War games ‘reformat’ eyed By John Paolo Bencito
VOL. XXX • NO. 322 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2016 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph
DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Friday that Manila could “reformat” its military engagements with the United States to appease China. “We need to reformat the land exercises in Fort Magsaysay. Nevertheless they will continue. But those
exercises fronting the [South] China Sea, we’ll transfer it to Mindanao so that our neighbors won’t get pissed off. It’s also [being] sensitive to our neighbors,” Lorenzana said. The defense chief said the idea to move the war games was on the Philippines’ own initiative and not at Beijing’s request. Next page
Terror alliance bared DND chief links Maute, BIFF to bombing plots By John Paolo Bencito
D
EFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Friday linked two recent bomb attacks to the terrorist Maute group and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, saying they had formed a tactical alliance to spread terror.
ICONIC CEREMONY. President Rodrigo Duterte, with former president and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Defense Sec-
retary Delfin Lorenzana, Special Assistant to the President Christpher Go, National Historical Commission acting chairman and commissioner Dr. Rene Escalante and other government officials, leads the traditional flag-raising rites Friday morning during the 120th anniversary of Jose Rizal’s martyrdom at the Luneta.
Be willing heroes, emulate Rizal—Du30 PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Friday called on Filipinos to be “willing heroes” and emulate the life and works of Dr. Jose Rizal whose martyrdom the nation commemorated on Friday. “As our nation undergoes a significant phase of soci-
etal development and economic growth, a period of national unity that calls for the cooperation, patience and sacrifice of our people is necessary,” Duterte said in his Rizal Day message. “Each of us should manifest the same fervor and dedi-
cation that moved and motivated Jose Rizal to action. Let us therefore emulate the traits of Rizal; let us be willing heroes: patriotic, faithful and loyal to our motherland.” Duterte made his statement even as Senator Leila de Lima asked: “How many more lives
must be sacrificed before the people act and put an end to violence in the society?” Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada appeared in public early Friday to attend Rizal’s 120th death anniversary together with Duterte. He made his appearance
days after he was hospitalized for overfatigue. “As in his time, the country is still fighting for independence. But today, we are fighting for freedom from the bondage of poverty, crime, illegal drugs and corruption,” Duterte said. Next page
Rody on opioid: Felt like paradise
Who had the worst in 2016?
By John Paolo Bencito
By David Tweed IN A year dominated by Brexit and Donald Trump’s shock US election win, Asia felt like a relatively stable part of the world. A closer look shows that the region endured its own seismic events in 2016, from a Philippine leader embracing China to massive street protests in Seoul to the elimination of 86 percent of India’s hard currency. Here we look at how key leaders performed. They are listed in order of the size of their economy. Chinese President Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, 63, further consolidated power in 2016 after Communist Party leaders declared him the “core,” a designation that strengthens his hand ahead of a twice-a-decade power reshuffle in late 2017. Xi also shone internationally, hosting G-20 leaders for the first time and positioning China as a leading advocate for free trade and the fight against climate change in the wake of Trump’s election win. Biggest challenge in 2017: Responding to Trump’s tougher
SURROGATE SOUND. Barangay Proj. 6 officials and residents in Quezon City flaunt their alternative noise instruments, mostly from recycled materials, to welcome 2017 in a safe and non-toxic manner as suggested by the Ecowaste Coalition. Manny Palmero
Mum’s the word on ‘silent donor’ By John Paolo Bencito
By Rey E. Requejo
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China may help ease traffic By John Paolo Bencito slammed Congress for lem], not even me pernot giving Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade the budget to solve the problem. “Nobody but nobody can solve the traffic [probtwitter.com/ MlaStandard
sonally if we don’t have money to spend for a new infrastructure,” Duterte said. “It could be a railway, Next page
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PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte described using an entire fetanyl patch to relieve his spinal pains as being “in paradise.” In a TV5 interview, Duterte said he was supposed to use only a fourth of a patch with the opioid painkiller but mistakenly used the whole thing. “I made a mistake and put on the whole patch,” Duterte said in Filipino. “The feeling was great. You have never been to paradise but I’ve been there. It was like paradise when I used the fetanyl patch.” Duterte described his level of spinal pain as a six on a scale of 10 when he was given a prescription of the pain reliever, which is said to be between 50 and100 times more powerful than morphine and faster-acting than heroin. The drug, often prescribed for cancer pain and other chronic ailments, was prescribed to Duterte following a spinal injury from previous motorcycle accidents. He said, however, that his doctor made him stop using it on learning he was “abusing the drug” by using more than the prescribed patches. “You know, if you’re lying to me, you better look for another doctor,” Duterte said, quoting Next page his doctor.
Seven shortlisted for CA vacancy
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Friday sidestepped the question on who was the millionaire who gave him campaign contributions during the May elections. In a television interview, Duterte was asked who the politician was who gave him lots of
Next page
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said China could help solve the traffic congestion in Metro Manila and
Speaking on the sidelines of the Rizal Day commemoration at Luneta, Lorenzana said the explosion in Leyte Thursday could have been carried out to divert the government’s intensified military operations against these groups. “We have this suspicion that the Maute and the BIFF, had this sort of an alliance. Maybe they’re sharing the technology in bomb making,” Lorenzana told the Manila Standard. “It’s a tactical alliance wherein the two groups are helping each other,” he added. Lorenzana said materials used in making the improvised exposive devices could have come from the BIFF. “It’s not farfetched because their home bases-Lanao and Maguindanao are very near. Some members of the Maute group are from Maguindanao, so that’s the connection maybe,” he added. The Maute group was said to be behind the Davao City night market bombing last September that killed 15 people and wounded 70 others. President Rodrigo Duterte linked these attacks and the Christmas Eve bombing in Midsayap to the Islamic State. “The ISIS seems to be everywhere. Samal, there was an explosion. In Midsayap, while the priest was giving a sermon on extrajudicial killings, his church was bombed,” Duterte told an online news service. Next page
CREDULOUS BELIEFS. Round fruits are hawked at the Balintawak mar-
ket to welcome 2017, with some Filipinos, encouraged by business-minded people, believing that preparing 12 different round fruits on the New Year’s Eve table will bring luck and fortune to the family. Manny Palmero
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THE Judicial and Bar Council has submitted to Malacañang a shortlist of the nominees for the seat in the Court of Appeals vacated by Associate Justice Agnes Reyes-Carpio, who reached her mandatory retirement age of 70 on Dec. 1. In a Dec. 2 transmittal letter to President Rodrigo Duterte, the seven-member council endorsed the nomination of Iligan Regional Trial Court Judge Anisah Amanodin-Umpa, the lone Muslim applicant to the post vacated by Carpio. She is the mother-in-law of Davao City Mayor Sarah Duterte, wife Next page of Carpio’s son Manases.
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