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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2019
News
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CAGAYAN, APAYAO PLACED UNDER STATE OF CALAMITY
HE provinces of Cagayan and Apayao were placed under a state of calamity due to severe flooding brought about by torrential rains and the onslaught of Typhoon “Quiel,” leaving at least four people dead and one missing. In a special session held at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Session Hall, members of the Apayao board presided by Vice Governor Remy Albano unanimously approved a resolution declaring the province
under a state of calamity. “ We have two casualties—a board member from Calanasan and a member of the Philippine National Police who died in a landslide,” Albano said.
Albano said the victims—Board Member Tolentino Mangalao, 54, of Calanasan, Apayao; and Cpl. Rommel Gumidam Jr. of Kabugao town—died after a landslide hit the house they were staying in at Kabugao town. A village treasurer in Barangay Karagawan, Kabugao was also reported missing, Albano added. Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba, for his part, said in a television interview Saturday that 11 towns in the province’s northwest part
remain flooded. These were the towns of Sta. Praxedes, Claveria, Sanchez Mira, Pamplona, Abulug, Ballesteros, Allacapan, Aparri, Gonzaga, Sta. Ana ang Baggao. Mamba said more than 7,000 people were in evacuation centers as of Friday night, accounting for 1,791 families in 72 evacuation centers. “This is the first time we have experienced such flooding in the northwestern part of Cagayan,” the governor said.
An aerial shot of Pamplona Bridge shows how Cagayan River remain swollen Saturday with the tail end of Typhoon ‘Quiel.’ Cagayan and Apayao provinces were placed under a state of calamity as their respective provincial disaster risk reduction management councils advise residents to take extra precaution and to stay alert. Dave Leprozo
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte named Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez as the new chairman of the Metro Manila Regional Peace and Order Council, a body which plays a vital role in maintaining peace and order situation in every region of the country. Beginning this month, Olivarez will be heading the Council along with his vice chairpersons National Capital Region Police Office director Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas and Metro Manila-Joint Task Force commander Brig. Gen. Alex Luna. The council recently signed a memorandum of agreement granting P10 million in funding from the Parañaque city government for the programs of the Metro Manila RPOC.
The fund will be used to help the council perform its mandate to promote peace and order as well as to create venues for convergence among different stakeholders. Sinas also presented to Olivarez the Peace and Development Roadmap and Sustainability Plan for next year which focuses on efforts to combat crime and disorder; resolve conflict, reduce the impact of insurgency, prevent and counter violent extremism; and build drugfree communities. The Metro Manila RPOC is a recommendatory body to the National Peace and Order Council led by President Duterte and members of the Cabinet which formulates policies and strategies to respond to peace and order problems and public safety.
DIVISIONS RIFE AS GERMANY MARKS 30 YEARS OF BERLIN WALL FALL
This photo taken on Nov. 11, 1989 shows young East Berliners celebrating atop the Berlin Wall. Thirty years later after its fall, the return of hard frontiers symbolize stark new political realities. AFP
GERMANY on Saturday marks 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall that ushered in the end of communism and national reunification, as the Western alliance that helped secure those achievements is riddled with divisions. Two days before the date that brought epochal change, France’s President Emmanuel Macron dropped a bombshell, declaring that transatlantic partnership NATO was suffering from “brain death” and that Europe itself was “on the brink.” Chancellor Angela Merkel responded with uncharacteristic sharpness, saying Thursday “I don’t think that such sweeping judgements are necessary,” and the ensuing storm over NATO laid bare the growing differences among
DUMAGUETE CITY—The Philippine National Police has filed murder charges against four suspects, including two policemen, in the killing of Dumaguete broadcast commentator and blocktimer Mercedario “Dindo” Generoso. Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office Director Col. Julian Entoma said the case was filed Friday night against Teddy Reyes Salaw, 44, of Lower Batinguel, Dumaguete; Glenn Mariño Corsame, of legal age, of Barangay Banilad, Dumaguete; Roger Rubio, of legal age, of Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental; and Tomasino Aledro, of legal age, of Barangay Batinguel, Dumaguete City. Salaw and Corsame, a retired police personnel, are in custody following their arrest several hours after Generoso was gunned down in Barangay Piapi here Thursday morning. Rubio, the alleged triggerman who is a police corporal assigned to the 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company, remains at large. Aledro was included in the murder charge, being the owner of the silver Mitsubishi Strada pickup truck allegedly driven by Salaw on the day of Generoso’s murder, Entoma said. CCTV footage from the city hall showed Rubio disembarking from the pick-up truck, which was parked along Rizal Boulevard, and transferred to a waiting motorcycle, reportedly driven by Corsame. The motorcycle riders then tailed Generoso to Barangay Piapi where the latter was shot dead. The murder case was filed through inquest before Prosecutor Oscar Bokingkito at the Hall of Justice, Entoma said. Generoso was the second radio broadcaster in Dumaguete to be killed, after Edmund Sestoso who was shot in broad daylight in May 2018. PNA
TENSIONS SOAR AS HONG KONG LAWMAKERS ARRESTED
OLIVAREZ NAMED NCR PEACE COUNCIL HEAD
By Joel E. Zurbano
CHARGES FILED VS. MURDER SUSPECTS
traditional allies. The bad tempered prelude to the festivities stood in sharp contrast to celebrations five years ago, when former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and ex-Polish president and freedom icon Lech Walesa were present. This time, leaders of former Cold War powers will be absent, as Donald Trump’s America First policy, Britain’s Brexit struggles and Russia’s resurgence put a strain on ties. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit ended Friday while Macron is only planning a flying visit on Sunday, leaving the actual anniversary on Nov. 9 without globally prominent figures. Pompeo also left behind a stark
warning: “As we celebrate, we must also recognize that freedom is never guaranteed. “Today, authoritarianism is once again rising,” he said, namechecking China and Russia. ‘Naive complacency’ Carrying a similar message, the EU’s incoming chief Ursula von der Leyen noted that the euphoric optimism over liberal democracy and freedom that characterized November 9, 1989 has dissipated. “Today, we have to admit that our complacency was naive,”said von der Leyen. Russia is “using violence to shift established borders in Europe, and is trying to fill every vacuum that the US has left behind.” AFP
HONG KONG police said Saturday they have arrested three pro-democracy lawmakers over a brawl in parliament, deepening the city’s crisis a day after the death of a student sent tensions soaring. The international finance hub has been upended by five months of huge and increasingly violent pro-democracy protests but Beijing has refused to give in to most of the movement’s demands. With the city bracing for a 24th consecutive weekend of rallies, police brought charges against three key pro-democracy lawmakers while four other lawmakers said they had been ordered to attend a police station later Saturday to be booked. They face up to a year in jail if convicted. The charges relate to chaotic scenes that broke out within a legislative committee in May as prodemocracy lawmakers tried to stop a controversial bill being discussed that would allow extraditions to authoritarian mainland China. At the time, city leader Carrie Lam was fast-tracking the bill through the legislature, a move that went on to ignite record-breaking street protests in which millions marched. AFP
Mourners light candles as they pay their respects at the car park where student Alex Chow, 22, fell during a recent protest on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong on Nov. 8. AFP