Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Friday, July 29, 2022.
Massive quake relief effort begins
THE government has mounted full-blown relief efforts in areas in Northern Luzon that were jolted by a 7.3-magnitude earthquake last Wednesday. President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Thursday flew to Abra, which was the worst hit by the earthquake, to inspect and assess the resulting damage. He was joined by Secretaries Benjamin "Benhur" Abalos Jr. of Interior and Local Government, Erwin Tulfo of Social Welfare and Development, Jose Faustino Jr. of National Defense, and Anton Lagdameo, special assistant to the President. With power in the entire province restored and communication lines and internet service steadily stabilizing, the President said the next step is to ensure all affected residents have enough food and potable water. He said he will order the procurement of potable water purifying systems so that the use of plastic bottles for collecting water is minimized. Marcos instructed the Department of National Defense and the military to deploy all available air assets to help the Department of Social Welfare and Development's field offices in Region 1 (Ilocos Region) in distributing food and relief packs to residents in mountainous areas. He also directed local agencies to provide tarpaulins and other construction materials to build temporary shelters for people who cannot yet return to their quake-damaged homes.
P940M needed to fix quake-hit schools
THE Department of Education (DepEd) estimates that P940 million will be needed to repair 35 schools in Luzon that sustained damage from the earthquake that hit Abra and other areas in Northern Luzon on Wednesday. The DepEd said 11 of the schools are in Region 3 (Central Luzon), nine in Region 2 (Cagayan Valley), eight in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and seven in Region 1 (Ilocos Region). The department has called an emergency meeting among Regional and Division DRRM coordinators in the affected regions and is coordinating with field officials for updates and response actions for the learners, teachers and non-teaching personnel. DepEd officials also attended the first Response Cluster Meeting and joined the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Virtual Emergency Operations Center to further assess the situation in the quake-stricken regions.
Quake-damaged historical sites to be repaired
THE National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) will help repair historic sites and structures in Abra and other parts of the Ilocos region that were damaged by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake. Dr. Rene R. Escalante, NHCP chairman, said most of the structures are national historical landmarks and important cultural properties, which are protected by the Heritage Law. He called on the commission's local partners "to safeguard the artifacts, retrieve important parts of the structure necessary for the restoration, and provide NHCP with necessary documentation of the destroyed structures and the retrieved parts." For the time being, the NHCP will give way to government agencies conducting relief operations and addressing the basic needs of the people, Escalante said.
PRESIDENT Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has extended the term of officers in charge (OICs) of government agencies until December this year "to ensure the continuous and effective delivery of government services," Malacañang said Thursday. Press Secretary Rose Beatrix "Trixie" Cruz-Angeles said the President, through Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez, amended and supplemented Memorandum Circular (MC) 1 that originally removed all contractual and casual employees from their positions effective June 30.
External developments to affect peso
Over to business, peso exchange rates will continue to be affected by outside developments, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) warned on Thursday following another massive US Fed rate hike. In a statement, BSP governor Felipe Medalla said the "action of the US Federal Reserve (Fed), along with the tightening of global financial conditions and broadening uncertainty over global growth prospects, could continue to drive exchange rate movements in emerging market economies, including in the Philippines". The US Federal Reserve Bank raised its benchmark rate by another 75 basis points (bps) on Wednesday to combat persistent inflation. It was the first time in the Fed's modern history that interest rates had been hiked by 75 bps twice in a row. The peso lost 14 centavos on Thursday, closing at P55.82 versus the United States dollar. It saw its worst day in nearly 18 years last July 12 when it hit P56.37:$1. Medalla said the BSP was ready to use the full force of all available tools to address potential risks from external developments.
Abando signs with team in South Korea
In sports, Letran basketball star Rhenz Abando has decided to leave the Letran Knights in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and play professional basketball for Korean club Anyang KGC in the Korean Basketball League (KBL). The team announced the signing of Abando on Thursday.
Stephen CuUnjieng and Van Ybiernas are today's front page columnists. CuUnjieng analyzes President Marcos' first State of the Nation Address, while Ybiernas continues his series on former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Today's editorial discusses on freeing the people of Myanmar from tyranny. Read a full version on the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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This is EJ Gomez reporting.