Cebu archbishop says Duterte out of sync on mockery of Catholics’ All Saints’ Day

commemoration

This was how Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma described President Duterte’s recent mockery of the
Catholic celebration of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, particularly the belief in saints.

In an interview on Friday, the 68-year-old prelate said President Duterte, though the country’s
most powerful man, was not in a position to interpret doctrines based on his own beliefs or out
of emotions.

“He is not a theologian nor has even studied catechesis or theology,” said Palma in an interview
before he presided over a Mass to observe All Souls’ Day at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral on
Friday morning.

“He is not an official teacher of doctrine. Every time I hear him saying things like this, I just say to
myself, why is he making such remarks when he is not a teacher of doctrine? We better decipher
what to believe and what not to believe in what he says,” he added.

President Duterte on Thursday again mocked the Catholic Church, this time about the
celebration of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

“Happy All Saints’ … Bakit naman … tarantado talaga itong mga Katoliko ang puta, bakit ba may
All Souls’ Day at All Saints’ Day?” (Happy All Saints’ Day. Why do we have to … these Catholics
are fools, why do we have this All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day?),” Duterte asked during a post-
disaster command conference in Isabela.

“Hindi natin alam kung sino mga santo na ‘yun. Mga gago na iyon, mga lasenggo. Dito na lang
kayo. I’ll give you a patron. Get hold of a picture of mine, iyan lagay niyo sa altar, Santo Rodrigo
(We don’t even know who those saints are. Those are fools, drunkards. Just stay here with me.
I’ll give you a patron. Get hold of a picture of mine. Put that in the altar, Santo Rodrigo),” he said.

President Duterte’s remarks came on the same day Malacañang issued his message for All Saints’
Day and All Souls’ Day, calling on Filipinos for a “solemn and meaningful” celebration” and urging
the public to “emulate our saints.”

“Together, let us emulate our saints, pray for the eternal repose of souls and deepen our
engagement with our communities as we work for real and lasting change,” he said in his
message.

Palma believed Catholics in the country were mature enough to dismiss the President’s mockery
of the saints.

“I think, our faith is strong enough (to withstand any deceptions). It’s been a long tradition of the
Church to commemorate all those in heaven.

Because of their great love for God, and how they lived their lives, now they are in heaven,” he
said.
“The saints are our inspiration. We seek their help, and teachings serve as our guide in life. We
are happy to ask God’s help through their intercessions,” he added.
===============================================

Thousands visit Manila South Cemetery on All Souls’ Day

Thousands of people flocked to the Manila South Cemetery in Makati City on Friday to visit
departed loved ones in observance of All Souls’ Day.

As of 10 a.m., the Manila Police District recorded a total of 11,954 cemetery visitors.

Police said they expect fewer visitors on Friday as the annual visitor average for “Undas,” which
is between 400,000 to 500,000 individuals, was already reached.

“Siguro mas mababa na ‘yung number of visitors ngayon kaysa kahapon. Kasi kahapon naitala
yung 500,000 to 600,000 na visitors,” MPD Chief of Operations Supt. Arnel Viloria told
INQUIRER.net

Viloria said he expects that the number of visitors to the cemetery will not reach 100,000 on
Friday as the MPD has already recorded a total of 700,526 visitors since Oct. 31.

For the last day of “Undas,” the MPD still maintained its strict inspection of items being brought
inside the Manila South Cemetery.

On Friday, authorities have confiscated three bladed weapons, three flammable materials and
three other items from visitors.

Prohibited items inside the cemetery include bladed weapons, flammable materials, liquor,
firearms, illegal drugs, gambling materials and gardening tools, among others. /muf
====================================================

MPD: Zero crime rate at Manila South Cemetery during ‘Undas’

No crime has been committed at the Manila South Cemetery in Makati City for the whole
duration of this year’s observation of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day or “Undas,” the Manila
Police District (MPD) said on Friday.

Police Supt. Albert Barot, MPD ground commander at the Manila South Cemetery, told
INQUIRER.net that the situation at the cemetery has been “generally peaceful” as the police
have not recorded any cases of crime at the cemetery from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2.

“Until now, we don’t have any reports of theft cases, pickpockets, physical injuries. Zero [crime]
tayo from Oct. 31 until today,” Barot told INQUIRER.net.

