Cebu City Of Philippines Voted World's Worst Place To Be A Driver?
Think New York's City traffic is the worst? Wait till you get to drive around Philippines Cebu City, rated in a recent study as the "worst place in the world to be a driver."
The study took into consideration traffic density and severity, quality of roads and infrastructure, road safety, driver services, social economics, and "wazeyness" or the "happiness and helpfulness of the Waze community." 
The study, which focused on countries and cities with more than 20,000 active Waze users monthly "to ensure data accuracy and fair market comparison," used a single numeric score from 1 (miserable) to 10 (satisfying). 
With a driver satisfaction index of 1.15, Cebu was "ranked as the least satisfying, or the worst place in the world to be a driver," Waze said in its study. 
Cebu, which wasn't ranked in last year's study, was followed in the list by Bogor, Indonesia; San Salvador, El Salvador; and Denpasar and Bandung in Indonesia. 
The Philippines, however, was ranked as the second worst place to be a driver.
"El Salvador, the Philippines, Guatemala, Panama and Indonesia are the least satisfying places to drive globally, largely due to intense traffic and low Wazeyness and socioeconomic factors," Waze said in the study.
Users ranked Cebu's traffic an abysmal 0.58, while the safety and quality of its roads were rated 2.07 and 2.50, respectively.
The city got a "wazeyness" score of 1.35, while its social economics index, which takes into account the impact of gas prices and the ratio of cars to population was rated 0.
- No data was provided for the city's driver services, which include the number of gas stations, car services and parking lots.
- The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has yet to issue a statement on the study.
- The agency recently submitted to the Senate its list of priority projects and programs should Congress grant President Duterte emergency powers to address the traffic crisis in the country.
For the second time, the Netherlands was considered the most satisfying place in the world to drive in for its "smooth traffic conditions and solid road quality and infrastructure.
"
It was followed by France, the United States, the Czech Republic and Sweden.
France dominated the list of cities best to drive in, as nine of its metro cities were included in the Top 10.
Source: Agency
Philippine Police Hunt 4 People After Davao City Bombing Killing 14 People
The Philippine police are searching for four people after Friday’s bombing in the southern city of Davao that killed 14 people and spurred President Rodrigo Duterte to put the entire country under state of “lawlessness.” 
Police are looking for two men and one woman as “persons of interests,” and another person that was seen talking to one of them, Chief Inspector Andrea dela Cerna, spokeswoman of Southern Mindanao Regional Police Office, said Sunday. 
Police have interviewed eight witnesses and are not discounting the possibility that there could have been more than four people involved in the bombing, she said. 
Duterte, who was at his official residence in Davao at the time of the bombing, has declared a nationwide state of lawless violence, allowing him to use the military to assist the police to fight crime and violence. National police chief Ronald dela Rosa said Saturday that authorities are still trying to confirm media reports that Abu Sayyaf, an extremist Muslim group operating in the island of Mindanao, orchestrated the blast in the night market that injured 67 people.
Source: Bloomberg.com...more, Agency
PHILIPPINES CONSTRACEPTION FUNDING CUT WILL FUEL HIV AND MATERIAL DEATH?
The Philippines legislature's decision to eliminate funding for contraception will fuel HIV infections, maternal deaths and teen pregnancies, particularly among poor girls and women, reproductive rights advocates said on Friday.
MANILA: The Philippines legislature's decision to eliminate funding
for contraception will fuel HIV infections, maternal deaths and teen
pregnancies, particularly among poor girls and women, reproductive
rights advocates said on Friday.
The decision to cut the US$21
million contraceptive budget surprised and infuriated legislators and
advocacy groups who had struggled more than a decade to pass the
Reproductive Health Law that guaranteed funds to provide contraceptives
to the poor.
"We are so insulted by this. It is a violation of the
very essence of a law that Congress itself enacted," said Rom Dongeto,
executive director of the Philippine Legislators' Committee on
Population and Development Foundation (PLCPD) comprised of lawmakers and
members of civil society.
"Women are dying from maternal
complications, teens are getting pregnant and people are dying from
HIV-related causes. Lives of Filipino citizens are at stake," he told
the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone.
