A total of four earthquakes were recorded in Batangas and neighboring areas over the weekend. The strongest of these was a magnitude 6 earthquake, which hit Batangas province on April 8, Saturday. It was followed by three quakes, which also sent shockwaves throughout neighboring provinces and Metro Manila.
According to Philstar, the quakes occurred consecutively with just a few minutes intervals in between them.
About 3,000 residents of the resort town Mabini, Batangas who lived along the coast as well as tourists were evacuated inland even though there was no threat of tsunamis.
“We ask our people to stay calm and yet remain vigilant and alert. Let us not forward information from unverified sources that may cause undue alarm,” said presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a statement.
Find out how you and your family can prepare for a possible earthquake here.
#JusticeforTin: Bulacan Beauty Queen gunned down after being given flowers and chocolates
23-year-old Mary Christine Bartolome was shot by two unidentified men, who came to her house to deliver a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates. The former winner of the “La Bulakenya” pageant was rushed to Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in Pulilan, Bulacan, but sadly passed away en route to the hospital.
Family and friends were outraged by the tragedy. No known motives have been reported as Tin, as she was fondly called, had no known enemies.
According to authorities, the two men were probably hired killers, adding that they will be focusing their investigation on Tin’s ex-boyfriend.
Christine’s family requested that the media respect their privacy and declined to grant interviews. Christine’s schoolmates from the University of Regina Carmeli College are using social media to cry out for justice, appending the hashtag #JusticeforTin, in the hope that her killers would soon be identified and sentenced accordingly.
For more on this story, click here.
Mom-to-be Kylie Padilla on viral photo: “I don’t care if my underarms look dark!”
Actress Kylie Padilla has come under the scrutiny of “haters” after she shared a selfie, promoting a contest for a popular cellphone brand. Though it seemed like an ordinary Instagram post, it quickly went viral after some commented, bashing her “dark” underarms.
It sparked a debate, of course. Many defended Kylie, saying that pregnancy brings about many changes in a woman’s body, including skin darkening.
Soon, Kylie herself spoke up, writing how lighting and filters sometimes does this on Instagram and that she simply does not care.
“Maybe I just don’t care if my underarm looks dark in this picture. There are more important things in life,” she wrote, emphasizing that the purpose of the post was focused on the phone. “Maybe if you thought twice, you would get that, but I guess that’s the first thing you saw. Says more about you than me. Kahit pa maitim ibig sabihin ba nun pangit na? Be proud of your skin color!”
Kylie is expected to welcome her first child with actor Aljur Abrenica in August 2017.
You can see Kylie’s full post here.
Proud mom Leni Robredo shares eldest daughter got into Oxford and Harvard
Through Facebook, the Vice President shared her ‘proud parent’ moment, writing how her eldest, Aika, managed to get accepted into two of the most prestigious universities in the world: Harvard University in Boston, U.S.A. and Oxford University in the United Kingdom.
“Please allow me to be a proud parent again. Received a little bit of good news one after another. Aika got accepted for the Masters Degree programs she was applying for at both Harvard and Oxford, her two top choices,” she wrote, adding how Aika is truly her “father’s daughter” because the late former DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo also attended Harvard for his MA. “This brings to mind our celebrated milestones in the past. Jesse’s TOYM, TOYP, Ramon Magsaysay Awards, his acceptance to Harvard, etc. All came at the heels of difficult circumstances. And then this. Another lesson in faith. God is truly just.”
The Facebook post was shared nearly 1,000 time in the first 15 hours it was posted.
Well-wishes poured in for the 29-year-old, who graduated from Ateneo de Manila University in 2008 with Bachelor of Science degree in Management Engineering.
Read the full story here.
OFW comes home after disabled son becomes victim of extrajudicial killing
Luzviminda Siapo was inconsolable as she rushed home to the Philippines after receiving the tragic news that her 19-year-old son was identified as a marijuana peddler and shot dead by unknown suspects. According to Raymart’s uncle, 14 men arrived at their home looking for Raymart. They later found him at a friend’s house where he was taken.
Reports say he was crying for help as the group took him around their neighborhood in Navotas. When they arrived at Bangkulasi, Raymart was asked to get off the bike and instructed to run.
He was born with bilateral club foot, which left both of his feet deformed. “When my son refused, they asked him to sit down instead. Then, they shot him. Just like that,” Siapo told Inquirer.
According to Navotas police, Raymart was shot twice; his arms had also been broken.
“I’m working hard abroad just so I could raise my kids well. But this is what I’d come home to? My dead child!” lamented Siapo, who had to get down on her knees for her employers in Kuwait to allow her to come home after hearing the news. After days of begging, she showed an online news article of the tragedy in order for her employer to believe that she wasn’t making it up.
Read the full story here.
READ: 5 Tips to keep your children safe during an earthquake
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