Sariaya, Quezon. Arestado ang isang magsasaka matapos mahulihan ng matataas na kalibre ng baril at iligal na droga na nagkakahalaga ng mahigit P1 milyon sa isinagawang raid ng Sariaya Municipal Police Station kamakalawa ng umaga sa Sitio Masay, Barangay Morong, sa bayang ito.
Kinilala ni Quezon Police Provincial Office (QPPO) Director PCol. Ledon Monte ang naaresto na si Leonardo Alcala, 46 anyos na residente ng nasabing lugar.
Batay sa ulat, isinagawa ng mga operatiba ng Sariaya Municipal Police Station sa pangunguna ni Lt.Col. Rommel Sobrido kasama ang 1st Quezon Police Mobile Force Company (QPMFC) ang operasyon sa bahay ng suspek bandang alas-6:55 ng umaga.
Sa bisa ng Search Warrant na inisyu ni Executive Judge Agripino Bravo ng Regional Trial Court, Fourth Judicial Region, Lucena City, isinagawa ng mga awtoridad ang thorough search sa bahay ng suspek. Natagpuan nila ang sumusunod: dalawang colt caliber .45 pistol, anim na magazine ng caliber .45, dalawang caliber .30 rifle carbine, isang caliber .22 rifle (converted), isang piraso ng weighing scale, isang sling bag na kulay violet, at sling bag na kulay itim at dilaw. Bukod dito, nakuha rin nila ang siyam na plastic sachet ng hinihinalang shabu na may timbang na 52.3 gramo at nagkakahalaga ng P1,066,920, pati na rin ang P10,500 na cash.
Ang pagpapatupad ng search warrant ay ginanap nang maayos at mapayapa sa harap ng mga barangay officials.
Nakakulong na sa municipal jail ang suspek at nahaharap sa mga kasong paglabag sa RA 10951 at RA 9165. Ang mga kasong ito ay kaugnay ng pagkakaroon ng ilegal na armas at paglabag sa mga batas sa droga.
MIAMI. Former UFC champion Conor McGregor knocked out the Miami Heat mascot in a midgame bit that went wrong.
Burnie — more specifically, the man who occupies Burnie’s costume — briefly sought medical attention Friday night after taking two punches from McGregor during a third-quarter stoppage of Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Heat and the Denver Nuggets.
The Heat said Saturday that the employee, who was not identified, received pain medication and was resting at home.
McGregor was there as a promotional gimmick for a pain-relief spray — and was booed by many in the Miami crowd even before the bit started. The flame mascot was wearing oversized boxing gloves and a robe akin to what a fighter would wear entering the ring for a bout. McGregor hit Burnie with a left hook, knocking him down, then punched the mascot again after he hit the floor.
McGregor then tried to “spray” the mascot with the pain-relief product, while several members of the Heat’s in-game promotional team dragged Burnie off the court.
McGregor hasn’t fought since injuring his left leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. His last win came in January 2020.
Former UFC champion Conor McGregor promotes a pain-relief spray during a break in Game 4 of the basketball NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the Denver Nuggets, Friday, June 9, 2023, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Hinamon ni Secretary Ted Herbosa ng Department of Health (DOH) ang lahat ng lokal na opisyal ng mga siyudad sa bansa na isulong ang pagbibisikleta bilang alternatibong moda ng transportasyon, kasabay ng pagdiriwang ng World Bicycle Day ngayong Hunyo.
Sa isang event na “The Pedal for a Sustainable Future – A World Bicycle Day Celebration” sa Taguig City, sinabi ni Herbosa na ang pagbibisikleta ay isang simpleng ngunit epektibong paraan ng ehersisyo at nakakatulong sa pagbabawas ng polusyon sa bansa.
Upang itaguyod ang pagbibisikleta at ang paglalakad bilang mga epektibong paraan ng transportasyon kasabay ng pag iwas sa pagkalat ng mga ‘non-communicable disease’ sa mga pampublikong transportasyon, inilunsad ng DOH ang Active Transport Playbook. Ang programa ay may pondong P1,150,000 na inilaan para sa promosyon nito.
“If Taguig can do this, I challenge every city to encourage and support biking both as an alternative mode of transportation and as a means to reduce pollution in the country,” dagdag pa ni Herbosa.