The Philippines, a
largely Catholic archipelago nation of about 100 million people, has
struggled to manage its burgeoning population and seen skyrocketing
HIV
infection rates in recent years.
Source: Channel Asia...More...
TWO CHINESE DIPLOMATS SHOT DEAD IN PHILIPPINES
MANILA, Philippines – Two Chinese diplomats were killed and
a third was injured in a gun attack at a restaurant in the central Philippine
city of Cebu on Wednesday, police said.
The deputy consul and the finance officer for the Chinese
consulate in Cebu were killed, and the consul general was wounded, national
police spokesman Wilben Mayor told AFP in a text message.
Two Chinese were arrested following the attack, a man and a
woman, Mayor said. The woman worked at the consulate, according to Mayor.
He said police retrieved a semi-automatic .45 Colt pistol
from the scene.
The attack occurred at 1.30pm (same time in Malaysia) at
Lighthouse, a popular restaurant that serves Filipino food, police said.
Lighthouse manager, Stephen John Patero, said the shooting
occurred in a private room of the upmarket restaurant, which is a favourite for
local politicians.
“We did not really see the actual shooting. They were inside
a private function room. There was
a series of gunshots,” Patero told
AFP by
phone.
- But he said waiters who served them beforehand had heard the guests shouting at each other.
- “They are all friends who apparently figured in an argument,” he said, citing the waiters.
- The condition of the consul general, Song Ronghua, was not immediately known.
A spokeswoman at the Chinese embassy in Manila, Li Lingxiao,
said she could not yet comment.
“Our embassy is still verifying the facts. We’ll update you
as soon as I have anything new,” Li said in a text message to AFP.
Philippine foreign ministry spokesman Charles Jose also said
he had no comment, as authorities were still determining what happened.
Source: – AFP
UN PANEL FINDS DETENTION OF PHILIPPINE EX-PRESIDENT ARROYO ILLEGAL
MANILA, Philippine - A UN body has said the continued
detention of former Philippine President Gloria Arroyo is illegal under
international law.
In an opinion issued on October 2, regarding the continued
stay in custody of the former leader, the five-member UN Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention said her detention had been carried out 
arbitrarily and
that it has no basis under international law.
arbitrarily and
that it has no basis under international law.
International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, who is
representing Arroyo in the case before the Geneva-based body, has said the
Philippine anti-graft court, Sandiganbayan, “failed to take into account the
former leader’s individual circumstances, when it continued to detain her and
had consistently rejected her attempts to post bail.
- The former president suffers from a number of ailments, including degenerative spine disease, which have compelled her to wear a neck brace and be moved around in a wheelchair.
- She remains in detention at the Veterans Memorial Medical Centre in suburban Quezon City, where she has been staying since 2012.
- Arroyo’s Filipino lawyer, Lawrence Gadon, said they welcomed the UN working group’s decision.
- He said they might file another request for bail before the Sandiganbayan that will now use the UN working group’s opinion as leverage.
Meanwhile, a government spokesperson said while it
recognises the UN body’s opinion on Arroyo’s case, it is still up to the
country’s courts to decide the outcome.“It should be noted that there is an on going judicial process in the Philippine courts, which has jurisdiction on such matter,” Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr said.
- He stressed that the Philippine courts observe judicial independence.
- “The government or any international body, for that matter, cannot interfere nor influence the course of an independent judicial proceeding,” Coloma said.
- Lawyer Gadon said he feared the longer Arroyo stays in detention, the more prolonged her suffering would be.
- Arroyo, who was president from February 2001 to June 2010 has faced a number of charges since her term ended.
- Most of the court cases were scrapped for lack of evidence and the only one that remains is a plunder case filed against her in connection with the alleged misuse of a P366 million intelligence fund of the state lottery body, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
Before her detention in 2012, Arroyo had been planning to
seek treatment overseas for her ailments.
Despite being in detention, Arroyo was elected
representative of her congressional district in Pampanga in 2010 and in 2013.
Reports said she is planning to run for a third and final term in the May 2016
elections.
Source: GulfNews
BOAT WITH 173 ON BOARD CAPSIZES IN PHILIPPINE WATERS, 33 FEARED DEAD
MANILA, Philippines - A ferry with 173 people on board overturned in rough
waters in the central Philippines on Thursday as rescuers rushed to the scene,
the coast guard said.
