AFTER 30 HOURS, FIRE OUT AT MANILA'S HISTORIC POST OFFICE BUILDING

MANILA — Authorities on Tuesday morning declared the fire at the Manila Central Post Office out, nearly 31 hours since the fire started in the basement of the iconic building on Liwasang Bonifacio.

State-run PTV4 reported that the Bureau of Fire Protection declared fire out 6:33 a.m.

The BFP also tallied 18 people who were injured due to the fire, including one civilian, one fire volunteer and 16 firefighters from their bureau.

The fire, which “totally damaged” the Manila Central Post Office, started at 11:41 p.m. on Sunday. First responders said that a stay-in employee reported seeing thick smoke coming from the basement.

The BFP declared the fire under control at 7:22 a.m. of Monday.

Initial estimates showed that the fire—which forced the BFP to raise a general alarm, its highest alarm status—caused damage worth P300 million. Assessment is still ongoing so that figure may still go up.

The Manila Central Post Office houses the headquarters of the government-owned and controlled Philippine Postal Corp., and the main mail sorting and distribution operations of the country.

Among those that were damaged by the fire are Philippine IDs, although the Philippine Statistics Authority have said only IDs bound for Manila were affected.

An estimated 82 fire trucks—42 from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and 40 volunteer firefighting groups—in Metro Manila and neighboring areas responded to the emergency.

Sen. Robinhood Padilla has already called for a legislative inquiry into the fire that destroyed a part of the country’s cultural heritage, as he stressed the need to revisit and assess the effectiveness of existing preservation and protection measures.

78.9 MILLION FILIPINOS REGISTER FOR NATIONAL ID

MANILA – More than 78 million Filipinos have registered for the National ID, an official of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Tuesday.

“Sa buong bansa, nakapag-rehistro na tayo ng (Nationwide, we have registered) 78.9 million," said Fred Sollesta, officer in charge and Deputy National Statistician assigned to the PhilSys Registry Office.

“When I say total credentials na na-issue na sa citizens na pwede na talaga nila magamit sa mga (that they can use for) transaction, mga around 65 million na. Combination ito ng physical ID na pini-print sa (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas), mga 31.4 million, tapos yung ePhilID natin na 33.8 million,” he added.

Sollesta also said they hope to finish printing physical national ID cards this year.

“It will happen this year kasi mauubos na namin yung pag-generate ng (PhilSys number) PSN, around siguro mga middle ng June, and then ira-ramp up namin muna yung distribution ng e-PhilID,” he explained.

He also said they continue to work with the BSP and the Philippine Postal Corporation (PhilPost) to ensure the consistent production of cards and their speedy delivery.

GOVERNMENT URGED TO MAKE PHILIPPINES’ POWER INFRA ‘CLIMATE-PROOF’

MANILA — The government should invest more in the country’s energy sector by making power infrastructure “climate-proof” and exploring alternative sources to tackle the nation’s energy woes, according to new studies by state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

The PIDS studies stressed that huge investments are required to fix the causes of power interruptions, which the think tank said costs the local economy P556 million per five-hour outage.

PIDS reported that the causes of electricity supply interruptions are broadly classified into environmental, supply, technical, and other issues, with environmental issues being “the most critical cause” among the four.

The state think tank then recommended prioritizing the climate-proofing of power infrastructure, a significant investment that, PIDS said, can be incorporated into the government's medium- to long-term plans.

“When electricity supply is not continuously given to businesses, this affects their income. When business incomes are affected, it cascades down to their employees," said Kris Francisco, a research fellow at PIDS and author of the study “Electricity Supply Interruptions in the Philippines: Characteristics, Trends, Causes”.

Her research analyzed the monthly interruption reports of electric cooperatives submitted to the National Electrification Administration (NEA).

Francisco also stressed the need to provide assistance to and develop policies for electric cooperatives to increase their capacity and access to power supply, given their essential role in the energy sector.

NAPOLES ACQUITTED IN 16 GRAFT CASES, GUILTY IN ANOTHER SET OF PDAF CASES

MANILA — The Sandiganbayan has found plunder convict Janet Lim Napoles not guilty of graft in 16 cases related to Priority Development Assistance Fund projects of Sen. Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., who himself was acquitted of plunder in 2021.

