Manila Standard - 2017 January 04 - Wednesday by Manila Standard

Russian warships dock in Manila

PIVOTAL ANCHOR. Rear Admiral Eduard Mikhailov (center), deputy commander of the Russian Navy’s Pacific Fleet, speaks during a press briefing with Philippine Navy officers following the arrival of the Admiral Tributs anti-submarine ship in Manila Tuesday. The Russian Navy plans to hold war games with the Philippines following President Rodrigo Duterte’s pivot to Russia. AFP

THE Russian Navy said Tuesday it was planning to hold war games with the Philippines, as two of its ships made a rare stop in Manila following Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte’s pivot from the United States. Rear Admiral Eduard Mikhailov, the deputy commander of the Russian Navy’s Pacific fleet, said the joint military exercises would focus on maritime piracy and terrorism, which he described as the region’s two top security concerns. “We’re very sure that in the future we’ll get such exercises with you, maybe just the maneuvering or maybe use some combat systems and so on,” Mikhailov told reporters beside the docked Russian destroyer Admiral Tributs. Mikhailov also raised the prospect of joint exercises with China and Malaysia in the South China Sea, where competing territorial claims have been a major source of tension and potential conflict for decades. Next page

Soldiers’ pay hike in 2018 By John Paolo Bencito

VOL. XXX • NO. 326 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2017 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

CONTRARY to President Rodrigo Duterte’s vow to double the salary of soldiers and the police by December 2016, the promised pay hike might be possible only by 2018, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said Tuesday. “As far as the military is concerned,

we will be able to comply with the desire of the President to double their take-home pay by January 2018. Sooner, if we pass the tax reform [measure], because tax reform would mean reducing the personal income tax rate from a maximum of 32 percent to 25 percent,” he said in a Palace brieﬁng. Next page

Trillanes links probed Colonel in drug charges gives up

Du30 is HK mag’s ‘Person of 2016’ HONG KONG’S Yazhou Zhoukan, the “Time Magazine of the Chinese-Speaking World,” has named President Rodrigo Duterte Person of the Year 2016, Malacañang said Tuesday. The magazine included a six-page cover story on Rodrigo Duterte’s journey as the new President of the Philippines and his controversial decisions that allegedly changed the balance of power in Asia in just six months. The Hong Kong-based magazine gave the award to Duterte following the “announcement of his independent foreign policy, his distancing away from the US, and forging closer ties with Next page

By Rey E. Requejo and Florante S. Solmerin THE Justice department has asked a court in Manila to issue a hold-departure order against Marine Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinand Marcelino over his P380million drug case. The department urged the court to issue the order against Marcelino and Yan Yi Shou, his co-accused, to prevent them from ﬂying to another country to avoid prosecution. “The prosecution dreads and believes that both accused may leave the country to escape prosecution and avoid facing up to their liability,” the department said in its appeal. Marcelino on Tuesday surrendered ‘Person of the Year’ by Yazhou Zhoukan, a weekly magazine which claims to be the only international affairs magazine in Chinese circulated in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, on its January 1st issue, citing his role in the change of power balance in Asia.

Black Nazarene to go live on Facebook By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan and Sandy Araneta BLACK Nazarene devotees who cannot join the yearly “traslacion [transfer] of the revered image of Jesus Christ can follow the procession on a live feed on Facebook, the parish priest of Quiapo Church said Tuesday. “We’re entering the world of social media,” said Parish priest

of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene Msgr. Hernando Coronel. “We will try our best.” He said they would not ﬁlter the comments, so that 30-million Filipino Facebook users can watch the procession and exchange opinions. The Black Nazarene procession is one of the country’s biggest religious events with millions of devotees attending every year.

He said they expected 15 million to join the procession barefoot. “If you are ill but your desire to take part in the procession is there, then God knows that already. Filipinos really want to be part of it and have a connection with God,” he said. The church has used Facebook Live to broadcast the Misa de Gallo or night Masses Next page in December.

THE Metro Manila Film Festival on Tuesday announced the withdrawal of the Fernando Poe Jr. Memorial Award given to the controversial ﬁlm “Oro” following complaints that a dog was slaugh-

tered in the movie. “Without making any judgment on the artistic merit of the film or cinematic depiction, the MMFF finds the present controversy on the alleged killing of a dog in the course of the filming of the movie effectively cast doubt on the movie’s ability to exemplify the hutwitter.com/ MlaStandard

HE Justice Department is investigating allegations that Senator Antonio Trillanes IV may have something to do with the threats on the life of Jaybee Sebastian, the inmate who has accused Senator Leila de Lima of taking money from drug lords jailed in the national penitentiary.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II made this disclosure Tuesday after another inmate, Tomas Donina, filed an affidavit saying that a former colleague from the Navy asked him to help silence Sebastian to stop him from speaking against De Lima. Donina stabbed Sebastian during a riot inside the New Bilibid Prison on Sept. 28, 2016, but Sebastian survived the attack. “He [Donina] mentioned the participation of Trillanes and De Lima in his affidavit,” Aguirre said in a media briefing. He did not identify the naval officer who ordered Sebastian’s killing, however. Informed of Aguirre’s claim, Trillanes denied accusations he was involved in the incident. “I categorically deny any involvement in the stabbing incident of JB Sebastian. Why would I even do that?” said Trillanes in a text message to reporters, branding Aguirre’s statement as “totally absurd.” Next page

By John Paolo Bencito, Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta

man and cultural values espoused by the late Fernando Poe Jr.,” the MMFF Executive Committee said in a statement. The committee made its statement even as Senator Grace Poe threatened to invalidate the FPJ award given to the ﬁlm “Oro” if it

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By Rey E. Requejo and Macon R. Araneta

Rody ‘can’t keep SSS promise’ BUDGET Secretary Benjamin Diokno admitted Tuesday that some of the promises candidate Rodrigo Duterte made cannot be kept, now that he is President. Speaking at a Palace brieﬁng, Diokno said it was unfair to hold the President to his campaign promise to raise pension funds by P2,000 a month amid concerns over the viability of the Social Security System. “Candidate Duterte is different from President Duterte. And you see that all over, even worldwide. Candidate Trump is different from President Trump. You promised something that, when you see the data, it’s not doable,” Diokno said.

Filmfest panel takes back ‘Oro’ award By Joel E. Zurbano and Macon Ramos-Araneta

PERSON OF THE YEAR. President Rodrigo Duterte has been named 2016

Witness implicates senator in NBP plot

thestandard.com.ph

PUMP PRICES HIKE. Flying V and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. increased their pump prices Tuesday at the Macapagal Blvd. In Pasay. In an advisory, they said they were increasing gasoline prices by P0.70 per liter and diesel prices by P0.60 per liter. They also hiked kerosene prices by P0.55 per liter. PNA

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