GOV’T TO TIGHTEN AKAP GUIDELINES
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IN MET R MANILAO
VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 324 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES JANUARY 5, 2025
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‘CHINA’S MONSTER SHIP MOVES CLOSER TO LUZON’ EXPERT CITES ‘INTRUSIVE PATROL’ NEAR SCARBOROUGH
By Maricel V. Cruz THE government will tighten the guidelines for the implementation of the Ayuda Para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) to ensure it is not politicized, Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian said. “I am meeting with NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan and Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma of DOLE because the three of us were assigned to come up with joint guidelines as required by the conditional implementation of AKAP,”Gatchalian said. He said the crafting of the joint guidelines will help the government come up with “more stringent measures that will pacify the fears of our taxpayers that their money will be used for politics.” “(We will) make sure that, one, the targeting is very tight and, two, that we remain faithful to the special provision or the veto message of the President when it comes to the conditional implementation of the AKAP,” Gatchalian said. “We’re going to make sure that only those who are below minimum wage earners will be given AKAP or financial assistance as part of this program,” he added. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in approving the 2025 national budget last month, imposed conditions for the implementation of AKAP to ensure funds are used strategically. AKAP will now be implemented in coordination with the DSWD, DOLE and NEDA. “This way we ensure that its implementation will be strategic, leading to the long-term improvement of the lives of qualified beneficiaries, while guarding against misuse, duplication, and fragmented benefits,” President Marcos said. “This approach is anchored on a simple yet profound truth: the appropriation of public funds must not break the public trust,”he added.
EARLY CAMPAIGN MAY TURN OFF VOTERS–COMELEC
China Coast Guard 5901
By Vito Barcelo
‘MONSTER’ SHIP. China’s biggest Coast Guard vessel, dubbed ‘The Monster,’ is spotted patrolling about 50 nautical miles from Luzon in this map posted by maritime expert Roy Powell on his X account Saturday. Photo below shows Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. during the annual joint New Year’s Call of the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines where he thanked the Philippines’ foreign partners for their support in upholding the country’s sovereignty and rights under international laws. By Charles Dantes and Rex Espiritu
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HE biggest China Coast Guard vessel, identified as CCG 5901 and dubbed “The Monster,” encroached closer to the Philippines’ main island of Luzon as it continued with its “intrusive patrol” further east of Scarborough Shoal, maritime expert Roy Powell said on Saturday. According to tracking data Powel shared on X, the 12,000-ton vessel was spotted “just 50 nautical miles” from the Luzon coastline. Scarborough Shoal, also called Bajo de Masinloc or Panatag Shoal, is a traditional fishing ground located within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Powell first tracked the vessel within the area on January 1. The Philippine Navy, however, said they have not monitored the CCG presence on the first day of the year. “We did not detect any such ves-
sel on January 1 in the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc,” Navy spokesperson for West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said on Friday. Powell’s tracking data showed three additional Coast Guard vessels – CCG 3106, 3302, and 3305 – and seven militia ships in the area. Despite a 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling rejecting China’s expansive claims in the region, Beijing’s incursions into Philippine sovereign waters have continued. Powell’s report came days after the recovery of a suspected Chinese submarine drone, marked “HY-119,” by fishermen off the coast of San Pascual, Masbate. Powell said the torpedo-shaped drone, measuring two meters long with fins, might have been conducting seabed mapping for future submarine deployments. “If this is a Chinese drone, as seems likely, it indicates a troubling level of Chinese interest in the Philippines’ internal archipelagic waters,” he said. Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Col. Xerxes Trinidad said the Philippine Navy is now investigating the drone recovery “to determine its origin and purpose.” “The AFP is fully committed to ensuring the safety and security of our maritime domain, with all necessary resources mobilized to address similar and other situations with the utmost diligence,” he said.
THE Commission on Elections warned politicians that early campaigning can have a backlash on their chances to win in the midterm polls, saying this can turn off voters. Comelec chairman George Garcia admitted the poll body cannot yet sanction candidates for such activities since the campaign period for the May elections has not started. He expressed dismay at politicians who are already posting advertisements through billboards, television commercials, and even in newspapers ahead of the campaign period. He said Comelec is duty-bound to respect the Supreme Court’s ruling that a person who files a certificate of candidacy is only considered a candidate at the start of the official campaign period. “It is difficult for us to act on these matters (because of the SC ruling), but we know that we (Comelec) will be blamed for the illegal political posters that swarmed the streets, walls and other public places. They are on television, social media and all – directly campaigning” Garcia said. Garcia said individuals who post political ads would only be considered a candidate during the first day of the campaign period on Feb. 12 if they are running for a national position, and on Mar. 28 if they are running for a local position.
REMOVING VP FROM NSC ‘ILL-ADVISED’ MOVE—PANELO By Rachelle Tonelada THE decision to remove Vice President Sara Duterte from the National Security Council was “ill-advised,” former Duterte administration spokesman Salvador Panelo said on Saturday. “The removal of VP Sara as a member of the National Security Council is an ill-advised presidential move,” he said. “It smacks of dirty politics. Another brazen measure to diminish the political star power of VP Sara,”Panelo added. President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. earlier issued Executive Order No. 81 that removed the Vice Presi-
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dent and former presidents from the NSC, streamlining its membership as well as that of its executive committee. Panelo claimed the removal of former presidents from the NSC was a strategic attempt to “deodorize” the move and make it seem like the VP was not being specifically targeted. In his EO, Mr. Marcos said the reconstitution of the NSC was made “to ensure that its council members uphold and protect national security and sovereignty, thereby fostering an environment conducive to effective governance and stability.” The Vice President is facing an investigation after she claimed to have
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told someone to kill Mr. Marcos if she was assassinated. She later said her comments were misinterpreted. National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, for his part, said the reconstitution of the council was “necessary to further enhance the formulation of policies affecting national security.” “The NSC is, first and foremost, an advisory body to the President, and its composition is always subject to the authority of the President,” Año said in a statement. He said the latest adjustment “continues a historical pattern of NSC reorganizations tailored to meet evolving security challenges.”
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‘PAHALIK’TO START TUESDAY AHEAD OF JAN. 9 TRASLACION NEWS | A2
RELIGIOUS FERVOR. Catholic devotees hand over handkerchiefs to be wiped on a replica of the Jesus Nazareno outside the Minor Basilica in Quiapo, Manila on Saturday, January 4, 2025, five days ahead of the Grand Procession for the Feast of Jesus Nazareno. Norman Cruz
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