For the last hours of “Undas,” Barot said he expects that the prevailing peaceful surrounding will
be maintained by the police until such time that the last visitor leaves the premises of the
cemetery.
The ground commander also said that the number of items confiscated has decreased on the
last day of “Undas,” adding that visitors were better informed as compared to the previous days.

Barot also attributed the peaceful situation to the MPD’s implementation of stricter inspection
and “frisking” of cemetery visitors.

Barot also attributed the peace to the proper coordination of police authorities and the proper
implementations of its security coverage.

“For the whole Undas security coverage provided by the Philippine National Police and other
agencies, maayos po itong naiimplement and napakaganda ng coordination with other
agencies,” Barot said.

The police have recorded a total of 731,218 visitors at the Manila South Cemetery from Oct. 31
to Nov. 2 as of 5 p.m., Friday. /jpv
=====================================================

De Lima mourns death of alleged EJK victim’s son

Detained Senator Leila De Lima extended her sympathies to the family of 14-year-old John Paul
Bueza Oledan, whose father was killed in 2016 for his alleged involvement in illegal drugs.

JP, eldest of six children, succumbed to leukemia six months after he was first admitted to the
hospital in April 2018.

“Nais ko pong ipaabot ang aking pakikiramay sa pamilya ni JP. Nakaabot po sa akin kung gaano
katindi ang pinagdadaanan nilang kahirapan, na lalong pinabigat ng pagpaslang sa ama ni JP
noong 2016,” De Lima said in a statement on Friday.

In a Facebook post, Baigani Community, a group who supported JP’s battle with leukemia, said
JP’s life ended early because his family was unable to access adequate and timely health care
due to poverty.

The death of his father, who used to support the family’s financial needs, further aggravated
their situation, the group claimed.

De Lima said the appalling conditions of children who have been left orphaned, if not dead, since
the government launched its war on drugs strengthens her resolve to continue speaking out
against alleged extrajudicial killings and other injustices happening in the country.

De Lima, who is a known critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, also took a swipe at the Chief
Executive’s recent move to promote Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña to a Cabinet rank post
after being hounded by the P11 million shabu shipment issue.

“Libu-libong mahihirap ang pinapatay sa katiting na gramo ng shabu pero kapag tone-toneladang
shabu na ang nadiskubre, pinapalusot lang at pino-promote pa ng gobyernong ito ang mga
nasasangkot,” De Lima said.
“Sa pamilya ni JP at sa marami pang biktima ng Tokhang at EJK, huwag po kayong mawalan ng
pag-asa. Sama-sama nating ipanalangin at pagsikapang marating ang araw ng hustisya, gayundin
ang pagpapanagot sa mga salarin sa likod ng pekeng war on drugs na ito ng rehimeng Duterte,”
she added.
========================================================

Alleged robber killed in Caloocan shootout

An alleged robber was killed in a shootout with police officers in Caloocan City on Friday.

A report from the Northern Police District (NPD) said the suspect, a pedicab driver known only as
“Waray,” robbed his passenger along Salmon Street in Barangay 8, Caloocan City at around 12:15
a.m.

Police said the victim then sought help from officers of the Criminal Investigation and Detection
Group (CIDG), who were conducting an “Oplan Pagtugis” operation at the time of the incident.

The CIDG agents then chased the suspect and was about to be cornered when he pulled out a
gun and opened fire at the officers.

The police officers then returned fire, immediately killing the suspect.

Recovered from the suspect were a .38 caliber revolver with two fired cartridges and four live
bullets, four spent shells and a deformed slug. Also seized from him were seven sachets of
suspected “shabu,” and a sachet of suspected marijuana. /muf
==================================================

Palace: No military junta in gov’t

Malacañang has slammed as “erroneous” the claim of former National Anti-Poverty Commission
head Liza Maza that the appointment of former military officials in government translates to a
military junta.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Maza “has a misplaced – if not distorted” view
of the Cabinet composition.

In a Facebook post, Maza slammed President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order No. 67, which
transferred agencies under the Office of the Cabinet Secretary to the Department of Interior
and Local Government (DILG) and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD),
agencies headed by two former military officials.

