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(Story on A4)
MARCOS VOWS FIGHT TO CONTINUE AFTER SC JUNKS POLL PROTEST By Rey E. Requejo
Vice President Leni Robredo after the Supreme Court, acting as Presidential FORMER Senator Ferdinand “Bong- Electoral Tribunal,officially released its bong” Marcos Jr. on Tuesday vowed February 16, 2021 decision dismissing to pursue his electoral protest against his poll protest.
Marcos, son of the former president whose name he carries, said the PET’s ruling set a bad precedent and trampled upon the “true will of the electorates” in the 2016 vice presi-
dential election. be casting their ballots in 2022,” Marcos “So long as there is a ray of hope, I said in a statement. will continue to fight. I owe this to the “At the end of the day, the true will more than 14 million loyalists who voted of the electorate must prevail,” he added. Next page for me. I owe this to our youth who will
‘Leave community pantries be’ Malacañang lauds charity move, jeers meet red-tagging of organizers By Macon Ramos-Araneta, Vito Barcelo, Joel E. Zurbano, Rey E. Requejo, Rio N. Araja, and Maricel V. Cruz
M
ALACAÑANG said Tuesday community pantries were laudable and “should be left alone” even as public and government personalities came together to condemn officials who branded the gatherings for aid as led by communist groups, while red-tagging their organizers.
VOL. XXXV • NO. 65 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Ana Patricia Non
‘Communist’ tag halts community pantry for a day By Adelle Chua
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said President Rodrigo Duterte welcomes the emergence of community pantries in the country to help the poor cope with the rising cost of commodities amid the coronavirus pandemic. Roque also said these initiatives should be left alone, except for an issue of minimum health standards and social
ON TUESDAY, April 20, the normally well-stocked wooden cart and the long-line of people at the Maginhawa Community Pantry in Quezon City were conspicuously absent. The site had been increasingly bustling with activity over the past six days. Volunteer Jerich Pavillon was busy separating perishable goods like fruits and vegetables from the rest of the donations, saying they must get those soon to the nearby pantries— on Matatag, Maharlika and Kalayaan Streets—to benefit others before they wilt or go bad. Next page
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COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE
(AS OF 4 PM APRIL 20)
953,106 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES
7,379 120,006 STALLED. In this photo compilation, the trademark bamboo stall and pushcarts that held the food and supplies offered by the Maginhawa Community Pantry for free lay bare on Tuesday as its organizers called it off for a day, scared of the threat of being red-tagged by police and government officials. It cost some families who lined up in previous days their meal for the day, even as other volunteers stood by to guard the non-perishable goods they were set to distribute. Elsewhere, the bayanihan spirit sparked by the Maginhawa pantry lived on, as residents at Barangay Bagbag 2 queued properly to get from the food stall launched by a family in Rosario, Cavite. Manny Palmero and JR Josue
Dominguez, economic cluster still bat for EO on pork imports
By Julito G. Rada, Othel V. Campos, Macon RamosAraneta, and Rio N. Araja
to support these measures as a temporary solution to address the scarcity and the resulting high prices for the commodity. Dominguez said he and the economic FACING a strong backlash from Con- development cluster in the Cabinet gress against moves to import more pork recommended the moves to the President at lower tariff rates, Finance Secretary after “extensive deliberations and Next page Carlos Dominguez III urged lawmakers
NEW
ACTIVE
16,141
93
DEATHS
NEW
809,959 21,664 NEW RECOVERIES
NASA CHOPPER FLIES IN MARS NEWS / A2
IVERMECTIN TRIAL TO START NEWS / A4
SLUGGISH SALES. A vendor peers out of her meat stall at Powerline Market, Phase 4 in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City on Tuesday,complaining of sluggish sales. President Duterte is ready to revoke Executive Order 128 that lowers the tariff on imported pork if the country's pork supply improves. Ben Briones
Palace: Hague ruling unenforceable By Vito Barcelo, Rey E. Requejo, and Macon Ramos-Araneta THE 2016 UN Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling upholding the Philippines' legal claims in the West Philippine Sea is unenforceable, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Tuesday. Roque made the response a day after President Rodrigo Duterte said that his going to the West Philippine Sea to assert the Philippines' claims was useless,
that such an undertaking could only be done by force, and such an action would only be triggered if China started drilling for oil. “It's not a policy [not to enforce the 2016 Hague ruling]. It is reality in international law. Our dilemma is that we do not have an international police or sheriff,” Roque said in a Palace briefing. In a July 2016 ruling, the Hague-based UN Court rejected China's claim of sovereignty over the entire South China Sea, which invalidated Beijing’s massive Next page
'AYUDA' LINE. Residents of Barangay Almanza Uno in Las Pinas City line the halls of a barangay office as they wait for their turn to receive P2,000 to P4,000 in ‘ayuda’ or financial aid from the government amid the enhanced community quarantine on Tuesday. Norman Cruz
‘Ayuda’ distribution up to May 15 By Maricel V. Cruz
has been moved to May 15. This was announced Tuesday by the THE deadline for the distribution of cash Department of the Interior and Local Next page aid in the National Capital Region Plus
FDA grants J&J, Covaxin vaccines EUA for 18 above By Willie Casas THE Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted an emergency use authority (EUA) for COVID-19 vaccines made by Johnson & Johnson and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin from India, the agency said on Tuesday. FDA Director General Eric Domingo said both vaccines can be administered to people aged 18 and above in the Philippines. Next page