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‘Oil spike to cut PH deeply’
Locsin warning triggers emergency meeting of energy officials By Rey E. Requejo and Alena Mae S. Flores
O
IL prices surged Monday after drone attacks on two Saudi facilities over the weekend slashed output in the world’s top exporter by half, leading a top administration official to warn that a steep rise in the cost of crude would “rock the Philippine boat and tip it over.” “This is serious. It will… affect us launched drone attacks on the Abqaiq deeply,” Foreign Secretary Teodoro oil facility, the heart of the Saudi oil Locsin Jr. said Monday after the Ira- industry on Saturday. Next page nian-backed Huthi group in Yemen
VOL. XXXIII • NO. 215 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
US ‘locked and loaded’ to strike back—Trump PRESIDENT Donald Trump warned the US was “locked and loaded” to respond to attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure that Washington blamed on Iran. It is the first time the president has hinted at a potential American military response to the drone attacks, which slashed Saudi oil production by half and led both the kingdom and the United States to announce they may tap their strategic reserves.
able energy concern, generating 10 percent of global crude supplies and trillions of dollars in income. However, it has been hit in recent months by a string of serious attacks on its oil facilities, the latest on Saturday halting the flow of 5.7 million barrels of oil per day, over half of its output, in drone strikes.
From its beginnings in 1938 when it first struck oil with the aptly named “Prosperity Well,” Saudi Arabia’s national energy giant Aramco has delivered unimaginable riches to the desert kingdom. It has since grown into the world’s largest and most profit-
“Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!” Trump tweeted. Next page
RESTARTING OPERATIONS. A picture taken on Sunday shows an Aramco oil facility near al-Khurj area, just south of the Saudi capital Riyadh. Saudi Arabia is on a race to restart operations at oil plants hit by drone attacks which slashed its production by half, as Iran dismissed US claims it was behind the assault. The Tehran-back Huthi rebels in neighboring Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is bogged down in a five-year war, have claimed the weekend strikes on two plants owned by Aramco in eastern Saudi Arabia. AFP
ASF outbreak contained in four areas, Agri chief says By Rio N. Araja and Orlan L. Mauricio
DEAD pigs continue to be found floating in rivers and creeks in Metro Manila and Bulacan, even as the Department of Agriculture declared that the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak has been “managed, contained and controlled in Rizal and Bulacan.”
The department said Monday an outout break of ASF has been declared only in four areas, covering the municipalities of San Mateo and Antipolo City in Rizal province and Guiguinto in Bulacan, based on confirmation tests released last week. In a statement, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the “ASF outbreak [is] managed, contained and controlled in RiRi
zal and Bulacan.” The ASF episodes in the affected areas “may be considered an outbreak but not an epidemic,” the department statement added. “Specifically, ASF was already contained in Barangay Pritil, Guiguinto, Bulacan; and in several barangays in Rodriguez, San Mateo and Antipolo, Rizal—and Next page
Tit-for-tat: Red ‘Sparrows’ vs. Duterte army By Joyce Pangco Pañares THE New People’s Army is reviving its urban strike teams, known as the Special Partisan Unit or Sparrow units, a week after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered all-out-war against the communist rebels. Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison said aside from the Sparrow units, Next page
GCTA credits not for rapists, killers—DOJ By Rey E. Requejo
ON HER MOTHER’S HEELS. Michelle Dee (left), daughter of Miss International 1979 Melanie Marquez, wins Sunday
the Miss World Philippines 2019 title during the coronation night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. The full court (from left) Casie Banks (2nd Princess); Isabelle de Leon (Miss Multinational Philippines); Vanessa Mae Walters (Miss Eco Teen Philippines); Katrina Llegado (Miss Reina Hispanoamericana Filipinas); Michelle Dee; Kelly Day (Miss Eco Philippines); Glyssa Perez (Miss Tourism Philippines); and Shannon Kerver (1st Princess). Teddy Pelaez
Isko gets tough on ‘GSM’ phone outlets in malls China telco no security threat—Palace By Joyce Pangco Pañares and Vito Barcelo
By MJ Blancaflor and Macon Ramos-Araneta MALACAÑANG on Monday said the government can withdraw from the deal between a Chinese company and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to put up telecommunications facilities inside military camps if it can threaten national security. Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said this as some senators expressed worries over a memorandum signed last week by Dito Telecommunity, formerly Mislatel, and the AFP Turn to A6
MANILA Mayor Francisco “Isko” Domagoso has ordered a crackdown on Manila malls that allow stalls selling stolen mobile phones as well as on off-track betting stations that serve as fronts for online cockfighting. Domagoso gave Manila malls—SM, Robinsons, Harrison Plaza, Tutuban, Isetann, and 168, among others—72 hours or until Wednesday to clear their establishments of stalls selling stolen phones and passing these off as secondhand. “We have sent inspection teams to check the business permits of these stalls. And these malls must do their
due diligence. Use your logic—where do all these secondhand phones come from? Maybe some are really sold by people disposing of their old phones. But majority are stolen ones. These are what Manila Mayor we call GSMs—Galing Sa Francisco ‘Isko’ Domagoso Magnanakaw,” he said during the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Hotel forum Monday. “We will shut down malls that will not comply. Mall owners are Turn to A6
Ban on private cars UP subject tackles along EDSA eyed martial law years Next page
Turn to A3
THE revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 10592, or the expanded Good Conduct Time Allowance Law, now officially excludes prisoners convicted of heinous crimes from being awarded GCTA credits. Turn to A6