F-16 fighter jets fly over Clark Air Base in Pampanga during Monday’s launching of the “Cope Thunder” air and ground exercises between the Philippine Air Force and the US Pacific Air Forces (Pacaf). The joint drills, which were revived in 2023, became another occasion for camaraderie between PAF and Pacaf officers (right photo) led by Lt. Gen. Arthur M. Cordura (second from left), PAF commanding general, and Maj. Gen. Christopher Sheppard (third from left), Air National Guard mobilization assistant to the Pacaf commander. The Cope Thunder annual exercise was first introduced in 1976, but was stopped in 1991, following the Senate’s vote against the US bases and Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption also that year. With the strengthened cooperation between the Philippine and US Armed Forces, the drills have been held in northern and northwestern Luzon, amid maritime tensions between the Philippines and China and the threat of China’s invasion of the self-governing island of Taiwan, only 190 kilometers away from Luzon’s northernmost province of Batanes. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
LENTEN PRACTICE
Churchgoers on Saturday stop by the International Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in Antipolo City. Before and during the Holy Week, many among the Catholic faithful in Metro Manila observe the practice of “Visita Iglesia,” or the visiting of churches in various parts of the metropolis. —LYN RILLON
SECURITY MEASURE
Ahead of the expected influx of passengers bound for the provinces this Holy Week, bus drivers and conductors on Friday undergo a random drug test by the laboratory service staff of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency at a provincial bus station in Cubao, Quezon City. —LYN RILLON
POLL CAMPAIGN VIGILANCE
Activists and other groups representing various sectors launch on Friday the “Kontra Brownout, Iwas Daya!” campaign, calling on the Commission on Elections to uphold the integrity of the May 12 midterm polls and the power industry to ensure uninterrupted electricity during the canvassing and tallying of votes. The movement was formed amid the anticipated yellow and red alerts in power supply beginning this month. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
