Maniolas

Officials of the ruling Liberal Party on Wednesday downplayed the results of the latest Pulse Asia survey showing Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II slipping from second to sixth place, saying trends are still bound to change with 18 months to go before the 2016 elections.  House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., LP vice-chairman, said that while the party is happy that Senator Grace Poe, an administration ally, is gaining ground in the survey, there remains a possibility the results will change as the presidential polls draw closer. “Definitely, Sen. Grace Poe is the big winner in this particular survey, but we have to remember that this survey is done four times a year,” Belmonte told reporters in a chance interview. Asked if Poe’s improved rating in the Pulse Asia survey will prompt LP officials to court her to join the party, Belmonte said: “It’s too early to make a conjecture regarding something that will happen one and a half years from now.” For his part, Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento, LP secretary general, said the survey results are taking a backseat to the party’s resolve to help its chairman, President Benigno Aquino III, implement priority programs in the remaining months left in his term.  “The party’s national executive council will convene at the proper time but for the moment, the ruling part would like to focus on Typhoon Ruby’s response effort and [the President’s]  programs and projects,” Sarmiento said in a text message. The latest Pulse Asia survey conducted between November Read More …

Infra damage from Ruby nears P2B. Residents walk on a detour bridge on Tuesday, December 9, after the main bridge was damaged by Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit) in San Julian, Eastern Samar on December 6. Nearly 13,000 houses were destroyed and more than 22,300 damaged in Samar where Ruby made landfall. Reuters/Erik De Castro The number of confirmed fatalities from Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit) rose to 11 as of Wednesday afternoon, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said. In its 1 p.m. update, the NDRRMC said two of the latest fatalities were from Sulat in Eastern Samar, and were hit by an uprooted tree. According to the NDRRMC, the latest confirmed fatalities were identified as: Rafael Afable, 76 Patricia Afable, 74 The NDRRMC also said that as of Wednesday, only two vessels remained stranded in Palawan due to rough sea conditions. Meanwhile, the NDRRMC said damage caused by Ruby was estimated at P2,550,065,744 in infrastructure and agriculture in Southern Luzon, Bicol, Western Visayas, and Eastern Visayas. Damage to infrastructure was estimated at P1,277,083,250 while damage to agriculture was estimated at P1,272,982,494. — Joel Locsin/VC, GMA News

Another case is set to be filed against suspended Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima, this time over his alleged 9.5-hectare property in Talisay, Batangas. In a phone patch interview with radio DZBB, Volunteer Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) founding chairman and president Dante Jimenez said their group is set to file illegal possession of land complaint against Purisima before the Office of the Ombudsman at 1 p.m. Tuesday. “Kamakailan ay humingi ng tulong sa ‘min yung tunay na may-ari ng lupa, si Mr. Montano Malabanan. Gusto niyang mapaimbestigahan sa Ombudsman kung paanong napunta kay Mr. Purisima ang TCT (transfer of certificate of title) ng lupang ito. So we are going to file this complaint on his behalf,” Jimenez said. Purisima has a pending plunder, bribery and graft complaint before the Ombudsman in connection with an alleged mansion in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija, and the allegedly questionable renovation of the PNP chief’s official quarters inside Camp Crame. The case was filed by consumer rights group Coalition of Filipino Consumers. Last week, the Office of the Ombudsman ordered the suspension of Purisima and several other police officials for six months in connection with the alleged anomalous contract the PNP entered into with a courier service company in 2011. SC ruling In the radio interview, Jimenez pointed out that the Supreme Court had an earlier ruling favoring Malabanan over Purisima as the real owner of the Talisay property. “Nagkakaso pa sila ni Malabanan kung sino ang rightful owner, at Read More …

Roxas Blvd. denizens find shelter in concrete pipes. Homeless denizens of Roxas Boulevard take shelter from Ruby’s rain in concrete drainage pipes on Tuesday, December 9. Roxas Boulevard had been declared a “no man’s land” by Manila city officials as the storm approached. Howie Severino DOLORES, Eastern Samar – Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit) weakened further on Tuesday as the storm crawled across the central Philippines, while rescue workers struggled in its aftermath to reach towns in central provinces where thousands of homes were wrecked and at least 27 people killed. Nearly 13,000 houses were crushed and more than 22,300 were partially damaged in Eastern Samar province, where Ruby first hit land as a category 3 typhoon on Saturday, local officials said. “Access is very difficult, roads are spotty. There are landslides, some are one-lane roads. In the inner barangays (villages), many of them are washed out by flash floods,” Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, told Reuters. The typhoon weakened to a tropical depression on Tuesday with maximum winds of 60 kph (37 mph) near its center, as it made a fifth landfall over the Lubang islands, 150 km (93 miles) southwest of capital Manila. It is now moving west towards the South China Sea at 13 kph (8 mph). More than 2 million people so far have felt the impact of Ruby, with nearly 1.7 million fleeing to relatives’ homes on safer ground or packing in to evacuation centers across the central Philippines and south of the main Read More …

The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered Senate President Franklin Drilon, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, and seven other public officials and private individuals to answer the accusation of a former Iloilo official on the alleged overpricing of the Iloilo Convention Center. In a two-page order, Director Mothalib Onos of the Preliminary Investigation and Administrative Adjudication Bureau-E gave the respondents 10 days to answer the allegations made by former Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada that they conspired to rig the bidding for the ICC and overpriced it by as much as P500 million. Also asked to submit a counter-affidavit were TIEZA chief operating officer Mark Lapid, DPWH undersecretaries Jaime Pacanan and Romeo Momo, DPWH regional director Edilberto Tayao and BAC chairman Marilyn H. Celiz. The architectural firm, W. V. Coscolluela and Associates, represented by its president William V. Coscolluela, and the contractor, Hilmarcs Construction, represented by its president, Efren Canlas, were also asked to reply. The order was dated November 17 but Mejorada received a copy of it only on December 8. He gave a copy of the order to the media a day after receiving it. Mejorada filed charges of plunder, malversation of public funds and other criminal offenses in connection with alleged anomalies in the construction of the Iloilo Convention Center. In a separate order, the Ombudsman gave Singson, Jimenez, Lapid, Pacanan, Momo, Tayao and Celiz 10 days to submit their counter-affidavit to the administrative case for “dishonesty and grave misconduct” docketed as OMB-C-A-14-0317. Read More …