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KEROSENE LEADS FUEL ROLLBACKS AT P2 PER LITER
KUWAIT OIL CO. IN CRISIS STATE AFTER OIL LEAK
NEWS / A2
BUSINESS / B3 VOL. XXXVII • NO. 39 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Show up today, Teves told
Sanctions loom for Negros solon, but lawyer says ‘plot thickens’
By Joel E. Zurbano, Rey E. Requejo, Maricel V. Cruz and Rio N. Araja
T
HE House of Representatives committee on ethics on Monday gave Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. 24 hours to physically attend the next hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
BIGGEST IN SOUTHEAST ASIA. Under construction is the Sadik Grand Mosque in Zamboanga City, expected to be finished late this year. The 50-hectare complex will also have a shopping mall and a hotel. Randy Caluag
The panel chair, Rep. Felimon Espares, said Teves’ failure to do so would result in possible sanctions. At the same time, Espares disclosed that the panel, which held the meeting in an executive session, did not allow Teves to join the hearing earlier through videoconferencing. Teves asked House Majority Leader Mannix Dalipe that he be allowed to deliver a privileged speech on Zoom in Monday’s plenary session. Teves’ letter was received at 2:55 p.m. He was unable to deliver a speech until the session ended at 5:36 p.m. The ethics committee, however, rejected Teves’ bid to attend the meeting online and instead urged him to return home within 24 hours. “We extend our time to let our colleagues respond within 24 hours to come home, but if he cannot appear personally in our committee, the committee would really have (to render) its decision, the appropriate sanctions. So probably by tomorrow (Tuesday) at 4 or 5 p.m., we will have our committee meeting to deal with if our colleagues Next page
ROV arrives amid contrary PCG reports on oil spill House lawmakers miffed as Senate By Charles Dantes, Willie Casas and Macon Ramos-Araneta
cess Empress, which sank and spilled 800,000 liters of industrial oil off the coast of Oriental Mindoro, has arrived in THE Japanese vessel Shin Nichi Maru Calapan City, authorities said Monday. This was after the Philippine Coast carrying the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) capable of finding the MT Prin- Guard gave conflicting reports of the
oil spill finally reaching Isla Verde, a part of Batangas City, in the Verde Island Passage -- recognized as the center of global shore-fish biodiversity, and which provides food and livelihood to Next page
zaps ‘Cha-cha’ hearing sans notice
By Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta HOUSE leaders were dismayed Monday when the Senate postponed — at the last minute and without an explanation — a hearing on their resolution calling for Charter Change. Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus
Rodriguez, who chairs the House committee on constitutional amendments, expressed dismay at the postponement over the Senate’s last-minute postponement of its hearing without sufficient time to notify invited resource persons. “I was already prepared to go to the Senate today at 10 a.m. to present to Next page
Foreign firms a step closer to full ownership in PH as rules released By Julito Rada and Vince Lopez
allows full foreign ownership of businesses in select industries such as airTHE National Economic and Develop- ports, railways, expressways, and telment Authority released Monday the ecommunications. NEDA chief Sec. Arsenio Balisacan implementing rules and regulations of the amended Public Service Act that Next page
PH, China envoys in SCS dialog DIPLOMATS from the Philippines and China are scheduled to hold a series of consultation meetings in Manila this week to discuss various concerns, including the disputed waters in the South China Sea, amid Chinese incursions in the country’s exclusive economic zone.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said the dialogues will take place during the 23rd Philippines-China Foreign Ministry Consultations (FMC) on March 23 and the 7th Bilateral Consultations Mechanism (BCM) on the South China Sea on March 24. Next page
ROV CARRIER. As Philippine Coast Guard personnel gather oil-filled sand from the shores of three barangays on Isla Verde in Batangas City, the Japanese salvage vessel Shin Nichi Maru, with the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Hakuyo on its deck, docks at the Calapan Bay in Oriental Mindoro on Monday (inset). It will help the Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP Bagacay in containing the oil spill from the sunken MT Princess Empress. Danny Pata, Batangas Disaster Office
OATH OF OFFICE. Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez administers the oath of
office to new Motion and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) Chair Diorella Maria “Lala” Sotto at the House of Representatives on Monday. Ver Noveno
4 more sites for EDCA bases to be announced soon By Rey Requejo and Charles Dantes
soldiers will be allowed to use, officials counter China’s growing assertiveness said Monday. over Taiwan and its building of bases in The longtime treaty allies agreed last the South China Sea. THE Philippines and the United States As this developed, foreign affairs will soon announce the location of four month to expand cooperation in “strateadditional military bases that American gic areas” of the country as they seek to Next page