At least 33 people were dead, a disaster monitoring official
said.
The Kim Nirvana was heading from the central city of Ormoc
to the island of Camotes when it capsized, the coast guard office in Manila
said.
Search and rescue operations were ongoing and it was unclear
if there were any fatalities or anyone rescued so far, the coast guard office
said.
At least seven rescue boats picked up dozens of survivors
who clung to the overturned hull of the Kim Nirvana, 1km from Ormoc port,
Ciriaco Tolibao from the city’s disaster risk reduction and management office
told AFP.
At least seven rescue boats picked up dozens of survivors
who clung to the overturned hull of the Kim Nirvana, 1km from Ormoc port,
Ciriaco Tolibao from the city’s disaster risk reduction and management office
told AFP.
The boat capsized in the waters off Ormoc City in the
Philippine island of Leyte past noon on Thursday, just a few minutes after
leaving the port there.
Divers were scouring the murky waters searching for
survivors from the inside of the ship, he said.
The coast guard confirmed that it was engaged in search and
rescue activities but could give no further details of the operation.
Poorly maintained, loosely-regulated ferries are the
backbone of maritime travel in the sprawling archipelago.
But this has led to frequent accidents that have claimed
hundreds of lives in recent years.
- This include the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster in 1987 when the Dona Paz ferry collided with an oil tanker, leaving more than 4,300 dead.
Source: – AFP
TYPHOON HAGUPIT DESTROYS HOMES, KILLS 2 IN PHILLIPINES
LEGASPI, Philippines - Typhoon Hagupit left at least two people dead and tore apart
homes in coastal communities across the eastern Philippines on Sunday,
creating more misery for millions following a barrage of deadly
disasters.
Two people, including a baby girl, died of hypothermia in central
Iloilo province on Saturday at the height of the typhoon, a government
spokesman said at a news conference.
Two women were injured when the tricycle taxi they were riding was
struck by a falling tree in central Negros Oriental province.
The typhoon roared in from the Pacific Ocean and into remote fishing
communities on Samar island on Saturday night with wind gusts of
210km/h, local weather agency Pagasa said.
The wind strength at landfall made Hagupit the most powerful storm to hit the Philippines this year, exceeding a typhoon in July that killed more than 100 people
Source: Gulfnews...More...
The wind strength at landfall made Hagupit the most powerful storm to hit the Philippines this year, exceeding a typhoon in July that killed more than 100 people
Source: Gulfnews...More...
2 SWISS NATIONALS SHOT DEAD IN PHILIPPINES
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Two Swiss nationals were killed
after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds in Opol town in Misamis Oriental
Sunday afternoon, October 5.The Opol Municipal Police Station said about 3 armed men approached and shot the victims, identified as Robert Loever and Baltazar Johann Erni, near the entrance of D. Yasay Beach Resort at around 1 pm.
The victims were shot in the head and other parts of their
bodies, police said. Their partners, who were with the victims during the
incident, were unharmed and were able to tell the police that the shooters wore
no masks and just walked away after the shooting.The police said the victims were said to be staying in the upscale Xavier Estates in Cagayan de Oro City.
Initial investigation showed that no valuables were taken away from the victims.
Source: Agency
PHILIPPINE CITY OF OLONGAPO OFFERS BOUNTIES 10 PESOS FOR DEAD RATS
A Philippine city of Olongapo is offering bounties for
dead rats in an effort to prevent a repeat of a deadly epidemic spread
by rodent urine, an official said Wednesday.
Olongapo city residents are
being paid 10 pesos (23 US cents) for each adult rat captured and
killed, and five pesos for juveniles, to battle the bacterial disease
leptospirosis, city health administrator Jaime Alcano said.
Olongapo mayor Rolen Paulino
came up with the idea for the anti-rodent campaign, which Alcano said
has no known precedents in the Philippines, as a public relations
exercise to educate people about the disease.
Residents have only swapped
44 dead rats for cash since the month-long campaign began last week,
Alcano said, but he insisted the headlines generated by the bounties are
more important than how many rodents are killed.
“The success of our campaign does not rest
solely on the number of rats captured. This is just part of our
awareness campaign against the disease,” he told AFP.
