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PBBM, Xi meet to boost ties
Mr. Marcos says state visit to bring PH-China relations ‘to higher gear’ By Vince Lopez, Vito Barcelo and Rey E. Requejo
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EIJING—President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping today where he will raise “politicalsecurity issues,” including the South China Sea situation. “I look forward to my meeting with President Xi as we work towards shifting the trajectory of our relations to a higher gear that would hopefully bring numerous prospects and abundant opportunities for peace and development to the peoples of both our countries,” Mr. Marcos said in his pre-departure speech yesterday. “I also look forward to discussing political-security issues of a bilateral and regional nature. The issues between our two countries are problems that do not belong between two friends such as the Philippines and China. We will seek to resolve those issues to the mutual benefit of our countries,” he added. Mr. Marcos arrived in Beijing last night for a three-day state visit until Jan. 5, his first outside Southeast Asia upon the invitation of Xi. The President expressed confidence his visit will open “a new chapter in our Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation with China.” “We will seek to foster meaningful relations and broaden our cooperation in various areas such as agriculture, energy, infrastructure, science and technology, trade and investment, and people-to-people exchanges, amongst others,” he said. “I hope to return home to the Philippines with a harvest of agreements and investments that will benefit our Next page
STATE VISIT.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Louise AranetaMarcos arrive in Beijing Tuesday evening for a three-day state visit.
Beijing may hit back on nations over travel rules VOL. XXXVI • NO. 324 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Some Chinese travelers positive for COVID, placed in isolation By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Willie Casas
Quarantine said Tuesday, but he added that only the partially vaccinated or unvaccinated were tested upon entering A FEW travelers from China tested the country. “Many Chinese have arrived, but we positive for COVID-19 and were now in isolation, the director of the Bureau of only require antigen tests for those who
were partially vaccinated,” said the bureau’s director, Roberto Salvador Jr., speaking in Filipino to GMA News. Salvador did not say how many had tested positive, but said there were only a few of them.
Foreign travelers who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are required to present a negative test result from an antigen or RT-PCR test before traveling or upon arrival in the Philippines. Next page
‘70% OF SHANGHAI POPULATION MAY HAVE HAD COVID’ WORLD / B2
CHINA called the mounting international restrictions on travellers from its territory “unacceptable” on Tuesday after more than a dozen countries placed fresh COVID curbs on visitors from the world’s most populous nation. “Some countries have taken entry restrictions targeting China,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular briefing. “This lacks scientific basis and some practices are unacceptable,” she added, warning China could “take countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity.” The United States, Canada, Japan and France are among the countries insisting all travelers from China provide negative COVID tests before arrival, as concerns grow over a surge in cases. China’s steep rise in infections comes after Beijing abruptly lifted years of hardline restrictions last Next page
4 Senate resolutions filed to probe airport glitch, similar House act up By Macon Ramos-Araneta
REMEMBRANCE. A woman lights a candle for the late Pope Benedict XVI at the Manila Cathedral in Manila on January 3, 2023. AFP
CAAP says provincial airport operations back to normal By Joel E. Zurbano, Darwin G. Amojelar and Maricel V. Cruz
Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said Tuesday. These airports include Bicol InterMORE than 20 provincial airports national Airport, Tacloban Airport, have resumed normal operations, two Zamboanga Airport, Pagadian Airport, days after a power failure and a techni- Dipolog Airport, Jolo Airport, Tawical glitch wrought havoc at the Ninoy Next page
PhilHealth to adjust new benefits sched after premium rate hike stay THE rollout of PhilHealth new benefits scheduled for implementation this year this year might be adjusted following the suspension of the increase in premium rates. In a radio interview, Philippine
Health Insurance Corp. spokesman Rey Baleña said the suspension of the premium rate hike and the raising of the income ceiling to P90,000 would not affect its operations. Next page
FOUR senators have filed separate resolutions for an investigation into the shutdown of the country’s airspace on New Year’s Day due to what the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) called a technical glitch. The chairman of the House committee on transportation also committed to file a separate resolution this week. The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) suffered a power outage that led to the breakdown of its air traffic control system, disrupting a total of 282 flights and affecting about 56,000 air passengers on Sunday alone. On Tuesday, Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. filed a reso-
lution calling on the Senate committee on public services to conduct an investigation into the incident. “The malfunction that affected the NAIA Communications, Navigation and Surveillance Systems for Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) had a domino effect that not only affected those traveling that day but in effect affected other industries such as logistics, tourism and even our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers). So this should be investigated,” said Revilla, vice chairman of the Senate committee on public services. Senators Francis Tolentino, Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Estrada filed separate resolutions also calling for a Next page
Rolling stock problems snag MRT-3 service By Darwin G. Amojelar ANOTHER public transport system suffered a temporary breakdown on the first working day of 2023, as the SHOW OF FAITH. Catholic devotees touch the foot of the Black Nazarene during the regular operations of the Metro Rail Transit ‘pahalik’ at the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene on Tuesday, January 3, 2022. There will be no (MRT) Line 3 were disrupted Tuesday afternoon due to a rolling stock Traslacion again this year. Instead, there will be a ‘Walk of Faith’ where devotees will walk while praying a novena from the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta Park on January 8, 2023. Danny Pata
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