News in Pictures: November 30, 2024
HARBOR FIRE
Clouds of smoke roll out of shanties gutted by fire at Isla Puting Bato (top photo) in Manila’s Tondo district on Sunday, as an estimated 2,000 families flee from that densely populated settlement off Manila’s North Harbor, including a boy (above left) swimming away from the fire. Local authorities later set up an evacuation center (above right) at Delpan Elementary School about 5 kilometers south of Isla Puting Bato where the settlers, suddenly rendered homeless, lined up for food rations.
At least 66 fire trucks, four fire boats and three ambulances responded to that emergency, with the Philippine Air Force also dispatching two helicopters to help douse the flames right next to the North Harbor’s container terminal. Days after the fire, Manila’s politicians were still visiting the affected residents.
On Wednesday, former Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso and Chi Atienza, his running mate in next year’s general elections, handed out P5,000 each to the displaced families. This was half the financial assistance earlier handed out on Sunday by Mayor Honey Lacuna and Vice Mayor Yul Servo. —RICHARD A. REYES
LAST HURDLE
The bicameral conference committee convenes on Thursday to begin its task of reconciling the conflicting provisions of the proposed General Appropriations Act of 2025 (House Bill No. 10800).
Apart from serving as a spending plan for President Marcos halfway into his presidency, the proposed budget of P6.352 trillion for next year has also become significant because of the considerable reduction in Vice President Sara Duterte’s budget to P733 million, after the House of Representatives had slashed her allotment by P1.3 billion amid her worsening relations with the administration.
Senate President Francis Escudero expressed confidence that the budget will be passed by “next week, before we adjourn for the Christmas break.” —SENATE PUBLIC RELATIONS AND INFORMATION BUREAU
NO TO ELITE DRAMA
A priest signs a “declaration and call to action” as he and other priests calling themselves the Clergy for Good Governance launch their group on Friday in Cubao, Quezon City.
Formed mainly in response to the Marcos-Duterte political “drama” which they regard as another instance of feuding among the elite with no importance to ordinary Filipinos, the priests—including Novaliches Bishop Roberto Gaa, “running priest” Fr. Robert Reyes, and Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines— said they would oppose the perpetuation of dynasties and campaign for electoral reforms ahead of the midterm elections only six months away —LYN RILLON
VISIT BEFORE HOMECOMING
Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) gives Celia Veloso a hug (top photo) during his visit on Nov. 23 to the mother and family of Mary Jane Veloso in General Natividad town, Nueva Ecija.
The visit by Cacdac and his team was an occasion for a “salusalo” or gathering over food and drinks (above) as provided by the municipal government. Veloso, an overseas Filipino worker who was duped into carrying heroin at a Yogyakarta airport, was convicted of drug trafficking in 2010, but was spared execution five years later at the last minute. After years of negotiations with Philippine officials, Indonesia on Thursday said President Prabowo Subianto had approved Veloso’s return to Manila by January.
During his visit, Cacdac also spoke online with a still unidentified sister of Veloso, who is due to return home next week from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where she was reportedly sexually abused by her employer. —PHOTOS COURTESY OF DMW
