The Philippine Inter-Agency Humanitarian Contingent (1ST photo) joins the search for survivors at the Jade City Hotel in Myanmar’s capital of Naypyitaw on April 4, three days after this 89-member team was sent to take part in rescue and relief operations following the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar and Thailand on March 28. In the city of Mandalay, the earthquake’s epicenter, people continued to line up (2nd photo) for donated supplies on April 3, almost a week after the quake, while in the Amarapura township also in Mandalay, the severed head of a statue of the Buddha lies abandoned in the rubble of a damaged pagoda. Besides the Philippines, at least 15 other countries sent aid workers—among them, China and Russia. The Associated Press reported that rescuers from the United States were noticeably absent in Myanmar, whereas the United States had been previously at the forefront of global relief efforts. A lawmaker in Washington lamented the sight of China’s team “leading the response” instead of USAID, the long-established US agency for foreign aid that was dismantled in February. —PHOTOS FROM THE OFFICE OF CIVIL DEFENSE FACEBOOK PAGE AND REUTERS
COPS ALSO HAVE RIGHTS
Police Capt. Erik Felipe (second from right) is accompanied by other police officers at the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office as he files a cyberlibel complaint on Thursday against Gabriel Go, Strike Force head of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s Special Operations Group. A viral video taken on March 25 showed Go berating Felipe as he issued the police official a violation ticket for parking his vehicle on the sidewalk during a clearing operation in Quezon City. Felipe said he felt humiliated in that incident, and National Police Commissioner Ralph Calinisan also said he was offended by Go’s treatment of Felipe. The three appeared on Thursday at a news conference, where Go apologized to both Felipe and Calinisan. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
CELEBRATING PH FOOD
President Marcos is joined by Quezon Gov. Helen Tan and Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. (behind Tan) as they stop by a food stall offering Lucban “longganisa,” a famous culinary staple of the province, during Friday’s launching of Filipino Food Month in the provincial capital of Lucena City. Mr. Marcos, who himself cooks, also took the occasion to emphasize his government’s “many programs to lower the cost of food and increase its production.” —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
