News Roundup 17 December 2021
Dec 17, 2021 • 4 min Read
‘Odette’ slightly weakens, makes another landfall in Palawan | PHILSTAR.COM – A slightly weakened Typhoon Odette (international name: Rai) made another landfall over Roxas, Palawan, on Friday afternoon, state weather bureau PAGASA said in its latest bulletin. Odette, the strongest typhoon to batter the disaster-prone Philippines this year, made landfall over the Palawan municipality at 3:10 p.m. It was last seen at around 4:00 p.m. within the vicinity of San Vicente municipality. The typhoon slightly weakened with maximum sustained winds of 150 km per hour near the center and gusts of up to 205 kph. Odette is heading west at 25 kph and is forecast to pass in the vicinity of Kalayaan Islands on Saturday.
Supreme Court and IBP urged to discipline Gadon over violent, vulgar video rant vs reporter | PHILSTAR.COM – The Foreign Correspondents’ Association of the Philippines on Friday condemned a controversial lawyer and senatorial aspirant for a profanity-filled rant directed at journalist Raissa Robles that contained Filipino equivalents of the f-word and a reference to sex with a dog. FOCAP called on the Supreme Court and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines to discipline Larry Gadon, who had recorded a video in response to a tweet by Robles saying presidential aspirant Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s failure to file income tax returns in the 1980s — a matter raised in a plea to disqualify him from the 2022 presidential elections — puts into question whether he paid taxes back then. A clip of the video circulating on social media shows Gadon, who is in his 60s but who has demonstrated a lack of the self-control that most people develop in adulthood, cursing at Robles in what FOCAP characterized as a “violent and aggressive verbal assault.” FOCAP, in its statement, said “the profanity, expletives and sexist insults against Robles violate Philippine laws on public decency, gender respect and the core principles of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.” “It was utterly despicable and reflective of the belligerent impunity [that] independent and courageous Filipino journalists face for doing their constitutionally protected work in the country,” it also said. Members of the media in the Philippines have faced intimidation and harassment, often from political figures or their supporters. The International Center for Journalists has found that the harassment of women journalists is more common and is often worse than what their male colleagues face.
Bohol still without electricity; many areas still flooded – Robredo | INQUIRER.NET – Hours after Typhoon Odette crossed Visayas, the entire province of Bohol was still without electricity as only solar-powered lights were operating Friday night, Vice President Leni Robredo said. Robredo, who earlier flew to Bohol to personally check the situation on the ground, said a lot of roads remain impassable due to scattered debris brought by Odette’s strong winds while many areas, especially the northern and eastern portions of the province, are still flooded. In fact, the Vice President said they were not cleared to visit an evacuation area in Loay town because roads connecting the towns are still in deep floodwaters. “Flew to Bohol the moment we were cleared to fly there post-Odette. Updates have been hard to come by over the past 24 hours, kaya hindi rin tayo mapakali (that’s why we were restless). So we went to assess the situation and bring help,” Robredo said in a Facebook post. “The whole province has no electricity at solar lights lang ang gumagana. Many roads are still unpassable, and many areas in the North and East of the province are still flooded. Hindi na nga kami nakatuloy sa isang evacuation center sa Loay dahil baha pa rin,” she added. (The whole province has no electricity and solar lights are only functioning. Many roads are still impassable, and many areas in the North and East of the province are still flooded. We were not allowed to go to one evacuation center in Loay because it is still flooded.) Robredo said Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap and other officials like Vice Governor Rene Relampagos and Tagbilaran Mayor Baba Yap have been leading clearing operations on the ground.
Typhoon Odette kills 14 – NDRRMC chief | Manila Bulletin – At least 14 people were reported to have died as typhoon “Odette” pummeled Visayas and Mindanao, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) disclosed Friday night, Dec. 17. In a situational briefing with President Duterte around 6 p.m., NDRRMC Executive Director Ricardo Jalad said the fatalities were recorded in Western Visayas (Region 6), Central Visayas (Region 7), Eastern Visayas (Region 8), Northern Mindanao (Region 10), and Caraga (Region 13). “Hopefully in the next few days, in the conduct of more assessment of our local government units and regional government agencies involved, there will be no more casualties reported. We are doing our best, Mr. President, to collect the needed information,” Jalad said. Jalad, however, clarified that some of the fatalities were still undergoing validation.