Ang World Bicycle Day ay ipinagdiriwang tuwing Hunyo, na inilunsad ng United Nations General Assembly noong 2018. Layunin nito na itaguyod ang paggamit ng bisikleta bilang isang solusyon sa kahirapan, pagpapalakas ng edukasyon, lalo na sa larangan ng physical educataion para sa mga kabataan, kalusugan, laban sa mga sakit, social inclusion, at pagpapalaganap ng kultura ng kapayapaan.
Sa gitna ng patuloy na pagtaas ng populasyon at trapiko sa mga siyudad, ang pagsuporta sa pagbibisikleta bilang alternatibong transpo ay isang mahalagang hakbang sa pagtataguyod ng malinis at malusog na kapaligiran para sa kinabukasan ng bansa.
DARAGA, Albay. The Philippines’ most active volcano has begun spewing lava in a gentle eruption, putting thousands of people on heightened alert for the possibility of a violent explosion that would force them to evacuate from their homes, authorities said Monday.
More than 12,000 villagers have abandoned their homes in mandatory evacuations thus far mostly from poor farming communities within a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) radius of Mayon volcano’s crater in northeastern Albay province. Those evacuations began after the volcano began showing signs of renewed restlessness last week.
But thousands more remain within the permanent danger zone below Mayon, which has long been declared as off limits to people.
With the volcano beginning to expel lava Sunday night, the high-risk zone around Mayon may be expanded if its eruption turns violent, said Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. Bacolcol said if that happens, people living in the expanded danger zone should prepare to evacuate and move to emergency shelters.
A team of Associated Press journalists witnessed from a distance on Sunday night the volcano spewing lava, which flowed down its southeastern gulleys for hours. People hurriedly stepped out of restaurants and bars in a seaside district of Albay’s capital city of Legazpi, about 14 kilometers (8.5 miles) from Mayon, to snap pictures of the country’s most popular volcano.
Albay was placed under a state of emergency on Friday to allow for quicker distribution of relief funds in the event of a major eruption. On Thursday, authorities raised the alert level for the 2,462-meter (8,077-foot) volcano.
A key tourist draw for its picturesque conical shape, Mayon is one of the country’s 24 active volcanoes. It last erupted violently in 2018, displacing tens of thousands of villagers.
In 1814, Mayon’s eruption buried entire villages and reportedly left more than 1,000 people dead. But many of Albay’s people have accepted the volcano’s fury as a part of their lives.
Aside from villagers living in communities perilously close to the volcano, authorities and villagers started to move large numbers of cows and water buffaloes on Sunday from high-risk farms to 25 temporary grazing area safely tucked away from the volcano. They’re following more than 12,600 villagers who have moved to emergency shelters since last week, when Mayon began spewing superheated gas and producing heavy ashfall in a sign of a possible major eruption within days or weeks.
“It’s not only people that should be brought to safety but their farm animals too,” Albay provincial veterinarian Manny Victorino told The AP on Sunday. He said authorities were taking steps to avoid a deeper economic impact should the volcano erupt.
In Matnog village in Daraga town, Victorino and his team of veterinarians provided deworming medicine, injected vitamin supplements and punched identifying tags onto the ears of several cows and buffaloes for better monitoring.
The cattle evacuations underscore the government’s dilemma in dealing with threats from about two dozen active volcanoes, led by Mayon, across the sprawling archipelago. Located in the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a region prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, the Philippines is also lashed by about 20 typhoons and storms a year, making the Southeast Asian nation one of the world’s most disaster-prone.
On Sunday morning, throngs of people jogged or biked, joined a group dancing to disco music and walked their dogs in a seaside promenade in Legazpi. The volcano lay hidden in thick clouds at a distance.
A resident, Violeto Peralta, caught attention when he painted an image of Mayon’s explosive eruption on the concrete fence of his roadside house. Passing schoolchildren, he said, will be happy to see his painting as a backdrop for their selfies.
He said that many businesses in the province have grown rich from diverse tourist activities that have sprung from Mayon, including sightseeing tours to gravel and sand that could be found in abundance around the country’s most active volcano.
“We’re not scared of it,” the 76-year-old said. “We’ve learned to live with it.”
KEY LARGO, Fla. A university professor who spent 100 days living underwater at a Florida Keys lodge for scuba divers resurfaced Friday and raised his face to the sun for the first time since March 1.
