Manila Standard - 2021 June 9 - Wednesday

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GRIM SCENARIO. In these screen grabs from a video circulating on social media, assassins cut off the car of Police Staff Sgt. Michael Maun on a street in Capas, Tarlac on Tuesday. The first attacker (in black shirt, first frame) fires his pistol through Maun’s driver-side window. The second attacker (in white shirt, second frame) then alights and sprays bullets through the windshield with his rifle. Both men then board their car, firing more shots as they escape. (See full story on A4)

CPP-NPA owns up to death of footballer, apologizes for unit’s ‘error’ THE Communist Party of the Philippines and the planted by the rebels. In a Twitter post, CPP spokesman Marco ValNew People’s Army (CPP-NPA) on Tuesday expressed remorse over the deaths of Far Eastern vuena said “errors of an NPA unit” led to the inciUniversity footballer Kieth Absalon and his cousin dent on Sunday in Masbate City. “The entire CPP and NPA express deep remorse Nolven Absalon, who were killed by a land mine

and take full responsibility for the untimely deaths of cousins Kieth and Neolven Absalon,” Valvuena said later in a statement. “There is no justification for the aggravation this has caused the Absalon family.” Next page

WEBSITES ACROSS GLOBE SUFFER OUTAGES AFTER CLOUD GLITCH Story on A2

CHINA ASSURES GEM-VER BOAT OWNER, CREW OF PAYMENT

Story on A3

VOL. XXXV • NO. 114 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 2021 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Jab drive now covers minors Gov’t allows Pfizer shots for ages 12-15 but older sectors still priority

By Willie Casas and Macon Ramos-Araneta

COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE

T

HE Philippines has expanded its emergency use authorization (EUA) of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to cover children 12 years and above, the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.

But Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said while the DOH welcomed the expansion of the EUA, the short supply of vaccines means the government will continue giving priority to the inoculation of the vulnerable. “The general consensus of our vaccine experts is to revisit pediatric and adolescent vaccination once our vaccine supply has stabilized,” she said. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has amended the EUA it granted for Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine to cover those aged 12 to 15. The FDA said the amendment to the EUA was issued May 28. Initially, the Pfizer jab was only approved for use on individuals aged 16 and above. FDA director general Eric Domingo previously said experts gave “very favorable” recommendations on the use of the Pfizer vaccine on minors. In March, the American pharmaceutical giant said its vaccine showed 100 percent efficacy against COVID-19 among adolescents aged 12 to 15. Next page

(AS OF 4 PM JUNE 8)

1,280,773 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES

4,777 56,452 NEW

ACTIVE

22,046

95

1,202,257

7,122

DEATHS

RECOVERIES

NEW

NEW

COMFY CONFINES. Workers wait for their turn to be vaccinated inside a cinema turned vaccination site at SM City Manila on Tuesday. Children as young as 12 years old could join vaccinees soon after the government granted emergency use authorization to Pfizer’s jab against COVID-19. Norman Cruz

91% transmission in N. Mindanao blamed on superspreader events (DOH) said Tuesday. On Monday, the region recorded 230 new virus infections, taking active casNORTHERN Mindanao has a local es to 2,922 out of a total 25,511 infecCOVID-19 transmission rate of 91 per- tions, DOH data showed. “One month ago, our situation was cent, the region’s Department of Health

By Willie Casas and Joel E. Zurbano

not like this. We had many recovered patients and only 10 percent active cases,” DOH-Northern Mindanao regional director Dr. Jose Llacuna Jr. said in an interview on ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo. About a third of the cases are in Ca-

gayan de Oro City, where hospital capacity is at “high-risk,” Llacuna added. Cagayan de Oro City has been placed under a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), the second toughest Next page

Over 4m jobless in April due to stricter quarantine By Vito Barcelo

THE country recorded 4.14 million jobless Filipinos in April, higher than the 3.44 million registered in March, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority

PRECARIOUS PERCH. Workers sit on top of steel bars without safety harnesses as they construct new stalls at a mall in Divisoria, Manila on Tuesday. At least they are not among the number of Filipino who are unemployed, which government said grew in April from the previous month, as most areas in the country reverted to strict quarantine restrictions. Danny Pata

Lacson: Usec behind troll farms By Macon Ramos-Araneta

SENATOR Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday revealed that an undersecretary had allegedly started organizing at least two troll farms in every province to malign critics of the Duterte government and possible opponents in next year’s elections.

Lacson refused to identify the government official. But he said this information came from a former member of his staff, allegedly approached by the said undersecretary. He said the person approached declined the offer and reported it to him.

Next page

Sara ditches Palace yarn on prexy run By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz THE President’s daughter has spoken. Davao City Mayor Sara DuterteCarpio has said a tandem with her father will be unlikely in the 2022 elections, when President Rodrigo Duterte’s sixyear term ends, as she recalled telling her father that she “does not intend” to seek the country’s top post. Duterte-Carpio said Monday she “does not understand” why Malacañang and opposition coalition Next page

(PSA) showed. Unemployment worsened to 8.7 percent in April from 7.1 percent in March, based on the results of the PSA’s labor force survey released Tuesday. Filipinos were left jobless in April

following the reimposition of stricter quarantine measures in the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus, which is composed of Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal.

Rody ‘resisting’ push for VP bid By Joyce Pangco Pañares PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said he is “resisting” calls for him to seek the vice presidency during next year’s Takes elections, saying he does dig at not want to be acPacman cused of perpetuating himself in power. Next page

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