MAGNITUDE 7 QUAKE JOLTS ABRA, FELT IN METRO MANILA

MANILA - A powerful magnitude 7 earthquake rocked multiple parts of northern Luzon, damaging buildings and interrupting train operations in the capital region.

The tremor, which was initially reported by Phivolcs as magnitude 7.3, struck at 8:43 a.m., 3 kilometers northwest of Tayum town in Abra, the agency said in its latest advisory.

It was tectonic in origin and struck at a depth of 17 kilometers, according to Phivolcs.

The tremor was expected to cause damage and aftershocks.

The tremor was felt across Metro Manila, disrupting ABS-CBN's Teleradyo and ANC interviews. Light Rail Transit and Metro Rail Transit services were temporarily halted after the quake.

Videos taken on social media also showed a church bell tower in Bantay, Ilocos Sur and a church in Tayum, Abra being damaged by the earthquake.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council has received "preliminary information" on the damage caused by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Abra.

"As of this time the local DRRM officers are on the scene to assess the impact of the earthquake. So far, we have seen photos of damage but these are to be validated by the local counterparts. All affected local government units are also on the scene to assist affected populations," NDRRMC spokesperson Mark Timbal told reporters in a Viber message.

Rep Ching Bernos (Abra) in a statement also reported that the quake "caused damages [sic] to many households and establishments."

The Police Regional Office Cordillera also told reporters that the Abra Police Provincial Office had lost electricity and internet connection.

Timbal added later Wednesday that some areas in Regions 1, 2, NCR, and CAR have sustained damage to public and private structures. Some areas in the Cordilleras also have no power and internet, he said.

"We have sufficient relief stockpiles prepositioned in these regions to support local relief efforts undertaken by the LGUs," Timbal also said.

DOH ISSUES GUIDELINES FOR 2ND BOOSTER SHOT ROLLOUT

MANILA – The Department of Health on Tuesday issued guidelines for the nationwide rollout of a second booster shot for COVID-19 for people ages 50 and above, and immunocompromised individuals ages 18 to 49.

Under the guidelines released through the National COVID-19 Vaccination Operations Center, only the Tozinameran (Pfizer) and Spikevax (Moderna) mRNA vaccines will be used for second booster shots.

The DOH said there must be an interval of at least four months from the first booster shot.

"Eligible individuals may soon check with the announcements of their nearest LGU or private sector vaccination site for the deployment schedules, and are asked to be ready with their vaccination card and valid ID. A medical certificate is NOT required, even for those with comorbidities. The medical screener or doctor at the vaccination site is authorized to assess and make the determination," the department said.

PHIVOLCS: LANDSLIDES, AFTERSHOCKS POSSIBLE AFTER QUAKE HITS NORTHERN PH

MANILA — Landslides and aftershocks are possible following the magnitude 7.0 quake that the northern Philippines and Metro Manila on Wednesday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

"Most likely, nakita ko na yung ibang mga pictures, marami pong landslide na mangayayari," Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum said.

"Pwede pong may mga baradong mga kalsada at baka may isolated na mga lugar o barangays. Dapat tingnan kung paano ito magkakaroon ng access," he added.

The public may also spot cracks on the ground after the quake, Solidum said.

"Kombinasyon po ito ng lindol and 'pag dumating 'yong ulan o bagyo, mas puwede pang magkaroon ng landslide kasi mahuna na ang mga lupa," he said.

Solidum noted that landslides had already been recorded in the towns of Manabo and Bucloc in Abra, where the quake was felt at a "destructive" Intensity 7.

Solidum also said houses and buildings in quake-affected areas must be inspected soon by local engineers.

People should also refrain from entering damaged homes and buildings as aftershocks are still possible and may cause further damage, said Solidum.

SANDIGANBAYAN RULES MARCOSES ONLY GET TO KEEP 4 PROPERTIES

MANILA — The Fourth Division of the Sandiganbayan said in a recent decision that the Marcos family will only get to keep four properties, in a partial reversal of a 2019 ruling that said the first family did not need to return P200 billion in ill-gotten wealth.

