Day: October 28, 2024

MANILA – The Senate will scrutinize flood control programs in the proposed 2025 national budget given the recent devastating floods caused by Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (international name Trami), Senate President Francis Escudero said on Monday. Escudero said that theoretically, rising seas and higher flood waters must lead to rising appropriations, and a higher budget for climate adaptation. “Kaya ang budget ng Pilipinas ay (That’s why the budget of the Philippines is) unique. Disaster is becoming a de facto macroeconomic assumption. That is a given in the world’s most calamity-prone nation,’ he said in a news release. The 2023 budget

MANILA – Senator Imee Marcos reiterated on Monday her call to create a National Resiliency and Disaster Management Authority (NRDMA), which will focus on ‘preparing, giving warnings, responding to and helping communities after calamities.’ In a news release, Marcos highlighted the need for a centralized authority to address vulnerabilities and improve coordination, particularly in frequently affected areas like the Bicol region. ‘Bicol faces the Pacific, has an active volcano, and is subject to numerous accompanying threats. Why hasn’t a synchronized national response been established?’ Marcos said. ‘If we have a centralized authority for disaster management, we would be able to

MANILA – Those traveling to northern Luzon for the observance of ‘Undas’ should take precaution as Leon (international name Kong-rey) is forecast to bring rains and strong winds in the area from Tuesday to Nov. 1, the weather bureau said Monday. Leon has intensified into a severe tropical storm, packing maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gusts of up to 115 kph, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said. As of 10 a.m., the storm was located 735 km. east of Casiguran, Aurora or 780 km. east of Echague, Isabela,

MANILA – The Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) has deployed its transportation resources for disaster relief efforts in Bicol, one of the regions hit hardest by Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (international name Trami). Three PHLPost trucks, loaded with essential supplies to assist the affected communities, were dispatched Sunday. ‘Two trucks carried 720 shelter tarpaulins (360 per truck), while a third truck was stocked with 3,500 hygiene kits. With an estimated total load of 60 tons, these deliveries are a crucial component of ongoing relief operations,’ PHLPost said in a news release on Monday. Postmaster General and CEO Luis Carlos said PHLPost

LAOAG CITY – A Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) has been formed to fast-track the investigation into the ambush of a village chief and two others in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte on Oct. 26. Barangay 6 village chief Mark Adrian Barba, who is also the president of the town’s Association of Barangay Captains, and his bodyguard Raffy Ulep and driver Lord Wayne Guianne Menor were onboard a gray Toyota Innova on the way home from a cockpit area when they were waylaid by still unidentified assailants at around 2:45 a.m. along the national highway in the town’s Barangay 22 San