twitter.com/ MlaStandard
facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH
instagram.com/ manilastandard
manilastandard.net
Missed your copy of Manila Standard? Call or text our Circulation Hotline at 0917-8848655 or email: circulation@manilastandard.net For advertisement: email: advertise@manilastandard.net • 85646229
Gov’t raises next year’s proposed budget to P5.768 trillion—DBM By Julito Rada
VOL. XXXVII • NO. 127 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Pangandaman noted that this is still one of the lowest annual budget increases. She said they aimed to submit it to THE Marcos administration has raised its proposed budget for 2024 to P5.768- Congress days after President Ferdinand trillion, a 9.5 percent increase from this Marcos Jr. delivers his second State-ofthe-Nation Address on July 24, 2023. year’s national expenditure program. However, Budget Secretary Amenah Next page
Junk food, softdrinks tax eyed
Gov’t aims to curb people’s poor diet, raise funds for vital projects By Julito G. Rada
T
HE government will push for the passage of new revenue measures that include additional taxes on sweetened beverages and junk food within the year, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said Wednesday.
PH rolls out bivalent COVID-19 vaccine
VAX ROLLOUT.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urges Filipinos to continue getting vaccinated against COVID-19 as the government launched bivalent vaccines on Wednesday, June 21, 2023.
By Vince Lopez PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday led the vaccination of healthcare workers against COVID-19 using bivalent vaccines to Next page
The target would be to have the new tax measures take effect in 2024, so they would have until the end of the year to push for their passage, Pangandaman said. Aside from generating additional revenues to be used for vital government projects, the higher taxes would result in better health for the people, she said. In a statement, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Department of Health (DOH) are jointly pursuing a junk food and sweetened beverage tax “as a proactive measure to tackle diabetes, obesity, and non-communicable diseases related to poor diet.” Under the proposed tax program, the DOF plans to impose a P10 per 100 grams or P10 per 100 milliliters tax on pre-packaged foods lacking nutritional value, including confectioneries, snacks, desserts, and frozen confectioneries, that exceed the DOH’s specified thresholds for fat, salt, and sugar content. Additionally, the DOF intends to increase the sweetened beverage tax rate under the TRAIN Law to P12 per liter, regardless of the type of sweetener used. This tax rate will be indexed Next page
Detainee, 6 NBI personnel nabbed for ‘sneaking out’—DOJ exec By Charles Dantes
law enforcement authorities while outside the NBI detention facility. The Department of Justice spokesperA HIGH-PROFILE detainee and six son Mico Clavano identified the suspect National Bureau of Investigation security personnel have been arrested by as Jose Adrian Dera, alias “Jad,” who is
detained for drug and murder charges. cases where he alone is charged,” Cla“He (Dera) has several cases relat- vano said during a public briefing. ed to drugs. One of which he is a co“This would not have happened if there accused in the case of former Senator was no connivance. We are hellbent on (Leila) De Lima. There are also certain Next page
Marcos warns PH soil ‘under threat’
By Vince Lopez
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday called for increased collaboration among various stakeholders to avert future crises, recognizing the threat posed by soil neglect to national food security and people’s livelihood and well-being. Among the growing soil problems in the country are degradation, acidification, and pollution, the President said. “[About 75 percent of] total crop land is vulnerable to erosion in various degrees, with ag-
riculture losing about 457 million tons of soil annually,” the President said as he addressed the 1st National Soil Health Summit at the Diamond Hotel in Manila. “The conversion of lands for settlements and the loss of about 47 hectares of forest cover every year contribute significantly to the soil degradation,” the President added. Mr. Marcos said around 11 million to 13 million hectares are considered degraded. This is on top of the 2.2 million hectares that suffer from insufficient levels of soil fertility, Next page
2.5m removed from power subsidy program
PPP KEY TO INFRA DEV’T—SPEAKER
By Alena Mae S. Flores
NEWS / A4 STRATEGIC EXPRESSWAY LINK. House Speaker Martin Romualdez, along with NLEX Corp. President and
General Manager J. Luigi Bautista and other officials, lead the ground breaking ceremony of the new five-kilometer third Candaba viaduct in Pulilan, Bulacan on Wednesday, June 21, 2023. According to NLEX, the new bridge that will be built in the middle of two existing viaducts aims to enhance motorists’ safety and mobility. Manny Palmero
ABOUT 2.5 million customers of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) may stop enjoying subsidized power rates as distribution utilities process applications for eligibility under the New Lifeline Rate Program. Meralco head of utility economics Lawrence Fernandez said the numbers may be high, as the company has about 7.6 million customers but “that only means that millions of lifeline customers be-
fore were not really marginalized.” The lifeline rate refers to the subsidized rate given to qualified marginalized end-users as part of the socialized pricing mechanism that provides for a percentage discount, subject to the guidelines set by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). Fernandez said that according to the joint ERC, Department of Energy, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development rules, 4Ps beneficiaries Next page
Senators grill local airlines over passengers’ woes Duterte, Ong, Tulfo top choices offloading and booking glitches. to passengers. They also bewailed the By Macon Ramos-Araneta, At a hearing of the Senate tourism apparent inaction of the Civil AeroMaricel V. Cruz and Joel E. Zurbano committee, senators took turns in at- nautics Board (CAB) to sanction vioSENATORS on Wednesday chided lo- tacking Cebu Pacific and Philippine lations committed by airlines against cal airlines following complaints by Airlines, among others for the incon- their passengers. airline passengers about overbooking, veniences and damage being caused Next page
YouTube halts Quiboloy’s channel By Charles Dantes ONLINE video-sharing giant YouTube has terminated the account of controversial religious leader Apollo Quiboloy due to violations of certain community guidelines on the digital platform. The account was removed after a content creator called the attention of
the YouTube support team through its Twitter account, asking why Quiboloy’s account is still active despite an existing warrant of arrest from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Hey, update here: upon review, we’ve determined that the channel is in Next page
Pastor Apollo Quiboloy
for senator in 2025 midterm polls
By Joel E. Zurbano FORMER President Rodrigo Duterte again topped a list of preferred candidates for senator in the 2025 midterm elections, according to the Pahayag 2023 second-quarter survey conducted by Publicus Asia from June 7 to 12. Based on the “voting predisposition” of 1,500 respondents, the survey saw Duterte ranked first with 51%, followed by health expert Dr. Willie Ong and ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo, who both got 44%. Ong was a losing vice presidential bet in the 2022 elections as the running mate of erstwhile Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso. The survey results also showed that the
Former President Rodrigo Duterte
top national issue this quarter is the need to use renewable energy, surpassing the perennial concerns on the affordability of basic commodities, wages, livelihood,
Next page