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Panelo: Duterte ‘not interested’ in being special envoy to Chinese By Rio N. Araja FORMER President Rodrigo Duterte is not interested to serve as special envoy to China, his former spokesman, Salvador Panelo, said on Wednesday. While no formal offer has been
made by the Marcos administration, at least three senators have expressed their support for the possibility of designating Duterte as a special envoy to China. "First of all, there is no need for that. Next page
VOL. XXXVII • NO. 176• 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Marcos: No deal on Ayungin If pact with China exists, PBBM says ‘I rescind that agreement now’ By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Charles Dantes
P
RESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday insisted the Philippines had no agreement with China to remove the BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoal, contrary to Beijing’s claim, and said if such a deal existed, he would rescind it immediately. “I’m not aware of any such arrangement or agreement that the Philippines will remove from its own territory its ship, in this case, the BRP Sierra Madre from the Ayungin Shoal,” President Marcos said, using the Filipino name for the Second Thomas Shoal in the West Philippine Sea. The President issued this statement after China renewed its call for the Philippines to remove the grounded warship from Ayungin Shoal, which is well within the country’s exclusive economic zone. Mr. Marcos added that he would repeal any
LONE GUARDIAN. This file photo taken on April 23, 2023 shows the grounded Philippine navy ship BRP Sierra Madre, where marines are stationed to assert Manila's territorial claims at Ayungin Shoal in the Spratly Islands. A crumbling World War II-vintage ship stranded on a submerged reef, the Sierra Madre has long been a flashpoint between Manila and Beijing in their territorial dispute over the waters. AFP
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PH, US air forces to lead biennial Pacific Airlift Rally Beijing pooh-poohs US bid THE Philippines and the United States will lead participating air forces from 14 countries during the Pacific Airlift Rally 2023, a biennial exercise that will run from Aug. 14 to 18 in military bases across Luzon and Visayas. The activities will be held at Clark Air Base in Mabalacat, Pampanga; Colonel
Jesus Villamor Air Base in Pasay City; and Brigadier General Benito Ebuen Air Base in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu. The event was previously held in Lombok Island, Indonesia last September 2021. In a statement, the Philippine Air Force said the activity would cover airborne
training exercises, airlift operations, and logistical planning table-top exercises that will focus on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations. “The Indo-Asia-Pacific region is home to 60 percent of the world’s population in 45 nations spread across 53 Next page
Gov’t frets over high ratio of public debt to GDP By Julito G. Rada PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said the government is concerned about the country’s debt even though the country is doing bet-
ter than its neighbors. The Philippines' debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio is “not ideal,” Marcos told members of the US-ASEAN Business Council who visited the Palace.
“We worry about our debt-toGDP ratio in the Philippines, as it stands at about 63 percent and that’s a little high for us and it is not ideal,” he said. Next page
to ‘hype up’ WPS tensions By Rey E. Requejo
CHINA maintained its belligerent stance Wednesday, saying US efforts to boost Philippine military capabilities and rally support from other countries for Manila’s claim over the West Philippine Sea “will lead nowhere.” The embassy's warning came as China continued to assert its rights—invalidated by a UN tribunal—over the West Philippine Sea, where its coast guard ships fired water cannons at Filipino boats on a resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal. Despite growing international isolation on the issue, China justified its actions by saying the US had in the past “even sent over military aircraft and vessels to assist and support the Philip-
pines" that threatened China, so “a water cannon attack was necessary this time.” It said Beijing was taking note of US attempts "to persistently sensationalize the South China Sea issue, extensively hype up [sic] the recent maritime incident and attack China’s legitimate and lawful actions at sea.” "Justice lies not in the loudness of one's voice, but in the truth and rightness. The US attempts will lead nowhere," it added. China then urged the US to respect its territorial sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea and the whole South China Sea—a claim that has no legal basis except for its unilateral historical nine-dash line. Next page
President on Manila Bay works: All but one reclamation halted By Macon Ramos-Araneta
TALKING BUSINESS. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. meets with the US-ASEAN Business Council on Wednesday at Malacañang Palace in Manila. Rolando Mailo
Simplify estate tax amnesty, BIR urged By Maricel V. Cruz HOUSE Speaker Martin Romualdez on Wednesday urged the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to simplify the estate tax amnesty application procedure and allow online filing, especially for heirs who are overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). The proposed two-year new extension of the amnesty on estate taxes is expected to benefit at least one million Filipino families, the Speaker added. Republic Act (RA) 11956 grants Filipinos an extension until June 14, 2025, to fulfill their estate tax obligations after
the law expired last June 14. Last Tuesday, the measure lapsed into law. Romualdez said the pandemic and the financial and economic difficulties it had caused made it hard for thousands of heirs, especially those in the provinces, to take advantage of the benefits of the current RA 11213, or the Tax Amnesty Act, enacted on Feb. 14, 2019. “They have already suffered enough because of the pandemic. Let us not make the situation more difficult for them by giving them more time to avail themselves of those benefits,” he said. Next page
ELECTIONS PACT.
SM Supermalls Senior Vice President for Operations Bien Mateo, Commission on Elections Commissioner Aimee Ferolino, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia, SM Supermalls President Steven Tan, Comelec Commissioner-inCharge for the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections Mall Voting Nelson Celis, and Comelec Commissioner Rey Bulay show their parts of the signed agreement for the polls in October (see story on A2).
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said all reclamation projects in Manila Bay, except for one, have been suspended. “All reclamation activities are suspended. These are under review except for one that has already been reviewed. We saw problems in the implementation,” the President said during a situation briefing in Bulacan on Monday. “If these projects push through, a lot of rivers will be affected. The sea in
Roxas Boulevard will be gone," he said. Mr. Marcos, however, did not identify which project was given the green light to proceed. Lawmakers have welcomed the President's pronouncement. “I am happy that Mr. Marcos is suspending the reclamation in Manila Bay. This is good news to us who are afraid of ill effects of reclamation which will cause massive flooding in our cities,” said Senator Cynthia Villar, head of the Senate environment and natural reNext page sources committee.