The STAR Cover (May 16, 2024)
MANILA, Philippines — There will be no water supply interruptions despite the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) lowering the allocation for Metro Manila by one cubic meter per second (cms) starting today, an official of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) said yesterday.
The MWSS is still awaiting the NWRB’s decision on its request for the board to maintain the 50 cms allocation for Metro Manila, MWSS water and sewerage management department manager Patrick Dizon said in an interview with The STAR.
“We have yet to receive the advisory for the retention of the 50 cms. Based on the original memorandum (the NWRB) issued to us, our water allocation is 50 cms from May 1 to 15 and 49 cms for May 16 to 31. Yesterday, we sent a letter to the NWRB to retain 50 cms. We are just waiting for the reply,” he said.
Dizon said the MWSS cited as reason for the retention of the 50 cms allotment the forecast of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration that there is now a 60 percent chance of La Niña for July, August and September.
As of 8 a.m. yesterday, the water level of Angat Dam had dropped by 0.48 meters to 182.15 meters compared to its previous level of 182.83 meters. It is 29.85 meters below its normal high w ater level of 212 meters.
Its minimum operating level is 180 meters.
“What we can assure (the public) based on our meeting with Maynilad an d Manila Water this morning, is that there will be no advisory for water interruption. If there will be interruptions, (those are) the normal maintenance activities,” Dizon said.
The water level of Angat Dam did not improve despite the rains in the past days, he noted, saying it needs days of rainfall to s aturate the watersheds.
According to Dizon, the Na tional Irrigation Administration (NIA) also agreed to allow the water concessionaires to borrow at least three cms from its allocation from Angat Dam.
“There was an advisory from NIA, that it will not use water f or days. It rained in Bulacan and the harvest was completed so the irrigation needs no water,” Dizon said.
Angat Dam supplies more than 90 percent of Metro Manila’s potable water needs and provides for the irrigation needs of 25,000 hectares of farmlands in Bulacan and Pampanga.
Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has issued a circular ordering local government units in Metro Manila to conduct regular monitoring of water meters and immediately report leaks to water providers.
The DILG said that all government offices must have separate water meters and that the main building’s water pipe valves must be shut down between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.
LGUs should also encourage maximizing rainwater harvesting in government facilities and promote water catchment systems in residential areas for non-potable usage, the DILG said. – Romina Cabrera
MANILA, Philippines — Three Vietnamese and two Chinese, all medical practitioners, were arrested during a raid on a clandestine clinic along Macapagal Boulevard in Pasay on May 13 for allegedly performing illegal surgeries and procedures, including abortion, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said yesterday.
The clinic had three doctors, two Chinese and one Vietnamese, as well as a Chinese pharmacist and a Vietnamese nurse, according to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).
Vietnamese Trinh Dinh Sang, 29; Nguyen Duy Quynh, 67, and Pham Thi Nhu Hieu, 28; and Chinese Xie Jun, 36; and Zhai Jian Gang, 43, are being detained at the BI’s facility in Taguig pending the resolution of a deportation case filed against them.
Sang was the target of the BI’s operation after the bureau received information he was allegedly illegally performing medical procedures.
“Their activities are dangerous and pose a threat to public safety,” BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.
Most of the clinic’s patients were Vietnamese, some of them sex workers who would need cosmetic enhancement and abortion, according to the BI.
BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said the underground clinic may have Filipino incorporators who may face charges for harboring illegal aliens.
Meanwhile, PAOCC spokesman Winston Casio said the commission’s legal officers are coordinating with the Department of Justice for the filing of criminal charges against the five foreigners.
“We have also launched an investigation to identify other beneficial owners of the establishment. We have an idea who is behind it, but we are still digging deeper to identify others involved,” he added.
All five foreigners were arrested after they failed to present licenses to practice their respective professions during the raid on the clinic, located in the Hobbies of Asia building.
Casio said the PAOCC will conduct a deeper investigation due to the clinic’s possible links to illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).
“We need to investigate because we are concerned about the possibility that POGO workers who get sick, who get shot, or who get kidnapped or tortured in POGO (hubs) are not going to legal hospitals but instead directly go to hospitals like this,” he said.
“This is very alarming. That is why we ordered the closure of the establishment.”
MANILA, Philippines — A suspect in the ambush of photojournalist Rene Joshua Abiad in June 2023 in Quezon City, who was arrested last year for illegal possession of a firearm, is back in police custody.
Jomari Campillo, 25, was arrested by police in front of the hall of justice in Barangay Central at around noon, Quezon City Police District director Brig. Gen. Redrico Maranan said.
Campillo, the ninth most wanted fugitive in Quezon City, was served a warrant of arrest for frustrated murder issued by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 86.
Maranan said Campillo was among the suspects in the attack on Abiad and his relatives in Barangay Masambong on June 29, 2023.
Abiad’s nephew was killed while three of his relatives were wounded in the attack.
Campillo, who was tagged as the spotter in Abiad’s ambush, and another suspect identified as Eduardo Legazpi II were arrested by police in July 2023.
Records showed Campillo posted bail for the offense of illegal possession of a firearm last year. He was then arrested for frustrated murder in connection with the attempt on Abiad’s life.
“The arrest of the suspect is a clear manifestation that justice will always be served,” Maranan said in a statement.
Col. Jean Fajardo, PNP chief information officer, said police are hunting down a certain Kap Nanad, the alleged mastermind; Juanito Padilla, the alleged leader of a gun-for-hire syndicate; and suspects identified only as Charry, Oscar, Marlo and Jayson.
Campillo “was among those who conducted surveillance and tailed (the victim) during the shooting,” Fajardo said in a news briefing at Camp Crame.