Typhoon Watch News

Simple Christmas in flood-hit Muntinlupa

Manila Bulletin - Monday, November 23

Christmas this year won't be the same for many typhoon-battered residents of Muntinlupa City, but then it's how you celebrate the occasion that would make it memorable, Muntinlupa Mayor Aldrin San Pedro said last Monday.

"Christmas celebration in our city will be simple and meaningful this year given that thousands of residents have been devastated by the recent typhoons," San Pedro said.

As of Monday, several villages in the city, specifically those lined up beside Laguna de Bay, are still submerged in floodwater, he said.

Eight out of nine barangays in Muntinlupa sit along the lake, which overflowed due to voluminous rains dumped by tropical storm "Ondoy" last September. More »

  • Baguio's economy still reeling from ‘Pepeng’

    GMANews.TV - Monday, November 23

    BAGUIO CITY, Philippines - More than a month after the onslaught of typhoon Pepeng (international codename.

  • Baguio tourism still struggling after Pepeng

    GMANews.TV - Monday, November 23

    BAGUIO CITY, Philippines - More than a month after the onslaught of typhoon Pepeng (international codename.

  • UN doubles funding call for RP typhoon victims to $144M

    GMANews.TV - Thursday, November 19

    As the death toll and damage from the quick succession of tropical cyclones that visited the country from late September to early November climbed, the United Nations amended on Wednesday its $74-million flash appeal to $144 million.

  • UN seeks more funds for storm-ravaged Philippines

    UN seeks more funds for storm-ravaged Philippines

    AFP - Wednesday, November 18

    The United Nations on Wednesday nearly doubled its appeal for funds to help the Philippines cope with the effects of back-to-back storms that left over 1,100 people dead and 1.7 million homeless.

  • UN says RP needs $144-M to recover from typhoons

    Manila Bulletin - Wednesday, November 18

    The United Nations (UN) has revised its appeal to the international community, almost doubling the amount it says is needed as humanitarian assistance to typhoon-devastated areas in the country from $74 million to nearly $144 million.

  • 21st Philippine Advertising Congress at the Subic Bay Convention Center Subic, Zambales on November 19-21, 2009

    Manila Bulletin - Wednesday, November 18

    During the preparations for the 21st Philippine Advertising Congress (21st PAC), disaster struck the country with Tropical Storm Ondoy and Typhoon Pepeng devastated many areas in Luzon, leaving the Advertising Cogress venue, Baguio City, inaccessible for a number of days.

  • PEZA locators generate 8,280 jobs in Baguio

    Manila Bulletin - Wednesday, November 18

    BAGUIO CITY - Dozens of foreign and local investors in the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) here has already generated 8,280 jobs in this mountain resort city and in the neighboring province of Benguet over the past several years which is an indication that business is slowly growing amidst the global economic crisis that struck the country over the past two years.

    Engineer Modesto Agyao, PEZA operations manager, said the number of available jobs required by the foreign and domestic locators is expected to increase before the end of the year due to the expected expansion of several businesses that require more labor.

    While admitting PEZA wEngineer Modesto Agyao, PEZA operations manager, said the number of available jobs required by the foreign and domestic locators is expected to increase before the end of the year due to the expected expansion of several businesses that require more labor.as hardly hit by the global financial crisis and the onslaught of typhoon "Pepeng," investors in the city have started to recover from the serious problems caused by the two calamities but there is still a bright future for the city's robust economy.

    PEZA locators include call centers, semiconductor companies, garment factories, and aircraft parts manufacturers, among others.

    Agyao cited the call centers in the zone are expected to hire 700 more workers in the coming days while MOOG Controls Corporation, an aircraft parts manufacturer, is also set to employ additional manpower to attend to their increasing demands after the developed countries like the United States, Japan and Australia have pronounced the global financial crisis is over and there is no way but move up in the economic ladder.

