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NEWS / A2
NEWS / A2 VOL. XXXVII • NO. 188 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • TUESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
STRIPPED CLEAN. Following Department of Education Order No. 21 from Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio, this classroom in Mogpog, Marinduque is stripped clean of its wall decorations, which Duterte said only distracted students while they were studying. Facebook via Romelie Mangui
DepEd: Keep school walls bare Sara: Let learners focus on studies; Solons: Order ‘deplorable’
By Gabriellea Parrino and Maricel Cruz
N
O MORE alphabet charts. No more multiplication tables. No more pictures of national heroes or past and present presidents. Not even crucifixes.
Bare walls only for public class- dent and Education Secretary Sara rooms was the directive of Vice Presi- Duterte-Carpio.
Brawner denies Kyodo News bit on naval drills
“I know that President (Ferdinand) Marcos (Jr.) and all other former presidents and all heroes past and present will not at all be bothered if learners focus on their teachers, lessons, projects, and assignments,” Duterte-Carpio said in a statement. “The order is what it is. Take out everything on the wall and let learners focus
on their studies. Classrooms and schools should be clean, orderly, and functional,” added DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa in a TeleRadyo interview. Under Department of Education Order No. 21, all schools shall ensure that school grounds, classrooms and all its walls, and other school facilities are clean and free from unnecessary art-
work, decorations, tarpaulins, and posters at all times. “The directive of the Vice President is bare walls for our classrooms to be clean, orderly, and functional,” Poa said in a television interview. The DepEd undersecretary said the order also applies to the artwork of students. Next page
Expert: China coast guard ship poised to block PH supply mission By Vince Lopez and Macon Ramos-Araneta A CHINA Coast Guard ship was spotted at the Panganiban Reef on Monday morning and is expected to block a new resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre, maritime security expert Ray Powell said
By Vince Lopez
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OSPREY RIDE. People get on board a MV-22B Osprey
THE Armed Forces Philippines (AFP) denied the claims of Kyodo News that the country will host joint naval exercises by the United States, Australia, and Japan in the West Philippine Sea. “We heard about this from the Kyodo News article. We asked our counterparts, Japan, the US, and Australia. They don’t know anything about the exercise. We don’t know where this came from,” Brawner said in an interview in Camp Aguinaldo. “Per coordination with our counterparts, there is no exercise among the three nations in the next few weeks,” he added. Meanwhile, Australia’s Defense
aircraft in Tarampitao Airfield in Rizal, Palawan on August 21 as a part of the Indo-Pacific Endeavor 2023 between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Australian Defence Force called Exercise Alon. AFP
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President on Ninoy Aquino Day: Cast aside politics, personal biases Jeepneys, taxis ask for fare hike as oil prices rise By Charles Dantes and Rio N. Araja public observed Ninoy Aquino Day. PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. yesterday urged Filipinos to cast aside politics and personal biases and unite behind the country’s welfare as the
“I wish everyone a meaningful remembrance,” Mr. Marcos said of the late Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., whom he described as “relentless and resolute.”
GATHERING FOR NINOY. Wearing yellow
shirts, supporters of the late Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. gather around his monument along Roxas Boulevard in Ermita, Manila to commemorate his 40th death anniversary on Monday. Aquino Jr. died on August 21, 1983, after being assassinated upon his arrival on the tarmac of Manila International Airport, now named in his honor. Norman Cruz
“I stand united with all Filipinos worldwide in commemorating the Ninoy Aquino Day. By standing for his beliefs and fighting for battles he deemed right, he became an example of being relentless and reso-
lute for many Filipinos,” the President said. “In our purposive quest for a more united and prosperous Philippines, let us transcend political barriers that Next page
2 more Pinoys found dead in Hawaii blaze By Rey E. Requejo TWO more Filipinos have been added to the list of fatalities in the ongoing search and recovery operation following the wildfires that ravaged the resort town of Lahaina in Hawaii. In a Facebook post on August 20, Edna Sagudang confirmed that her mother, Conchita, and her elder brother, Danilo, both from the province of Abra, were identified by forensic experts. Sagudang said her mother and elder brother died while attempting to escape the wildfire in the Paunau
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By Rio N. Araja, Alena Mae Flores and Macon Ramos-Araneta JEEPNEY operators will ask the government for a one-peso increase in minimum fares today amid spiraling fuel prices and rising inflation. The petition, Pasang Masda group president Roberto Martin explained in a television interview, would ask for a provisional increase of more than P1 for the first four kilometers and a scaled increase for every succeeding kilometer. Traditional jeepneys charge a minimum P9 fare while modern or ejeepneys charge P11 minimum. They were briefly at P12 and P14 minimum, respectively, until the government ordered the fares rolled back in April. “To our commuters, we ask for your understanding. We hope you empathize with the plight of our members Next page