Manila Standard - 2020 December 2 - Wednesday

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Makabayan bloc hits Red tag Denies group out to destabilize gov’t, slams Duterte’s ‘incoherent rant’

By Maricel V. Cruz, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Vito Barcelo

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AWMAKERS belonging to the leftist Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives on Tuesday slammed President Duterte's “incoherent rants” against them and denied that they were communist rebels out to destabilize the government. Reps. Carlos Zarate of Bayan Muna and Arlene Brosas of Gabriela said the President's tirade was a ploy to divert public attention away from the government’s inaction against the worsening crisis. In a televised address Monday night, the President said the Makabayan bloc, Bayan and Gabriela are front organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its negotiating arm, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), as well as its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA). “The AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) is very correct. You are being identified as the members of the communist so that we know. That’s the truth, not red-tagging,” Duterte said in a mix of English and Filipino. “We are identifying you as members in a grand conspiracy comprising all the legal fronts that you have organized headed by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines..., the New People’s Army and the Communist Party of the Philippines,” he said. The President also denounced the communist movement, saying it does not have Next page

VOL. XXXIV • NO. 272 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

STORIES INSIDE

‘RED’ HEARING. Senate President Vicente Sotto III asks members of the Makabayan party-list group, including former lawmakers Antonio Tinio, Teddy Casino and Neri Colmenares (inset, above right) if they wanted to change the system of government during the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation hybrid hearing on Tuesday. Also present were AFP Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade and Noel ‘Ka Efren’ Legaspi, a former communist rebel (also inset). Senate PRIB

STATUTORY RAPE AGE NOW AT 16 CJ PERALTA READY TO RETIRE IN 2021 VIRUS TEST SUBSIDY TO BOOST TRAVEL NEWS / A2

Nurses decry delay in salaries, 98 House staff infected, curb on minors eased benefits, set protest on Friday By Willie Casas NURSES are planning another protest on Friday to call for the timely payment of salaries and benefits of government health workers, after last week’s demonstration by workers of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH). The Filipino Nurses United (FNU)

called on its member groups to join their protest on Friday noon at the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City. FNU vice president Leni Nolasco said there has been no improvement in their situation in the past months, which is why they need to speak out. Since the start of the pandemic, various Next page

By Maricel V. Cruz, Willie Casas and Macon RamosAraneta

THE House of Representatives will continue to operate under strict health and safety protocols after almost a hundred people tested positive for COVID-19 during the first-ever mass testing it conducted since the start of the pandemic, said House Secretary General Mark Llandro

Mendoza. At the same time, Mendoza said the House is now coordinating with the Quezon City government for the conduct of a more extensive contract tracing. Mendoza's statement came as he confirmed that a total of 98 individuals turned out COVID-19 positive in the mass testing initiated by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco. He said the number represents nearly five percent of 2,000 House lawmakers and employees who underwent reverse

Palace to telcos: Shape up now By Vito Barcelo

BENEFITS WANTED. In this file photo, health workers and members of the All UP Workers Union-Manila stand outside the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila to denounce the Duterte administration’s inability to provide them their longawaited COVID-19 service benefits.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte, pissed off over poor internet service, warned telecommunication providers that they had until this December to improve their services or face the risk of “closure” or “expropriation,” Malacanang said Tuesday. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said telecommunication providers should submit a report on their new towers, following mounting complaints from their customers who always experience wifi or internet service interruptions. Roque said he was still relying on in-

300 cases filed vs. local officials over SAP mess MORE than 300 cases have been filed against local officials over alleged anomalies in the distribution of the government's Social Amelioration Program (SAP) funds during the coronavirus pandemic. In a televised meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte late Monday, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said 27 alleged SAP-related anomalies were re-filed before the Office of the Ombudsman while 270 were filed with the Prosecutors’ Office, with 30 cases now reaching the trial courts. This dovetailed with the President's revealing another list of about 64 government officials who were dismissed over graft and corruption cases Monday night. Among the more prominent names in the President's list were former Agriculture Secretary Nasser Pangandaman and former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Next page Mabilog.

ternet applications to communicate and that there seemed to be "no improvement yet" on the service of duopoly PLDT and Globe Telecom. According to the palace official, customers were not satisfied with the slow response of the three telecommunications providers, the PLDT and Globe. “I am urging telcos, how will you repay the President with your request to fast-track the approval of telecom towers?” Roque said. "I would like to invite both companies to submit to us the new towers that have been built. And I really want them to commit when they will improve their service,” he added. Next page

transcription-polymerase chain reaction testing since Nov. 10. “Speaker Velasco ordered the mass testing to ensure the health and safety of everyone in the Batasan Complex, while the legislative chamber carries out its constitutional duties amid the pandemic,” he said. Positive cases According to Mendoza, almost all COVID-19 positive cases were asymptomatic. “All those who tested positive were Next page

COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM DEC. 1)

432,925 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES

1,298 25,725 NEW

ACTIVE

8,418

27

398,782

135

DEATHS

RECOVERIES

NEW

NEW

Solons seek inquiry on SALN laws By Maricel V. Cruz and Rey E. Requejo TWO legislators have filed a resolution seeking a congressional inquiry into the implementation of existing laws pertaining to the filing of statements of assets, liabilities and net worth by government officials and employees. Reps. Michael Defensor of Anakalusu-

LIGHTS FOR FRONTLINERS. A security guard at the Rizal Park in Manila watches around 3,000 solar lamps placed to form the Philippine flag on Monday night to honor the frontliners and pay tribute to Filipinos and other people who died from the COVID-19 disease. The groups who placed the lights also tied hospital bands on the lamps bearing the names of their fallen colleagues. Norman Cruz

Budget final version out before Dec. 19 By Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta

al budget got off to a good start Tuesday as members from the House of Representatives and the Senate agreed to come up THE bicameral conference committee on with a reconciled final version of the Next page the proposed P4.506-trillion 2021 nation-

gan and Rodante Marcoleta of Sagip partylist filed the resolution "to ensure the strict and effective implementation of said existing laws and regulations." "The filing of the SALN, as laid out in several cases decided by the Supreme Court, the latest of which were the Quo Warranto proceedings filed against then Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, is a Next page


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