Friday, April 17, 2015

Future Metro Manila Road Projects

Sunday, April 12, 2015

32 dead, power down as 7.2 quake hits Bohol 33 wounded and counting, LGUs say Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/507169/6-dead-power-down-as-7-2-quake-hits-bohol#ixzz3X1MiOUGJ Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

The death toll in the powerful 7.2- magnitude earthquake that hit Bohol and other parts of Visayas and Mindanao Tuesday morning rose to 32, authorities said.

Renato Solidum, head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, likened the energy released by the quake to “32 Hiroshima bombs.” The earthquake toppled buildings and historic churches and sending terrified residents into deadly stampedes.

At least 16 people died in Bohol and 15 in Cebu, officials said. Scores were injured.

“We ran out of the building, and outside, we hugged trees because the tremors were so strong,” said Vilma Yorong, a Bohol provincial government employee.

“When the shaking stopped, I ran to the street and there I saw several injured people. Some were saying their church has collapsed,” she told The Associated Press by phone.

As fear set in, Yorong and the others ran up a mountain, afraid a tsunami would follow the quake. “Minutes after the earthquake, people were pushing each other to go up the hill,” she said.

Panic ensued as people spilled out on the street after the quake struck at 8:12 a.m. It was centered about 33 kilometers (20 miles) below Carmen town on Bohol Island, where many buildings collapsed, roads cracked up and bridges fell. Extensive damage also hit densely populated Cebu City, across the narrow strait from Bohol, causing deaths when a fish port and a market roof fell.

Bohol quake ‘like 32 Hiroshima bombs’ Quake kills at least 97 in Bohol and Cebu Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/507373/bohol-earthquake-strongest-to-hit-visayas-and-mindanao-in-over-20-years#ixzz3X1KIuDIc Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

An earthquake with energy equivalent to “32 Hiroshima bombs” jolted the Visayas, and parts of Mindanao and southern Luzon early Tuesday morning, causing centuries-old churches and modern buildings to crumble, disrupting power and phone services, setting off stampedes and killing at least 97 people.

The nuclear bomb dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, packed power equal to 20,000 tons of TNT.

The 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck at 8:12 a.m. with its epicenter at 2 kilometers southeast of Carmen town in Bohol province, known for its chocolate hills and tarsiers.

Offices and schools were closed for a national holiday—the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha—which may have saved lives.

Bohol and Cebu have declared a state calamity as the death toll rose to 97 in the two provinces, including a 9-year-old girl who died in a stampede that broke out at the queue for the cash transfer program in Pinamungahan town, Cebu.

President Aquino will fly to Bohol and Cebu Wednesday to check on the damage caused by the quake.

“I will be going to Bohol and Cebu tomorrow, and if possible other areas. And if our assessment is there are a lot of other things that are not being taken care of, then we will reconsider the (Korea) visit. But as of this time, the things that have to be done are being done,” the President told reporters.

Senior Supt. Dennis Agustin, the Bohol police chief, reported 87 fatalities in the province based on an actual body count. At least nine others were killed in nearby Cebu province and another died on Siquijor Island, according to field reports.

Agustin said Loon town accounted for at least 20 fatalities; San Isidro and Sagbayan, nine fatalities each; Balilihan, Calape and Antequerra, five fatalities each; Tubigon, Inabanga, Bilar and Catigbian, four fatalities each; and Maribojoc, three fatalities.

Agustin said the towns of Clarin, Buenavista, Loay and Albor had two fatalities each. Tagbilaran City also had the same number of fatalities.

The towns of Getafe, Batu-an, Baclayon, Cortes and Talibon each had one fatality.

Aquino presided over an hourlong closed-door executive session of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) at the Office of Civil Defense.

Combined figures from the Bohol provincial police and the NDRRMC showed that at least 164 people were injured in the province.

East Bohol Fault

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the movement of the East Bohol Fault triggered the strongest quake in the Visayas in 23 years.

Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum placed the depth of the tectonic tremor at 33 kilometers.

The US Geological Survey initially reported the quake as having a magnitude of 7.2, but shortly afterward lowered it to 7.1.

By noon, Phivolcs had recorded 137 aftershocks in Carmen and Tagbilaran, the strongest of which was magnitude 4.3 at 9:37 a.m. Intensity IV was felt in Tagbilaran.

