EAGLES SOAR OVER MAROONS IN GAME ONE By Peter Atencio VOL. XXXII • NO. 290 • 4 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net
EX-PRESIDENT BUSH PASSES AWAY AT 94
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ASHINGTON—Former US President George H.W. Bush, who helped steer America through the end of the Cold War, died Friday at age 94, his family announced.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018
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SOLON BUCKS NFA PRICE HIKE By Maricel V. Cruz
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LEGISLATOR has opposed the plan of the National Food Authority to increase the price of NFA rice from P27 per kilo to P33 to P35 per kilo.
Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao said that the proposed increase “will deliver a staggering blow to poor consumers who are still reeling from the price spikes of goods and services in the last 11 months.” “It is unjust and basically antipoor. NFA is very wrong to assume that a P6 to P8 increase in its products is acceptable,” he said. “That agency was created mainly to cater to the needs of the poor, those who can’t afford to buy com-
mercial rice. The proposed increase is against its basic mandate,” Casilao added. Casilao joined consumer group Bantay Bigas in accusing the NFA of setting the stage for a shortage of its rice supply to justify raising rice prices. During the height of rice crisis this year, the NFA was found to have refused to procure palay from rice farmers, creating a shortage of rice in the local market that forced
consumers to buy rice from commercial outlets at higher prices, the lawmaker said. “I cannot understand where the NFA is coming from and heading to. Early on, they said, ‘let’s flood the market with rice imports to lower rice prices.’ Now that the rice imports have arrived, the NFA is proposing to increase the price of its rice. The logic behind all these escapes me,” Casilao said. Last week, the congressional bicameral committee passed the Rice Tariffication Bill which government said would tame price increases in rice. But Bantay Bigas claimed the enactment of that enrolled bill will only open the local market to unlimited imported rice, thus adversely affecting
millions of local rice producers. Once enacted into law, the NFA will stand to lose P160 million in revenues as well as the removal of the agency’s regulatory powers. Around 400 NFA employees will also be left jobless. Casilao said local farmers and consumers are the biggest losers under the Rice Tariffication Bill even as there is no assurance of affordable and steady rice supply in the market. “The NFA’s mandate is to ensure affordable price of rice. It should follow its mandate of catering ordinary Filipinos, mostly the poor who cannot buy commercial rice in the market. Despite its GOCC character, NFA should continue to sell cheaper price of rice,” Casilao said.
PNP CHIEF: NO MORE NPA-SPARU HIT SQUAD PHILIPPINE National Police chief Dir. Gen. Oscar Albayalde on Saturday said the infamous hit squad of the New People’s Army, the Special Partisan Unit (SPARU), no longer exists. The alleged presence of SPARU assassins prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to declare that he will form a death squad to counter that of the communist rebels. “Right now, we have not monitored (any SPARU presence). There have been instances in the past years and killings recorded, about 136. But we have monitored those and indeed, the SPARU has long ceased to exist,” Albayalde said in an interview with dzBB. On Tuesday, Duterte said he wanted to form a “Duterte Death Squad” to counter SPARU members. “I will create my own SPARU— Duterte Death Squad against the SPARU. I will match their talent also for assassinating people. They will have firearms for sure. That’s my plan,” the President said. “They will do nothing but look for idlers who are prospective New People’s Army members and take them out,” Duterte added. Albayalde said the President may have his own sources as to the presence of the hit squad of the communist rebels. The PNP chief, however, clarified that the Palace has yet to make an official order on the proposed formation of the Duterte Death Squad. “We are talking with the Armed Forces of the Philippines in anticipation of the order. We need to discuss the composition of such a a group—whether it will be from the military or the PNP,” Albayalde said. Duterte’s proposal was immediately shot down by his own political ally, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, president of the President’s ruling party, PDP-Laban.
