Celebrating
Vol. 3. No. 16
T H E
LOS ANGELES
A Balita Media Publication
Wednesday - Tuesday, January 1-7, 2014
Hundreds of corpses in Tacloban remain unburied MANILA, Dec 28 (Mabuhay) – More than a thousand dead victims of super typhoon Yolanda lay unburied Saturday, seven weeks after the region was battered by the Philippines’ deadliest storm, residents living alongside the stench said. About 1,400 corpses, in sealed black body bags swarming with flies, lay on a muddy open field in San Isidro, a farming village on the outskirts of the destroyed central city of Tacloban. “The stench has taken away our appetite. Even in our sleep, we have to wear face masks,” said local housewife Maritess Pedrosa, who lives in a house about 20 meters from the roadside city government property. Yolanda killed 6,111 people and left 1,779 others missing on Nov. 8, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. This made the storm, which also left 4.4 million people homeless, one of the deadliest natural disasters in Philippine history. Tacloban and nearby towns were devastated by tsunami-like giant waves unleashed by Haiyan
which accounted for a majority of the dead. The council’s spokesman, Reynaldo Balido, said he was unsure if the official death toll already included the cadavers in San Isidro. Eutiquio Balunan, the local village chief, said government workers assigned to collect the typhoon dead began trucking them to San Isidro on Nov. 10, where they have been exposed to the tropical heat and heavy seasonal rainshowers. There, state forensics experts try to identify the corpses, he said. The processed corpses are then turned over to relatives, while those that are unclaimed are tagged and taken to a mass grave at the city cemetery about three kilometers away. “Our tally comprises those already tagged and processed by the local governments,” Balido, the disaster council spokesman, said. Balunan, the village chief, said the processing of the cadavers had been suspended over the Christmas weekend as the forensics experts went on holiday. See UNBURIED, page 6
Rescue workers carry a body bag containing the body of a five-year-old boy as they walk past houses destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan in the town of Tanauan November 20, 2013. Reports said about 1,400 corpses, in sealed black body bags swarming with flies, lay on a muddy open field in San Isidro, a farming village on the outskirts of the destroyed central city of Tacloban.
Storm relief workers killed in collision MANILA, December 29, 2013 (AFP) – A van carrying church volunteers returning home from Christmas relief operations in typhoon ravaged areas in the Philippines collided head on with a passenger bus Sunday, killing six, police said. Four members of the Calamba Pastor Alliance and their driver were killed instantly in the predawn accident, as well as the driver of the bus, according to a national police report in Manila.
Mexico’s drug cartels now operate in the Philippines. This after Philippine anti-drug police said on Thursday they had arrested three Filipinos who were storing illegal drugs for the Sinaloa drug cartel.
PHL steps up efforts to check entry of Mexican cartel MANILA, December 27, 2013 (AFP) – The Philippines said Friday it will take special measures to investigate the entry of Mexico’s feared Sinaloa drug cartel into the country. President Benigno Aquino’s spokeswoman Abigail Valte said there would be increased cooperation between Philippine anti-drug agencies and their foreign counterparts after the arrest of three people on Wednesday allegedly linked to one of the world’s biggest drug syndicates. She also said the immigration bureau would try to find out how
city of Tacloban. “Witnesses said the van was speeding along the highway and did not see the bus,” he told local television. Super Typhoon Haiyan devastated the central Philippines last month, triggering tsunamilike giant waves that left at least 6,155 dead and over 1,700 officially missing. Tacloban city was among the worst-hit areas, accounting for many of the deaths.
US welcomes deal on relocating air base in Japan
members of the cartel entered the Philippines amid reports that they used US passports. “We are having improved information sharing which leads to the capture of either (drug) smugglers or of those (criminal) rings here. Because we don’t want our country to become a haven for illegal drugs,” she told reporters. This came after Philippine anti-drug police said on Thursday they had arrested three Filipinos who were storing illegal drugs for the Sinaloa drug cartel. The two Filipinos and one Fil-
WASHINGTON, December 27, 2013 (AFP) – Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel on Friday praised a decision by Japanese officials to allow the relocation of a US air base in Okinawa, calling it a “milestone” for relations with Tokyo. Hagel welcomed the approval of the long-delayed move of the US Marine Corps base, which he said would permit a redeployment of American forces in the area and bolster Washington’s strategic “rebalance” to the Asia-Pacific region. “Reaching this milestone is a clear demonstration to the region that the alliance is capable of handling complex, difficult problems
See MEXICAN CARTEL, page 6
See RELOCATING, page 6
Bulldozer operator finds 140 unexploded bombs in Lipa City
A boy peddles his “torotot” or horn in Quiapo to celebrate the New Year. Although the Department of Health has been urging the public to create noise by blowing horns instead of lighting firecrackers during the celebration, hundreds still suffer from injuries caused by firecrackers and other pyrotechnics in the Philippines. (MNS photo)
Four others were injured and recuperating in hospital after the collision on a highway in central Sorsogon province, the police said. The police statement did not say whether the bus was carrying any passengers at the time of the accident. Police investigator Jose Distacamento said the group was on its way home to its ministry in Calamba town after completing a relief mission in the typhoon-hit
MANILA, Dec 28 (Mabuhay) – An Air Force explosive ordnance disposal team recovered 140 unexploded bombs in Lipa City on Friday after a bulldozer operator uncovered them while digging. According to the Lipa City Police Station, the bombs were found by Jaime Devinagrasya of Amia Rosa Subdivision in Barangay Bolbok before noon. The discovery was initially relayed to the Lipa City Police Station but an EOD team with the 554th Air Police Squadron was dispatched from Fernando Air Base by Friday afternoon. “Inventory conducted revealed that 140 pieces of vintage bombs were found at the area, which were properly removed and lifted See VINTAGE BOMBS, page 6
U.S. Marines assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit haul a 155 mm Howitzer onto the flight deck of the forward-deployed amphibious dock landing ship USS Germantown (LSD 42) in Okinawa, Japan, Feb. 2, 2012. The ship pulled into Okinawa to embark the Marines in preparation of Cobra Gold 2012. Cobra Gold is a regularly scheduled joint/combined exercise designed to ensure regional peace and strengthen the ability of the Royal Thai Armed Forces to defend Thailand or respond to regional contingencies. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Johnie Hickmon/Released)
PHL October imports take steepest plunge in 18 months MANILA, Dec 27 (Mabuhay) – Philippine merchandise imports plunged at their steepest rate in 18 months in October, pulled down by inbound electronics shipments – the country’s top trade item. The National Statistics Office (NSO) on Friday reported that imports dropped 8.6 percent annually to $4.824 billion in October. This is in contrast to a revised 7.2 percent increase in September and a 5.0 percent gain in October last year. The recent decline is the sharpest drop since the 13.3 percent contraction registered in April last year. Total imports in the 10 months to October were down 0.8 percent year-on-year to $51.2 billion.
“We saw a sharp droop, and it’s all about the semiconductors,” Nicholas Antonio Mapa, economist at Bank of the Philippine Islands, said in a telephone interview. Electronic imports, which accounted for the largest share in October, contracted by 7.3 percent – a turnaround from the 29.9 percent rise a month previous, NSO data showed. These shipments are usually materials used by the semiconductor and electronics industry, the country’s largest export sector. “They [industry players] may not be replenishing inventory because of the stock that piled up from previous months or they are See PLUNGED, page 6
1-877-35-NOPAY (1-877-356-6729)