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(Story on A4)
AMERICANS GO TO POLLS; TRUMP, BIDEN BOTH PREDICT VICTORY (Story below)
Typhoon losses reach P8 billion
’Rolly' savages Bicol the most, with the biggest chunk of toll placed at P5.7b By Vito Barcelo, Othel V. Campos, Macon RamosAraneta and Rey E. Requejo
T
OTAL damages caused by Typhoon Rolly have reached a total of almost P8 billion, government agencies reported on Tuesday.
VOL. XXXIV • NO. 243 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
As “Rolly” slightly intensified as it exited the Philippine area of responsibility on Tuesday, tropical storm “Siony” gained strength while moving slowly over the Philippine Sea east of extreme Northern Luzon, the state weather bureau said. “A landfall scenario over BatanesBabuyan Islands area around Friday (Nov. 6) remains likely,” the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said. The center of "Siony" was estimated at 565 kilometers east of Basco, Batanes. It was slowly moving east northeastward, packing maximum sustained winds of 85 km/h near the center and gustiness of up to 105 km/h. It is forecast to intensify into severe tropical storm in the next 24 to 36 hours. Damage caused by the year's strongest storm on earth to roads, bridges, public buildings and flood control structures has topped P5.76 billion, the Department of
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ROLLY'S DAMAGES (Figures as of Nov. 3) Department/type DPWH (infrastructure) DA (agriculture) DepEd (schools) NEA (electric co-ops)
TOTAL
Cost of Damages P5.7 billion P1.75 billion P489.5 million P30.5 million P7.97 billion
Available gov't funds P3.622 billion for typhoon response
COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE
(AS OF 4 PM NOV. 3)
387,161 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES
1,772 30,876 AID FOR BICOL. Members of the Philippine Air Force prepare drinking water, food packs, and other basic needs to be transported to those affected by Tyhoon Rolly in Albay and Catanduanes on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Philippine Red Cross aids 172 families in Brgy. Bon-Ot, San Andres, Catanduanes, and repairmen get set to raise power poles toppled amid the year's strongest storm in Tabaco City, Albay. Philippine Air Force, Sen. Dick Gordon Twitter, GMA News photos
NEW
ACTIVE
7,318
49
348,967
153
DEATHS
RECOVERIES
NEW
NEW
DILG calls out 5 provinces in Region 5 suffer pitch-dark night Go backs DDR Alena Mae S. Flores, Vito mayors ’missing’ ByBarcelo and Maricel V. Cruz creation, others at peak of storm voice opposition By Vito Barcelo Tuesday night, with still no electricity in on Tuesday. the provinces of Catanduanes, Camarines NEA said in a statement that as of 7am Sur, Camarines Norte, Albay, and Sor- November 3, restoration was continuing MUCH of the Typhoon Rolly-lashed Bi- sogon in Bicol region, according to the to the remaining affected households Next page col Region remained in pitch darkness National Electrification Administration
By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz
TEN mayors from Northern Luzon, Mimaropa, the Bicol region and the Visayas are being ordered to explain why they were not at their posts when Typhoon “Rolly” ripped through the country Sunday, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Tuesday. "I cannot give their names yet until investigations are conducted and cases are filed against them," Año said in an in
SENATOR Christopher Go on Tuesday reiterated his call for the creation of a Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) in the wake of the damage caused by Typhoon “Rolly.” Next page
MARCOS CLAIMS TWIN ’TRIUMPHS’
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Red Cross twits PhilHealth over P477m balance By Willie Casas and Vito Barcelo
THE Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) still owes the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) around P477 million, and it is growing as COVID-19 tests continue. A report from “24 Oras” said the balance was computed after PhilHealth paid another P100 million to PRC on October 30. On October 27, PhilHealth also re leased Next page
ELECTION DAY. A voter (right photo) casts his ballot at a polling station on US Election Day in Winchester, Virginia early Tuesday. Polling stations opened in New York, New Jersey and Virginia early on November 3, as President Donald Trump (left photo) seeks to beat forecasts and defeat Democratic challenger Joe Biden. AFP
NEWS / A2
US goes to polls; Trump, Biden see victory WASHINGTON—Americans were voting on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) under the shadow of a surging coronavirus pandemic to decide whether to reelect Republican Donald Trump, one of the most polarizing presidents in US history, or send Democrat Joe Biden to the White House. A record-breaking number of early votes -- some 100 million—have already been cast in an election that has the country on edge and is being closely watched in capitals around the world.
The 77-year-old Biden, who served for eight years as vice president to Barack Obama, leads Trump in national polls and in many of the battleground states that will decide the White House. The former senator from Delaware, who is making his third bid for the presidency, began his day with a visit to the church in Wilmington, Delaware, where his son, Beau Biden, and first wife and daughter are buried. Next page