CREATION OF TAAL COMMISSION PUSHEDMANILA — Lawmakers called yesterday for the creation of a commission or taskforce that would oversee the rehabilitation and recovery of areas inBatangas and Cavite affected by Taal Volcano’s eruption.Senate Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto plans to file a bill creating a TaalCommission, which would be similar to the Pinatubo Commission that helpedvictims of the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption get back on their feet.In the House of Representatives, leaders urged Malacañang to immediatelycreate an inter-agency body or task force that would centralize efforts toaddress the crisis spawned by the volcanic activity.Recto said he is reviewing Republic Act No. 7637 that created the PinatuboCommission and appropriated P10 billion for aid, relief, resettlement,rehabilitation, livelihood services and infrastructure support in Pampanga.The senator, who hails from Lipa City, Batangas, underscored the need forsufficient funds to bankroll the rehabilitation of parts of Batangas andCavite adversely affected by Taal Volcano’s eruption. “Rehabilitation takesa while,” Recto said over radio dwIZ.He said one challenge in crafting the bill at this time is determining thefund appropriation, since authorities have yet to establish the extent andcost of the damage caused by the eruption.“Affected towns are still unreachable. There was an initial estimate in thedamage in agriculture with P3 billion while NEDA (National Economic andDevelopment Authority) made an estimate of P7 billion to P8 billion,” Rectosaid.He said the Pinatubo Commission had a fund of P10 billion when it wascreated in 1992. “But the worth of P10 billion then is different now,” thesenator said.He noted that if each of the 450,000 people displaced by the volcanicactivity was to receive P100 worth of support per day, it would amount toP45 million daily.Such an amount will easily deplete the calamity funds of concerned localgovernment units (LGUs).P100 B NEEDED FOR REHABILITATIONAlbay Rep. Joey Salceda, chair of the House ways and means committee, agreedto the proposal and pushed for a funding of P100 billion to get therehabilitation work done.He said the recovery and adaptation plan should be managed by a commissionto transform affected areas into better communities just like what thegovernment did in Clark after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in Pampanga.He said the government would need about P100 billion to rehabilitate andrebuild cities and towns damaged by the eruption, citing his experienceduring the eruption of Mayon Volcano in his province.For his part, Recto echoed Sen. Sonny Angara’s earlier pronouncement thatthe government can tap P707 billion in unutilized funds from the 2019national budget to address the needs of the thousands displaced in the townssurrounding Taal.Deputy Speaker and 1-Pacman party-list Rep. Mikee Romero also said thecreation of a task force for Taal was in order.He cited the need to centralize efforts to rebuild cities and towns hit bythe calamity while Congress has yet to work on the proposed creation of aDepartment of Disaster Resilience (DDR).SABIO: OPPOSITION PLOTTED TO TOPPLE RODY, INSTALL LENIMANILA — The opposition had plotted to topple President Duterte and installVice President Leni Robredo in his place.Lawyer Jude Sabio has confirmed this, bolstering the police’s inciting tosedition charges against opposition personalities over the “Ang TotoongNarcolist” videos of Peter Joemel Advincula alias “Bikoy,” which theDepartment of Justice (DOJ) is set to resolve this month.After recanting his mass murder complaint against Duterte before theInternational Criminal Court (ICC), he spilled the beans on the politicalagenda behind the Bikoy videos.He recalled that former senator Antonio Trillanes IV tried to tap him aslawyer of Advincula in April last year despite his unpaid legal services forEdgar Matobato, the confessed hitman who linked Duterte to killings by theDavao death squad when he was still the city’s mayor.