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ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY Special Issue
TO MARK WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2023 SECTION D
Asia-Pacific may sink into ‘whirlpool’ of conflict–China
VOL. XXXVII • NO. 110 • 4 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 • MONDAY, JUNE 5, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Gov’t seeks to lessen dependency on ‘ayuda’ Food stamp beneficiaries required to look for jobs By Charles Dantes and Rio N. Araja
China Defense Minister Li Shangfu
must enroll in the government’s jobgenerating programs. In an interview with radio dzBB, O fight off the “culture of dependency,” the DSWD officer-in-charge Undersecretary Eduardo Punay said the requirements Marcos administration is adjusting its assistance would push 1 million beneficiaries to join to indigents by setting conditions that would help programs from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Technical beneficiaries “graduate” from being poor. Education and Skills Development Starting with the state’s P40-billion of Social Welfare and Development Authority (TESDA). food stamp program, the Department (DSWD) said Sunday beneficiaries Punay said these requirements would
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help end the culture of dependency on government financial assistance. “This design for the food stamp program is multi-purpose,” he said in Filipino. “The DSWD is evolving. We’re not all just about financial assistance. We’re becoming developmental. We are making sure that our beneficiaries do not become used to merely receiving financial aid or ayuda, and all they do is Next page take and take.”
US Defense Sec. Lloyd Austyin
CHINESE Defense minister Li Shangfu on Sunday warned against establishing NATO-like military alliances in the Asia-Pacific, saying they would plunge the region into a "whirlpool" of conflict. He issued the statement during a security dialogue in Singapore where the Pentagon also voiced concern over the Chinese military's "increasingly risky and coercive activities" in Asia. Also in Singapore, Philippine Defense officer-in-charge Sec. Carlito Galvez called on neighboring countries to uphold the rule of law, including the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling which rejected China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea, amid persisting tensions in the disputed waters. Galvez said adhering to international law is an effective way to settle maritime disputes, calling it the "greatest equalizer among states." "We view the 2016 arbitration award as not only setting the reason and right in the South China Sea, but also as an inspiration for how matters should be considered by states facing similar challenging circumstances," Galvez said in the dialogue attended by Li and Pentagon chief US Defense Sec. Lloyd Next page Austin.
#BeatPlasticPollution. A scavenger collects plastic bottles along Manila Bay on Sunday ahead of the 50th anniversary of World Environment Day today (Monday, June 5, 2023). More than 430 million tons of plastic is produced every year worldwide, half of which is designed to be used only once. Of that, less than 10 per cent is recycled, and about 20 million tons end up in lakes, rivers, and seas annually. Danny Pata
‘Too many cars, Admin revises MUP proposal, too few mass now offers 3 pension options transit systems’ By Julito G. Rada worsen PH traffic AN AMERICAN political science expert said traffic gridlock in the Philippines is caused by underinvestment in mass transit systems and an over-reliance on cars as mode of transportation. Prof. John Sidel of the London School of Economics and Political Science made the analysis as he presented Next page
FOR PEOPLE AND PLANET. Cyclists navigate the 16-kilometer route of the
second ‘Pedal for People and Planet 2023’ in Quezon City on June 4, 2023. More than a thousand joined climate campaigners to call on rich nations to pay their fair share of the global climate action. Bike rides were also held in 42 cities and provinces in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Vietnam, and other parts of the Philippines with more than six thousand people participating. Jimmy A Domingo
PAGASA: 2 LPAs may enhance ‘habagat’ By Rio N. Araja
prevail over the western part of Southern Luzon until Friday, and may be THE state weather enhanced by the two bureau is monitorLPAs outside of the ing two low pressure Philippine area of areas which may enhance the southwest responsibility. monsoon or habagat. The first LPA, which is located east In its weather outlook for June 5 to Next page 11, PAGASA said the weak habagat will
WEATHER
THE administration’s economic team adjusted current proposals for the military and uniformed personnel (MUP) pension reform, which will now offer three options for retirees to get their benefits. Under the new proposal, MUPs who avail of optional retirement are given the prerogative to choose among three options: a) receive all pension benefits in one lump sum upon retirement; b) 60
months advance, then the payment of monthly pension benefits will kick in after five years; and c) receive pension benefits at age 57. The new options were proposed in consideration of varying financial situations among MUPs and will be applied on a case-to-case basis, Finance Undersecretary Maria Luwalhati Dorotan Tiuseco said. Tiuseco presented the economic team’s latest proposal during the dialog Next page
PH gets 1st batch of bivalent COVID vax from Lithuania By Macon Ramos-Araneta THE country received its first batch of more than 390,000 doses of bivalent COVID-19 vaccines donated by Lithuania, Health officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said. "It is with great pleasure that we have received such generous donations from Next page
1ST BATCH. Close to 400,000 doses of bivalent COVID-19 vaccines donated by Lithuania arrive in the country Saturday evening. DOH photo