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SINGAPORE MEETING. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. (second from right) examines a presentation at the 10th Asia Summit in Singapore on Thursday. With him on the Philippine panel are (from left) Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, and Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual. PCO Photo
VOL. XXXVII • NO. 212 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Imee: No takers for Agri post Senator also hits NFA for not spending budget to buy more palay
By Othel V. Campos and Macon Ramos-Araneta
P
RESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been actively looking for an agriculture secretary, but there seems to be no takers, Senator Imee Marcos said on Thursday.
“He is fully aware [of the situation]. And I think he’s been looking for an agriculture secretary but I feel that nobody wants to accept,” the President’s older sister said. Earlier this week, the name of Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio
Balisacan was floated as a possible contender for the Department of Agriculture portfolio, with no less than Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno describing it as a “sound proposal.” Next page
Marcos: PH should be less dependent on imports By Charles Dantes and Maricel V. Cruz PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said the biggest lesson the Philippines learned from the COVID-19 pandemic was to be less dependent on imports. During the 10th Asian Summit in
Singapore, President Marcos said the Philippines, with a 96 percent employment rate, has rebounded fairly well from the pandemic. “We have really come back fairly well in the sense that we have been able to return people to work,” Mr. Marcos said. But he also said the pandemic revealed problems in the country’s supply
chains and its agricultural sector, which fueled the dependence on imports. “I said, we cannot now continue to depend on importation, which is what has happened for the Philippines. In the past years, it became the easy way out. Just import more, import more rice, import more corn, import more of everyNext page
China ships ‘swarming’ both sides of PH, says AFP By Vince Lopez and Macon Ramos-Araneta CHINESE vessels are active in Philippine waters on both sides of the country, with some 30 fishing boats swarming several shoals near the Reed Bank to the west and research vessels roaming the eastern side of the Philippine Sea, officials said Thursday. Amid the renewed activity, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said it was China that was escalating tensions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), and not the presence of US forces, as Sena-
tor Robin Padilla suggested. But the Chinese Embassy in Manila, in a statement, stressed that China is an “important force” in ensuring peace and stability in the South China Sea despite its continued aggressions in the region. “China is an important force for maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea. It abides by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and is committed to upholding and promoting international rule of law,” the embassy said. Next page
PH, US planning more projects at EDCA sites in ’24 — Brawner By Vince Lopez THE Philippines and the United States are eyeing more projects in sites covered by the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) that will be operational next year, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said. “We’re very optimistic that for next year, we will have more of these projects operational so that we can work
BASE INSPECTION. General Romeo Brawner Jr., Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (center), and Admiral John Aquilino, Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command (left), walk with US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson (right) as they inspect Lal-lo Airport and Naval Base Camilo Osias in Cagayan Province on Thursday. Inset shows some of the 30 Chinese ships the military says are ‘swarming’ the West Philippine Sea anew. AFP Photos
on our joint exercises right away and also our joint operations,” Brawner said during his visit to the EDCA site at the Basa Air Base in Pampanga on Wednesday. United States Indo-Pacific Command head Admiral John Aquilino said the developments in EDCA projects are moving at great speed. “The work that his [Brawner’s] team has done in coordination with
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Risa hits VP on accountability for confidential funds By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz SENATOR Risa Hontiveros lashed back at Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday, saying she doesn’t want her respect. “I am not asking for your respect VP Sara. What I was asking from you… was accountability,” Hontiveros said.
470 BSKE candidates face disqualification NEWS / A2
‘Politicians barred from Maharlika’ NEWS / A3
“So, you have to account where you will spend the confidential funds (Duterte requested for the Department of Education and the Office of the Vice President),” she said. Earlier, Duterte said she has no respect for Hontiveros and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, who have questioned her office’s use of confidential funds in 2022.
She thanked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for supporting the P125million confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) the Office of the Vice President (OVP) requested from the Office of the President (OP) in December 2022, despite the lack of a line item for it under the 2022 General Appropriations Act (GAA). Next page
House panel nixes Ombudsman push to not publish COA reports By Maricel V. Cruz, Macky Solon, Audit reports, as it approved the proposed 2024 national budget. and Rey Requejo THE House appropriations panel has not adopted the request of Ombudsman Samuel Martires to remove the requirement to publish Commission on
“That [requirement to publish] stays. Everything stays the same,” said Marikina Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo, senior vice chair of the House appropriations committee.
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NEW GEAR. Quezon City Police District officer in charge Brig. Gen. Redrico Maranan presents new drones and other equipment to be used to keep the peace during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections in October at Camp Karingal in Quezon City on Thursday. Manny Palmero