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America begins a new day
Biden calls for unity as he assumes office as 46th US president
VOL. XXXIV • NO. 317 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2021 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
W
ASHINGTON—Joe Biden on Wednesday became the 46th president of the United States with a call to unity, vowing to bridge deep divides and defeat domestic extremism two weeks after a mob attack tried to undo his election victory.
On a frigid but sunny day at the very Capitol building that was assaulted on January 6, Biden swore the oath of office moments after Kamala Harris, who became America's first woman vice president, turning the page on Donald Trump's tumultuous four years. "Democracy is precious, democracy is fragile and at this hour, my friends, democracy has Next page
NEWLY MINTED. Joe Biden lays his hand on his 128-year-old family Bible as he is sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts as the 46th President of the United States of America, with wife Jill at his side on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila). Earlier, Justice Sonia Sotomayor administers the swearing in of Vice President Kamala Harris (inset) -- the first woman, black, and South Asian US second-incommand. AFP
Du30 will work closely with new American leader By Vito Barcelo
OFF TO FLORIDA. Outgoing US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump address guests at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday before stepping into the Marine One helicopter that took him to his Mar-a-Lago golf club residence in Palm Beach, Florida, as he skipped the inauguration for President-elect Joe Biden. AFP
Trump bows out in campaign style, vows to be ‘back in some form’ White House for the last time Wednesday By Sebastian Smith with a vow to stay in the spotlight and an and Michael Mathes extraordinary snub of Joe Biden, skipping his inauguration as the 46th president of WASHINGTON—Donald Trump left the the United States.
Drawing a curtain on the most Covid-19 and unite a splintered nation. tumultuous administration of modern Trump, 74, and first lady Melania times, Trump is being ousted by a polar Trump walked a short red carpet and opposite with the Democrat Biden boarded the Marine One helicopter, intent on charting a new course to tackle Next page
DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Wednesday said he was willing to hold a dialogue with University of the Philippines (UP) officials and
some senators over his office’s unilateral termination of a 30-year agreement that bars the military and police from entering the state university without notifying school officials. However, Lorenzana said they should first explain why UP students were being killed in military encounters with the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels. Next page
(AS OF 4 PM JAN. 20)
505,939
By Vito Barcelo, Macon Ramos-Araneta, and Maricel V. Cruz
TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES
1,862 28,904 10,042
64
466,993
765
DEATHS
RECOVERIES
NEW
NEW
ALIBABA'S JACK MA MAKATI SHANGRI-LA FINALLY SHOWS UP TO CLOSE ON FEB. 1 BUSINESS / B3
ON WWW.MANILASTANDARD.NET
Duterte to Galvez: Leave probe if senators turn verbally abusive
AT A GLANCE
ACTIVE
SEE TRUMP’S FAREWELL ADDRESS A student activist from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) holds up a placard in front of the school gate on Wednesday to condemn the Department of Defense's unilateral termination of an agreement with the University of the Philippines banning the presence of military and police personnel on its campuses. The protesters asked PUP president Emmanuel Muhi to fight for their academic freedom, but Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (left) says students have nothing to fear. Norman Cruz
COVID-19 PH
NEW
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P.U.P. SAYS NO TOO.
DND chief to UP: Explain deaths of students in AFP-NPA firefights By Vito Barcelo, Macon Ramos-Araneta, and Maricel V. Cruz
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is looking forward to closely working with President Joseph Biden, Malacanang said Wednesday ahead of the American leader’s inauguration. "We look forward to closely working
BUSINESS / B4
COLD STORAGE. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III (middle) and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. (left) inspect the cold storage facilities of Unilab Inc. on Wednesday at the Unilab Pharma Campus in Mamplasan, Biñan in Laguna. The storage facility can accommodate five million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. See story on A2.
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte instructed vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. to “stand up and leave” the Senate hearings on the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program should senators become “verbally abusive,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said. Roque said the President also told Galvez to attend the Senate hearing after the vaccine czar complained that he has lost about two weeks worth of negotiations with drug suppliers because of the hearings. In an interview over CNN Philippines, Roque said that Galvez told Duterte that he no longer wanted to join the probe but the President instructed him to attend, say-
ing he could leave the hearing if he feels being verbally abused. “‘If they become abusive to you verbally, just stand up and leave. And if they cite you in contempt, I will come and fetch you,'” Duterte told Galvez, Roque said. The Palace official said the President was disgusted over the “war-like” demeanor of senators during hearings on the vaccines. “The President could not understand why the demeanor of some senators was apparently bellicose-like, they were war-like. Of course, there was already an attitude as if there was corruption going on when there was fact-finding, in fact,” Roque said. “The President thought, despite the separation of powers, despite the power of oversight, it does not give the senators the license to be abusive,” he said. Next page