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House slashes OVP budget to P733 million
PAGASA EYES NEW APPROACHING STORM NEWS / A2
DOJ TO FILE RAPS VS. TONY YANG
By Maricel Cruz and Rachelle Tonelada
NEWS / A2
VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 223• 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 •THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2024 •
House approves P6.3-t budget on final reading
Former DepEd Usec alleges VP payola NEWS / A2 to zero following Vice President Sara Duterte’s repeated absences from the budget deliberations. “As Speaker, I understand the sentiments of some of my colleagues in CongressregardingVicePresidentSaraDuterte not attending the plenary deliberations for her office's budget. She was invited three
Measure backs President's 'legacy projects' By Maricel V. Cruz and Othel Campos
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OTING 285-3-0, the House of Representatives on Wednesday night overwhelmingly approved on third and final reading the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025. Led by Speaker Martin Romualdez, the House passed House Bill 10800, which also contained the P1.3 billion budget cut from the Office of the Vice President. The approval capped the almost two months of extensive deliberations on
THE House of Representatives moved to rationalize the budget of the Office of the Vice President -- retaining the P733 million budget recommendation from the Committee on Appropriations from the original P2.1 billion proposal. This came amid calls from some lawmakers to further reduce the OVP budget, with some pushing to slash it
the money measure—from the time it was submitted by Malacañang to the House appropriations committee chaired by Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co until it reached the plenary. Key areas in the proposed P6.352Next page
ADJOURNMENT. Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez delivers his message after the passage of the proposed 2025 national budget and subsequent adjournment of the plenary session of the House of Representatives yesterday evening. Inset shows the Speaker joining a groupie with House members to mark another milestone in the lower chamber's history. Ver Noveno
DEFENSE FAIR.
Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr., representing President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., officially opened the 5th Asian Defense, Security, and Crisis Management Exhibition and Conference (ADAS 2024) yesterday at the World Trade Center. The event, which runs upto Sept. 27, 2024, brings together key stakeholders in defense, security, and crisis management to explore the latest technologies and foster collaboration. Inset shows models of the country's current Coast Guard ships.
Senator eyes possible state witness status for Alice Guo SENATORS said their closed-door session with Alice Guo validated their earlier theory about the true puppet master who calls the shots for Philippine Overseas Gaming Operators (POGOs). However, Senator Risa Hontiveros, who chairs the panel probing POGOs, said she continues to be dissatisfied with the outcome of Wednesday’s executive session, hinting that she wanted to squeeze more information from the disgraced ex-mayor during their private conversation. "Hindi pa din ako masyadong satisfied sa mga pahayag sa Executive Session, bagama't there was one crucial personality confirmed by Guo Hua Ping. This corroborates a theory
that the Committee shared a month ago," she said in a statement. However, Hontiveros chose to keep the public none the wiser about the identity of POGOs’ “boss of bosses.” For his part, Senator JV Ejercito opened the door for Guo to serve as a state witness, as she does not appear to be the POGO ring leader. He also called the session with Guo outside of the media’s prying eyes and ears as just an “ice breaker.” “Hopefully, we can get more information during subsequent executive sessions. Personally, I don’t believe that one such as Alice Guo
reorganize the entire water management process in the Philippines. But because of the exigencies of climate change, we really have to direct our efforts, our attention to [water],” he said on
Wednesday. The chief executive made the remarks during the 6th Legislative Executive Development Advisory
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Gibo dares China to dismantle nukes, Marcos urges Congress to pass priority water, flood control bills end hostile posture By Vince Lopez By Rex Espiritu THE Philippines’ defense chief dared China to dismantle its own missile capabilities, including its nuclear arsenal instead of insisting on the disarmament of countries it is threatening. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro made the remarks after China claimed that the extended stay of the United States’ Typhon or Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile system in the Philippines “is a move to turn back the wheel of history.” “Why don’t they look at their own offensive missile capabilities and remove it, destroy their nuclear weapons, vacate Mischief Reef, and get out of the West Philippine Sea?,” Teodoro told reporters on the sidelines of his department’s briefing for its Next page
PRESIDENT Marcos is pushing for the reorganization of water management in the country beginning
with the creation of a Department of Water Resources. “It’s a department because we are going to reorganize everything. But the original idea was that we would
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Cayetano, Zubiri tangle over EMBO issue By Rolando Ng III SENATORS Juan Miguel Zubiri and Alan Peter Cayetano found themselves the latest subjects of a new political viral video following their heated exchange that nearly went physical on Tuesday evening. The two had a serious argument over a Senate resolution on the 10 EMBO barangays of Taguig City that were previously under the jurisdiction of Makati. Zubiri raised that the resolution was not in the agenda of the Senate at the
time. Cayetano, however, emphasized its urgency. Cayetano, who was working for the residents of his hometown Taguig, apparently did not appreciate how Zubiri ‘raised his voice’ and undermined its importance for his constituents. The session was suspended and the heated altercation ensued. Cayetano was heard approaching Zubiri about the rules until he seemingly got fed up with Zubiri’s comments. “’Pag lugar mo ilang beses ka Next page
HEATED EXCHANGE. Senator JV Ejercito steps in to stop Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Juan Miguel Zubiri from pouncing at each other after a heated exchange on the EMBO bill at the Senate. Bilyonaryo grab