“They had the gall and temerity to recruit me as lawyer for alias Bikoy inorder to achieve their political agenda, which is to undermine and topplePresident Duterte so that Vice President (Leni) Robredo would becomepresident,” he bared at a news forum in Quezon City on Friday.Sabio said he refused to handle the case because Advincula did not even passthe opposition’s vetting process, which means they could not establish theveracity of his claims.TAAL ERUPTION STEALS LIVELIHOODSAMADEO, Cavite — Decimated fish, scarred coffee plants and vanishedtourists: the Taal volcano eruption in the Philippines has inflictedsignificant damage on the livelihoods of tens of thousands and is expectedto cause more.When Taal exploded to life Sunday it spewed towering columns of fine greyash, which officials said destroyed crops and killed off potentially tonnesof fish raised in the lake that rings the volcano."We lost a lot of money because all our fish are gone," said CesarioRodriguez, 34, a fish farmer. "We just need to find a way to survive."It didn't help either when government health officials warned people not toeat the fish as it could have been contaminated with volcanic sulphur,though the nation's health agency told AFP no formal ban is in place.The warning of a further, potentially catastrophic eruption, also ledauthorities to urge the thriving tourism industry near the volcano — apopular attraction — to suspend activity as a precaution.The nation's seismological agency has issued its second-highest alert,saying Taal could unleash an "explosive eruption" at any time.With scores of bookings canceled and many restaurants and hotels shuttered,the eruption will hurt, but no one knows how much yet."It going to be negative... 90 percent of the tourism establishments inTagaytay are closed," said Elinia Sanggalang, a local tourism official,referring to the resort town with stunning views of the volcano.The town alone draws about 5.5 million tourists per year, in part because itis a mere 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of the hot and crowded capitalManila.Estimates of the harm to farmers and fishermen are already coming in tofocus, and authorities say the amount could grow.The agriculture agency said Friday it estimates so far the volcano causedabout $59 million in damage to the industry, which is just about 4% of whatthe region produced in 2017.In the Philippines, life is already hard for those who have not benefittedfrom the nation's rapid growth in the past decade. Millions still live onless than $2 a day.LIMITED WATER SUPPLY CAUSED BY TAAL DELAYS REOPENING OF TAGAYTAY BUSINESSESTAGAYTAY CITY—Because of a limited water supply, several businesses here arerescheduling their reopening, nearly a week after Taal Volcano came to lifeand an ensuing ashfall brought a number of towns to a standstill.While power has been restored in parts of Tagaytay, most of the city’s 2,295commercial establishments have been relying on water deliveries since thevolcano’s restiveness downed power and water lines.Cheryl Agapay, who owns a ridge-side bulalo joint, said she has spent nearlyP40,000 in 3 days to buy 24 truckloads of water to wash the mud away at herrestaurant.“Kailangang kailangan namin ng tubig para matanggal sa bubong ’yung makapalna putik,” she told ABS-CBN News.“Hindi na namin kaya hintayin na mabalik ’yung supply para malinis na agadat kailangan din talaga sa restaurant business ang tubig.”SkyRanch, the city’s amusement park, also availed of hefty water deliveriesto be able to resume operations Saturday morning, just 6 days after thevolcano began spewing ash, which spread to nearby areas, including Tagaytay.“It’s not all about business. Marami rin kasi kaming empleyado na umaasa saamin kaya gusto na namin mag-open ulit,” said Ryan Go, SkyRanch’s operatingofficer.Power companies have yet to restore electricity in Tagaytay’s main pumpingstation, said city disaster risk reduction and management office chief ClydeYayong.Water providers are still checking the quality of Kaybubutong Spring, one ofthe city’s sources of water that was partly contaminated by Taal’s sulfuricash, Yayong said.Authorities hope to fully restore power and water in one of Southern Luzon’stourism destinations next week, he said.Local authorities plan to hold a grand reopening of Tagaytay on January 24in time for the Chinese New Year.DE LIMA BEHIND ICC CASE VS DUTERTE — SABIOMANILA — After recanting his complaint for mass murder against PresidentDuterte, lawyer Jude Sabio yesterday implicated detained Sen. Leila de Limain what he claimed were politically motivated cases against the ChiefExecutive.Sabio surfaced days after announcing he would withdraw his complaint againstDuterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and accused De Lima ofhaving a hand in the case, along with former senator Antonio Trillanes IV.“When I went to the ICC, Senator De Lima was already under detention. So Ihad no opportunity to talk to her or coordinate with her anymore. But allthis time, she was also involved in the ICC case,” Sabio said at a forum inQuezon City.He said the communication he filed before the ICC in 2017 was “nothing elsebut a political propaganda” of De Lima, Trillanes and the opposition LiberalParty.Sabio reiterated he was not paid by any party in withdrawing the ICCcomplaint and that he made the decision after realizing that the oppositiononly used him to attack Duterte.