In a 12-page ruling on July 22 but only made available Tuesday, it was revealed that the government partially won its appeal on the 2019 decision as the court ruled that a “sweeping dismissal … on the ground of the Best Evidence Rule … is not warranted, considering that many of the subject properties have long been recovered by the government.”

A status report provided by the Presidential Commission on Good Government attached in the recent ruling showed that  a substantial amount of the Marcos loot that is the subject of the case has already been seized and taken control of by the government.

This includes the stocks of 10 companies, P934 million and $8 million worth of deposits in a bank account, 13 real estate properties, 10 land titles and 526 art pieces.

Other companies no longer exist, while others are now in possession of private persons or local governments.

What remains with the Marcoses, as per the PCGG report, is the Currimao Beach House which is registered under the name of former President Ferdinand Marcos, a house in Pandacan, Manila, the Batac Museum and the Batac Guest House.

The court said that it allowed the PCGG to submit more evidence in support of its report, but this did not come as it said that “all material and relevant documents and pieces of evidence for the instant case have already been presented during trial.”

“Considering that the evidence already offered by the plaintiff during trial do not sufficiently establish its claims as to the properties mentioned above that are purportedly still within the Marcoses’ control, the court is constrained to deny the plaintiff’s motion for reconsideration … as regards the said properties,” the Sandiganbayan said.

The decision was penned by Associate Justice Alex Quiroz and concurred to by Associate Justices Maria Theresa Mendoza-Arcega and Maryann Corpus-Mañalac.

PRICE INCREASE CAP FOR BASIC GOODS UP

The Department of Trade and Industry is eyeing to impose a maximum of 6 to 8 percent increase in prices for some 30 percent of the total basic goods listed in the Suggested Retail Price (SRP) bulletin.

DTI undersecretary for consumer protection Ruth Castelo said they are still reviewing petitions for price hikes from manufacturers but will keep adjustments to less than a third of SRP-listed commodities

“We have kept increases to 30 percent of the products from among the total number of SKUs (stock keeping units) in the bulletin at any given publication so consumers can still choose the ones that do not increase prices,” she said Tuesday.

“Increases are limited only to a range of 3 to 8 percent so if the Secretary wants the increases tempered to as much as 6 percent only, it is still well within the range,” she added.

Prices of monitored commodities under the SRP Bulletin last moved on May 11, 2022.

Under the latest SRP list, the DTI has approved a minimum increase for 82 basic necessities and prime commodities (BNPCs) while 136 SKUs or 62 percent were unchanged from the January 27, 2022 bulletin prices.

Products with minimal price hikes include bread, canned fish, potable water in bottles and containers, processed milk, locally manufactured instant noodles, coffee, salt, laundry soap, detergent, candles, flour, processed and canned pork, processed and canned beef, vinegar, fish sauce (patis), soy sauce, toilet soap, and batteries.

CLASH OVER CONTROVERSIAL VAPE BILL COULD REACH SUPREME COURT

MANILA – Advocates are set to question the legality of the controversial vape bill before the Supreme Court, a day after the bill lapsed into law.

Speaking to ANC’s “Rundown,” former Philippine College of Physicians president Dr. Maricar Limpin said the bill was only transmitted to the Office of the President 5 days before the end of President Duterte's term.

"We felt that this bill should have been transmitted to the Office of the President long time ago when this bill was already passed in both Houses of Congress but that did not happen. The bill was only transmitted around 5 days before the end of President Duterte’s. So for us there seems to be a legality on how the process was actually done or conducted,” Limpin said.

“So this is something that probably, well, I have heard some of the, like Senator Migz Zubiri who said that there is already a precedent over this. ‘no, that bills are being transmitted over a few days or parang midnight transmittal ba yan tawagin, equivalent to the midnight appointments, so, this is basically what happened.”

“And therefore, I think it can be expected that we will actually question the legality, and on top of this we will also question the constitutionality of the law,” she added.

The measure transfers the regulation of vapes under the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It also lowers the age of sale from 21 to 18.

Before the enactment of the new vape bill, existing regulations also disallowed flavored vapes and the sale of the product to anyone aged 21 and below.

