DFA TRIES NEW TACK IN KUWAIT
VOL. XXXII • NO. 80 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • SUNDAY, MAY 6, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net
By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan
THE Department of Foreign Affairs is taking a “three-pronged approach” in dealing with the diplomatic crisis in Kuwait, stressing the four officials holed up inside the Philippine embassy there were safe but with “limited movement.” Refusing to name the foreign officials stuck inside the embassy, Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said the agency was pushing for a 24/7 hotline to the ministry and the police in handling the welfare of the 260,000 overseas Filipino workers there. “Right now, the people who are there are doing very well,” Cayetano said. “But their families are informed, and we’re doing everything. Turn to A2
SERENO WANTS 6 JUSTICES OUT OF HER CASE By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan
WORLDWIDE WALK. Members of the Iglesia ni Cristo religious sect gear up along Roxas Boulevard and Quirino Grandstand near Manila Bay for their second Worldwide Walk to fight poverty, a charity walk that will be held simultaneously today in 358 sites in 44 different countries across 18 time zones. The first Worldwide Walk organized by the INC was in 2014 and was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest charity walk across multiple venues held in 24 hours, with 519,221 participants in 129 sites located in 16 countries. Ey Acasio
DUTERTE TO ASSERT PH WIN IN SEA ROW By Vito Barcelo and Maricel Cruz
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RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said he would assert the Philippines’ victory in an international court before his term ends in 2020 to get back the territory now occupied by China, as he blamed former President Benigno Aquino III and the United States for their failure to stop China from occupying and militarizing the disputed South China Sea some eight years ago. “Before my term ends, I will have to demand to talk about this arbitration. I cannot let my administration pass without really insisting
because I am doing it for my country. I am not doing it for myself,” the President said in his speech during the 37th Philippine Principals
Training and Development Program and National Board Conference in Davao City on Friday. In related developments: • An opposition lawmaker on Saturday urged Malacañang to safeguard the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Philippines as provided in its published National Security Policy for 2017-2022. Magdalo Party-list Rep. Gary Alejano made the call following overt militarization efforts of China in the South China Sea with installation of missiles as the most recent one. Alejano noted that since 2016, the Duterte administration had shifted to China instead of pursuing a genuine ‘independent for-
eign policy’. “When Duterte sidelined the favorable ruling of the UN arbitral tribunal, we know this so-called independent foreign policy is a farce,” Alejano said. • China should strictly abide by international law if it wants to become a superpower and have claims on the disputed South China Sea, UP political science professor Dr. Clarita Carlos said Saturday. Carlos said the Philippines used to seek assistance from the US on the disputed seas, but with US President Donald Trump challenging China’s territorial waters and air space as well, Philippines has been put on the sidelines. Turn to A2
CHIEF Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Saturday sought the inhibition of a Supreme Court magistrate whom she accused of faith-shaming her during the April 10 oral arguments on the quo warranto petition filed against her by Solicitor General Jose Calida. In a pleading filed with the Supreme Court, Sereno said Associate Justice Samuel Martires showed actual bias against her after he insinuated that her pervasive faith in God could be a sign of mental illness. “The Chief Justice, with due respect, has reasonable grounds to believe that the Hon. Associate Justice Samuel R. Martires has manifested actual bias against her which should disqualify him from participating in these proceedings,” Sereno said, citing Canon 3, Turn to A2
JURADO STARTS COLUMN IN OP-ED SECTION ERIC JURADO begins his column, “From Where I Stand,” this week at the opinion section of Manila Standard. His column will appear every Sunday and Friday. He has been a contributor to the section’s “Everyman” column since January. Jurado is managing director of an investment office and advisory firm and holds an MBA from the Southern New Hampshire University Graduate School of Business.
TEO COUPLE TOLD: CHOOSE WHO TO QUIT TOURISM JOB
By Vito Barcelo
MALACAÑANG said Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo or her husband, Roberto U. Teo, a member of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority’s (Tieza) board of directors, should answer whether one of them should resign out of delicadeza. This, amid controversies on the P60-million advertisement deal between the Department of Tourism and the governmentrun Channel 4, registered as People’s Television Network Inc. or People’s Television 4. In a statement, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea was also conducting an investigation of all government officials linked to the controversial advertisement entered between the DoT and Teo’s two brothers, Ben and Erwin Tulfo. Roque also said that the Office of the Ombudsman was conducting a separate investigation. “Delicadeza is addressed to the public office concerns. So it’s not for me to answer that. I do not know if her husband is in Tieza. And I do not know because there are reports that he was there during the time of previous administrations,” the Palace official said. Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar, who oversees PTV-4 , was also included in the probe. “It would be an investigation that would cover everyone... It is being investigated by the Office of the President,” Roque earlier said. He said President Rodrigo Duterte was aware of the controversy and had ordered the investigation. The Palace spokesperson said an investigation was being conducted by the Executive Secretary, saying “so the Executive Secretary will probably submit his recommendations to the President.” Turn to A2 twitter.com/ MlaStandard
HOUSE BILL SILENCES KARAOKE
By Maricel V. Cruz
HELPLESS MAN. A man watches helplessly as lava comes out from a fissure in Leilani Estates subdivision on Hawaii’s Big Island on May 4. Up to 10,000 people have been asked to leave their homes on the Big Island following the eruption of the Kilauea volcano that came after a series of earthquakes. (Related stories on A2, A6) AFP
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THE House of Representatives has backed a measure prohibiting the use of videoke and karaoke systems in residential areas. Rep. Angelina Tan of Quezon, author of House Bill 1035, welcomed the House committee on public order and safety’s creation of a technical working group that will draft the final version of the bill addressing noise pollution and unnecessary disturbances to the public produced by sound amplifying equipment in residential areas. Turn to A2
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