Saturday, November 14, 2020

Baby in Cagayan placed in 'batya' as family evacuates due to flood

A three-month-old baby was kept safe in Lal-lo, Cagayan after she was placed in a tub or "batya" by her parents as they evacuated from their home due to the flooding after Typhoon Ulysses' onslaught.



Ayla Erin T. Agnes was wide-eyed and awake as her parents, Romelyn and Raffy Tabalno, crossed a flooded area in Bagumbayan at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12.

The residence of the Tabalnos got flooded after Ulysses brought heavy rains on Thursday.

While evacuating, the couple used a tub for their baby as a mode of transportation to cross the chest-deep floodwaters.

Aside from Baby Ayla, the Tabalnos also have another child aged one year and eight months.

Due to the widespread flooding, Cagayan was placed under a state of calamity on Saturday, Governor Manuel Mamba said. —Jamil Santos/KG, GMA News 

Saturday, September 12, 2020

Online Earthquake Drill Fails

 The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council held an online national simultaneous earthquake drill amid the COVID-19 threat.

However, according to Ivan Mayrina’s Friday report on “24 Oras,” the earthquake drill did not go as planned due to a technical glitch right at the moment when the siren was about to go off.


“Minsan nagfi-freeze ‘yong screen kasi I guess dahil sa internet connection,” NDRRMC spokesperson Mark Timbal explained.

Timbal, meanwhile, assured the public that the NDRRMC will try to improve the activity to instill preparedness among the public amid the health crisis.

He added that the threat of earthquakes is still there despite the national health emergency.
PHIVOLCS officer-in-charge Renato Solidum also said this is the best time to prepare for natural disasters.

“Ngayong nasa GCQ tayo, iyo’y magandang pagkakataon para balikan at pag-isipan ang paghahanda ng bawat isa, ng bawat pamilya para sa lindol,” he said.

“Dapat maglaan ng personal protective equipment katulad ng mask sa ating mga go-back at mga alcohol o disinfectant,” Solidum added.

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Bong Revilla’s plan

Not enough? Filipinos question Bong Revilla’s plan to give away tablets to students on his birthday

Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr‘s involvement in the controversial pork barrel scam reemerged anew after he announced that he will be giving away tablets to students for distance learning.



The lawmaker in a Facebook video uploaded Tuesday said that he will hand out 10-inch tablets to students as part of his educational program Karunungan Ating Palaguin (KAP) in celebration of his upcoming 54th birthday on September 25.

Revilla said that he will begin the initiative on September 20 which will be launched via KAP’s Family Game Show.

“Ito po ‘yung programa natin para makatulong tayo sa mga kabataan, mamimigay po tayo ng tablet at kung sino ‘yung mga first 1,000 na kabataan na matutulungan natin. Tapos may mga regalo pa tayo sa mga sponsors, mga kaibigan natin,” he said.

“Maging isa sa daan-daang mabibiyayaan ng 10-inch tablet para sa pag-aaral,” part of one of his Facebook posts reads.

The senator also revealed that proceeds from his social media pages and YouTube accounts, which he said have been earning due to its monetization, would be used for the planned raffle in his giveaway.

“Simula po nung nagkaroon ako ng Facebook page, in fact, na-monetize na po ‘to, malaki-laki na rin ‘yung kinikita natin. At ‘yun po ay idadagdag din natin sa mga ipapa-raffle natin. Malaki na rin ‘yun, I think more than 10,000 dollars,” Revilla said.

He urged the public to follow his accounts for updates on the initiative aimed to help students with distance learning amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Revilla’s tablet donation initiative was well-received by Filipinos but some of them perceived it to be insufficient, given his involvement in the pork barrel scam where he plundered millions of pesos under alleged pork scam mastermind Janet Napoles‘ scheme.

“Kulang po ‘yan senator. 20,000+ tablets dapat ang bigay niyo. Para maibalik niyo ‘yung pera ng mga tao,” a Facebook user wrote in response to his announcement of giving away tablets for the students.

“1k lang, dapat buong Cavite para mas makinabang maraming kabataan (diyan) sa nasasakupan niya!” wrote another online user in reference to the lawmaker’s home province.

“How about giving back the P124.5 million plundered money instead? Mas madami mabibiling tablets,” said another Filipino with an eyeroll emoji.

