THUMBING THEIR NOSES AT WAVES.
Children residents of Baseco Compound in Manila’s waterfront district of Tondo courageously confront the whirling waves during the heavy downpour brought by the southwest monsoon Saturday. Weathermen have said two weather systems—a low pressure area and the southwest monsoon—will being heavy rains to Metro manila and other parts of the country. (Story on A2) Norman Cruz
VOL. XXXIII • NO. 171 • 4 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • SUNDAY, AUGUST 4, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
HEALTH EXEC WARNS VS. DENGVAXIA USE By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz
BI CURBS INFLUX OF CHINESE
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EALTH Undersecretary Eric Domingo has noted that Dengvaxia cannot be used in the Philippines because it is not registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as among the drugs allowed to be sold in the country.
By Vito Barcelo THE Bureau of Immigration will no longer issue visa extensions to foreigners who will visit the Philippines under the Visa Upon Arrival, due to the influx of Chinese tourists who were taking advantage of the entry permit to illegally work here. Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente issued an administrative order revising the procedures and guidelines in the issuance of accreditation to travel agencies and operators to process VUA applications of PROC nationals via VUA facility. Under the VUA, a foreign visitor is allowed to stay for at least 30 days in the country and can apply for an extension for another 30 days. However, Morente signed a new order that would no longer extend the stay of foreigners issued with VUA. The new guidelines will also require travel/tour operators seeking to avail of the VUA facility through the BI to post P500,000 cash bond. Every travel/tour operator must submit his/her company’s year of existence as travel and tour agency; SEC,, GIS, and Turn to A2
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2 SUBWAYS TO LESSEN POLLUTION By Maricel V. Cruz
“More important, we are actually counting on The 10-kilometer and 10-station Makati underthe convenience of subway rides to reduce over ground rapid transit system, also known as Line 5,
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ETRO Manila is bound to time the number of people using their own cars is expected to start operations in 2025. to go to work,” Campos said. This is around the same time that the 36-kiloenjoy considerably cleaner Less use of private cars will not only mean meter and 15-station Metro Manila Subway Project and healthier air in the years less exhaust emissions, but also less road from Quezon City to Taguig City, or Line 9, would ahead once its first two subway trains also be up and running. become operational, a lawmaker said on congestion. Campos earlier filed House Bill No. 1432 which The two subway lines will be linked. Saturday. seeks to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by proThe Makati subway is projected to move up to “Besides providing everybody a better way to commute, the two subways will surely improve in a big way Metro Manila’s air quality—with lower toxic carbon dioxide concentrations,” said Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr. Unlike buses and other public utility vehicles that run on diesel or gasoline, the electric-driven subways will not discharge harmful exhaust fumes into the air, he said.
viding incentives for the manufacture, assembly, conversion and importation of electric, hybrid and other motor vehicles that run on cleaner alternative fuel. Philippine InfraDev Holdings Inc. and the Makati City government on Tuesday signed the joint venture agreement for the $3.5-billion Makati Intra-city Subway Public-Private Partnership Project.
700,000 commuters daily. It will also be linked to the existing MRT (Line 3) and the proposed new Pasig River Ferry System. It is anticipated to initially convey some 365,000 commuters daily starting 2025, and up to 973,000 daily by 2035. “Overall, we envisage subway rides to be easier, faster, cheaper and safer for everybody,” Campos said.
