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Lucky Aussie wins lottery twice
Double amputee climbs Mt. Everest
SYDNEY—Talk about lucky. A stunned Sydney man who was celebrating an Australian lottery windfall could not believe it when he won again less than a week later.
KATHMANDU, Nepal—A Chinese climber who lost both legs to frostbite on Everest four decades ago finally reached the summit Monday, just months after the revocation of a controversial ban on double amputee climbers attempting the world’s highest peak. Next page
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VOL. XXXII • NO. 89 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net
Killings mar elections Voters recite litany of problems; Comelec claims success By Francisco Tuyay and Sara Susanne D. Fabunan
T
HIRTY-FIVE people have been killed and 27 others were wounded in 47 separate election-related incidents, police said Monday.
In a press conference in Camp Crame as polls opened for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde said since the start of the election period on April 14, 18 elected government officials, six civilians, four candidates, three former elected officials and two supporters of poll bets have been killed. Albayalde said, however, that only 13 of these deaths have been validated so far as being election-related. During the same period, police reported 47 suspected election-related incidents. Of the 126 suspects in the incidents, 29 were
identified, 82 were unidentified, six were arrested and nine were released from detention. Among the cases under investigation were the shootings involving Daanbantayan Mayor Vicente Loot in Cebu, who survived an ambush, and former La Union Rep. Eufranio Eriguel of La Union, who was killed. Albayalde said that 181,212 personnel assumed election duty as the entire PNP went on nationwide full alert. “As 36,781 polling centers across the country opened at 7 a.m. today, 73,562 PNP personnel manned their respective posts to provide Next page
Duterte skips Monday polls in Davao By F. Pearl Gajunera PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte did not show up to cast his vote for the first barangay (village) and Sangguniang Kabataan elections under his administration on Monday. Supporters waited hours for the President to show in Precinct 899 at the Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School and even brought out the chair on which he sat when he cast his vote during the 2016 presidential elections, but Duterte was a no-show. Jean Villavert, an English teacher at the school, said they preserved the chair Duterte used because of its historic significance. “No one has used the chair after he voted last 2016,” she said. “We put it in a glass located on the second floor of the administrative building. We only brought it out for him, but unfortunately, he did not come.” Alma Doromal, chairman of the Board of Election Tellers, closed the voting at 3 p.m. “We cannot wait for him, unless he is within the vicinity,” she said. “Apparently, he is not around.” Next page
PRESIDENTIAL LEAVE. President Rodrigo Duterte’s chair (above), used by him during the 2016 presidential elections at Precinct 899 at the Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School, is brought out for the Chief Executive for Monday’s polls but he did not show up. Youngsters in Blumentritt, Manila who cast their votes (top right) show their thumbs stained with indelible ink while voters at the Padre Zamora Elementary School (mid photo) in Pasay take their space inside voting precincts. Below right, voters look for their names on the voters list at the Jose Cardones Memorial Elementary School in Barangay South Village in Taguig City. Norman Cruz, Manny Palmero
Pump prices rise Send-off events mark PH Rise research big time: Diesel up by P1.20/liter By Alena Mae S. Flores OIL companies are raising fuel prices by as much as P1.20 a liter effective Tuesday to reflect movements in the global oil market. In a statement, Flying V said it would raise gasoline prices by P1.10 a liter, diesel by P1.20 a liter and kerosene by 95 centavos a liter effective May 15 at 6 a.m. PTT Philippines and Seaoil Philippines also issued price increase advisories, while other oil companies are expected to follow suit. World oil prices have moved up due to ongoing tensions in the Middle East after Iranian forces in Syria fired rockets at Iraeli forces in the Golan Heights. US President Donald Trump also announced last week his administration’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, which further affected world prices. Reports from the US Energy Information Agency that prices of crude oil and gasoline will increase this year further fueled the hike in world prices. The benchmark Brent crude reached $77 per barrel last week. On May 8, the oil firms cut the price of kerosene by P0.60 per liter, gasoline by P0.30 per liter and diesel by P0.30 per liter amid reports of increased drilling activity in the US due to higher crude prices, which could increase global oil supply.
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will grace a series of commemorative activities, including a send-off ceremony on Tuesday that will formally start the marine science research or MSR to be performed by the country’s premier scientists in Philippine Rise. Meanwhile, Efren Carandang, deputy administrator of the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority or NAMRIA, described the successful validation of
the country’s claim to Philippine Rise to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf as “a perpetual legacy.” “[Philippine Rise’s recognition by the UNCLCS] will enrich the national patrimony, aside from demonstrating to the international community of nations the country’s strong determination, capability and political will to assert its rights under international law,” Carandang said. Next page
Vote-buying prevalent—poll body TRAFFIC authorities on Monday stopped several public utility vehicles that were used to transport “flying” voters for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections. In a statement, the Inter-Agency Council for Traffic said two jeepneys carrying voters from Barangay Bagombong in Caloocan City to a barangay in Quezon City Monday morning were flagged down. An out-of-line jeepney traversing the MCU-Divisoria route was
also found carrying passengers who paid P100 each for transport service. The traffic council also stopped a jeepney using a Comelec sign without a permit from the Commission on Elections to use it. “We have verified with Comelec and they told us that they do not hire PUVs to transport voters to polling precincts. We will be preparing our spot report to Comelec for their information and Next page
Top Ivy League College takes Buting Elementary scholar By Bernadette Lunas
Buting Elementary School graduate Janel Perez receives a King Scholarship, a four-year full merit scholarship, from Dartmouth College (left), an Ivy League school in New Hampshire. With her in photo is Zholl Tablante, senior assistant director of admissions at Dartmouth. Sonny Espiritu
“GETTING an Ivy League education is not unattainable for Filipino scholars,” said Zholl Tablante, an admissions officer at Dartmouth College, in an interview with CNN. That is certainly true for Janel Perez, a graduate of Buting Elementary School in Pasig City. She is headed to the Ivy League’s top undergraduate institution—Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, founded in 1769—next school year as a King Scholar. This was no small feat, as Dartmouth, the smallest of all
Ivy League schools by choice, is a highly competitive tight knit community, with an acceptance rate around 8 percent for the Class of 2022—Perez’s batch. As a King Scholar, Perez gets a four-year full merit scholarship that covers her tuition and boarding, travel internships, extensive mentoring, leadership training, and stipend. The King Scholarship is given to low-income students from developing nations who are interested in alleviating poverty in their home countries. Dartmouth is consistently included in the highest-ranked Turn to C1