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AFP reassures troops united
Denies reports of mass resignation, says ’business as usual’ in camps HE Armed Forces of the Philippines sought to reassure the public on Sunday that the military remained united, stable, and in high spirits despite its change in command and rumors of resignations in its ranks.
NCR top cops pass surprise drug testing
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In a new statement, the AFP said the change of command to returning military chief Gen. Andres Centino from outgoing chief of staff Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro went “smoothly.” Military spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar also told ABS-CBN News it is “business as usual” in camps across the country, adding there was no truth to reports soldiers and other officials were resigning en masse.
ALL CLEAN. Some of the 72 police generals and colonels serving in the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) show off their certificates of clean urine tests after the surprise drug tests conducted on them on Sunday.
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ABOUT 72 senior officials of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) tested negative in surprise drug tests on Sunday amid a call to cleanse the police force of officers involved in the illegal drug trade. They are part of about 429 senior officers ranked colonel to general who were asked by Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, on the direction of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to tender courtesy resignations in a bid to cleanse the force of “ninja cops” or protectors of the narcotics business. The latest policemen to obey the command were officers in Eastern Visayas, as Next page
VOL. XXXVI • NO. 327• 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 MONDAY, MONDAY JANUARY 9, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
88,000 devotees take Nazarene ‘Walk of Faith’
SEA OF DEVOTEES. The Quirino Grandstand and the streets around it are filled with an estimated 38,000 devotees of the Black Nazarene after Quiapo Church officials led them to the site early Sunday for the Walk of Faith. The event replaces the traditional Traslacion, but the faithful still brought with them replicas of the image of Jesus Christ (inset). Norman Cruz
By Wille Casas and Vince Lopez TENS of thousands of Catholic faithful walked through the streets of Manila early Sunday in reverence of a historic statue of Jesus Christ, which is believed to have miraculous powers. The "walk of faith," which church officials estimated attracted some 88,000 people, began after a midnight mass for the so-called Black Nazarene statue. Earlier, President Ferdinand
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Traslacion still ‘holy, majestic’ without icon By Honor Blanco Cabie THE annual Traslacion, first held on January 9, 2015, has been suspended for the third straight year in 2023 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected and killed scores of thousands in this largely Catholic country since March 2020. \The Traslacion—from the Spanish to mean transfer—was replaced nonetheless by a 3-kilometer “Walk of Faith” from the bayside Quirino Next page
PBBM: PH to nurture China ties ‘more than in past years’ By Rey E. Requejo
Palawan residents report blasts, tremors from ‘meteor’ from sky RESIDENTS of Bataraza and Rizal towns in Palawan province said they heard an explosion and felt a tremor when an unidentified object fell from the sky on Saturday night. This came about 10 days after the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines issued a notice to airmen (NOTAM)
THE Philippines will nurture its relationship with China more than it did in the past decades, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Saturday night, a few days after flying home from his state visit there.
“We will continue to protect the relationship between the Philippines and China, more than we have done in recent decades,” Marcos said in Filipino on a video posted online. “For the interest of our country, and the Next page
informing them about the closure of several area navigation (RNAV) routes over the province in anticipation of possible debris drops from the rocket launch by China. A Super Radyo report on Sunday said that the falling object, which looked like a meteor to the residents, was seen at around 7 p.m. Saturday. Next page
Customs seizes P13.8m in shabu THE Bureau of Customs on Sunday seized P13.8 million worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride or "shabu" from Bangkok, Thailand. The illegal drugs arrived on Jan. 2 in a parcel labeled as containing
"microserver double stairless ceramic." Physical examination of the parcel led to the discovery of four pieces of 3-liter stainless sports jugs containing substances wrapped in plastic and aluminum foil. Next page
WATCHING FROM AFAR. Workers dismantling the Manila COVID-19 Field Hospital at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park watch with amusement the ongoing activities of the Feast of the Black Nazarene on Sunday. Danny Pata