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SPEAKER POST UP TO SOLONS TO DECIDE—PALACE By Nat Mariano and Maricel V. Cruz
By Rio N. Araja TROPICAL depression “Falcon” will continue to enhance the southwest monsoon to spawn light to intense rains today until tomorrow in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, weather forecasters said. According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, light to Next page
VOL. XXXIII • NO. 152 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
DESPITE a term sharing deal brokered by President Rodrigo Duterte, the choice of the next Speaker of the House rests with members of the chamber, the Palace said Monday. On Friday, President Duterte said he would not take offense if his allies in the House did not follow his plan to split the three-year term between Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque Next page Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.
Dengue alert nationwide Health dep’t. says 4 regions breach epidemic threshold
REPORTED DENGUE CASES AND DEATHS (Jan. 1 to June 29, 2019)
CASES DEATHS PHILIPPINES I II III IV-A Mimaropa V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII ARMM CAR Caraga NCR
106,63 2,516 6,499 7,271 11,474 3,166 2,103 13,164 9,199 4,177 8,256 8,739 3,377 9,107 1,784 2,306 6,177 7,315
456 5 24 15 46 22 78 60 17 43 25 6 41 17 5 17 26
23 percent or 24,411 cases nvolvedchildren aged 5 to 9 years old
By Macon Ramos-Araneta
T
HE Department of Health declared a national dengue alert Monday due to the rapidly rising number of cases in several regions of the country.
HUGE THREAT.
The threat of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries the dreaded dengue virus, looms large over the country, especially in MIMAROPA, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Northern Mindanao. This is after the Department of Health on Monday declared, for the first time ever, a national dengue alert due to the rapidly rising number of cases in several regions of the country.
Iceland ‘reso’ triggers calls for PH to leave UNHRC
SolGen wants fishers’ lawyers disbarred over ‘kalikasan’ plea By Rey E. Requejo and Rio N. Araja LAWYERS of the fishermen from Palawan and Zambales who have asked the Supreme Court to issue a writ of kalikasan to compel the government to protect the West Philippine Sea may face disbarment proceedings, according to the government’s chief lawyer. Solicitor General Jose Calida said these lawyers risked violation of the Code of Professional Responsibility for allegedly keeping their clients in the dark
about the nature of the petition they have filed. In the Supreme Court, meanwhile, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio disparaged President Rodrigo Duterte’s policy of appeasement towards China by setting aside the 2016 Arbitral Award rendered by the Permanent Court of Arbitrations invalidating China’s nine-dash-line claims and clarifying the country’s exclusive economic zone, including the West Philippine Sea, purportedly to avoid a losing war with China. Next page
DepEd: 55 lumad schools suspended DAVAO CITY―The Department of Education-Region 11 said Monday it did not issue a closure order against the 55 Salugpungan Ta’ Tanu Igkanogon or Salugpongan tribal schools whose permits to operate were suspended by the agency on July 12. DepEd-11 spokesman Jenielito Atillo told reporters the suspensions did not amount to a stoppage or total closure as claimed by the Save our School Network, where the Salungpungan school system is a member.
Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said among the regions that have exceeded the epidemic threshold are MIMAROPA (Region IV-B), Western Visayas (Region VI), Central Visayas (Region VII), and Northern Mindanao (Region X). A DOH regional office must identify a clustering of cases before declaring a localized epidemic at the barangay level, Duque said. Other regions—Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, CALABARZON, Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Davao, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and Cordillera Administrative Region—are being watched closely after exceeding the alert threshold. Next page
“It is not true that we are closing the schools. It is just a suspension order and we are giving five days for them to present their answer on the allegations thrown against them, Atillo said, referring to the “show-cause” order on Salugpungan executive director Maria Eugenia Nolasco to provide a written explanation on the allegations of National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon. Meanwhile, the Education department said Monday the suspension of 55 Next page
By Nat Mariano, Rey E. Requejo and Macon Ramos-Araneta THE government on Monday rejected the Iceland-led resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council calling for a comprehensive report on alleged human rights violations in the Philippines’ war on illegal drugs. In a statement, the Office of the Executive Secretary said the resolution was supported by only 18 countries, a minority of the council’s 47 members, and passed without verifying the facts. “We reject this resolution because, through it, a minority has short-circuited and rendered
inutile the time-honored mechanisms by which the UN maintains the accountability of memberstates, such as the treaty body system and the UNHRC’s Universal Periodic Review,” the statement said. “The Philippines, as one of the pioneering members of the Next page
WIMBLEDON EPIC WIN DJOKOVIC’S TOUGHEST SPORTS A8
Two new laws: Students’ fare discounts, protection for OFWS By Nat Mariano PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has signed two laws that will separately give students discounts on various modes of transportation and assure migrant Filipino workers additional protection through the creation of the Office for the Social Welfare Attaché. His Republic Act 11314, which was signed on April 17, was only released by the Palace Next page
Comic-Con turns a new leaf at 50
Buzz bees to keep elephants off tracks
FROM Peter Parker’s run-in with a radioactive spider to Superman fleeing an exploding Krypton: Comic book fans love a good origin story. So when 135,000 geeks and nerds invade San Diego next week for the 50th
INDIAN Railways have come up with a novel way of getting elephants to buzz off from train tracks: Speakers that play the sound of bees to scare the jumbos away. Almost 70 elephants were killed by
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HISTORIC WIN.
It took nearly five hours, but Novak Djokovic finally lifts the champion’s trophy for the fifth time at Wimbledon on Sunday (Monday in Manila) after outlasting Roger Federer at the All England Club in London. In the first year of a newly implemented rule, Federer and Djokovic reached the fifth-set tiebreaker for the first time in a Wimbledon final, with Djokovic winning 7-3. (See story on A8). AFP