Leptospirosis is an
infectious bacterial disease that lives in animal urine and is often
transmitted during annual flooding that plagues many parts of the
Philippines.
People catch it by walking in floods or having infected water touch cuts on their skin.
In mild cases it causes
flu-like symptoms, but in its most severe form, known as Weil’s disease,
it can cause organ failure and massive internal bleeding.
Between five and 30 per cent of infected people die, according to the World Health Organisation.
Olongapo, a city of about
200,000 people two hours’ drive northwest of Manila, was swamped by
floods in September last year that triggered a leptospirosis epidemic.
- More than 300 residents were infected over the following month, killing 10, Alcano said.
- Alcano said all Olongapo teachers are to undergo seminars on how avoid catching the disease, so they can pass the information on to their students.
Source: Agency
TYPHOON RAMMASUN PARALYSED PHILIPPINE CAPITAL
MANILA, Philippines - The death toll of Typhoon Rammasun
(locally known as Glenda) rose to almost 60.
It also injured hundreds,
affected more than one million, and left half a million homeless in all
affected areas in central Philippines, southern and northern Luzon,
including Metro Manila all of which were paralyzed by power outages two
days after the typhoon had exited to the South China Sea early Thursday,
officials and other sources told Gulf News.
Fifty-seven people, including
three missing were killed by fallen trees, collapsed buildings and
flying debris when Typhoon Rammasun blighted all affected areas from
Tuesday to Thursday. Figures might rise further after clearing
operation ends on Saturday, Undersecretary Alexander Pama, also
executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management Council (NDRRMC) told Gulf News.
Of the more than one million
affected residents, 500,000 lost their homes and were sheltered in 1,200
evacuation centres, said Pama, adding that 26,000 houses were totally
and partially damaged.
Damaged infrastructure and
agricultural products reached a total of P5.4 billion.
Damaged rice, corn, high valued cash crops, livestock, and agricultural
facilities in Central Luzon, Mimaropa, Bicol and Cordillera
Administrative Region was assessed at P 4.529 billion and wrecked
infrastructure in Central Luzon, Bicol, Eastern Visayas and National
Capital Region was estimated at P892 million, said Pama.
Most roads and bridges in
affected areas remained “half-clogged” by fallen trees and other typhoon
debris. Residents started helping out because government workers were
overwhelmed by the extent of the damage left by Typhoon Rammasun.
Damaged rice, corn, high valued cash crops, livestock, and agricultural
facilities in Central Luzon, Mimaropa, Bicol and Cordillera
Administrative Region was assessed at P 4.529 billion and wrecked
infrastructure in Central Luzon, Bicol, Eastern Visayas and National
Capital Region was estimated at P892 million, said Pama.
Aqua-fisheries operations Laguna de Bay and
Taal in southern Luzon, as well as those in Pampanga and Bataan
provinces in northern Luzon were affected by Typhoon Rammasun, Pama
added.
- Most schools resumed classes in Metro Manila and southern Luzon on Friday. Public and private offices were opened earlier in all affected areas, on Thursday.
- However, 35 per cent of all affected areas in Metro Manila and surrounding suburban areas remained without power, affecting schools, offices, and shopping centres that started operating there.
- In central Philippines, southern and northern Luzon, power outages were more frequent and other blighted areas remained 80 percent without water and power.
- Residents were angered when Meralco renewed its promise that electricity would be restored 100 percent in all affected areas by Saturday.
Most roads and bridges in
affected areas remained “half-clogged” by fallen trees and other typhoon
debris. Residents started helping out because government workers were
overwhelmed by the extent of the damage left by Typhoon Rammasun.
It was the first powerful typhoon that landed in the Philippines at the start of the rainy season.
DECLARED CLINICALLY DEAD GIRL WAKES UP IN PHILIPPINES
AURORA, Zambonga, Philippines - three-year-old girl who was pronounced dead in the Philippines has woken up at her own funeral, The Philippine Star is reporting.
The girl was declared clinically dead by medical personnel in Zamboanga del Sur, Mindanao, after suffering a fever, according to the website of the Manila-based paper.
But during a funeral service in a church in Aurora, Zamboanga del Sur, the girl began moving her head, police said.
Source: Agency
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