Manila Standard - 2020 February 17 - Monday

Page 1

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: circulation@manilastandard.net

VOL. XXXIII • NO. 368 • 6 SECTIONS 36 PAGES • P18 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

NOT ANOTHER SHIP. Cruise ship Spectrum of the Seas docks at Manila’s pier 15 on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020 for refueling after sailing from Japan where another cruise ship, virus-stricken Diamond Princess, has been quarantined since Feb. 5. Spectrum’s passengers and crew are not allowed to disembark amid the threat of Covid-19 which has infected three in the Philippines and sent another 66 under medical investigation. Norman Cruz

70 more aboard ship virus-hit • 11 of 578 Pinoys among victims • US, Canada, HK plan repatriation

T

HE number of people infected with the new coronavirus (Covid-19) on the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined at the port of Yokohama in Japan since Feb. 5 has risen to 355, the country’s health minister said Sunday.

SANGLEY STATEMENT. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte returns the salute of a police officer upon his arrival at the Sangley Airport in Cavite City shortly before its inauguration on February 15, 2020. Mr. Duterte said he would board a flight to his hometown Davao City from Sangley Airport when his official tenure would end in 2022. (Story on A3) Presidential Photo

While the United States prepared to evacuate their citizens from the ship, the Philippines has yet to say what it plans to do with the 538 Filipinos onboard— most of them crew members, 11 of which have tested positive for Covid-19. Hong Kong also said it would offer its 330 citizens on board the chance to take a charter flight back. Canada, too, announced a similar decision to repatriate its nationals on the ship. “So far, we have conducted tests for 1,219 individuals. Of those, 355 people tested positive,” Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told a roundtable discussion on public broadcaster NHK – a rise of 70 from the last government toll. Japan’s efforts to control the viral infections on the vessel have prompted international concern. The cruise ship arrived off the Japanese coast in early February with more Next page

Senator steps into SE Asian tourism takes a hit as outbreak deepens Jones ABS franchise bid ByandAidan Dene-Hern Chen By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rio N. Araja SENATOR Grace Poe on Sunday said Congress should put in writing that the franchise of media giant ABS-CBN can be extended until 2022 and inform the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) of its decision. “That’s a courtesy that Congress gives to the NTC,” said Poe. Next page

ELEPHANT parks unvisited, curios at markets unsold as tuk-tuks sit idle: Southeast Asia is facing billions of dollars in losses from a collapse in Chinese tourism

since the outbreak of a deadly new coronavirus. From Luang Prabang in northern Laos to Pattaya in Thailand, Hoi An in Vietnam and the Cambodian casino town of Sihanoukville, takings have plummeted as Chinese travelers find themselves sub-

By Rey E. Requejo and Macon Ramos-Araneta THE Department of Justice on Sunday played down the case filed by some overseas Filipino workers before the International Court of Justice seeking to compel the government to lift its travel ban on Hong Kong so that they can get back to work. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the Philippine government has the sole authority to impose a travel ban in the country. “The ICJ has no jurisdiction on matters like public health or migration that can be dealt with by national governments or by other more relevant international agencies,” Guevarra said, in a text message. Guevarra issued the statement after some Filipinos based in Hong Kong, who have been stranded in the Philippines, sent an appeal to the ICJ last Next page week.

Next page

‘Coco oil potential cure for Covid-19’ By Alena Mae S. Flores

VFA termination issue may reach SC By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Panfilo Lacson said Sunday senators were contemplating on filing a petition before the Supreme Court to clarify the role of the Senate regarding the cancellation of the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States and to question the decision of President Rodrigo Duterte to terminate it. Next page

ject to a host of restrictions at home and abroad. “We haven’t had any Chinese for 10 days since they closed the road from Yunnan,” says Ong Tau, 47, from behind her stall of fruit shakes in the temple-studded

Justice to OFWs: ICJ wrong venue

FOR TAAL VICTIMS. Dr. James G. Dy, CEO & President of Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center owned and operated by Philippine Chinese Charitable Association, Inc., sister organization of Filipino Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Inc. , and the Vice Admiral of the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary-Executive Squadron group, turn over thousands of medicines as well as face towels, face masks and bottled water for the victims of Taal Volcano’s eruption, thru Philippine Coast Guard Regional Commander Commodore Leovigildo Panopio, held at the CGHMC last Jan. 17. Panopio was in charge of maintaining the safety and security of the people living within the Taal Lake and nearby towns of Batangas, Laguna and Cavite.

CAN coconut oil help fight viruses including the dreaded novel cornonavirus or SARS-nCOV-2? Coconut oil experts Dr. Mary Newport of Spring Hill Neonatology and Dr. Fabian Dayrit of Ateneo de Manila University believe so. Newport and Dayrit have released a report on the potential of coconut oil in fighting viruses, and possibly SARSnCOV-2. “Given the considerable scientific evidence for the antiviral activity of coconut oil, lauric acid and its derivatives

Next page

SNAKE ORGY CLOSES PART OF FLORIDA PARK WORLD B3


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.