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VOL. XXXVII • NO. 150• 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
ALIWAN PRACTICE. The Binabayani Festival Contingent from Masinloc, Zambales rehearses on Friday for their grand showdown performance for the Aliwan Festival 2023 in Pasay City on Saturday, July 15. They will be part of a lively display of cultural and artistic performances from different regions of the Philippines. Norman Cruz
Stock rainwater, farmers told Agri Dept., OCD set plans to limit El Niño damage on food production
WEATHER
Signal No. 1 over 8 areas for ‘Dodong’ By Rio N. Araja and Butch Gunio TROPICAL depression “Dodong” accelerated while moving westward toward the coastal waters of Laoag City, Ilocos Norte on Friday afternoon, with eight areas in Luzon placed under Signal No. 1. “Dodong” is forecast to move westward or west northwestward before turning generally northwestward over the West Philippine Sea until it exits the Philippine Next page
By Vince Lopez, Rio N. Araja and Macon Ramos-Araneta
T
HE government has put in place water management strategies to limit the damage that the El Niño dry spell will have on agricultural production, including collecting and storing rainwater, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Friday. The DA said it encourages food pro- citing that the country sees an average ducers to stock rainwater for future use, rainfall volume of 2,348 millimeters.
It is also implementing other water management projects, such as the improvement of irrigation canals and other small-scale irrigation projects. Other mitigation projects include the replacement of unserviceable pumps and engine sets. The chairman of the DA’s National El Niño Team, U-Nichols Manalo, said they are closely working with operating units under the department to address the possible effects of the weather phenomenon. “These are just some of the measures
that the government has been doing early on to prevent production losses due to the dry spells that El Niño entails,” he said. Early this week, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. announced that the government would release an El Niño Mitigation Plan to enable the public to take part in national actions to cushion the effects of the weather phenomenon. Weather experts expect an unusual warming of sea surface temperatures, which may lead to the strengthening of Next page
Manila rejects PBBM thanks Koreans for aid, relief work Beijing’s claims NEW SAMAR ROAD. over WPS anew SEE STORY ON A2
By Rey E. Requejo and Macon Ramos-Araneta THE Philippines on Friday rejected China's expansive claims over the South China Sea, which were invalidated by a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said the Philippine position was that its territorial dispute with China had been settled by the United Nations-backed PCA, which invalidated Beijing’s nine-dash-line claims over the South China Sea and upheld Manila’s exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). Citing the statement of Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, Daza
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. (in blue shirt) leads government officials in the inauguration of the Samar Pacific Coastal Road project in Laoang, Northern Samar on Friday. Rey Baniquet
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JUNGKOOK’S ‘SEVEN’ LIKENED TO SONG BY IMELDA PAPIN
US, China, Russia Remulla: ICC decision won’t affect PH envoys show up By Rey E. Requejo at ASEAN forum
SEE MANILASTANDARD.NET
PRESIDENT SEES NOTHING WRONG WITH ‘BARBIE’ NEWS / A2
JUSTICE DEPT. SEEKS HIGH COURT’S HELP ON POGO CASES NEWS / A2
RARE LION CUB. Malabon
Zoo founder Manny Tangco introduces his 'miracle baby'—a rare pure white lion cub—on Friday. He invited the public to name the white lion, of which only 12 are known to live in the wild worldwide. Andrew Rabulan
JAKARTA—Top diplomats from the United States, China, and Russia attended a security meeting on Friday with Southeast Asian foreign ministers, with the spotlight on the disputed South China Sea, the Ukraine war and North Korea's missiles. The 27-member ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) will provide an arena for big powers to lock heads over a range of issues, and the closed-door roundtable has previously been a fractious affair. Host Indonesia warned that Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN cannot become a Next page
THE International Criminal Court (ICC) decision on whether to grant the Philippine appeal to discontinue its probe on President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs will not affect the country, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin
Remulla said Friday. “Well, they can decide in the Hague where the ICC is. But that does not affect us here. They cannot enforce anything that they want in our country because we are not members of the ICC,” Remulla said in a media briefing. Next page
Group: 200k joining SONA PUV strike AT LEAST 200,000 public utility vehicles will join the three-day transport strike starting July 24, the day of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s second State of the Nation Address, a transport group said Friday. Manibela chairman Mar Valbuena
said the strike will be held in nine regions across the country, including Metro Manila. "This is nationwide. Not lower than 200,000 public utility vehicles are joining the strike and our numbers may Next page