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IN MET R MANILAO
VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 67 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES APRIL 21, 2024
SWIFT’S LATEST ALBUM BREAKS SPOTIFY RECORD WORLD | A4
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BRAHMOS MISSILE SYSTEM A ‘GAME-CHANGER’ —NSC SUPERSONIC CRUISE MISSILE’S RANGE COVERS WPS
‘EARLY-STAGE’ AI AT CHINA SEX TOYS EXHIBITION WORLD | A4
RODY STAYS AS PDP CHAIR, NAMES 4 SENATORIAL BETS NEWS | A2
By Charles Dantes
T
HE National Security Council said the government’s purchase of India’s BrahMos missile system would be a “game-changer” for the country’s maritime defensive capabilities. NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said the BrahMos missile is one of the fastest cruise missiles in the world, noting that its maximum range would cover the West Philippine Sea. Indian media reported that the first batch of the supersonic cruise missile arrived in the Philippines on Friday as part of the $375 million agreement between the government and BrahMos Aerospace in 2022. Malaya, however, said he was not in a position to confirm the delivery of the cruise missile. “I don’t want to preempt my partners at the Department of National Defense. I think they will make an announcement soon. I’d like to defer to them because NSC didn’t buy it, so I want them to confirm rather than me,” he said. In October, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the BrahMos cruise missile system would be deployed first with the Philippine Marine Corps. “The Marines will be getting the first deliveries of the BrahMos – I think they will be getting three batteries,” he said. While he did not specify the number of batteries the Army would be getting, Brawner said it would be higher than those that would be acquired by the Marines. A missile battery typically consists of three mobile autonomous launchers with two or three missile tubes each, along with the tracking systems. The BrahMos cruise missile can be launched from a ship, aircraft, submarine or land, and has a top speed of around Mach 2.8 (around 3,400 km. per hour), and is capable of carrying warheads weighing 200 to 300 kilograms.
An Indian Air Force C-17 jet carries the BrahMos cruise missiles from India to the Philippines. Times of India
WAVE OF CHANGE. Artists apply finishing touches to an art installation for a plastic-free environment at the Quezon City Hall lobby on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Manny Palmero
NSC PROBES INFLUX OF CHINESE STUDENTS IN CAGAYAN PROVINCE
THREE PHREATIC ERUPTIONS AT TAAL—PHIVOLCS
By Ratziel San Juan
THREE short-lived phreatic or steamdriven eruptions were recorded on Sunday in Taal Volcano, which remains under Alert Level 1. the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said. Phivolcs said the events occurred from 8:50 a.m. to 9:12 a.m. as seen on its Main Crater (VTMC) observation station. “The events lasted more than 2 minutes and produced up to 350-meter-tall steam plumes that drifted West-southwest and Southwest. Alert Level 1 prevails over Taal Volcano,” Phivolcs said. Another short-lived phreatic eruption occurred at 11:02 a.m. which lasted approximately five minutes and produced a 300-meter-tall steam plume that drifted northwest.
THE National Security Council is now investigating reports of an influx of Chinese students in areas close to military bases that can be accessed by American troops, in particular in Cagayan province. “This is something that is currently being investigated now. Our intelligence units have been assigned to take a look at the situation there,” NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said yesterday. “Is this a case of a national security threat or is this just a case of people wanting to study in the Philippines?” he added. Chinese-Filipino figure Teresita Ang See and two Cagayan local officials, however, lamented
what they described as a wave of Sinophobic sentiment. “The past days’ preoccupation with deliberate fanning of Sinophobia and racism by politicians and media spreading baseless whodunits of ‘students as spies’ is dangerous and unfortunate,” Ang See said in a statement during a forum at Quezon City’s Kamuning Bakery Cafe. She cited how the Commission on Higher Education reported a significant number of Chinese students at St. Paul University in Tuguegarao “without qualifying what is significant relative to the total student population or giving context that it is the only university given authority by CHED and Bureau of Immigration to accept foreign students.”
1.7-M PINOYS AFFECTED BY EL NIÑO, AGRI DAMAGE AT P3.9B By Maricel V. Cruz SOME 1.7 million individuals have been affected by the El Niño phenomenon, which has resulted in close to P4 billion in damage and losses to the country’s agriculture sector. DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao said the affected individuals are in Regions 2, 3, Mimaropa, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12 and the Cordillera Administrative Region. “The DSWD is distributing family food packs. This is part of the humanitarian response in areas affected by El Niño, especially for families experiencing lack of food due to severe drought,” she said. DSWD has already distributed more
than P58 million worth of family food packs in the affected areas, Dumlao said. According to the Department of Agriculture, damage on rice crops accounted for more than half of the total losses or at least P2.36 billion. Damage on high value crops and corn were placed at nearly P868 million and P669 million, respectively while losses in the fisheries sector were valued at P33.83 million and in livestock and poultry at P6.95 million. Of the 11 regions that sustained agriculture damage, among the hardest hit were MIMAROPA and Western Visayas. Meanwhile, Dumlao said the DSWD has Project Lawa and Project Binhi
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which aim to help El Niño-affected communities have access to water and food. Beneficiaries of the projects are provided with temporary income via the cash-for-training and cash-for-work components. “They are assisted in building water cisterns or small farm reservoirs, which are sized 20 by 24 square meters and 50 feet deep, that can be used as water sources for their farms. The Department of Agriculture provides technical expertise,” she said. Under the pilot program of the two projects, small farm reservoirs were already constructed in Ifugao, Antique, and Davao.
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At least three steam-driven eruptions are recorded at Taal Volcano on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Screengrab from Phivolcs Main Crater Observation Station
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