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Towards a Sustainable Future on February 11, 2023 VOL. XXXVI • NO. 358 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
SRP for onions set at P125/k PBBM okays move to rein in inflation, limits middlemen in trading
Massive 7.8 quake kills 2,300 in Turkey, Syria THE most powerful earthquake to strike Turkey and Syria in nearly a century killed over 2,300 people on Monday, sparked frantic rescues and was felt as far away as Greenland. The 7.8-magnitude early morning quake, followed by dozens of after-
shocks, wiped out entire sections of major Turkish cities in a region filled with millions who have fled Syria’s civil war and other conflicts. Rescuers used heavy equipment and their bare hands to peel back rubble in search of survivors, who they could in
some cases hear begging for help under the debris. “Since I live in an earthquake zone, I am used to being shaken,” said Melisa Salman, a reporter in the Turkish city of Kahramanmaras.
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By Maricel V. Cruz and Othel V. Campos
T
HE Department of Agriculture has set the suggested retail price of P125 per kilo for imported red onions, which will take effect on Feb. 8, Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista said Monday. Evangelista said this SRP was reached nand Marcos Jr. approved several iniafter a meeting attended by importers, tiatives proposed by the Department of traders, and retailers. Trade and Industry to help regulate the Next page This developed as President Ferdi-
UNEARTHING THE DEAD. Grief shows in the faces of rescuers as they carry a body found in the rubble in Adana, Syria on February 6 after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeast. The combined death toll has surged past 2,000 for Turkey and Syria after the region’s strongest quake in nearly a century. AFP
PH, US to hold Fishermen accuse Chinese boats of destroying reefs off Zambales military drills in April, AFP says CHINESE vessels have destroyed artificial reefs in the waters of Masinloc, Zambales meant to help local fishermen earn a living – ramming them not once but four times, a group said, as they appealed to
THIS year’s “Balikatan” military exercises between American and Filipino troops will take place in April, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar said in a statement Monday. “The AFP and the US Armed Forces are once again holding the 38th iteration of annual bilateral ‘Balikatan’ exercises. although this is a bilateral activity, the AFP takes the lead in planning and execution, supported by the US Armed Forces with other like-minded nations as observers,” he said. Aguilar said “Balikatan” 38-2023 will help the AFP in developing its external defense capabilities and fulfilling its obligations to other countries in the region in terms of countering terrorism and other security threats. The AFP neither indicated the exact Next page
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for help to get compensation for them. Last Jan. 17, HC Glory Hong Kong, a Chinese coal hauler ship, dragged and broke the rope attached to the base of a
Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) owned pened, Cuaresma said. by the New Masinloc Fisherman Asso“Boats have ruined our payao (reefs ciation, the group’s president, Leonardo used for fishing) many times out at sea, Cuaresma, said in an ABS-CBN report. but we have no solid evidence because But it was not the first time it hapNext page
Hefty price cuts for diesel, gas, kerosene today
By Alena Mae S. Flores
40 YEARS OF NKTI. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (left) delivers his message during the 40th Founding Anniversary of the National
Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) at East Avenue in Quezon City on Monday. Listening (from left) are NKTI Executive Director Rose Marie O. Rosete-Liquete, Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, and Department of Health OIC Dr. Rosario Vergerie. Revoli Cortez
CHINA: SECOND BALLOON OVER LAT-AM OURS
BANTAG FACES NEW PLUNDER, GRAFT CHARGES
NEWS / A2
NEWS / A2
OIL firms gave consumers a hefty price rollback of as much as P3 per liter effective 6 a.m. Tuesday to reflect the movement of prices in the world oil market. Local oil companies cut the price of diesel by P3 per liter, kerosene by P2.30 per liter, and gasoline by P2.10 per liter. “Petron will implement the following price rollbacks effective 6 a.m. on Feb 7: P2.10 per liter for gasoline;
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Comfort women issue won’t be raised in Tokyo visit MALACAÑANG reiterated Monday that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will not raise the issue of World War II sexual slavery victims in his state visit to Japan from Feb. 8 to 12, declining the appeal of a comfort women’s group. Nathaniel Imperial, Department of
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs, said the President is not likely to take up the issue because it is the position of the government that sex slavery victims’ compensation claims have been deemed “settled” in a 1956 repara-
tions deal with Japan. Mr. Marcos will be in Tokyo this week to meet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and have an audience with Emperor Naruhito at the Imperial Palace, as well as to witness Next page