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PBBM cites China trip gains Highlights $22.8b investment pledges in his arrival report to the nation By Vince Lopez
PRODUCTIVE TRIP.
EIJING—President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said his three-day state visit to the People's Republic of China generated $22.8 billion worth of investment pledges.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. arrives at the Villamor Air Base Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, after a three-day state visit to China. Inset photo shows the President joined by Speaker Martin Romualdez (center) and Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual during the Roundtable Business Meeting on Agribusiness, Renewable Energy, and Nickel and Mineral Processing with top Chinese business leaders in Beijing Thursday morning. Rey S. Baniquet
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“It was a very quick visit, but we accomplished a lot. It was very productive. It was worth it,” Mr. Marcos said in an interview with reporters in Beijing before arriving in Manila Thursday afternoon.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is set to go to Switzerland and Japan next after his three-day state visit in China. Mr. Marcos will attend the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland later this month. He said he will likely visit Japan in the second week of February upon the invitation of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. He said he talked up opportunities for Chinese investors, both current and potential. “We are telling them to expand their involvement
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VOL. XXXVI • NO. 324• 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 FRIDAY, FRIDAY JANUARY 6, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Mr. Marcos won’t rush strict travel rules President, Speaker see direct line to ease tension in WPS
By Vince Lopez
THE Philippines will continue to take a wait-and-see stance before tightening border controls and restrictions on travelers from China despite its surge of COVID-19 cases, as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Thursday he did not want to impede the flow of tourists into the country.
Arriving yesterday afternoon from a three-day state visit to Beijing, the President said travelers from China and elsewhere would continue to be subject to the same testing and protocols as all tourists are during the pandemic. This developed as China on Thursday insisted it had been transparent with the international community about its COVID data, as it hit back against the
World Health Organization criticism that its tally of virus deaths was understating the true scale of its outbreak. “Let us not make rules that will impede our efforts (to open the economy) because we want tourists,” Mr. Marcos told reporters in a mix of English and Tagalog. Any approach, he said, would be based on science and the country’s current
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PNP chief, three other top cops file resignation
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BEIJING—An open line of communication between the Philippines and China, especially involving the two countries’ leaders and foreign ministries, will minimize further maritime incidents in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Thursday. Arriving from Beijing at the end of his three-day state visit to China, the President said the bilateral teams are being formed to build the “hotline” on
WPS issues and ideally would have direct access to himself and Chinese President Xi Jinping, as Mr. Marcos pushed for better communication between the countries. Meanwhile, upon the instructions and the directives of the President, House Speaker Martin Romualdez said they are undertaking an initiative “whereby at the very highest levels, we’ll have direct contact and coordination” with the Chinese government. “In fact, I had already written the Next page
Pulse Asia polls 84% of Pinoy for strong PH-US security ties
By Joel E. Zurbano and Maricel V. Cruz TOP officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) led by chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. on Thursday submitted their courtesy resignations. The move came after Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. appealed to police colonels and generals to do so to rid the police force of those linked to illegal drugs. Aside from Azurin, other ranking officials who submitted a courtesy resignation are deputy chief for administration Lt. Gen. Rhodel Sermonia; deputy chief for operations
By Vince Lopez
COURESTY GESTURE. PNP Chief Police General Rodolfo Azurin Jr. shows to the media his courtesy resignation during a press conference held at Camp Crame in Quezon City on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. Manny Palmero
A PULSE Asia survey shows that 84% of Filipinos believe that the Marcos administration should work with the United States to strengthen security cooperation to defend our national sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea. Pulse Asia President Ronald Holmes released the survey results on Thursday during a forum organized by Stratbase ADR Institute and the United States Embassy. The survey was conducted on November 27 to December 1, 2022 and was commissioned by Stratbase. Aside from the US, 52% of Filipinos also believe that the Marcos
administration should also work with Japan, with 25% siding with Australia, 24% with the United Kingdom, and 23% with South Korea. Meanwhile, 20% of respondents said that they want the Marcos administration to work with China to strengthen security cooperation to defend our national sovereignty. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. returned Thursday from a 3- day state visit to China that is expected to address security issues and bolster trade and investment ties. Next page
OP clears SRA officials of wrongdoing Inflation hit 8.1% By Vince Lopez and Macon Ramos-Araneta
FINAL FAREWELL. Pope Francis looks on as pallbearers carry away the coffin of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the end of his funeral mass at St. Peter's square in the Vatican on January 5, 2023. The remains of the German Joseph Ratzinger, who was the first pontiff to retire since the Middle Ages, will be buried in the tomb under the Basilica which previously held the body of John Paul II. AFP
The Office of the President (OP) has absolved former Agriculture and Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) officials for the supposed illegal issuance of Sugar Order Number 4. SO4 would have allowed the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar without the approval of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is the concurrent Agriculture Secretary. Asked of his plans to reinstate Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian, who resigned in the wake of the controversy, the President said he would speak with his erstwhile alter ego
in the department first. “Well, whatever plans we have for Usec. Sebastian, I think he should hear them first, not over the news. We will talk about it, because we are mindful of the decision. It was basically a mistake, a procedural mistake that happened. So we’ll proceed on that basis,” said Mr. Marcos, fresh from his three-day state visit to China. In a 10-page decision dated December 29, 2022, the Office of the President cleared four ranking officials of liabilities since the issuance of the Order was “done in good faith.” They are former Agriculture undersecretary Leocadio S. Sebastian, former SRA administrator Hermenegildo Next page
in Dec. from 8% a month before
By Julito G. Rada and Maricel V. Cruz INFLATION in December 2022 continued its climb to a 14-year high of 8.1 percent from 8 percent a month ago due to faster increases in the prices of food and nonalcoholic beverages, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Thursday. National statistician and civil registrar general Dennis Mapa said in an online briefing the December rate was significantly higher than the 3.1 percent in the same month in 2021. This brings Next page