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Mr. Marcos to cut back on travel in 2023 to assess earlier trips By Vince Lopez and Maricel V. Cruz business groups they made since he
VOL. XXXVI • NO. 344 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
came to power last year. “We will cut back our trips for the PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Monday he will reduce his overseas rest of the year. We need to review evetrips this year as his government will rything we started at the ASEAN, at collate and review all the agreements APEC, in China, in the EU, in Brussels, Next page with other nations, organizations, and
PBBM: No money laundering in MIF
FACING THE ISSUES. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. answers questions from a panel of broadcast journalists (inset) during a televised interview Monday at Malacanang.
Assures wealth fund being crafted carefully to keep dirty money out By Vince Lopez and Macon Ramos-Araneta
P
RESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assured the country on Monday that public funds to be invested in the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund will be protected and will only be used on very specific and accountable projects. He also invited the Senate, which began deliberating its versions of the sovereign wealth fund bill on Monday, to carefully study the proposal already passed by the House of Representatives, stressing he preferred that the law emerging from it is well thought out rather than hastily passed. In a televised one-hour interview with Next page
President: Inflation to slow down starting Q1 By Alena Mae Flores, Othel Campos, and Vince Lopez
every night even as he expressed confidence it will begin to ease by the first quarter of the year. “This year, truly, that is the problem that is keeping me PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday said awake -- inflation. That’s what I lose sleep every night the country’s inflation rate -- which hit a 14-year-high over -- how to bring down inflation,” Mr. Marcos said. of 8.1 percent in December -- is keeping him awake Next page
‘SANDRO NOT BEING GROOMED FOR PRESIDENCY’
PH to continue protest vs. Chinese ‘shadowing’ in WPS By Vince Lopez and Maricel Cruz
mechanism he proposed with China during his state visit to Beijing this PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos month following reports of the Chinese Jr. on Monday said the Philippine gov- Coast Guard driving away Filipino fishernment had already used the hotline ing boats in Ayungin Shoal last week.
NEWS / A2
Asked about the timing of the inci- haven’t come to a compromise yet. dent, which happened right after he re“So, we have immediately used that turned from Beijing where he met with thing, that mechanism that I talked Chinese President Xi Jinping, Mr. Mar- about where we can even immediately cos acknowledged that both countries Next page
Tech, R&D, crop skills a must for next Agri chief
PRIVATE FIRM TO MANAGE AIRPORT EYED
By Maricel Cruz, Vince Lopez, and Othel Campos
NEWS / A2
CHIEF EXECUTIVE BARES PLANS FOR TULFO, ANGPING NEWS / A2
‘Extended tenure of service’ pushed for AFP top brass, says Defense chief INSTEAD of a fixed term of three years, the Department of National Defense has recommended an “extended tenure of service” for key officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. on Monday said the DND put forward its proposal to the Senate, which is eyeing to amend Republic Act 11709 or the Act Strengthening Professionalism in the AFP.
“We are very thankful that the Senate, headed by our Senate President [Miguel Zubiri], made a statement that they will support our recommendation, which we will already remove the term ‘fixed term.’ Instead we will use the term ‘extended tenure of service,’” Galvez said. Under the DND recommendation, key military officers would have a
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DINAGYANG GUESTS. ‘Exhilarating and exceeding expectations’ was how local and foreign tourists described the Iloilo Dinagyang Festival over the weekend. The annual celebration was the first after a two-year hiatus and was co-presented by SM City Iloilo, the Iloilo City local government, and the Iloilo Festivals Foundation, Inc. (IFFI). In photo from left are Speaker Martin Romualdez, SM Supermalls President Steven Tan, First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Trenas.
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said identifying non-traditional suppliers, improving research and development, and adopting new crop varieties are on his bucket list as Agriculture Secretary. “In terms of production, we have to help the farmers. We are trying to adopt new techniques for farming that will actually, I think, be able to use new technology, new varieties of crops. We have to start with the R&D,” Mr. Marcos said in a televised interview. The President said he is coordinating with several other countries as he tries to develop non-traditional suppliers, particularly for the supply of fertilizer, wheat, rice, and corn. “Hopefully, down the road, we no Next page
DOJ: Catapang replacing Bantag at BuCor by today By Rey E. Requejo JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Monday said retired Armed Forces chief Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. will soon be appointed as director-
general of the Bureau of Corrections (Bucor), replacing the agency’s suspended boss, Gerald Bantag. Interviewed by reporters at BuCor’s office in Muntinlupa City, Remulla said Catapang’s appointment
papers may be released in “a matter of hours” or at the Cabinet meeting today, on Tuesday. Catapang was appointed as officer-in-charge of the BuCor after Next page