“All of them, they cannot be trusted with the way they handled me. If youread my withdrawal from the ICC, you will find indications that these peopleonly want to use and exploit me in their political agenda,” the lawyer said.He said Trillanes had asked him to file the ICC communication, which reliedon the accounts of confessed hitmen Edgar Matobato and Arturo Lascañas, whoboth accused Duterte of leading the Davao death squad when he was stillmayor of Davao City.Sabio alleged that De Lima was behind Matobato’s filing of murder andkidnapping charges before the ombudsman against the President in 2016 overthe alleged killings in Davao City.“I personally submitted that complaint before the ombudsman on orders ofSenator De Lima,” he claimed.DUTERTE VOWS TO HELP GIRL WITH BILIARY ATRESIAMANILA — President Duterte has vowed to help in the operation of atwo-year-old girl with biliary atresia at the National Kidney and TransplantInstitute (NKTI) in Quezon City.To allow more Filipinos to avail themselves of organ transplants, Dutertesaid he wants the surgery to be done at the NKTI instead of abroad.On Wednesday, Duterte met with the parents of biliary atresia patient SophieAguilo and urged them to allow the liver transplant to be done locally.Biliary atresia is a condition in infants in which the bile ducts outsideand inside the liver are scarred and blocked.Sophie’s parents want their child to undergo the operation in India, wherethe medical procedure would cost less.However, Duterte told Ronald Naval and Kendy Aguilo, Sophie’s parents, thathe wants the transplant to be done in the country, the first such procedureto be done in the Philippines.He asked Sophie’s parents to trust the expertise of the doctors at the NKTI,noting the doctors here are equally capable of successfully doing such aprocedure in the country at par with their counterparts overseas.“Subukan natin dito. Ako naniniwala ako. Hindi ako nambabarat – may pera attutulong ako (Try it here. I believe. I am not penny-pinching – there arefunds and I will help),” the President told the parents, vowing to supportSophie’s financial needs.DOJ TO SEND SLAIN OFW’S AUTOPSY REPORT TO KUWAITMANILA — The Department of Justice (DOJ) is set to send to Kuwait theautopsy report of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on the body ofslain overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Jeanelyn Villavende in a bid toprosecute her employers.DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra said yesterday that they are reviewing theNBI’s autopsy findings.The decision to use to report is the “call of the Kuwait prosecutors. Butwe’ll offer all the evidence available in the Philippines,” he toldreporters yesterday.He stressed, however, that the DOJ will exhaust all legal remedies to putVillavende’s employers behind bars.The NBI, an attached agency of the DOJ, was ordered to autopsy Villavende’sbody for an independent investigation of her death.Villavende is the latest Filipina worker who was killed in Kuwait, barelysix months after she flew to the Gulf nation. She was raped and beatenrepeatedly during her stay.CUSTOMS BUREAU SEIZES P1-B WORTH OF FAKE CIGARETTES IN NUEVA ECIJAMANILA—The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Saturday said it seized an estimatedP1 billion worth of counterfeit cigarettes at a warehouse in Cabiao town,Nueva Ecija.In a statement, the BOC said it joined police and local officials inretrieving 3 boxes with fake tax certification stamps, at least 15cigarette-making machines, packing machines, filter-making machines, a mixerand a dryer, and raw materials.The BOC said it also arrested 20 Chinese citizens allegedly involved inmanufacturing counterfeit cigarettes, and 100 Filipinos believed to bebehind the operations.An investigation is underway.THIS POLITICIAN JUST RESPONDED TO KRIS AQUINO’S PUBLIC INVITATION TO SINGLEMEN, AGED 41-55MANILA — Kris Aquino recently made a public invitation to single men, aged41-55, to add her personal Facebook account, and it appears the announcementreached a vice-governor, who has similarly made no secret of his search fora “friend.”Over the weekend, Batangas Vice Governor Mark Leviste left a comment on anInstagram post from Aquino, asking the actress, with a winking emoji,“Looking for someone single, aged 41?”Aquino, 48, responded with a question clarifying Leviste’s romanticinvolvement. She brought up Cathy Valencia, best known for her eponymousskin clinic.Tagging Valencia’s Instagram account, Aquino asked Leviste: “‘Di ba siya angpinopormahan mo? I’m in negotiations with her now… Baka mawala pa, e goodoffer pa naman.”In the same thread of comments, Valencia told Aquino that she and Levisteare “just friends, and I want us to only remain friends.”