Under the President’s latest EO, the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, Philippine
Commission on Women and the National Youth Commission was transferred to DILG while the
National Anti-Poverty Commission, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and the
Presidential Commission on the Urban Poor was placed under DSWD.

Former Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief (AFP) Eduardo Año heads the DILG while former
Army chief Rolando Joselito Bautista is the new DSWD chief.
“The President’s intent in rationalizing the Executive Branch through Executive Order No. 67 is to
promote greater efficiency, agency convergence and participatory governance in the delivery of
essential public services to all the sectors of society, given that they are now transferred to line
agencies,” Panelo said in a statement Thursday night.

The President’s move, said Panelo, was also “in line with the campaign promise of PRRD to make
the bureaucracy more efficient and responsive to the needs of our people through rightsizing.”

“We find it unfortunate that a former member of the Duterte Cabinet and past National Anti-
Poverty Commission (NAPC) Lead Convenor, Ms. Liza Maza, has a misplaced – if not distorted –
view of the reorganization and composition of the Cabinet,” he said.

“Her conclusion, therefore, that placing former military men in executive offices automatically
translates to a military junta-led government is completely erroneous,” he added.

Aside from Maza, the President had appointed left-leaning personalities to his Cabinet which
included former DSWD chief Judy Taguiwalo and former Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael
Mariano.

The appointments, however, were not confirmed by the Commission on Appointments.

“The President’s inclusion of left-leaning personalities in the Cabinet is part of his sincere effort
to end the communist insurgency by inviting them to put their talents to good use in serving the
nation – instead of calling for the government’s ouster – and be agents for peace and
unification,” Panelo said.

The Palace official also defended the President’s appointment of former military men in his
Cabinet.
==========================================================

Duterte revamps Office of the Cabinet Secretary

President Rodrigo Duterte revamped the Office of the Cabinet Secretary (OCS) on Wednesday
and transferred some agencies under its supervision to other departments.

Duterte announced the revamp as he issued Executive Order 67 signed on October 31. He also
reverted the OCS to its old name — Cabinet Secretariat.
Former Cabinet Secretary Leoncio “Jun” Evasco used to head the OCS, but he resigned to run as
Bohol Governor in the May 2019 midterm polls.
Evasco, who assumed the post in 2016, used to supervise 12 agencies. But Duterte transferred
the jurisdiction of the National Food Authority and the Philippine Coconut Authority to the
Department of Agriculture through EO 62 he issued in September.
His EO 67 further removed agencies under the OCS, tranferring the Technical Education Skills and
Development Authority and the Cooperative Development Authority to the Department of Trade
and Industry.

He also transferred the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, Philippine Commission on

Women and the National Youth Commission to the Department of the Interior and Local
Government.

Meanwhile, the National Anti-Poverty Commission, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples,

and the Presidential Commission on the Urban Poor were transferred to the Department of
Social Welfare and Development.

He said the functions of the OPG would be absorbed by the DILG.

“There is a need to further rationalize the OP (Office of the President) Proper to strengthen its
oversight functions over the executive department and further streamline the relevant mandates
of its own offices for improved coordination and collaboration, consistent with the right-sizing
policy of espoused by the administration,” Duterte said in his order.

He added that the Cabinet Secretariat “shall serve as the head secretariat of the different
Cabinet cluster secretariats. In such capacity and in aid of its functions as defined herein, it shall
continue to participate in Cabinet cluster meetings, as well as in the National Economic and
Development Authority Board and committee meetings.”

The Presidential Management Staff would “monitor the implementation of presidential

directives, Cabinet decisions, and Cabinet cluster directives, instructions, and commitments, and
provide the Executive Office with policy inputs on the management of affairs of the
government.”

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo has said that Davao City Representative Karlo
Nograles was among the “leading” choices to replace Evasco. /ee
=======================================================

Afghan army helicopter crashes, killing all 25 on board

KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan army helicopter crashed Wednesday in bad weather in the
western Farah province, killing all 25 people on board, including the deputy corps commander of
the western zone, a provincial spokesman said.

Mohammad Naser Mehri, spokesman for the Farah governor, said the helicopter crashed around
9:10 a.m., shortly after taking off from the mountainous Anar Dara district heading toward the
nearby Herat province.