Limpin said lawmakers should have known that the vape bill will clip the FDA’s powers.

“Our legislators, they should know better. They should have actually known that it is going to clip the powers of the FDA. That is why we need to make sure that these powers will not be clipped and this is the reason why we wanted to raise the constitutionality of such a provision in this particular law.”

ENRILE TAKES OATH AS MARCOS’ CHIEF LEGAL COUNSEL

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administered the oath of office to former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile Sr. as his chief legal counsel, Malacañang announced Tuesday.

Enrile, 98, is one of the prominent personalities who backed the presidential bid of Marcos.

His nomination as Marcos’ chief legal counsel was first announced on June 17.

In a social media post, Marcos said that he was confident that Enrile would provide him with “sound legal assistance.”

“I am confident in the capabilities and experience of Enrile as a public servant. This is why I am hoping that he will give us sound legal assistance regarding the actions our administration would take,” the President said.

SENATE TO ENSURE FUNDING FOR MARCOS SONA INITIATIVES

MANILA — Priority legislation mentioned by President Marcos in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) are assured of funding as Congress is expected to start deliberations on the 2023 national budget Malacañang will propose in the coming weeks, Sen. Sonny Angara said yesterday.

Angara, who is expected to chair the Senate finance committee, cited Marcos’ legislative agenda even as he admitted some of the bills have been languishing in Congress for years.

He said he expects that Marcos’ priority health measures would be the easiest to secure funding authorization from the Senate.

“If you noticed, in the past two to three years, we’ve increased our health budget, of course not at the expense of other departments. But we have to admit that we must prepare for the next pandemic,” Angara told reporters in Filipino.

He cited in particular the President’s plan to put up regional specialty hospitals as among the programs that lawmakers will immediately fund.

“Many provinces don’t have the capacity to fund their hospitals so it should be the national government that should finance them,” the senator said.

Angara described as comprehensive the 19 bills enumerated by Marcos who, he said, could provide the “x-factor” in having them passed quickly, especially those pending since the previous Congresses.

He cited the Budget Reform Bill and the proposed Land Use Act as languishing in Congress for years.

He said he believes that aside from the health bills, the proposed e-governance bill should also be immediately passed by Congress.

MARCOS ADMIN VOWS TO BORROW LESS

MANILA — The Marcos administration has committed to borrow less, saying that the government has the fiscal space to finance its ambitious projects.

During the post-State of the Nation Address economic briefing yesterday, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the government’s fiscal consolidation strategy would still grow the economy and meet its macroeconomic targets by exercising fiscal discipline.

Diokno said the Philippines has the fiscal space and his optimism is rooted in the sound tax system that the Duterte administration left behind.

The Marcos administration remains hesitant to impose additional tax burdens and instead prefers to focus on better tax administration to raise revenues that will be used to finance programs.

“The implication is clear: we do not have to borrow as much as we did during the crisis years,” Diokno said.

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RELIABLE SUPPLY, LOW PRICES SEEN

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vowed to increase the country’s renewable energy resources and “re-examine the strategy for building nuclear power plants” to ensure reliable supply and bring down the price of electricity.

“At present, our demand for energy far exceeds our reliable supply. We must increase the level of energy production. We must look at every possible option that would be appropriate for the Philippine situation,” he said in his first State of the Nation Address on Monday.

“We must examine the entire transmission and distribution for finding ways to lower the price of energy to the consumer and to the industry. We must expand the network of our transmission lines while examining the scheme to improve the operation of our electrical cooperatives. All this in aid of reducing energy cost especially but not limited to households.”

Marcos said the construction of new nuclear power plants can be done through public-private partnership agreements “as funding in this period is limited.”

“We will comply of course with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regulations for nuclear power plants as they have been strengthened after Fukushima. In the area of nuclear power, there have been new technologies developed that allow smaller scale modular nuclear plants and other derivations,” he added.

The President maintained that the search for new power sources should always be with an eye to improving the energy mix supply between traditional and renewable sources.

“In the interim, natural gas will hold the key. We will provide investment incentives by clarifying the uncertain policy in upstream gas, particularly in the area close to Malampaya,” he said.

