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CLASS IN FULL.
A teacher is surrounded by students on Wednesday during the first day of full face-to-face classes for public schools at Manuel Araullo High School on United Nations Avenue in Manila. Meanwhile, students at the Rafael Palma Elementary School in Manila make faces through the window (inset), happy that they do not have to wear face masks in their classrooms amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (See story on A4) Danny Pata and Norman Cruz
VOL. XXXVI • NO. 260• 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 THURSDAY, THURSDAY NOVEMBER 3, 2022 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
4 regions in calamity state PBBM issues Proclamation 84 lasting 6 months; ‘Paeng’ death toll at 122 By Vito Barcelo, Vince Lopez, Othel V. Campos, Nash B. Maulana, and Willie Casas
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RESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared a state of calamity in Calabarzon, the Bicol Region, Western Visayas, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the four regions hardest hit by Severe Tropical Storm “Paeng.”
Under Proclamation 84, the state of calamity will remain in force and effect for a period of six months unless earlier lifted by the President. The declaration of a state of calamity will hasten rescue, recovery, relief, and rehabilitation efforts. It will also freeze the prices of basic commodities in the areas covered by the proclamation and allow the national government and local government units (LGUs) Next page
Donations to House storm relief drive now total P75m By Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta THE initial “in kind" or non-cash donations to the ongoing relief drive that had been initiated by the House of Representatives through the office of Speaker Martin G. Romualdez for the victims of Severe Tropical Storm “Paeng” has reached P26 million. The Speaker's office revealed that as of Nov. 1, the value of in-kind donations such as food items, blankets, and toiletries stood at P26,316,409. “Many thanks to all who helped in our relief drive. We need all the help that we can get. We have already reached many affected families nationwide and we vow to bring the remaining aid to the affected families as soon as possible," said Romualdez, who represents Leyte's 1st District. Meanwhile, cash donations and pledges for the relief drive have already reached P49.2 million.
BOUND FOR TACLOBAN.
House employees load relief goods that will be distributed to families affected by Severe Tropical Storm Paeng in Tacloban City at the Batasan Complex in Quezon City on Tuesday. Ver Noveno
PAGASA vows better weather forecasting job AS THE Philippines remains at risk of disasters, the state weather bureau is looking for ways to improve the country's weather forecasts and early warning systems, an official said Wednesday. Dr. Esperanza Cayanan, the deputy administrator for research and development for the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said the agency is conducting a pilot study on impact-based forecasting and warning services in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu. She said on ANC's "Headstart" that this approach enables anticipatory action that aims to mitigate the impact of weatherrelated hazards. "I think we really need to move fast on this because of what we are experiencing right now," Cayanan said. "I believe this is one of the improvements that we really need to implement as soon as possible." In the aftermath of Severe Tropical Storm “Paeng,” Cayanan admitted there is a need to improve descriptions of the possible impact of cyclones in forecast advisories. "Maybe we need to highlight the Next page
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7,500 cans of beer confiscated Mabasa: Masterminds of brother’s killing known in contraband sweep at Bilibid UNESCO: KILLINGS By Rey Requejo
FROM cellular phones and laptops to canned beer and illegal drugs, inmates at the New Bilibid Prison surrendered some 12,000 contraband items on Wednesday. More than half of the contraband – 7,500 to be exact – were cans of beer, BuCor officer-in-charge Gregorio Cata-
pang Jr. said. "This is the first time that that amount of contraband slipped past Bilibid. It is as if a truck delivered them,” Catapang said. Each can of beer smuggled into the national penitentiary's Maximum Security Next page
THE brother of slain radio commentator Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa said the alleged masterminds in the killing have already been identified and murder charges are set to be filed on Friday. Roy Mabasa, who is also a journalist, met with Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and National Bureau of Investi-
OF JOURNALISTS GO UNPUNISHED NEWS / A2
gation Director Medardo de Lemos at the Department of Justice for a case conference on Wednesday morning. “There were names mentioned. And this is what we're studying as members of the family... I think we are nearing towards the filing of cases because based on our conversations earlier, there were names being mentioned but I'm not at liberty to divulge their names and identities,” Next page Roy said in an interview.
No need for unvaxxed tourists Hungry Pinoys to quarantine as PH lifts order ‘hardly move’ in By Willie Casas
A TRUCKLOAD OF BEER. A jail guard stands over 7,500 cans of beer, which made up the bulk of contraband items confiscated from prisoners following Oplan Paglilinis at the Bureau of Corrections in Muntinlupa City on Wednesday. Danny Pata
PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has signed a resolution lifting the quarantine requirement for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated travelers entering the Philippines. In a Twitter post, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido Dulay confirmed that the President has signed the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerg-
ing Infectious Diseases (IATF) Resolution No. 2 allowing inbound travelers without the need for quarantine. Under the resolution, inbound travelers will still have to present a negative result of a laboratory-based rapid antigen test. The resolution said Filipinos and foreign nationals 15 years or older shall present a remotely supervised or a laboratorybased rapid antigen negative test result Next page
SWS Q3 survey By Vito Barcelo and Maricel Cruz
THE number of Filipino families experiencing hunger “hardly moved” in the third quarter at 11.3 percent under the Marcos administration from 11.6 percent in the second quarter, the latest Social Weather Next page Stations survey showed.