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(Story on A4)
GOV’T ROLLS OUT LIFELINE POWER DISCOUNT FOR LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS
VOL. XXXVII • NO. 173• 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
By Vince Lopez and Alena Mae Flores
POWER AID. File photo shows a lineman examining an electric meter base at a post along Brgy. Commonwealth in Quezon City. Qualified low-income households will soon be part of a lifeline rate program of the Marcos administration. Manny Palmero
THE Marcos administration on Sunday announced the roll out of a Lifeline Rate program that would aid qualified low-income households in paying their electricity bill obligations. The Presidential Communications Office said the subsidized rate will be given to qualified low-income electricity custom-
ers who are unable to pay their electricity bills at full cost. Among the Filipino households who can apply for the lifeline rate program are the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) or customers considered to be living below the poverty threshold set by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Only one Distribution Utility (DU) or Electric Cooperative (EC) service per qualified house-
hold can be granted a lifeline rate. In cases where more than one beneficiary from the same household applies for the lifeline rate using the same service account, only one application would be granted. The qualified beneficiaries may apply by submitting to the DU and EC their duly accomplished Lifeline Rate Application Form, their most recent electricity bill, and any Next page
China hit for water cannon attacks
US, Japan, Australia, EU join PH in denouncing ‘illegal, dangerous’ acts By Rey E. Requejo, Macon Ramos-Araneta, Vince Lopez, and Rio N. Araja
T
HE United States, Japan, Australia, and the European Union on Sunday denounced China's use of water cannons to disrupt resupply efforts by the Philippine vessels near Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.
In a statement, the US State Department said China Coast Guard’s firing of water cannon and employing unsafe blocking maneuvers against Philippine Coast Guard (PCC) vessels on Saturday, Aug. 5, “interfered with the Philippines’ lawful exercise of high seas freedom of navigation and jeopardized the safety of the Philippine vessels and crew.” “Such actions by the PRC are inconsistent with international law and are the latest in repeated threats to the status quo in the South China Sea, directly threatening regional peace and stability. By impeding necessary provisions from Next page
‘ILLEGAL, DANGEROUS.’ This undated handout released by the Philippine Coast Guard on August 6, 2023 shows a China Coast Guard ship releasing water cannon on a Philippine Coast Guard ship near Ayungin Shoal during a re-supply mission on August 5. AFP
Marcos assures Groups, LTFRB ask DBM: farmers: Gov’t Release P3b fuel subsidy won’t import rice By Rio N. Araja, G. Amojelar and if supply enough Darwin Alena Mae Flores By Vince Lopez and Macon Ramos-Araneta PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. over the weekend assured consumers that the country had a sufficient supply of rice, and told farmers that the Philippines would not import the grain as long as this remained true. In a video message, Mr. Marcos said the two recent typhoons did P3 billion worth of damage to crops, affecting 142,000 hectares of agricultural land, but the supply of rice was still enough. "So that it's clear to us, I want to Next page
TRANSPORT leaders on Sunday called on the government to release the P6,000 fuel subsidy to all public utility vehicle drives and operators as promised to mitigate the impact of the rising fuel costs as the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) urged the Department of Budget and Management to release the P3 billion earmarked for this program. Boy Vargas of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines, in a Super Radyo dzBB interview, said they have already coordinated with the government on the subsidy release. “The LTFRB was saying there was
some budget. We hope that this budget will be released. And if the Senate and Congress can hear us, they can allocate a budget to help our drivers,” he said. The LTFRB said it would provide a P6,000 fuel subsidy to all PUV drivers in August. Mody Floranda, Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) national president, said the fuel subsidy must be given separately to drivers and operators. “The subsidy for the operators must be different because of the high price of the vehicle parts, and to the drivers who are the primary ones affected by the increase in the price of petroleum products,” he said. He said he has already raised the concerns of the many operators before Next page
Recto: PH to borrow P4b daily for 2024 budget By Rio N. Araja and Macon Ramos-Araneta BATANGAS Rep. Ralph Recto on Sunday said the country needs to borrow an average of P4 billion daily to sustain the proposed 2024 national budget of P5.767 trillion. He said next year’s budget translates to an average daily spending of P15.8 billion,
of which only P11.7 billion is “supportable by revenues, leaving a P4 billion hole which must be plugged by debt.” “To fully grasp the dimensions of the budget, you have to compute it on a daily basis, to fully appreciate the enormity of both spending and borrowings,” he said. “In easy to remember figures, this is the lowdown: spend P15.8 billion a day but only P11.7 billion in tax can
fund that. Therefore, there is a need to borrow P4 billion.” “Now if that is based on the actual disbursements, that is about P3.7 billion in daily spending that must be funded,” he added. Recto said while the “art of budget marketing perfected by all governments” focuses on what would be spent, “what is downplayed is Next page
FROM WEST TO EAST. Pope Francis gestures while pilgrims celebrate on stage holding a South Korean flag after he announced that the next World Youth Day is to be held in Seoul. Around one million pilgrims from all over the world attended the largest Catholic gathering in Lisbon, Portugal on August 6, 2023. AFP
Next World Youth Day returns to Asia after PH hosting in 1995 LISBON, Portugal—Seoul in South Korea will host the next World Youth Day, a major Catholic youth festival, in 2027, Pope Francis said Sunday at the close of this year's event in Lisbon. "The next World Youth Day will be in Asia. It will be in South Korea in Seoul,” the pontiff told the faithful assembled to celebrate a Mass at a park on Lisbon's eastern outskirts. "And so in 2027, from the western border of Europe, it will move to the
Far East, and this is a beautiful sign of the universality of the Church." The Philippines was the last Asian country to host the Catholic festival in 1995. The crowd of around 1.5 million flag-waving young pilgrims from around the globe erupted in cheers at the announcement. World Youth Day, which is in fact a week-long Catholic jamboree, Next page