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GAS, KEROSENE PRICES GO DOWN 60C, DIESEL 30C
P55M IN SHABU INTERCEPTED AT NINOY AIRPORT
NEWS / A2
NEWS / A2 VOL. XXXVII • NO. 111 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Defense, DOH chiefs named PBBM taps Gibo to lead DND anew, Herbosa for Health Dept.
By Charles Dantes
P
RESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday appointed former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. to his old position and Dr. Teodoro Herbosa as Health Secretary, filling two crucial Cabinet positions a year into his administration. Photos released by Malacanang showed Mr. Marcos talking separately to Teodoro and Department of National Defense officer-in-charge Carlito Galvez, and with Herbosa and Department of Health OIC Dr. Ma. Rosario Vergeire. Vergeire had said previously she was ready to become Health Secretary if the President wanted to, after ini-
tially saying she valued being a career official at DOH, where she was also an undersecretary during the past Duterte government. Teodoro was Secretary of Defense during President Gloria MacapagalArroyo’s administration, one of the youngest Cabinet officials at the time at 43 years old. Next page
NEW CABINET APPOINTEES. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. talks with Gilbert ‘Gibo’ Teodoro (top photo, left) and Department of Defense officer in charge Carlito Galvez, and later with Department of Health OIC Rosario Vergeire (above, center) and new DOH Secretary Ted Herbosa at Malacanang following their appointments to the Cabinet on Monday. PND Photos
GSIS, SSS may invest in Maharlika projects—Diokno, Nat’l Treasurer WHILE the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Social Security System (SSS) are barred from investing in the Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC), they may invest in its projects, the government’s top economic officials said Monday. In a press briefing, National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon addressed fears that if the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) loses money, the pensions of state and
private workers would be put at risk. “It’s prohibited [for the SSS and GSIS to invest in the MIF] directly and indirectly,” De Leon said in a mix of Filipino and English. But De Leon and Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno both said the two pension funds may invest in projects, but not in the MIC itself. They added that a risk management Next page
FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas displays the commemorative coin set for the 125th Anniversary of Philippines Independence at the Ceremonial Hall of Malacañan Palace on Monday. Meanwhile, the Philippine Postal Corp. also unveiled two designs for commemorative stamps for the occasion (inset photos). Alfred Frias, Philpost photos
Kuwait getting DHs from Ethiopia with PH shut out KUWAIT will import domestic workers from Ethiopia as it implements a contingency plan to ensure an adequate supply of manpower since it has yet to lift its suspension of new entry visas for workers and travelers alike from the Philippines, Gulf News reported.
Khaled Al Dakhnan, head of the Union of Domestic Labor Recruitment Offices in Kuwait, announced the group has reached a bilateral agreement with its Ethiopian counterpart to regulate the import of domestic workers from the African nation.
Onions go straight to retailers via gov’t contract farming program By Othel V. Campos
prove farmers’ access to markets and achieve fair prices for their produce. The Farmer Retail Market program THE government has rolled out its contract farming program for agricultural seeks to establish a direct linkage beproducts, in particular onions, to im- tween onion farmers and institutional
buyers by removing traders from the ions, particularly during lean months. supply chain. The country’s big retailers -- SM SuAccording to the Consumer Policy and permarkets, Robinsons, and Puregold Advocacy Bureau (CPAB), the program -- agreed to take part in the program. will provide a reliable supply of local onNext page
Mayon alert raised to Level 2, airmen told to avoid Taal too By Charles Dantes and Joel E. Zurbano THE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert level status of Mayon Volcano to Alert Level 2 on Monday. “DOST-Phivolcs is raising the Alert Level of Mayon Volcano from Alert Level 1 (abnormal) to Alert Level 2
(increasing unrest). This means that there is current unrest driven by shallow magmatic processes that could eventually lead to phreatic eruptions or even precede hazardous magmatic eruption,” Phivolcs said in a statement. Phivolcs said that rockfall events have increased in frequency from a daily average of five. From 5 a.m. of Next page
PH-ISRAEL TIES. Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo (left) shakes hands
with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen after signing documents following their bilateral meeting in Manila on June 5, as the countries celebrated 65 years of formal relations (See story on A3). AFP
This developed as the Philippine government has repatriated some 644 overseas Filipino workers from Kuwait since May, the Department of Migrant Workers said yesterday. Kuwait and the Philippines had Next page
PH, Australia set 15 defense activities in ‘24 THE Philippines and Australia will conduct 15 defense-related activities in 2024, the Philippine Army said Monday. These will include training on internal security, counterinsurgency, counter-terrorism, external defense, and disasters, the Army’s commanding general Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said. “Most of these activities are focused on bilateral training, which will be continuous,” Brawner said in Filipino. “We can see where the Philippine Army falls short, so we are asking for help from our partners, who can teach us about their tactics, and also for us to be able to adapt to the new weapon systems that are out there.” “This gives us a glimpse of the modern type of warfare. We would like to Next page