MANILA: Two people were killed and thousands fled strong winds and floods as a tropical depression hit the central Philippines on Tuesday, following deadly back-to-back storms during the Christmas season.
The deaths were reported on Cebu island, where an elderly woman was killed in a landslide while a man died after he hit his head on the pavement as the storm cut off electricity in the area.
Tropical Storm Kai-Tak killed 47 people in the central Philippines last month, while Tropical Storm Tembin killed 240 on the southern island of Mindanao.
The state weather service warned the new disturbance was poised to hit the western tourist island of Palawan with gusts of 65 kilometers (40 miles) per hour later on Tuesday.
“The residents are really sad. It is tough that we have three storms coming one after another. People have lost their livelihood and have had no rest since Christmas,” Gil Acosta, information officer of the island, told AFP.
Palawan accounted for 37 of the recorded Tembin deaths, with 60 other people still missing, Acosta added.
About 4,000 people across the central Philippines had moved to safer ground to escape high winds and flooding, the national disaster agency in Manila said.
“There is continuous flooding in some towns where the floodwater from the previous storm has yet to subside,” provincial disaster information officer Julius Regner told AFP by telephone from Cebu City.
The Philippines is battered by 20 major storms each year on average, many of them deadly.
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Two dead, thousands flee in storm-weary Philippines
Two dead, thousands flee in storm-weary Philippines
Taiwanese reporter accused of bribing military officers to leak information to China
- District court orders detention of television reporter surnamed Lin and five current and retired military officers
TAIPEI: A journalist in Taiwan was detained Saturday on allegations of bribing army officers to provide military information to people from mainland China, as the self-ruled island cracks down on potential infiltration from China.
Taiwan’s Qiaotou District Prosecutors Office said in a statement that a district court ordered the detention of a television reporter surnamed Lin and five current and retired military officers. The statement didn’t identify the journalist, but CTi TV issued a statement about the detention of its reporter Lin Chen-you.
The company said that it does not know the details of the case, but called for a fair judicial process, adding “God bless Taiwan.”
While Taiwan regularly pursues espionage cases within the government and military, allegations against journalists are unusual.
Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and threatens to take control of the island by force if necessary, has been increasing military pressure against the island. Last month, China’s military launched large-scale drills around it for two days after a Washington announcement of large-scale arms sales to Taiwan.
Prosecutors accuse Lin of paying amounts ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of Taiwan dollars (tens to hundreds of US dollars) to current military officers in exchange for their providing information to “Chinese individuals.” The office didn’t specify who the Chinese people were or whether they were linked to the Chinese government.
Authorities raided the premises of the reporter and nine current and retired military personnel on Friday as part of an investigation into violations of Taiwan’s national security and corruption laws and disclosure of confidential information. CTi said that its offices were not raided.
According to Lin’s Facebook page, he was a political reporter and anchor covering the island’s legislature.
China and Taiwan have been governed separately since 1949, when the Communist Party rose to power in Beijing following a civil war. Defeated Nationalist Party forces fled to Taiwan, which later transitioned from martial law to multiparty democracy.
Taiwan’s Qiaotou District Prosecutors Office said in a statement that a district court ordered the detention of a television reporter surnamed Lin and five current and retired military officers. The statement didn’t identify the journalist, but CTi TV issued a statement about the detention of its reporter Lin Chen-you.
The company said that it does not know the details of the case, but called for a fair judicial process, adding “God bless Taiwan.”
While Taiwan regularly pursues espionage cases within the government and military, allegations against journalists are unusual.
Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and threatens to take control of the island by force if necessary, has been increasing military pressure against the island. Last month, China’s military launched large-scale drills around it for two days after a Washington announcement of large-scale arms sales to Taiwan.
Prosecutors accuse Lin of paying amounts ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of Taiwan dollars (tens to hundreds of US dollars) to current military officers in exchange for their providing information to “Chinese individuals.” The office didn’t specify who the Chinese people were or whether they were linked to the Chinese government.
Authorities raided the premises of the reporter and nine current and retired military personnel on Friday as part of an investigation into violations of Taiwan’s national security and corruption laws and disclosure of confidential information. CTi said that its offices were not raided.
According to Lin’s Facebook page, he was a political reporter and anchor covering the island’s legislature.
China and Taiwan have been governed separately since 1949, when the Communist Party rose to power in Beijing following a civil war. Defeated Nationalist Party forces fled to Taiwan, which later transitioned from martial law to multiparty democracy.
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