LET THERE BE LIGHT. New York City’s safest neighborhood, Dyker Heights, is dubbed as the ‘epicenter of professionally hung Christmas lights’ with most holiday decorations in the area prepared by professional decorators. Residents in the affluent residential neighborhood in Brooklyn pay as much as $5,000 for their Christmas decorations. Eric B. Apolonio
‘1 IN 10 PINOYS WITH HIV IS AN OFW’ ON THE occasion of World AIDS Day, a party-list lawmaker on Saturday called for “heightened vigilance” against the epidemic that has infected nearly 60,000 Filipinos and killed almost 3,000. “Fighting AIDS through greater awareness and prevention is a top priority for us because one in 10 Filipinos living with HIV is a migrant worker,” said ACTSOFW Rep. Aniceto Bertiz III. “OFWs are especially at risk because once they are exposed to foreign cultures, they tend to let their guard down,” Bertiz said. A total of 697 overseas Filipino workers were newly diagnosed with HIV or the human immunodeficiency virus from January to September this year, up by 13.7 percent from 613 for the same period in 2017, according to Bertiz. The nine-month figure brought to 6,135 the cumulative number of OFWs found infected with
HIV since the government began passive surveillance in 1984. OFWs with HIV now account for 10 percent of the 59,135 confirmed cases in the National HIV/AIDS Registry as of September this year, Bertiz said. Of the 6,135 OFWs in the registry, he said 5,280 or 86 percent are male with the median age of 32 years. Majority of the male cases, or 71 percent, were infected through sexual contact among MSM, or men who have sex with men. The median age of female OFWs in the registry is 34 years. Bertiz urged the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to devote more resources to preventive education among OFWs and their families. Maricel V. Cruz
BALL IN HIS HAND.
UP’s Jun Manzo goes up for a possible two points against Ateneo’s Thirdy Ravena in Game 1 of the schools best-of-three championship games in the UAAP 81 season Saturday at the jampacked Mall of Asia won by the latter, 88-79, for a 1-0 advantage. Ey Acasio
ROLLBACK ROLLS ON; OIL PRICES CHEAPER BY P2 By Alena Mae S. Flores
Tributes quickly poured in for the former US leader, a decorated war pilot and onetime CIA chief who also saw his son George follow in his footsteps to the Oval Office. Bush’s passing comes just months after the death in April of his wife and revered first lady Barbara Bush -- his “most beloved woman in the world”—to whom he was married for 73 years. “Jeb, Neil, Marvin, Doro and I are saddened to announce that after 94 remarkable years, our dear Dad has died,” former president George W. Bush said in a statement released on Twitter by a family spokesman. Turn to A2
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ATENEO banked on its veterans Matt Nieto and Thirdy Ravena to frustrate University of the Philippines, 88-79, and zero in on a second straight crown after Game 1 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines best-of-three title showdown at the jampacked Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday. Nieto fueled the Eagles’ offense with a new career high of 27 points, while Ravena was all over the place, scoring 21 points, hauling 10 rebounds and dishing off nine assists as Ateneo moved nearer its second straight crown and 10th title overall. Ange Kouame added seven points and 13 rebounds for the Eagles, while holding league Most Valuable Player Bright Akhuetie to just 10 points and 5 rebounds. The Eagles can finish off the Maroons in Game 2 on Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum, hoping to become the first team to clinch a consecutive UAAP championship since Norman Black led the Eagles to five straight championships from 2008 to 2012. Turn to A2
CHINA HITS US NAVAL VESSELS IN PARACEL
‘UNFLAPPABLE LEADER.’ Former US President George H.W. Bush (seen in this 1992 file photo) is dead at 94, with tributes quickly pouring in for the erstwhile decorated pilot and one-time CIA chief. He helped steer America through the end of the Cold War, this chief executive described by President Donald Trump as one with 'sound judgment and unflappable leadership.'
