GAD) in the national budget to advance women's participation and role in peace and security. In a press briefing at the International Conference on Women, Peace and Security (ICWPS) in Pasay City, Pangandaman said government leaders must ensure that the entire budget focuses on empowering women through programs that provide livelihoods and jobs for all.
BUSINESS: Govt debt hits new high
Topping business, the national government's outstanding debt ballooned to a new record of 15.89 trillion pesos in September due to continued borrowings, the Bureau of Treasury reported on Wednesday. It remained at a "manageable" level, the Treasury said in a statement, "with the majority or 68.81 percent of the portfolio sourced from the country's robust domestic market." The "net availment of new external and domestic debt," it added led to a "minimal increase" of 2.2 percent from the 15.55 trillion pesos recorded in August. The "strategic focus on local fundraising," the Treasury continued, "allows the government to limit external risk exposure to only 31.19 percent of its debt portfolio, while enabling the development of the local bond market and providing Filipinos with quality investment vehicles to grow their savings." As of end-September, domestic debt was 1.3 percent, or 144.65 billion pesos, higher than the 10.79 trillion pesos recorded a month earlier.
SPORTS: Obiena makes full recovery from back injury
In sports, Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena shared in a social media post on Tuesday night that he has fully recovered from his lower back injury. He is cleared to train for his 2025 season. That lower back injury, specifically a fractured L5 vertebra, forced the reigning Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games champ to end his 2024 season prematurely. Obiena, the world No. 3 pole vaulter, last competed at the Silesia Diamond League, where he finished fifth on Aug. 26. He was supposed to compete at ISTAF Berlin, Zurich Diamond League, Diamond League final, and even at his planned international pole vault competition on Sept. 20 here in Manila, but his nagging back injury worsened and forced him to not continue. Hence, Obiena, who placed fourth at the Paris Olympics, had to call it a season after 10 tournaments where he made the podium five times.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras and Danton Remoto are today's front page columnists. Contreras talks about "irrationality" during Severe Tropical Storm Kristine, while Remoto laments on the destruction of the Savage Mind Bookshop in Naga City.
Today's editorial calls on obstacles on renewable energy to be addressed by the government. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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