Maniolas

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 …

While Tropical Depression Ruby (Hagupit) may have weakened and may be moving away from the country, more than 1,000 people are still stranded in various ports as of Tuesday morning, the Philippine Coast Guard said. As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, the Coast Guard said 1,126 people are still stranded along with 25 vessels and 313 rolling cargos. The Coast Guard said a breakdown of those stranded includes: National Capital Region Central Luzon: – 340 passengers, two vessels Palawan: – 15 vessels Southern Tagalog: – 665 passengers, 274 rolling cargos Western Visayas: – 121 passengers, eight vessels Earlier Tuesday, state weather agency PAGASA said Ruby is heading toward the West Philippine Sea —after making landfall five times since Saturday night. As of Tuesday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council officially confirmed three fatalities from Ruby and said it is validating the deaths of at least eight more people. —Joel Locsin/KG, GMA News

The death toll from a giant storm crossing the Philippines rose to 27 on Tuesday, the Red Cross said, but there was widespread relief after it brushed the capital without causing major damage. Most of the people killed were on the far eastern island of Samar, where Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit) initially made landfall as a typhoon on the weekend with winds of 210 kilometers (130 miles) an hour. Ruby then weakened into a tropical storm while moving slowly west, passing close to the capital Manila on Monday night and Tuesday morning without dumping forecast heavy rain. Ruby has since weakened further into a tropical depression. But data from the National Disaster Coordinating Council showed only three fatalities so far, with eight reported deaths still being verified. Tens of thousands of people, mostly the city’s poorest residents who live in shanty homes along the coast and riverbanks, spent the night in evacuation centers to wait out the storm. They returned to their homes on Monday in drizzly weather after only moderate rain and no major flooding throughout the night. Philippine Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon told AFP on Tuesday the number of people confirmed killed so far was 27, although he expected that number to rise with full assessments from Samar and other areas yet to be done. Ruby was downgraded from a tropical storm to a tropical depression on Tuesday, as it passed over the far western islands of the Southeast Asian archipelago and approached the South China Sea. — Agence Read More …