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
20 .00
I
IN MET R MANILAO
N
S
I
D
E
VOL. XXXVII • NO. 158 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES JULY 23, 2023
www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
STREET LIFE: MANILA’S HOMELESS FIND SHELTER IN PUSHCARTS NEWS | A2
SOFTWARE FIRM POWERS LOCAL BUSINESSES BUSINESS | B1
N FULL COLOR. Visitors get lost in a room of make-believe giant flowers at Art In Island mixed media art museum in Cubao, Quezon City. Guests must take off their footwear after purchasing tickets, a requirement because they will step on the paintings, which must be kept clean. Joan Bondoc
PBBM: EMERGENCY STATE FOR COVID-19 IN PH LIFTED DOH SAYS ORDER ‘POSITIVE STEP FORWARD,’ TRANSITION TO LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT OF CORONAVIRUS STARTS By Charles Dantes, Gabriellea Parino and Joel Zurbano
P
RESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has officially lifted the State of Public Health Emergency across the country for the COVID-19 pandemic, more than three years after former President Rodrigo Duterte declared the emergency. According to the Presidential Com- throughout the Philippines. munications Office, Mr. Marcos issued “All prior orders, memoranda, and Proclamation No.297 on July 21, issuances that are effective only durlifting the public health emergency ing the State of Public Health Emer-
gency shall be deemed withdrawn, revoked, or canceled and shall no longer be in effect,” the proclamation said. In a statement, the Department of Health deemed the lifting of the state of emergency as a positive step forward. Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa “wholeheartedly” agreed that conditions no longer necessitate the continuation of the public health emergency status. “The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) will convene for a final meet-
ing to formally conclude the public health emergency, following which a comprehensive Final Report will be prepared for our fellow kababayans,” the DOH said in a statement released on their social media pages. The proclamation states that it is time to transition to the long-term management of the COVID-19 virus. Meanwhile, the emergency use authorization (EUA) issued by the Food and Drug Administration for COVID-19 vaccines will remain valid until next year or July 21, 2024.
NO CLASSES, GOV’T WORK MONDAY OVER STORM, PUV STRIKE Based on Memorandum Circular is left to their discretion. Agencies story — Editors). By Charles Dantes, No. 25 signed by Executive Secretary involved in the delivery of basic and “It’s all systems go on Monday,” Maricel Cruz and Julito Rada PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday ordered the suspension of all classes in public schools and work in government offices in Metro Manila on Monday, July 24, the date of his second State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Lucas Bersamin, the suspension is due to the expected inclement weather brought by Tropical Storm “Egay” and a scheduled 72-hour transport strike in the region. The memo said the suspension of work for private companies and schools
TONY BENNETT, CLASSIC CROONER, DIES AT 96 NEW YORK—Tony Bennett, the last in a generation of classic American crooners whose ceaselessly cheery spirit bridged generations to make him a hitmaker across seven decades, died Friday in New York. He was 96. Raised in an era when big bands defined US pop music, Bennett achieved an improbable second act when he started winning over young audiences in the 1990s -- not by reinventing himself but by demonstrating his sheer joy in belting out the standards. At age 88, Bennett in 2014 became
the oldest person ever to reach number one on the US album chart through a collection of duets with Lady Gaga, who became his friend and touring companion as younger stars rushed to work with the singing great. Bennett, who revealed in 2016 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, died in his hometown, his publicist Sylvia Weiner announced, without revealing a cause. He was “still singing the other day at his piano,” said a message on his official Twitter account. AFP
health services, disaster response, and other vital services are excluded and should continue with operations and services. The weather bureau said Egay may intensify into a super typhoon by Tuesday or Wednesday (see ( related
LAST OF HIS KIND. Singer Tony
Bennett holds his Grammy Award on February 25, 1998, in New York in this file photo. The last in a generation of classic American crooners whose ceaselessly cheery spirit bridged generations to make him a hitmaker across seven decades died on July 21, 2023, in New York, US media reported. He was 96. AFP
House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said, even as the chamber’s sergeant-at-arms, retired Police Maj. Gen. Napoleon Taas, said he sees a smooth and orderly conduct of the SONA on Monday despite the threat of Egay.
NEW BOY GROUP TAKES P-POP SCENE BY STORM ENTERTAINMENT | B2
ELLIS CO’S JOURNEY OF DREAMS AND GLAMOR YOUNG LIFE | C1
‘EGAY’ MAY HIT SUPER TYPHOON LEVEL TUESDAY TROPICAL Storm “Egay” intensified slightly as it moved westward over the Philippine Sea, the state weather bureau said Saturday. PAGASA, in its 5 p.m. bulletin, said Egay was last spotted 685 kilometers east of Virac, Catanduanes, packing sustained winds of 75 kilometers per hour and wind gusts of up to 90 kph. The storm is currently moving westward at 15 kph, PAGASA said. “It may reach its peak at super typhoon category on Tuesday or Wednesday while over the Philippine Sea east of Extreme Northern Luzon,” the agency said. “However, the forecast confidence cone indicates that a landfall scenario over the northern portion of Northern Luzon is not ruled out at this time,” the advisory added. No tropical cyclone wind signal has been hoisted in the country so far, PAGASA said. It added that wind signals are expected to be “hoisted in some areas in Bicol Region and Eastern Visayas”as the storm brings occasional rains over most parts of Visayas, and MIMAROPA in the coming days, PAGASA said. Egay is also expected to enhance the southwest monsoon or “habagat” and bring rain showers over a large part of the country, the weather bureau said Saturday. Maricel Cruz