In a ruling by a separate anti-graft court division, Napoles was found guilty on two counts of graft and two counts of malversation in another PDAF scam case, this time involving a Davao del Sur lawmaker.

Despite the recent acquittal, Napoles will remain in detention.

The Sandiganbayan First Division acquitted Napoles as it held that the alleged acts in the case “are predicate crimes of Plunder” in a case already ruled on by the court. In the said case, Napoles was found guilty and convicted of Plunder.

'Essentially the same case'

The Sandiganbayan said that the acts imputed to Revilla, erstwhile chief of staff Richard Cambe, Napoles and others in the plunder case and this graft case are the same. Evidence presented by the prosecution in both trials were also essentially the same.

It cited the 2002 Supreme Court ruling on Estrada v. Sandiganbayan, where the tribunal held that “the prosecution can incorporate all the predicate acts in one charge of Plunder instead of preparing a multitude of Informations and proving all of them in court.”

“Since the predicate acts were already used as basis of the crime of Plunder, then the accused can no longer be charged separately for violation of the Anti-Graft Law,” it said.

In the case at hand, the Sandiganbayan pointed out that the acts that gave unwarranted benefits to Napoles and her associated NGOs and the receipt of kickbacks are “exactly what was described in the Information for Plunder.”

“Based on the above disquisitions and considering that the charge of Plunder against accused Revilla, Cambe and Napoles is based on the predicate acts, which also constitute as violation of Section 3(e), RA 3019, the accused’s liability could no longer be determined in the cases as these offense were already included in the Plunder case for which they were already prosecuted for,” the ruling said.

NAPOLES GETS UP TO 54 YEARS OVER ‘PORK’

MANILA — Detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles will remain imprisoned for graft and malversation of public funds over alleged misuse by a deceased lawmaker and an earlier plunder conviction by the Sandiganbayan in connection with Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr.’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

But she secured a small win after being acquitted of graft charges still in connection with Revilla’s allegedly misused “pork barrel” fund.

In a decision promulgated last Friday, the Sandiganbayan’s Second Division sentenced Napoles to 36 up to 54 years in prison after being found guilty of two counts of graft and another two counts of malversation of public funds under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code over the alleged misuse of P15.36 million worth of PDAF of the late former Davao del Sur 1st District representative Douglas Cagas.

Convicted with Napoles were former Technology Resource Center officials Belina Concepcion and Maria Rosalinda Lacsamana as well as private individuals Mylene Encarnacion and Evelyn de Leon.

They were sentenced to six up to 10 years of imprisonment for each count of the graft offense and 12 up to 17 years for each count of the malversation offense.

They were also ordered to jointly indemnify the government with P7.68 million, equivalent to the amount found to have been illegally disbursed.

The Second Division said this was on top of another P7.68 million in fine that they must pay to the court.

3 MORE DEGAMO MURDER SUSPECTS RECANT, SAYS LAWYER

MANILA — Three more suspects have recanted their statements linking suspended lawmaker Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr. to the murder of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo, their lawyer said Tuesday.

According to lawyer Danny Villanueva, Rogelio Antipolo, Rommel Pattaguan and Dahniel Lora have also executed an affidavit of recantation.

Degamo slay suspect Osmundo Rivero earlier filed a counter-affidavit and an affidavit recanting his previous testimonies before the Department of Justice.

Rivero's recantation came a week after the National Bureau of Investigation formally filed murder charges against Teves over the assassination of his political rival.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin "Boying" Remulla previously said that 6 to 7 suspects in the slay had lawyered up and were no longer talking.

Gunmen stormed the governor's house in Pamplona town on March 4, killing Degamo and 9 others.

The attack came after the Supreme Court declared Degamo the rightful winner of the contest for the Negros Oriental governorship following a recount that unseated his rival, who had previously been proclaimed victor.

Teves earlier said their clan had nothing to do with the killing.

MARCOS HOMETOWN WANTS MORE FLIGHTS

MANILA — The bailiwick of the Marcos family wants other airlines to follow Cebu Pacific’s lead in opening flights to Laoag International Airport to support the recovery of Ilocos Norte’s tourism.

Ilocos Norte Gov. Matthew Marcos Manotoc is requesting airlines to launch flights to Laoag to strengthen connectivity to and from northern Luzon.

Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific yesterday relaunched its Manila-Laoag flights as part of efforts to broaden its network of domestic flights.

“We are thrilled to welcome Cebu Pacific back to our province as this signals a renewed hope for our tourism industry. Further, we hope that more airlines will follow suit, as we continue to work together to revitalize our economy and bring back the vibrancy of Ilocos Norte’s tourism sector,” Manotoc said.

For 2023, the government will spend P2.49 billion for the expansion and upgrade of five airports.

The Laoag International Airport is listed as one of the gateways set for rehabilitation, enhancing its capacity in facilitating and handling additional aircraft.

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GASOLINE UP BY 80C, DIESEL BY 60C, AS KEROSENE PUMP PRICE CUT BY 10C

The country’s oil firms raised the prices of gasoline by P0.80 per liter and diesel by P0.60 per liter effective 6 a.m. today (Tuesday) to reflect the movement of prices in the world market.

The price of kerosene, however, was reduced by P0.10 per liter.

The oil price hike this week is higher than the first four days of trading forecast last week of about P0.10 to P0.40 per liter.

“Petron will implement the following price adjustments effective 6 a.m. on May 23: P0.80 per li increase for gasoline; P0.60 per liter increase for diesel and P0.10 per liter rollback for kerosene. These reflect movements in the international oil market,” Petron Corp. said in its advisory.

Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Cleanfuel, Seaoil Philippines, Jetti Petroleum, PTT Philippines, and Chevron Philippines issued separate advisories on the latest domestic pump price movement.

World oil prices went up last week amid reports that leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations plan to tighten sanctions on Russia at their summit in Japan.

NCR COVID-19 POSITIVITY RATE ALMOST FLAT – OCTA

MANILA — The increase in the seven-day COVID positivity rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) is “almost flat,” OCTA Research said yesterday.

In a Twitter post, OCTA fellow Guido David said the positivity rate – which measures the number of people who test positive for COVID out of the total tests conducted – was “almost flat” from 25.4 percent on May 13 to 25.7 percent on May 20, “suggesting that it may be decreasing this week.”

OCTA, however, observed high positivity rates in many provinces, with Isabela having the highest positivity rate increase during the same period, from 36.6 percent to 67.4 percent.

Other provinces with high positivity rates include Bataan, Batangas, Benguet, Bulacan, Cagayan, Camarines Sur, Cavite, La Union, Laguna, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Pampanga, Quezon, Rizal and Zambales.

7 new Omicron subvariant cases

Meanwhile, the country has detected seven new cases of the COVID Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16 or “Arcturus,” the Department of Health (DOH) said.

Based on the DOH’s latest COVID Biosurveillance Report, two new Arcturus cases were identified in Central Luzon and another two in Western Visayas.

Meanwhile, the Bicol Region, Mimaropa and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) recorded one case each of Arcturus.

This brought the total number of Arcturus cases in the country to 11.

According to the DOH, there is local transmission of the Arcturus subvariant after four cases were earlier detected in Western Visayas. All four patients have recovered.

NEGROS CLASHES DEATH TOLL NOW 10

BACOLOD CITY — Another suspected New People’s Army (NPA) guerrilla was killed as more armed clashes erupted on Negros Island yesterday.

The latest fatality brought to 10 the number of guerrillas killed in the firefights that started on Friday.

Of the 10 slain rebels, whose remains were left behind by their comrades, five were retrieved from two encounter sites in Moises Padilla town and one in Cauayan in Negros Occidental.

Four others were recovered from the scenes of the firefight in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, according to the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division.

Government security forces involved in six encounters recovered 15 firearms, five pistols, three revolvers, two shotguns, four improvised explosive devices, eight rifle grenades, grenade launcher ammunition, fragmentation grenades and war materials, the Army said.

Two guerrillas, whose four comrades were killed in a firefight in Guihulngan on Sunday have surrendered to authorities, 2/Lt. Mary Liza Joy de Guzman, civil-military operations officer of the Army’s 62nd Infantry Brigade, said.

De Guzman said the five fatalities in Moises Padilla have been identified and their remains claimed by relatives.

No one among the soldiers was wounded in the six encounters that started last Friday.

