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DOE sees sabotage in outages Plant maintenance ban in April-June may have been violated
Pacquiao slams Cusi for neglect of duty, blames it for brownout
By Alena Mae Flores, Maricel V. Cruz and Willie Casas
T VOL. XXXV • NO. 108 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 2021 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Alena Mae Flores IN HITTING the rotational power outages that marred many parts of the country, Senator Manny Pacquiao, during a privilege speech Wednesday, took potshots at Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi for failing to do his job. Pacquiao and Cusi have been at loggerheads over the PDP-Laban National Council meeting in Cebu City on Monday. Despite the apparent rift with Pacquiao, Cusi said he is open to participate in the planned meeting between the lawmaker and President Rodrigo Duterte to discuss issues hounding the ruling party. On the Senate floor, Pacquiao renewed his call to stop politicking due to the country’s many problems that need solutions. “But it’s sad to think that many officials who should be managing the situation we are facing deliberately failed to hear and even prioritized politics over resolving our problems,” he said. Pacquiao asked if the government should brace for bigger power supply problems. He also questioned the preparations it had done to counter the problems due to the surge in power supply demand. “This is a recurring problem. We cannot rely on the same strategies to solve the problem of the rapidly growing demand for power supply,” said Pacquiao. He cited the need to innovate and secure renewable energy sources. Meanwhile, Cusi said he and the DOE were addressing the thin power supply hounding the Luzon grid amid criticisms that he is more focused on politics. “I’m aware of the situation and I trust the DOE people, officers… We are not neglecting our duty and with the technology even if I’m in Cebu, we are monitoring, working and deciding,” Cusi said during the virtual Kapihan sa Manila Bay. Next page
Sinovac gets WHO OK for use vs. COVID By Willie Casas, Vito Barcelo and Joel E. Zurbano THE World Health Organization on Tuesday approved the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use -- the second Chinese jab to receive the WHO's green light. The UN health agency signed off on the Beijing-based firm Sinovac's twodose vaccine CoronaVac, which is already being deployed in several countries around the world. The Palace on Wednesday said that Filipinos' confidence in the Sinovac vaccine would get a boost from the WHO decision. The Philippines has secured 25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech. So far, 5 million doses of CoronaVac have been delivered to the Next page Philippines.
COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE
(AS OF 4 PM JUNE 2)
1,240,716
“If you don’t follow the policy of the Department of Energy, we are studying if this is a crime tantamount to economic sabotage,” Energy Undersecretary Wimpy Fuentebella said
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DRYING UP. In this picture taken from Bokod, Benguet on Wednesday, the stream leading to the Ambuklao Dam is a muddy path with the lack of water in the reservoir. The hydroelectric power plants in the Ambuklao and Binga Dams, powered by the Agno River, cut their output in half owing to low water levels, contributing to the power outages felt across Luzon. Dave Leprozo
Cojuangco pushes nuclear mix Palace: Rody VP run known in October in energy supply to up capacity By Joyce Pangco Pañares THE Duterte administration should act quickly on the recommendation of an inter-agency committee to include nuclear power in the country’s energy mix as a long-term sustainable solution to ensure stable and cheap power supply, former Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco said. “Every summer, we face the same problem: the demand goes up, the re-
serve capacity becomes thin. We suffer from power outages every year,” said Cojuangco, who is now with Alpas Pinas, an advocacy group for nuclear energy in the Philippines. “This would have been totally avoidable if early on we already included nuclear power as an option. If we are truly concerned about the environment, then nuclear is the way to go. It is clean and it is reliable,” he told Manila Standard in an interview. Next page
By Vito Barcelo, Rey E. Requejo, Macon RamosAraneta and Maricel V. Cruz
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will decide on a possible run for the vice presidency by October, when all aspirants to national and local posts must formalize their bids for the May 2022 elections, Malacañang
Malaysia jets off over China intrusion MALAYSIA scrambled jets to intercept 16 Chinese military aircraft off the country's coast in the South China Sea, a rare incident that the foreign minister angrily denounced Tuesday as an "intrusion". But on Wednesday, China said a flight by 16 military aircraft over
hotly contested waters off Malaysia was routine training, after the Southeast Asian nation accused Beijing of breaching its sovereignty. A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur said the "activities are routine flight training
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NONSTOP HELP. Coast Guard responders from the PCG District Northeastern Mindanao help residents escape the flooding in Agusan del Norte due to the effects of Tropical Storm Dante on Wednesday. PCG Photo
‘Dante’ nicks Batangas on exit path INTRUDER. This handout photo from the Royal Malaysian Air Force taken on May 31 and released on June 1 shows a Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Xian Y-20 aircraft that Malaysian authorities said was in the airspace over Malaysia's maritime zone near the coast of Sarawak state on Borneo Island. AFP
TROPICAL Storm “Dante” made its way past the Verde Island Passage and nicked the southwestern coast of Batangas before curling upward toward Taiwan on Wednesday night, the state weather bureau said. In its 8 p.m. update, the Philip-
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ROMUALDEZ BACKS FREE MED CHECKUP
MAKATI CITY CELEBRATES 351ST YEAR
6,266
NEWS / A4
NEWS / A2
NEW
ACTIVE
21,158 1,167,426
DEATHS
RECOVERIES
NEW
NEW
said Wednesday. “Let's just wait and see… when October comes, they [the candidates] will have to make a decision,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said. Asked if Duterte already picked a running mate, Roque said the President has yet to decide on the Partido Demokratikong Pilipino (PDP)-Laban resolution urging him to Next page run for vice president.
WEATHER
TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES
5,257 52,132
HE Department of Energy (DOE) is considering filing charges of economic sabotage against power plants and gathering evidence on those that violated a policy that bans them from conducting preventive maintenance from April to June, when demand for electricity is high.
pine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the center of Dante was over the coastal waters of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, and was moving northwestward at 20 kilometers per hour. Next page