twitter.com/ MlaStandard
facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH
S
manilastandard.net
Missed your copy of Manila Standard? Call or text our Circulation Hotline at 0917-8848655 or email: circ@manilastandardtoday.com
El Niño manageable—LGUs THE National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Sunday the effects of the El Niño phenomenon in the country were still manageable as reported by local government units. “We were assured that as of now things are manageable, but we are not sure,” agency spokesman Edgar Posa-
das told Super Radyo dzBB. Posadas also said several LGUs had already presented their respective resolutions to address the problems brought by El Niño. He said the NDRRMC had already received copies of Next page
VOL. XXXIII • NO. 29 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
CRITICAL. La Mesa Dam’s water level declines slightly from 69.00 meters at 10 a.m. to 68.95 m as of 11 a.m. on March 10, according to a caretaker which says the QC dam’s level is nearing critical level as a result of the onset of El Niño. In Parañaque City, a boy (inset) tries hard to pump water from a deepwell and manages to draw out only a series of drips for a bathing playmate. Ey Acasio and Norman Cruz
Andaya slams senators over ‘parked pork’ HOUSE appropriations committee chairman Rolando Andaya Jr. on Sunday accused senators of realigning P77 billion in the 2019 national budget after it had already been approved by the bicameral conference committee, after the Senate made a similar accusation against the House last week. “Senators are desperately looking for ghosts in the 2019 General Appropriations Act. The problem [is], they seem to find ghosts everywhere except... [in] their own house,” he said in a statement. “If post-bicam itemization of lumpsum budget by the House of Representatives is unconstitutional or irregular, what about post-bicam realignment by the Senate of P77 billion in the national budget?” Andaya said. The realignment by the Senate, he said, was “nowhere to be found in the bicameral conference committee report.” “Worse, unlike in the House of Representatives, there are no proponents for the realignment. Meaning, the funds are parked somewhere in the national budget. This is clearly parked pork,” he said.
Sara ends word war vs. foes, seeks truce By Macon Ramos-Araneta
IPA CITY, Batangas― Heeding her mother’s admonition to “be kind,” Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte said Sunday she would stop her war of words with the political opposition.
L
“The Inday Sara show has packed up,” she said on the sidelines of a campaign stop for her Hugpong ng Pagbabago in Lipa City. “No more, so sad.” The mayor, the daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte and Elizabeth Zimmerman, said her mother called her from Davao Sunday morning and told her to stop picking fights with the opposition, and reminded her to be kind before anything else. “She sort of scolded me,” Duterte said in Filipino. “She said everybody knows you are the daughter of Rodrigo Duterte, but you are also my daughter.” Next page
Next page
Rody resumes tirade vs. priests FOR President Rodrigo Duterte, all Catholic priests and bishops are “stupid.” “Is there an intelligent priest? They are all stupid. If they aren’t stupid, they wouldn’t enter [the] priesthood,” Duterte said in a speech in Negros Occidental on Friday. “You are a man, but you chose to be a priest. You keep on looking at all the beautiful women that you can’t court. My God.” The President attacked religious officials for failing to observe the separation of Church and State. “The priests shouldn’t overstep their boundaries. You know that they started it first. Tell them that there is a separation of Church and State. The sons of b****** attack me in the pulpit using the religion,” Duterte said. Next page
‘Whiff of corruption’ gets Duterte’s goat By Nat Mariano PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday warned his Cabinet officials that he would not hesitate to fire them for contributing to the government’s “shortcomings.” In a speech in Negros Occidental, the President, who always reminds high-ranking government officials to veer away from even the “whiff of corruption,” said he can dismiss them if they bring trouble to his administration. “I know the problem. The government has a lot of shortcomings. I’ll say this to you, frankly. I have ordered the dismissal of several Cabinet members. That is what you [government officials] have to watch out for,” Duterte said, without elaborating. Next page
TRANSGENDER BEAUTY. Contestant Nicole Guevarra Flores of the Philippines competes during the Miss International Queen 2019 transgender beauty pageant held in Pattaya, Thailand on March 8. AFP
Pope: Doping pollutes sports
Robo-reporters gaining traction
VATICAN CITY—Pope Francis has warned that the positive values of sport are being polluted by doping and corruption as he met Saturday with members of European and African cycling federations. Next page
WASHINGTON—A text-generating “bot” nicknamed Tobi produced nearly 40,000 news stories about the results of the November 2018 elections in Switzerland for the media giant TameNext page dia—in just five minutes.
Ethiopian jet crashes, killing 157 on board BISHOFTU, Ethiopia—An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 crashed Sunday morning en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, killing all 149 passengers and eight crew on board, state media reported as African leaders offered condolences. “We hereby confirm that our scheduled flight ET 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi was involved in accident today,” the airline said. Next page