Drug war memorial site launched in Caloocan

DALY – California’s first Filipina- American Mayor Juslyn Manalo and Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte are working together to further enhance the relations of their cities. “We have a sister-city relation- ship so we’re really looking at ways to support Quezon City,” Manalo said during a briefing in her office on Monday. Daly City, touted as the Pinoy Capital of California, and Quezon City signed a sister-city agreement on Aug. 8, 1994, to raise awareness on Filipino heritage and culture and collaborate on civic opportunities. In January this year or 29 years after signing the agreement, the two cities renewed the sister-city relationship to foster the continued prosperity of both cities. Against this backdrop, Manalo said Daly and Quezon City have ar- rangements to share best practices and knowledge, including Daly’s wastewater treatment and firefight- ing technology. By IRIS GONZALES By BELLA CARIASO METROLINE Chinese held for cyber fraud, overstaying A 28-year-old Chinese was arrested by immigration officers on allegations of cyber fraud and overstaying in the country. In a statement yesterday, Bureau of Immigration (BI) Com- missioner Norman Tansingco said that Qin Xingye was inter- cepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, where he was supposed to board a flight to Hong Kong. Qin presented himself for clearance at the immigration departure counter and his name appeared in the bureau’s blacklist for being an undesirable alien, overstaying and il- legally working in the country. According to the BI’s Border Control and Intelligence Unit, Qin was previously charged with cyber fraud and for working without a permit. He is currently detained at the BI warden facility at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig while awaiting deportation. – Evelyn Macairan Search on for woman last seen at viral stall Police are searching for a woman from Taytay, Rizal who has been missing for two weeks after she visited the viral food stall Diwata Pares in Pasay City. The victim, 36-year-old Dina Ancheta, was last seen by her sister on April 16 at around 11:25 p.m. when she and an unidentified man left their house in her Toyota Vios sedan to meet a man she met on Facebook. Ancheta told her sister she and her companion planned to visit the food stall of Diwata, whose real name is Deo Balbuena. Ancheta’s sibling contacted her at around 12:27 p.m. the following day. Ancheta said they were queuing at Diwata’s stall along Diokno Boulevard to dine. However, Ancheta later told her sister she would just go home due to the long line. It was the last time Ancheta communicated with her sister as she failed to come home and could no longer be contacted through her cell phone. Police investigators are looking for leads to identify An- cheta’s companion to determine if he had anything to do with her disappearance. – Emmanuel Tupas Daly, QC renew sister-city agreement A decision of the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) to maintain the 50 cubic meters per second allocation for Metro Manila from Angat Dam is no longer enough amid the current high heat index, an official of Maynilad Water Services Inc. said yesterday. In a text message to The STAR, Maynilad corporate communica- tions head Jennifer Rufo said the 50 cms allotted by the NWRB is only ideal under normal weather conditions. “Ordinarily, the sustained 50 cms allocation will enable us to maintain normal service levels, but given the current heat index and the conse- quent increase in water demand, even this 50 cms may no longer be enough for us to maintain the ideal network pressure,” Rufo said. Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) water and sewerage management department head Patrick Dizon, in a separate message to The STAR, confirmed a status quo on the water allotted for Maynilad and Manila Water. “(At least) 50 cms (was) ap- proved (by the NWRB) from May 1 to 15,” Dizon said. The Angat technical working group has appealed to NWRB to maintain the 50 cms water provision for the two water concessionaires in May amid the high temperatures experienced in the country. “While Maynilad is doing every- thing it can to optimize supply out- put from its various augmentation projects to ensure no water service interruptions, customers would also be able to help by managing their consumption at this time. This is to conserve the raw water supply in Angat Dam until the rains come to replenish it,” Rufo said. As of 8 a.m. yesterday, the water level of Angat Dam was down by 0.38 meters, reaching 187.65 meters compared to its previous level of 188.03 on Tuesday. It was 24.35 meters below its normal high water level of 212 meters. It is 7.65 meters above its mini- mum operating level of 180 meters. Dizon said that MWSS asked to maintain the allocation due to the warning of the Philippine Atmo- spheric, Geophysical and Astro- nomical Services Administration that high temperatures in the coun- try would persist until the second week of May amid the impact of the El Niño phenomenon and dry season. The state weather bureau said that heat index