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BIDEN, TRUMP CLASH IN DEBATE
EU, 23 nations condemn China’s actions in WPS
WORLD / A5
DOJ CONFIDENT OF TEVES RETURN NEWS / A2
By Maricel V. Cruz
VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 134• 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 •SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 2024 •
PH, Japan eye signing of VFA-type deal in July Tokyo hopes pact inked during Manila talks
LAWMAKERs from the European Union (EU) and 23 nations across the globe have condemned China’s aggressive activities in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). Their collective condemnation is contained in a statement on “Chinese Coast Guard aggression and provocation” issued by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a group of parliamentarians formed on June 4, 2020 on the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. The alliance aims to “help counter the threat of China’s growing influence to global trade, security and human rights.” Next page
By Rachelle Tonelada
J
APAN and the Philippines will hold high-level defense talks next month, with both parties keen on signing a Reciprocal Access Agreement that is quite similar to Manila's Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States and would allow the countries to deploy troops on each other's territory. Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa will discuss "bilateral and defense and security issues affecting the region" in the face of an increasingly confrontational China at the July 8 meeting in Manila, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. Ex-defense minister Itsunori Onodera, now a ruling-party member of the Japanese parliament, said Friday he hoped negotiations on the defense pact would "make rapid progress" at next month's meeting. Onodera met with National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo to reiterate Japan's commitment to a strategic defense partnership with the Philippines. “During the discussion with the Next page
LP NOT INCLINED TO JOIN UNITY SLATE NEWS / A2
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK. President Marcos joins Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia
Frasco and UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili in viewing the exhibits at the 36th Joint Meeting of the UN Tourism Commission for East Asia and the Pacific and the UN Tourism Commission for South Asia in Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu province on Friday. Inset photo shows the President congratulating a beneficiary of the financial aid to farmers and fishermen affected by El Niño in sorties in Bohol and Cebu where cash assistance from DOLE and DSWD, livelihood kits from DTI, training support and starter tool kits from TESDA, and rice from the Office of the House Speaker were also given out. PCO and PPA Pool
Tourism sets record-high revenues in 2023 — Marcos By Charles Dantes PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday highlighted the achievements of the country's tour-
ism industry during the opening ceremony of the 36th Joint Meeting of the United Nations (UN) Tourism Commission for East Asia and the Pacific and the UN Tourism
Commission for South Asia. He emphasized the sector's significant contribution of P2.09 trillion to the national economy in 2023. This figure accounts for 8.6% of the coun-
PAOCC monitoring foreigners buying farmlands nationwide THE Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said Friday they are looking into large-scale buying of land by foreigners in different parts of the country. A Catholic bishop this week had urged the national government to investigate foreigners who are allegedly buy-
By Rey Requejo and Macon Araneta
SAFETY DRILL. Manila policemen join the nationwide second quarter earthquake drill on Friday. Norman Cruz
New law junks entrance exam fee Property giant Megaworld honored 35 local and international pillars in the IT-BPM, food, and retail industries that have become a big part of the company’s journey during the last 35 years during its 35th Anniversary Partners’ Night held at the Marriott Grand Ballroom. No less than First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos led the awarding of sculptural trophies specially created by renowned artist Jinggoy Buensuceso, together with Megaworld Founder and Chairman Dr. Andrew L. Tan, Alliance Global Group, Inc. president and CEO Kevin L. Tan, Megaworld director Katherine L. Tan, and Megaworld President Lourdes T. Gutierrez-Alfonso.
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OSG readying multiple cases vs. Mayor Guo
ing lands in Taytay, Palawan. “We are looking at other similar incidents. These are happening not just in Palawan, but in Nueva Ecija and other provinces, especially rice-producing areas. They don't just buy lands. Initially, they rent farmlands," according to PAOCC Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz. Next page
MEGAWORLD HONORS PARTNERS ON 35th ANNIVERSARY.
try’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or roughly $35 billion. The Tourism Direct Gross Value Added (TDGVA) saw a remarkable
By Charles Dantes, Macon Araneta, and Maricel Cruz CONGRESS leaders welcomed a new law mandating private higher education institutions to waive college entrance examination fees for students qualified
for college admission. Senate President Francis Escudero and House Speaker Martin Romualdez were informed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin that the Free College Entrance Examinations Act lapsed into law last June 14. Under the Constitution, President
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THE Office of the Solicitor General will finalize next week the cases the government will file against suspended Mayor Alice L. Guo of Bamban, Tarlac, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said on Friday. Guevarra stressed that among the legal actions being considered by the OSG against Guo are a quo warranto case and the cancellation of her birth certificate as recommended by the Philippine Statistics Authority. As this developed, the Commission on Elections said it is considering filing a case against Guo after the NBI confirmed that her fingerprints matched that of Guo Hua Ping, a Chinese national. But former Sen. Leila de Lima said that the Department of Justice (DOJ) can enforce a legal warrantless arrest through the Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Guo for stealing another person’s identity and violating immigration laws. Next page