Marikina to sue over inverted PH flag

By Gabriellea Pariño

THE Marikina local government unit said it would file a case against a drone operator for displaying an inverted Philippine flag – which signals that the country is in a state of war – during the closing ceremonies of the 63rd Palarong Pambansa Saturday evening.

“The Marikina city government, led by Mayor Marcy Teodoro, strongly

China...

From A1 reaching the Filipino service members stationed at Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal, the PRC has also undertaken unwarranted interference in lawful Philippine maritime operations,” the US said.

On Sunday, the PCG on condemned CCG’s “dangerous maneuvers and illegal use of water cannon” against their vessels escorting the indigenous boats chartered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to deliver food, water, fuel, and other supplies to troops stationed on BRP Sierra Madre in the Ayungin Shoal.

The military also condemned the actions and expressed concern about the incident, which it called “excessive and offensive.”

Australia joined the US in expressing deep concern over China's aggressive action against Philippine resupply vessels en route to Ayungin Shoal.

Australian Ambassador H.K. Yu called the acts directed against the Philippines "dangerous and destabilizing."

"We reiterate our call for peace, stability, and respect for UNCLOS in the South China Sea--a vital international waterway," Yu posted on her Twitter account on Sunday.

Japan and the European Union also warned that China’s recent actions in the West Philippine Sea raised concerns in the international community due to its “destabilizing” effects on navigational safety.

Gov’t...

From A1 valid government-issued identification card containing the signature and address of the customer. If the customer lives below the PSA's poverty threshold, he or she must submit a local Social Welfare and Development Office (SWDO) certification, wherein the certification should have been issued within the last six months, and it must show that the applicant's family income was below the poverty threshold applicable at the time of his or her application.

The Lifeline Rate program validity is based on the annual certified list of 4Ps

Groups,...

From A1 the LTFRB and the Department of Transportation.

“We also wrote the President that the benefits must be dual,” he said.

Transport Secretary Jamie Bautista said the LTFRB would request the DBM to release the funds needed for the fuel subsidy. A total of P3 billion is appropriated in the 2023 national budget in the form of fuel vouchers to qualified public utility vehicle (PUV), taxi, tricycle, and full-time ride-hailing and delivery services drivers nationwide.

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From A1 features a wide range of events, including concerts and prayer sessions.

This year's edition, initially scheduled for August 2022 but postponed because of the pandemic, was the fourth for Francis after Rio de Janeiro in 2013, Krakow in 2016 and Panama in 2019.

Created in 1986 by John Paul II, it is an opportunity for the Vatican to galvanize young Catholics at a time when secularism and priest pedophilia scandals cause some to abandon pews.

Pope Francis visited South Korea in 2014, in what was the first trip to Asia by a pontiff in 15 years.

The country is one of Roman Catholicism’s few strongholds in Asia.

About 11 percent of South Korea's population of around 52 million people are Catholic, a figure that has grown in recent decades.

In his homily, Francis thanked the youth for taking part in the festival, calling them "the hope of a different world."

He also urged the crowd to extend their "affection and prayers" to those who could not come "because of armed conflicts and wars."

"There are many of them in our world. In thinking of this continent, I feel great sorrow for beloved Ukraine, which continues to suffer greatly," he added.

The pope, who now uses a wheelchair or walking stick to get around, met with

Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhiko Koshikawa said: “Totally unacceptable: any harassment and actions which infringe on lawful activities of the sea and endanger the navigational safety. We strongly support PH’s position; upholding maritime order based on UNCLOS & 2016 Arbitral Award.”

EU Ambassador to the Philippines Luc Veron added: “Very concerned about dangerous action in the South China Sea. EU stands with the Philippines in upholding the rules-based international order.”

"The EU supports the legally binding nature of the 2016 South China Sea arbitration," he added.

UNCLOS stands for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which extends the territorial jurisdiction of maritime states up to 200 nautical miles from its coasts. It is signed by at least 162 nations, including the Philippines and China. China, however, said on Sunday it had taken "necessary controls" against Philippines boats that had "illegally" entered its waters.

"Two repair ships and two coast guard ships from the Philippines illegally broke into the waters... in China's Nansha Islands," China Coast Guard spokesperson Gan Yu said, adding that Beijing had "implemented necessary controls in accordance with the law and stopped Philippine ships carrying illegal building materials."