On board were the corps commander, Gen. Naimudullah Khalil, and two members of the Farah
provincial council, its chairman, Farid Bakhtawar, and Jamila Amini, one of only two women on
the nine-member council.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi claimed the insurgents had downed the helicopter but
failed to provide evidence. Defense Ministry spokesman Ghafor Ahmad Jawed rejected the
Taliban claim of responsibility as “totally wrong.”

Wednesday’s was the second army helicopter crash in as many months in Farah. In September,
five crew members died when their helicopter crashed. Investigators blamed the crash on a
technical failure, without elaborating.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a suicide bomber struck outside the country’s largest prison on the
edge of the capital, Kabul, killing seven people, including prison workers and security personnel,
said Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish. The attacker targeted a bus carrying prison
workers, he said. The sprawling Pul-e-Charkhi prison houses hundreds of inmates, including
scores of Taliban insurgents.

Abadullah Karimi, a prison official, said the attack occurred near the prison gate where visitors
were waiting to pass a rigorous security check before entering. The SITE Intelligence Group,
which monitors militant websites, said the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan claimed
responsibility for the suicide attack. /kga
======================================================

A valley of solace for pet owners

SILANG, CAVITE—Mervin Dumanat suffered from depression and his dog, Shadow, was there for
him. Now Shadow is in dog heaven, leaving him to remember his loving Siberian Husky at a
special pet cemetery 63 kilometers south of Manila.

Pet Valley Park and Crematory is a memorial to more than 6,000 pets, including the dogs of
celebrities Sam Pinto, Ogie Alcasid, Francine Prieto, basketball player Danny Seagle and even
Jovito Palparan, who is serving time for the kidnapping of two university students who remain
missing.

“There was a time I was suffering from depression. Nobody from my family knew about it, but
Shadow was there to listen. He never made me feel alone,” Dumanat said, reminiscing how
Shadow helped him overcome his sadness over the loss of his other dog, 15-year-old Doffy, in
2015.

Dumanat, 32, was inconsolable after Shadow died of a disease similar to human leukemia on
Aug 28. A video of him wailing in grief during Shadow’s burial touched the hearts of thousands
of pet owners here and abroad and even those who had no pets.

“I was crying every day,” Dumanat, a call center agent, told the Inquirer. “It’s even harder than a
breakup. We created a lot of happy moments. He was my everything.”

‘Unconditional love’

Writing on Facebook, he said some people have told him to “get another dog to move on, or it’s
just a dog.”

“Clearly they never experienced yet what unconditional love means,” he said.

Dumanat said he would come to visit Shadow on Nov. 3 on his pet’s 6th birthday and also to light
a candle for Doffy.

Workers in safari outfits take care of the 1.5-hectare cemetery in Silang, Cavite, that was
established 12 years ago by veterinarian Manuel Reyes.

One of the dogs serviced by Reyes and his staff was a hero that had woken up his human family,
saving them from a fire.

“There is something magical about dogs. They can cure anything. As I always say, ‘Dogs never
bite me, only humans…,’” he said, quoting actress Marilyn Monroe.

Pet Valley provides 24/7 services, including transporting the remains of pets on its small blue
cars, cleaning their bodies and burying or cremating them.

Dumanat feels at peace that his dogs are safe there.

Couple with 16 dogs

On Friday, he will bring home another Siberian Husky from a family migrating to New Zealand
who saw him grieving on television.

“I was crying in happiness, I still can’t believe (they want me to adopt the dog). It was like the
film ‘A Dog’s Purpose’ … When I hugged him and looked him in the eye, he is like Shadow,”
Dumanat said.

His new 10-month-old Husky will be named “Lumos,” a spell that means light in the Harry Pottter
story.

When the Inquirer visited the cemetery, Rose Anne and Ferry Cruz were waiting to bury Toni
Moly, one of the couple’s 16 dogs, despite heavy rains from Typhoon “Rosita” (international
name: Yutu).

Giving a proper burial to pets is paying respect to them, Ferry said.

“They have served us, given their lives to us, and were a family to us,” he said.

Anna Cabrera, executive director of Philippine Animal Welfare Society (Paws), said it was very
important for pet owners to express their grief.
Heavier grief over pets

“People can understand grief when you’re grieving for people. But very few understand that it’s
the same, if not a heavier type of grief, when it comes to pets since they cannot easily share it
with others,” she said.

