@mnlstandardph
@ManilaStandardPH
@manilastandard
@ManilaStandardYT
Missed your copy of Manila Standard? Call or text our Circulation Hotline at 0917-8848655 or email: circulation@manilastandard.net . For advertisement: email: advertise@manilastandard.net • 09173382170 / 85646229
ICC CAN INTERVIEW ‘PERSONS OF INTEREST’ IN DRUG WAR—SOLGEN By Maricel V. Cruz THE International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor can interview persons of interest in its investigation of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said. He said there are many ways by which the prosecutor can engage witnesses and suspects alike. “The Philippine government cannot stop him from proceeding in
VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 166• 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 •WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2024 •
any way he wants. He can directly interview persons of interest online, through the phone, by email, or face to face, subject to the consent of these persons,” he said. Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV earlier said the ICC considers Senator Ronald Dela Rosa and four other former ranking police officials as suspects in the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) of alleged drug personalities. Next page
US extends $500m in military funding Blinken: Once in a generation investment will modernize PH military, coast guard By Charles Dantes, Rachelle Tonelada and Rex Espiritu
HE United States will provide $500 million in military funding to the Philippines, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday, as Washington boosts ties with Manila in the face of China's growing assertiveness.
T
Blinken was in Manila with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as part of an Asia-Pacific tour to strengthen Washington's latticework of alliances aimed at countering Beijing. "We're now allocating an additional $500 million in foreign military financing to the Philippines to boost security collaboration with our oldest treaty ally in this region," Blinken told a joint news conference.
Blinken described it as a "once in a generation investment" to help modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard. The US officials met with President Marcos, who has taken a strong stand against Chinese actions in the South China Sea, before holding "2+2" talks with their Philippine counterparts Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Defense Secretary Gilberto
Teodoro. “I'm always very happy that these communication lines are very open so that all the things that we are doing together, in terms of our alliance, in terms of the specific context of our situation here in the West Philippine Sea and the Indo-Pacific are continuously examined and re-examined so we are agile in terms of our responses,” Mr. Marcos said. Blinken described the meeting "historic," noting that it was the first time the 2+2 meeting took place in Manila. Austin reaffirmed Blinken's views, emphasizing the strong ties between the Philippines and the US. “We’re more than allies -- we’re family and it always feels that way,” Austin said.
Next page
PUNCHING HER WAY TO VICTORY. Filipina boxer Nesthy Petecio (blue) wins via unanimous decision over Indian Jaismine Lamboria. AFP
Petecio, Sanchez power through to advance in Paris Olympics By Riera U. Mallari PARIS (Via PLDT Home) —Boxer Nesthy Petecio and swimmer Kayla Sanchez carried the torch when two of their teammates fell by the wayside in the Paris Olympic Games here on Tuesday (Paris time). Petecio, who has made it a mission to finally snag a gold here after a silver-medal finish three years ago in the Tokyo Olympiad, began her quest with a scintillating unanimous decision win in the Round of 32, 57-kg di division over Indian Jaismine Lamboria. The 32-year-old Petecio toyed with her lanky, taller Indian foe, a Commonwealth Games bronze medalist, de despite her smaller reach. Us Using her speed and cunning, Petecio came with solid combinations, and deftly danced away from Jaismine's wayward strikes. Next page
KAYLA SANCHEZ
House leaders vow to fund maritime defense program By Maricel V. Cruz and Rex Espiritu
TREATY ALLIES. President Marcos greets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (right) during a courtesy visit at the Malacanang Palace in Manila on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. AFP
THE oil spill in Limay, Bataan will not reach the National Capital Region, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Tuesday. The PCG said this was based on its aerial surveillance mission, even as it did not discount the possibility. "The surveillance team observed from north-northeast, the first area
of our surveillance, now it is southsoutheast. So we are not expecting that he is going to Manila but we do not discount the possibility," Lieutenant Commander Michael John Encina, spokesperson for PCG NCRCentral Luzon, said in an interview with Dobol B sa TV. "The current trajectory of the oil sheen is going to Cavite and Batangas, which is south-southeast," he added. The MT Terranova, which was Next page
Next page
Villanueva: Repeal tax law to remove all POGO traces
PCG: Oil slick from sunken tanker not likely to reach Metro Manila By Vince Lopez, Maricel Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta
LAWMAKERS on Tuesday committed that sufficient fund funding will be set aside in the pro proposed P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025 for the Philip Philippine Coast Guard which is pres presently at the forefront of efforts to secure the country’s territorial boundaries and exclusive economic zone.
Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. and Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe both said the House of Representatives would take their cue from President Marcos State of the Nation Address when deliberating on the National Expenditure Program. "The policy is always being set by the President and we take guidance from his SONA, and everyone in the House knows how the President gives importance on defending our national territory and integrity,” Dalipe said.
By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz
OIL SLICK. Members of the
Philippine Coast Guard and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau collect oil slick washed along the beach of Brgy. Amaya 7 in Tanza, Cavite on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. Danny Pata
LAWMAKERS sought to erase the legal framework supporting Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) even as they vowed to continue probing the illegal activities that surrounded such shady enterprises. Senator Joel Villanueva said
he would repeal the law taxing POGOs after President Marcos decided to totally ban them. "We want to guarantee no traces of POGOs in the Philippines," said Villanueva as he filed Senate Bill No. 2752. He said the POGO ban should lead to the repeal of Republic Act 11590 or the Act Taxing POGO, which was signed into law in 2021
Next page