Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) stated that Philippines may be spared from the full wrath of typhoon “Chedeng” (international name: Songda).

It will likely affect Northern Luzon provinces including Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Kalinga, Apayao, Aurora, and Quezon with rains and winds from the typhoon.

PAGASA said that as of 4 a.m., it was 270 kilometers (km) east-northeast of Virac, Catanduanes, with maximum sustained winds of 160 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 195 kph.

By Friday morning, Chedeng will be moving northwest at 15 kph and is expected to be 205 km north of Virac, Catanduanes.

It is expected to be 70 km east of Aparri, Cagayan. By Sunday morning it is expected to be 165 km north-northeast of Basco, Batanes by Saturday morning.

Areas under Storm Signal No. 2 are:

Catanduanes
Sorsogon
Albay
Camarines Sur
Camarines Norte
Samar Provinces

Areas under Signal No. 1 are:
Cagayan
Isabela
Quirino
Aurora
Quezon
Polillo Islands
Marinduque
Burias Island
Ticao Island
Masbate
Northern Leyte
Biliran Island

In the next days to come, another possible typhoon is set to enter the Philippines.

Once it enters the country, it will be named “Chedeng.” The weather disturbance is expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility between Sunday night and early Monday. Among the areas that could be on the path of the typhoon are eastern Visayas, parts of the Bicol region, the Cagayan province, northeast and Central Luzon. Metro Manila on the other hand, would be under rainshower and thunderstorms by Wednesday or Thursday.

At 2:00 p.m. today, a tropical depression over the Caroline Islands was estimated based on satellite and surface data at 1,220 km East of Mindanao, (8.9°N, 138.5°E ). Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) affecting Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

The tropical depression over the Caroline islands was estimated based on satellite and surface data at 1,230 km East of Mindanao, (8.6°N, 138.6°E).

This disturbance is still outside of the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) and does not affect any part of the country.

The next update will be issued at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow.

Showtime is set to end its 3rd Season on May 14, Saturday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, Rizal as it will announce the grand winner.

The grand finalists are: “Anonymous Edition” from Rizal, “Cool Guyz” from Laguna, “Asian Pride” from Mandaluyong, “Vision 20? from Laguna, “Tribos Humanikas” from Caloocan, “Artist Youth of the Philippines” from Bulacan, “True Colors” from General Santos, “Yuri Crowd” from Bacolod, “BTLA Kids” from Caloocan, the Negros Dance Collective, and the winner from the wild card round. The winning group will 1 million pesos and another million pesos for their barangay.

At 4:00 p.m. today, Tropical Storm “BEBENG” was estimated based on satellite and surface data at 50 km East of Tuguegarao City (17.5 °N, 122.2°E) with maximum sustained winds of 75 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 90 kph. It is forecast to move North at 15 kph.

UPDATE: May 09, 2011 (08:36 AM)

Storm Signal No. 2

# Aurora
# Isabela
# Quirino
# Nueva Vizcaya
# Ifugao
# Mt. Province
# Kalinga
# Cagayan

Storm Signal No. 1

# Camarines Norte
# Northern Quezon
# Polillo Island
# Nueva Ecija
# Benguet
# Ilocos Sur
# Abra
# Ilocos Norte
# Apayao
# Babuyan
# Calayan group of Islands
# Batanes

The American Idol is getting nearer to end as there are four hopefuls remaining.

Jacob Lusk was eliminated from the American Idol Top 5 which named Lauren Alaina, James Durbin, Jacob Lusk, Scotty McCreery, and Haley Reinhart as top four. Lusk was sent to stand with Lauren, and Haley in the bottom three. He got 60 million votes from America which took him out the show.

Expect for the upcoming tension as the American Idol Season Finale will be on May 24 and 25.

Nine days after Japan was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami, Miyagi Police Rescue team had a “miracle rescue” on an 80-year old woman and 16-year old youth (not yet sure if boy or girl) last Sunday under the rubble in the city of Ishimaki in northeast Japan.

The reports were according to the NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) Public TV. They were found alive: weak yet conscious.

The two survivors were immediately rescued after they responded to a call from the rescue team which followed their treatment at Ishinomaki’s Red Cross Hospital.

Meanwhile, there are still operations on finding the victims of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake which resulted to a tsunami.

