Good day. Here are the top stories of The Manila Times for Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024.
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READ: Floods fail to dampen observance of 'Undas'
DEVOUT Filipinos clutching candles and flowers poured into cemeteries across the country on Friday to pay tribute to loved ones on All Saints' Day. Hundreds of thousands flocked to cemeteries in Metro Manila while others waded through floodwaters left by the deadly Tropical Storm Kristine to quietly pray and celebrate what has come to be known as Undas. BGen. Arnold Ibay, tasked with handling crowd control in the capital, said he expected almost a million visitors at Manila North Cemetery alone, where people had begun lining up before dawn to enter. In Pampanga, people trudged through murky floodwaters to visit the submerged Masantol municipal cemetery. The Department of Transportation (DoTr) stepped up efforts to ensure safe and orderly travel during Undas. In preparation for Undas, 4,087 frontline personnel were deployed in 15 PCG districts, where they inspected 547 vessels and 977 motorized bancas before allowing them to leave port. In his All Saints' Day message, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed hope that Undas would remind Filipinos of the values of faith, resilience and hope. Vice President Sara Duterte and House Speaker Martin Romualdez urged the Filipino faithful to pray for all the saints as well as their departed loved ones on Undas.
READ: Marcos refuses to react to Sara Duterte's rant
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday refused to comment on Vice President Sara Duterte's threat to dig up the remains of his father, former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City. The President also refused to comment when asked about the falling out with Duterte. During a press briefing last Oct. 18, Duterte delivered a lengthy diatribe against the President and his family that highlighted the worsening feud between the former running mates during the 2022 elections.The vice president also said Marcos does not know how to govern the country. Marcos said he was deceived when Duterte mentioned that they were never friends. It was former president Rodrigo Duterte, the vice president's father, who allowed Marcos Sr. to be buried at the Libingan in 2016. President Duterte's decision was challenged before the Supreme Court by opponents of the Marcos martial law regime and survivors of torture and other human rights violations. The Court ruled that the remains of Marcos Sr. could stay at Libingan since he was a former president. The ousted president died in 1989 while in exile in Hawaii where the Marcoses fled after the 1986 People Power Revolution. On All Saints' Day Friday, Marcos Jr. vowed to continue the legacy of his father by working to drive the development of the country and improve the Filipinos' living conditions.
READ: Aid for storm victims pours in as death toll continues to rise
GOVERNMENT and non-government organizations have so far provided P996.6 million worth of assistance to the victims of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (international name: Trami) and Super Typhoon Leon (international name: Kong-rey), the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Friday. In its 8 a.m. situation update, the disaster response agency said the assistance has reached 588,784 families in 15 stricken regions. So far, 2,028,282 families, or 7,953,766 persons, in 11,414 barangay (villages) in 17 regions have been affected by Kristine and Leon. Close to 82,000 families are staying at 1,980 evacuation centers. The death toll has climbed to 145, of which 14 have been confirmed. The number of injured stood at 84, and 21 are still missing. Damage to agriculture was estimated at P4.43 billion and P6.82 billion to infrastructure. The NDRRMC said 155,121 houses were damaged. Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno said the OCD was distributing non-food items such as hygiene kits to storm victims. Nepomuceno also said the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) will distribute building materials to help victims repair their homes. Storm victims whose houses were destroyed will receive P30,000, and those whose houses were damaged will get P10,000. Nepomuceno added that restoring power and internet connection in storm-hit areas is also a top priority.
READ: Art helping heal trauma of Bicol's storm survivors
In a community heavily devastated when Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (international name: Trami) wreaked havoc in the Bicol Region on Oct. 22, art intervention was used as a means to relieve the trauma of survivors. At a time when the scent of damp earth lingered in the air and remnants of the disaster — fallen trees, scattered debris and areas submerged in dark sludge — made it difficult to reach typhoon-stricken Libon town, Dee Jai and the members of the Youth Ambassadors of Albay Province came with food packs and art kits, resolved to bring a ray of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy place. Dee Jai's art relief program in Libon is part of a series of art interventions she plans to conduct under the Tindog Albayano initiative — a relief operation primarily supported by partnerships between private citizens and organizations to aid survivors of Kristine. As Albay's provincial art consultant, she has conducted free art workshops for vulnerable groups in the region. This is the first time, however, that she has brought her program directly to communities ravaged by disasters.
In Business
READ: Condo vacancies up due to ban on POGOs
CONDOMINIUM vacancies in Metro Manila edged up in the third quarter, Colliers Philippine said, partly due to Chinese nationals vacating their units in line with a looming ban on all Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs). In a quarterly market report released on Tuesday, Colliers PH said the vacancy rate rose to 17.4 percent in the July to September period from 17.2 percent, particularly in the Manila Bay area. Colliers PH expects the rate to hit 17.7 percent by the end of this year. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in July ordered that all POGOs — online gambling firms in the country that cater to customers abroad, mostly Chinese — be shut down by the end of the year given alleged links to crime. POGOs proliferated during the term of former president Rodrigo Duterte and officials at that time said that taxes collected would substantially boost government revenues. Colliers PH said the increased vacancy would result in slower growth in rents and prices — rents rose by just 0.2 percent in the third quarter — with a projected recovery of between 2.0 percent to 2.5 percent, or to 15.2 percent, from this year to 2026. Rents and prices are only expected to return to pre-Covid levels by the second quarter of 2028 and the third quarter of 2029, respectively.
Topping Sports
READ: Morant fires Grizzlies in win over Bucks
LOS ANGELES — Ja Morant's 12th career triple-double fired the Memphis Grizzlies to a 122-99 NBA victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday (Friday in Manila) as Houston edged the Dallas Mavericks. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 37 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but teammate Damian Lillard was held to four points on 1-of-12 shooting. Brook Lopez was Milwaukee's next-highest scorer with 12 points as the Bucks dropped their fourth straight after opening the season with a win over injury-hit Philadelphia. Morant was the engine for Memphis, scoring 26 points with 10 rebounds and 14 assists. He had plenty of support as seven Grizzlies players, including all five starters, scored in double figures. Milwaukee never got the deficit below 18 points in the second half.
READ: Alcaraz ousted at Paris Masters
PARIS — World number two Carlos Alcaraz admitted he "was not up to the level" of 18th-ranked Ugo Humbert of France who swept to a shock Paris Masters third round victory over the Spanish superstar on Thursday (Friday in Manila). Left-handed Humbert came through 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 to register his first win over the French Open and Wimbledon champion having lost twice to Alcaraz earlier in 2024. It was a testing evening for Alcaraz who was 0-5 down in the first set before he managed to get on the board. Humbert, who has two titles from Marseille and Dubai in 2024, said he was "super proud" of himself.The 21-year-old Alcaraz has endured a rollercoaster second half of the season since his heartbreaking Paris Olympics final loss to Novak Djokovic. He was knocked out in the second round of the US Open by 74th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp, defeated top-ranked Jannik Sinner in the Beijing final before a quarter-final exit at the hands of Tomas Machac, the world number 33, at the Shanghai Masters. Humbert goes on to face Australia's Jordan Thompson for a place in the Paris Masters semifinals.
READ: Opinion
In today's editorial, The Manila Times says justice is served in ERC chairman's case. Read the full version on print or digital or listen to the Voice of the Times. Featured columnists on the front page are Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta, Danton Remoto and Leonor Magtolis Briones.. Let us listen to science, says Contreras; Makabenta writes about what former president Rodrigo Duterte means when he describes himself as preferably 'bastos,' Remoto, how to write a ghost story and Briones on Undas: When the dead visit the living.
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