PH mulls team, sending aid to quake–hit Syria

THE government is considering sending either a response team or aid to help Syria, which was also struck by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that affected Turkey on Monday.

Office of Civil Defense spokesperson Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo the Syrian government formally sent a “flash appeal” to the Philippines on Wednesday night.

“That is what we are evaluating now with DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs]. Either we can send another contingent or send donations or relief items. No decision yet but we have already received through DFA a similar call from Syria and we are evaluating it,” Alejandro said Thursday.

“It’s an appeal for international assistance,” he added.

The Philippines’ 83-person response team arrived in Istanbul on Thursday at 12:08 p.m., Philippine time. It will help in search and rescue operations, and provide relief assistance to victims in the quakehit country.

Alejandro said the Philippine contingent will be assigned to Adana, one of the 10 provinces severely affected by the tremor.

“They were warmly received by our counterpart doon and our Philippine consulate. Our PH embassy officials were there to meet them. They had an initial briefing, then they will be transported again to their assigned region which is Adana. It is south of Istanbul,” the official noted.

“They are set to depart at 11 a.m., Istanbul time for Adana.

Initially, 18 buildings collapsed there per report. Our USAR is a medium-type USAR team capable of doing collapsed structure search and rescue.”

Philippine Ambassador to Turkey Maria Elena Algabre will meet the Philippine contingent in Adana.

“(Algabre) went around to check on our OFWs and the Filipino community in the southern part ng Turkey,” Alejandro said.

Hopes...

From A1 suffered loss and displacement due to Syria's civil war. An official at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing told AFP that an aid convoy reached rebel-held northwestern Syria Thursday, the first since the earthquake that has left survivors sleeping outdoors due to aftershock risks.

A decade of civil war and SyrianRussian aerial bombardment had already destroyed hospitals, collapsed the economy and prompted electricity, fuel and water shortages. Freezing temperatures

Temperatures in the Turkish city of Gaziantep plunged to minus five degrees Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit) early Thursday, but thousands of families spent the night in cars and makeshift tents—too scared or banned from returning to their homes.

Parents walked the streets of the city —close to the epicentre of Monday's earthquake—carrying their children in blankets because it was warmer than sitting in a tent.

Some people have found sanctuary with neighbours or relatives. Some have left the region. But many have nowhere to go. Gyms, mosques, schools and some stores have opened up at night. But beds are still at a premium and thousands spend the nights in cars with engines running to provide heat.

"When we sit down, it is painful and I fear for anyone who is trapped under the rubble in this," said Melek Halici, who wrapped hertwo-year-old daughter in a blanket as they watched rescuers working into the night.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after mounting criticism online over the initial disaster response, visited one of the hardest-hit spots, Kahramanmaras, and acknowledged problems.

"Of course, there are shortcomings. The conditions are clear to see. It's not possible to be ready for a disaster like this," he said Wednesday.

Racing against the clock

Officials and medics said 14,351 people had died in Turkey and 3,162 in Syria from Monday's 7.8-magnitude tremor, bringing the confirmed total to 17,513. Experts fear the number will continue to rise sharply.

"We are now racing against the clock to save lives together," EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter.

Despite the dimming hopes for rescues, thousands of local and foreign searchers have not given up in the hunt for more survivors. AFP (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

House leaders convinced DA gave them fake data on onions

CONGRESSIONAL leaders were convinced that government data on the supply of onions, particularly those coming from the Department of Agriculture (DA) were either fake or “invented.”

Majority leader and Zamboanga

Rep. Mannix Dalipe and Committee on Appropriations senior vice chairperson Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo were disappointed that they did not get satisfactory answers from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) during Wednesday’s House inquiry on the alleged hoarding of onions and agricultural products.

Earlier, Speaker Martin Romualdez warned unscrupulous businessmen suspected of hoarding onions and other agricultural products that their days were numbered.

The House Committee on Agriculture and Food chaired by Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga conducted the inquiry on the issue of hoarding--which is believed to have caused hefty price increases on onions and other basic commodities.

Among the initial issues that Dalipe raised during the hearing was the fact that Will Builders Inc. (WBI), one of the country’s largest cold storage firms, was not listed in the BPI’s records. The BPI is an attached agency of the DA.

“’Yung mga datos natin, artificial lang ba yan? Pinepeke lang ba yan? ‘Di ba? May laman ba yung cold storage? Wala bang laman ‘yung cold storage? Kasi d’yan mo malalaro ‘yung presyo,” Dalipe asked the BPI representative to the hearing.

“What if the cold storage is empty, and your report says it’s full. What will happen to the market? That will be taken advantage of by some people, na walang supply. Tataas ngayon ang presyo kasi mali ang datos niyo,” he pointed out.

Dalipe said he believes that “price manipulation” was taking place in the local onion industry.

“There were reports that we had sufficient onion and garlic, and here comes the months of October, November, December, na tumaas ‘yung presyo. If the reports were true, why would the price go up?” he noted. Maricel V. Cruz