GSIS MUST COVER BRGY. OFFICIALS — LAWMAKER A LAWMAKER has filed a bill seeking to expand the coverage of the Government Service Insurance System to include local officials in the country’s 42,000 barangays. Isabela Rep. Faustino Dy V made the proposal through House Bill No. 2298. “Our barangay captains, kagawads, and secretaries are the frontliners in the delivery of public service,” Dy, who once served as President of the Liga ng Barangay, said. “The government depends on them to help keep peace and order in communities and to aid in the implementation of key government programs,” he added. Under the bill, GSIS coverage will be extended to local officials such as barangay captains, barangay councilors, and barangay secretaries. The bill provides that local government units shall pay for the GSIS premiums of barangay officials. The national government, however, will shoulder 50 percent of the premiums in the cases of fourth, fifth, and sixth class municipalities. Barangay officials who already enjoy GSIS benefits such as insurance, retirement pay, disability benefits, and health coverage will not be covered by the measure. “If there are problems in a community, an emergency like a fire, or a natural calamity like floods, barangay officials are the first responders on the ground,” Dy said. “Barangay officials work for our government and our people, just like other government employees. Unfortunately, unlike other government employees, they do not have basic benefits like GSIS coverage,” he added. Maricel V. Cruz
ALL SMILES. House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez (2nd left) and his wife, Tingog Party-list ist Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez (left) greet former President and House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on her 51st wedding anniversary during a celebration at the La Vista Subdivision in Quezon City. Ver Noveno
PROTECT INFORMAL SECTOR—ANGARA By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Sonny Angara has called on local chief executives of Metro Manila to look after the welfare of their constituents who will be affected by the ongoing clearing of roads in their respective areas of jurisdiction. While he fully supports the clearing operations to help ease traffic in Metro Manila, he said the displacement of sidewalk vendors and removal of structures such as barangay halls are consequences of the process that should not be ignored. “We understand that all obstructions on the roads and sidewalks should be cleared,” said Angara. “However, many of those who will be affected are from the informal sector, meaning they have no social protection to fall back on at all. Illegal or not, their needs are
just as important as anyone else’s,” he added. All of the efforts to address traffic congestion in major urban areas such as Metro Manila, he said, will not succeed unless the primary, arterial and secondary roads are cleared of obstructions. For the displaced vendors, Angara suggested LGUs provide permanent facilities for them to legally sell their wares. In the case of the barangay halls, police precincts and other public structures that are being removed for encroaching on sidewalks and roads, Angara said it is the responsibility of LGUs to find suitable areas for them to relocate. “Hindi naman kasi dapat na may mga opisina na nakatayo sa mga sidewalk at kalsada. Trabaho nila ang magbigay ng seguridad at iba pang
serbisyo sa mga tao pero kung sila din mismo ang nagiging sagabal na sa nakararami, then there’s something wrong with this picture,” Angara said. President Rodrigo Duterte, in his fourth State of the Nation Address, ordered LGUs and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to “reclaim all public roads that are being used for private ends” in order to ensure the smooth flow of traffic in Metro Manila. Responding to the directive of the President, the Department of Interior and Local Government gave Metro Manila mayors up to the end of September this year to clear public roads of all obstructions. The local chief executives were also ordered to revoke all permits issued to private entities for the occupation of public roads, alleys and other thoroughfares.
DOLE ISSUES NEW GUIDELINES FOR WODP FUNDS HANDS-ON.
Manila Mayor Francisco Domagoso leads a tree planting ceremony at the Laudato Si Garden at the College of Holy Spirit on Aug. 3. Norman Cruz
KENNEDY ‘CURSE’ CONTINUES NEW YORK—The death of Robert Kennedy’s granddaughter at age 22 is the latest in a long list of tragedies stretching back to the 1940s to have struck America’s most famous political dynasty. Saoirse Kennedy Hill was found unresponsive at the Democratic family’s sprawling compound at Hyannis Port on the Cape Cod peninsula in Massachusetts on Thursday, according to multiple US media reports. Her cause of death wasn’t immediately confirmed but The New York Times said she had died from an apparent drug overdose. Kennedy Hill had written about her struggles with depression. “Our hearts are shattered by the loss of our beloved Saoirse,” the Kennedy family said in a statement to AFP. “She lit up our lives with her love, her peals of laughter and her generous spirit.” “The world is a little less beautiful today,” said 91-year-old Ethel Kennedy, Saoirse’s grandmother and widow of Robert Kennedy who was assassinated in 1968 while on the campaign trail. Saoirse was the daughter of Courtney Kennedy Hill, one of 11 children that Ethel and Robert, younger brother of former president John F. Kennedy, had together. One of the first police responders answering an emergency call at the Kennedy property radioed that the victim was in cardiac arrest when he arrived, according to the local daily Hyannis News. An autopsy revealed no trauma inconsistent with lifesaving measures, the paper added. The Kennedys, often considered the closest thing the United States has to a royal family, have been plagued by tragic and untimely deaths for decades. AFP
By Vito Barcelo THE Department of Labor and Employment has issued new guidelines for accessing the funds of its Workers Organization Development Program (WODP) to strengthen the mechanism toward empowering trade unions and other workers’ organizations. “WODP is a government program that gives workers’ organization and its members and their dependents an opportunity for systemic learning and growth through the provision of accessible information facilities, training programs, and educational and technical assistance,”said Labor chief Silvestre Bello III in signing Department Order No. 203.
Under the new guidelines, components of the program shall only be in the form of a grant, which includes the provision of training in areas such as organizational development and management and labor and employment-related subject areas as well as scholarship assistance. The program will cover all legitimate workers’ organizations undertaking programs or projects funded from WODP. Other provisions in the guidelines include specific requirements in the accreditation of WODP beneficiaries, modified general conditions in availing of grants, and provisions particular to offered assistance. The guidelines shall take effect 15 days after its publication in at least two newspapers of general circulation.
