HOUSE PANEL DECLARES PORTION OF PHILIPPINE RISE A PROTECTED AREA

MANILA — A House panel approved Wednesday to declare a portion of the Philippine Rise a protected area despite strong objections from a House leader over concerns that the measure may limit the country’s territorial claim over the sea feature.

The House natural resources committee passed a substitute bill declaring a portion of the Philippine Rise within the country’s exclusive economic zone in the Philippine Sea as a marine resource reserve.

Rep. Ruffy Biazon (Marikina) explained that experts recommended that a portion of the Philippine Rise be classified as a marine reserve instead of a natural park, which was what he originally proposed.

“We were enlightened that it would be best that we would make it a marine reserve in order for us to take advantage of the natural resources therein,” Biazon said upon the query of Deputy Speaker Lito Atienza.

Atienza, however, raised concerns that the measure may be limiting the country’s claim to the Philippine Rise.

“This is not the time to limit ourselves to a small area,” he said. “‘Pag tayo pa ang gumawa ng batas na nililimitahan natin ang ating interes, eh parang pinahihina pa natin ang posisyon ng Pilipinas sa darating na panahon.”

DUTERTE SAYS PACQUIAO, TRILLANES BOTH 'WANT TO HOLD POWER'

MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte on late Tuesday alleged that former lawmaker Antonio Trillanes IV and Sen. Emmanuel Pacquiao, who have separately accused him of corruption, both just "want to hold power."

Duterte in several recent occasions has lambasted Pacquiao, his erstwhile close ally, after the latter claimed that the government is 3 times more corrupt than its predecessors.

Outspoken critic Trillanes, meanwhile, revived corruption allegations against the President, saying he and his former longtime aide Sen. Christopher Go allegedly plundered some P6 billion from public coffers.

"Si Trillanes pareha ni Pacquiao ‘yan," Duterte said in a televised late night public address.

"They want to, you know, hold power because they must have—may nakita siguro silang magandang oportunidad nila para sa kanila," he added.

Addressing his chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo, the President said, "Well, I leave Trillanes to you."

"Ikaw na ang bahala sa kanya kung anuhin mo ‘yan. Eh daldal nang daldal ‘yan eh hindi naman lumaban ng debate ‘yan," Duterte continued.

SINOVAC SEEKS NOD FOR EMERGENCY USE OF COVID-19 JAB IN KIDS

MANILA — Chinese drugmaker Sinovac Biotech has submitted a request to allow the use of its COVID-19 vaccine in children aged three to 17, the head of the Philippine Food and Drug Administration said.

“This is another potential vaccine that can be used for the pediatric age group,” FDA Director General Eric Domingo said during a recorded briefing aired early Wednesday.

“Our vaccine experts are now taking a look at the data, and of course, asking questions to proponents and getting more information,” he added.

A final decision on Sinovac’s request may be released within the month.

The EUA granted to CoronaVac, Sinovac’s COVID-19 jab, in February allowed its use for clinically healthy individuals aged 18 to 59 years. In April, the FDA approved the recommendation to expand the use of the vaccine in senior citizens as the country faced a surge in COVID-19 infections.

China approved the emergency use of CoronaVac in people aged between three and 17 last month.

The country’s drug regulator earlier allowed the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in adolescents aged 12 to 15.

Only health workers, senior citizens, persons with comorbidities, economic frontliners, and indigent Filipinos are being inoculated at the moment.

GALVEZ: PH EXPECTS TO RECEIVE 30 MILLION COVID-19 VACCINE DOSES UNTIL AUGUST

MANILA—The national government is expecting to receive about 30 million COVID-19 vaccine doses until August, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said Wednesday.

In a recorded public briefing, Galvez said a bulk of the expected vaccine supply was procured by the government.

A total of 3.02 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be coming from the United States through the COVAX Facility, while 1.1 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from Japan will be arriving on Thursday.

Vaccines donated by the US and Japan will be allocated for those in the A2 (senior citizens) and A3 (persons with comorbidities) categories.

Galvez apologized for the delay of deliveries, which affected the vaccine rollout in country, saying it was due to the restructuring of the global supply of vaccines.