Magnitude is the measurement of the energy released by the earthquake, while intensity measures the extent of damage caused by the quake.

Limestone church crumbled

Many roads and bridges were reported damaged, but historic churches dating from the Spanish colonial period suffered the most. Among them is the country’s oldest, the 16th-century Basilica of the Holy Child in Cebu, which lost its bell tower.

A 17th-century limestone church in Loboc town, southwest of Carmen, crumbled to pieces, with nearly half of it reduced to rubble.

Bohol Administrator Alfonso Damalerio said two other churches in Maribojoc and Loon were destroyed.

The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council of Bohol also received reports of damage to old churches in Loay, Clarin and Baclayon as well as the belfry in Panglao.

Photos on social media showed extensive damage not only to churches but also to modern buildings, including a university, while major roads had also been torn apart.

In the immediate aftermath of the quake, authorities were struggling to reach or contact damaged areas, with power lines as well as phone networks down, and a clear picture of the disaster had yet to emerge.

Neil Sanchez, head of the Cebu disaster management office, said authorities were trying to confirm reports that a school had collapsed, with an undetermined number of children trapped.

“Communications lines are quite difficult here. Even the disaster risk reduction management office has been damaged. We had to move elsewhere,” Sanchez said.

Businesses in Cebu were on a standstill as people rushed out of buildings, homes and hospitals.

Malls and several establishments closed down for the day to allow engineers to check on their buildings. They are expected to resume operations on Wednesday.

Classes, flights suspended

Cebu declared a state of calamity and suspended classes in both private and public schools on Wednesday to allow school officials to check on the buildings.

Operations at Mactan Cebu International Airport and Bohol’s Tagbilaran airport were halted after the quake struck, as airport safety authorities conducted safety checks.

By 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, both airports resumed operations. John Andrews of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said damage was reported at both locations. In the case of Tagbilaran, the second floor ceiling of the terminal collapsed but the debris was already cleared, he said.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Globe Telecom said service in earthquake-hit areas continued but noted that operations were likely hindered by the lack of power and damage to their facilities. The companies said engineers are working to restore services.

Ports operations resumed at 1 p.m. after the Coast Guard Cebu Station commander, Weniel Azcuna, lifted a suspension order. He, however, urged passengers bound for Bohol to take the boat to the province’s Tubigon town because the passenger terminal in Tagbilaran was damaged.

Bridge collapsed

Bohol Gov. Edgar Chatto said the Abatan Bridge that connected Maribojoc to Tagbilaran City had collapsed. But an alternative route in Antequerra town can be used.

The highway in Cortes particularly in Lilo-an was rendered impassable due to a landslide. A part of Cortes’ highway was also damaged.

Municipal halls in Sagbayan was destroyed while the municipal hall in Clarin was damaged.

In Cebu, nine persons were reported killed in the cities of Cebu, Talisay and Mandaue, and in the towns of Ronda and Pinamungahan.

Four people were killed when a portion of the ceiling of the Pasil Fish Market collapsed. Only three fatalities were identified—Leona Cabarrubias, Rondilino Bondoc and Condrado Perez.

Cabarrubias was identified by her son-in-law, Douglas Encabo, who went looking for her in the market which was cordoned by the police.

Encabo said his mother-in-law was selling fish in the market when the tragedy happened.

Reports from Cebu City said 53 people were brought to Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) for minor cuts and bruises.

Patients evacuated

At least 250 patients of CCMC were evacuated after cracks were found in the hospital. Most of the patients were transferred to the nearby Pahina Central gym. Others stayed under the tents placed on the sidewalk near CCMC.

Eight patients with critical cases were taken to the other hospitals.

A fatality in Cebu City, Aurora Abellar Repe, 64, died after she was hit by a concrete wall in Barangay (village) Sawang Calero.

Stampede

Four-year-old Shaisha Mia Patiluna was killed in a stampede on Tuesday morning when people panicked after they felt the earth shaking while they were lining up to receive cash assistance from the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in Pinamungahan town, Cebu.

A separate stampede also occurred in Toledo City where the Department of Social Welfare and Development personnel were distributing the cash doles when the earthquake hit. At least 20 people were hurt.