BOMB THREATS DISRUPT CLASSES

QUEZON — Classes in four schools in Mulanay, Quezon were suspended yesterday due to bomb threats.

Mulanay Mayor Aris Aguirre announced the suspension on Sunday afternoon to ensure the safety of students and school personnel at the Sta. Rosa Elementary School, Mulanay Central Elementary School, Bondoc Peninsula Agricultural High School and Polytechnic University of the Philippines or PUP-Mulanay.

Aguirre ordered Mulanay police chief Maj Marlon Comia to inspect and secure the schools. As of yesterday, no bombs were found in any of the schools.

POTENTIAL 'SUPER TYPHOON' MOVING CLOSER TO PH

MANILA -- A tropical cyclone that may develop into a super typhoon outside the Philippine area of responsibility is moving closer to the country, state weather bureau PAGASA said Tuesday.

In its latest public weather forecast, PAGASA said the tropical cyclone was last seen 2,300 km east of Visayas. It has maximum sustained winds of 155 kph near the center and gusts of up to 190 kph. It is moving northward at 10 kph.

According to PAGASA, a super typhoon is a tropical cyclone with maximum wind speed exceeding 185 kph or more than 100 knots.

Weather forecaster Rhea Torres said the tropical cyclone still won't likely make landfall in any part of the Philippines.

"Ngunit dahil sa kalakasan po nito ay ma-e-enhance po nito ang hanging habagat kaya asahan po natin may mga pag-ulan tayong mararanasan or mataas po yung tsansang may pag-ulan tayolalong -lalo na sa western section ng Visayas and Mindanao area," she added.

A southwesterly wind flow is affecting the western sections of Southern Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

Cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms are likely in Palawan, while partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms are possible in Metro Manila and the rest of the country due to the southwesterly windflow and loclaized thunderstorms.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

JODI STA. MARIA, GABBI GARCIA EXPLAIN 'SENSUALITY WORKSHOPS' WITH JOSHUA GARCIA

MANILA — For those who were at last Saturday's celebrity watch party for the anticipated ABS-CBN, GMA-7 and VIU series "Unbreak My Heart," it might have come to their minds how Jodi Sta. Maria and Gabbi Garcia established their chemistry with Joshua Garcia considering they shared steamy scenes with the actor.

Both the actresses shared that they underwent a sensuality and/or intimacy workshop with their leading man.

"We did sensuality workshops naman e. May mga intimacy workshops also para lang maging comfortable kami sa isa't isa para ma-form din talaga 'yung bond and trust sa isa't isa because that is so important. Kasi makikita mo sa screen 'yung pagiging awkward. You just have to let go and trust your partner," said Jodi to GMA News and the press right after the watch party.

Jodi plays Rose, a woman who travels to Switzerland in search of her daughter. She meets Joshua's character, the all-around-guy Renz who she turns to for help and companionship while looking for her daughter.

An earlier teaser of the show revealed their characters exchanging kisses. Meanwhile, Gabbi's character also crosses paths with Joshua's Renz and it is also implied in the teaser that they will also be involved with each other.

"We went to a sensuality workshop din so talagang, both parties alam namin kung ano 'yung boundaries namin. Alam namin kung saan kami kumportable sa isa't isa. And also siyempre, we guide each other din. Nagtutulungan din kami. We're both very open. 'Yun 'yung importante," Gabbi said.

"Unbreak My Heart" also stars Richard Yap, Laurice Guillen, Eula Valdes, Nikki Valdez, Victor Neri, Romnick Sarmenta and Sunshine Cruz. It is directed by Manny Palo and Dolly Dulu.

It will premiere on May 29 on GMA-7, with advance episodes on VIU and iWantTFC on May 27.

SPORTS

NBA SCORES MAY 22

Final

1          2          3          4          T

1 Nuggets

28        30        36        19        113

7 Lakers

34        39        16        22        111

GAME 4: DEN wins 4-0, Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA

PLAYERS OF THE GAME

player headshot

N. Jokic DEN C

30 PTS , 14 REB , 13 AST

player headshot

L. James LAL SF

40 PTS , 10 REB , 9 AST

INDICATORS

FOREX $1 = P 55.82

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing. - Blaise Pascal