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PH, US eye joint patrol in WPS
Amb. Romualdez: It’s on the table; Amb. Carlson: We work with PCG By Rey E. Requejo
T
HE United States and the Philippines are eyeing joint maritime patrols in the West Philippine Sea.
US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson said combined maritime activities between the Philippines and the US are “vitally important” to enhance the country’s safety and security. This was echoed by Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel
Romualdez who said that serious talks on the joint patrol are “on the table.” “So many fisherfolks have their lives wrapped up in fishing so the United States wants to do everything possible. There is an array of activities we Next page
VOL. XXXVI • NO. 345 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
PBBM asks why egg prices spiked; to meet producers, traders
CABINET MEETING. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. presides over a meeting with members of his
Cabinet on issues concerning the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Department of Information and Technology (DICT), and Department of Agriculture (DA) on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023.
By Vince Lopez PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban to arrange a meeting with egg producers and
traders to determine why the prices of chicken eggs have surged in recent weeks despite a sufficient supply in the market. Mr. Marcos, who also heads the DA as its concurrent secretary, issued the order during a Cabinet meeting.
THE Philippine National Police (PNP) will undergo a “restructuring” after high-ranking officials turned in their courtesy resignations as part of the government’s drive to cleanse its ranks of “bad eggs.”
Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. made this announcement Tuesday, saying his office will conduct a review of its structure. “Now we see the reforms that we have to do. Let’s look also at the legal side. Let’s review the institution [and] the structures,” Abalos said.
By Macon Ramos-Araneta
“We will ask what we should change to the structure itself. Why did we end up like this?” A DILG insider told Manila Standard that Abalos felt that if the PNP generals and full colonels resign, the police force could “start with a clean slate and will be able to erase all
THE Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) on Tuesday defended its contract with a third-party auditor for offshore licensees, saying Global ComRCI went through a proper bidding process and met all the legal requirements under the Procurement law. In a statement, the state firm and casino regulator said it awarded the contract to Global RCI in December 2017 and put the contract under review “with the assumption of the new leadership of PAGCOR” last September 2022 under chairman and chief executive Alejandro Tengco. “We assure the Senators that the review will soon
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Abalos plans to restructure PNP to rebuild image, reputation By Joel E. Zurbano
Pagcor insists audit contract aboveboard
Gov’t won’t privatize NAIA but open to private mgt. deal By Vince Lopez THE Marcos administration intends to privatize the operations and maintenance of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) while keeping its assets under government control, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said on Tuesday. Bautista issued the clarification after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on
Monday said the NAIA, the country’s main gateway, would not be privatized. Mr. Marcos said “a private firm cannot own the airport” during a televised interview with broadcast journalists Monday night. “What the President means is that we will not give it to the private sector, the assets of NAIA. What he wants to convey is, it’s the private sector who will Next page
VIGIL. People gather at a candlelight vigil for victims of a deadly mass shooting at a ballroom dance studio on January 23, 2023 in Monterey Park, California. AFP
Fil-Am among dead in CNY mass shooting in US By Rey E. Requejo and Macon Ramos-Araneta
Philippine Consulate General (PCG) in Los Angeles reported on Tuesday. In a statement, the Philippine conA FILIPINO-American was killed sulate identified the victim as 68-yearduring the Lunar New Year mass old Valentino Alvero, who was among shooting incident in California, the the 11 people killed after a 72-year-old
suspect opened fire in Monterey Park over the weekend. It was not the only death of a Filipino overseas over the weekend, as the Department of Migrant Workers on Next page
UN notes climate change a factor in human trafficking BAMBIKE. Erden Eruç, a 15-time Guinness World Record holder, rides a bamboo bicycle
in Intramuros, Manila on Tuesday, January 24, 2023. The 61-year-old Turkish-American adventurer, who holds the world record for being the first to circumnavigate the globe by means of sole human power, is passing through the Philippines this month in his renewed quest to once again travel across the world. He began his land travel from Legazpi City, Albay on January 18 and will proceed to Ilocos Norte. Norman Cruz
EVIDENCE is emerging that climaterelated disasters are becoming a cause of human trafficking as criminal gangs exploit a growing number of uprooted people, the UN said Tuesday. The continuing war in Ukraine is
also another risk factor for increased human trafficking, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a report. The UN drugs agency noted that an increase in cases of human trafficking
had been observed in Bangladesh and the Philippines after devastating cyclones and typhoons displaced millions. Droughts and floods in Ghana, and the Caribbean region – subject to hurricanes Next page