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File photoon datedA4) July 27, 2016 shows President Duterte during a National Security Council meeting attended by four former presidents (Story including (from left) Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Fidel V. Ramos and Benigno Aquino III. Presidential Spokesman Harry
PBBM HAILS RISING NUMBER OF EMPLOYED PINOYS AFTER PSA SURVEY NEWS / A2 Marcos affirms trust in Frasco at DOT Roque says Malacanang is inclined to ask the four ex-presidents to attend a meeting on issues besetting the West Philippine Sea. NSC file
By Charles Dantes
VOL. XXXVII • NO. 143• 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • SATURDAY, JULY 8, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Friday he still trusted Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco and remained confident that the Department of Tourism's new campaign "Love the Philippines" will be "as successful as they hoped for" despite the fiasco over its campaign video. In an ambush interview, Mr. Marcos
was asked by reporters if he still trusts Frasco after the video blunder, in which the ad agency DDB Philippines contracted by the DOT for the campaign used clips of scenery from other countries to compose a "mood video." "Yes absolutely, no question. I spoke to her (Frasco). I have been actually (in touch with her) since all of these came to Next page the fore," said the President.
US rips China’s WPS moves Defense chief Austin hits ‘coercive, risky’ behavior near Ayungin Shoal
By Rey E. Requejo, Vince Lopez and Macon Ramos-Araneta
U
S Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III on Thursday expressed serious concern over China’s “coercive and risky” behavior after Chinese vessels harassed Philippine boats in the Ayungin Shoal.
Austin conveyed his concern during a call to Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro on Thursday (US time). "Secretary Austin noted with concern the PRC's (People's Republic of China) recent coercive and risky operational behavior directed against Philippine vessels operating safely and lawfully in the South China Sea, including around Second Thomas Shoal," a readout provided by Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said. On Wednesday, the Philippine Coast Guard said two Chinese coast guard vessels took what it described as “dangerous maneuvers” that could have caused a collision with PCG ships assisting the resupply mission of the Armed Forces of the Philippines near Ayungin Shoal on June 30. Next page
FREED FROM DEBT. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., flanked by House Speaker Martin Romualdez (right) and Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, holds up the New Agrarian Emancipation Act he signed into law on Friday in Malacañan Palace. After the signing ceremony, Mr. Marcos also led the ceremonial awarding of land titles to some of 23,000 beneficiaries – mirroring what his father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. did 50 years ago (inset) -- at the Heroes Hall in Malacañang. Rey Baniquet and Ver Noveno
P57b in agri debt wiped clean as PBBM inks new law By Charles Dantes and Macon Ramos-Araneta THE signing of the new agrarian reform act by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. came full circle on Friday, 50 years after his father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., signed Presidential Decree 27 in 1972.
Republic Act No. 11953 or the New Agrarian Reform Act signed by the President Friday condones all unpaid amortizations of the principal debt of agrarian reform beneficiaries worth P57.56 billion. These farmers were tilling a total of 1.17 million hectares of agrarian reform lands. The New Agrarian Emancipation
Act was part of the priority measures the President asked Congress to pass in his first State of the Nation Address last July 25, 2022. During the press briefing, the President said that he is continuing his father's previous work, pointing out that it was always his late father's intention to give land to farmers and farm workers. Presidential Decree 27 was signed
by Mr. Marcos Sr. and the minister of the Department of Agrarian Reform, Conrado Estrella Sr. Under the decree, the tenant farmer, whether in land classified as landed estate or not, was deemed owner of a portion constituting a family-size farm of five hectares if not irrigated and three hectares if irrigated. Next page
Diokno: Maharlika IRR in final phase, ready for rollout within 90 days ment Fund are in its final stages and that the President is expected to sign the bill soon. In a message to reporters covering FINANCE Secretary Benjamin Diokno the Finance beat, Diokno said: “The said Friday that the implementing rules crafting of the IRR started right after and regulations of the Maharlika Invest- the approval of the MIF bill. It is now
By Julito G. Rada and Vito Barcelo
in its final phase.” Congress approved the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) Act of 2023 on May 31. The House of Representatives adopted the Senate version of the bill, SB 2020, which was passed on third reading with 19 affirmative votes, one negative
vote, and one abstention. Diokno said the government would promulgate the rules and regulations 90 days from when the law was passed. In a July 6 interview on ANC’s Business Outlook, Diokno said the MIF would Next page
9-hr. water break looms in Maynilad areas Speaker: Nat’l budget, LEDAC bills CHINESE SWARMS. In these photos handed out Friday, the Armed Forces Western Command shows some of the 48 Chinese Navy, Coast Guard, and fishing vessels spotted swarming the Iroquois Reef in the West Philippine Sea. AFP Wescom photo
MORE than half a million customers of Maynilad should prepare for a possible nine-hour service interruption next week as the government anticipates Angat Dam’s water level to fall below its minimum operating level of 180 meters. “The elevation of Angat will reach 180 meters (Saturday). However, we are projecting that there will be no interruption tomorrow, except for the regular maintenance activities,” MWSS Angat/Ipo
Operations Management Division head Patrick James Dizon said in a message to GMA News. “For Maynilad, the expected interruption will be on Wednesday (July 12), the earliest, but if there are rains, the start of interruption could be by Friday (July 14)… The number of hours of interruption - 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. (nine hours)… that is lesser than the 14 to 16 hours interruption in April 2023,” Dizon said. Next page
top House agenda before yearend By Maricel V. Cruz THE House of Representatives will focus on passing the 2024 national budget while hastening the approval of the priority bills of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. before the year ends.
Speaker Martin Romualdez said lawmakers will work overtime if necessary to comprehensively scrutinize the proposed P5.768 trillion National Expenditure Program to fulfill its “power of the purse” mandate as well as the priority measures Next page
Sugar Order 7 OKs import of 150k tons to boost stocks THE Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has released Sugar Order No. 7, authorizing the importation of 150,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar to cover the projected supply gap and increase the
country’s buffer stock. Released on July 6, 2023, the order mandates eligible importers who are granted allocations to ensure their respective allocated volumes arrive in the coun-
try no later than September 15, 2023. In May, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved the importation of up to 150,000 MT of sugar to stabilize the price and boost the country's stock. Next page
GASOLINE PRICE GOING DOWN, DIESEL TO GO UP NEXT WEEK
YOUTUBE ALSO TAKES DOWN QUIBOLOY’S SMNI CHANNEL
NEWS / A2
NEWS / A3
TAX-EXEMPT MEDICINES. Popular medicines for diabetes, hypertension, and cancer are shown in these file photos after the government expanded its list of medicines exempted from value-added tax to include 59 drugs on Friday (see full story on A2).