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US GUNS DOWN NEW 'OBJECT' OVER CANADA
NOVELIST, ACTIVIST LUALHATI BAUTISTA PASSES AWAY AT 77
WORLD / B2
NEWS / A2 VOL. XXXVII • NO. 2 • 2 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Taiwan conflict to drag PH in
PBBM concedes country's geographical location puts it ‘on the front line’ By Jimbo Gulle
I
T’S “very hard” to imagine that the Philippines would not be pulled into a possible conflict between China and Taiwan, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told a Japanese business magazine as he came home Sunday from Tokyo following a five-day official visit.
BACK HOME. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos cross the tarmac at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City on Sunday after a five-day official visit to Tokyo, Japan. Alfred Frias
"When we look at the situation in the area, especially the tensions in the Taiwan Strait, we can see that just by our geographical location, should there, in fact, be conflict in that area ... it's very hard to imagine a scenario where the Philippines will not somehow getinvolved," Mr. Marcos told Nikkei Asia in an exclusive interview, which was published on its website. "We will be brought into the conflict because of whoever is... whichever sides are at work," the President added. Despite warmer ties with China, especially under his predecessor President Rodrigo Duterte, Mr. Marcos met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida with security and defense as key topics. Defense officials from both countries have also said they were closer to signing a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)-type pact that the Philippines currently has with the United States, which wants to Next page
President’s Tokyo trip yields $13b worth of agreements By Vince Lopez, Othel V. Campos and Julito G. Rada
agreements – nearly three times what had been announced earlier—after a “fruitful” five-day working trip to Japan, with investments set to yield thousands of jobs PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for Filipinos. arrived home last night bringing in The contribution and pledges from $13 billion (P708.2 billion) worth of Next page
Marcos hails OFWs for work ethics TOKYO—President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Sunday praised Filipino workers in Japan for their work ethic, saying he hardly needed to convince potential investors that they were skillful, hardworking, and honest. “Everyone we talk with says you don't need to convince us on how skillful Fili-
pinos are because we have employees, we have someone who we knew, we have friends and we know that Filipinos are kind, hardworking… honest—and also English-speaking,” the President said at a meeting with the Filipino community in Japan at the Belle Salle Tokyo NihonNext page bashi.
READY FOR BODIES. Coffins being prepared for victims are all awry in Kahramanmaras, Turkey on February 12, seven days after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeast. AFP
33,000 killed in quake would likely double—UN KAHRAMANMARAS, Turkey— Rescuers on Sunday pulled a sevenmonth-old baby and a teenage girl from the rubble nearly a week after a powerful earthquake devastated huge areas of Turkey and Syria, killing more than
TWO DAYS AWAY. Vendors display assorted flower arrangements and heart balloons for sale on Valentine’s Day at the Dangwa Flower Market in Manila. Vendors expect flower prices to rise especially on February 14. Norman Cruz
LPG, diesel price cuts up, gas steady KEROSENE prices will take the largest cut at P2.30 to P2.60 per liter among fuel price rollbacks slated Tuesday, while diesel prices will likely drop by P2.20 to P2.50, industry sources said over the
weekend. As fears of the recession continue to hound demand for petroleum, kerosene and diesel prices are set for another drop this week, as gasoline prices may Next page
33,000 people. UN relief chief Martin Griffiths warned that the death toll was likely to at least double while denouncing a failure to provide sufficient aid for victims in war-torn northwestern Syria.
"We have so far failed the people in northwest Syria. They rightly feel abandoned. Looking for international help that hasn't arrived," Griffiths said on Twitter.
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House extends $100k aid to Turkey Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez
By Rio N. Araja and Rey E. Requejo THE House of Representatives said it would extend $100,000 in financial assis assistance as humanitarian aid to thousands of earthquake victims in Turkey, one of the first countries to come to the aid of the Philippines when super typhoon “Yolan “Yolanda” flattened Leyte and many parts of
Eastern Samar in 2013. The funds will come from Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez's Disaster Relief and Rehabilitation Initiative launched during his 59th birthday celebration on Nov. 14 last year. Romualdez is set to turn over the $100,000 assistance to Turkey’s Ambassador to the Philippines Niyazi Evren Next page