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IN MET R MANILAO
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‘NOT AN INCH OF OUR TERRITORY.’ President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. rides an open carrier car – a tradition accorded the guest of honor during the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Homecoming 2023 in Fort Del Pilar Baguio City on Saturday, February 18, 2023. In his speech, the commander in chief assured Filipinos his administration will not surrender even an inch of the country’s territory to any foreign power. Alfred Frias
PBBM: No need to invoke MDT
But insists China’s vessel used military-grade laser vs. PH patrol in WPS
n By VITO BARCELO AND VINCE LOPEZ
P
RESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday said the Philippines will not invoke the country’s Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) with the United States after a laser-pointing incident in the West Philippine Sea by a Chinese Coast Guard vessel, saying it will only intensify tensions with Beijing. Mr. Marcos, however, accused China of using military-grade laser against a Philippine Coast Guard vessel off Ayungin
Shoal on Feb. 6, refuting claims of the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines that CONTINUED ON A3
President says PH won’t join ICC in drug war probe THE Philippines will not cooperate with the International Criminal Court because it has a “good” and working justice system, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Saturday. Mr. Marcos’ remarks came after the ICC Prosecutor’s Office urged the ICC Appeals Chamber to dismiss the Philippine government’s application for the suspension of the reopening of the drug war probe involving his predecessor, former
president Rodrigo Duterte. Speaking to reporters in Fort del Pilar, Baguio City, Mr. Marcos said the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines, which he emphasized is a “sovereign nation.” “My position has not changed. I have stated it often, even before I took office as president, that there are many questions about (ICC’s) jurisdiction, and what we in the Philippines regard as an intrusion into CONTINUED ON A3
BIG HAUL. Personnel from Bureau Of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (BOC-CIIS) together with the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) and the Philippine Coast Guard inspected several warehouses and storage facilities in Manila and Malabon, flagging some 300 metric tons of suspected smuggled onions, garlic and mung beans amounting to more than P100 million on Saturday. The produce will be the subject of a joint investigation to determine if these were legally imported or not. Danny Pata
More condemn Adiong’s ambush, manhunt on n By JOEL ZURBANO, MARICEL CRUZ, NASH MAULAN AND BOBBY LAGSA The Philippine National Police will conduct manhunt operations against those responsible for the ambush on the convoy of Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Alonto-
Adiong Jr. that left four of his police escorts dead as Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio and Speaker Martin Romualdez led political leaders across the country in condemning the attack. PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said they are also suspending the “Permit To Carry Firearms Outside of Residence” (PTCFOR) in three Mindanao provinces
– Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, and 63 barangays in North Cotabato. “I condemn the ambush that apparently targeted Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong in the town of Maguing Friday. As a nation, we should collectively reject this cowardly act of violence and demand that the perpetrators are immediately brought CONTINUED ON A3
‘Angry’ chatbot just mimicking humans—experts
DISTURBING EXCHANGES. A screenshot of the conversation of a New York Times reporter with the fledgling Bing chatbot. The New York Times Twitter account
MICROSOFT’S nascent Bing chatbot turning testy or even threatening is likely because it essentially mimics what it learned from online conversations, analysts and academics said. Tales of disturbing exchanges with the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot—including it issuing threats and speaking of desires to steal nuclear code, create a deadly virus, or to be alive—have gone viral this week. “I think this is basically mimicking conversations that it’s seen online,” said Graham Neubig, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s language technologies institute. “So once the conversation takes a turn, it’s CONTINUED ON A3
Gov’t sets responsible mining policy to protect environment n By VINCE LOPEZ PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Saturday his administration will do a meticulous balancing act to protect the environment and enforce the country’s law on responsible mining. In a media interview after attending the Philippine Military Academy(PMA) alumni homecoming in Camp Gregorio Del Pilar, Baguio City, the President was asked about his policy direction toward protecting the environment in the Cordillera amid
mining projects in the area. He said mineral exploration and extraction are very important parts of his administration’s plan for the economy, even as he stressed the government does not want a repeat of the unfortunate incidents that happened in the past. “So it is really a question of enforcing the law in terms of responsible mining and that is what we will continue to do. We will always make sure that the mining companies who come in, once they are CONTINUED ON A3
Cessna plane missing, 4 on board n By JOEL ZURBANO A CESSNA plane carrying four people went missing in Albay Saturday morning minutes after take off, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said as it declared the emergency to be in “distress phase.” Four people—one pilot, one crew, and two passengers—were on board the Cessna 340 plane with registry number RP-C2080 that left the Bicol International Airport at 6:43 a.m. yesterday. This happened more than three weeks
after another Cessna plane with six persons on board also went missing in Isabela Province. CAAP spokesperson Eric Apolonio said communication searches with CAAP Air Traffic Service Facilities, Manila Area Control Center, Naga Tower, Clark Tower, and Sangley Airport yielded negative results for any information on the aircraft. Concerned agencies and authorities such as the local government unit of Camalig, Philippine Air Force (PAF), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Office of CONTINUED ON A3