The Standard - 2015 September 20 - Sunday

VOL. XXIX  NO. 220  3 Sections 24 Pages P18  SUNDAY : SEPTEMBER 20, 2015  www.thestandard.com.ph  editorial@thestandard.com.ph

GLITCH SHUTS DOWN MRT-3

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LP TWITS POE CAMP: MERE PROPAGANDA By Maricel V. Cruz

A LIBERAL Party official denied on Saturday that 200 of its members have jumped ship to the Nationalist People’s Coalition and dismissed the story as mere propaganda of the camp of Senator Grace Poe who declared her intent to run for President in 2016.

“That is only propaganda of the camp of Senator Poe and Senator [Francis “Chiz” Escudero]. We all know that Senator Chiz’s camp is good at that even before,” Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice said in Filipino during an interview over radio station dzMM on Saturday. Erice, the LP political affairs adviser, said the NPC, the second largest political party in the country, has repeatedly tried but failed to recruit LP members.

“It’s true that they have been talking to many members of the Liberal Party, but up to now, they have not succeeded in turning the members of the party. Yesterday [Friday], they said 200, but they didn’t even mention their names,” Erice said. The LP leader also criticized the supposed attempts of the NPC to pirate and turn members of legitimate political parties. “That is such a bad practice, to pi-

rate and turn members of legitimate political parties. Does that mean, party membership is only for convenience and not for principles?” Erice asked. But NPC spokesperson and Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga confirmed that 30 percent of NPC’s 200 new members were from LP while 50 percent are from the National Unity Party and the rest from the United Nationalist Alliance. Next page

PINOY FIESTA IN TOKYO. Filipino performers dance on the streets of Tokyo as part of a parade for the Philippine fiesta that was organized by the Philippine Embassy and attended by world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao. AFP

A COMPANY EMPOWERS THE B’LAAN

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DIET OKS TROOP DEPLOYMENT ABROAD TOKYO—Japan’s parliament passed contentious security bills into law early Saturday, in a move that could see Japanese troops fight abroad for the first time in 70 years. Lawmakers approved the bills to ease restrictions on the country’s tightly controlled military, but the changes will not see Japanese troops dispatched

to war zones any time soon because the laws may still be overturned by the supreme court. Unable to muster support to amend clauses enshrining pacifism, Abe opted instead to re-interpret the document for the purpose of his bills, ignoring warnings from scholars and lawyers that they are unconstitutional.

But the Philippines, one of the few countries that supported Tokyo’s plan to amend its constitution, welcomed Japan’s landmark legislation. “The Philippines welcomes the passage of legislation on national security by the National Diet of Japan. We look forward to efforts that strengthen our Next page