LABOR PARTYLIST SEEKS MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE

MANILA - A labor partylist on Wednesday urged President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos to raise the minimum wage to just above the poverty threshold of P16,000.

The TUCP Partylist has filed for a P37 minimum wage increase to P570, according to its Rep. Raymond Mendoza.

He added that he would like to meet with Marcos and other stakeholders to raise the issue.

"Kailangan talaga yung (the) minimum wage should be on top of that for a family of 5 to survive. As a national policy, are we doing this, giving out below poverty wages that minimum wage earners, 3 million of them, can’t even survive? Let’s do something about it," he told ANC's Headstart.

HOUSE NAMES REP. SANDRO MARCOS SENIOR DEPUTY MAJORITY LEADER

MANILA — The majority bloc at the House of Representatives has elected rookie legislator Rep. Ferdinand Alexander Marcos (Ilocos Norte) — the president's son and House speaker's nephew — a senior deputy majority leader.

The younger Marcos nominated his uncle, Rep. Martin Romualdez, for the House speakership at the opening of the 19th Congress’ first regular session at the Batasang Pambansa on Monday.

Romualdez was mentor to Rep. Marcos, who was on his staff when he was majority leader in the 18th Congress. Romualdez said during the campaign that the younger Marcos is ready to join the House because he "spent two years working in my office doing his congressional training, with no less than myself supervising and overseeing him."

Under the Constitution, each chamber of Congress chooses such other officers it may deem necessary for its operation.

The president's son is now senior deputy to Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe (Zamboanga City, 2nd District), whose primary function, aside from being the spokesman of the majority bloc, is to direct the deliberations on the floor.

"In the present setup of the House, the majority leader is concurrently the chairman of the Committee on Rules. As such, all matters relevant to the Rules of the House, specifically the calendar of bills, preparation of Order of Business and Calendar of Business are within his responsibilities," House rules read.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

GERALD ANDERSON, KYLIE PADILLA BEGIN FILMING IN 'CRASH LANDING ON YOU' LOCATION

MANILA — Celebrities Gerald Anderson and Kylie Padilla began shooting their upcoming movie "Unravel" in Switzerland.

In Mavx Productions' Instagram account, the film outfit shared a video of Gerald and Kylie in the same lake that Korean drama series "Crash Landing On You" was filmed.

"Looks familiar?" Mavx Productions wrote in the caption.

The cast and crew also posted a photo on the same dock where Hyun Bin's piano was placed.

"TEAM MAVX HAS CRASHED LANDED," it captioned.

Directed by RC Delos Reyes, "Unravel" is the first film of Gerald and Kylie together.

'DRAG RACE PHILIPPINES: UNTUCKED' AIRS ON FRIDAYS STARTING AUGUST 19

MANILA — The "Untucked" episodes of the debut season of "Drag Race Philippines" will air on Fridays, or two days after the main episode, the show revealed in an announcement.

"Drag Race Philippines: Untucked" will be available starting August 19.

"Drag Race Philippines" will be the first franchise to have its own 'Untucked' segment, which takes viewers behind the scenes of the show. The American franchise is known for its raw and unfiltered drama between the drag contestants.

"Drag Race Philippines" opened its auditions for its debut season last August. This will be the second franchise in Asia after "Drag Race Thailand."

The Emmy Award-winning show has featured the talents of Filipino drag queens like Ongina (Season 1 and All Stars 5), Manila Luzon (Season 3 and All Stars 1 and 4), Jiggly Caliente (Season 4 and All Stars 6), Phi Phi O’Hara (Season 4 and All Stars 2), Vivienne Pinay (Season 5), and Rock M. Sakura (Season 12) in the US franchise.

Other franchises have also featured Filipino drag queens like Jaja and Mocha Diva for seasons 1 and 2, respectively of "Drag Race Thailand," and Kyne, Stephanie Prince, and Kimmy Couture for Canada’s "Drag Race" seasons 1, 2, and 3 respectively.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

You can never be happy unless you learn to love yourself. - Jeffrey Fry