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LAGUNA, MORE TOWNS SUSPEND CLASSES TODAY AS TD ‘AMANG’ LINGERS By Rio N. Araja and Joel E. Zurbano Quezon, Montalban in Rizal, and Santo MORE local government units suspended classes today as Tropical Depression “Amang” flooded several areas and is poised to dump heavy rain over parts of Luzon, maintaining its strength even after making several landfalls in Camarines Sur on Wednesday afternoon, the weather bureau said. Laguna Governor Ramil Hernandez suspended classes for all levels for Thursday, with the towns of Lopez in
VOL. XXXVII • NO. 62 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Tomas in Batangas following suit. On Wednesday, Camarines Sur Gov. Luigi Villafuerte also declared classes suspended, with Naga City (CamSur), Calamba City, Liliw, Mabitac, Pangil, Santa Maria, and Pagsanjan (all in Laguna) also shutting schools along with most towns in Quezon Province and some in Rizal, Bulacan, and Nueva Ecija. In its latest bulletin last night, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical Next page
US, PH cast security roadmap China nixes SCS ruling anew, says ‘pandering’ to cause tensions
By Charles Dantes, Rey Requejo, Vince Lopez and Macon Ramos-Araneta
T
OP Philippine and American officials are ironing out a road map of US security assistance to the country covering the next five to 10 years.
Meanwhile, China expressed Wednesday through its foreign ministry its “serious concern and disapproval” of the joint statement released by the Philippines and the United States on the 2016 Arbitral Award, Beijing maintained its “indisputable sovereign-
ty” over islands in the South China Sea. In Washington for talks, Defense chief Carlito Galvez and Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo received assurances from their American counterparts, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Next page
FOR MUTUAL INTERESTS.
Philippine National Defense Department Officer-in-Charge Carlito Galvez, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin participate in the US-Philippines 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue Plenary Session on Promoting Regional Security at the State Department in Washington, DC on April 11. AFP
Chinese leader says troops must boost training for ‘actual combat’ PBBM approval rating dips, but still high in poll
BEIJING—China’s President Xi Jinping called on the country’s armed forces to “strengthen military training oriented towards actual combat”, state media reported Wednesday after Beijing conducted military drills intended to intimidate Taiwan. Xi’s comments, made on a naval inspection trip on Tuesday, come amid heightened tension in the re-
gion after the show of force by Beijing, which sees self-ruled Taiwan as its territory. China on Monday concluded three days of military drills launched in response to a visit last week by Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen to the United States, where she met a bipartisan group of lawmakers and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Xi on Tuesday told the People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theatre Command Navy that the military must “resolutely defend China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime interests, and strive to protect overall peripheral stability”, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Next page
By Vince Lopez PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s approval ratings dropped four points due to public dissatisfaction over high prices, but he remains popular, the latest Pulse Asia survey showed. The survey found that 78 percent of 1,200 respondents polled in March approved of Marcos’ performance, lower than the 82 percent he got in November. Some 80 percent said they trusted the President, down from Next page
BALIKATAN DRILLS. Philippine Army and US Army Pacific soldiers hold a platoon live-fire exercise at Range 5, Camp Ernesto Rabina Air Base in Capas, Tarlac, while Army landing craft carrying Marine vehicles are guided by a Navy Beach Party Team at Casiguran, Aurora in Combined Joint Logistics over-the-shore operations at Balikatan 2023. PA, USMC Photos
DOH greenlights 2nd COVID booster shot for public, warns of case surge THE Philippines will offer the second COVID-19 booster to the public, the Department of Health announced Wednesday, allowing more Filipinos to get additional protection against the virus. “Based on the updated emergency use authorization of the Food and Drug Administration and the positive recommendation of the Health Technology
Assessment Council, we can now use the vaccines we have as second booster for the general population or our health adults,” DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a press briefing. Only vulnerable groups such as healthcare workers and the elderly were allowed to receive the fourth jab last year. Next page
Comelec defends accuracy of 2022 elections, seeks redefinition of rules SAFE SEAS. In a show of support to the local tourism industry of Oriental
Mindoro, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco (right) joins divers in the town of Puerto Galera on Wednesday for a scuba diving activity at La Laguna Point, a popular dive spot at the local travel destination, proving its waters are still clean despite the massive oil spill off the coast of Oriental Mindoro (see related story on A4). Puerto Galera FB page
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) defended Wednesday the accuracy of the 2022 national elections, amid critics’ petitions to access the transmission logs of the system used in the polls. At the same time, the government’s election watchdog is advocating the redefinition of vote-buying and vote-selling to al-
low the agency to crack down on the use of online cash transfers for those activities. Comelec spokesman Director John Rex Laudiangco noted the private organization Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting found no discrepancies, while the random manual audit of the machines Next page