The Standard - 2015 December 19 - Saturday

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VOL. XXIX  NO. 310  3 Sections 32 Pages P18  SATURDAY : DECEMBER 19, 2015  www.thestandard.com.ph  editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Starving of maid angers Poe

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NATIONAL CALAMITY Palace says gov’t was prepared for Typhoon ‘Nona’

By Sandy Araneta

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III declared a state of national calamity Friday due to the destruction brought about by Typhoon “Nona,” which left at least 17 people dead and caused more than P900 million in damage to crops and infrastructure.

Off to higher ground. Residents ride on a truck over floodwaters to evacuate to higher ground in Candaba, Pampanga. Vast swathes of farmlands were flooded by rains from Typhoon ‘Nona’ and the flooding could worsen or spread to other areas as a second storm in less than a week threatens the country. AFP

Reds ambush trucks on relief mission By Mel Caspe COMMUNIST rebels ambushed a convoy of Army trucks that had just transported relief goods to typhoonstricken Northern Samar, the military said Friday. The convoy of three trucks led by First Lt. Fritz Perez and two personnel from the Department of Social Welfare and Development were on

their way back to Office of the Civil Defense-Eastern Visayas in Tacloban City after transporting the relief goods to the typhoon victims when they were waylaid by an undetermined number of NPA rebels around 7:20 a.m. along the Maharlika Highway Pinabacdao, Samar, the military said. Two soldiers were wounded in the ensuing 15-minute firefight. The military has sent reinforce-

ments to the area. That stretch of the national highway was closed Friday morning due to the firefight. The Armed Forces condemned the ambush and accused the communist New People’s Army of being behind the attack. “The NPAs are continuously and deliberately conducting atrocities like ambuscades against our troops who Next page

“President Aquino has signed Proclamation No. 1186 declaring a State of National Calamity in the aftermath of Typhoon Nona (international code name: Melor), which left a trail of destruction, substantial damage and deaths in several areas in the country including the provinces of Albay, Northern Samar, Oriental Mindoro, Romblon and Sorsogon,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. “The declaration of the state of national calamity is meant among others to… hasten the rescue, recovery, relief and rehabilitation efforts of the government and private sector and effectively control the prices of basic goods and commodities for the affected areas… and to continue to provide basic services to residents of affected communities,” Coloma said. The death toll from Nona rose to 17 Friday morning, but disaster officials said the count would most likely go up because the areas hardest hit by the typhoon were cut off and had not yet been able to report. Three provinces—Northern Samar, Nueva Ecija and Sorsongon, were without power as of Thursday due to damage wrought by Nona. The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said Friday it restored power in the provinces of Aurora Next page and Nueva Ecija.

Expect traffic hell this weekend

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