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
Cayetano allies claim Velasco losing backers on speakership By Maricel V. Cruz SPEAKER Alan Peter Cayetano has strengthened his grip on the top post of the House of Representatives as some supporters of Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, with whom he has a termsharing agreement, have jumped ship and signed a manifesto asking Cayetano to stay. Cayetano, who is supposed to step down in October under the term-sharing agreement brokered by President Rodrigo Duterte, and Velasco who is supposed to succeed him, were scheduled to meet with the President Tuesday evening. A key supporter of Cayetano, Deputy Speaker and Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said Velasco lost the speakership because of his failure to prove to his peers his capability to lead as speaker of the House. "Despite the announcement of the
term sharing deal, he (Velasco) should not have assumed the support of the majority, he still had to earn it, which unfortunately he did not. He lost by default because of his own fault and actions," Villafuerte said. Velasco has yet to comment on Villafuerte's remarks but he renewed his appeal to his colleagues to uphold the term-sharing agreement between him and Cayetano, “for God and our country.” In a Facebook post on Monday, Velasco said the gentleman's agreement Next page
BUDGET DELIBERATIONS.
House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez (3rd from left) and Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano (2nd from left) talk with members of the minority during the debate on the 2021 national budget at the plenary of the House of Representatives. Ver Noveno
Metro under GCQ until Oct. 31 Also Batangas province, cities of Tacloban, Bacolod, Iligan, Iloilo
By Jimbo Gulle, Macon Ramos-Araneta, Joel E. Zurbano and Willie Casas
Rody frustrated over corruption; eyes PhilHealth reorg/abolition
M
ETRO Manila will remain under a General Community Quarantine (GCQ) until the end of October, while the province of Lanao del Sur, including Marawi City, was downgraded to a Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ), Health Secretary Francisco Duque III announced Monday night. During a televised meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte and the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on the coronavirus pandemic, Duque said the National Capital Region (NCR) would stay under GCQ for another month along with Batangas province and the cities of Tacloban, Bacolod, and Iligan. Iloilo City will also move to a GCQ from an MECQ that ends Sept. 30, Duque added, while the rest of the country – 98 cities and all other provinces – will stay under a Modified GCQ, the lowest lockdown level amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Duterte expressed his satisfaction with the response of local government units (LGUs) to the coronavirus crisis and assured them the national government was there for them. “Our purpose is to serve,” the President said in the meeting at Malacanang. He also expressed a desire to maximize the barangay health units, as they are the LGUs’ first line of defense against the dreaded disease. Next page
VOL. XXXIV • NO. 207 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday admitted he had offered to resign as Chief Executive over his frustration with corruption in the government, as he urged Congress to enact more laws against it. The President also said he would propose to lawmakers to reorganize or abolish the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and warned he would “shake the tree” at the state health insurer soon. Duterte also vowed to name-andshame government officials he did not identify during his televised meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) against the coronavirus pandemic at Next page
COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE
(AS OF 4 PM SEPT. 28)
307,288 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES
3,073 49,242 NEW
ACTIVE
5,381
37
252,665
163
DEATHS
LONG TABLE. President Rodrigo Duterte meets with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the coronavirus pandemic in Malacañang on
Monday night. Sen. Bong Go via Twitter
that will be placed under localized lockdowns, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said. The Labor department will continue its cash-for-work program and the Finance department will still provide subsidy to small and medium businesses. "The guarantee to decrease the number of people experiencing hunger is to Next page
Provincial bus travelers need trip pass In these handout photos (clockwise from top right), Hashim Saripada poses for a police lineup after being arrested in Zamboanga City, authorities show a chart explaining the relationships of the main suspects in the deadly Jolo blasts in August, and the lifeless body of Abu Sayyaf Group sub-leader Arsibar Sawadjaan lies in a hut after an encounter with soldiers in Patikul, Sulu. Arsibar is the cousin of bomb expert Mundi Sawadjaan, and Saripada is his righthand man. Story on A2
NEW
Reopening seen to address hunger New infections REOPENING the economy is the only guarantee to address hunger, Malacañang said Monday after a recent survey found 7.6-million Filipino families went hungry in the past three months. The government, however, will continue its programs to provide assistance to those hit by the COVID-19 pandemic as some P13 billion is allotted under Bayanihan 2 Act for the residents of the areas
TAKEN DOWN.
RECOVERIES
NEW
PEOPLE who prefer to take the bus to commute to and from Metro Manila will need travel passes and book their tickets two days in advance, an official said Monday. Joel Bolano, head of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s technical division, told DZBB
travel passes will be needed by those taking the provincial buses once bus services resume on Sept. 30. There will be no exemptions. “Passengers will need to secure a travel pass from the PNP [Philippine National Police] and their LGU [Local Next page
on downtrend; DOH cautious
THERE is a downward trend in the weekly average number of new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the country, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Monday. In an online media forum, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the average number of new cases has gone down to 1,000 to 1,200 from the previous average of 3,000 per week. ‘If we look at the number of cases and we look at the trend of the average per week, we can see that it is decreasing,” Vergeire said in Filipino. She urged the public not to be Next page
DepEd: 3m students yet to enroll 1 week before classes By Macon Ramos-Araneta
tion (DepEd) said Monday, a week before dents to register their children. the start of classes in public schools. Meanwhile, DepEd is crafting the polABOUT three million students from grades Education Undersecretary Jesus Ma- icy and guidelines on hiring para-teachers K to 12 have yet to enroll for the upcoming teo said the department was still trying or learning support aides who will assist academic year, the Department of Educa- to convince the parents of unenrolled stuNext page