twitter.com/ MlaStandard
facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH
S
manilastandard.net
Missed your copy of Manila Standard? Call or text our Circulation Hotline at 0917-8848655 or email: circ@manilastandardtoday.com
PREPARING FOR THE WORST.
Western Visayas 23, 330 cases
REGIONS THAT BREACHED THE ALERT THRESHOLD LEVEL
REGIONS THAT BREACHED THE EPIDEMIC THRESHOLD LEVEL
VOL. XXXIII • NO. 174 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Calabarzon 16,515 cases
Images of anxiety and hope inside the overcrowded Dr. Rafael Tumboko Memorial Hospital in Kalibo, Aklan with dengue patients—counting 3,000 from January this year until Monday—with 15 deaths, according to provincial hospital officials, who say they are preparing for the worst and peak of dengue cases this month. Revoli Cortez
Zamboanga Peninsula 12,317 cases Northern Mindanao 11,455 cases SOCCSKSARGEN 11,083 cases MIMAROPA 4, 254 cases Bicol Region 3,470 cases Central Visayas 10,728 cases Ilocos Region 4,396 cases Bangsamoro 2,301 cases
Now’s the time: Rody to invoke arbitral ruling By MJ Blancaflor and Francisco Tuyay PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will invoke Manila’s 2016 arbitral victory against China in his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month, Malacañang said Tuesday. “There will be a time that I will invoke the arbitral ruling. This is the time,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a briefing, quoting the President. The territorial dispute between the two countries is among the issues that will be discussed in the one-on-one meeting between Duterte and Xi, Panelo said. The announcement came after the Palace confirmed that Duterte will visit China later this month, the fifth time he will have done so since he took office in 2016. Asked about what prompted the President to assert the landmark ruling now after setting it aside for the last three years, Panelo said: “Because his term is Next page about to end.”
DOH: Dengue epidemic
of staggering proportions HELPLESS PASSENGERS.
With no passenger buses allowed by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority on southbound flyovers along EDSA Tuesday, scores of ranting passengers are forced to walk to reach their destinations under an erratic sky. Manny Palmero
Next page
By Joel E. Zurbano
Next page
T
HE Department of Health on Tuesday declared a national dengue epidemic in view of the alarming surge in cases that have claimed 622 patients, most of them children. In a press briefing, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said there were 146,062 cases of dengue from January to July, 98 percent higher from the same period last year. DOH records showed that Western Visayas has the highest number of dengue cases with 23,330; Calabarzon
PAL resumes flights to HK FLAG-CARRIER Philippine Airlines has resumed operating normal flights to Hong Kong on Tuesday. “The resumption of normal operations by PAL to and from Hong Kong comes after protest actions within the airport premises have scaled down and as more manpower reported for work duties,” said PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna. She said the airline management will continue to closely monitor the situation in Hong Kong as she assured air travelers of regular updates on the matter.
By Francisco Tuyay, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz
Carmaggedon: 6 mishaps, buses jam EDSA traffic By Joel E. Zurbano SIX accidents and buses being forced into the yellow lane for public utility vehicles were blamed for the massive traffic jam on the southbound lane of EDSA on Tuesday, forcing commuters to alight and walk to their destinations along Met-
ro Manila’s main thoroughfare. The Metro Manila Development Authority said the six traffic incidents were recorded between 4 a.m. and 3 p.m. by its Traffic Monitoring System, but the gridlock began at around 9 a.m. and continued well into the evening, disgruntled motorists and passengers alike reported
Tit-for-tat: PH visas on China visitors’ passports OKd By MJ Blancaflor
DU30 STAMPS APPROVAL. President Rodrigo Duterte, reversing a policy of his predecessor, has approved the proposal to stamp Philippine visas on Chinese passports, following a proposal by Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. during the Cabinet meeting Monday—which veers away from stamping of Philippine visas on a separate application form ordered in 2012 by then Secretary Albert del Rosario.
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has approved the proposal to resume stamping visas on Chinese passports, the Palace said Tuesday, reversing a policy set by the previous Aquino administration not to do so because they contained a map of China that includes territory claimed by the Philippines. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. made the proposal during the Cabinet meeting on Monday and it was approved immediately by the President, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said. Starting in 2012 under then Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, the Philippines stamped visas for Chinese nationals on a separate application form. Next page
on social media. On Twitter, the MMDA explained that all buses, both city and provincial, were made to stay within the yellow lane. This forced the bus drivers to jostle for position going into the yellow lane, creating impassable queues that blocked private Next page
SC imposes P2-b fine on water firms
P4-t budget: Lion’s share to education By MJ Blancaflor PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has approved the proposed P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020, Malacañang said Monday night. Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said education had the biggest slice of the budget, followed by public works, transportation and health. He also said the Budget department was targeting to submit the National Expenditure Program to Congress for its approval before the deadline on Aug. 21. Next page
By Rey E. Requejo THE Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System and two water concessionaires to pay a hefty fine of almost P2 billion for violations of the Philippine Clean Water Act. In an en banc decision penned by Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, the High Court directed Maynilad and MWSS to jointly and severally pay P921,464,184 for the period of May 7, 2009 to date of promulgation. The same amount of fine was slapped on Manila Water to be paid jointly and severally with MWSS. SC Public Information Office chief Next page
40 YEARS OF HSF IN THE PHILIPPINES OPINION A4