“Yasss!” Leviste said, with a smiling emoji.Addressing the vice governor, Aquino wrote: Napaso na [ako] sa ‘players’(literal and figurative) and sa elected officials. You have a [check] inboth boxes. Not ‘looking’ but I look forward to getting to know you betterand befriending you.”Aquino was formerly married to PBA star James Yap, and was last romanticallylinked with former Quezon City mayor Herbert Bautista.“Fair enough,” Leviste answered. “Something to look forward to.”Leviste, who has three children, has been open about search for a potentialmatch. Notably in July, he joined the “It’s Showtime” matchmaking segment,“KapareWho.”HOTDOG FOUNDER AND MANILA SOUND PIONEER DENNIS GARCIA PASSES AWAYMANILA -- Dennis Garcia, founding member of the legendary Filipino bandHotdog, passed away Saturday night as posted by his youngest daughter Isa onhis Facebook page early Sunday morning. He was 69 years old.Garcia or Mr. D as he is fondly referred to by friends and colleagues in themusic industry is the older brother of Rene Garcia, lead singer of Hotdogwho passed away in 2018. As pioneers of the so-called Manila Soundsub-genre, Hotdog helped usher a golden age of Original Pilipino Music thatbegan in the mid-70s.Together with brother Rene, the elder Garcia wrote most of the band’sbiggest hits including “Ikaw ang Miss Universe ng Buhay Ko,” “Manila,”“Annie Batungbakal,” “Bongga Ka Day,” “Langit na Naman” and “Beh Buti Nga.”Over the years and despite numerous line-up changes, Hotdog’s popularitynever waned as evidenced by the constant clamor for them to continueperforming their greatest hits. Just this decade alone, the band headlinedseveral reunion concerts. Even after Rene’s passing, Hotdog continued to bein high demand in the live circuit with recent high-profile shows at theHard Rock Café, 19 East Bar & Grill and Bar 360 of Resorts World Manila.Garcia himself initiated the band’s show at 19 East last November to paytribute to brother Rene, Joey “Pepe” Smith and Rico J. Puno, who werehonored by the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) with their owncommemorative postage stamps as part of its recently launched Pinoy MusicIcons collection.Also known for his work in advertising, Garcia dabbled in the visual arts aswell in recent years. In 2013, he spearheaded “Pers Lab Atbp,” an exhibitfeaturing paintings that interpreted Hotdog’s original songs. The artworkswere created not only by himself but also creative friends like Nelson Cruz,Myra Mendoza-Portillo, Dennis Magdamo and Bong Pedro.Five years later, Garcia, Cruz and photographer Quincy Castillo mounted“Tres Pares,” a similar exhibit again based on Hotdog’s classic tunes.Late last year, Hotdog again made headlines when their signature song,“Manila” was used in the opening of Southeast Asian Games.Asked why Hotdog’s music has stood the test of time, Garcia told this writerin a 2011 interview that “the remarkable staying power can also beattributed to the subject matter of the songs and the style of writing -simple, down to earth, unpretentious, real.”“And those qualities are what a great legacy is made of,” Garcia concluded.Garcia is survived by his wife Pam and children Angela, Paolo and Isa.

NBA SCORES JAN 17FINAL    1    2    3    4    Tteam logo Timberwolves 15-26    26    35    32    21    114team logo Pacers 27-15    32    35    32    17    116SCORING LEADERSK. Towns MIN27 PTS, 5 REB, 1 ASTT. Warren IND28 PTS, 5 REB, 2 ASTFINAL    1    2    3    4    Tteam logo Wizards 13-28    26    25    25    35    111team logo Raptors 27-14    38    27    35    40    140SCORING LEADERST. Brown Jr. WAS22 PTS, 8 REB, 1 ASTN. Powell TOR28 PTS, 5 REB, 2 ASTFINAL    1    2    3    4    Tteam logo Bulls 15-28    24    23    24    18    89team logo 76ers 27-16    21    25    35    19    100SCORING LEADERSZ. LaVine CHI23 PTS, 7 REB, 3 ASTF. Korkmaz PHI24 PTS, 4 REB, 0 ASTFINAL    1    2    3    4    Tteam logo Cavaliers 12-30    25    31    20    33    109team logo Grizzlies 20-22    27    27    38    21    113SCORING LEADERSC. Sexton CLE28 PTS, 4 REB, 6 ASTD. Brooks MEM26 PTS, 2 REB, 1 ASTFINAL    1    2    3    4    Tteam logo Heat 29-12    40    21    31    23    115team logo Thunder 23-19    26    21    31    30    108SCORING LEADERSK. Nunn MIA22 PTS, 2 REB, 2 ASTD. Gallinari OKC27 PTS, 6 REB, 4 ASTFINAL    1    2    3    4    Tteam logo Hawks 10-32    29    38    21    33    121team logo Spurs 17-23    27    31    41    21    120SCORING LEADERST. Young ATL31 PTS, 5 REB, 9 ASTL. Aldridge SA30 PTS, 5 REB, 0 ASTFINAL    1    2    3    4    Tteam logo Trail Blazers 18-25    37    26    26    23    112team logo Mavericks 27-15    38    34    26    22    120SCORING LEADERSD. Lillard POR34 PTS, 1 REB, 10 ASTL. Doncic DAL35 PTS, 8 REB, 7 AST