DBM releases P69.4B for gov't workers cash gift and year-end bonus;
ASEAN condemns MSU bombing; 1 suspect arrested;
Israeli evacuess afraid to go home
ASEAN condemns MSU bombing; 1 suspect arrested;
Israeli evacuess afraid to go home
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Good day, I am Sean Zespina and this is PTV News Now.
00:05 The Department of Budget and Management allocated around 69.4 billion pesos for the year-end bonus and cash gift of qualified employees of the government.
00:15 According to the order of the agency, the cash gift is equivalent to 5,000 pesos, while the amount of the bonus to be given is equivalent to a full month of an employee's salary.
00:25 This covers those who have served from January to October of this year or are still in service for at least four months.
00:32 Budget Secretary Amana Pangandaman said eligible employees should be given a bonus and cash gift in acknowledgement of their sacrifices and delivery of service to the public.
00:46 The Southeast Asian nation condemned the bombing that killed four people and injured at least 50 more during a service at Mindanao State University in Marawi.
00:55 The ASEAN called it a heinous terrorist attack. The Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the attack.
01:02 One of the suspects identified as Jafar Gamo Sultan, alias Jar and Kurot, was arrested in Marawi City.
01:10 The search is still underway for the other suspects.
01:14 In the meantime, around 200,000 Israelis have been evacuated from their homes near the border with Gaza.
01:21 They've been in hotels and guest houses for two months and have no idea when they will get home.
01:27 The U.S. Linda Gradstein reports.
01:31 Some of the about 200,000 Israelis evacuated from communities near the borders with Gaza and Lebanon have nowhere to return to after their homes were bombed or burned by Hamas militants on October 7.
01:45 In the meantime, all of the evacuees have been living in limbo in hotels and guest houses all over Israel, including the Ya'arim Hotel at Maale HaChamisha outside of Jerusalem.
01:57 They say they don't know when or if they will feel safe enough to return.
02:02 We don't have any place to go back to now. First of all, it's a closed military area and nobody can promise me that they won't breach the border again.
02:15 In our case, they came on hang gliders by air, but nobody can promise us that won't happen again either.
02:21 Many fled their homes immediately after the Hamas attack with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
02:27 Volunteers mobilized to collect and distribute thousands of cartons of clothing, toys and household items for the evacuee centers.
02:35 This hotel provides room and three meals a day, as well as health services and recreational activities.
02:42 Children have been integrated into local schools and a nursery school has been opened inside the hotel.
02:48 One of the teachers says the children seem calmer and happier now, two months after the October 7th attack.
02:55 In the beginning, they were very frightened. Any loud noise would scare them.
02:59 There's a house here that was built by a volunteer that came and many of the kids would crawl into it and find a safe haven for themselves.
03:10 And they would close the windows and the doors. They would put blankets over the windows so that the baddies wouldn't be able to come in and find them.
03:20 About 400 of the original 550 evacuees from two Gaza border communities remain at the Maale HaKhamisha Hotel.
03:28 Some have found alternative housing, either renting apartments or moving in with relatives.
03:33 They say that families living long term in small hotel rooms is challenging, especially for those already coping with trauma and stress.
03:42 Children, families, parents, mothers who are not post-traumatic are still traumatized.
03:49 Coming here are children, fathers and mothers who are not experiencing post-trauma but are still feeling trauma itself.
03:56 When there was a missile alert, which doesn't happen here often, the reaction was so different than the long-time residents here.
04:04 There is trauma. It exists. And they are living it.
04:08 More than a million Palestinians in Gaza have also been displaced by the fighting which has destroyed their homes.
04:14 More than 80% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million is now crowded into the southern Gaza Strip, where they are living in United Nations schools and facilities.
04:25 The Israeli evacuees say they are anxious to move back home, even though they recognize that it may take a long time, if ever, to feel safe in their homes again.
04:35 Linda Gradstein, VOA News, Maale HaKhamisha, Israel.
04:39 This has been Sharm Zespina. Stay informed, be aware and get ahead and get the news right here.
04:48 (upbeat music)