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‘Usman’ enters PAR, landfall on Friday THE state weather bureau on Tuesday said Tropical Depression “Usman” has entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility. Usman was spotted 955 kilometers east of Hinatuan town in Surigao del Sur, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.
Mayor Carlwyn Baldo
The storm, moving northwest at 20 km/h, is packing winds of 45 km/ hr and gustiness of up to 60 km/hr. PAGASA said Usman may further intensify into a tropical storm and make landfall in Eastern Samar on Friday. It may exit the country either on Sunday night (Dec. 30) or early Monday morning (Dec. 31).
VOL. XXXII • NO. 314 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Daraga mayor rejects politics in solon’s slay HE rival of assassinated congressman Rodel Batocabe in next year’s mayoral race in the town of Daraga said local politics was not behind his killing Saturday.
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FULL-BORE PROBE. Police are looking into all angles, including politics, in the weekend assassination of Rep. Rodel Batocabe who is running for mayor in the May 2019 mid-term elections. His rival, Mayor Carlwyn Baldo, has said he will do everything to help in the investigation, while the Supreme Court itself says it will act on attacks on lawyers including that of Batocabe’s. Photo from UNTV
Mayor Carlwyn Baldo, who was set to run against Batocabe next year, said he would do all he could to help in the investigation. “We want to assure the public that everything is being done to solve the killings and to give protection to the innocent that as your mayor and as the chairman of peace and order municipal council that justice will be served to Congressman Batocabe,” he said in a statement. Batocabe and his police bodyguard, SPO1 Orlando Diaz, were shot dead Saturday afternoon as they were leaving a giftgiving event in Barangay Burgos in Daraga town, Albay. Police said they were investigating several angles in the killings, including a political motive. Witnesses told the police that at least three of the gunmen mingled with the crowd after the murder. A report from GMA News quoted bystanders said the killers got on waiting motorcycles to make their escape. Police said CCTV footage would enable them to identify the getaway vehicles. On social media, Batocabe’s wife Gerti said her husband could have been murdered over politics. Lawmakers and the governor of Albay have put together P30 million as a reward for information leading to the arrest of the killers. The Supreme Court, meanwhile, said it will act on spate of attacks on lawyers following the latest killing of lawyer and Ako Bicol Party-list representative Batocabe. Court Administrator Midas Marquez on Tuesday said Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin has received the online petition by officials and members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines urging the 15-member bench to take measures to protect lawyers after some of its members have been killed.
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Immigration may lose authority to issue work permit to foreigners By Vito Barcelo THE Department of Labor and Employment is considering withdrawing the authority granted to the Bureau of Immigration to issue special work permits to aliens following reports of abuse and a rise in the number of illegal foreign workers. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the department would coordinate with the Department of Justice, which oversees the bureau. Bello issued the statement after lawmakers pressed the government to crack
down on hundreds of thousands of illegal foreign workers, saying they were taking jobs from Filipinos and possibly threatening national security. The issuance of SWPs is an avenue for corruption. The Bureau of Immigration has issued at least 200,000, mostly to Chinese nationals, while the DOLE has issued at least 160,000 alien employment permits. The Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, which is under the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority
Urbi Et Orbi Don’t be greedy VATICAN CITY—Pope Francis on Monday assailed the “insatiable greed” of today’s consumerism, calling on people in his Christmas homily to make “sharing and giving” more a part of their lives.
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Military all geared up vs NPA attacks By Francisco Tuyay GOVERNMENT forces have fortified their positions to repulse any attacks by the communist New People’s Army, which celebrates its 50th founding anniversary today, an official said Tuesday. Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Col. Noel Detoyato said government troops were ready to secure any community against any attacks by the New People’s Army, the CPP’s military arm. He made the statement even as Police
Chief Oscar Albayalde said the CPP had so far made no threats on the eve of its 50th founding anniversary. But he said government troops remained on alert and ready to repulse any attacks. The CPP announced a unilateral ceasefire in time for the holidays and for the celebration of its anniversary on Dec. 26. And following the communists’ raid in Tubigan, Agusan del Sur, last week that resulted in the kidnapping of 12 soldiers, Next page
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CHRIST REBORN. Pope Francis kneels down to pray as he celebrates Mass on Christmas eve marking the birth of Jesus at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. In his homily, the pope said ‘by incarnating himself as a small child laid in a manger, Jesus allows mankind, through his flesh, to be reborn in love, breaking ‘the spiral of grasping and greed.’ AFP
Firecrackers in low supply, vendors up prices by 30% THE low supply of firecrackers from manufacturers in Bocaue ahead of the year-end revelry have forced vendors to increase their prices by 30 percent, a firecracker vendor said Tuesday. Ding Dinglasan says it is only this year that Bocaue, the firecracker capital of the Philippines, has experienced a firecracker shortage.
Non-stop service stalls deportation STRAIGHTFORWARD SERVICE. One for the books, the more than 1,400 hours of round-the-clock church service since Oct. 26 to stop police from enforcing a government deportation order against five members of a family who have been living in The Netherlands for nine years—under a law that police are not permitted to enter a church while a religious service is on.
AN UNINTERRUPTED church service in The Netherlands—intended to stop an Armenian family from being deported—has become well-known it has issued tickets for the Christmas period to control numbers, according to the American news-based Cable News Network. Next page
He made his statement even as dzBB radio said 13 firecracker-related injuries have been recorded in the last few days, which is 61-percent lower than the comparative figure last year. Over at the Health department, Secretary Francisco Duque III says officials led by Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje have visited some hospitals to evaluate their readi-
ness to treat fireworks-related injuries. “Our hospitals should be ready for any eventualities during this holiday celebration when alcohol and fireworks sometimes become the center of merriment,” Duque said. Dinglasan told UNTV that many firecracker manufacturers did not deliver Next page
YEAR ENDER
Senate tags 2018 as ‘prolific year’ By Macon Ramos-Araneta THE Senate approved 95 bills that were passed into law since the start of the year and 85 other enrolled bills are awaiting President Rodrigo Duterte’s approval, making 2018 a prolific year for the chamber, Senate President Vi-
cente Sotto III said Tuesday.He acknowledged the experience, cooperation, and camaraderie of his colleagues for the Senate’s efficiency this year. Aside from the approved bills as of Dec. 13, 2018, Sotto said 19 bills are pending in the bicameral conference
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