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ORIGINAL ‘HARRY POTTER’ COVER ART TO GO UNDER HAMMER IN NEW YORK WORLD | A4
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PRIDE FOR ALL.
IN MET R MANILAO
VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 128 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES JUNE 23, 2024
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Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte leads the float parade for the ‘Love Laban 2 Everyone!’ Pride Festival that is estimated to gather over 150,000 people. Inset photo shows the Pride Run at the SM By the Bay in celebration of Pride Month this June and to promote the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) community, inclusivity, and diversity where over 5,000 runners participated. Manny Palmero
‘ACCIDENT’ NARRATIVE DRAWS MIXED REACTION NTF-WPS INSISTS CHINA INTENDED NO HARM
By Charles Dantes and Rachelle Tonelada
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HE government’s position that the harassment of Filipino soldiers by China Coast Guard and militia personnel was simply a misunderstanding and not an armed attack drew a mixed reaction, with the Liberal Party saying it was“worrisome”while maritime and security experts upheld the“calm”response. “The statement of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin that the incident was possibly just a misunderstanding or an accident is worrisome. It is very clear in the videos and pictures released by the Armed Forces of the Philippines that the CCG behaved aggressively. It is very clear the lives of our soldiers were endangered, considering that they were involved in a humanitarian and resupply mission,” the Liberal Party said in a statement. “Striking a delicate balance between defending or fighting for our sovereignty and avoiding an escalation of tensions cannot translate to downplaying what are clearly illegal, aggressive and even barbaric acts of the CCG. We must vigorously assert our sovereign rights and demand justice for the harassment and injuries
inflicted upon our troops,” it added. On Saturday, the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea echoed Bersamin’s statement, saying it was not China’s intention to harm the Philippine Navy personnel. “There is no reason for us to interpret this as an armed attack because China’s intention here is just to prevent the resupply from being successful,” said NTF-WPS spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela. Tarriela did not offer how he came to that conclusion or whether he has spoken with Chinese officials to verify their intention during the June 17 incident. “This is not an armed attack or a provocation for us to say that China really wants to escalate tension here. Basically, it’s just a blockade,” he added.
Maritime law expert Jay Batongbacal, for his part, said the incident “does not warrant engagement in self-defense.” “It is not easy for the Philippines to just simply react to every incident as if it is an act of war and warrants full scale hostilities. It is now in that context that we should view developments over the past week. particularly statements issued by the government Friday night. In other words, remain calm,” Batongbacal said. Analyst Chester Cabalza, president of Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, added: “If we allow our Armed Forces to do the same thing just like what the China Coast Guard has been doing to us persistently, what is the difference of CCG then to our forces? We are playing a different game right now where we are using legal approaches and widening our diplomatic networks to show to the world that we are far more civilized.” Tarriela said the resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre grounded in Ayungin Shoal will continue even as the country will not seek yet support from foreign actors. “These operations are legitimate and ordinary, and right now we don’t see any reason to request support from foreign actors for our routine resupply
mission,” he said. Earlier, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Romeo Brawner, Jr. also described the incident as an act of “piracy.” CCG personnel boarded the Philippine Navy’s rigid-hulled inflatable boats, “took guns and other equipment, destroyed our equipment onboard, including the motors,” Brawner said. “We are demanding that the Chinese return our rifles and our equipment and we are also demanding from them to pay for the damages that they have caused. For me this is piracy,” the military chief said. Vietnam, which is also a claimant to parts of the South China Sea, expressed deep concern over the June 17 incident. Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Pham Thu Hang called on both sides to “exercise maximum restraint, behave in line with international law, respect sovereign rights and jurisdiction over coastal countries’ exclusive economic zones and continental shelves as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.” “[They] should handle disputes and differences by peaceful measures, contributing to maintaining peace, stability, and development in the region,” Pham said.
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OCC. MINDORO SCRAPS SISTER PACT WITH CHINA PROVINCE
SISTERHOOD PACT NO MORE. A delegation from
China’s Gansu province arrived at the Port of Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro on June 15, 2024. Occidental Mindoro PIO
ByManolodelRio THE Occidental Mindoro local government is backing out of a “sister province” pact with China’s Gansu province amid a public outcry following a recent brutal encounter between Philippines and Chinese forces in Ayungin Shoal as well as reports of illegal POGO operations in the provinces. In a radio interview with Balitang Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro Gov. Eduardo Gadiano confirmed he is no longer pursuing the special relationship with Gansu, a province in north-central China, even after he signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a Gansu delegation on June 15. He said there was nothing binding about the signed MOU because it only signaled the beginning of more detailed discussions about the nature and coverage of the “sisterhood” pact. “Discussions over the sister province pact have been going on for a long time, but it only came to fruition when the Gansu delegation came here last week. But it became such a big deal on social media because of the publicity surrounding Bamban Mayor Guo and the POGO issue as well as China’s bullying in the West Philippine Sea,” Gadiano said in Filipino.
6,000 RESIDENTS OF SURIGAO DEL SUR RECEIVE AID, SERVICES THRU BPSF By Maricel V. Cruz SOME 6,000 residents of Surigao del Sur received rice and cash assistance under three separate programs that aim to come to the aid of several segments of society, including the vulnerable sectors, students who need school aid, and struggling small entrepreneurs. Speaker Martin Romualdez led the distribution of aid under the Cash and Rice Distribution (CARD) Program, the Start-up, Incentives, Business Opportunity and Livelihood (SIBOL) Program, and the Integrated Scholarship and Incentives for the Youth (ISIP for the Youth) Program in separate instances in the province. “When there is BPSF in an area, there is definitely distribution under CARD, SIBOL and ISIP. And we separate it to ensure that we reach some sectors of society that are struggling in our time,” he said.
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“Each of the sectors benefiting from these programs have their own unique challenges to face. That’s why we thought of programs that will target our countrymen so that they can be helped to rise to the challenges they face every day,” the Speaker added. House Deputy Secretary General Sofonias Gabonada Jr., one of the leaders of the BPSF National Secretariat, said the CARD Program, which is aimed at helping those belonging to the vulnerable sectors such as senior citizens, PWDs, single parents, and Indigenous Peoples, among others, provides rice and cash aid to qualified beneficiaries. In a simple ceremony held at Brgy. Mangagoy Gymnasium, Gabonada said a total of 2,000 beneficiaries from Surigao del Sur received P2,000 each through the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
MORE JOBS TO COME. President Marcos says around ‘20,000 direct and indirect jobs’ will be created throughout the operation of The Grand Westside Hotel, developed and managed by Megaworld Corporation that describes it as ‘the Philippine’s biggest hotel.’ The hotel based in Parañaque City has 1,530 room capacity. ‘With all these, we foresee not only the entry of more tourists but also the generation of more jobs, of new businesses, and of greater opportunity,’ Mr. Marcos said. The President is joined by Speaker Martin Romualdez and Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI) President Kevin Tan. Screengrab from RTVM
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