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DEPED TO UNVEIL REVISED K TO 10 CURRICULUM ‘IN A FEW WEEKS’
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Frasco going on 9-day leave, will be back to attend SONA, assures Palace By Charles Dantes TOURISM Secretary Christina Frasco is going on a nine-day scheduled leave “to spend time with her young family,” the Department of Tourism and the Palace said, rejecting speculations that it is related to the rebranding fiasco due to a promotional video that used stock footage of other countries. “The purpose of the short leave beginning July 13-21 consisting of only 7 working days, is to spend time with her young family. She is confirmed to attend the SONA. Any insinuation to the contrary is false,” the DOT said. Presidential Com-
munications Office Secretary Cheloy Garafil said Frasco’s application for leave was received by the Office of the President on May 9, 2023, way before the launch of the new tourism slogan, “Love the Philippines” and the release of the controversial promotional video. The leave application was approved last May 23, 2023, Garafil said. Frasco has repeatedly declined to answer questions on the tourism campaign fiasco in her recent public events. But in an event in Cebu over the weekend, while Frasco did not address the mess squarely, she vowed not to betray the trust given to her as Tourism chief. Next page
VOL. XXXVII • NO. 147 • 2 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Double whammy: No power, water 8-min. Meralco outage latest woe By Alena Mae S. Flores, Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco
I
F THE country’s dwindling water supplies weren’t enough amid the El Niño phenomenon, half a million customers of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Quezon on Tuesday lost power for about eight minutes after a power plant tripped and led to an automatic load drop (ALD).
Survey: Taming inflation still Pinoys’ top concern By Vito Barcelo CONTROLLING inflation remains the topmost concern of 63 percent of Filipinos, according to the second quarter Pulse Asia survey. Taken from June 19 to 23, 2023, the survey showed that the top concern remained unchanged from the first quarter of the year.
Controlling inflation--the rate of increase in the prices of consumer goods and services--is the top concern across all income classes, registering 67 percent among the more affluent (class ABC) and 63 percent and 62 percent in Class E and Class D, respectively. Filipinos also said the govern-
Meralco said the load drop—triggered by the tripping of the San Lorenzo Natural Gas Power Plant in Batangas -- occurred at 10:58 a.m. and power was fully restored by 11:06 a.m. on July 11 or after eight minutes. The ALD was implemented following National Grid Corp. of the Philippines’ Next page
SOME WATER, NO LIGHT.
Residents collect water from a community deep well at Tambunting, Sta. Cruz, Manila, while a family uses a candle while waiting for the light to come back on after lunchtime (inset) in Tondo district on Tuesday. Norman Cruz
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PNP TO RELEASE FIVE CHINESE POGO DETAINEES NEWS / A2
OLIVIA RODRIGO’S ‘VAMPIRE’ TOPS BILLBOARD 100 NEWS / A2
PAF: ‘Cope Thunder’ only reason for more US military planes in PH
By Vince Lopez
exercises between the 2 countries, an Air Force official said on Tuesday, THE increased presence of US mili- adding that all the aircrafts were covtary air assets in the Philippines is due ered by diplomatic clearances. “As long as they are covered by dipto the 2023 Cope Thunder bilateral
lomatic clearances and communicated to us by the Department of Foreign Affairs, there is no threat because it went through the proper process. All those involved in the training went
NEWS / A2
SC CLEARS LAW ON LIBELOUS SOCMED POSTS NEWS / A4
A. Caancan, CESO III (center) Regional Executive Director for DENR-NCR, is flanked by Manila Standard executives (from left) circulation manager Edgar Valmorida, Publisher Rolando Estabillo, Treasury Manager Anita Grefal, and Printing Press Manager Chito Constantino after signing an agreement with the agency at the Ecology Center in Quezon City on Tuesday. Manny Palmero
By Rey Requejo
DepEd poised to unveil revised K to 10 curriculum By Gabriellea B. Pariño THE Department of Education (DepEd) said Tuesday that it is set to launch the revised curriculum for Kinder to Grade 10 (K to 10) in a few weeks. In a press briefing, Education Under-
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16 countries back PH claims in West PH Sea
DENR-STANDARD PACT. Jacqueline
PINOY SKYGAZERS IN FOR METEOR SHOWER TREAT
through the proper process of getting the proper diplomatic clearance,” Philippine Air Force spokesperson Col. Ma. Consuelo Castillo said.
secretary Michael Poa announced that they are launching the newly revised curriculum for implementation for School Year 2024 to 2025 after it underwent careful consideration and review. “There are a lot of learning competencies that have yet to be learned by students
within a school year, and our teachers also face the same bombardment which makes the mastery of key subjects very difficult,” Poa told reporters. The Education undersecretary also emphasized that the opinions of Next page
SIXTEEN European countries are supporting the Philippines in asserting its sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea, a joint statement they issued said Tuesday. This was as the world commemorates this month Manila’s victory against Beijing relative to the South China Sea dispute through the 2016 Arbitral Ruling rendered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday said it would shift its efforts from internal security operations (ISO) to external ones (ESO) with more aerial and maritime patrols.
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