Ayungin Shoal is part of the Kalayaan Island Group, which is an integral part of the Philippines, well within the country's exclusive economic zone and continental beneficiaries provided by the DSWD. A qualified customer is eligible to receive the Lifeline Rate if he or she remains on the updated list.

For non-4Ps beneficiaries, the Lifeline Rate will have a three-year validity from the date of issuance of certification by the local SWDO.

Meanwhile, the Manila Electric Co. said it is proactively looking for ways to encourage more customers to apply for the lifeline rate program.

The Department of Energy said last week only 12,900 4Ps beneficiaries and other qualified marginalized household beneficiaries have registered to avail of the lifeline rate program as of end July.

Meralco vice president and head of cor-

The amount is P500 million higher than the P2.5 billion in the 2022 budget's fuel subsidy program. This aims to cushion the impact of high oil prices on thousands of PUV drivers. Data from DOTr showed that a total of 1.64 million will benefit from the fuel subsidy amounting to P2.95 billion and the remaining P47.36 million is allotted for operating expenses.

Of the total beneficiaries, PUVs, including ride hailing services stood at 280,000 and will get between P6,500 and P10,000 per beneficiary or a total of P1.84 billion.

The 930,000 tricycle drivers, which are under the Department of Local Government (DILG), will get P1,000 each the thousands of event volunteers on Sunday afternoon before flying back to Rome.

This was his first foreign trip since he spent nine nights in hospital after undergoing hernia surgery in June.

Charlotte Bordas, a 26-year-old who came from Mont-de-Marsan in southwestern France, said she was moved to see the pope had made the trip despite his health problems.

"We see he's really tired, weakened, but he still took the time to come to see us, talk to us, and it is particularly touching for me to see him," she told AFP.

The pope met 13 victims of clerical abuse at the Holy See's diplomatic mission in Lisbon during his first day in Portugal.

"The meeting was held in an atmosphere of intense listening and lasted more than an hour," the Vatican said.

He also met 15 youths from wartorn Ukraine's delegation, visited a community center in Lisbon's impoverished Serafina neighborhood and prayed at the shrine of Fatima north of the Portuguese capital.

"It has been an extraordinary moment of joy, of energy, with remarkable speeches by the Holy Father, with very important messages," Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa told public television RTP before Sunday's Mass.

Francis has received an enthusiastic welcome throughout his visit to the Catholic-majority country, with wellwishers lining the streets to see him go by. AFP condemns the incident and intends to hold Drone Tech PH responsible as well as to determine the company's legal responsibilities, including the accompanying penalties,” the LGU said in a statement.

The operator, Drone Tech PH, has apologized for the incident through a statement on its Facebook page.

“We would like to apologize to the City of Marikina, Mayor Marcelino Marcy shelf, over which the Philippines has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction.

Citing the 2016 arbitral ruling by the United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration, the US stressed that China “has no lawful claim to the maritime area around Second Thomas Shoal, which is located well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.”

“The United States reiterates, pursuant to the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, the arbitral decision is final and legally binding on the PRC and the Philippines. The United States calls upon the PRC to abide by the arbitral ruling as well as to respect the freedom of navigation – a right to which all states are entitled,” it added.

Washington also reiterated its position that an armed attack on Philippine public vessels, aircraft, and armed forces would invoke mutual defense commitments under Article IV of the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty of the Philippines and US.

The Philippine government sued China before an international arbitral tribunal in The Hague in 2013 which ruled in favor of the Philippines in July 2016 when it junked China's nine-dash claim over the South China Sea.

But China continues to defy the 2016 arbitration ruling, calling the decision "illegal and invalid.”

The Marcos administration is expected to file its 98th diplomatic protest following China's latest actions in the WPS.

On July 6, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the Philippines under President Marcos has filed 67 notes verbale in porate communications Joe Zaldarriaga said the company has ramped up the conduct of barangay caravans in different cities and provinces within its franchise area to encourage more beneficiaries to apply.

Meralco said starting September, only customers with approved applications will continue to enjoy the discount in accordance with the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act No. 11552 or the law extending and enhancing the implementation of the lifeline rate.

“While we have already engaged all local social welfare development offices or SWDOs in our franchise area, we will continue to reach out to more customers and we hope that the on-site applications will lead to the increase in the number of or a total budget of P930 million.

