News Roundup 07 October 2022
Oct 07, 2022 • 5 min Read
Phivolcs raises Alert Level 2 over Mayon Volcano | INQUIRER.NET – The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) raised to Alert Level 2 the warning status over Mayon Volcano in Albay province after it noted “a continued seismic growth of its lava dome.” In a bulletin, Phivolcs said that as of Oct. 4, the lava dome had increased in volume by about 48,000 cubic meters since Aug. 20. “Ocular inspection of the summit during an aerial survey this morning confirmed the presence of freshly extruded lava at the base of the summit lava dome,” it added. Phivolcs said they observed a thin remobilized light-colored ash that was “likely derived from lava fragmentation during the extrusion process on the floor of the Miisi Gully since October 2, 2022.” In its latest bulletin, Phivolcs recorded no volcanic earthquakes in the past 24 hours, but the public is strongly advised to avoid entering the six-kilometer-radius permanent danger zone due to the possibility of a phreatic or hazardous magmatic eruption. “This means that there is current unrest driven by shallow magmatic processes that could eventually lead to phreatic eruptions or even precede hazardous magmatic eruptions,” Phivolcs added.
Radio blocktimer mauled outside RMN building in Iloilo | INQUIRER.NET – A host of a block-time program on a major radio station in Iloilo was mauled by unidentified men on Friday, Oct. 7. Flo Hervias was attacked outside the building where radio RMN Iloilo was located shortly after his program “Banwa Binag-binaga (Nation, Think),” which was co-hosted by Roy Cejar. A report from RMN Iloilo said Hervias had just exited the building when four “big-bodied” hooded men wearing masks beat Hervias up. Hervias suffered injuries on his face.
Police show photo of alleged gunman in Percy Lapid shooting | PHILSTAR.COM – Police said Friday they have identified a person of interest in the fatal shooting of radio broadcaster and prominent government critic Percy Lapid. Using CCTV footage taken along the route of Lapid to his broadcast studio before he was shot and dashboard camera video from the broadcaster’s vehicle, police presented at a news conference an image of the alleged gunman. The supposed gunman was first seen in footage walking near the city hall of Las Piñas wearing a pink jacket. Another man, who police identified as the driver of the motorcycle that carried the gunman, was seen sitting on the sidewalk along the road before he stood up when Lapid’s vehicle passed by. “The video that I showed earlier, you would see that markings on his t-shirt matched that of the person on the motorcycle behind the victim’s car seconds before he was shot as seen in dashcam footage,” said the head of the task force investigating Lapid’s killing, PCol. Restituto Arcangel, in Filipino. With the image of the alleged shooter now out in public, Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos is asking him to surrender. “A lot of people know who you are. A lot of people would rat you out. Maybe you should surrender. It is very important that you surrender because the masterminds behind this might do something terrible to you. The best thing to do is to surrender and let the police take over,” Abalos said. Lapid, whose real name is Percival Mabasa, was shot dead Monday night while he was driving to his studio in a subdivision in Las Piñas City. Lapid’s shooting is the second killing of a journalist under the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and has been widely condemned as an attack on press freedom.
Makabayan bloc urges House to condemn killing of broadcaster Percy Lapid | PHILSTAR.COM – The progressive Makabayan bloc filed a resolution Friday urging the House of Representatives to “condemn in the strongest terms” the extrajudicial killing of veteran journalist Percival Mabasa, better known as Percy Lapid. Mabasa was shot dead on Monday at the gate of BF Resort Village in Talon Dos, Las Piñas. Police reports say he was driving along Aria St. on board his black Toyota Innova at around 8:30 p.m. when he was shot by two male suspects on board a motorcycle without a plate number. House Resolution No. 468 urged the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to immediately investigate his murder, to hold accountable those responsible, and to take concrete steps to stop media killings and other attacks against free speech and press freedom. House Deputy Minority Leader and Rep. France Castro (ACT Teachers Partylist) who led the filing of the petition pointed out that Lapid is the second journalist killed since Marcos Jr. took office on June 30, after Rey Blanco, also a radio broadcaster, was stabbed to death on September 18 in Mabinay, Negros Oriental. “We believe that he was silenced due to his advocacy for truth,” said Castro. “We hope that an investigation will immediately be called by the House Committee on Human Rights on the matter, because now the perpetrators are becoming bolder and more brazen in their attacks considering that the killing was done in Metro Manila and the last program of Percy Lapid was against red tagging.” Lapid also hosted the radio show Lapid Fire in DWBL 1242 where he aired commentaries and criticism on controversial policies of the government, including the bloody drug war under former President Rodrigo Duterte, alleged corruption including online gambling operations, and historical distortion about Martial Law under the late ousted despot Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. In his final episode, Mabasa touched on the dangers and consequences of red-tagging to the lives and safety of those red-tagged and to free speech. He was critical of Duterte, former NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Lorraine Badoy-Partosa, and most recently the malicious disinformation and harassment against Manila Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 2021 World Impunity Index, the Philippines is the seventh in the list of countries worldwide where journalists are murdered and the perpetrators go free.
