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PUMP PRICES SOAR TO P70/LITER IN PALAWAN By Alena Mae S. Flores TRAIN ROLL. Merchants (far left and above right) prepare their stocks of basic staple at the San Andres public market in Manila which are expected to increase prices under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law. The Department of Energy Oil Industry Management Bureau (below right), meanwhile, has lined up 13 gasoline stations in Mandaluyong and Pasig for inspection of fuel quality and quantity. Collecting the fuel samples is OIMB senior science research specialist Lovely Miranda. Ey Acasio, DoE Photo
MOTORISTS and other consumers in the provinces probably don’t have much sympathy for Metro Manila residents who are still groaning from at least eight increases in the prices of petroleum products over the last two months. Pump prices for premium gasoline just hit P70 a liter in El Nido, Palawan on Wednesday, with regular gasoline going from P64 to P67 a pop in Baguio City, diesel costing from P48 to just under P50 in Bohol, and kerosene crossing the P51 barrier elsewhere. Those prices are as much as P12 higher—for gasoline at least—than in gas stations across the National Capital Region, Manila Standard research showed. This developed as the Energy department has assured it will recommend the suspension of the excise tax on fuel for the second tranche of the tax reform package proposed by the government, once world oil prices hit the three-month average of $80 per barrel. Acting on a directive from Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, the Department of Energy’s Oil Industry Management Bureau yesterday started a series of random inspection of fuel
DUBAI CRUDE OIL
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$80/BARREL FOR 3 MONTHS
(TRIGGER PRICE FOR EXCISE TAX SUSPENSION)
$68.22/BARREL
AVERAGE PRICE (MARCH 18 - MAY 18) *SOURCE: DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
VOL. XXXII • NO. 98 • 3 SECTIONS 18 PAGES • P18 • THURSDAY,, MAY 24, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net
Narco cops, soldiers next
Rody’s drug war targets scalawags in uniform By Vito Barcelo
T
HE government’s war on drugs will now focus on military and police personnel linked to the illegal narcotics trade, President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday night.
CLOSER LOOK. President Rodrigo Duterte uses the binoculars to get a closer look at the fleet review of the Philippine Navy’s naval surface and air assets during their 20th anniversary at the bayside Coconut Palace on Tuesday. Malacañang Photo
Sotto’s slip shows on late night TV NEWLY elected Senate President Vicente Sotto III, only a day after he was chosen by majority of his colleagues to lead the chamber, quickly stood up to sweep aside criticisms on his leadership ability for the new post and the “Bayang Magiliw” slip. Next page
“Drugs destroy the nation, period. And the drug war will include the military and the police,” the President said in a speech during the 120th anniversary of the Philippine Navy. The President admitted that the government was partly to blame for failing to do complete background checks when recruiting military and police personnel. “There’s a number of them who are really corrupt and are really criminals, but who maneuvered somehow to get into the service,” Duterte said, vowing to get rid of those linked to drugs. The President has drawn intense criticism over his bloody drug war, which has claimed the lives of more than 4,000 suspected drug pushers and users. Metro Manila police chief Camilo Cascolan, meanwhile, urged residents to stay vigilant and continue to help the government and police in the campaign against crime, particularly in the fight against drug trafficking. Cascolan made the appeal after police in Pasay City killed a suspected drug pusher. Police said the suspect, Aries Lumanlan, 22, tried to shoot it out with them when he was about to be arrested in his house on 35 Saint Cecille Street, Maricaban, Pasay City. Cascolan said Lumanlan was a member of the Batang City Jail gang and was reputed to be a notorius drug pusher in the Next page neighborhood.
Du30’s daughter had Dengvaxia dose By Vito Barcelo, Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter Veronica, 14, and his grandchild Sabina, 11, were injected with the antidengue vaccine Dengvaxia under the controversial P3.5-billion school immunization program initiated by the Aquino administration, a top Palace official said Wednesday. The President’s daughter-in-law January also received a shot, said Special Assistant to the President Cristopher Go. Go said they are still finding out if the three members of the presiden-
tial family have experienced the negative effects of the vaccine. The Department of Health suspended the Dengvaxia program in December 2016 after its manufacturer, Sanofi, announced that the vaccine could increase the risk of severe dengue in people who had not contracted the disease in the past. As of May 15, 2018, 87 children vaccinated with Dengvaxia have died. Of these, 11 died of dengue, but the government has yet to establish that Dengvaxia caused the death of these children. Duterte has ordered the creation of an independent panel of experts to look into the controversy following conflicting official reports on deaths allegedly caused by Next page Dengvaxia.
SM CARES WINS INT’L AWARD. Marissa fernan, vice president of SM Prime Holdings, receives the ICSC Foundation Albert Sussman International Community Support Award from Scott Harris, ICSC managing director of Asia-Pacific at the awarding ceremonies in Las Vegas on May 20. The award recognized SM Prime’s pioneering housing project for survivors of Super Typhoon ‘Yolanda.’ SM Prime executive committee chairman Hans T. Sy spearheaded the SM Cares Housing Project in which a total of 1,000 shelter units were donated in areas heavily struck by the super typhoon in Central Visayas.
LRT1 fare hike fueled by greed, lawmakers fume By Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta
Veronica Duterte
Marawi rehab: Mayor insists on bomb-clearing operations By Maricel V. Cruz, Joel E. Zurbano and Sara Susanne D. Fabunan REHABILITATION work on ground zero in the battle for Marawi City has yet to begin one year after the siege began, but could start next month after clearing operations are completed, the city’s mayor said Wednesday. In an interview with radio dzBB, Marawi City Mayor Majul Gandamra said the lives of his constituents were slowly returning to normal, except for 24 barangays that were at the center of the battle in which gov-
ernment troops fought to oust Maute group rebels. There, troops were still clearing the area of explosives and materiel, Gandamra said. Gandamra was at the rites to mark the first anniversary of the Marawi siege that began May 23, 2017, and that ended five months later, on Oct. 23, 2017. He said he hopedd rehabilitation could begin in the main battle area by early June. In Congress, Lanao del Sur Rep. Mauyag Papandayan Jr., chairman of the House committee on Muslim affairs, criticized Task Force Bangon Marawi for its “vague” Next page rehabilitation plan.
A LAWMAKER on Wednesday described as “greedily insensitive and grossly unwarranted” the P5-to-P7 fare increase at the Light Rail Transit 1 being proposed by the Light Rail Manila Corporation. Rep. Carlos Zarate, a member of the Makabayan Bloc, said his group will oppose the proposal all the way. “This proposed fare hike will be an added burden to the public, and we must all oppose it,” Next page Zarate said.