    At the same time, he disclosed two local manufacturers, a silver craft producer and garments maker, have already signified their intention to register with PEZA in order to enhance their export products so that they could avail of the incentives which could help their companies grow and help in increasing employment opportunities for local residents.

    Among the incentives granted to companies registered in the different economic zones nationwide include income tax holiday for four to eight years, payment of five-percent gross taxes to the national government and host communities, exemption from payment of import and export duties and lesser tax privileges for those engaged in the business for a longer period of time.

    The Baguio-based PEZA has one of the best records in terms of collecting the fees due from its locators since the foreign and domestic investments have already established a bonding with their host communities, thus, they are not delinquent in their payments.

  • UN asks for more funds to help storm-ravaged Philippines

    Manila Bulletin - Wednesday, November 18

    MANILA, November 18, 2009 (AFP) - The United Nations on Wednesday nearly doubled its appeal for funds to help the Philippines cope with the effects of back-to-back storms that left over 1,100 people dead and 1.7 million homeless.

    The office of the UN's resident coordinator in Manila said the agency had revised upward its appeal to $143.7 million, almost twice the $74 million it had initially requested in October.

    Of the original appeal, only $26 million have so far been raised, limiting the ability of aid agencies to effectively help those who are still in dire need of assistance, the UN said.

    "Of particular concern for humanitarian agencies are the estimated 1.7 million people still displaced or living in areas that remain flooded," the UN's humanitarian affairs office said in a statement.

    "These areas are likely to remain flooded for another three or four months, putting those affected at serious risk of disease outbreaks."

    Tropical storm Ondoy (international name "Ketsana") dumped a month's worth of rain on Manila and outlying provinces on September 26, inundating more than 80 percent of the capital and washing away entire lakeshore and riverside communities.

    A week later, typhoon Pepeng (international name "Parma") ravaged areas further north on the Philippines' main Luzon island, triggering floods and landslides.

    The storms claimed more than 1,100 lives, including deaths from an outbreak of a flood-borne disease.

    Of the more than nine million people affected, over 85,000 still remain in crowded evacuation centres, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said, while many others have been taken in by relatives or are staying with friends.

  • Europeans top Cordillera arrivals

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 14

    BAGUIO CITY - Despite the recent damage suffered by the region due to the onslaught of typhoon ''Pepeng'' which nearly paralyzed the region's tourism industry, foreign tourists, particularly Europeans, and their local counterparts have started to flock to this mountain resort city and the different tourist destinations region-wide, a gauge the tourism sector is now on its ascending level.

    Tourism is one of the major economic indicators of this city and the rest of the Cordillera because of the existence of natural tourist spots which serve as an attraction for the influx of foreign and domestic tourists who spend to help in perking up the industry to help the areas recover from the typhoon's wrath.

    Purificacion Molintas, director of the Department of Tourism (DoT) in the Cordillera, said European tourists continue to dominate the foreign tourist arrivals in the region because of their being adventurous and nature lovers where the tourist spots in the city and region fit well.

    Included in the region's natural tourist attractions aside from the cool and romantic weather in this city, are the mummies at the Kabayan caves, the famous Sagada hanging coffins and caves in Mountain Province, the world famous Banaue rice terraces in Ifugao, the white water rafting in Kalinga, particularly along the Chico river, the strawberry and flower farms in La Trinidad, Benguet and the trekking of Mount Pulag, the second highest mountain peak in the country.

    According to Molintas, European tourists have been topping the list of foreign tourist arrivals over the past several years which make the European countries as a major market for the region's recovering tourism industry.

    Aside from Europeans, other tourists visiting the region include Americans, Russians, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Germans.

  • Taiwan seeks closer ties with RP on weather forecasting

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 14

    TAIPEI - Taiwan is seeking to improve cooperation with the Philippines in weather forecasting and has proposed the establishment of a Typhoon Center, Taiwan government officials told a foreign media delegation Saturday.

    Timothy Chin-tien Yang, minister of Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said there is a vital need for greater meteorological cooperation with the Philippines and other countries in the region because of the apparent increase in the ferocity and unpredictability of weather disturbances which has been described as one of the manifestations of global warming and climate change.

