DT_20190729

A6 NEWS
Monday, 29 July 2019
Daily Tribune
Elite’s playground More luxury yachts are found docked in Manila Bay as more Filipinos show off their improved status as a result of a booming economy.
DAVID JOHN CUBANGBANG
Independent yet cooperative
Only 13 out of 55 pet
bills of President
Rodrigo Duterte were
passed
From page 1
the Senate, with the addition of
the new senators, will maintain
views independent from that
of the Palace, but its members
will remain cooperative with
Malacañang.
The 24-man chamber, in fact,
had filed almost 800 bills during
the first week of the first regular
We’re ready, we have government
agencies who have prepared for
that
From page 1
The President ordered the quick delivery
of government services from all concerned
departments to those affected by the quake.
As of presstime, Mr. Duterte, with Senator
Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go and Batanes
Gov. Marilou Cayco, conducted an aerial
inspection of the quake-hit areas in province.
The President tasked the National Disaster
Risk Reduction and Management Council to
be on top of coordination efforts for all the
necessary emergency assistance.
Response immediate
“Yes, because we’re ready, we have government
agencies who have prepared for that. That’s
why even during disasters, government provides
immediate response,” Panelo said in an interview.
Panelo said government will prioritize
providing food, medicine and other hospital
needs to those injured and displaced during
the quake and later proceed with rehabilitation.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, in a
session of the 18th Congress.
Last Thursday alone, some
783 bills were submitted to
the Senate Bills and Index
Service before being distributed
to Senate committees for the
holding of public inquiries.
Sotto has vowed to exceed
accomplishments in the 17th Congress.
“The 17th Congress was one
of the most well accepted and
trusted by the people. Hopefully,
the 18th Congress would be able
to do better,” he said.
Quick delivery
Sotto said the Senate
will deliver necessary
legislations, especially those
that missed approval in the
last Congress.
“We expect more healthy
debates and better or necessary
legislations that would be
passed,” the Senate President
added.
Some of these bills did not
pass the committee level or
second reading in the plenary
deliberations.
In previous statements, Sotto
said the Senate is expected
to give priority to the death
penalty bill, anti-terrorism bill,
public service act and a bill
concerning water, energy, and
transportation.
He also asked the Legislative
Executive Development Advisory
Council (LEDAC) to provide a list
of priority bills.
24 separate egos
“The Senate is composed of
24 independent republics and
we can assure you that even the
so-called President’s men will fill
the aura of the Senate itself,”
Sotto said in a previous television
interview.
“We have our own
Rody satisfied with Batanes aid
statement, also assured that government
will continue to provide medical services to
those injured and displaced by the quake,
particularly residents of Itbayat, the town
hit hard by the natural calamity.
Medical care ensured
“The government’s priority now is to
ensure that those injured in the earthquake,
as well as the families displaced by it, are
given adequate medical care,” Nograles said.
While the Itbayat District Hospital suffered
minimal cracks, he said it was still fully functional
and would be able to attend to peoples’ needs.
Nograles, meanwhile, advised Itbayat
residents against returning to their homes for
the meantime given the state of structures
on the island and the possible damage that
can be caused by aftershocks.
He said tents, water, hygiene kits and
medicine will be provided by the government
to these families.
As of 7 p.m. Saturday, Nograles said the
casualty count included nine confirmed
dead, one missing person, 63 injured and 752
displaced households.
Figures pile up
Citing reports from Batanes province, the
Office of Civil Defense has recorded 2,963
victims in five barangays in Itbayat, an islandtown
closer to Taiwan than the mainland of
Cagayan Valley.
Fifteen houses, two schools, the Our Lady
of Santo Rosario Church, a health center and
a hospital were among the structures that
were damaged, the agency said.
Roldan Esdicul, Batanes provincial
disaster risk reduction management officer,
told the Philippine News Agency that
nine fatalities, including two infants, were
recorded along with 63 injured victims.
“The villagers have been staying in the
perspective of things. We
promise to remain independent
although cooperative. We
promise to be balanced and
sincere with our work for the
people,” he added.
We expect more healthy
debates and better or
necessary legislations that
would be passed.
Among the bills filed before
the Senate last week were the
Salary Standardization Law V,
Department of Overseas Filipino
Workers Act, National Land Use
open plaza for fear of being
buried inside their houses. They
were asked to stay in the area for
safety,” he said.
Search, rescue ongoing
Esdicul said the Armed Forces
of the Philippines through the
Northern Luzon Command had
deployed two search and rescue
teams and one medical team
to help the Batanes provincial
government.
Agnes Nico, a resident of
Act, Coco Levy Bill, Anti Political
Dynasty Bill, Death Penalty
Act, Anti-Terrorism Act, Magna
Carta for Barangays and Filipino
Seafarers, Dialysis Center Act,
Water Regulatory Act, Freedom
of Information Act, Philippine
Immigration Act, Philippine
Railways Modernization Act,
Whistleblower Protection Act and
the Divorce Bill, to name a few.
Low batting percentage
At the end of the 17th
Congress, only 13 out of 55 pet
bills of President Rodrigo Duterte
were passed.
the affected town and teacher
at the Itbayat Central School,
said in a Facebook chat with
the Philippine News Agency on
Saturday night that she and her
family have been staying at their
farm for fear that their house
that was made of concrete will
collapse due to the tremors.
Impossible? not anymore People take a dip or fish, which are becoming common recreations in the area when before these are
impossible to do in Manila Bay.
DAVID JOHN CUBANGBANG
Freed by flattery
Cast delinquent ways Commuters board a bus where it is prohibited. So what’s new?
AL PADILLA
From page 1
way to freedom by complimenting
her captor’s orchids, a police source
said Saturday, confirming press
reports.
Professional triathlete Nathalie
Birli, 27, was struck by a car Tuesday
and broke her arm while falling to
the ground near Graz in southeastern
Austria, the press reports said.
The driver then knocked her out
with a piece of wood and took her
to his isolated home.
“When I regained consciousness,
I was naked and tied up in an
armchair in an old house,” Birli told
the Kronen Zeitung newspaper.
The man forced her to drink
alcohol and tried to suffocate her
and drown her in a bathtub filled
with cold water, Birli said.
However, she managed to placate
the man by complimenting him on
the many orchids growing in his
home.
Though he was initially “filled
with hate,” the man suddenly
became “nice to me” and confided
that gardening was his passion
before opening up about his troubled
childhood, she said.
Finally, he agreed to let her go
and even took her home, along with
her bicycle, which had a GPS system
installed in it.
Police used the GPS record to
track down the man and arrest him
at his house, they said.
The police are now trying to
determine if the 33-year-old man,
who suffers from psychiatric
problems, was involved in any
previous kidnappings. AFP