Manila Standard - 2018 September 25 - Tuesday

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VOL. XXXII • NO. 222 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

Extra rice imports okayed

Avalanche of 750K metric tons intended to avert shortage

BEFORE LONG. This may

be a lifting sight before long in the country’s main port, after the government’s National Food Authority Council has approved the importation of 500,000 metric tons of rice on top of the previously announced 250,000 metric tons, according to Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol. The NFA Board has approved the standby importation of one million tons of rice for arrival in 2019.

Pump prices rise for 6th straight week By Alena Mae S. Flores OIL companies raised pump prices again by as much as P0.40 per liter effective 6 am Tuesday to reflect the movement of prices in the world market. Pump prices went up P0.40 per liter for gasoline, P0.20 per liter for diesel and P0.15 per liter for kerosene. This was the sixth weekly consecutive oil price increase due largely to a decline in the oil supply from Venezuela and Iran. Next page

Ex-VP Binay gunning for Congress seat

By Othel V. Campos

T

HE Agriculture Department is poised to import as much as 750,000 metric tons of rice that will arrive before the end of the year.

The decision to increase the import volume came on the heels of Typhoon ‘‘Ompong,’’ which caused damage to crops and livestock by as much as P26.7 billion, well above initial forecasts. Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol said this was the second worst damage done by a typhoon, next to ‘‘Yolanda’’ in 2013, which destroyed P35 billion worth of crops and livestock. Ompong destroyed P14.5 billion in rice crops, P8.1 billion in corn, P3.4 million in high-value crops, P79 million in fruit trees, P45 million in livestock, P2 million in fisheries, and P528 million in irrigation facilities, machinery and other equipment. Piñol said the department had a quick reaction fund of P600 million, crop insurance of P1.6 billion and an emergency loan program of P880 million, but this would not be enough to cover the P26.7 billion in damage. The rice imports will replenish the almost depleted stocks of government rice that stood at two days inventory. “All these [imports] will be at 25 percent Next page

By Joel E. Zurbano and Macon Ramos-Araneta JEJOMAR Binay is running for congressman in the first district of Makati City. Binay’s spokesperson Joey Salgado confirmed this on Monday after Makati City Mayor Abigail Binay announced during the flag-raising ceremony at city hall that her father is returning to politics. “In this morning’s flagraising ceremony, Mayor Abby announced that she will run for reelection. She also said former

WEATHER

‘Paeng’closes in on Batanes Island

Palace: Enrile, FM Jr. can’t twist history By Nat Mariano and Macon RamosAraneta FORMER senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. cannot twist history, the Palace said Monday, after Enrile claimed there were no arrests of political activists during martial law. Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the presence of certain laws and court decisions pertaining to martial law belie Enrile’s claim that only a few of then-President Ferdinand Marcos’ critics

were arrested for criminal acts. “As far as the Palace is concerned, there are decisions affirming that there were grave human rights violations committed during the Marcos regime. There’s even a law in Congress which provides for compensation for victims of martial law,” Roque told reporters in a Palace press briefing. “I don’t think they can twist history when there’s a law and there are court decisions attesting to what happened during martial law,” he Next page added.

2.14-m people affected by ‘Ompong,’ landslides THE National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said the number of families affected by Typhoon “Ompong” has climbed to 507,945 in 4,819 barangays in Regions 1, 2, 3, 4A, 4B, National Capital Region and the Cordillera Administrative Region. This was the equivalent to 2.14-million people, the 6 am Monday update said. Also, a total of 117,685 houses were reported

damaged, 10,334 severely and 107,351 partially, in Regions 1, 2, 3, and the CAR. Damage to infrastructure and agriculture was placed at P18.82 billion—lower than the Agriculture department’s estimate. The Department of Energy reported that power has been restored in 79.19 percent of the affected areas. Ompong affected 2,366,504 households after Next page

By Rio N. Araja THE Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration on Monday warned the Next page

Next page

B’day treat for Pia: Wax figure STARTING early next year, Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach will be residing in Hong Kong. Or at least her wax figure will at Madame Tussauds. Next page

Tiger wins; golf world cheers SPORTS A8

CHRISTMAS TRAPPINGS. A young girl runs past Yuletide decorations Sunday near a street mall, three months and a day to Christmas Eve in predominantly Christian Philippines, home to multi-ethnic and multilingual population of 106 million from Batanes to Tawi Tawi. AFP


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