    Yang said the awareness of this need became more evident in Taiwan following the devastation inflicted by Typhoon Morakot in August this year.

  • East Asia rice reserve pushed

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 14

    The Philippines is pushing for the creation of a regional rice reserve to serve the needs of countries battered by calamities and require emergency stocks.

    At the same time, government also called for bigger investments in measures to help member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) better adapt to climate change.

    Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the East Asia Emergency Rice Reserve (EAERR), which is funded by Japan, can become either a food depository to halt a crash in the prices of rice and other staples in the face of supply gluts.

    It can also be a seller of the grain to stem spiraling prices in times of shortfalls or shrinking inventories.

    ''This mechanism can be the much-needed vehicle for volume and price stability for food in the region,'' Yap said before his counterparts during last week's ASEAN ministerial meeting.

    Yap headed the Philippine delegation during the 9th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting with Dialogue Partners Japan, Korea and China, which was held in Bandar Seri Begawan last Nov. 11.

    In his statement, Yap called for the urgent convening of a Senior Officials Meeting to handle the technical details of establishing the EAARR as a permanent mechanism to ensure food security in East Asia.

    Yap likewise thanked Thailand for contributing 520 metric tons (MT) of rice to the EAERR Tier 3 program for the benefit of typhoon victims in the Philippines.

    ''Japan has said that the EAERR is an interim emergency measure, but we dare say that the mechanism also provides a fundamental platform for stability and rural incomes on which agricultural food production can grow from,'' Yap said.

    He noted that ''in times of crashing food prices, the EAERR can be a depository of food to halt a crash in prices'' while ''in times of spiraling prices, the EAERR can be the seller at reasonable capped prices, to country importers to ensure that food prices remain reasonable, especially for the benefit of the world's poor and vulnerable.''

    At the same time, Yap also welcomed and expressed support for strategies that will finance climate change adaptation programs for agriculture and food security.

    He said one of the strategies for realizing such programs, which is not entirely new, is the Debt for Environment Swap proposal.

    Under this scheme, debtor-countries are allowed to apply or switch their amortization payments to environment rehabilitation, protection, education, agriculture research, extension, infra-structure spending and post harvest facilities, Yap said.

    He said that ''there is no time left for [the Philippines and other countries] that must live through the tyranny of the weather's vagaries.

  • RP bats for rice reserve for Asia

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 14

    The Philippines is pushing for the creation of a regional rice reserve to serve the needs of countries battered by calamities and require emergency stocks.

    At the same time, government also called for bigger investments in measures to help member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) better adapt to climate change.

    Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the East Asia Emergency Rice Reserve (EAERR), which is funded by Japan, can become either a food depository to halt a crash in the prices of rice and other staples in the face of supply gluts.

    It can also be a seller of the grain to stem spiraling prices in times of shortfalls or shrinking inventories.

    ''This mechanism can be the much-needed vehicle for volume and price stability for food in the region,'' Yap said before his counterparts during last week's ASEAN ministerial meeting.

    Yap headed the Philippine delegation during the 9th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting with Dialogue Partners Japan, Korea, and China, which was held in Bandar Seri Begawan last November 11.

    In his statement, Yap called for the urgent convening of a Senior Officials Meeting to handle the technical details of establishing the EAARR as a permanent mechanism to ensure food security in East Asia .

    Yap likewise thanked Thailand for contributing 520 metric tons (MT) of rice to the EAERR Tier 3 program for the benefit of typhoon victims in the Philippines.

    ''Japan has said that the EAERR is an interim emergency measure, but we dare say that the mechanism also provides a fundamental platform for stability and rural incomes on which agricultural food production can grow from,'' Yap said.

    He noted that ''in times of crashing food prices, the EAERR can be a depository of food to halt a crash in prices'' while ''in times of spiralling prices, the EAERR can be the seller at reasonable capped prices, to country importers to ensure that food prices remain reasonable, especially for the benefit of the world's poor and vulnerable.''

