Manila Standard - 2021 March 10 - Wednesday

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

(Story on A4) EXTENDED CURFEW (10PM-5AM) EYED IN METRO MANILA, SAF TO BE DEPLOYED THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will recommend to the Metro Manila Council an expanded curfew in the National Capital Region (NCR) amid an increase in COVID-19 cases.

The DILG will recommend a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. for the whole of NCR, according to a report on GMA’s “24 Oras.” At present, Metro Manila cities have varying curfews. San Juan on Tuesday

was the first to re-impose its city-wide curfew, also from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., in a bid to control rising coronavirus infections in communities. To monitor health protocol violators, the Interior department has tapped the

Philippine National Police, which will deploy its Special Action Force, especially in areas with high COVID-19 cases. “It’s a crackdown to strictly implement the ordinances passed by the LGUs, especially here in Metro Manila,” DILG

spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said. Under City Executive Order No. FMZ-072, only health workers, essential government and private workers, security personnel, public transportation, and Next page

PH virus cases top in region WHO records total infections at 597,763, highest in Western Pacific

NO CASH AID FOR WORKERS YET—RODY NEWS / A2 VOL. XXXV • NO. 28 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2021 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

LENI DARED ON ‘MURDEROUS REGIME’ JAB NEWS / A4

PROTECTING MANILA. A healthcare worker holds up a vial of the AstraZeneca vaccine for COVID-19 to inoculate fellow frontliners in Manila aged 60 years old and above, witnessed by Manila Mayor Isko Domagoso and Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna, on Tuesday at the Ospital ng Maynila. Meanwhile, officers of the Manila Police District (at left) go on foot patrol along Quezon Boulevard in Quiapo to ensure the public is following social distancing and safety protocols. Norman Cruz By Wille Casas and Vito Barcelo

T

HE Philippines had by far the highest number of new COVID-19 cases Monday in the Western Pacific Region, more than double the next country in line, data from the World Health Organization showed. The Philippines logged 3,356 new infections Monday, the Department of Health (DOH) reported, five more than the WHO tally for the country. This was more than double the 1,529 new cases in Malaysia, and almost five times the third highest count in Japan, with 679. The WHO data showed the Philippines also had the highest number of total cases among Western Pacific countries, with 597,763 cases, and the

highest number of deaths, at 12,521. Japan, with 440,671 infections, had a death toll of 8,299. Malaysia, with 314,989 cases, had total fatalities of 1,177. China, where the virus was first reported, had a total of 102,125 cases and total deaths of 4,848. WHO’s country representative to the Philippines Rabindra Abeyasinghe said the recent rise in cases in the Philippines was a spike in the current epidemic wave. Next page

Gov’t to ink deal for 30m doses of Novavax By Vito Barcelo, Othel V. Campos, and Willie Casas THE government is set to sign today an agreement with US biotech company Novavax for 30 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine, Malacanang said Tuesday.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque gave assurances the country would get the vaccines as the government would sign the agreement Wednesday, March 10. National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. is scheduled to fly to India on Tuesday next week and will remain

Senate sees ASF outbreak critical By Macon Ramos-Araneta THE Senate committee on agriculture and food has called on the government to declare a national state of emergency amid the African swine fever outbreak which has reportedly resulted in about P50 billion in swine industry losses. The panel, headed by Senator Cynthia Villar, approved a motion issued by Senator Francis Pangilinan for a declaration of a state of emergency Luzon so that public funds may be realigned to address the outbreak. National Federation of Hog Farmers chairman Chester Warren Tan then

LAST STOP. In this photo

contributed to GMA Regional TV, bystanders mill around the van owned by Mayor Ronaldo Porlares Aquino (inset) lies beside the Labuyao Bridge in Barangay Lonoy, Calbayog City after the shooting encounter that left six people dead on Monday.

JUSTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Tuesday ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to probe the shooting death of Calbayog City Mayor Ronaldo Aquino, even as contradicting police reports failed to clarify whether the mayor was ambushed or was caught in a misencounter.

Next page

Next page

COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM MARCH 9)

600,428 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES

2,668 41,822 NEW

12,528

ACTIVE

7

DEATHS

NEW

546,078

171

RECOVERIES

NEW

Alert Level 2 up as Taal Volcano remains restive

Ambush or firefight? NBI to probe By Ronald O. Reyes, Rey E. Requejo and Maricel V. Cruz

suggested the declaration should cover not just Luzon but the entire Philippines. The senators agreed to the proposal. Villar also backed a proposal to compensate hog farmers whose pigs get hit by ASF. “I was telling the Department of Agriculture that they should pay the culling,” she added. The DA earlier extended the price ceiling on pork and chicken to April 8, citing its effectiveness in preventing price surges, particularly in Metro Manila. "We will maintain it until April 8. Lifting it will undeniably result in dramatic

there until Friday to secure agreements with Novavax and the Serum Institute of India (SII). Novavax has not yet received authorization for emergency use from the Philippine Food and Drug Administration. Around 44,000 doses of vaccines have already been administered by the

Guevarra stressed the NBI should investigate the incident because the other parties involved are members of the Philippine National Police. Malacanang, Samar Gov. Reynolds Michael Tan, Samar First District Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento, and Bishop Isabelo Abarquez of the Diocese of Calbayog City on Tuesday all condemned the killing of the mayor and two other companions Monday afternoon. Next page

By Rio N. Araja THE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology on Tuesday raised the alert status of Taal Volcano – restive since February 13 – in Batangas from Alert Level 1 to Alert Level 2 due to an increasing unrest. The Taal Volcano Network recorded a total of 28 volcanic tremor episodes, four low frequency volcanic earthquakes and one hybrid earthquake at shallow depths of less than one and a half kilometers beneath Taal Volcano Island in the past 24 hours. Next page

SERENE FROM ABOVE. In this aerial shot from the Philippine Weather System, the Taal Volcano looks placid as the plane flies above heading toward San Jose, Occidental Mindoro on Saturday, March 7.


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.
Manila Standard - 2021 March 10 - Wednesday by Manila Standard - Issuu