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President to DMW: Make P100 OFW certificate free of charge By Vince Lopez
VOL. XXXVII • NO. 145• 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • MONDAY, JULY 10, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has directed the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to explore the possibility of making the application for an Overseas Employment Certificate
(OEC) free of charge. This would benefit an estimated 1.83 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who currently pay P100 each for an OEC, which lasts two months. The President issued the directive Next page
LGUs mobilized to save water DENR to NCR chiefs, subdivisions: Collect rainwater, reuse wastewater
By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rio N. Araja
T
HE Department of Environment and Natural Resources has advised village leaders and residents of Metro Manila to reduce activities such as watering lawns and washing cars to avert massive water interruptions in the coming months.
In its Bulletin No. 2, the DENR's Water Resources Management Office (WRMO) told all barangay officials and condominium and subdivision managers to advise residents to conserve water. The WRMO said residents should also be encouraged to promote rainwatercollection for non-potable use of water and to reuse laundry and dishwashing wastewater for watering plants. The WRMO also directed all local government units in the National Capital Region to speed up the approval of pipe repairs of water concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad. “As we prepare for even drier conditions due to El Niño, it is, more than ever, important to conserve water in order to prevent massive water interruptions later this year,” the WRMO said. Earlier, the WRMO issued its first bulletin containing the guidelines for water conservation measures by all government offices, through their building administrators. In its second bulletin, the WRMO said its team will conduct spotinspections of office buildings for unwarranted use of water, leaks, and faulty bathroom fixtures. The team will ensure that WRMO Bulletin Nos. 1 and 2 are posted in offices accordingly. The WRMO said that together with Next page
DRYING UP. A farmer looks at the withered corn plants at his farm in Malagasang, Imus, Cavite on Sunday as excessive heat hit the area. The weather bureau has warned the public that El Niño has shown signs of strengthening in the coming month, meaning some areas in the country could experience dry spells and drought, which will deplete local water resources. Danny Pata
DOE: No outages seen amid El Niño hydropower drop By Alena Mae S. Flores
"We do not have potential red alerts for the rest of the year,” Energy UnderTHE Department of Energy expects no secretary Rowena Guevara said. Guevara said that based on the state power outages despite an expected decline in hydroelectric power due to the El weather bureau's forecast, hydro power plants are expected to reduce output by 50 Niño weather phenomenon.
percent starting July and up to 70 percent by the end of the year. She said there is a potential yellow alert on the third week of July and three weeks in August but no red alerts as a result of the lower hydro power output.
PCG to keep ‘exposing’ China ships, sets more patrols with AFP
"We can run the more expensive diesel plants if actual demand exceeds the projected demand. So far, the actual demand is less than the projected demand," the official said. Next page
Imee: 2 more US C-17s cross local airspace By Macon Ramos-Araneta
FOREIGN PRESENCE. The Japan Coast Guard vessel Akitsushima (left), leads the US Coast Guard cutter Stratton and Philippine Coast Guard vessels BRP Gabriela Silang and BRP Melchora Aquino in a trilateral exercise in the West Philippine Sea on July 5. Meanwhile, the Italian Navy vessel Francesco Morosini (right) is docked at Pier 15 of the South Harbor in Manila on Saturday for a port call as part of a five-month naval campaign in the Indo-Pacific region. AFP Photos with Danny Pata By Vince Lopez THE Philippine Coast Guard will continue to expose Chinese excursions in the West Philippine Sea, as it and the Armed Forces of the Philippines are set
to increase their joint patrols to the Del Pilar Reef and Escoda Shoal, where Chinese militia vessels were spotted swarming ahead of a suspected occupation. PCG West Philippine Sea spokes-
person Commodore Jay Tarriela said the Coast Guardians’ "transparency initiative" on Chinese incursions is part of its strategy to drive China’s ships away from the WPS islands. “We realized that for the Philippine
government to drive them away is for us to expose them in public, create public awareness, and for them to be criticized by the international community," Tarriela said. Next page
Revenge travelers Speaker: Agri law to hike rice output 40% ignoring tourism By Rio N. Araja and slogan hullabaloo Macon Ramos-Araneta By Rio N. Araja TRAVELERS continue to flock to the Philippines despite the recent hullabaloo over the country's new tourism slogan, the leader of a group of tour operators said Sunday. In an interview with TeleRadyo Serbisyo, the president of the Philippine Tour Operators' Association (Philtoa), Fe Abling-Yu, said the controversy surrounding the country's new "Love Next page
100 cavans per hectare. "I have a strong feeling that the new law would pave the way for our farmers to produce more rice, which is our basic SPEAKER Martin Romualdez on Sunday staple, and other crops that they grow in said the New Agrarian Emancipation Act between rice planting,” he said. is expected to boost rice production by 40 The new law writes off "all principal Next page percent, or from 70 cavans per hectare to
‘AI can’t copy essence of Mickey Mouse’ BURBANK, California -- Aw, gee! The As part of Disney's upcoming 100thtechnology driving artificial intelligence anniversary celebration, Agence Francesure is swell, but it could never capture Presse spoke with animators, archivists the essence of Mickey Mouse, according and Mickey voice actor Bret Iwan about to the man who voices Disney's mascot. Next page
SILENT VISITORS. In these photos provided by the office of Senator Imee Marcos, C-17 Globemasters of the US Air Force are parked at the tarmac in Manila before heading to Palawan, as evidenced by tracking data posted by the website FlightRadar24. Marcos has questioned the reason behind the landings in the country of these gigantic military aircraft.
SENATOR Imee Marcos on Sunday raised concern over the presence of at least two more C-17 Globemasters of the US Air Force in Manila and Palawan. While acknowledging the ongoing military exercises between the two countries, she said there is a need to shed light on the activities of US Air Force planes in Philippine air space. Marcos earlier asked the Senate to investigate the mysterious activity of a US Air Force C-17 that landed at NAIA on June 26 at 8:08 am. and departed NAIA at 6:10 p.m. for Palawan -- or a 10-hour unexplained gap. "Too little is known about ongoing US Next page