Manila Standard - 2018 September 26 - Wednesday

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RODY CERTIFIES BILL TO PUT AN END TO ‘ENDO’

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‘Food supply barriers must be removed’ By Nat Mariano, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Othel V. Campos VOL. XXXII • NO. 223 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday ordered the removal of all administrative constraints and non-tariff barriers on the importation of agricultural products, even as his spokesman said he would personally file charges against outgoing National Food Administration chief Jason Aquino over the rice crisis. Administrative Order No. 13 directs the NFA, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Trade and Industry to take immediate measures to remove administrative constraints and non-tariff barriers. These measures include streamlining procedures in the accreditation of importers, and shortening the processing time for applications to import, and exempting Next page

BACK WITH VENOM.

Opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has his picture taken Tuesday after he was arrested by police over a rebellion case in 2007, but gained temporary freedom after filing a P200,000 bail recommended by the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda. Trillanes, back at the Senate, immediately told a news briefing that ‘democracy was lost’ with his arrest, nearly three weeks after his amnesty was voided by the government.

Trillanes arrested, posts bail Ex-VP gears up for 2019 polls, vows to be ‘constructive voice’ By Joel E. Zurbano FORMER vice president Jejomar Binay will be a “constructive voice” in the House of Representatives, his spokesman Joey Salgado said Tuesday. “He does not believe in obstructionist politics, or opposing just for the sake of opposing. The former vice president will be a constructive voice in Congress,” Salgado said. On Monday, Binay’s daughter,

Makati City Mayor Abigail Binay, said her father intends to run for the city’s first district congressional position in the May 2019 mid-term elections. If elected, the Binay patriarch intends to support policies and programs that will improve the lives of the poor and the middle class, Salgado said. “In the same manner, he will point out policies and programs that could burden our countrymen. But he will also propose solutions,” he added. Next page

Cimatu clears Benguet in Itogon landslide; illegal miners blamed By Rio N. Araja THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources on Tuesday said Benguet Corp. itself did not want any illegal miners to stay within its mine site, where 78 people were killed and buried alive in Barangay Ucab, Itogon, Benguet at the height of Typhoon “Ompong.” Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said Benguet Corp. had already stopped its operations in the area as early as in 1997. “That property is a private one. It is owned by Benguet [Corp.]. In fact, it was not allowing anyone [there]. It even requested the people [there] to leave the

[mine] site,” he told the Manila Standard in an interview. “I just don’t know the extent of its capability to enforce [the ejection]. The [whole] area is too big,” he said. Nevertheless, Cimatu said there is still a need to conduct an investigation into culpability of those responsible for the landslide. Undersecretary Benny Antiporda said the local officials and residents of Barangay Ucab had resisted the plan to close down the mining operation. In a television News to Go interview, he said Benguet Corp. requested the formal closure of its mine in 2016 so it could start rehabilitation efforts in the area. Next page

Naked art mystery bared PARIS—One of the greatest mysteries in art history appears to have been solved. The identity of the model who posed for the most scandalous painting of the 19th century, Gustave Courbet’s “L’Origine du monde” (The Origin of the world), has finally been revealed. Next page

Within three hours, senator goes through process, returns to Senate By Rey E. Requejo, Joel E. Zurbano and Macon Ramos-Araneta

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FTER being holed up in the Senate for almost three weeks, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV took less than three hours to surrender to the police, have his mugshots and fingerprints taken at the Makati Central Police station, post P200,000 bail and return to the Senate Tuesday.

After a Makati court issued a warrant for his arrest, Trillanes left the Senate past 3 pm with a police team led by Metro Manila police chief Guillermo Eleazar. He returned to the Senate past 5 pm after posting bail before the Makati Re-

gional Trial Court Branch 150, which is hearing a case against him for his role in the 2007 Manila Peninsula Siege. Earlier, Judge Elmo Alameda of the Makati RTC Branch 150 issued an arrest Next page

Rody’s ratings decline; Palace still unfazed By Nat Mariano PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s approval and trust ratings dropped in the third quarter, an independent pollster revealed Tuesday. The latest Pulse Asia survey found that 75 percent of Filipinos approved of Duterte’s performance, a 13-point drop from the 88 percent approval rating recorded in June. The President’s trust rating also dropped to 72 percent from the previous 87 percent in the previous quarter. Next page

Drivers seek P4-fare hike, cites costly fuel THE Transport group Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations on Tuesday asked the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to raise the basic fare on jeepneys to P12 from P8. The group cited the effect on fuel prices of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN law. ACTO president Efren de Luna said they had amended their earlier fare hike petition asking for a P2 increase in the minimum jeepeney fare. “Ang halaga lamang po ng aming pinagbatayan no’n ay P35 per liter pero ngayon po, umaabot na po tayo ng halos P47 per liter,” De Luna told Balitanghali. “At ang pinagbatayan nga po natin nu’ng kami’y nag-file ay P8 na patungo po sa P10 pero ang nangyari po ngayon dahil sa pagtaas ng presyo ng langis... sa pamamagitan ng TRAIN law ay nagkaroon po kami ng amyenda du’n sa petition na lugar na P8 to P10 ay ginawa na po naming P12.” The LTFRB, which approved a P1 provisional fare hike for jeepneys in July, has yet to comment on the transport group’s latest request. “Ibig sabihin, ’yung P1 po na hiniling naming provisional ay nakuha na namin, tatlong piso na lamang po ang hinihiling namin para maging P12,” De Luna said. He said the LTFRB had no reason to deny their petition, citing the recent increases in pump prices. He assured the public that they would act accordingly if ever prices went down.

ELEVENTH-HOUR. New voters line up Tuesday during the last week of registration for the mid-term 2019 elections inside the Comelec Office in Arroceros, Manila. Norman Cruz

LP names first three senatorial bets By Rio N. Araja and Macon Ramos-Araneta THE opposition Liberal Party on Tuesday announced the candidacy of three of its senatorial bets—Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III and De La Salle University College of Law Dean Jose Manuel Diokno—for the 2019 elections.

At the LP’s National Executive Council meeting in Barangay Loyola Heights, Quezon City, LP president Senator Francis Pangilinan said the party would nominate the other nine candidates soon, saying they would launch a listening campaign to be called “Project Makinig.” Pangilinan said the LP would formally present to Vice President Leni Robredo, Next page


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