Meanwhile, Food and Drug Administration Director-General Eric Domingo said the Philippines now has one vaccine brand that can be used on children, after it approved the amendment of Pfizer's emergency use authorization (EUA).

The FDA earlier approved the use of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for minors as young as 12 years old.

‘DO NOT PRESS YOUR LUCK TOO FAR’: DUTERTE WARNS THOSE SELLING COVID-19 VACCINE SLOTS

MANILA—President Rodrigo Duterte warned those who are selling COVID-19 vaccine slots, saying jabs are free.

Duterte said he received reports of individuals involved in the selling of COVID-19 vaccine slots, with a health worker arrested in Mandaluyong City.

"It has come to my attention that a health worker was arrested by the NBI for alleged unauthorized or unlawful sale of Sinovac vaccines. This comes after a report few weeks ago about vaccination slots being peddled by unscrupulous individuals in Mandaluyong City," he said during a recorded public briefing aired early Wednesday.

"This is very alarming. We condemn these acts and we will not allow perpetrators to go unpunished. I order every relevant authority to investigate this matter thoroughly and press charges accordingly."

SWAB TESTS OR VACCINATION CARDS? LGUS FACE CHOICE IN ACCEPTING TRAVELERS

MANILA - It is up to local governments whether it would require vaccination cards or confirmatory swab tests from travelers, the Department of Tourism said Wednesday.

The Inter-Agency Task Force Against COVID-19 earlier said those who have received 2 doses of vaccine may present their inoculation card or quarantine certificate instead of a negative confirmatory swab test result when traveling domestically.

Some LGUs, however, said they were not consulted by the IATF in making the policy, adding that local governments use different vaccination cards.

The IATF only presented "an alternative," said Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.

"'Yun lang ay alternative sa RT-PCR (test), it’s really up to the LGU (local government units) kung magdedecide sila kung instead of fully-vaccinated, RT-PCR (test) na lang ang gagamitin," she told ABS-CBN's Teleradyo.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government has ordered local officials to abide by the national policy.

'SHORT-LIVED' ERUPTION RECORDED IN TAAL VOLCANO

MANILA — State volcanologists said a “short-lived” phreatomagmatic eruption occurred at the main crater of Taal Volcano in Batangas Wednesday morning nearly a week after it was placed on heightened alert.

“At 5:18 a.m. today, a short-lived phreatomagmatic eruption occurred at main crater and generated a grayish plume that rose 300 meters before drifting southeast,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said in a bulletin.

A phreatomagmatic eruption happens when magma and water interact explosively. A phreatomagmatic eruption that generated a one-kilometer plume also happened in Taal Volcano last week, prompting Phivolcs to raise Alert Level 3.

Alert Level 3 (magmatic unrest) remains over Taal Volcano, which means its activities could drive “explosive" eruption.

The Taal Volcano Network recorded 55 volcanic earthquakes, including one explosion-type earthquake, 44 low frequency volcanic earthquakes, five volcanic tremor events, five hybrid earthquakes, and low-level background tremor in the last 24 hours.

Phivolcs said sulfur dioxide emission averaged 7,560 tons per day on Tuesday.

Thousands of residents living within danger zones in Batangas have been evacuated.

GLOBAL WATCHDOG LISTS DUTERTE AMONG 37 ‘PRESS FREEDOM PREDATORS’

For waging a “total war against independent media,” President Duterte has been named a “press freedom predator” by a global media watchdog keeping tabs on world leaders whose policies and governance are seen to pose grave threats to a free press.

On Monday, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) named Duterte among 37 world leaders who have “trampled on press freedom by creating a censorship apparatus, jailing journalists arbitrarily or inciting violence against them, … [or] directly or indirectly push[ing] for journalists to be murdered.”

It’s the first time Duterte appears on RSF’s list that was created in 2016.

The list is dominated by the likes of Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman, alleged mastermind of the gruesome murder of The Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, and dictators Kim Jong Un (North Korea), Vladimir Putin (Russia) and Bashar Assad (Syria).

The others listed are heads of ostensible democracies who wield draconian policies to crack down on the press, like Carrie Lam (Hong Kong), Jair Bolsonaro (Brazil), Viktor Orban (Hungary) and Sheikh Hasina (Bangladesh).

