Oriental Mindoro, Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — A 4.6 magnitude earthquake shook northern Oriental Mindoro province early Sunday evening, the US Geological Survey said.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injury.

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Tropical depression “Cosme” strengthened slightly as it continued to batter Oriental Mindoro, according to weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services (PAGASA).

The PAGASA advisory as of 11:00 p.m. said that “Cosme” was spotted 390 kilometers west of Calapan City with maximum winds of 60 kph near the center. It is forecast to move north at 7 kph.

“Cosme” was forecast to glide off Iba, Zambales on Friday and move to the vicinity of Laoag City on Sunday.

PAGASA has hoisted Storm Signal number 1 over Northern Palawan, Occidental Mindoro and Lubang Island.

ABS-CBN News

Another sea vessel was affected by the inclement weather Thursday.

MV Starlight Pacific left the Port of Roxas in Oriental Mindoro at 4 a.m. The vessel was bound for Caticlan.

But Reggie Montana, a passenger on board the roll–on/roll-off vessel, said they had to return to Roxas after four hours of travel because of the bad weather.

The ro/ro vessel could not dock at the port because of the strong waves. The vessel dropped anchor about a half a kilometer away from the port and has been out in the open sea since 8 a.m..

Montana said the captain advised them that they need to wait for the storm to subside.

He added however that they do not have food on board and that many of the passengers are getting seasick. He says there are about 300 passengers on board the vessel.

Lt. Commander Armand Balilio, Philippine Coast Guard information officer, meanwhile said the vessel was not really stranded. He said the vessel was near the port and was just waiting for the huge waves to subside.

ABS-CBN News

Typhoon “Butchoy” (Rammasun) intensified to near-supertyphoon category as it moved north-northeast, even as a low-pressure area inched closer to Mindoro Sunday afternoon.

In its 5 p.m. advisory, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said “Butchoy” was 990 kilometers east of Basco, Batanes as of 2 p.m.

Pagasa said “Butchoy” packed maximum winds of 175 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 210 kph, and is forecast to move north-northeast at 24 kph.

The US Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) classifies typhoons with wind speeds of at least 241 kph as Super Typhoons.

Meanwhile, Pagasa said a Low Pressure Area (LPA) was estimated at 300 km west-northwest of Mindoro. It did not say if the LPA could intensify into a cyclone.

Pagasa said Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao would experience cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms becoming widespread rains over the western sections of Visayas and Mindanao including Palawan.

The rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

GMANews.TV

Burgeoning populations and the effects of climate change have been blamed for the rice crisis, but in President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s reckoning, the media and critics of governments worldwide should be added to the list of culprits.

In a speech delivered at a luncheon meeting Friday in Malacañang with the Soroptimist International of the Philippines Region, the President defended her administration’s aggressive importation of the staple grain.

And then turning to the media, she said stocking up on rice “has led to a shortage which has further been exacerbated all over the world by panic situations and hysteria created by media and political opponents in various countries.”

Ms Arroyo said her administration was in a good position to face the global rice shortage in that it had the money to buy the staple, at least for this year.

She sought to allay fears that the huge subsidies being poured into the agricultural sector, including for rice imports, could take a toll on the national treasury. By Michael Lim Ubac

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