in the country could reach the “extreme danger” level of 57 degrees Celsius after 53 degrees Celsius was recorded in Iba, Zam- bales on Sunday. On Saturday, the actual tem- perature in Metro Manila reached 38.8 degrees while the heat index reached 45 degrees Celsius. Ac- cording to the weather bureau, the heat index could reach 48 degrees Celsius. Angat Dam supplies more than 90 percent of Metro Manila’s potable water and provides for the irrigation needs of 25,000 hectares of farm- lands in Bulacan and Pampanga. At least 1.5 million households previously experienced water inter- ruptions of 14 to 16 hours amid the low water level of Angat Dam. Maynilad: MM water allocation not enough “They are looking at water and wastewater treatment and they’re interested in the model that we use,” Manalo told visiting Filipino jour- nalists who are part of the United States’ Friends, Partners, Allies program. Quezon City is looking at the fire- fighting apparatus in Daly to further improve the local government unit’s firefighting efforts, Manalo said. “They’re looking at our firefight- ing apparatus… So we’re looking at that collaboration,” she said, adding that during one of her recent visits to the Philippines, she met with Quezon City Vice Mayor Gian Sotto. She expressed hopes that Bel- monte, too, could visit Daly soon. “Hopefully, one day, we will visit there again and we’ll get to meet Belmonte here,” Manalo said. Under her leadership, Daly City plans to revive the Quezon City Friendship Festival, which she ex- perienced while growing up. “While I was growing up in Daly City, there was the Quezon City Friendship City Festival. It was huge. The older generation held that huge festival. We’re going to have that resurgence happen and bring back that festival,” she told reporters. Manalo has renamed some streets in Daly into Makibaka, Silang, Bay- ani and Mabuhay as part of efforts to raise awareness on Filipino lan- guage and history. Outside the city hall of Daly, there is a sign that says “Quezon City 6,957 miles.” Born in San Francisco to Filipino parents, Manalo grew up in the city and has been an active mem- ber of the community. Her profile said she was a community service worker providing direct service to Filipino World War II veterans. She then became mayor in 2018, 2021 and 2023. A memorial site and columbarium for victims of extrajudicial killings dur- ing the Duterte administration’s war on illegal drugs was inaugurated at the La Loma Catholic Cemetery in Caloocan yesterday. Eleven victims were the first ones to be inurned at the Dambana ng Paghilom, a structure with 100 vaults that can accommodate four to six urns each. The inauguration was held by the Arnold Janssen Kalinga Foundation, which was founded by Fr. Flavie Vil- lanueva. The foundation is named after a saint who established the Society of the Divine Word. In a statement, Villanueva said the memorial symbolizes more than just a final resting place for those killed in the drug war. “Dambana ng Paghilom is also a statement of hope. Evil will never persist if men, women, senators, am- bassadors, people of good conscience, human rights advocates, seminarians, sisters, religious, people at the margins will continue to stand firm for life, truth and peace,” he said. Villanueva alleged that former presi- dent Rodrigo Duterte weaponized the police, resulting in state-sponsored kill- ings that numbered around 6,000. Hu- man Rights Watch had a much higher count of 30,000 killings. Among those present at the inaugu- ration were Ambassadors Luc Veron of the European Union, Andreas Michael Pfaffernoschke of Germany, Marielle Geraedts of the Netherlands and Laure Beaufils of the United Kingdom as well as Sen. Risa Hontiveros and former senator Leila de Lima. “Tayong lahat ay may pananagutan (We are all accountable for one another), Veron said, quoting a popular church song. Pfaffernoschke said being at the event reminded him of what hap- pened to his own country during the Holocaust. “This memorial helps us not to forget and reminds us of our obligation to the future,” he said. Beaufils expressed her government’s support for the families of the drug war victims, saying they would not be forgotten. Hontiveros vowed to continue to fight for justice. “I will not stop using my platform to express my opposition to the war on drugs. We will not stop until we hold those involved accountable,” she said. De Lima said the memorial is a “sin- gularly significant project to jumpstart the healing of the victims’ families, ignite their hope and strengthen our solidarity in fighting for justice.” Duterte, his police chief now Sen. Ronald dela Rosa and several others are accused of committing crimes against humanity before the In- ternational Criminal Court for the thousands of deaths in the drug war. – Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Evelyn Macairan Drug war memorial site launched in Caloocan Fr. Flavie Villanueva blesses 11 urns containing the ashes of victims of the Duterte administration’s war against illegal drugs during the inauguration of the Dambana ng Paghilom at the La Loma Catholic Cemetery yesterday.

Miguel De Guzman