Manila Standard - 2021 August 25 - Wednesday

Page 1

twitter.com/ MlaStandard

facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH

S

Missed your copy of Manila Standard? Call or text our Circulation Hotline at 0917-8848655 or email: circulation@manilastandard.net

manilastandard.net

VOL. XXXV • NO. 191 • 4 SECTIONS 30 PAGES • P18 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2021 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

US affirms defense treaty

THE head of the US Indo-Pacific Command has affirmed the United States’ commitment to the sevendecades old Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) which the Philippines and US signed in 1951. In his second visit to the

Philippines Monday, US IndoPacific Command head Admiral John Aquilino met with senior government and military officials to commemorate the treaty's 70th anniversary this month. “Our alliance represents the mutual trust that is central to our enduring friendship, and this Next page

NAVAL PARTNERSHIP. Crewmen of the Navy frigate BRP Antonio Luna (FF151) wave at one of two Indian Navy ships taking part in a maritime partnership exercise under the seven-year old Philippines-India defense cooperation. The naval drill comes at a time of rising tensions on the South China Sea. BRP A. Luna photo

Duque readies SRA payout Beats 10-day ultimatum, keeps mum on workers’ claim requirements

By Maricel V. Cruz, Willie Casas, and Macon Ramos-Araneta

H

EALTH Secretary Francisco Duque III on Tuesday said special risk allowances (SRAs) for health care workers are ready for distribution beginning today.

At a congressional hearing, Duque told legislators that a total of P311 million fund to finance the SRAs of more than 20,000 health care workers have already been identified and the amount would be sourced from the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefit Fund. Next page

Duterte to Duque: I’ll accept voluntary offer to quit Commission on Audit report on “deficiencies” in the handling of P67 billion PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said he COVID-19 response funds. The chief executive, however, reitwill accept it if Health Secretary Francisco Duque III offers to voluntarily erated his position that he will not fire Next page resign amid the backlash over the

By Joyce Pañares

PhilHealth told: Reconsider payments‘ circular After record high, cases seen By Willie Casas, Maricel V. Cruz, and Macon Ramos-Araneta A HOUSE committee on Tuesday approved a motion urging the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to review and possibly suspend its circular on the temporary suspension of claims payments "without prejudice to any legislative remedy or measure that may be filed by the committee." The House Committee on Health,

chaired by Rep. Angelina Tan of Quezon, approved a motion of Rep. Estrellita Suansing of Nueva Ecija urging PhilHealth to suspend its Circular 2021-0013. It provides guidelines on the issuance of Temporary Suspension of Payment of Claims (TSPC) as a preventive measure against health care providers that are subject of investigation. Meanwhile, PhilHealth’s share in the 2022 national budget will be short by P30 billion compared to the Department of Health’s original proposal. At the same House panel hearing

on Tuesday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III told lawmakers they originally proposed a P110 billion budget for PhilHealth in 2022, but only P80 billion was approved in the President’s budget. “So, there is a deficit of about P30 billion," Duque said. This developed as the president of the Philippine Hospital Association (PHA) said Tuesday PhilHealth owes its members an average of P7 million each. PhilHealth, however, said it only owed Next page

rising in weeks amid lockdown

By Willie Casas and Rey E. Requejo THE country’s daily new COVID-19 cases will continue to rise in the coming days or weeks, the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday, a day after it tallied a record-high 18,332 new infections. DOH spokesperson Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the effect of the two-week lockdown in Metro Manila might be seen within two to three weeks. “According to our projections, we will see the continuous rise ofactive cases in the coming days or maybe weeks,” she said in Filipino on ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo. “Now that local governments are doing active case finding, we will see our cases rise in the initial weeks,” she said. Next page

1,869,691 12,067

127,703

32,264

303

1,709,724 14,565 (As of 4 PM, AUGUST 24)

Palace: P28b to fight insurgency By Vito Barcelo and Macon Ramos-Araneta ONLINE CLASSES.

Grade school teachers of St. Francis of Assisi College meet with their pupils online via ‘Schoology,’ an Internet-based learning management system, on their first day of online classes on August 24, 2021. Many other private schools open this month and public schools start online classes on September 13 with face to face mode still prohibited amid the pandemic. Danny Pata

MALACAÑANG on Tuesday defended its proposal to spend P28 billion for a controversial task force to end communism, saying the insurgency needs to be addressed even during a pandemic, and vowed the money would not be used to fund election campaigns.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque on Tuesday sought to justify the proposal to increase the budget of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) from P19 billion in 2021 to P28.1 billion next year, despite the agency’s track record of red tagging and harassing government critics. The funds would go toward poverty Next page

PDP Laban: Rody heeds clamor to run for VP By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Vito Barcelo PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has heeded calls for him to run for Vice President in the 2022 elections, said PDP-Laban Executive Vice President Karlo Nograles, who also announced the ruling party’s initial senatorial slate composed of five Cabinet secretaries on Tuesday. In a statement, Nograles said Duterte "agreed to make the sacrifice and heed

the clamor of the people and accepted the endorsement of the PDP Laban Party for him to run as Vice President in the 2022 National Elections." But Malacanang has yet to confirm reports that Duterte will run for vice president. In a press briefing, Palace spokesman Harry Roque said the President would announce his political plans for the May 2022 elections in his televised Talk to the People. Roque confirmed that Duterte spoke

with PDP-Laban President Alfonso Cusi on Monday night. Duterte sits as chairman of the Cusi faction of the ruling party. “I can confirm that they talked, but I do not have personal knowledge as to what transpired and I will leave it to PDPLaban as a political party to make the announcement,” Roque said. But Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III of the rival PDP-Laban wing with Sen. Manny Pacquiao questioned the real intention of the Cusi faction, even before Next page

SUPPLY SLACK. The Philippine Coast Guard's Station Occidental Mindoro takes part in the mobile blood donation drive organized by the Philippine Red Cross on Tuesday, August, 24, 2021, with 17 PCG personnel responding to the rising demand for blood in the country due to the shortage of supply amid the COVID-19 pandemic. PCG


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 August 25 - Wednesday by Manila Standard - Issuu