Dr. Joseph Dituri set a new record for the longest time living underwater without depressurization during his stay at Jules’ Undersea Lodge, submerged beneath 30 feet (9.14 meters) of water in a Key Largo lagoon.
The diving explorer and medical researcher shattered the previous mark of 73 days, two hours and 34 minutes set by two Tennessee professors at the same lodge in 2014.
“It was never about the record,” Dituri said. “It was about extending human tolerance for the underwater world and for an isolated, confined, extreme environment.”
Dituri, who also goes by the moniker “ Dr. Deep Sea,” is a University of South Florida educator who holds a doctorate in biomedical engineering and is a retired U.S. Naval officer.
Guinness World Records listed Dituri as the record holder on its website after his 74th day underwater last month. The Marine Resources Development Foundation, which owns the lodge, will ask Guinness to certify Dituri’s 100-day mark, according to foundation head Ian Koblick.
Dituri’s undertaking, dubbed Project Neptune 100, was organized by the foundation. Unlike a submarine, which uses technology to keep the inside pressure about the same as at the surface, the lodge’s interior is set to match the higher pressure found underwater.
The project aimed to learn more about how the human body and mind respond to extended exposure to extreme pressure and an isolated environment and was designed to benefit ocean researchers and astronauts on future long-term missions.
During the three months and nine days he spent underwater, Dituri conducted daily daily experiments and measurements to monitor how his body responded to the increase in pressure over time.
He also met online with several thousand students from 12 countries, taught a USF course and welcomed more than 60 visitors to the habitat.
“The most gratifying part about this is the interaction with almost 5,000 students and having them care about preserving, protecting and rejuvenating our marine environment,” Dituri said.
He plans to present findings from Project Neptune 100 at November’s World Extreme Medicine Conference in Scotland.
In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, diving explorer and medical researcher Dr. Joseph Dituri, left, basks in the sun Friday, June 9, 2023, after completing a 100-day underwater mission in the Jules’ Undersea Lodge marine habitat at the bottom of a lagoon in Key Largo, Fla. Dituri broke the previous 73-day record for underwater human habitation at ambient pressure, undertook medical and marine science research and interacted online with more than 5,500 students during his Project Neptune 100 mission organized by the Marine Resources Development Foundation. (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)
ANTIPOLO CITY, RIZAL. Isang kahindik-hindik na insidente ang nangyari sa isang ginang na hindi raw maawat sa paggamit ng droga matapos putol-putulin ang kanyang katawan at ilagay sa garbage bag bago itapon sa ilalim ng tulay at sa isang bangin ng kanyang live-in partner sa bayang ito noong Biyernes ng umaga.
Matapos ang dalawang araw na pagkawala, natagpuan ang putol putol katawan ni Lanie Loreta sa National Housing Authority Avenue, Antipolo City.
Ngayon ay nahaharap sa kasong murder si Vince Eric Ramos, 27 anyos, ang itinuturong suspek sa nasabing krimen.
Ayon kay Lt. Col. June Paolo Abrazado, hepe ng pulisya Antipolo City Police Station, ang mga braso at hita ni Loreta ay pinagtataga at pinutol bago ito isinilid ng kanyang live-in partner sa isang trash bag na natagpuan ng mga basurero sa Brgy. Dela Paz alas-11:50 ng umaga.
Sinabi ni Abrazado na ang mga labi ng biktima ay kinilala ng kanyang tiyahin na si Leoniza Mateo sa pamamagitan ng tattoo, na siyang nagpapahiwatig na ito ang nawawala niyang pamangkin.
Nakita naman ang iba pang bahagi ng katawan ng biktima sa isang bangin malapit sa daan sa Boso-bosa, Brgy. San Jose, na nasa 10.2 kilometro ang layo mula sa lugar kung saan natagpuan ang unang garbage bag.
Sa unang pahayag, sinabi ng suspek na hindi na raw nakabalik ang biktima sa kanilang tahanan matapos siyang ibaba sa Cogeo Gate 2 at magpunta sa isang mall para makipagkita sa isang taong may alias na “Ate” noong Miyerkules bandang alas-8 ng gabi.
Gayunpaman, matapos ang masusing imbestigasyon ng pulisya, lumabas na ito ay pawang imbento lamang ng suspek, kaya’t siya ay agad na inaresto noong araw na iyon matapos siyang imbitahan muli sa istasyon ng pulisya.
