WORLD BANK RAISES PH GROWTH FORECAST
(STORY ON B1)
TS âUrdujaâ threatens more rain in Visayas THE weather bureau on Friday warned the residents of Eastern Visayas, particularly the Samar provinces, to brace for more rain as Tropical Storm âUrdujaâ continued its slow movement as it crossed the central Philippines. âEastern Visayas, particularly the Samar provinces, will be in danger because Tropical Storm Urduja is moving slowly and bringing moderate to heavy rain,â said weather specialist Loriedin De la Cruz. In other developments: * Tacloban City was placed under a state of calamity Friday following the devastation caused by Urduja, which dumped nearly two monthsâ worth of rainfall in a 24-hour span. The Tacloban City Council declared the state of ca-
lamity around 2:25 p.m. as the heavy rain brought by Urduja continued to ďŹood parts of the city. The rain fell heaviest in nearby Guiuan, Eastern Samar, which saw 780 mm of rainfall from 8 a.m. Thursday to 8 a.m. Friday, state weather bureau Pagasa said. Guiuanâs normal monthly rainfall is 440 mm. Making it worse, Pagasa forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said, was that Urduja has stayed âquasi-stationaryâ or virtually parked in Eastern Visayas, unlike faster tropical storms. * A P245-million standby fund is ready to ďŹnance relief efforts amid Urdujaâs expected landfall in Eastern Samar this weekend, the Social Welfare Department said Friday. Next page
URDUJAâS WRATH. Nearly 8,500 people are stranded (right photos) in ports nationwide over the country due to the effects of Tropical Storm âUrdujaâ, with weathermen warning residents of Eastern Visayas, particularly the Samar provinces, to brace for more rain as Urduja continues its slow movement (above) while crossing the central Philippines. Coast Guard says affected ports include those in Bicol, Eastern and Western Visayas, and even the port of Manila.
Mass murder raps vs Aquino, Garin By Rio N. Araja and Macon Ramos-Araneta
VOL. XXXI ⢠NO. 302 ⢠3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES ⢠P18 ⢠SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2017 ⢠www.manilastandard.net ⢠editorial@manilastandard.net
FORMER Technical Education and Skills Development Authority director Augusto Syjuco Jr. ďŹled on Friday a complaint of mass murder and plunder against former President Benigno Aquino III and former Health secretary Janette Garin before the OfďŹce of the
Ombudsman for the approval of the P3.5-billion procurement of Dengvaxia vaccines. He said Aquino and Garin must be held culpable for the mass vaccination of 733,000 school children. As far as the mass murder complaint is concerned, he said a boy in Bataan died last year who was inoculated with Next page Dengvaxia shots but died.
China outposts expand PDP-Laban Islets equipped with air/naval infraâAMTI told: Pitch for By John Paolo Bencito HINA has quietly built infrastructure in the Spratly and Paracel islands federalism in the West Philippine Sea or South China Sea in a bid to equip its larger By Macon RamosAraneta PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte says his party mates in the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan should lead the charge in promoting federalism in the country. Duterte, who is also chairman of PDP Laban, made the comment during his speech at the PDP Laban Christmas BeneďŹt Dinner for Marawi at the Next page
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outposts for potential air and naval bases in the disputed waters, the latest satellite imagery from the Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative showed Friday. The group said the buildup happened during the entire year, covering 72 acres or 290,000 square meters, despite assurances to the contrary given by Chinese President Xi Jinping to President Rodrigo Duterte, who has played down reports of Beijingâs military build-up in the disputed waters. Greg Poling, the transparency initiativeâs director, said China had seized a âdiplomatic open-
ingâ amid Duterteâs conciliatory stance toward Beijing over their territorial dispute. âItâs gotten off the front pages, but we shouldnât confuse that with a softening in Chinaâs pursuit of its goals. They are continuing all the construction they want,â Poling was quoted in an Associated Press interview. Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, however, downplayed the issue,
saying the Chinese are ânot occupying new areas.â âWeâve never said tumigil lahat or walang gumagawa [everything has stopped and no one is building anything]. What we are saying is, they are not occupying areas that are not habited, meaning, they are not occupying new areas,â Cayetano told reporters at the Department of Foreign Affairsâ Christmas lunch for the media Next page at Pasay City.
Rodrigo Duterte, the Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative says Beijing has seized a âdiplomatic openingâ in face of Duterteâs conciliatory stance toward China over their territorial dispute and quietly built infrastructure in the Spratly and Paracel Islands in the West Philippine Sea during the entire year, covering 290,000 square meters.
Terrorists tap social media to recruit membersâAFP
CHR yields to Du30âs prerogative
By John Paolo Bencito and Sara Susanne D. Fabunan
By Rio N. Araja and Maricel V. Cruz THE Commission on Human Rights on Friday said it respected the prerogative of President Rodrigo Duterte and the majority vote of both the Senate and Congress to extend martial law in Mindanao. âWe, however, continue to stress the need to address accounts of human rights violations on the ground,â said Jacqueline Ann de Guia, the agencyâs Public Affairs and Strategic Communication OfďŹce Next page director.
DIPLOMATIC OPENING. Despite the reported assurance of Chinese leaders to President
PRE-DEBUT PHOTO SHOOT. Fashion and wedding events observers as well as celebrity
stylists and make-up artists have shuffled feet at the riverside MalacaĂąang for the pre-debut photo shoot of Isabelle Duterte, daughter of Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, who turns 18 on Jan. 26, 2018. (Story on A2) John Paolo Bencito
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TERRORISTS continue to tap social media, along with the promise of fabulous pay, to recruit new members to their cause of building up a caliphate in Southeast Asia, the military said Friday. The Armed Forces of the Philippines also assured they will not tolerate human rights abuses with the extension of martial law in Mindanao until Dec. 31, 2018. Giving martial law another year is necessary given the continuous âpocket supportâ from the Middle East that may push some radicals to fund terrorist groups in the country, Foreign Affairs Sec-
retary Alan Peter Cayetano also said on Friday. Cayetano said that although the security situation in Mindanao has calmed down, the Duterte administration has been receiving reports from its different embassies of a possible threat and the return of the jihadists who attempted to take over Marawi City in May. âSo hindi na nagtatanong bakit kailangan ng martial law doon kasi sila mismo nagsasabi sa atin na you have to take measures [Residents in Mindanao are not asking why martial law is still needed there because they themselves are telling us],â he added in explaining why the Department of Foreign Affairs has been quiet about the extension of military rule. Next page
ADB kicks in $380 m for road network By Julito G. Rada THE Asian Development Bank will provide a $380-million loan to the Philippine government in its effort to help strengthen the road network and further spur economic development in Mindanao. In a statement Friday, ADB said the Improving Growth Corridors in Mindanao Road Sector Projectâ ADBâs biggest infrastructure investment in the island regionâsought to improve about 280 kilometers of national roads and bridges in Mindanao, the countryâs second largest island with Next page
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