LPA intensifies into Tropical Depression Quinta, threatens to pound Bicol | ABS-CBN

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LPA intensifies into Tropical Depression Quinta, threatens to pound Bicol

LPA intensifies into Tropical Depression Quinta, threatens to pound Bicol

Jamaine Punzalan,

ABS-CBN News

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MANILA— A low pressure area east of the Philippines intensified into Tropical Depression Quinta on Friday afternoon and threatened to slam into Luzon, the state weather bureau said, just days after an earlier weather system caused flooding and forced thousands to evacuate.

Quinta was 880 kilometers east of Surigao City at 4 p.m., packing maximum sustained winds of 45 kilometers per hour and 55 kph gusts, said PAGASA.

This image from PAGASA shows the forecast track of tropical depression Quinta.

This year's 17th storm will "slowly" move northwest on Friday. It will turn westward and strengthen into a tropical storm by Sunday, and make landfall over Bicol on Monday.

It is likely to emerge over the West Philippine Sea the following day, said the weather bureau.

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Quinta has yet to affect the weather over any portion of the country, PAGASA said in its 5 p.m. bulletin.

People walk in floodwaters in Caluag Town, Quezon province, Oct. 21, 2020 in this picture obtained from social media. Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office - Caluag via Reuters

Earlier this week, Tropical Storm Pepito (international name: Saudel) forced at least 6,000 people to flee to safer ground in provinces south of Manila.

In Quezon province, photographs showed widespread flooding and boats used to ferry residents to dry ground. There have been no reports of casualties.

Pepito was 900 kilometers east of Surigao City, Surigao del Norte at 3 p.m., said PAGASA.

The storm's trough or extension is bringing cloudy skies with scattered rains over Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Palawan, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.

Batanes, Cagayan, Apayao, and Ilocos Norte will experience the same weather condition due to the tail-end of a cold front, said the weather agency.

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv

The Philippines has suffered particularly heavy rainfall following the onset of a La Niña weather system, which is characterized by unusually cold temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.

The country is battered by roughly 20 tropical storms annually. - With a report from Reuters

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SC urged to compel Comelec, Miru to disclose election-related documents

SC urged to compel Comelec, Miru to disclose election-related documents

Adrian Ayalin,

ABS-CBN News

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The Commission on Elections demonstrates the automated counting machines by Miru Systems to be used for the 2025 Midterm Elections at the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center in Quezon City on June 19, 2024. The new system is said to be faster and has better features over the machines used in the previous elections. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — A civil society group on Thursday filed a petition for certiorari before the Supreme Court in order to compel the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and its partner Miru Systems Joint Venture to disclose documents related to the 2025 midterm elections.

Right to Know, Right Now Coalition raised the public’s constitutional right to information on matters that affect the integrity and transparency of the electoral process.

The group said their request for information from the Comelec was only partially granted while Miru’s responses were supposedly evasive, without even giving out any of the requested documents or records.

Among the group’s requests were an updated Joint Venture Agreement entered into by Miru with its local partners for the purpose of verifying if the remaining partners retain the financial, technical and operational capacity to meet their contractual obligation.

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Another request made by the group with the Comelec and Miru was the risk assessment, which identifies potential risks due to the withdrawal of St. Timothy Construction Corporation from the joint venture.

“The petition urges the Supreme Court to use its rulemaking power to clarify procedural uncertainties in the enforcement of the people’s right to access information of significant public interest,” the group said.

Comelec last year awarded South Korean firm Miru Systems Company Ltd. the P18.8-billion FASTrAC project for the May 2025 automated elections. 

Under the FASTrAC or Full Automation System with Transparency Audit/Count, the joint venture will supply the hardware, which includes 110,000 automated counting machines, laptops, ballot boxes and ballots, the software or the Consolidation and Canvassing System, and the Election Management System.

For more news and features on Philippine elections, visit the ABS-CBN News' Halalan 2025 page.

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