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Metro Manila, Philippines – The death toll from the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Mindanao has risen to 47, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported on Thursday morning, June 11. The number of injuries has climbed to 688, while at least 31 people remain missing. Disaster officials added that the number of displaced individuals has reached 45,609. According to the OCD, a total of 12,641 homes were damaged in the tremor, of which 2,289 were classified as totally destroyed. Meanwhile, nearly 3,000 aftershocks have continued to jolt the region since the main earthquake on Monday, June 8. These range in magnitude from 1.3 to 6.4. At 9:56 a.m. on Thursday, state seismologists from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) recorded a powerful magnitude 5.5 aftershock off Sarangani Bay. In response to the widespread destruction, the provincial government of Sarangani declared a state of calamity on Wednesday due…

Metro Manila, Philippines – The family of the late Ateneo cager Rene Baterbonia is unconvinced that the deaths of the 19-year-old athlete and teammate Divine Adili during a team building were purely accidental, despite hearing from school officials on the first day of the wake. Asked whether Ateneo had responded adequately, Rovelyn Baterbonia, the athlete’s mother, replied, “Yung nga sabi ko, may kulang.” [Translation: That’s why I said, something’s missing.] “Aksidente lang daw talaga yung nangyari. Tapos sinabi ko lang sa kanila – aksidente yung nangyari dahil sa kakulangan ninyo,” she added. [Translation: They said what happened was an accident. Then I told them, the accident happened because of their lapses.] Rovelyn said she has yet to receive information on the autopsy results and is waiting for official documents about her son. Baterbonia’s longtime coach, Jess Evangelio, said Ateneo representatives told the family that there were no weights during the…

Metro Manila, Philippines – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) saw the possibility of an “armed group” storming the Senate, Senate President Pro Tempore Win Gatchalian said, adding that there were indications the move could be connected to the 18 self-confessed bagmen involved in alleged flood control kickbacks. In an online press conference on Wednesday, June 10, the acting Senate president disclosed more details about the security threat that prompted him to impose heightened security measures, including a work-from-home arrangement. He said that on Monday, June 8, NBI Director Melvin Matibag relayed the information to senators present at the blue ribbon committee consultative meeting, which tackled the flood control corruption scandal. “What he said is there’s a possibility of na merong manggugulo sa Senado. And it’s a possibility na armed group yung manggulo,” Gatchalian said.  [Translation: What he said is that there’s a possibility that someone may disrupt Senate operations.…

Metro Manila, Philippines – The Philippines has urged China to remove a newly monitored floating platform and other structures in Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc), which violate Philippine sovereignty, international law, and Beijing’s commitments under the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. The call was made by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) after Philippine authorities confirmed the presence of what officials described as a movable floating platform inside the shoal, along with other objects and structures monitored in the area. “The Department of Foreign Affairs expresses its concern over the presence of a certain floating platform and structures within and in the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc,” Foreign Affairs deputy spokesperson Rogelio Villanueva Jr. said in a briefing on Wednesday, June 10.  Villanueva said the country has “indivisible, incontrovertible and longstanding sovereignty” over the shoal. “The Philippines has exercised continuous, uninterrupted sovereignty and…

Metro Manila, Philippines –  The Department of Justice (DOJ) has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to create a task force to probe the drowning of Ateneo cagers Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili during a team building in Dipaculao, Aurora. The agency instructed the task force “to conduct a thorough, comprehensive, and impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.” “As part of its investigation, the NBI will determine whether there is sufficient basis to recommend the filing of charges before the DOJ. The DOJ remains committed to ensuring that the facts are fully established and that justice is served,” the department said on Wednesday, June 10.  The 19-year-old Baterbonia and 21-year-old Adili drowned during an offseason team building on Monday, June 8.  As a result, the “boot camp” led by Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin has come under intense scrutiny for rigorous training.…