Palace clears ES in sugar mess Says Rodriguez merely called for draft plan, not for actual importation
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ALACAÑANG on Saturday defended Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez after his verbal directive to create a sugar importation plan appeared to have been misunderstood, resulting in the “illegal” order without the approval of the President for the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar.
“Importation plan gives us information. That was not an order to import,” Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said. The importation plan, she said, is different from the Sugar Resolution No. 4 signed by then Agriculture Secretary Leocadio Sebastian, who has since resigned from his post. “If you see the importation plan, there was no order to import. You have to study first. This is what we are saying that the President...wants to do things systematically,” Cruz-Angeles said. Sebastian on Friday night tendered his resignation as he took the responsibility for signing Sugar Order No. 4. Cruz-Angeles said there was a “misunderstanding” of Rodriguez’s verbal order for the creation of an importation plan. “That’s a misunderstanding of the plan. After the plan, that is the only time there can be a resolution,” she said. The unauthorized signing of the order on behalf of the President is still under investigation, Cruz-Angeles said. “The President is objective. He’s leaving the investigation to be conducted without his interference. The investigation has to be fair,” she said. Sugar planters’ groups have lauded Marcos’ move to disapprove the proposed importation. On Friday, the Asociacion de Agricultores de La Carlota y Pontevedra Inc. and the La Carlota Mill District Multi-Purpose Cooperative said it is illadvised to import additional sugar as the milling season is about to start and will augment the current supply. The United Sugar Producers Federation, the largest sugar federation in the country, also hoped that there would be a reorganization of the DA and the Sugar Regulatory Administration following the incident. “The early harvest and resumption of milling will improve our supply,” DA Undersecretary Kristine Evangelista said. Trixie Cruz-Angeles earlier maintained that importation is a “sensitive” matter, especially when it comes to agricultural commodities. She said the Marcos administration is committed to fulfilling a “balancing act” between meeting the consumers’ needs, while not compromising the welfare of local farmers. CONTINUED ON 3A
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UNDER THREAT. An ant climbs a jade vine plan while looking for food in a garden in Rizal province Saturday, August 13, 2022. The beautiful jade vine is under threat from deforestation in the Philippines. Danny Pata
COVID-19 uptick, less physical distancing up in F-2-F classes
FRESH outbreaks of COVID-19 cases may happen with the resumption of in-person classes on August 22, the independent group OCTA Research said. “We cannot avoid outbreaks – not surge per se – but there will be outbreaks in schools. Infections will be expected,” OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David said. Some 14.1 million children and teenagers have been fully-vaccinated against COVID-19 ahead of the school opening, the Department of Health said. Of the figure, some 9.8 million are
teenagers ages 12 to 17, while around 4.3 million are kids ages 5 to 11. To ensure the safety of both students and teachers with face-to-face classes, the Department of Education said it will release a set of guidelines that must be adopted by schools, fully-aware of how difficult it will be to maintain physical distancing among learners. “DepEd is going to come up with a Department Order reiterating specifically the safety and health standards in schools,” DepEd Spokesperson Michael
Poa said. DepEd data showed some 76 percent of schools nationwide implemented limited in-person classes last school year. Poa underscored the need for “measures that can be taken to avoid overcrowding in classrooms.” Meanwhile, Metro Manila registered a slight increase in its daily positivity rate over the past three days, OCTA reported Saturday. CONTINUED ON 3A
Gov’t to reclaim P1.9b in scuttled chopper deal THE Marcos administration will do what it can to recover the government’s initial payment of P1.9 billion for the purchase of 16 units of Mi-17 heavy-lift helicopters from a Russian company. This after the Duterte administration decided to terminate the contract that it signed for the military procurement worth P12.7 billion. Asked if the government is confident it will be able to recoup the payment made to Russia, Defense spokesman Arsenio Andolong said: “I can’t answer that now. New DND officials have just started with
BRIGADA ESKWELA. Parents, students and teachers join hands in cleaning the yard inside the Gregorio Del Pilar Elementary School in Manila as part of preparations for the opening of in-person classes on August 22, 2022. Norman Cruz
5.9 quake jolts part of Mindanao, Taal Volcano no big blast sign yet n BY NASH B. MAULANA A MAGNITUDE-5.9 earthquake rocked parts of Mindanao Saturday afternoon, with the epicenter located at Datu Blah Sinsuat in Maguindanao. It came four days short of the 46th anniversary of the Intensity 7.9 tsunami earthquake (on Richter’s Scale) that killed nearly 8,000 people on August 17, 1976.
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There was not much reported damage to properties during Saturday’s tremor, but a resident said there were cracks running down “kilometers” in depth under the land surface of South Upi. “May lupang nabitak (a land surface cracked),” a resident said. Some 46 years ago, the coastal lines of South Upi across the Tamontaka River were washed away by tidal waves overlayCONTINUED ON 3A
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their work.” “As for the DND, especially the Contract Termination and Review Committee, it will exercise due diligence and will do everything that it can to at least come up with a solution to avoid a situation where we’re at the losing end,” Andolong added. Earlier, former Defense chief Delfin Lorenzana said he was not sure if the initial payment can still be recovered. “We don’t know if we could still get back the money since we are the ones who terminated the contract. It will take some CONTINUED ON 3A
Makati initiates local prevention vs. monkeypox n BY JOEL E. ZURBANO THE Makati City government has formed a special team tasked to monitor cases of monkeypox and proactively prevent community transmission of viral respiratory infections. “We formed a task force to proactively prevent monkeypox transmission in Makati. At the same time, we want to equip Makatizens with the right information about the virus and avoid the spread of fake news,” said Mayor Abigail Binay. She said the Makati City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU) conducted online orientations and seminars for frontliners in 26 barangay health centers as early as last month to brief them about the modes of transmission, prevention, detection, isolation, and treatment of monkeypox. She said CESU is in close coordination with the Ospital ng Makati to monitor cases and will meet with officials of the Makati Medical Center and St. Clare’s Medical Center today (Monday) to discuss the city’s action plan in case of a monkeypox outbreak. “We also plan to integrate monkeypox data into our COVID-19 tracker so that we can use data in making game-changing decisions like granular lockdowns to prevent community transmission,” she said. CONTINUED ON 3A
Salman Rushdie stabbed, may lose an eye SALMAN Rushdie, who spent years in hiding after an Iranian fatwa ordered his killing, was on a ventilator and could lose an eye following a stabbing attack at a literary event in New York state Friday. The British author of “The Satanic Verses,” which sparked fury among some Muslims, had to be airlifted to hospital for emergency surgery following the attack. His agent said in a statement obtained by The New York Times that “the news is not good.” “Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged,” said agent Andrew Wylie, who added that Rushdie could not speak.
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Carl LeVan, an American University politics professor attending the literary event, told AFP that the assailant had rushed onto the stage where Rushdie was seated and “stabbed him repeatedly and viciously.” Several people ran to the stage and took the suspect to the ground before a trooper present at the event arrested him. A doctor in the audience administered medical care until emergency first responders arrived. New York state police identified the suspected attacker as Hadi Matar, a 24-yearold from Fairfield, New Jersey, adding that he stabbed Rushdie in the neck as well as the abdomen. CONTINUED ON 3A
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Salman Rushdie
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