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China sends largest Coast Guard ship near Panatag shoal By Maricel Cruz A CHINA Coast Guard Vessel known as "The Monster," the largest coast guard ship in the world, conducted an "intrusive patrol" in Scarborough Shoal yesterday. Ex-US Air Force official and maritime security expert Ray Powell said the 165-meter CCG ship -- with bow number 5901-- was spotted within Scarborough at 5:15 a.m. Friday along with a smaller CCG vessel with bow number 5203. Philippine Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad confirmed the presence of the CCG vessel. "Yes. It is 50 nautical miles from Scarborough Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc,” Trinidad said during the Philippine Navy's anniversary at its headquarters in Manila. Next page
WEATHER ‘Aghon’ enters PAR, heads for Mindanao By Rio N. Araja
VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 99• 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 •SATURDAY, MAY 25, 2024 •
TROPICAL depression “Aghon” continues to move west, northwestward over the sea east of Mindanao yesterday afternoon, according to PAGASA. Next page
Coast Guard opens new outpost in far-flung Itbayat As tensions heighten between China and Taiwan By Vince Lopez
T
he Philippines said Friday it had opened a coast guard post in the country's far north to boost security following China's "military buildup" near Taiwan over the past two years.
The outpost in Itbayat, Batanes "shall gather essential maritime data and intelligence, enabling the (Philippine Coast Guard) to respond effectively to threats such as illicit trade, trafficking, piracy, and foreign intrusions," National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said in a statement. Itbayat is located around 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Taiwan's south coast. China said on Friday that Taiwan's leadership was pushing the selfruled island into war and warned of further "countermeasures" as Beijing conducted military drills around the territory. Chinese warships and fighter jets surrounded Taiwan on the second day of drills that Beijing said were a test of its ability to seize the island, days after its new president was sworn in. In Manila, the Philippine Navy said it monitoring the situation in Taiwan.
CHINA’S ‘MONSTER’ SHOWS UP. The world’s largest, China-owned, coast
guard ship, also known as the Monster, shows up near Scarborough Shoal days after a lone civilian boat slipped through a blockade to bring supplies to Filipino fishermen. (The South China Sea Chronicle Initiative) Inset photo shows NSC chief Eduardo Año (middle), Cagayan Gov. Marilou Cayco, (left), and PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan (right), cutting the ribbon of the new Coast Guard outpost in Itbayat, Batanes.
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House summons Gazmin, Roque Marcos to leave for Brunei, Singapore next week— DFA over so-called Ayungin secret deal By Charles Dantes
By Maricel V. Cruz and Vince Lopez THE House of Representatives’ joint committee has invited former defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin and former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque to appear in the next hearing to shed light on the so-called “gentlemen’s agreement” between former President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The House committee on national defense and security chairman Iloilo
Rep. Raul Tupas confirmed that the invitation to Gazmin had already been forwarded by the Committee on National Defense and Security and Special Committee on the West Philippine Sea chaired by Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II. Gazmin was the defense secretary during the term of former President Benigno Aquino III, and Roque, the former spokesperson of Duterte. “Our joint committee has issued an invitation, signed by the Chairman of
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is set to fly to Brunei and Singapore for back-to-back visits next week, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). In a Palace briefing, Foreign Affairs
spokesperson Teresita Daza said First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos will accompany the President during the trip. "The President will be traveling to Brunei on [the] 28th to 29th of May to undertake his first state visit to the Sultanate. While in Brunei, the
President will be meeting with His Majesty, the Sultan, who is also Sultan Head of State of Brunei Darussalam," Daza said. "There will be a business forum where the President will meet with top members of the business sectors to Next page
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Sandiganbayan convicts Misuari, six others on graft charges FORMER Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Nur Misuari and six others were found guilty of two counts of graft by the Sandiganbayan Third Division over “ghost” purchases amounting to P77 million worth of learning tools from 2000 to 2001. Misuari and his six co-accused, namely, Leovigilda Cinches, Pangalian Maniri, Sittie Aisa Usman, Alladin Usi, Nader Macagaan and Cristeta Ramirez, were sentenced to six to eight years for
each count of graft topped with a perpetual disqualification from public office. Misuari, through the same ruling, was cleared of the charge of malversation of public funds. In his defense, the former head of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) said the alleged illegal transaction were carried out during the time of his successor, Parouk Hussin. The date in which the purchases had been made was in 2003 to 2004. Next page
HASTEN RELEASE OF OMBUDSMAN SACKS LAND TITLES —PBBM NUEVA ECIJA GOV NEWS / A2
NEWS / A3
LAND FOR THE TILLER. President Marcos, Jr, joins farmer beneficiaries in a groupie after handing out 1,184 Certificates of
Land Ownership Award and 3,167 e-titles to 4,271 farmers of South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat in a ceremony in Koronadal City. (See story on A2.)
DOH eyes primary, booster vaccines vs. FLiRT variants THE Department of Health (DOH) said on Friday that the primary series of shots and boosters Filipinos received during the early waves of COVID-19 may still provide “residual
immunity”. But he stressed that might have to get new vaccines to deal with emerging new variants dubbed “FLiRT”— the variant KP.2 and KP.3—which
are now being monitored. The two new variants display amino acid changes in the spike protein found in the COVID-19 virus. Next page