BEIJING—China on Friday scolded the United States for sending naval vessels close to disputed islands in the South China Sea where Beijing has built military installations. The US and its allies periodically send planes and warships through the area to conduct “freedom of navigation” operations, intended as a signal to Beijing of their right under international law to pass through the waters claimed by China. According to the Pentagon, the USS Chancellorsville guidedmissile destroyer sailed Monday near the Paracel islands, known as Xisha in Chinese, “to challenge excessive maritime claims and preserve access to the waterways as governed by international law.” The Chinese military scrambled aircraft and warships, sending out warnings for the American vessel to leave the area. “We urge the US to strengthen the management of its vessels and aircraft that pass by Chinese territory to prevent unexpected events,” People’s Liberation Army Southern Theatre spokesman Li Huamin said in a statement. China has also lodged a diplomatic complaint with Washington, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said during a regular press briefing, calling on the US to “immediately stop such provocative actions that violate China’s sovereignty.” The Paracels are claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam. China claims nearly all of the South China Sea though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts. Further angering those countries, and the US, Beijing has moved aggressively to build up reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. It was the second US naval operation to irk China this week. On Wednesday, two US ships sailed through the Taiwan Strait —which China considers its territory but the US and others see as international waters open to all—prompting a furious Beijing to send warships and fighter jets. This was the third such operation this year, including one last month which prompted a diplomatic protest. “US Forces operate in the Indo-Pacific region on a daily basis, including the South China Sea,” the Pentagon statement read. “All operations are designed in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows.” The naval tensions come just ahead of scheduled talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Argentina this weekend aimed at softening trade tensions. AFP
SMALL player Phoenix Petroleum Philippines led the latest round of rollback of P2 per liter for gasoline and diesel, triggering the 8th weekly consecutive oil price rollback. “To enjoy the long weekend with cheaper fuels, Phoenix Philippines will initially decrease the prices of gasoline and diesel P2 per liter effective 12:00 noon of Dec. 1,” Phoenix said. Other companies are expected to follow suit but have not announced their respective price adjustment as of press time. Unioil Philippines, for its part, said “diesel should decrease by P2.20 to P2.30 per liter while gasoline should decrease by P1.90 to P2 per liter.” World oil prices dipped, weighed down by uncertainty over the US-China trade war and signs of increased global crude production, according to the Department of Energy’s latest monitoring report. Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte will weigh the social costs of pushing through with the implementation of the second tranche of the oil excise tax increase scheduled for 2019, Malacañang said. Turn to A2
‘UHC FUNDING GAP MUST BE ADDRESSED’ By Macon Ramos-Araneta
SPLASH OF COLORS. In a show of bayanihan, residents of Barangay Addition Hills in Mandaluyong City painted houses along F. Martinez Ave. Manny Palmero
THE lack of funding for its implementation is one of the challenges that the Universal Health Care measure could face, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said. The bill, which is awaiting the signature of President Rodrigo Duterte to become a law, seeks to enroll all Filipinos under a state-backed health insurance program both as paying and non-paying members. For its first year of implementation, Duque said UHC would need a funding requirement of P257 billion, but was appropriated only with P217 billion under the proposed national budget for 2019. Duque said the funding gap of P40 billion would mean that not
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all hospitals or health centers as envisioned under the bill would be constructed. “The UHC is not a silver bullet. It is not a panacea. We have to manage our expectations. Everything is not for free,” he said. “We know that we don’t have infinite resources that is why we have to start from the ground up.” He said construction of barangay health units in fourth to sixth class municipalities would be prioritized so that patients would not have to troop to hospitals for minor ailments. “Only 50 percent of our barangays have functional barangay health units. Under the UHC, we would have one barangay health unit for every 3,000 to 4,000 patients and one city or rural health unit for every 20,000 patients. We would have health ser-
vices at the lower level so that there would be congestion in hospitals,” the Health chief said. A barangay health unit is manned by at least two healthcare professionals, which include a nurse and a midwife, while rural and city health units are manned by around 13 to 14 healthcare professionals, including doctors. Duque said they are banking on the passage of a measure increasing tobacco taxes as well as the government meeting its annual target of 10 to 12 percent growth in tax collection for the funding of the UHC. The Department of Budget and Management, he added, likewise gave an assurance that it would restore the DOH’s proposed P33billion budget for its Health Facilities Enhancement Program for 2019.
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LEADERS' FORUM. The 2018 Top Leaders Forum themed 'Changing the Game: Building a Culture of Resilience Through Public-
Private Partnership' was held recently at the SMX Convention Center, Manila. The Forum brings together the country’s top executives and leaders from the National and local governments, private sector, academe and science community, to discuss concrete actions in achieving disaster resilient communities. Highlight was the launch of SM Prime’s Business Continuity Program for its small and medium enterprise tenants as part of its Disaster Risk Reduction efforts for its business partners and stakeholders. In photo (middle, seated) are SM Prime’s Hans Sy, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Reduction Mami Mizutori, Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana and officials of UNISDR, National Resilience Council, ARISE Philippines, government officials and private and public sector partners. Top Leaders Forum is organized by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction and ARISE Philippines, in partnership with SM Prime Holdings and the National Resilience Council.
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