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Cebu City’s lead ‘disastrous’
DOH warns of dire results if other LGUs disregard nat'l mask protocol By Willie Casas and Joel E. Zurbano
HE Department of Health (DOH) on Friday said it would be disastrous if other local government units (LGUs) followed Cebu City’s lead and made maskwearing voluntary while the COVID-19 pandemic rages.
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"That's one of our worries,” DOH officer-in-charge Ma. Rosario Vergeire said in a mix of English and Filipino. “That would be really disastrous for all of us.” In defiance of a national mask mandate, Cebu City made mask wearing voluntary in open spaces starting Sept. 1, despite an appeal from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. on Friday said there had been “miscommunication” when he said Cebu Mayor Mike Rama had agreed
to suspend the policy until the InterAgency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) had discussed the issue. At a briefing Friday, Vergeire emphasized the importance of taking a "one-nation approach" in the country's COVID-19 pandemic response. "Just imagine if one or two or three LGUs are implementing different protocols, what will happen to us when the virus crosses borders?" she said. Enforcing different health measures may also increase the risk of transmission Next page of COVID-19, she said.
VOL. XXXVI • NO. 199 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2022 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
OPS, NTC act vs. fake news, spam texts THE Office of the Press Secretary, the main communications arm of the President, will soon have a fact-checking team as part of its campaign against fake news or misinformation. "We have a plan to create a fact-
checking team and give additional information about raging issues. We are monitoring social media and we are being responsive," Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said during a briefing of the House Appropriations Committee on
Friday. In another development, former National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) consultant Edgardo Cabarios on Friday said unscrupulous Next page
HEAD HEAD. The Association of Philippine JournalistsSamahang Plaridel marks the 172nd birthday of Marcelo Del Pilar, recognized as the father of Philippine journalism and founder of the first bilingual newspaper Diariong Tagalog in 1882. The National Press
P8.969b budget of OP gets swift House approval By Maricel V. Cruz THE House of Representatives committee on appropriations on Friday approved the P8.969-billion budget of the Office of the President (OP) for 2023 without any question from the panel members. Questions may be brought up at plenary after all the other branches of government have gone through the committee level, said Ako-Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co, chairperson of the House Appropriations Committee. Co said the OP budget will enable President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to deliver on the Next page
QUICK APPROVAL. Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez (back to the camera) expresses gratitude to House Speaker Martin G. Romualdez – whom he later meets (inset right) – and other congressional leaders for the swift termination of the hearing on the 2023 budget of the Office of the President. Romualdez later meets with Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles (inset left), who also lobbies for her office’s allocation. Ver Noveno
Peso weakest as 56.77 to US$ on back of rising trade deficit
Bill seeks union voided by church valid as by court
THE peso plunged to an all-time low of according to BAP data. P56.77 to the US dollar on Friday, data Friday's close was weaker than from the Bankers Association of the the previous record low of P56.45 on Philippines (BAP) showed. October 14, 2004. The Philippine currency even traded "PHP (Philippine peso) slid to its Next page for as low as P56.90 during the day,
TINGOG Party-list Reps. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez and Jude A. Acidre have filed a bill seeking civil recognition of church annulment to make it accessible and inexpensive to many Filipinos. Section 2 of House Bill (HB) 1593 or the “Church Nullity Act of 2022” proposes that a marriage duly and legally solemnized by a priest, imam, rabbi or presiding elder of an established church or religion in the Philippines, which is subsequently annulled, dissolved or
By Maricel V. Cruz
Rep. Jude Acidre
Rep. Yedda Romualdez
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Defense, military ties up in PBBM visit to Indonesia FOYER HONOR. The remains of slain Ampatuan, Maguindanao town police chief Lt. Reynaldo Samson are given foyer honors upon arrival at Terminal 2 in Pasay City on Thursday. Samson, who hails from Muntinlupa City, and another police officer were killed in an ambush on Aug. 30 (related story on A2). Avito Dalan
ABOITIZ BUYS CEBU AIRPORT OPERATOR BUSINESS / B4
NASA READIES NEW MOON ROCKET TRY NEWS / A2
By Rey E. Requejo and Vince Lopez THE Philippines and Indonesia are expected to renew a 1997 agreement to cooperate on defense and security when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. goes to Indonesia for his first state visit on Sept. 4. “The active defense and military engagement between our two countries is really anchored on a 1997 cooperative Next page
Nelia Sancho during her reign as 1971 Queen of the Pacific (left) and as an activist in her 70s.
Sancho, beauty queen turned activist, 71 NELIA Sancho, a former beauty queen Sancho, who bagged the Queen of who later became an activist fighting the Pacific title in 1971, was found for women's rights and co-founded the dead at the UP Bliss House in Quezon group Gabriela, has passed away. She City around 10 a.m. on Thursday, was 71. Next page