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AMMONIA LEAK KILLS BOY, SENDS 23 TO HOSPITALS
MAYON’S LAVA FLOW REACHES 2.5 KM–PHIVOLCS
NEWS / A3
NEWS / A3 VOL. XXXVII • NO. 126 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
PH, China fishing talks improve Marcos: Chinese vessels just tail, no longer block Filipino ships
By Vince Lopez
DA PERSONNEL TO GET BONUS—PBBM
P
RESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said fishing talks between the Philippines and China have progressed, despite recent reports of Filipino fishermen being blocked by Chinese vessels off Pag-asa Island, and the latest incident in which a Chinese military ship tailed a government patrol boat.
“These things do not come very quickly… But we are slowly making progress because the key to that is the improved communication between the Philippine government and the Chinese government,” Marcos said on the sidelines of the Department of Agriculture’s 125th founding anniversary celebration in Diliman, Quezon City. Addressing the latest incident, Mr. Marcos said unlike before, the Chinese vessel just tailed the BRP Francisco Dagohoy. “’The latest report was the ship was just followed, it’s not blocked like before, so there’s a little progress there,” the President said. The Philippines has filed hundreds of protests with Beijing over China’s aggressive and bullying activities in the West Philippine Sea. In 2022 alone, 193 protest notes were served on Beijing, including 65 by the Marcos administration. But Mr. Marcos said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has even projected a bigger haul for Filipino fishermen due to the improved situation in the area. “That is because we are continuing to talk to the Chinese government, President Xi [Jinping], in every way,” Marcos said. The President also said that when he met with President Xi last January, he focused on the issue of fisheries instead
NEWS / A4
‘Maharlika only needs signature of Zubiri before sent to Palace’ By Macon Ramos-Araneta ONLY the signature of Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri is needed on the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) Bill before it is transmitted to Malacanang. Deputy Senate Majority Floor Leader JV Ejercito told reporters Tuesday that the enrolled copy of the bill is ready for the signature of the Senate President. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. can then either sign the measure into law or veto the MIF Bill, which he earlier certified as urgent. Once signed by Zubiri, who has yet to return from an official trip to the United States, the enrolled bill will be transmitted to the Palace. Ejercito admitted it took the Senate some time to fix the inconsistent provisions on the prescriptive period for the prosecution of crimes and offenses in the bill. In the final copy of the Senate version of the bill, l Section 50 prescribes a 10-year period while Section 51 sets it at 20 years. Next page
FE.1 variant may cause severe COVID infections
BOUNTIFUL HARVEST. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. leads the 125th founding anniversary of the Department of Agriculture on Tuesday, June 20, 2023. Revoli Cortez
By Macon Ramos-Araneta
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lack of merit. In a seven-page resolution on Civil Case 0178 involving Eastern Telecommunications Philippines, Inc. (ETPI) shares, the anti-graft court said the
INFECTIOUS diseases specialist Dr. Rontgene Solante yesterday warned that newly detected FE.1 Omicron subvariant may cause severe infection in the vulnerable population. Because of this, he cautioned individuals with comorbidities and the elderly to always wear face masks. He noted that they should always keep their vaccination status up to date as their immunity weakens four to six months after receiving the jab. He also said this new subvariant only causes mild symptoms, particularly in the younger population, since it targets the upper respiratory tract, unlike the Delta variant. “We should not panic because for almost two years now the health care utilization rate has been good,” he said. FE.1, a sublineage of the Omicron XBB subvariant, was added to the list
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DOH chief warns PH may run out of nurses in 3-5 years amid exodus jobs abroad, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said Tuesday. To address this problem, Herbosa THE Philippines may run out of nurses proposes granting temporary licenses in three to five years if nothing is done to board-eligible nursing graduates and about their leaving for better-paying have them work as nurses in govern-
By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rio N. Araja
ment hospitals. He said at the moment, there were 4,500 vacancies in over 70 Department of Health (DOH) hospitals nationwide. In an interview on radio dzBB, Herbosa said he was focusing on the loom-
ing shortage of nurses, the supply of which could be exhausted in three to five years. He said he is planning to take in nursing graduates who scored 70 to 74 Next page
Sandiganbayan junks bid to present additional witness in Marcos Sr. case THE Sandiganbayan has denied the petition of government prosecutors to present a new witness in the ill-gotten wealth case against personalities being linked to the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and his wife Imelda due to
SEARCH CONTINUES. This image courtesy of Dirty
Dozen Productions shows British businessman Hamish Harding ahead of the start of the RMS Titanic Expedition Mission 5 on the morning of June 18, 2023. The 21-foot (6.5-meter) craft, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, began its descent on Sunday but lost contact with the surface less than two hours later, according to authorities. Handout photo taken during the historical 1986 dive, courtesy of WHOI (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), shows the Titanic bow. AFP
Rescuers search missing sub near Titanic wreck US seeks more ‘vital’ military dialogue with China
GAME CHANGER. In a bid to improve coin circulation in the Philippines, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and SM Store deploy the first
of coin deposit machines in SM Mall of Asia on Tuesday, June 20, 2023. This is the first of 18-coin machines that will be available at SM Stores and SM Supermarkets. From left: SM Supermalls Senior Vice President for Marketing Jonjon San Agustin, SM Supermalls President Steven Tan, BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan, SMIC Vice Chairperson Tessie Sy-Coson, BSP Governor Felipe Medalla, BSP Deputy Governor Bernadette Puyat, SM Retail Director Ricky Lim, SM Store Executive Vice President Dhinno Tiu, and SM Retail Vice President of Treasury Jeffrey Ang.
RESCUE teams raced against time on Tuesday in their search for a tourist submersible that went missing near the wreck of the Titanic with five people on board. Next page
THE United States on Tuesday said it will that request being rebuffed during Secre- Security Council senior director for Chikeep asking China to open more military tary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Bei- na and Taiwan Affairs, said establishing communication channels to defuse rising jing over the weekend. military-to-military communications was Next page tensions between their countries, despite Sarah Beran, White House National