Sa pag-uusap nila, umamin umano ang suspek sa karumal-dumal na krimen, na sinasabing bunga ng kanyang matinding galit sa biktima na hindi tumigil sa paggamit ng droga.
Ang biktima ay dating nakulong sa Antipolo Police Station dahil sa kasong illegal drugs kasama ang kanyang ka-partner na naaresto rin sa parehong kaso.
Sinisikap ng pulisya na mabigyan ng katarungan ang pagkamatay ni Lanie Loreta.
Nilinaw ng Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) na ang sabay-sabay na pag-alburuto ng tatlong bulkan sa bansa ay nagkataon lamang at hindi magkakaugnay.
Sa isang pampublikong briefing, sinabi ni Phivolcs OIC Director Teresito Bacolcol na ang mga kasalukuyang aktibidad ng mga bulkang Mayon, Taal, at Kanlaon ay “magkakaiba at independiente sa isa’t isa.”
“Mayroon tayong 24 na aktibong bulkan at palaging may ganitong posibilidad na sabay-sabay na maging restive. Again, nagkataon lang po ito. Coincidence na may tatlong bulkan na sabay-sabay [na naging restive],” giit pa ng kalihim.
Kasalukuyang mahigpit na binabantayan ng Phivolcs ang tatlong nababagabag na bulkan—Mayon Volcano sa Albay, Taal Volcano sa Batangas, at Kanlaon Volcano sa Negros Island.
Nakataas ang alert level 3 sa Mayon mula Hunyo 8, 2023, alert level 1 para sa Taal mula Abril 9, 2022, at alert level 1 para sa Kanlaon mula Marso 11, 2020.
Sa kasalukuyan, pinapayuhan ng Phivolcs ang publiko na manatiling alerto at sundin ang mga patakaran at abiso ng lokal na pamahalaan at ahensya ng pagbabantay sa bulkan.
Ang mga residente malapit sa mga nabanggit na bulkan ay hinimok na maging handa sa posibleng pagsabog ng mga ito at sundin ang mga evacuation protocols kung kinakailangan.
Ipinapaalala rin ng Phivolcs na ang pag-aaral at pagpaplano ng mga lokal na pamahalaan sa hazard zones ay mahalaga upang maprotektahan ang mga residente at mapanatiling ligtas ang mga komunidad sa mga posibleng panganib dulot ng pag-aalburuto ng mga bulkan.
Sa kasalukuyan, wala pang ulat ng mga pinsala o insidente dahil sa mga pag-alburuto ng mga nababagabag na bulkan, subalit patuloy pa rin ang monitoro at pag-aaral ng mga eksperto ng Phivolcs upang masiguro ang kaligtasan ng publiko.
Hinahangad ng Phivolcs na patuloy na magsilbi bilang gabay at mapagtibay ang kaalaman ng publiko tungkol sa mga bulkan at iba pang natural na panganib upang mapalawig ang kamalayan at paghahanda ng mga Pilipino sa mga ganitong sitwasyon.
ROME. Pope Francis, “wisely” following doctors’ advice, will skip Sunday’s customary public blessing to allow himself to better heal after abdominal surgery earlier this week, his surgeon told reporters.
Blood and imaging tests indicate that the 86-year-old pope’s recovery is proceeding in an “absolutely normal” manner, Sergio Alfieri, who operated on the pontiff, also told reporters on Saturday at Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome.
During the three-hour-long operation on Wednesday, using general anesthesia, doctors removed increasingly painful scarring that resulted from previous abdominal surgeries as well as repaired a hernia in the abdominal wall, with the insertion of a prosthetic support netting, or mesh.
Alfieri said while Francis’ recovery has been medically uneventful, any extra physical exertion, like rising from bed to move to an armchair to recite the traditional Sunday noon blessing and commentary to the public through a video link, could be risky at this point.
While the Vatican said earlier in the week that Francis had occasionally been sitting in a chair to read newspapers, the weekly noon appointment customarily involves the pope speaking to the public for about 15 minutes and giving his blessing.
Advice by his doctors and the pope’s trusted Vatican nurse to forgo the Sunday appearance is aimed at achieving “the least strain on the abdominal wall in order to allow the implanted mesh and the muscle fascia repaired to heal optimally,″ Alfieri said.
“In the next few days, if he’s not careful about healing, the netting could tear and he’ll be back in the operating room,” the surgeon said.