Ethel Natera, information officer of the provincial government, identified two of the fatalities as Mordencia Lumera, 80, of Ronda town and Leio Planos of Talisay.

She said Planos was killed while his two companions were wounded when their vehicle was hit by falling debris in Talisay.

A woman was also killed after she was hit by a glass decor at the fish section of the new public market in Barangay Centro, Mandaue City.

Roger Paller, Mandaue information officer, said 39 others were wounded by glass shards.

At least 3,000 people from Cebu City’s coastal barangays were evacuated to nearby gyms and church grounds. These were in Pasil, Sawang Calero, Duljo Fatima and San Nicolas.

INC towers destroyed

Two towers of Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) on General Maxilum Avenue in Cebu City collapsed while cracks were found on the walls of Fort San Pedro, the Bureau of Customs building and approaches to the flyover in Barangay Mambaling.

In Iloilo, two persons were hurt.

One of them was a 50-year-old woman who fell from a scaffolding while overseeing repairs at her home in Barangay Tabuc Suba in Jaro District.

Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog ordered the suspension of classes to allow the inspection of school buildings for damage and structural integrity.—Reports from Carine M. Asutilla, Doris C. Bongcac and Connie E. Fernandez, Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Jhunnex Napallacan and Carmel Matus, Inquirer Visayas; Miguel R. Camus, Tarra Quismundo and Cynthia Balana in Manila; AP and AFP

Thursday, April 9, 2015

common station

the common station was designed to accommodate LRT-1, MRT-3 and eventually MRT-7 “side to side.”
Head to head platforms for LRT1 and MRT3 with a 147.4-meter elevated walk-a-lator to the proposed MRT7 at North Avenue will be constructed.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Papal visit by the numbers

58 HECTARES Land area of Rizal Park
1-1.2 MILLION Estimated capacity of Rizal Park
6 MILLION Expected number of people to attend Mass at Rizal Park
4 MILLION Estimated number of people who attended the Mass led by Pope John Paul II on January 15, 1995—“the largest papal crowd in history”—according to Guinness World Records
200 Number of bishops who will attend the Pope’s Mass
2,500 Number of priests who will attend the Pope’s Mass
5,000 Number of lay ministers to give Communion during the Pope’s Mass
60,000 Number of choir members accompanied by a 200-member orchestra that will provide music at the Pope’s Mass
400 Portalets that will be set up around the park
20 First-aid stations that will be set up around the park
18 LED screens that will be set up along the stretch of Roxas Boulevard to Anda Circle to allow spillover crowds to follow the Mass at Quirino Grandstand

Compiled by Mariele Medina

Source: Inquirer Archives

papal mass update

MMDA on Pope’s Luneta Mass: ‘Everything is in order’

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/666230/mmda-on-popes-luneta-mass-everything-is-in-order#ixzz3Wbf70XeC

Shrugging off criticisms that crowd management at Pope Francis’ Mass in Luneta lacked order, Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Francis Tolentino on Sunday said that the event went smoothly as planned.

In a radio interview, Tolentino said he was pleased with the agency’s initial assessment after the Mass.

“Everything was in order. Everything that we have planned was implemented,” Tolentino said in an interview over dzBB minutes after the event.

He also added that without the cooperation of the pilgrims, the event would have been chaotic.

According to MMDA’s estimate, six million people attended Pope Francis’ third and final Mass in the country for his five-day apostolic and state visit and lined up on the pontiff’s route.

Injuries were reported after a scuffle ensued on Maria Orosa Street early Sunday morning as pilgrims clambered their way over metal barriers to get to Quirino Grandstand, the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office said. A 13-year-old boy reportedly fainted after being crushed by the jostling crowd.

4 million heard Papal Mass in Luneta

By Mike Frialde (philstar.com) | Updated January 18, 2015 - 7:35pm

At least six million people gathered at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park (formerly Luneta) and the route of the papal motorcade from the Apostolic Nunciature to the historic park during the Mass celebrated by Pope Francis on Sunday afternoon.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said the crowd estimate in Rizal Park for the Mass of Pope Francis was four million and people at the park's perimeter numbered at least 360,000.

Additional two million people gathered along the route of Pope Francis' motorcade from the Apostolic Nunciature to Rizal Park.