After almost a month, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao confirmed that the verdict to the 3 Filipino drug mules was still death penalty and that verdict was final. The thing there is that the execution was just delayed but we weren’t able to change the decision of Chinese Supreme Court.

Still, the date of execution was not mentioned but the punishment is now non-negotiable.

It can be remembered that Vice-president Jejomar Binay went to China on the hope that everything could be turned into the side of the 3 OFW who are victims of illegal drug trafficking.

However, the Malacañang, though not surprised on the ruling decision, will still try to appeal.

The execution of Ramon Credo, Sally Ordinario-Villanueva and Elizabeth Batain will be carried out all in accordance with Chinese laws.

The Chinese Ambassador said that the action of China was to remind the people that drug trafficking is a harsh crime that needs harsh punishment.

Here is a March 1, 2011 press release by Department of Labor and Employment on the status quo of Overseas Filipino Workers in Libya:

Update on Libya

Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz yesterday said the evacuation of OFWs from Benghazi will be today, March 1, with the 1,700-passenger capacity chartered ferry, “Ionian Queen”, expected to dock at 8:00 A.M. Libya time (2:00 P.M. Manila time) at the Port of Gulani in Benghazi.

“Our POLO in Tripoli has already sent us a list consisting of 1,546 Filipinos expected to board the “Ionian Queen”, Baldoz said.

In Tripoli, Baldoz said the Philippine Embassy and the POLO have transported another 534 workers to Djerba in the Tunisian border, but we have yet to receive the names of the OFWs transported. The POLO will send these within the day.

I wish to report the following updates:

Status of Repatriation

As of 8:00 A.M. today, some 440 OFWs have come home, with 161 more expected to arrive today and 36 tomorrow, excluding the 180 OFWs whose arrival onboard a MidEastern Airlines chartered by the government from Dubai was delayed.

The names of OFWs who have come from Libya is posted in the DOLE website, www.dole.gov.ph.

There are still 4,097 Filipinos awaiting evacuation from Libya, and finally, repatriation to the Philippines.

Also as of today, reports collated by the DOLE Middle East Crisis Monitoring Center place the number of Filipinos already out of Libya at 3,544. Arrangement for their onward transportation to the Philippines is in various stages.

POLO-Tripoli has also e-mailed a list of 100 OFWs at the Filipino Workers Resource Center (FWRC) in Tripoli.

Company-initiated repatriation

Company-initiated evacuation and repatriation continues, although there are some companies that have no capability to do so. They have come to the government for assistance. For these companies, we are trying to get as much information from them as to the names, location, and contact information of their workers.

“Our people continues to liaise and follow-up with the recruitment agencies of these companies here in the Philippines.”

Reintegration

Baldoz said the OWWA is ready to provide a grant assistance of P10,000 to every OFW coming home from Libya, in addition to the package of assistance that the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO) is preparing for them. This package of assistance includes psycho-social counseling, skills training and upgrading, referral and placement for local and overseas employment, entrepreneurial and management training, business loan being coordinated with state financial institutions (Land Bank, DBP), etc.

Phone and e-mail inquiries

The Department of Labor and Employment, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration use a common procedure in handling phone and e-mail inquiries from families of OFWs in Libya.

The calls and e-mails, she said, are being attended to by the OWWA 24/7 Operation Center, DOLE Call Center, and the POEA Assistance and Information Desk. She encouraged the public to avail of the services of these information assistance units.

We continue to communicate our efforts to the public regularly and we wish to assure our OFWs in Libya and their families here at home that the government is sincerely doing the best that it can under the circumstances for their safety and protection.

Supreme Court decided to move the Bar Examination from September to November of this year. This is due to the rains that come in September, according to SC administrator and spokesman Jose Midas Marquez.

Aside from that, the venue will be moved from De La Salle University to the University of Sto. Tomas campus in Manila. Bar exams will no longer be held in DLSU because the university did not renew its lease.

Marquez said the transfer of the venue had nothing to do with the Sept. 26, 2010 post-Bar exams blast in front of the La Salle campus.

The first three Sundays of November will be for multiple choice questions, the fourth Sunday will be for essay type exam.

Meanwhile, The list of those who passed the 2010 Bar exams will be released in April 2011.