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Eid’l Adha regular holiday on July 9 By Vito Barcelo PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared July 9 a regular holiday in observance of the Eid’l Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice. The Palace released the proclamation following the recommendation of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos.
VOL. XXXVI • NO. 142 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 • THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2022 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
It says that the observance of the Eid’l Adha should be subject to the public health measures of the national government. Eid’l Adha is one of Islam’s two greatest feasts along with Eid’l Fitr, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. Next page
BBM eyes 9% poverty level
Hopes to elevate individual average income to about P200k by 2028 By Darwin Amojelar, Vito Barcelo and Vince Lopez
P
RESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr aims to lower the poverty incidence to 9 percent before the end of his term in 2028, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said Wednesday.
By then, Diokno added, the country should have attained an upper middle income status. “We are shooting for a $4,046 per capita income for Filipinos,” Diokno said. Diokno said Marcos will unveil his economic game plan at his first State of the
Nation Address (SONA) later this month. Diokno said the government would have enough funds as tax collections are expected to rise with economic growth. “We are confident that our revenues will pick up,” Diokno said, while playing down his predecessor’s call
to raise taxes to cover debts incurred during the pandemic. Diokno said the economy is expected to grow 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent this year, and 6.5 percent to 8 percent from 2023 to 2028. The Finance chief said the administration hopes to cut the deficit-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio from the current 9 percent to 3 percent by 2023. The national debt-to-GDP level will also be reduced to about 60 percent by 2025, Dioko said, from the current 63 percent
ECONOMIC TARGETS GDP Growth Debt-to-GDP ratio Fiscal deficit-to-GDP ratio Poverty rate
6.5 to 7.5% this year; 6.5 to 8% from 2023 to 2028 60% by 2025 3% by 2026 9% by 2028
due to pandemic-related expenses. 2023 to 2028. Diokno added that the administration The government will also spend 5 plans to spend 5 percent to 6 percent to 6 percent of GDP on infrastructure of GDP on infrastructure yearly from Next page
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi pays a courtesy call to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the Palace. Marcos said they discussed agriculture, infrastructure, energy, and “our commitment to maintaining the strong relationship between our peoples in the coming years.” (Inset) Earlier in the day, Wang and Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo unveiled a project marker at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila. Presidential Photo and AFP
Minister Wang Yi calls on Marcos, hails ‘new phase in China-PH ties’ By Vince Lopez
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday, as President FerdiTHE relationship between the Philip- nand Marcos Jr. received him at pines and China has “turned a new Malacañang to discuss a wide range page,” Chinese State Councilor and Next page
DOH notes COVID positivity rate up 6.8% as six areas log over 5% By Willie Casas, Vito Bracelo and Vince Lopez
Junie Cua
Antonio Manuel Lagdameo
THE country’s weekly COVID-19 positivity rate increased to 6.8 percent, as six regions recorded rates higher than 5 percent, the Department of Health (DOH) reported Wednesday. The National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila reported the highest positivity rate of 9.3 percent as of
Babe Romualdez
New appointees, including 3 Duterte execs, named By Vito Barcelo and Rey E. Requejo
Marcos retained actor and former Pampanga governor Mark Lapid as chief operating officer PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Tourism Infrastructure and on Tuesday retained three more of- Enterprise Zone Authority, the ficials from the previous administra- Palace said. Also retained are former media extion in their respective posts.
ecutive Jose Manuel Romualdez as Philippine ambassador to the United States and long-time envoy Antonio Manuel Lagdameo as ambassador and permanent representative of the Philippines to the United Nations. Next page
July 3, meaning that 93 people among every 1,000 tested were found positive for COVID-19. Other regions that surpassed the 5 percent benchmark of the World Health Organization (WHO) were Calabarzon with 8.4 percent, Western Visayas with 7.1 percent, Mimaropa with 6.4 percent, Cordillera Administrative Region with 5.5 percent, and Next page
Ex-AFP comptroller found guilty of bribery, sentenced to 8 years In an eight-page decision, the anti-graft THE Sandiganbayan has found retired Major General Carlos Garcia guilty be- court granted Garcia’s plea bargain to the yond reasonable doubt of direct bribery lesser offense of direct bribery. and of facilitating money laundering, The former Armed Forces deputy sentencing him to four years to eight chief of staff for comptrollership was years in prison. Next page
Zubiri: Cha-cha is not Senate’s priority AMENDING the 1987 Constitution and extending the terms of elected officials will not be the priority of the Senate in the 19th Congress. Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, who is poised to be the next Senate President, said this Wednesday in reaction to a proposal in the House of Representatives that would amend the Constitution and cut the President and Vice President’s terms to five
years but allow them one reelection each. Zubiri also revealed that the influential Senate Blue Ribbon Committee would be chaired by Senator Francis Tolentino, which the former said was what the majority wanted despite returning Senator Alan Peter Cayetano’s expressed interest to lead the panel. Next page
Fast foods: No chicken on Chicken Day NO CHICKENJOY? No McChicken? Unthinkable, but it happened — on, ironically, International Fried Chicken Day. Jollibee and McDonald’s Philippines on Wednesday confirmed that some of their stores have temporarily stopped offering cer-
tain chicken products due to “unavailability of chicken supply that meet their standards and specifications.” In separate statements, the food giants said the chickens were just too small or too light for Next page
CABINET IN ACTION. (Left) Social Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo distributes relief goods and cash assistance to fire victims in Gagalangin, Tondo in Manila on Wednesday, July 6, 2022. (Right) Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista rides the MRT-3 incognito to experience firsthand the daily commute of passengers in one of the busiest rail lines in Metro Manila.