Manila Standard - 2016 September 3 - Saturday

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VOL. XXX • NO. 203 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2016 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

FUN FESTIVAL . Men and women in costumes and masks replicating the garb of biblical Roman soldiers as interpreted in the Moriones, a folk-religious event held annually during the Holy Week in Marinduque, welcome tourists at the start of a three-day event showcasing the Philippines’ best tourist destinations at the 27th Philippine Travel Mart at the SMX in Pasay City on Friday. Danny Pata

Du30 in for rough time in Vientiane

Obama ‘won’t pull any punches when it comes to human rights’ By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is set to hold closed-door meetings with nine heads of the state, including US President Barack Obama, who is expected not to pull punches in bilateral talks, and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at the sidelines of the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Vientiane, Laos.

In a press conference, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said Duterte will hold one-on-one talks with leaders of Australia, India, Japan, Laos, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, the United States

and Vietnam. Jose also said that there are other several heads of the state who have requested him for a pull-aside meeting but due to his tight schedule, the President was able to accommodate only

the nine countries. “The Asean summit has only a few days of important meetings wherein [the President] is expected to attend all under a very tight schedule. Several heads of state have requested him for a pull aside bilaterals and has already said yes to 9 including Asean members and key dialogue partners,” Jose said. Jose, on behalf of Duterte, asked the other leaders to understand his inability to meet with all of them. “Please understand that he cannot accept them all and no one should impute any negatives on those he could not accommoNext page date,” Jose said.

THE Presidential Security Group is now taking the alleged assassination plots against President Rodrigo Duterte seriously after the police seized P4.5 million worth of smuggled gun parts and accessories that were meant to be used against him, Malacañang said Friday. The reports on the alleged assassination plots gained credence following the arrest of two Next page

“It’s not only with China but with the rest of those he’s going to meet,” Dela Vega told reporters in Malacañang. “He will explain to the international community the problem that we have and how it impacts on the social fabric of our society.” In other developments: * The Presidential Communication Office on Friday released the anti-drug TV advertisement created by awardwinning Director Brillante Mendoza; Next page

‘Probe De Lima accounts’

WEATHER

By Rey E. Requejo and Macon Ramos-Araneta

THE southwest monsoon will continue to bring rains to the western part of northern Luzon on Friday, state-run weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said. The agency said the Ilocos region, Apayao, Batanes and Babuyan will experience cloudy skies with light to moderate rains and thunderstorms. Other areas, including Metro Manila, will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms.

legation that his predecessor and now Senator Leila de Lima is involved in illegal drugs trade. Aguirre said the Justice DepartJUSTICE Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Friday expressed ment will ask the Anti-Money confidence that the government Laundering Council to investigate Next page will be able to substantiate its al-

Rody names 39 appointees MALACAÑANG on Thursday night released a list of 39 new appointees recently approved by President Rodrigo Duterte. Among those in the list were lawyer Ranibai Dacula Dilanga-

len and Evelyn Gonzales Laviña, wife of President Duterte’s spokesman Peter Laviña in the last election campaign, who, together with Ariel T. Cayanan, have been named Agriculture undersecretaries. Next page twitter.com/ MlaStandard

facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH

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By John Paolo Bencito PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said that the Philippines can only take so much of China’s continued refusal to accept an arbitration award that debunked China’s “rather absurd” nine-dash line claims to almost the entire South China Sea. “They say they will not honor it [the arbitration award], but we can only take so much. We cannot take a slap every day,” said Duterte at the opening of the Davao International Container Next page Terminal (DICT).

Full sked bars meet with UN UNITED NATIONSa—Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has railed against the United Nations for criticizing his government, has declined a request to meet UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon, officials said Thursday. Next page

Palace men Duterte drums up support looking into for his war on illegal drugs kill-plot PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will be raising the drug menace as he marks his first foreign trip as the country’s newest head of state at the Association of South East Asian Nations Summit in Vientiane, Laos, the Department of Foreign Affairs announced Friday. Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Maria Dela Vega said Duterte will take up the issue not only with China but also with the other members of the regional bloc.

China told: ‘PH can’t take a slap every day’

WORLD-CLASS FACILITY. President Rodrigo Duterte arrives at the Davao International Container Terminal in Panabo City to inaugurate the P5-billion state-of-the-art Davao International Container Terminal Inc. in Davao del Norte which offers world-class container terminal facilities and services. (Story on B1)

ZIKA cases

IN SOUTHEAST ASIA Thailand

97

PH stays Zika-free so far

Singapore

56

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

Vietnam

7

Cambodia

7

Philippines

1

Indonesia

1

Malaysia

1

Laos

1

THERE have been no cases of local transmission of the Zika virus, even though five people have been infected, Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial said as she called on travelers to reconsider plans to visit five countries affected by the virus--Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Thailand. In a news conference, Ubial said the five reported cases

got the virus from other countries before they returned to the Philippines. “We can say we have no local transmission. No Zika virus is moving here,” said Ubial, adding that the five have been declared virus-free after completing the required incubation period. The Health chief also said the department has tested 86 travelers with fever, which they yielded negative results for the virus. Next page

SOURCE: WHO DATA

Subic 4th most popular tourist area SUBIC BAY FREEPORT―Subic Bay is now the fourth most popular tourist destination in the Philippines, an official said Friday. Ronaldo Tiotuico, the Tourism Department’s director for

thestandard.com.ph

Central Luzon, said the Subic Bay Freeport and the rest of Zambales soared to number four in 2015 among the top 10 tourist destinations in the country and were topped only by Cebu,

Davao and Camarines Sur. The top 10 tourist destinations in the country in 2015 included Boracay, Albay/Legazpi City, Metro Manila, Clark/Pampanga, Laguna and Benguet/Baguio City. Next page

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