The 150,000 delivery services, under the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will get P1,200 each or a total budget of P180 million.

DOTr, on the other hand, clarified that the Department of Energy (DOE) should certify that the average price of fuel for the last three months exceeded $80 per barrel before the release of fuel subsidy.

The Department of Energy said over the weekend gasoline prices may increase more than P4 per liter due to the movement of prices in the world oil market last week.

The DOE's Oil Industry Management Bureau director Rino Abad said the agency

Marcos...

From A1 clarify. We have enough rice supply and we have nothing to worry about," he said.

"Our farmers should expect that we won't import rice if we have enough supply in the Philippines. Don't worry. We have rice," he added.

The President said the government is closely monitoring the rice buffer stock in the National Food Authority (NFA) supply warehouses.

"We're ensuring that the NFA has more buffer stock because we also encounter more calamities here in the Philippines," he said.

However, the President said that the problem is that other Southeast Asian nations are also securing their rice buffer stock to prepare for the looming El Niño by late this year or early 2024.

"All of us are preparing for the El Niño. That's why it's difficult because all of us are buying at the same time," he said.

President Marcos, who also heads the Department of Agriculture (DA) as its concurrent secretary, said that countries exporting rice have started to limit, if not stop, exporting the commodity. This included India, with which he initially wanted to make a rice deal.

President Marcos also said that he is talking with the people he met during his overseas trips to secure the country's rice buffer stock.

"We're looking at our friends. It's

Teodoro, and to the whole country, its people and the Philippine government for a grave error we have made in the drone show programming of the colors red and blue of our Philippine flag which were interchanged,” Drone Tech said.

The company claimed the drone show was supposed to be tested days before the actual performance, but they were unable to do so because of the recent typhoons.

“We have innocently made this mistake

2022 and 30 diplomatic notes in 2023.

DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said 260 protests were filed from 2016 to 2021. A total of 202 notes verbale were lodged in 2021, and 195 in 2022.

The notes verbale, she said, referred to protests against the illegal presence and actions of Chinese vessels in Philippine waters.

Beijing claims most of the South China Sea and continues to refuse to honor the arbitral tribunal decision that invalidated its claims to ill-defined historic rights throughout the nine-dash line.

During a security conference in Munich, Germany in February, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said the Philippines faces daily incidents of harassment and land reclamation in the West Philippine Sea, which in many cases have been depriving the Philippines of the use of its exclusive economic zone.

Last month, the PCG reported that BRP Malabrigo and BRP Malapascua were assisting the naval operation of the AFP late last month when two CCG vessels “came close” to their patrol boats.

During the operation, the PCG was constantly followed, harassed, and obstructed by the significantly larger Chinese vessels at a distance of about 100 yards.

“These Chinese Coast Guard vessels blatantly disregard the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea in their attempts to obstruct passage and discourage the PCG vessels from approaching Ayungin Shoal,” the PCG said. (See full story online at manilastandard.net) program beneficiaries,” Zaldarriaga said.

Meralco has lined up on-site applications and caravans in the cities of Caloocan, Las Piñas, Manila, Parañaque, Quezon, and Valenzuela for August.

Meralco will also do the same in San estimated an oil price hike of P3.70 to P3.80 per liter for gasoline but said some industry insiders have estimated an even higher increase of P4.10 per liter for gasoline.

Rafael and Meycauayan in Bulacan, San Pablo City in Laguna, General Mariano Alvarez and General Trias in Cavite, Taytay and Rodriguez in Rizal, and Mauban and Sariaya in Quezon.

Under the lifeline rate program, qualified customers should have a monthly electricity consumption of 100 kilowatt hours or below to avail the discount ranging from 20 percent to 100 percent in their Meralco electricity bills, depending on their actual consumption.

Abad said kerosene may go up by P2.75 to P3 per liter and gasoline by P0.30 to P0.40 per liter. The oil companies will implement the latest oil price hike effective 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Abad urged the public utility vehicles clamoring for fuel transport subsidy to coordinate with the LTFRB.

He said LTFRB has the list of the PUV beneficiaries and DOE's involvement may cause another layer that may delay the processing of the targeted fuel subsidy.

Abad said the anticipated increase in pump prices was driven by a cut in a good thing that I met many of them during my travels. I'm talking to them now," he said.

