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WEATHER
PH DEBT AT RECORD P14.35 TRILLION
‘Jenny’ seen reaching peak intensity today
BUSINESS / B4
SOCORRO MEMBERS COULD LOSE HOMES NEWS / A2
TYPHOON “Jenny” intensified while moving northwestward over the Philippine Sea, the state weather bureau said yesterday. VOL. XXXVII • NO. 230 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
PH, US, allies kick off 11-day naval drills
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AIR ASSET. Canadian Navy frigate
HMCS (His Majesty’s Canadian Ship) Vancouver carries the twin-engine CH-148 Cyclone helicopter while docked at Manila South Harbor’s Pier 15 on Saturday. The vessel will be part of the ‘Samasama’ (Together) maritime drills from Oct. 2 to 13, along with the United States Navy, Philippine Navy, and representatives from Japan, Australia, France, and the United Kingdom. Yancy Lim
PCG asks for more ships to patrol WPS
By Vince Lopez and Rio N. Araja
D
RILLS involving the naval personnel of the Philippines, the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, and Indonesia kicked off on Monday as the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it could not commit to constant patrols in the West Philippine Sea unless it acquires more ships. At the opening rites of Exercise Samasama on Monday, Philippine Navy (PN) chief Vice Adm. Toribio Adaci Jr. said the strong military bond
between the Philippines and the United States— and the capability of the PN to fight a war will
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President, VP’s approval ratings see steep drop in third quarter By Charles Dantes THE approval ratings of the country’s two top officials dropped noticeably in the third quarter of the year, the latest Pulse Asia survey showed. From a high of 80 percent in June, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s approval rating dropped by 15 percentage points to 65 percent in September. Vice President Sara Duterte’s rating fell from 84 percent to 73 percent in the same period.
“Although the President and the Vice-President continue to enjoy majority approval scores at the national level and across geographic areas and socioeconomic classes, both experienced significant erosion in their respective approval ratings during the period June 2023 to September 2023,” Pulse Asia said in its report. Mr. Marcos’ biggest score loss came from Class E, the country’s poorest sector, where he lost 29 percentage points. Next page
Senate, House performing well, Pinoys say in Pulse Asia survey MORE than half of Filipino adults approve of the performance of the Senate and the House of Representatives, a thirdquarter survey by Pulse Asia showed. Nearly half of respondents of the September 2023 Ulat ng Bayan survey also approved of the work of the Supreme Court at 49 percent, down four percent-
age points from 53 percent in June. “While the national performance ratings of these institutions are essentially unchanged during the period June 2023 to September 2023, there are a few significant movements across areas and classes,” Pulse Asia said in its media
PH BETS IN ACTION. Gilas
Pilipinas guard Chris Ross gestures during their Asian Games men’s basketball match with Qatar, which they defeated 80-41 on Monday. Meanwhile, PH bet Eric Cray competes in the heats of the men’s 400m hurdles in Hangzhou in China’s eastern Zhejiang province. AFP
GILAS DUMPS QATAR, ADVANCES TO ASIAD QUARTERFINALS NEWS / A2
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Napoles dodges plunder rap, but guilty of 9 counts of direct bribery 6 Navotas cops By Maricel V. Cruz
However, Napoles and former Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives CONVICTED plunderer Janet Lim (APEC) Rep. Edgar Valdez were convictNapoles was acquitted by the Sandigan- ed of nine counts of direct bribery. Napoles was convicted in 2018 for bayan in a plunder case together with a plunder. former party-list lawmaker.
She is serving multiple sentences from earlier convictions for plunder and graft charges related to the pork barrel scam. Napoles is also still facing a slew of plunder, graft, and other cases in connection with anomalies in the use of
Pair wins Nobel Medicine prize
NOBEL WINNERS.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Katalin Kariko of Hungary and Drew Weissman of the United States won the Nobel Medicine Prize on Monday for work on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology that paved the way for COVID-19 vaccines. The pair, who had been tipped as Next page
A screen at the Karolinska Institute shows this year’s laureates Katalin Kariko of Hungary (left) and Drew Weissman of the US during the announcement of the winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm on October 2. AFP
lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel. The anti-graft court meted out a fine of P26,996,700 to Napoles and Valdez as well as jail term of a minimum of
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Gas prices rolled back P2, kerosene down, diesel up By Alena Mae S. Flores
OIL firms are implementing a mixed price movement effective 6 a.m. today (Tuesday) with a price rollback of P2 per liter for gasoline and an increase for diesel by P0.40 per liter. The oil firms also cut the price of kerosene by P0.50 per liter. Next page
facing charges for teen’s slay
STATE prosecutors have filed criminal charges against six Navotas police officers implicated in the death of 17-year-old Jerhode “Jemboy” Baltazar. In the charge sheet, Assistant City Prosecutor Arvin Carael and City Prosecutor Armando Cavalida named the respondents as Executive Master Sgt. Roberto Dioso, Staff Sgts. Gerry Maliban, Antonio Bugayong, Jr., and Nikko Esquillon, Cpl. Edmard Blanco and Pat. Benedict Mangada. The charge sheet was filed before the Navotas City Regional Trial Court. No bail was recommended for the Next page