However, just like humans, the more important thing is treating pets well when they are still
living, not when they are already dead, she said.

Paws has its own memorial for pets, including dogs, rabbits and even a dolphin that are
commemorated by their human “parents” on All Soul’s day.

The memorial wall, mostly pictures of pets plastered on ceramic tiles, is a way for the pet owners
to express their grief and pain.

Each tile has a dedication, some are brief sentences others are long poems, expressing devotion
by the pet owners. Yearly on Nov. 1, the memorial wall is decked with flowers or the pets’
favorite stuff like shoes, balls and even hamburgers.

“When pet owners look for a burial place, I believe they are also looking for kindred spirits.
When they talk to us, they know we know how it feels. They come here, they hug us. And they
stay for a long time just telling the story of their pets and how much their pets mean to them. I
think it’s what they came here for,” Cabrera said.

Johnny Ponce, who has worked at Pet Valley for eight years, said that for many, losing a pet is like
losing a family member.

“You will feel their pain, their brokenness,” he said.

“Sometimes we get carried away when the owners cry,” he said. “Those who say these are mere
animals, they have no respect. The moment you bring a pet to your home, they are already part
of the family.”

Ponce said their clients come from all social classes. One flew in on a helicopter for the final
viewing of his dog and others come as a family on rented jeepneys to commemorate their pets’
death anniversary, he said.
===========================================

Natonin town spends All Saints’ Day digging for ‘Rosita’ dead

BAGUIO CITY—Instead of visiting the graves of their departed family members, many residents
of Natonin town, Mountain Province, spent All Saints’ Day digging through a landslide in search
of survivors and the remains of those killed.

At least 15 people were reported killed in three regions in Luzon, including nine in Natonin. At
least 26 are still reported missing in the town.

On Thursday, rescuers pulled out 14 survivors from buildings that were dragged down when a
road collapsed, including the municipal engineering office where more than 20 people took
shelter when Typhoon “Rosita” (international name: Yutu) struck on Tuesday.

Aside from four bodies recovered from the landslide area at Barangay Banawel, four more
bodies were found at a river nearby, said Natonin Councilor Rafael Bulawe, who acted as the
town government’s spokesperson.

Bulawe said rescuers had recovered the bodies of Joventino Gallad Lammawen, Jupiter Gaawan
Pacyod, Fritz Gerald Lumpanga, Jun-Jun Madchanum, Jordan and Ryan Polic-eo, and Francisca
and Reagan Gollingoy.

Rescued were Erwin Hadlucon, Andrew Burillo, Arocan Idot and a man identified only as Amon,
all employees of Moment Diagram Builders (MDB), and Oliver and Jezrylyn Lamorca.
Like many Natonin families, rescuers would have been visiting the tombs of families in their
backyard on Thursday, Bulawe said.

“It is customary for us to bury our dead in our own property… [But] I was not able to visit my
mother today as I have a duty to fulfill. I believe she would understand,” he said.

Around 200 residents, aided by policemen and Army soldiers, have been busy shoveling through
mud and rocks.

Among the survivors were laborers putting up the building annexes of the Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH) in Banawel.

Government geologists were scheduled to conduct a postdisaster assessment of the landslide

site.

Weakened mountainside

Initial assessments made via satellite images suggested that the DPWH buildings and the other
structures were standing on a gulley beneath a weakened mountainside in Banawel, said Fay
Apil, Cordillera director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.

She said experts had detected “an old landslide escarpment upslope.”

President’s visit

President Duterte was scheduled to inspect areas in Isabela province ravaged by Rosita on
Thursday afternoon, and was expected to make an ocular inspection of the landslide area.

Bulawe said nobody expected this part of the mountain to collapse. “There was a creek there
but it was small. The rain that Rosita dumped on the mountain that day was really too much,” he
said.

Buildings crushed, buried

He said the DPWH buildings were “not just buried but were crushed by a boulder as these
buildings were dragged down the slope.”

The district engineering offices of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and La Union provinces deployed
equipment and workers to clear roads leading to Mountain Province and Ifugao and help in the
search operations in Natonin.

To reach Natonin, the workers had to steer through at least 10 landslides along roads in the
capital town Bontoc, it was learned.

