Manila Standard - 2021 January 22 - Friday

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Missed your copy of Manila Standard? Call or text our Circulation Hotline at 0917-8848655 or email: circulation@manilastandard.net US PRESIDENT Joe Biden committed the United States to rejoining the Paris climate accord, blocked an oil pipeline project and froze Arctic drilling in a raft of executive orders signed hours after taking office Wednesday. But for the Democrat who has pledged to roll back four years of environmental harm done by his predecessor Donald Trump, that’s just the start. Experts say that Biden will have to rebuild the credibility the US lost in the eyes of the international community, by setting concrete goals for emissions reductions on the path to net zero by 2050. Next, he’ll need to realize his $2 trillion climate plan, which would place green action at the heart of the economy and its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, while ensuring a long term shift that can’t be rapidly undone under a future Republican president. “I think it’s important that the US

BIDEN, ON FIRST DAY IN OFFICE, REVERSES SOME TRUMP ORDERS

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FIRST DAY IN OFFICE. US President

Joe Biden signs a raft of executive orders to launch his administration, including a decision to rejoin the Paris climate accord. The orders were aimed at overturning several decisions by his predecessor such as reversing the process of leaving the World Health Organization. AFP

PH gets 40m more doses Vaccine czar: First deliveries from Pfizer slated in first quarter By Willie Casas, Macon Ramos-Araneta

T

HE Philippines will begin receiving COVID-19 vaccines in the first quarter this year through the COVAX Facility, a global procurement system that seeks to ensure that poorer nations have access to coronavirus vaccines.

The country received its confirma- COVAX Facility, said vaccine czar tion of participation in the COVAX Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. Facility, paving the way for it to begin He added that the first deliveries would receiving vaccines in the first quarter. probably be vaccines from Pfizer. The country can expect to receive 30 As part of the preparations for the million to 40 million doses from the Next page

VOL. XXXIV • NO. 318 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 • FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2021 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

14th passenger tests positive for COVID-19

COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM JANUARY 21)

507,717 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES

By Willie Casas and Rio N. Araja THE Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday said another co-passenger of the Philippines’ first case of the UK variant of the coronavirus has tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases to 14. Dr. Alethea de Guzman, medical specialist IV of the DOH’s Epidemiology Bureau, said the 14th positive case was confirmed on Wednesday afternoon. Like the two other passengers announced earlier on Wednesday, the 14th case also tested negative upon arrival in the Philippines and then tested positive after being re-swabbed. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier said that those who initially tested negative, including the first case’s girlfriend, might have been tested during the incubation period of the virus when they arrived in Manila. She said the DOH now recommends Next page

1,783 30,126 NEW

ACTIVE

10,116

74

467,475

500

DEATHS

RECOVERIES

NEW

NEW

Job losses feared: Nissan ends deal with assembler; hotel ceases operations By Othel V. Campos and Vito Barcelo NISSAN Motor Philippines, Inc. has decided to put an end to local operations of one of its car makes starting March 1, 2021, following the expiration of its assembly contract with Univation Motor Philippines, Inc. (UMPI).

The announcement came a day after Makati Shangri-La, the Philippines foremost business hotel in Makati business district along Ayala Avenue, announced the temporary closure of its 30-year operation due to uncertain business conditions effective February 1, 2021. Meanwhile, the labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said

it would extend legal support to all workers of Nissan and Shangri-La Hotel who shut down their operations due to the pandemic. “We share the loss and disappointment of employees of Nissan and Shangri-La Hotel who will be terminated from their jobs following management’s decision to retrench them,” TUCP spokesperson

Alan Tanjusay said in a statement. “Though we are saddened by the news of their unemployment, we hope that they will be able to come to terms with the management and get the best separation benefits they can get out of the years of service they rendered to the company. Be that as it may, we extend Next page

• EU leaders push for border closure • Mongolia PM quits over protests EU LEADERS grappled Thursday with the threat of new coronavirus variants as wary countries pushed for a closure of Europe’s internal borders to stop the spread. The chiefs will hold a summit – by videolink to protect themselves from infection – “to raise political awareness on the seriousness of the situation with the new variants,” an EU official said. Virus mutations that emerged in Britain, South Africa and Brazil have alarmed EU authorities because of their increased infectivity, prompting bans or restrictions on travellers from those countries.

But calls are increasing to shut the intra-EU borders in a coordinated manner and not to repeat the experience in March when several member states panicked and closed off their national borders unilaterally, triggering travel chaos. German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Tuesday that while she hoped leaders would find alternative ways to stop the variants, she could not rule out border checks. Belgium – wedged between Germany, France and the Netherlands – said it would plead for a “temporary” closure for the February holiday, when mil-

WORLD ROUNDUP

PRICE SPIRAL. A customer buys a pound of hotdogs at a processed meat products store in Phase 4, Bagong Silang-Kanan, Caloocan City on Thursday (Jan. 21, 2021). The price of processed meat, such as hotdogs and sausages, also went up after pork and chicken prices rose in the market. Ben Briones

Amid rising prices, wage hike sought By Vito Barcelo

MALACAÑANG said Thursday the government was exerting best efforts to stabilize the rising prices of the basic commodities as a result of the pandemic, as it recognized the labor group’s call for a wage increase. The government announcement coincided with a statement the Senate will be conducting hearings to determine

the necessary interventions to stabilize and lower food prices following Senator Francis Pangilinan’s proposed Senate Resolution 618 seeking an inquiry into rising food prices. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the proposed increase in the daily minimum wage should be balanced with the predicament of some businesses badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The Palace official made the state-

ment after the Kilusang Mayo Uno said it was planning to file another wage petition before the regional wage boards to address the situation. It also sought the immediate passage of the P750 National Minimum Wage Bill, which is pending in Congress. Toward the end of his privilege speech Wednesday, Pangilinan, former Presidential Assistant on Food Security and Next page

POET LAUREATE.

American poet Amanda Gorman reads a poem during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 20, 2021. AFP

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Millennial poet Amanda Gorman makes history POET Amanda Gorman became a sudden star at age 22 at President Joe Biden’s inauguration as she recited a verse inspired by the Capitol attack, touching on how democracy Next page


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