The pope arrived at the rain-soaked Rizal Park at 2:43 p.m. aboard a jeepney-inspired popemobile and started the Mass early at 3 p.m.

In his homily, the pope expressed his concern for the family and urged the millions of pilgrims attending the outdoor Mass to "protect" the family.

"[The Santo Nino] reminds us of the importance of protecting our families and those larger families, which are the Church, God's family, and the world, our human family," the Roman Pontiff said in English.

Meanwhile, the MMDA said that six children who got separated from their relatives remained in the care of the agency as of 3 p.m.

The MMDA identified the children as Nicole Coryna, 9; Trishia Yanib, 8; Mary Zyle Guinto, 12; Leegil Bret, 12; Eriza Zapico; Joshua Dalmatio, 7.

Two adults were also brought to the MMDA’s “lost and found tents” after they were found separated from their relatives. They were identified as Nena Clark, 66; and Sol San Dingan, 57. Jona Espejo

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/01/18/1414339/4-million-heard-papal-mass-luneta

Due to long lines at portalets, devotees relieve themselves elsewhere January 18, 2015 2:19pm

As the lines to portalets and public restrooms in nearby restaurants and fastfood chains continue to grow, many of the devotees who have gathered in Manila for the Pope's Mass have decided to relieve themselves in elsewhere.

Some men used a fence at a construction site to relieve themselves, while a father told his son to do it behind a tree.

A number of women were also seen covering themselves and others with tarpaulin to urinate.

Millions are expected to attend the Pope's Mass on Sunday afternoon at the Quirino Grandstand.

As of posting time, a portion of Rizal Park near the Lapu-Lapu Shrine already reeks of urine. — Amita Legaspi/BM, GMA News
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/popefrancis/story/409255/due-to-long-lines-at-portalets-devotees-relieve-themselves-elsewhere

Pope holds final motorcade before departure (philstar.com) | Updated January 19, 2015 - 9:07am

Pope Francis is now on his way to Villamor Airbase in Pasay City for his departure for Rome, Italy on Monday morning.

The pontiff is on board the pope mobile which left the Apostolic Nunciature around 9:04 a.m.

Numerous Filipinos again lined up along the papal route to get their final glimpse of the esteemed Catholic leader.

Pope Francis is scheduled to be given a send-off ceremony at the Presidential Pavilion of the Villamor Air base at 9:45 a.m. and is set to depart for Rome at 10 a.m.

The pope is concluding his five-day state and apostolic visit here, which has been highlighted by his trip to typhoon-hit Leyte on Saturday.

On Sunday, he also officiated a holy mass at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, which was attended by a record crowd of six million.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/01/19/1414559/pope-holds-final-motorcade-departure

Friday, April 3, 2015

Tutuban Center signs lease deal to host North-South railway station

THE DEVELOPER of Tutuban Center in Manila on Wednesday agreed to lease to the government a portion of its mall, to accommodate the transfer station of the North-South Railway Project (NSRP).

In a statement on Wednesday, Prime Orion Philippines, Inc. said its subsidiary Tutuban Properties, Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Transportation department and the Philippine National Railways.

“Under the MoU, the parties agreed to cooperate in the finalization and completion of the plans for the NSRP within a period of six months,” the statement read.

The lease agreement will be effective until 2039.

The NSRP will come in two phases. The first is the North Line, a 37-kilometer elevated commuter railway that will run from Malolos, Bulacan to Tutuban. The second phase is the South Line, a 653-kilometer railway from Tutuban to Legazpi City in Albay province.

The west extension of the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) will also reach the Manila port area and will have one of its major stations in front of the shopping complex.

The LRT-2 station will be interconnected to the NSRP transfer station in Tutuban and initial studies show that this will result in additional daily foot traffic of some 400,000 people for the Tutuban Center area.

Listed Prime Orion has said it will expand the leasable area of Tutuban Center by 40,000 square meters (sq.m). from the current 60,000 sq.m. in the next two or three years.

The North Line is expected to cost P117 billion and is targeted for implementation this year with a 35-year operating period starting 2020. The Japanese government will fund the project through an official development assistance loan.

The South Line, meanwhile, will cost P170 billion and will be implemented under the public-private partnership scheme. -- Daphne J. Magturo