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PBBM to Ched: Address, reverse brain drain among Filipino nurses By Vince Lopez PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has directed the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to immediately address the shortage of nurses due to migration, which has been affecting the delivery of
effective healthcare in the country. “We have to be clever about the healthcare manpower. Our nurses are the best. We are competing with the entire world in terms of hiring Filipino nurses,” the President said during a Next page
VOL. XXXVII • NO. 48 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Rody blasts ICC, ready for jail SolGen clarifies PH bid for probe suspension effectively still pending
DepEd won’t revert to ‘old’ summer break
By Rey E. Requejo
F
ORMER President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday cursed the International Criminal Court (ICC) for seeking to investigate his bloody war on drugs, and was unapologetic for the thousands of deaths it caused. At a national prosecutors convention in Davao City, Duterte called the ICC “sons of whores” and said he fought the drug war the same way he fought criminality in his hometown when he was a mayor. He said he was ready to face the consequences and even “rot in prison” for his actions. Meanwhile, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said he would meet President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to consider other options available to the government, after the ICC denied its plea to suspend its investigation into Duterte’s drug war. Earlier, the President said the ICC decision signaled the Philippines’ disengagement from any dealings with the body. “We don’t have a next move,” the President said. “That is the extent of our involvement with the ICC. That ends all our involvement with the ICC since we can no longer file another appeal.” But Guevarra, who was Duterte’s Justice secretary, said he prefers that the government wait for the ICC-Appeals Chamber to finally resolve its March 13 appeal. “Personally, though, since we have already filed the appeal, we are not going to lose anything further by waiting for its resolution,” Guevarra said in an interview. Next page
DESPITE the call of a senator to move back summer vacation for schools to April and May amid the hot weather, the Department of Education (DepEd) has no plan to do so at present, spokesperson Michael Poa said on Wednesday. “At the moment, there are no plans to revert,” Poa told reporters in a message when asked about Senator Sherwin Gatchalian’s call to move the school break back from its current July to August schedule. “As mentioned in a previous statement, school heads have the discretion to suspend in-person classes and immediately switch to ADM (Alternative Delivery Mode) or blended learning if the environment is not conducive to learning,” he added. Poa said the DepEd “will take note of the suggestions and study the matter.” On Tuesday, Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate basic education committee, said it is time to bring back the April–May summer vacation, prompt-
‘LAST MILE’ NUTRITION PROGRAM.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. affixes his signature on a manifesto of commitment for the Philippine Multisectoral Nutrition Project during its launching on Wednesday, March 29, 2023. The PMNP, a four-year project spearheaded by the Department of Health and the Department of Social Welfare and Development, is geared toward adopting a bold and multisectoral approach to achieve nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions across various local government units. Alfred Frias
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Gov’t to raise ‘healthy citizens,’ to deal with malnutrition among kids By Willie Casas, Vito Barcelo and Vince Lopez
of Health said Wednesday—a situation that a P10 billion World Bank-funded program seeks to address. “Twenty-nine point five percent of ONE in three Filipino children under the age of 5 is stunted, the Department Filipino children under 5 are stunted,”
DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario fected by interplay of various factors Vergeire said during the launch of the such as health education, livelihood, Philippine Multi-sectoral Nutrition Pro- social welfare, and governance.” ject (PMNP). “Our issues with nutrition “We are also aware of the inter-generago beyond access to food. These are afNext page
Maynilad: Brace for longer daily water interruptions next week By Othel V. Campos, Rio N. Araja, Maynilad has been augmenting supJoel E. Zurbano and Willie Casas plies through a “cross-portal” arrangeMAYNILAD on Wednesday said it has begun daily service interruptions to preserve the remaining supply of water in the Angat-Ipo system, as there will be less rainfall to replenish the dams because of the El Niño. Even before the service interruptions,
ment with Manila Water, because less water has been reaching the Novaliches Portal in Quezon City. However, the declining water elevation at La Mesa Dam has forced Manila Water to gradually suspend the crossportal sharing. Next page
EMERGENCY SIMULATION. The staff and officers of the Presidential Communications Office join a fire evacuation drill conducted in Ermita, Manila led by the Bureau of Fire Protection.
Ex-Gov. Teves signs waiver for phone, bank records FORMER Negros Oriental Governor Pryde Henry Teves on Wednesday filed a waiver allowing the Department of Justice to probe his bank accounts, phone records, and emails in an effort to clear his name of involvement in the March 4 assassination of his successor, Roel Degamo.
Teves appeared at the Hall of Justice in Dumaguete City yesterday with the waiver, which he said may help authorities in their ongoing probe on him and his brother, suspended Negros Oriental Third District Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. In his waiver, Teves wrote he was a
“law-abiding citizen” with “nothing to hide, and who desires nothing but to simply live in peace.” This developed as three people arrested during the raid on a compound allegedly owned by former Governor Teves are set to file a complaint against Next page
P4-b shabu packed in tea bags seized in Baguio P4-B HAUL. Some 575 kilos of suspected shabu placed in teabags with Chinese markings are seized by joint operatives of the PNP Regional Drug Enforcement Unit, City Drug Enforcement Unit, and PDEA-Cordillera on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, at a rented home in Irisan, Baguio City.
POLICE and anti-drug operatives seized 575 kilos of suspected shabu, stored in tea bags, worth around P4 billion and arrested a Chinese national in an operation in Baguio City on Wednesday.
Joint operatives of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said 51-year-old Ming Hui was arrested during the implementation of a search warrant in Purok 4,
Irisan, along Naguilian Road in Baguio at about 8:55 a.m. The haul was the biggest so far this year in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Police Cordillera Director Next page