“If he has a careful recovery, he’ll be back better” than before at the Vatican, Alfieri said. “It’s prudence that we suggested and that he wisely accepted.”
Francis has graduated from a liquid to a semiliquid diet and had no fever, according to his medical staff.
His cardiac and respiratory status was also fine, Alfieri said in his first medical briefing on the pontiff’s condition since the one he gave Wednesday shortly after the pope came round from the anesthetic.
“For his age, 86, he doesn’t have pathologies” regarding his heart or respiratory systems, Alfieri said in response to a reporter’s question.
Francis will recite the traditional Sunday noon prayer privately in his hospital room, and faithful are encouraged to join in the prayer, Bruni said.
While praying privately, Francis will unite “spiritually, with affection and gratitude, to the faithful who want to accompany him, wherever they are” in prayer, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a separate, written statement.
Meanwhile, thousands of people turned out in St. Peter’s Square for a gathering to promote the value of brotherhood — a quality so dear to Francis that he wrote an encyclical on its importance in 2020.
But since Francis couldn’t speak to them, a cardinal read out the pontiff’s speech, which acknowledged his absence.
“Even though I am unable to greet you in person, I would like to welcome and thank you wholeheartedly for coming,″ the prepared speech began. Those listening heard a reminder from Francis that there is ”the possibility of being brothers and sisters even when we are not close, as has happened to me.”
Francis is convalescing in the 10th-floor apartment reserved for papal use at Gemelli Polyclinic.
No date has yet been announced for his release from the hospital.
“We hope we will convince him to stay at least the whole next week,″ Alfieri said on Saturday.
Alfieri said by opting to spend more of his convalescence in the hospital instead of leaving after a handful of days, the pope can return “to his work with more strength and safety.”
Alfieri recalled his remarks, hours after the surgery, that Francis had experienced no complications during the surgery or from the general anesthesia.
During the operation, the surgical team removed adhesions, a kind of internal scarring not infrequent after previous surgery. Two years earlier, Francis had part of his colon removed following a narrowing of a section of the bowel. The hernia that was repaired had formed over a previous scar.
Alfieri had performed the 2021 bowel surgery as well. When he operated this time, “I found the same scars I found two years ago,” the surgeon said Saturday. “Then they weren’t causing symptoms.” But in the time since, the adhesions were increasingly causing pain.
Post-surgery, Francis “doesn’t have much pain,” Alfieri said, adding that the pontiff was on “bland” anti-pain medication “so he can breathe well.”
Francis has two trips abroad set for August, the first to Portugal, for a Catholic youth jamboree, and then, at the end of that month, to Mongolia, the first-ever pilgrimage by a pontiff to that Asian country.
Asked about the prospects for those strenuous trips given his surgery, Alfieri said the pontiff, “made these calculations” when deciding to go ahead with the June 7 surgery, an indication that Francis felt that the timing of the operation would allow him to stick to his travel plans.
Surgeon Sergio Alfieri, left, listens to pope’s spokeperson Matteo Bruni during a media briefing Saturday, June 10, 2023, about Pope Francis’ health conditions after his operation at Rome’s Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic, on Wednesday. Pope Francis, who underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a hernia in his abdominal wall, is following a careful convalescence which aims at reducing the effort of the abdominal wall, to allow the implanted prosthetic mesh and the repair of the muscular fascia to heal optimally. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Sa isang pahayag ng pinuno ng Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) nitong Biyernes, sinabi niya na maaari namang maglakbay patungong Tagaytay City sa lalawigan ng Batangas at Albay sa kabila ng hindi maayos na kalagayan ng Taal Volcano at Mayon Volcano.
“Safe naman po basta’t nag-iingat tayo sa pamamagitan ng pagsusuot ng face mask. Siguro naman sanay na tayong mag-face mask dahil sa pandemya, kaya’t mag-face mask po tayo upang maiwasan ang vog o ang tinatawag nating volcanic smog,” ayon kay Teresito Bacolcol, officer in charge ng Phivolcs, sa isang pampublikong briefing nang tanungin kung ligtas ba ang paglalakbay sa Tagaytay ngayong mahabang weekend.
Ayon sa kanya, nananatiling nasa Alert Level 1 (abnormal) ang Taal Volcano, ngunit inoobserbahan ang pagtaas ng degassing sa loob ng halos isang linggo.
