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Gov’t work, classes suspended PBBM’s order covers NCR, nearby areas as ‘Florita’ lashes N. Luzon
By Vito Barcelo, Vince Lopez and Joel E. Zurbano
P
RESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday ordered the suspension of work in government offices and classes in public schools in the National Capital Region, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Bulacan, Zambales, and Bataan from Aug. 23 to Aug. 24, due to Severe Tropical Storm Florita.
The Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) issued the announcement on the recommendation of the Office of Civil Defense. The same course of action for private schools and offices is left to the discretion of their respective heads, the announcement said. Malacanang said that heavy rains pose possible
risks to the general public as it advised Filipinos to exercise caution amid Florita-related rains, floods, landslides and other risks. During a press briefing at the Palace, Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said the President wants evacuation Next page
RAINY DAY WOES. Commuters shield themselves
from the rain while motorists are caught in a traffic jam along Commonwealth Ave. in Quezon City on Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022, amid heavy rains brought about by severe Tropical Storm Florita. Inset photos show students of Jose Abad Santos High School in Binondo, Manila braving the rain after the government announced the suspension of classes at all levels until today (Wednesday). In Isabela province, a resident removes his fishing gear from the overflowing Pinacanuan river due to Florita’s heavy downpour. Alfred Frias, Norman Cruz, Danny Pata and AFP
VOL. XXXVI • NO. 190 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2022 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Customs raises Senate grills officials linked to sugar importation mess, ES explains side alert on influx of X’mas food items Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez
By Joel E. Zurbano AIRPORT and Customs officials are enforcing tighter security at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in anticipation of the influx of canned goods, and pork and chicken meat products as the holiday season draws near. These food items are the usual pasalubong by returning Filipinos and other travelers going to Manila. Last week, Customs Port of NAIA agents intercepted a Vietnamese traveler carrying luggage with processed chicken. The foreigner, who arrived at the airport on Cebu Pacific Flight 5J 752 from Vietnam, brought 16 kilos of chicken without sanitary and import permits. The Bureau of Customs turned over the processed meat to the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) for proper disposition while the Veterinary Quarantine Services office issued a Notice of Violation against the importer. Next page
SENATORS on Tuesday grilled resigned Agriculture undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian about the unauthorized order to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar, but Senator Risa Hontiveros raised questions about the involvement of the Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez. At the Blue Ribbon committee hearing on Sugar Order No. 4, Hontiveros said there seemed to be a disconnect between Malacanang’s claim that Rodriguez had no prior knowledge of the order, when a memo dated July 15 suggested his office was in the loop. The memo authorized Sebastian to sit as ex-officio member of all duly consti-
tuted committees and bodies where the Department of Agriculture secretary is a member. At a hearing at the House of Representatives Monday, Sebastian said he signed SO 4 based on the authority given to him by Rodriguez through the July 15 memo. Although Hontiveros noted Sebastian’s statement that he may have misread the intent of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who sits as DA secretary and chairman of the Sugar Regulatory Administration, she asked why SO4 was still approved and why did Rodriguez not immediately bring this to the attention of the President. Hontiveros then reiterated her call Next page
Move over BBB, it’s now BBM for ‘Build, Better, More’ infra tickets By Vito Barcelo GOODBYE, BBB. Hello, BBM. The Marcos administration is expanding the flagship infrastructure program of its predecessor, but it will now be called BBM or Build, Better, More
Ninfa Leonardia, first provincial press club president, passes on NINFA LEONARDIA, editor-in chief and president of the Visayan Daily Star in Bacolod City, passed away yesterday. Leonardia, 89, succumbed to a heart attack at the Riverside Medical Center in Bacolod City, according to her brother Evelio Leonardia, former Bacolod mayor and League of Cities of the Philippines president. Ninfa co-founded the Visayan Daily Star in 1982 and was the longest serving editor-inchief of the Bacolod-based newspaper. She was president of the Negros Press Club from 1965 to-1966 and 1979 to 1980. Ninfa was named an Outstanding Negrense by the Negros Occidental provincial government and won the Outstanding Journalists of the Philippines Award from the Rotary Club of Manila in 2003. “Our family grieves the loss of our pillar of strength and clan matriarch. But we are definitely sure that with her lifelong commitment and dedication to journalism, where she had displayed her unique Ninfa Leonardia
By Macon Ramos-Araneta
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from its previous iteration of BBB or Build, Build, Build. “We shall confidently build on this firm foundation established by my predecessor. As it is in building an edifice, we must keep the momentum and aspire to Build Better More,” the President
said in a recent Cabinet meeting. Under the proposed 2023 budget, the government is seeking P1.196 trillion for the priority infrastructure programs of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who goes by the initials BBM. The amount is equivalent to 5 percent
of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, the BBB flagship infrastructure program covered a total of 112 big-ticket projects. Some 94 projects worth P4.5 trillion, Next page
DOH: No clue yet on local transmission of monkeypox THE government has not yet established the local transmission of monkeypox in the country, even as the Department of Health has traced 18 close contacts of the second monkeypox case – all but one of them health workers. DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosa-
rio Vergeire also said it asked a regional office to investigate pictures of a monkeypox patient circulating on social media. Vergeire said the unauthorized disclosure of private and confidential information about a patient’s medical
condition violates the country’s existing laws. The DOH is also talking to two monkeypox vaccine manufacturers for the country to receive its first doses. Next page
DOJ to fight online sexual abuse of kids, go after parents involved By Vince Lopez THE government will go all out to address the growing cases of online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) following two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with expanding internet connectivity even in the lowincome bracket of society. The Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Tuesday several agencies will go after those who cooperate directly or indirectly in OSEC acts.
“We are declaring a war on this...The only sure deterrent would be certainty of punishment for those who will insist on exploiting children,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said during an inter-agency press conference against OSEC at Malacañang. Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Erwin Tulfo said that in some cases, parents are also involved in the commission of abuses. Next page
Najib Razak
Ex-Malaysian PM Najib sent to jail WORLD / B2