Isabela, which is nearer to Natonin, was also struck hard by Rosita and road links there have
been severely damaged.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) is still confirming the
death of 15 people in Central Luzon, the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Calabarzon.

Missing

Also being validated is the report that six people were missing in the aftermath of the typhoon.

Among the missing is a fisherman of Mulanay town in Quezon province whose boat capsized on
Oct. 29 due to big waves off Perez town.

In a report on Thursday, the NDRRMC reported some 13,700 displaced families, or more than
50,000 people, in the Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, CAR, Central Luzon and Eastern Visayas.

The evacuees were temporarily housed in 586 evacuation centers in the five regions.

The NDRRMC also reported damage to 955 houses in the five regions. —REPORTS FROM
KIMBERLIE QUITASOL AND VINCENT CABREZA; AND JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE
===================================================

Typhoon leaves scenic village in shock

BANAUE, IFUGAO—Day care teacher Rita Pinnay, 48, thought her family had survived another
typhoon when they emerged safe at Batad village after Ifugao province took a direct hit from
Typhoon “Rosita” (international name: Yutu) on Tuesday morning.

She was wrong.

In an instant on early Tuesday afternoon, she lost her husband and three daughters. They were
buried alive by mudslide that engulfed their hut at Sitio Hicib.

The whole sitio was in shock, as life at Barangay Batad, famed for its rice terraces that cover a
whole mountainside, got disrupted anew by a natural calamity.

At least seven people have been confirmed killed in Ifugao province—five in this town and one
each in Alfonso Lista and Asipulo towns, according to the provincial police office in Lagawe town.

After the typhoon struck, residents have to contend with the struggle of going in and out of
Barangay Batad.

2-hour hike

Landslides rendered the road from the national highway to the village impassable in at least five
sites, forcing locals and visitors to take a two-hour hike.
“The place is beautiful, but difficult to get to,” said Swiss tourist Joe Keller, who was among a
group of Europeans who walked to Batad on Thursday morning.

The Batad rice terraces is one of the sites in Ifugao on the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage List.

From the national road, the 4-kilometer hike to Sitio Saddle is made more difficult as the paved
road is littered with rocks and mountain soil, washed downhill by rainwater.

Foot trails eroded

Foot trails going around Batad’s six sitios, are also made circuitous by eroded portions. Others
are blocked by fallen tree branches.

Village officials are thankful the typhoon has done minimal damage to the Batad rice terraces,
often referred to in tourism postcards as “the amphitheater” and “stairway to heaven.”

But the whole village is mourning the death of the four members of the Pinnay family.

Batad residents are unaware whether the village has been declared a hazard zone by the Mines
and Geosciences Bureau, despite many of the houses hanging from cliffs, according to village
chief Romeo Heppog, 39.

Rains dumped by Rosita softened the slopes of the terraced mountain and made the water
cascade into brooks more intensely.

As a result, a part of the mountain directly above the Pinnay residence crashed and buried the
four family members.

The father, Baltazar Pinnay, used to work as a stone mason on the rice terraces when the
government carried out restoration work after Typhoons “Pedring” and “Quiel” eroded several
layers of the terraces in 2011.

But the terraces that he helped mend would witness his and his daughters’ deaths.

About five hours after Rosita struck northern Luzon on Tuesday morning, the Pinnays went about
their normal activities, thinking the worst was over.

Preparing food

Baltazar was preparing food for the family’s late lunch, while his 11-year-old daughter Rexibelle
was painting her toenails.

Ten-year-old Rhezel was scanning the pages of her notebooks, while Rydbell, 8, was fast asleep.
Rita said she was trying to clear a path of runoff water that was rushing down from higher
ground beside their house.

An hour after the mudslide, Baltazar was dug up by rescuers with his face down. He was holding
the arms of two of his daughters, in apparent attempt to rescue them.

When Rexibelle’s body was retrieved from the rubble and was cleaned up, her mother saw the
design she had painted on her left toenails: white crosses.
====================================================

Senators urge prayers for EJK victims

Senators Leila de Lima and Francis Pangilinan urged Filipinos on All Saints’ Day to remember the
thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in President Duterte’s brutal war on drugs,
those who disappeared as they fought for human rights and those who perished in natural
calamities.