    At the same time, Yap also welcomed and expressed support for strategies that will finance climate change adaptation programs for agriculture and food security.

    He said one of the strategies for realizing such programs, which is not entirely new, is the Debt for Environment Swap proposal.

    Under this scheme, debtor-countries are allowed to apply or switch their amortization payments to environment rehabilitation, protection, education, agriculture research, extension, infra-structure spending, and post-harvest facilities, Yap said.

    He said that ''there is no time left for [the Philippines and other countries] that must live through the tyranny of the weather's vagaries.

  • Arroyo scraps oil price cap, asks firms to provide discount

    GMANews.TV - Friday, November 13

    The Philippines has revoked a fuel price cap, nearly a month after the government was prompted to freeze prices to assist typhoon victims.

  • 4 Metro cities set up agency for calamities

    Manila Bulletin - Friday, November 13

    Local disaster coordinating offices in the cities of Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela on Friday agreed to pool their manpower or resources in preparation for natural or man-made calamities such as typhoon and earthquake.

    In a dialogue during the District-wide Disaster Preparedness Coordinating Conference hosted by the Northern Police District (NPD) on Thursday, key officers and team leaders of the Local Disaster Coordinating Councils (LDCCs) in the CAMANAVA area, agreed to establish an ''inter-agency'' body to encourage full cooperation among the different disaster units in the area.

    ''The CAMANAVA-wide preparedness plan has been set to encourage ''Bayanihan'' and ''Balikatan'' among the LGUs in the four localities to establish a standard regulation or protocol in terms of rescue operations during calamities,'' NPD Director Chief Supt, Samuel Pagdilao Jr. said.

    Every LGU in the CAMANAVA area maintains a Disaster Management Unit, Pagdilao said, which cater to the need of residents mostly during typhoons which ''we want to improve.''

    ''We will encourage them by sharing with us their experiences, skills and knowledge as well as their available equipment if possible,'' Pagdilao said.

  • Arnel Pineda jams with Katy Perry for typhoon victims

    Manila Bulletin - Friday, November 13

    In the midst of the biggest rock party of the year, Arnel Pineda felt right at home at the recent NU107 Rock Awards.

  • DOE, DOJ recommend scrapping of oil price freeze

    GMANews.TV - Friday, November 13

    (Update 12:12 a.m.) Amid reports of dwindling oil stock, the Justice and Energy departments have recommended the scrapping of the controversial order that froze prices of petroleum products at their October 15 levels in typhoon-hit Luzon.

  • Noli appeals to businessmen

    Manila Bulletin - Thursday, November 12

    ''Can we sacrifice a little instead of thinking how to make a profit during Christmas time?''

    This declaration was made by Vice President Manuel ''Noli'' de Castro as he made an appeal to businessmen not to aim for too much profit this Christmas season and instead share whatever they can to help uplift the plight of typhoon-battered Filipinos.

    Last Wednesday, the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC) convened for a meeting in Makati City to try and resolve the pressing issues surrounding the implementation of price ceilings on prime commodities and fuel products.

    De Castro said that the government is also considering an extension of price controls on basic and prime commodities in selected areas.

    These may include Regions I and IV, the Cordillera Administrative Region, and parts of Metro Manila.

    ''The question now is whether to extend the price control,'' De Castro said.

    De Castro, who is the council's co-chair, pointed out that with talks of lifting the price cap, consumers are worried businessmen are going to increase prices of their commodities even beyond the normal level, to recover the ''losses'' they claim they have incurred during the price control implementation.

    The price cap on both basic and prime commodities - a list which includes fresh and processed food, soap, and construction materials, among others - was imposed last September 26 when the government declared a state of calamity in the aftermath of tropical storm Ondoy.

    Under the price control law (Republic Act 7581), price ceilings on basic necessities will remain in effect for 60 days while those on prime commodities will be lifted whenever the government decides so.

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