“Nagdi-disperse ang sulfur dioxide (SO2) sa hangin. Kung ang direksyon ng hangin ay patungo sa hilaga at mataas ang antas ng SO2, maaaring umabot ito sa Tagaytay,” pahayag ni Bacolcol sa Philippine News Agency nang tanungin kung tinutukoy niya ang Tagaytay kahit na matatagpuan ito sa Batangas.
Ang vog ay maliliit na patak na naglalaman ng volcanic gas na maasido at maaaring magdulot ng pagkairita ng mata, lalamunan, at respiratory system depende sa konsentrasyon ng gas at tagal ng pagka-expose dito.
Ang mga plano na bumisita sa Albay sa Bicol Region ay maaaring gawin ito, ngunit hindi dapat pumasok sa anim-na-kilometrong permanent danger zone, ayon kay Bacolcol.
Noong Huwebes, itinaas ng Phivolcs ang alerto ng Mayon Volcano mula sa Alert Level 2 (pagtaas ng hindi maayos na kalagayan) patungo sa Alert Level 3 (pagtaas ng posibilidad ng mapanganib na pagsabog) dahil sa patuloy na pagtaas ng bilang ng mga pagguho ng bato nito.
Sa loob ng 24 oras mula 5 a.m. ng Huwebes hanggang 5 a.m. ng Biyernes, naitala ang kabuuang bilang na 109 pagguho ng bato sa Mayon. Dagdag pa niya, anim na pyroclastic density current na tumagal ng apat hanggang limang minuto rin ang naobserbahan.
“Nakita rin kagabi ang liwanag mula sa kawalan ng bukál. Ibig sabihin, may labis na init na nagmumula sa loob ng bukál,” pahayag ni Bacolcol.
Kung sakaling kailanganin itaas ang alerto ng Mayon Volcano sa Alert Level 4, sinabi ni Bacolcol na ang permanent danger zone ay papalawigin hanggang walong kilometro na radius.
Samantala, ipinaalala ni Bacolcol sa publiko na huwag pumasok sa anim-kilometrong permanent danger zone sa Mayon, pati na rin sa Taal Volcano Island (TVI).
“Huwag pumasok sa TVI dahil ang SO2 ay nakamamatay. Mayroon ding carbon dioxide na katulad ng SO2,” ayon sa kanya.
HONG KONG. Two giant inflatable ducks made a splash in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor on Friday, marking the return of a pop-art project that sparked a frenzy in the city a decade ago.
The two 18-meter-tall yellow ducks by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman resemble the bath toys many played with in their childhood. Shortly after their launch, dozens of residents and tourists flocked to the promenade near the government headquarters in Admiralty to snap photos of the ducks.
Hofman said he hopes the art exhibition brings joy to the city and connects people as they make memories together.
“Double duck, double luck,” he said. “In a world where we suffered from a pandemic, wars and political situations, I think it is the right moment to bring back the double luck.”
The inflatable ducks will stay in Hong Kong for about two weeks.
Many Hong Kongers at the promenade recalled the happiness his work brought to the shopping district of Tsim Sha Tsui in 2013. Some were excited to see a pair of ducks on Friday instead of just one duck like the earlier exhibition.
Among the visitors was artist Laurence Lai, who brought paint brushes to make watercolors of the ducks. Lai said the city was full of negative vibes in recent years during the COVID-19 pandemic and that it’s time for the city to move on.
“With life returning to normal, the ducks can bring back some positivity,” the 50-year-old said.
Shenzhen resident Eva Yang and her young daughters were also happy to see the ducks, saying they made their sightseeing in Hong Kong more memorable.
“They’re spectacular,” Yang said.
In 2013, residents and tourists packed streets near the Tsim Sha Tsui pier to catch a glimpse of Hofman’s duck.
That duck’s stint in Hong Kong unintentionally turned political on the social media platform Weibo around the anniversary of Beijing’s Tiananmen crackdown in 1989. Chinese censors blocked searches for the term “big yellow duck” after netizens shared an image in which the tanks in the iconic “ Tank man” image were replaced with a line of oversized giant rubber ducks.
Hofman’s rubber ducks have been on a world tour since 2007.
An art installation called “Double Ducks” by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman is seen at Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, Friday, June 9, 2023. Two giant inflatable ducks made a splash in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor on Friday, marking the return of a pop-art project that sparked a frenzy in the city a decade ago. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
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