On the day of the dead, detained De Lima called on the people to keep the victims of the drug
war in memory as they prayed for their departed loved ones.

Human rights groups claim that more than 24,000 mostly poor people have been killed since Mr.
Duterte launched the crackdown on narcotics after taking office on June 30, 2016.

The Philippine National Police, however, acknowledge only 4,948 deaths, insisting the suspects
resisted arrest during police drug raids in the slums.

‘The number is rising’

But thousands more have been killed by motorcycle-riding gunmen who rights groups suspect
are security forces.

The PNP calls those cases “deaths under investigation.”

The killings have drawn international condemnation and at least two complaints have been
brought against Duterte in the International Criminal Court.

“Unfortunately, instead of the killings being stopped, the number of [extrajudicial killings] has
been rising. This reminds the thousands of mothers, fathers, spouses, children and siblings of the
victims of the pain of their loss,” De Lima said in a statement.

She asked how many more day of the dead observances would pass before the killings would
stop, justice be done, and healing started.

De Lima, detained on what she calls trumped-up drug charges after she investigated the killings,
also urged the people to reflect on the value of human life and pray for peace and justice.
The disappeared

Pangilinan called on the people to remember the victims of the drug war, those who
disappeared, were tortured or killed.

“Let us remember them with our fervent prayers for justice that their loved ones seek, so that
they may attain peace,” Pangilinan said in a statement.

“Let this commemoration be also a commitment that we will carry on the task in making this
world a better place for our children,” he said.

The two opposition senators also urged the people to pray for those who died in natural
calamities that struck the country recently.

More than 80 people died as Typhoon “Ompong” (international name: Mangkhut) swept
through northern Luzon last month.

Typhoon “Rosita” (international name: Yutu) followed on the heels of Ompong earlier this week,
leaving at least 15 people dead in northern Luzon.

Remembrance in Tondo

Relatives of drug war victims gathered at United Methodist Church in Manila’s Tondo district on
Tuesday to remember their loved ones who died at the hands of police and unknown assailants
in the war on drugs.

Nanette Castillo, mother of Aldrin Castillo, who was shot dead by masked men along Herbosa
Street in Tondo on Oct. 2, 2017, blamed the killings on the government, which she said cared
nothing about the poor.

Castillo lamented that the government continued killing the poor while the drug lords had a
grand time.

“I don’t know how long I will wait for justice but I keep hoping it will come. I don’t lose hope that
one day he (President Duterte) will step down,” she said.

President Duterte, too, had a message to the people on All Saints’ Day.

“I call on the entire nation to honor those who have gone before us in the grace of God,” Mr.
Duterte said.

“Their legacy remains an important part of who we are today and we have much to gain from
their virtuous example. May their deeds inspire us to become advocates of peace and solidarity
as we do our part in building our nation and in alleviating the suffering of others,” he said.
Mass for the victims

On the eve of All Saints’ Day, more than 200 members of two multisectoral groups and
concerned citizens in Quezon province gathered for a Mass at the National Shrine of Our Lady of
Sorrows in Dolores town to remember the victims of the war on drugs.

“The celebration of the Holy Mass is for the repose of the souls of the victims of the Duterte
administration’s gory drug war, particularly the innocents and those who were deemed collateral
damage,” the organizers—Kapatiran at Alyansang Alay para sa Kaunlaran ng Bayan-Quezon and
Pro-Democracy-Quezon—said in a joint statement.

“The anti-illegal drug campaign is also a war against the sacredness of life. It also threatens the
death of truth and justice in our democracy,” they said. —WITH REPORTS FROM AIE BALAGTAS
SEE, JULIE M. AURELIO AND DELFIN T. MALLARI JR.
=======================================================

Palace eases labor worries on pay hike

Malacañang assured the public on Thursday that the government would consider the interests of
both employers and workers in any decision on the petition to increase the minimum daily wage
in Metro Manila.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo pointed out that the P25 reported wage hike
announced by some groups was still unofficial.

“The reported P25 wage hike for minimum wage workers has yet to be approved by the National
Wages and Productivity Commission,” Panelo said in a statement.

“Therefore, the figure being disseminated is not official,” he added.

Panelo made the remarks after labor groups urged President Duterte to approve a higher
amount for the proposed wage hike, amid reports that the approved daily increase was only P25.

