Shalani and Roman to donate portion of wedding budget to 'Sendong' victims

Valenzuela City Councilor Shalani Soledad and her fiancé Pasig Congressman Roman Romulo’s wedding will be a “simple” and “private” affair, with the couple donating a portion of their wedding budget to victims of typhoon Sendong that ravaged northern Mindanao just before Christmas.

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'Super heavy rains' in Mindanao feared

Mindanao has yet to recover from the destruction left by tropical storm “Sendong” and now comes another potential cyclone, which threatens to bring “super heavy rains” once it moves closer to the landmass in the region.

Weather forecaster Jori Loiz said the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) is now closely monitoring the potential cyclone east of Mindanao. He said the low-pressure area (LPA) was estimated 860 kilometers east of General Santos City as of 8 a.m. Monday.

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Valerie's tweet about PNoy makes it to the NY Times

Actress Valerie Concepcion’s controversial tweet about a party in Malacanang on the night after Sendong hit Cagayan de Oro City was cited in a New York Times article published Dec. 27.

The story dubbed “Philippine Floods Put Popular Leader to Test” discussed the tweet’s disastrous effect relating to President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino’s public image quoting an unnamed Manila newspaper’s headline: “President Parties as Thousands Suffer.”

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Mango tree saves 17 lives

Ella dela Rio is not only happy at the gift of a second life but will forever be grateful not only to God but also to a mango tree which helped save 17 people.

On the night of December 16, when the rains of storm “Sendong” fell incessantly and the water began to rise to alarming levels (about 12 to 15 feet), Ella, her mother, father and husband climbed the mango tree in their backyard and watched as the debris-filled rampaging water slam into houses and turned their neighborhood in Bayug island, Iligan City into a virtual sea.

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PAGASA forecasts rainy Christmas Eve

Although no tropical cyclone has been spotted so far in the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration or PAGASA warned on Friday that rains brought about by a wind convergence might still affect the Visayas and Mindanao, including provinces severely hit by tropical storm “Sendong” last week.

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State of national calamity declared

President Benigno S. Aquino III on Tuesday declared a state of national calamity following the devastation brought by tropical storm “Sendong” in some parts of Visayas and Mindanao.

The President personally visited on Tuesday Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, and Dumaguete City, areas hardest hit by “Sendong.”

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New cyclone to enter the PAR

A new tropical cyclone located east of the country is expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) Thursday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said on Wednesday.

PAGASA assistant weather branch chief Rene Paciente said that the tropical depression was located 1,480 kilometers east of Southern Mindanao Wednesday morning.

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