00:00Good afternoon on this rainy Tuesday afternoon. This is Patrick De Sous for PTV News Now.
00:08With an active southwest monsoon or habagat affecting multiple areas across the country, let's turn to the top stories at this hour.
00:16Before leaving for his U.S. visit, President Ferdinand R. Marcus Jr. gave marching orders to key government agencies,
00:24no time to sit on their hands. Coordination, preparedness, and quick response are his clear directives.
00:32Relief foods, medical teams, and supply lines for water and electricity are in place, ready to roll as soon as the need arises.
00:41The chief executive also urged the public to heed government warnings and advisories, act promptly and with guidance, and not throw caution to the wind.
00:50He likewise suspended all SONA-related preparations, directing agencies to focus their energy and resources on disaster response in an all-hands-on-deck approach.
01:02With the effects of climate change getting more severe, the chief executive stressed the need to bolster the country's resilience.
01:10He vowed that government will always be ready to step up to the plate in nice or nasty weather, or come hell or high water.
01:19Marikina River remains under first-alarm status after heavy rainfall with over 100mm of rain falling in just 8 hours, equivalent to a month's worth.
01:32Despite these, the floods in 11 low-lying barangays were not as severe thanks to ongoing dredging and slow protection projects.
01:40Some evacuees have returned home carrying DSWD-provided food packs.
01:46Over 25,000 individuals or 4,700 families remain in 31 evacuation centers as local officials continue clearing debris and preparing for more rain.
01:58DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian personally visited Marikina to distribute aid.
02:03Mayor Rumaan Teodoro says full benefits of the flood control project are yet to be seen but assures that all efforts are underway to restore normalcy and protect affected communities.
02:17France's foreign minister, John Noel Barrow called on the Netanyahu government earlier today to allow the press to enter and cover events in the rubble city of Gaza as the specter of widespread famine looms closer than ever.
02:34His statement is coming after the adjance of France press news agency warned how the lives of their co-Palestinian media people are in even greater period,
02:46pressing Israel to let them and their families leave the occupied and besieged coastal territory without delay.
02:53And the French government is keeping closed tabs on the press people still in Gaza and addressing the issue of potentially intervening to get the Palestinian journalists out of Gaza.
03:06At least 227 journalists or press people, mostly Palestinians or Arabs, have been killed by Israel's defense forces since the first weekend of October 2023.
03:19Likewise, Israel has shut the door on media practitioners wanting to re-enter Gaza to accurately report the events inside.
03:30And that's a wrap for this afternoon stories. Join us later on for another set of breaking stories in our evening edition.
03:38I'm Patrick Dezos and thank you for watching PTV News Now.