"They might allow us to import rice from their country. But we'll only do that if we don't have enough rice supply," he added.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said on Sunday that the damage and losses in the agriculture sector due to the southwest monsoon enhanced by Typhoons Egay and Falcon reached an estimated P2.9 billion.

Based on the latest report of the council, the Agriculture Department recorded a total of P2.945 billion in production losses or damage in the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Region IV-A and IV-B, Western Visayas, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

The NDRRMC also reported at least 108,729 fishers and farmers were also affected by the damage to 153,268.39 hectares of crop area. Some 132,074.62 hectares were partially damaged and still have a chance at recovery, while 20,104.44 hectares were totally damaged and no longer had a chance at recovery.

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA), meanwhile, said the cost of damage in the Mimaropa and CAR came to P137.78 million. The bad weather also damaged 573 structures at a cost of P3.63 billion.

The CAR logged the highest amount of infrastructure damage involving 347 and have no malice or bad intentions on anyone and the people of Marikina and the Philippines as a whole,” the company added. The Philippine flag, if flown from a flagpole, shall have its blue field on top in time of peace and the red field on top in time of war. If in a hanging position, the blue field shall be to the left (observer's point of view) in time of peace, and the red field to the left (observer's point of view) in time of war.

Recto:...

From A1 the enormous money required to finance it.”

“Programs that dazzle are highlighted while muting the cost, a great portion of which are paid by debts left to the next generation to pay,” he said.

Payment for interest alone on the burgeoning public debt would be around P1.83 billion a day next year, Recto said.

This, however, does not give the whole picture as the payment for the principal amortization which should be automatically appropriated is not included in the budget, Recto said.

If the principal amortization requirement of P3.4 billion a day is added to the interest payment of P1.83 billion, “real” debt service expenditures would be around P5.2 billion daily, he added.

“That is only payment for existing debts. The fresh debt to be made is a different matter,” he said. Gross borrowings next year to finance the deficit, debt and development have been forecasted to reach P2.46 trillion, or “about P6.7 billion daily,” Recto said.

Meanwhile, Senator Francis Escudero said the country should brace for possible increase in taxes to address the loss of revenues once operations of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) are banned.

"If we shut down their operations, we will raise taxes since we need to cover lost income,” Escudero said.

"For this, I'd like to look at the big picture," added Escudero, a member of the Senate Committee on Finance that oversees public expenditures.

He said while some POGOs proved to be “bad,” the reality is that PAGCOR’s income “increased by several hundred percent due to POGOs.” production from Russia and Saudi Arabia. Abad earlier said China also delivered on its commitment to reduce oil production this month. structures at a cost of P2.26 billion.

"My stand is that just because some are bad eggs, the solution is to ban all. I do not agree to that kind of principle and policy,” he said.

Diesel prices will have increased by around P10 per liter for the past five weeks, while gasoline prices have already risen by P5 per liter for the same period. In an advisory on Saturday, Unioil Petroleum said forecasts that diesel will increase by P3.70 to P3.90 per liter, while gasoline will go up by P0.20 to P0.40 per liter. This comes just a week after a major pump price hike of P3.50 for diesel, P2.10 for gasoline, and P3.25 for kerosene. It is also the fifth straight week of increases for diesel and kerosene and the fourth in a row for gasoline.

The reported casualties remained at 29, two of whom were confirmed and there were also 11 more people still reported missing and 165 were injured.

Storms Egay and Falcon together and the monsoon affected 3,032,077 people or 806,836 families in 4,833 barangays nationwide. Some 648 evacuation centers sheltered over 51,000 displaced people or 13,000 families, while more than 233,000 people or 57,000 families stayed outside of evacuation centers.

The NDRRMC recorded 60,991 houses damaged due to the weather disturbances. Of these houses, 58,610 were partially damaged, and 2,381 were destroyed. Sixty-two roads and four bridges were still not passable.

The NDRRMC said P269.45 million in assistance had been provided to affected regions so far.

Despite the President's assurances, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said he believes that food security cannot be assured because of several factors beyond the country's control.

He noted that the country's sources of rice imports such as India have become uncertain.

India, the world's largest rice exporter, banned the exports of non-basmati white rice on Jul. 20 to calm domestic rice prices that had risen more than 30 percent since October 2022.

It was also reported that the cost of Vietnamese rice surged to $600 per metric ton from $500.