News Roundup 20 December 2021
Dec 20, 2021 • 4 min Read
Presidential bets call for urgent national government support for ‘Odette’ survivors | PHILSTAR.COM – Presidential aspirants on Monday called on the national government to ramp up support for families displaced in the aftermath of the most destructive typhoon to hit the country after Yolanda in 2013. Vice President Leni Robredo, who personally visited typhoon-hit areas over the weekend, called for support for Filipinos living in the Dinagat Islands where food and water supplies starting to dwindle. The province remains without electricity and other means of communication. Dinagat Islands badly need our help,” she said in Filipino. “The entire region still has no access to basic necessities [and residents are] running out of food.” In a Facebook Live stream on updates from her visits to Bohol, Cebu, Dinagat Islands, and Siargao in Suigao del Norte, Robredo thanked the Coast Guard for helping her team and Sen. Manny Pacquiao’s in transporting relief goods to affected areas. “What we saw in Surigao City was heartbreaking,” the vice president said. “People were weeping…and saying they thought they were forgotten.” Partido Federal ng Pilipinas standard-bearer Bongbong Marcos, the son and namesake of the ousted dictator, also turned over P2 million in financial aid, along with some 2,000 food packs and 3,000 bags of rice to Surigao del Norte officials Monday. Presidential aspirant and Sen. Manny Pacquiao said he would first wait for things to settle down before visiting in person. “I’m not needed there…Our soldiers and police who assist in relief and rescue operations will only be disturbed,” he said in Filipino according to a tweet report by CNN Philippines. “We will go to them but not now because these things may be more chaotic to bring life back to normal in the devastated areas. What is important for me now is that we can extend our help to them,” he also said. For his part, Aksyon Demokratiko standard-bearer and Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno called on the Insurance Commission to speed up the processing of insurance claims of Typhoon Odette victims.
Robredo says Dinagat Islands hardest-hit by Odette: No house was left standing | INQUIRER.NET – Just how bad was Typhoon Odette’s onslaught over parts of Visayas and Mindanao? According to Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday — who visited Odette-hit areas from Friday to Sunday — it appears that provinces in the Caraga Region, especially Surigao del Norte and Dinagat Islands, were the hardest-hit areas as a lot of structures were toppled by the typhoon. During her motorcycle ride through Dinagat Islands, Robredo reported no residential buildings left standing. “Meron pong isang building doon (sa Dinagat Islands) na bago, kung hindi ako nagkakamali building siya ng COA, nasa tapat siya ng provincial capitol, marami po ‘yong mga naka-evacuate doon kasi parang ‘yon lang ‘yong bago, sturdy. Nasira din siya, pero at least hindi bumagsak,” Robredo said in her Facebook livestream on Monday. (There was one building in Dinagat Islands which was new, I think it belongs to COA, in front of the provincial capitol. Many people used that as an evacuation center because it is new and sturdy. It sustained damage, but at least it did not collapse.) “Pero do’n po sa dinaanan namin, wala kaming nakitang bahay na naka-tayo. Wala kaming nakitang bahay na naka-tayo. Gano’n po siya ka-grabe,” she added. (But on the roads we traversed? We did not see any house that was still standing. That’s the extent of the damage.) Robredo said they were devastated to learn of the worsening conditions every each trip — as they thought they had seen the worst in Surigao del Norte, only to be surprised at what had happened to tourist haven Siargao. And then after leaving Siargao, things were even worse in Dinagat Islands — where people were desperate to get any bit of help from the government.
Trial court orders release of NPA member convicted for death of US Army Col. Rowe | Manila Bulletin – A Muntinlupa City regional trial court (RTC) has ordered the release of Juanito T. Itaas, a member of a sparrow unit of the New People’s Army (NPA), who was convicted in the 1989 killing of United States Army Col. James Rowe. In a 28-page decision dated last Nov. 8, RTC Judge Gener M. Gito granted the petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by Jarel M. Itaas who sought the release of his convicted father, Juanito, from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City. Juanito was arrested on Aug. 27, 1989. He was convicted in 1991 for the killing of Rowe and the attempted killing of Rowe’s driver Joaquin Binuya while on their way to the Joint US Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG) in Quezon City. Rowe was then the deputy commander of JUSMAG. The Judge noted that the petition assailed the provision of the 2019 amended implementing rules and regulation (IRR) of Republic Act No. 10592, the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) Law, for excluding those convicted of heinous crimes from getting GCTA that would reduce their jail term.
