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Harris: We stand with PH in SCS Assures PBBM of US commitment to uphold int’l rules under MDT
By Vito Barcelo, Vince Lopez, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz
U
S VICE President Kamala Harris on Monday assured President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that an attack on the Philippine armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke America’s “unwavering commitment” under the Mutual Defense Treaty.
“We stand with you in defense of international rules and norms as it relates to the South China Sea,” Harris told Marcos at the start of a visit aimed at countering China and rebuilding ties that were fractured over human rights abuses during the previous administration. Harris is the highest-ranking US official to visit Manila since President Ferdinand Marcos took power in June, signaling a growing rapport between the longtime allies after years of frosty relations under his Beijing-friendly predecessor Rodrigo Duterte. She also met with her Philippine counterpart Sara Duterte, the daughter of the former leader whose deadly drug war sparked an international investigation into alleged human rights abuses. In their meeting at the Palace, Marcos told Harris he did not “see a future for the Philippines that does not include the United States.” The United States has a long and complex relationship with the Philippines -- and the Marcos family. Marcos’s dictator father ruled the former US colony for two decades with the support of Washington, which saw him as a Cold War ally. Relations between the two countries soured under the foul-mouthed Duterte. In 2016, Duterte called Barack Obama a “son of a whore” over warnings he would be questioned by the then US president over his controversial drug war. Washington is now seeking to bolster its security alliance with Manila under
VOL. XXXVI • NO. 281 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2022 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
STRENGTHENED TIES. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. welcomes visiting US Vice President Kamala Harris in Malacañang on Monday, Nov. 21, 2022. Mr. Marcos says their meeting bolsters bilateral ties ‘when it comes to matters related to security and economy.’
China seizes rocket debris from PH Navy, Beijing clarifies incident
THE Philippine Navy on Monday accused the Chinese coast guard of seizing a floating object that its troops had just recovered in disputed South China Sea waters. A senior Filipino navy official made the allegation on the eve of a visit by US Next page
Vice President Kamala Harris to Palawan aimed at boosting ties amid China’s growing regional clout. A Chinese coastguard vessel on Sunday blocked a Filipino rubber boat towing an “unidentified floating object” toward Phil-
ippine-garrisoned Thitu island in the Spratly group, Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos said. The coast guard vessel then deployed an inflatable boat team which “forcefully retrieved said floating object by cutting the towing line attached to the (Filipino)
Food diplomacy: Sara, Kamala swap notes on fried ‘lumpia’
rubber boat,” he said in a statement. But according to a statement from the Chinese embassy in Manila, there was no use of force in retrieving the object at the scene. Next page
Nuclear reactor deal, add’l $5m vax aid up
WHEN two powerful women—Vice President Sara Duterte and visiting US Vice President Kamala Harris – met for the first time yesterday, the discussion ranged from security to their favorite food. “I love lumpia, too,” Harris said after Duterte recommended that she try out Filipino dishes such as adobo, lechon and kare-kare. “I have lots, all the time. I have many people working in my office who are Filipino-American, so whenever we have holiday parties, there is a big table of [lumpia],” the US leader said during
NEGOTIATIONS on a civil nuclear cooperation agreement have begun that could lead to future sales of US nuclear reactors to the Philippines, the White House said Monday. The “123 agreement” is one of the initiatives US Vice President Kamala Harris launched during her visit in the Philippines. “Once in force, this agreement will provide the legal basis for US exports of nuclear equipment and material to the Philippines,” the White House said in a statement. Meanwhile, the vice president’s husband, Douglas Emhoff, who is traveling with Harris, said the United States is giving an additional $5 million (about P286 million) in additional COVID-19 funding to speed up the rollout of vaccines in the Philippines. Emhoff made the statement during the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Healthy and Safe Back to School Event in Caloocan Monday. The event was attended by Emhoff, USAID
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LIGHT MOMENT. US Vice President Kamala Harris shares a light moment with Philippine Vice President Sara DuterteCarpio at the Aguado House in Manila on Nov. 21, 2022. AFP
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Zubiri backs intel fund, budget oversight panel Lawyer says Bantag ‘very ready’ By Macon Ramos-Araneta
oversight committee for confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) which SENATE President Juan Miguel Zubiri amounts to P9.28 billion in the proon Monday sponsored Senate Resolu- posed 2023 national budget. Zubiri underscored the need for the tion No. 302 which seeks to create an
said committee to keep a close eye on government agencies’ utilization of their allocated CIF, which is not subject to the usual or regular auditing Next page
Slightly lower oil price cuts effective today
to face probe on Mabasa killing By Rey E. Requejo
THE camp of suspended Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag on Monday received his subpoena in connection with the murder complaints filed against him over the deaths of
broadcaster Perival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa and New Bilibid Prison inmate Jun Villamor. Bantag’s lawyer, Rocky Balisong, accepted the subpoena from the Department of Justice. Next page
By Alena Mae S. Flores
FINALLY OPEN AGAIN. Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna and Vice Mayor Yul Servo lead the opening of the Manila Zoo to the public on Nov. 21, 2022. The zoo will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., with a cutoff for entry of guests at 6 p.m. Norman Cruz
THE country’s oil firms cut pump prices by P2.15 for diesel, P2.10 per liter for kerosene, and P0.40 per liter for gasoline effective 6 a.m. Tuesday – slightly lower rollbacks than the forecast made over the weekend “Petron will implement the following price rollbacks effective 6 a.m. on November 22: P0.40 per liter for gasoline, P2.15 per liter for diesel, and P2.10 per Next page
Former First Lady Amelita Ramos
US President Joe Biden
Ex-First Lady retires from ISM
Biden turns 80 but no mood for party
NEWS / A3
WORLD / B2