“Dapat kada-barangay na lang po bigyan,” a Facebook user commented.

“Make it 5k, sisiw lang po ‘yan sa ninakaw niyo po,” wrote another online user.

Actress Bela Padilla previously reminded the lawmaker that his plundered money “can buy 1,245,000 face masks” after the latter urged the government to give away free face masks and face shields before.

Revilla last month urged the health department and the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases to distribute the protective gear for the coronavirus disease without charge but it was criticized instead.

“124.5M can buy 1,245,000 face masks. #justsaying,” Padilla tweeted then.

Revilla’s plunder case

Revilla was accused of misusing P517 million of his Priority Development Assistance Fund and funneling it to bogus non-government organizations in the 2010s, along with former senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada.

He was detained for four years and was able to walk free in December 2018.

Revilla returned to the Senate a year after, which he partly attributed to the virality of his campaign video that showed him doing the “budots” dance routine.

His plunder case might have been dismissed but the Ombudsman prosecutors urged the anti-graft court to issue a writ of execution that would compel him to pay P124.5 million in civil liability.

Revilla’s camp, however, asserted that he was not criminally liable and should not be sought to pay the amount.


Monday, September 7, 2020

PNP-IAS files raps vs. 9 cops involved in Jolo shooting incident

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Camilo Pancratius Cascolan on Monday bared that the Internal Affairs Service has already filed administrative and criminal complaints against cops involved in the Jolo, Sulu shooting incident in June. 

"The PNP, through the Internal Affairs Service, has formally filed admin cases against nine PNP personnel who are respondents in the criminal case for murder and planting of evidence filed by NBI in connection with the death of four Philippine Army personnel," Cascolan said at a press briefing. 

Cascolan also said administrative complaints have been filed against the three superiors of these nine policemen for gross neglect of duty. 

"'Yung three immediate officers will also be called here. I believe they're already en route to Crame," Cascolan said. 

The nine policemen involved in the shooting incident are under the restrictive custody of the PNP in Camp Crame. Cascolan said summons had been served against the cops last week.

Earlier, the National Bureau of Investigation filed four counts of murder and planting of evidence against the nine cops involved and recommended the filing of neglect of duty against three local police officers.

On June 29, the soldiers were tracking suicide bombers when the shooting incident happened. They were flagged down by cops in Barangay Walled City despite identifying themselves as members of the military. 

The military personnel were instructed to go to the police station for further verification of their identities.

According to a police report, the shooting incident, which then Army chief and now Armed Forces chief General Gilbert Gapay branded as murder, happened when the soldiers allegedly escaped and pointed their weapons at the police officers.

The police officers involved in the incident however could not pinpoint who made the first shot between their group and the four members of the Philippine Army who were killed. —KG, GMA News 

Friday, July 17, 2020

ABS-CBN shuts down sports department

ABS-CBN Sports will cease to exist effective Aug. 31 as a result of the non-renewal of the network’s franchise by the House of Representatives last week.


The network’s head of Integrated Sports Dino Laurena confirmed the sad news in a post on his personal Facebook page on Thursday, describing it as “The Final Buzzer” for their sports division.

“And so ends this journey… I made the painful announcement to our beloved Sports team today. I’ve been on this road before and I can assure, it is not something I will swear even on people I don’t like. It’s heart-wrenchingly painful,” read Mr. Laurena’s post.

On Wednesday, ABS-CBN released a statement that it will be implementing a retrenchment program covering its subsidiaries as well effective Aug. 31, 2020, following Congress’ non-renewal of its franchise.  

ABS-CBN said that while it hurts to implement the retrenchment program, it was something it had to do to keep the company going.

Over 70 regular employees from the sports division are expected to be let go, including members of its TV production and online team. Also affected by the retrenchment are independent personnel (cameramen and crew) and talents like game commentators and show hosts.

ABS-CBN’s S+A channel has been home to a number sports leagues in the country, namely the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Premier Volleyball League (PVL) and Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.

Also shown on the channel are events of international mixed martial arts group ONE Championship.

Aforementioned leagues said they were weighing their options in the aftermath of Congress’ thumb-down of ABS-CBN’s application for renewal.

The NCAA and the PVL still have live contracts with ABS-CBN, while the UAAP’s contract ended last May 31. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo