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HOLD YOUR BREATH. With Meralco scheduled to increase the power rates by 31 centavos per kilowatt hour next August, the company’s linemen go double quick to repair electric pylons along United Nations Avenue in Manila (top left), while a gasoline attendant fills a motorist’s tank with fuel (above) nearby with oil prices soaring like kites in the summer sky. Norman Cruz
VOL. XXXII • NO. 99 • 3 SECTIONS 18 PAGES • P18 • FRIDAY,, MAY 25, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net
Go-Jek sets foray into Grab territory JAKARTA—Indonesian ride-hailing app Go-Jek said Thursday it would expand into Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines as it takes on regional rival Grab in the fast-growing Southeast Asian market. Next page
‘Deadly combination’ Power rates, wage hikes feared By Maricel V. Cruz, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Vito Barcelo
A RIDER ON THE ROLL. A Go-Jek motorcycle taxi driver ferries passengers in Jakarta, Indonesia Thursday. The Indonesian ride-hailing app Go-Jek says it would expand into Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines as it takes on regional rival Grab in the fast-growing Southeast Asian market. AFP
US ‘disinvites’ China from Pacific drills WASHINGTON—The Pentagon has pulled its invitation for China to join maritime exercises in the Pacific because of Beijing’s “continued militarization” of the South China Sea, an official said Wednesday, in the latest sign of US-China strains. China hit back at the decision, calling it “very non-constructive” and saying it was taken without due reflection. Personnel from more than two dozen countries train together and work on seamanship across the vast region for the biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise organized by the US Navy. Next page
LEFTIST lawmaker on Thursday warned of the “deadly combination” of an impending power rate hike and various price increases triggered by the government’s new tax program, even as the country’s largest labor federation pushed for a P157 across-theboard wage hike to help workers cope with rising inflation.
MUSCLED MEN. Workers manually bend the skeletal steel frames of one of the major posts for the Skyway Project 3 at the Quirino Highway in Manila’s Pandacan district. Lino Santos
Parojinog’s brod nabbed in Taiwan By Francisco Tuyay THE fugitive brother of the late Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr., one of the local executives in President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug list, was arrested Wednesday by Taiwanese immigration authorities. Philippine National Police spokesman Chief Supt. John Bulalacao said that Ozamiz City Councilor Ricardo Parojinog, the younger brother of Reynaldo, was arrested in Taiwan for violating immigration laws. “What I can tell you now that is it confirmed that Ardot Parojinog was arrested yesterday [Wednesday] by the Taiwan government for illegal entry,” Bulalacao said, referring to the younger Parojinog
by his nickname. Ardot Parojinog’s arrest came 10 months after he fled Ozamiz City following the death of his brother Reynaldo and his wife Susan and 14 others in a raid by PNP operatives in September last year. President Duterte has offered a P5-million bounty for Ardot’s arrest. Last week, police raided his office and lodging house in Ozamis City and seized a cache of firearms and illegal drugs. The Ozamiz City councilor was being hunted for his alleged involvement in the illegal drugs trade and complicity to other unlawful acts. On Tuesday, a known Parojinog prosecutor, Geronimo Marave Jr., was assassinated. Next page
“Definitely, it is a deadly combination to common Filipinos if the Energy Regulatory Commission approves it,” said Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate, referring to a P1.55 per kilowatt-hour rate hike sought by the Manila Electric Co. and the price increases as a result of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act. In response, the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said it would push for a P157 across-the-board wage increase to enable workers to cope with inflation that continues to reduce their purchasing power. ALU-TUCP National Executive Vice President Gerard Seno urged all 17 regional wage boards nationwide to meet and convene voluntarily and declare the existence of supervening conditions that warrants a granting of across-the-board wage increases nationwide. Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, meanwhile, said there is no need for implementing rules and regulations to suspend the excise tax on gas when the world oil price reaches $80 a barrel,
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PAO: Garin knew of Dengvaxia risks By Rey E. Requejo DESPITE knowing the risks posed by the anti-dengue Dengvaxia vaccine, former Health secretary Janette Garin still proceeded with the immunization program in 2016 that may have led to the deaths and serious illnesses of schoolchildren, the Public Attorney’s Office said Thursday. PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta made this allegation during the continuation of the preliminary investigation by the Justice department on criminal complaints filed against Garin and 35 others for the deaths of at least nine children inoculated with the vaccine. Next page
Airline heiress in trouble for hiring PH maids SEOUL, South Korea—A Korean Air heiress known for a “nut rage” tantrum that sparked national uproar was summoned for questioning Thursday for illegally hiring immigrants to work as maids, the latest scandal to engulf her billionaire family. Next page
Ozamiz City fiscal killed; NBI steps in IN THE PLUNGE. Children enjoy watching divers clad in mermaids’ outfit while the menfolk swim side by side with different schools of fishes during the Manila Ocean Park’s Underwater Santacruzan. Norman Cruz
Alvarez rules out need to impeach 8 SC justices By Maricel V. Cruz
CHO HYUN-AH
based on Dubai crude, contrary to what the Finance Department says. Recto said the language of the law is clear, “so it must be self-executory and automatically implemented.” In the Palace, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the Philippines will turn to Russia and the United States to buy oil products as the cost of fuel from the Middle East rises. In a press briefing, Roque said the government is now studying the possibility of importing oil from Russia and US and other non-Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries members. Zarate, a member of the leftist Makabayan bloc in the House, earlier filed a resolution seeking a congressional investigation into seven “questionable” power supply agreements or PSAs between Meralco and its suppliers. Meralco and ERC officials have attended the inquiries. Zarate said Meralco’s PSAs were actually with its own sister companies, subsidiaries and affiliates in “sweetheart
SPEAKER Pantaleon Alvarez sees no basis to impeach the eight Supreme Court justices who voted to remove Maria Lourdes Sereno as Chief Justice. Alvarez said Thursday Associate Justices Teresita J. Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado M. Peralta, Lucas P. Bersamin, Francis H. Jardeleza, Samuel
R. Martires, Noel G. Tijam, Andres B. Reyes Jr., and Alexander G. Gesmundo merely performed their constitutional mandate in granting the quo warranto petition filed against Sereno. Alvarez said the eight justices should not be sanctioned for doing their duties and responsibilities in accordance with the Constitution. “I do not think [that the justices vio-
lated the Constitution]. In the exercise of separation of powers, they [justices] acted within their powers provided for in the Constitution,” Alvarez said. Alvarez also played down the impeachment case that the opposition bloc led by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman had threatened to file against the eight SC justices should the quo warranto ruling become final and executory. Next page
By Rey E. Requejo and Rio N. Araja THE Justice department said Thursday it had ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to probe the killing of retired Ozamiz prosecutor Geronimo Marabe Jr. and to bring his killers to justice. “I have directed the NBI to investigate this latest attack. The DoJ will not take these violent incidents sitting down,” Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said in a text message. “Let us remain hopeful that the truth will be revealed and the perpetrators will be made to suffer the consequences of their treacherous act.” Next page