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WINDSOR—Prince Charles will were under way on the eve of the be the one to walk Meghan Markle royal wedding. down the aisle when she marries his The bride had initially hoped her son Prince Harry, palace officials father Thomas Markle would take said Friday as final preparations Next page
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ROYALS ALL SET FOR THE BIG DAY
VOL. XXXII • NO. 93 • 3 SECTIONS 18 PAGES • P18 • SATURDAY,, MAY 19, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net
A peek into nature’s gifts By Nickie Wang Indian painter Jagjot Singh Rubal touches up his painting of Prince Harry (L) and Meghan Markle ahead of their royal wedding, which will take place on May 19 at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, in Amritsar. AFP
Hottest spot: Cabanatuan 39.8 0 C
Palace mocks Sereno: She’s grandstanding By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan
By Jimbo Gulle
CRISIS OF TRUTH. Manila’s Archbishop, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, on Friday calls on priests and the laity to stand up to what he calls ‘crisis of truth’ where the country of 106 million people is in right now during the Catholic Church’s celebration of ‘Solemnity of the Ascension.’ In his circular letter, Tagle said ‘It is almost impossible for us ordinary citizens to know which news is true and which is fake.’
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LP-allied group member seeks to disbar Calida By Rey E. Requejo
“DISBARMENT is definitely an option” against Solicitor General Jose Calida on the basis of an alleged illicit affair and questions about a familyowned security agency, a group said Friday. “If Calida doesn’t hold up under scrutiny, then definitely disbarment is an option,” Jocelyn Nisperos-Acosta, a member of The Silent Majority that is allied with the Liberal Party, said in front of the Office of the Solicitor General in Makati. In a letter she sent to the Office of the Solicitor General, Acosta also asked Calida to make public his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth to prove his integrity. She demanded that Calida show the public he had more integrity than ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. In other developments: * The Judicial and Bar Council will Next page
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‘Crisis of truth’ alarms Church
NEWS A2
THE opposition’s plan to turn ousted chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno as a rallying point speaks of its desperation and could backfire because of her low approval rating, the Palace said Friday. “My feeling is the opposition is desperate,” said presidential spokesman Harry Roque, speaking in Filipino. “They’re looking for a rallying figure and they chose the chief justice.” “This is a big mistake because if we are to believe all the surveys, the people do not trust her and her approval ratings are so low,” he continued. Sereno was ousted last week as chief justice after the Supreme Court voted 8-6 to grant the quo warranto petition against her, finding her unqualified for the position because she failed to file her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth—a failure that nine justices believed was a violation of the Constitution. “If she is the rallying figure for the opposition, they’re doomed,” he added. On Thursday, Sereno challenged
HUNDREDS of visitors flocked to the National Museum of Natural History in Rizal Park when it opened its door to the
public on Friday morning coinciding with the celebration of International Museum Day. Visitors, mostly students, lined up to get a glimpse of
TREE OF LIFE. The skeletal remains and replica of ‘Lolong,’ the world’s erstwhile biggest crocodile in captivity (below) are among those on display at the government’s National Museum of Natural History in Manila (left), the building formerly occupied by the Department of Tourism within the sprawling bayside Rizal Park near the Agrifina Circle. It has been recently renovated to house the museum and showcase the history of the Philippines. Ey Acasio
35 former PTA execs sued over Boracay sewage THIRTY-FIVE officials of the former Philippine Tourism Authority—including former Tourism secretaries Wanda Teo and Ramon Jimenez and a slew of current Cabinet officials— have been sued before the Office of the Ombudsman for the supposedly anomalous water and sewerage system agreement for Boracay Island. The officials include former PTA general manager Mark Lapid and executives appointed under the administrations of President Rodrigo Duterte and former President Benigno Aquino III. Next page
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EADERS of the Catholic Archdiocese of Manila on Friday said the country is facing a “crisis of truth” and called for 12 days of prayer and fasting starting May 20, adding it was “almost impossible” for ordinary citizens to know which news is true or fake at present. Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo believes this crisis has reached “alarming” levels, as Filipinos and the public were already confusing the truth with the extent of misleading news going around. This came a day after Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, in a circular letter ahead of the Catholic Solemnity of the Ascension released to the media on Thursday, said the crisis of truth “has sown seeds of suspicion, mistrust and fragmentation” across the country. “Experts in the constitution give us conflicting interpretation of basic questions of the law. Partisan politics has turned into political ‘tribalization.’ The common good is one of the first casualties,” Tagle said. His comments came a week after the Supreme Court unseated Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno by upholding a quo warranto petition filed by the Solicitor General, a move that was largely criticized by Christian groups across the country. The Palace and ranking government officials had yet to react to the Catholic leader’s comments as of press time. Pabillo said Tagle’s message echoed that of Pope Francis on the 52nd World Communication Day on May 10, entitled “The Truth Will Set You Free: Journalism and Fake News for Peace.” “The false news is spreading, so people are confused as to how we can make it clear. Let us clarify these Next page events for the sake of our faithful,” he said.
Imee on PCGG abolition: ‘Long overdue’ ILOCOS Norte Gov. Imee Marcos on Friday welcomed the House of Representatives’ approval of a bill abolishing the Presidential Commission on Good Government, the agency tasked to recover the billions of dollars plundered by her father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. She said the bill’s approval was a “welcome development,” and that it was long overdue because the agency was supposed to exist for only a year. Earlier this week, lawmakers approved House Bill 7376 or the proposed “Office of the Solicitor General Charter” on final reading. It seeks to abolish the PCGG and the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel and to put the two agen-
cies under the Office of the Solicitor General. A counterpart bill from the Senate needs to be passed for the measure to be forwarded for bicameral consultations. A consolidated bill must then be finalized. “President [Corazon] Aquino’s law says the PCGG should only last for a year. Why it lasted for more than 30 years is really a mystery,” Marcos said. Still, there is no mention of the PCGG’s one-year existence in the executive order of the late President Corazon Aquino that created the agency. “We don’t even know where the sequestered properties of the supposed cronies that they claim are,” Next page GOVERNOR IMEE MARCOS Marcos said.