Envoy: Sokor leader eyes PH visit

By Charles Dantes

SOUTH Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is planning to visit the country either this year or in the first half of 2024 to mark 75 years of strong bilateral ties between Manila and Seoul.

Newly-designated South Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Lee SangHwa disclosed this as he presented his credentials to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Malacanang yesterday.

Mr. Marcos, for his part, said he looks forward to meeting his South Korean counterpart at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in November.

“Of course, there are many other conferences and I hope that maybe in Novem-

Meralco: Power costs dropping by P0.72/kWh

By Alena Mae S. Flores

CUSTOMERS of Manila Electric Co. will experience a significant reduction in electricity costs this month amounting to P0.7213 per kilowatt-hour due to lower cost of generation from the company’s suppliers.

Meralco’s overall rate for a typical household went down to P11.1899 per kWh in June from P11.9112 per kWh last month.

“We have good news for July because we have a significant reduction in electricity rates of P0.72 per kWh for this month,” Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga said.

Meanwhile, Meralco’s residential customers with an average consumption of 200 kWh will experience a decrease of around P144 in their total electricity bill.

“The higher the consumption, the bigger the reduction. The main driver is the reduction in generation of P0.64 per kWh,” Zaldarriaga said.

Meralco officials, however, cannot say yet what the impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon will be on the power rates in the months ahead Meralco head of utility economics Lawrence Fernandez said power supply is expected to remain sufficient during the period and “hopefully power prices in the market will continue to be moderated.”

Fernandez said they are also expecting a reduction from the Malampaya prices this month which will be reflected in the August generation price amid a reduction in global oil prices.

“So far we saw two factors that will move the August generation charge. First, demand went up, especially in the last week of July.

DOJ...

From A1 police are used to making arrests without a case,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said.

“Arresting people without cases. What – cases will be invented? The DOJ will not agree to that,” he added.

Remulla lamented that many pending cases could not be filed due to a lack of evidence.

The DOJ chief said that in the Las Piñas raid, in particular, the police failed to cite specific acts or specific grounds to arrest the individuals in the compound.

“They just raided… they just entered the premises. As if they were fishing,” Remulla said.

“This is the problem when people refuse to listen. We’ve said that we should first coordinate before acting and now they want us to file a case even without evidence. We will not do that,” he said.

Remulla said he will bring this up with PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. For his part, Senator Raffy Tulfo slammed the police for turning the June 27 Las Pinas raid into a “milking cow.” ber when we go to the United States for the APEC, because I’m sure your President (Yeol) will attend, maybe we’ll have a chance to at least meet and have a bilateral meeting,” the President said.

Tulfo sought a Senate investigation into the raid, citing a reliable source from Camp Crame that money changed hands for the release of the foreigners.

He disclosed that at least P250,000 was paid to some members of the Philippine National Police-AntiCybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) for the release of a Chinese or Vietnamese occupying a high position in a POGO firm.

Meanwhile, Mr. Marcos also met with Mexico’s newly-appointed ambassador to the Philippines, Daniel Hernandez Joseph.

Hernandez Joseph said both countries are the “connectors” between Asia and America due to the cultural closeness they share.

Lee underscored South Korea’s interest in “elevating the two countries’ relationship to strategic partnership” to improve different areas of interest such as security and defense cooperation, trade, investment, and people-topeople exchanges.

The South Korean envoy also cited Seoul’s keen interest in energy cooperation, especially on the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.

“We presented, submitted our proposal for a joint feasibility study,” he said.

Mr. Marcos noted the potential to explore a bigger partnership with the Mexican government.

“Mexico and the Philippines are connectors between Asia and America,