GONE IN 1.88 SECONDS PARIS—Blink and you miss it. In the last few weeks, the cutting-edg of Formula One technology, coupled with old-fashioned muscle an hand-eye co-ordination, has witnessed record-breaking pit stops. At the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in mid-July, Red Bull manage to change the four wheels of Pierre Gasly’s car in a mind-bogglin 1.91 seconds. However, last weekend at the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim, tha lightning fast maneuver was made to look almost pedestrian when th Red Bull team got race winner Max Verstappen rebooted in a new worl record time of a staggering 1.88 seconds. “It’s so fast that you do not even have time to see the guys change the wheels,” said Gasly. “You are focused on the light (which tells the driver that he ca start off again) you are already pressing on the accelerator. It is an incredible job on the part of the mechanics.” Until this season, the previous record was 1.92 seconds, jointly held by Red Bull at the 2013 US Grand Prix on the car of Australian driver Mark Webber and Williams at the European Grand Prix in 2016 in Azerbaijan with Brazil’s Felipe Massa at the wheel. AFP
NON-COMPLIANT. A medical worker displays used vials of Dengvaxia in Manila on Dec. 5, 2017 in this file photo. Health Undercretary Eric Domingo said there was a permanent revocation of the Certificate of Product Registration of Dengvaxia by the FDA due to non-compliance with regulatory requirements. AFP
“There was a permanent revocation of the Certificate of Product Registration of Dengvaxia by the FDA due to non-compliance with regulatory requirements,” Domingo said Saturday, adding “an appeal was sent to the office of the secretary (of health) and it is still for evaluation.” Domingo said this why the vaccine could not be administered amid the Department of Health’s recent declaration of a “national dengue alert”although they were“cool”to the proposal of the Doctors for Truth and Public Welfare (DTPW)
to lift its ban. In a related development: • A pro-life party-list congressman on Satuday warned the government, specifically the DoH, against implementing high impact solutions to make it appear that it was doing something to contain the ourbreak of dengue that has killed hundreds so far this year. “The government should not be stampeded into re-implementing the use of Dengvaxia vaccine amid the continuing increase in the number of dengue cases nationwide,” Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza said. The Benigno Aquino III administration injected the vaccine on close to one million school children just before it stepped down in 2016. Reports said almost 100 children injected with the vaccine died when they got afflicted by the disease. Continuing testing on the victim by its manufacturer, Sanofi-Pasteur of France, revealed that the vaccine exacerbated the symptoms of dengue in patients who were vaccinated although they have not been afflicted by the disease. Dr. Minguita Padilla, DTPW co-convenor, has called on the DoH to lift the ban on the vaccine Turn to A2
CARP EXEMPTION FOR LUISITA QUIZZED
MILITARY TOLD: TIT-FOR-TAT VS REBELS By MJ Blancaflor
By Vito Barcelo and MJ Blancaflor
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said he would implement a “severe measure” amid the spate of killings in Negros Oriental and ordered the military to give the communist rebels “what they deserve.” “I will give you tit for tat, that’s what I told the military. Give them what they deserve,” Duterte said. Duterte blamed the New People’s Army for the killings in the provinces, the latest of which is the torture and murder of four policemen in Negros. “You are killing everybody there. Everyone that is anti-communist or does not want communism, you kill,” he said during the Mindanao-wide awarding of land certificates in Davao City. “I served the notice the other day I will not take it sitting down. I’ve been telling you, I will implement a more severe measure. What is it? Just wait,” he said. Duterte did not elaborate on the “severe measure” he was referring to, but in his speech Thursday night during the 28th anniversary of the Bureau of Turn to A2
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte questioned the late president Corazon Aquino’s controversial land reform program, asking why she exempted the Hacienda Luisita from the coverage of land distribution during her term from 1986 to 1992. The President made the statement in a speech before land reform beneficiaries in Davao City on Friday, just a day after her death anniversary, saying the late president had deprived many farmers of their land by allowing her family’s own sugar plantation in Tarlac to be exempt from land reform. Duterte criticized the 1988 agrarian reform law that Aquino signed, saying the program, which aimed to distribute about 7.8 million hectares of land, did not include the sprawling sugar plantation in Tarlac province once owned by her family. The Chief Executive said Aquino, the country’s first woman chief executive, was popular 30 years ago when she declared land reform for the entire Philippines but exempted Hacienda Luisita, her own land. “She is popular. Why? For losing the husband in the hands of the late President Ferdinand Marcos,” Duterte said. Turn to A2
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LAND BENEFICIARY. An unidentified woman Agrarian Reform Beneficiary receives from President Rodrigo Duterte a Certificate of Land Ownership Award during the Mindanao-wide turnover and distribution of CLOAs to beneficiaries at the Davao City Recreation Center on Friday. Malacañang Photo
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