The P25 will be on top of the current P512 minimum daily wage that workers are receiving in
Metro Manila.

‘Libing,’ not living wage

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called the P25 wage hike a “Halloween trick that will
result in a ‘libing’ (burial) wage instead of a living wage.”

“Whether P20 or P25, the wage hike for NCR (National Capital Region, or Metro Manila) workers
is an epic fail and falls below all expectations by workers,” said PM spokesperson Wilson
Fortaleza.

The group’s cost of living estimate for a family of five in the metropolis is around P1,300 a day,
more than double the current minimum daily wage of P512.
Real wages frozen

“First, P25 is short by 30 percent to make up for the P35.84 erosion in wages due to the 7-
percent inflation in the NCR recorded in August this year. This means real wages or the amount
of goods and services that workers can buy has fallen even with a wage hike,” Fortaleza said.

“Second, employers still owe workers for the stagnation in real wages despite the 50-percent
productivity growth from 2001 to 2016. Even if the NCR wage board had ordered a P35.84 wage
hike, it still means real wages are just frozen,’’ he added.

Fortaleza said workers should enjoy a just share in the fruits of production as mandated by the
Constitution.

“Finally, President Duterte has broken his promise to abolish what he calls provincial wages.
Instead, his administration is reaffirming the disastrous policy of wage regionalization,” the PM
spokesperson added.

Labor coalition Nagkaisa also expressed disappointment with the reported P25 wage increase.

Nagkaisa called on workers to organize into unions to fight for higher wages.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Wednesday called the increase
“meaningless” and a “measly token” that was not enough to catch up with the spiraling prices of
basic goods.

The Associated Labor Unions is seeking a P344 increase in Metro Manila to help workers recover
the purchasing power lost to inflation, which rose to 6.2 percent in the third quarter.

Nine-year high inflation

Prices of goods and services rose further to a nine-year high of 6.7 percent nationwide in
September, eroding the purchasing power of workers some more.

Among the regions, Bicol registered the highest inflation rate in September at 10.1 percent.

Inflation in Metro Manila eased to 6.3 percent in September from the 7.0 percent in August.

Concerns of both sides

Higher prices, especially those for food, hurt the poor more because 60 percent of their budget
is spent on food, according to economists.

Malacañang said the government was taking into consideration the concerns of both sides in
deciding on the petitions for a minimum wage increase.
“The Palace assures everyone that the interests and well-being of both sides, management and
labor, as well as the overall impact on our domestic economy, would be considered by the
government in attending to this matter,” Panelo said.

He maintained that Malacañang was leaving it to the regional wage boards to decide the
petitions to increase the minimum wage and balance the needs of all parties involved.

“If the situation is good, maybe the laborers would be given half or one-fourth of the wage
increase they are asking for,” Panelo later said in a radio interview on Thursday.

He added: “There’s a need to strike the balance… you increase salaries, the companies might
fold up, and the workers might lose their jobs.” —REPORTS FROM TINA G. SANTOS AND JULIE M.
AURELIO
================================================

Sister Fox leaving PH ‘under protest'

With the Bureau of Immigration (BI) downgrading her visa to that of a temporary visitor,
Australian nun Sister Patricia Fox is set to leave the country by Nov. 3.

“After six months of arduous battle in the legal and political arena since her illegal arrest and
detention on Apr. 16, the [bureau] today denied Sister Fox’s application for a visa extension and
required her to leave the Philippines on Nov. 3,” the National Union of People’s Lawyers said in a
statement on Wednesday.

“She will leave under protest. We will not allow the government to forcibly expel Sister Fox given
her stature as a respected missionary nun and human rights defender,” the group added.

‘Paranoid’ officials

In an interview with reporters, Fox said she was really sad about the immigration decision “but
can’t do much now.”

But the nun, a longtime resident in the country, said she intended to return unless she was
blacklisted by the authorities.

“Early next year, probably. I will look at the situation. It depends on the deportation case,” she
said.

Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes, meanwhile, denounced the BI’s decision, saying it only showed
the “paranoid attitude of our officials who are guilty of heinous crimes against humanity.” —
TINA G. SANTOS
===========================================

Ex-BOC man linked to ‘shabu’ smuggling placed under WPP