MV X-Press Pearl sinks into deep sea
Smoke rises from a fire onboard the MV X-Press Pearl vessel as it sinks while being towed into deep sea off the Colombo Harbor, in Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Singapore authorities started with its investigation after the Singapore-registered vessel, which carried 1,486 containers, including 25 tons of nitric acid along with other chemicals and cosmetics, caught fire while anchored off Sri Lanka’s coast on May 20 causing massive marine pollution. Photo courtesy of Sri Lanka Airforce Media
Cleaning up after tropical storm Dante
Workers from the local Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) clear a tree that fell along the Ternate-Nasugbu Road in Ternate, Cavite on Thursday, hours after tropical storm Dante hit the area. The Department of Public Works and Highways estimate at least P268.52 million worth of damage in national roads and flood control structures caused by the recent storm. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News
Sea travel allowed as Dante moves north
Cargo trucks line up at the Batangas Port Thursday after days of suspended travel due to tropical storm Dante. The Philippine Ports Authority reminded travelers that safety and health protocols will be strictly implemented to prevent spread of COVID-19. Val Cuenca, ABS-CBN News
Facing pollution
A resort maintenance worker collects plastic garbage, including some face shields, washed along the coast of Manila Bay in Barangay San Rafael IV, Noveleta, Cavite on Thursday, due to heavy rains and strong waves brought by Tropical Storm Dante. Manila Mayor Isko Moreno urged the Inter Agency Task Force on COVID-19 to suspend current health protocol mandating the public to wear face shield outside their homes. ABS-CBN News
Arriving home
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are assisted by members of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) at the arrival lobby of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 in Pasay City on Thursday. Senate President Vicente Sotto III on the same day called on the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to remove the mandatory 14-day quarantine period for fully vaccinated people entering the country as this defeats the purpose of inoculating the public to reopen the economy. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News
Salvaging what they can
Residents of Barangay Palikpikan in Balayan, Batangas retrieve fishing gear and the engine from a fishing boat that sank due to strong waves brought by Tropical Storm Dante on Thursday. The death toll due to Dante rose to 4, and thousands of families remain in evacuation centers after the weather disturbance inundated Mindanao and parts of Visayas, according to the the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on Thursday. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News
Cycling on World Bicycle Day
Cyclists use the dedicated bike lane along Commonwealth Avenue on World Bike Day, Thursday. Active transport has gained popularity in the country since the government started limiting the use of public transportation to curb the spread of COVID-19 with various government agencies working on the development of a bike lane network in the metro. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News
From driving passengers to vaccines
A health worker prepares to inoculate a laborer with the first dose of Covishield vaccine against COVID-19 in a passenger bus converted into a mobile vaccination center at a wholesale market in Kolkata, India on Thursday. So far, less than 5% of India’s 950 million adult population have been given two vaccine doses as it reels from a second wave of infections that has claimed around 170,000 lives in just April and May. Dibyangshu Sarkar, AFP