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VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 22• 2 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 • MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2024 •
IN MELBOURNE. President Marcos shakes hands with Australian officials as he
arrived Sunday at the Melbourne Airport along with First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos and the Philippine delegates for the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit. PPO Photo
‘At least 195 Chinese vessels a day in SCS’
Think tank: 183 China ships swarmed Mischief Reef in July
T
HE Chinese maritime militia is as active as ever in the West Philippine Sea, deploying an average of 195 vessels a day across 10 features in the South China Sea—and a high of 183 ships at the Philippines’ Panganiban Reef (Mischief Reef) alone last July—a Washington-based think tank’s recent report showed. The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) noted the "dramatic shift" of China's maritime militia deployment in a report it published on Feb. 28, including in areas within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
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PH wants to set tone in ASEANAussie summit By Vince Lopez PRESIDENT Marcos said the Philippines is looking to set the tone in raising issues of security, particularly in the West Philippine Sea, when it joins its fellow members in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in a special summit with Australia starting today in Melbourne. “As the first ASEAN Leaders’ level engagement for the year, the Summit presents an opportunity to reiterate the Philippines’ nationalpositions on regional and international issues and set the tone for ASEAN’s Dialogue Partner Summits later in the year,” the President said in his departure address yesterday at Villamor Airbase in Pasay City. Next page
Taguig a ‘bully’ for padlocking park—Makati By Joel Zurbano and Macon Ramos-Araneta TAGUIG City “is a bully” and showed its true colors in twisting the law and using force to claim what isn’t theirs, the Makati City government said Sunday. Tensions between the neighboring cities escalated as Makati warned Taguig of having “blood on its hands” should their ongoing clash over the Makati Park and Garden – in an area now under Taguig’s control—lead to violence. Next page
PADLOCKED. The Taguig City government on Sunday closed the Makati Park and Garden, which left employees of Makati City shut inside, as officials of Taguig’s Traffic Management Office, security guards, and Makati Public Safety Department personnel negotiate a solution (inset). Lino Santos
Beijing blasts PH envoy over WPS remarks By Rey E. Requejo
BIGGEST CEBU MARATHON. The #SM2SMRun12 kicks off early Sunday at SM Seaside Cebu with an #aweSM turnout of 13,000 runners, breaking its own record and making it the biggest marathon in Cebu City to date.
#ANONGBALITA?
CHINA, through its embassy in the Philippines, on Sunday strongly condemned Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez forhis remarks on the South China Sea issue, which Beijing said “disregarded basic facts.” The remarks "wantonly hyped up the South China Sea issue and made specul a t i o n s a n d m a l i c i o u s s m e a r s Next page
Speaker lauds PhilHealth move to add more benefits for breast cancer cases By Rio N. Araja
ment of a 1,400-percent increase in the Z benefit package for breast cancer patients, elevating it from HOUSE Speaker FerP100,000 to a dinand Martin Rosubstantial P1.4 mualdez on Sunday million, describlauded the decision of ing it as a crucial the Philippine Health step toward enInsurance Corp. (Philhancing healthHealth) to increase the NEWS / A3 care services. benefit package for “We applaud breast cancer patients, reiterating his call to further expand other PhilHealth for its substantial increase in benefit packages and services to include support for breast cancer patients, marking a significant stride toward advancing the early detection of cancer. He praised PhilHealth's announce- healthcare,” Romualdez said. Next page
Palawan fishers hail Romualdez actions
‘Eat Bulaga’ replacement goes off the air
Benny Blanco dissed online for dissing Jollibee
Barbie’s now 65: Exhibits in Pasay, London coming
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