Day: October 23, 2024

ILOILO CITY – The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) has raised its blue alert status on its emergency operations center and response clusters for heightened monitoring and reporting of the effects of Tropical Storm Kristine. Civil Defense Regional Director and RDRRMC chairperson Raul Fernandez on Wednesday said all rescue units and uniformed personnel were alerted, welfare goods were prepositioned, and evacuation centers were ready. ‘We will implement preemptive evacuation in flood-prone and landslide-prone areas,’ Fernandez said in an interview, citing as focused areas the coastal areas of Capiz, some parts of Aklan, Antique, and hinterlands of Leon,

Manila: The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) denounced on Wednesday the gun-slaying of a local broadcast journalist in Barangay Tumaga in Zamboanga City, describing the attack as a vile and atrocious act. In a statement, the PCO said it condemns the barbaric attack on Ma. Vilma Rodriguez, who was shot thrice by the suspect in front of her family members around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday. Rodriguez, a radio program anchor for Barangay Action Center of 105.9 EMedia, was rushed to the hospital but declared dead on arrival by the attending physician. ‘These kinds of vile and atrocious acts have no place in

TACLOBAN CITY – Rough seas caused by Tropical Storm Kristine have stranded over a thousand passengers in different ports in the Eastern Visayas region, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported on Wednesday. The daily issuance of notice of mariners by PCG halted the travel of at least 1,035 individuals heading to Central Visayas, Bicol, and Surigao from the ports in Leyte and Samar Island. The PCG said in its report that 389 trucks and other rolling cargoes remained in ports due to the cancellation of 14 roll-on, roll-off vessels in the region. Stranded passengers are taking shelter in ports and

Manila: Police officers arrested a high-value individual (HVI) and seized over PHP6.8 million worth of shabu in a sting operation in Caloocan City on Tuesday. In a statement Wednesday, Philippine National Police-Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) chief Brig. Gen. Eleazar Matta said the suspect alias “Ross”, 30, a resident of Navotas City, was arrested at about 1:21 p.m. in Barangay 136, Bagong Barrio, Caloocan City. The suspect yielded one kilogram of shabu inside a heat-sealed transparent plastic bag and other non-drug evidence. ‘The recent dismantling of a significant drug operation has resulted in substantial drug seizures and the arrest of a

Manila: Finance Secretary and current Chair of the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four (G-24) Board of Governors Ralph Recto is pushing for key reforms to empower the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) to better serve developing countries. In a statement on Wednesday, the DOF said Recto championed four key reforms during a high-level meeting of ministers and governors on Oct. 22 held at the IMF headquarters in Washington, D.C. The Philippines currently serves as the Chair of the G-24 Bureau for 2023-2024. “We continue to call for a more agile and resolute IMF and World Bank.