“Each of these predators has their own style. Some impose a reign of terror by issuing irrational and paranoid orders. Others adopt a carefully constructed strategy based on draconian laws,” said RSF secretary general Christophe Deloire.

“A major challenge now is for these predators to pay the highest possible price for their oppressive behavior. We must not let their methods become the new normal,” Deloire said. But presidential spokesperson Harry Roque branded the tag on Duterte as “absolutely bereft of merit.”

According to RSF, Duterte wields his executive power to bend the Philippine legal and justice system. “Judges who don’t toe the line are pushed aside.

Congress tamely endorses all the President’s decisions. Backed by most of the private sector, Duterte easily imposes his line on media outlets owned by businessmen that support him,” RSF said.

It said that with the government “colluding… at all levels” to accommodate him, Duterte has “an arsenal that he can use to wage ‘total war’ against journalists.”

‘PILOT ERROR, STRONG WIND MAY HAVE CAUSED CRASH’

MANILA — A combination of pilot error and bad weather may have led to the crash of an Air Force C-130 that killed dozens of soldiers and civilians in Sulu last Sunday, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said yesterday.

“Combination of the two because there was wind, strong wind that seemed to be pushing the plane. That’s why the plane failed to slow down,” he said in Cagayan de Oro City.

“Another factor maybe was pilot error. He may have missed doing something. Not the aircraft, it’s new. It arrived only on Jan. 29,” he added.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said the pilot in command, who was among the fatalities, had several years of experience flying a C-130 aircraft. He also said authorities have retrieved the ill-fated plane’s black box.

President Duterte personally conferred military awards Monday evening on soldiers who perished in the crash.

Duterte personally awarded the Order of Lapu-Lapu with the Rank of Kampilan to the injured at the Camp Navarro General Hospital.

ELEAZAR VOWS TO UNMASK THOSE BEHIND FAKE CORRUPTION LIST

MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) vowed to unmask the people behind a “meme” post on social media being attributed to Sen. Manny Pacquiao listing the government agencies in the Duterte administration allegedly involved in corruption.

The list included the PNP’s procurement of body-worn cameras as among the government projects tainted with corruption. Pacquiao’s camp denied he was the source of the social media post.

PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said he has ordered the Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) to conduct an investigation and determine the identities of the people behind the fake list.

Eleazar, during a press conference on Monday, insisted PNP’s procurement of over 2,600 body cameras worth P288 million and other items was transparent.

“We guarantee utmost transparency and public accountability in all transactions and expenditure programs entrusted by the government to the PNP,” he said.

THE REST

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LOCAL GOVTS URGED TO COMPLY WITH NATIONAL QUARANTINE POLICY AS DELTA THREAT LOOMS

MANILA - The Delta variant's threat to the Philippines is "so great" that it may result in another lockdown and lack of oxygen supply, the OCTA Research Group said Wednesday as it urged local governments to comply with the national quarantine policy.

The Delta variant is twice more infectious than the Alpha variant first reported in the UK, which is a COVID-19 mutation that is 60 percent more contagious than the virus' original strain, authorities earlier said.

If a person who carries the Delta variant returns home, "it is absolutely certain that person will infect everyone in the house," said biology professor Fr. Nicanor Austriaco.

"When we’re talking about the Delta threat, the threat is so great, another lockdown, running out of oxygen in the Philippines, that kind of threat is so expensive, so devastating that we're asking our (fellow) Filipinos as I understand to sacrifice," he told ANC's Headstart.

"Keep in mind that Australia had one of the strictest quarantines and the Delta variant sneaked through that 14-day mandatory quarantine."

The Delta variant also "appears to affect children at higher numbers," Austriaco added.

The 10-day quarantine for fully-vaccinated travelers entering the country is "99.9 percent effective," according to the biology professor.

"One of the big question marks with quarantines is that different vaccines may have different transmissibility," he said.

"There's effective immunity where I do not get sick versus sterilizing immunity I don’t get sick and I cannot give it to you," he added, noting that some vaccines have no available data on virus transmissibility.

ILANG MGA RESIDENTE, NAKALIPAT NA SA PABAHAY SA BASECO

MAYNILA - Halos 100 pamilya ang nabigyan ng bagong bahay na townhouse-type sa Baseco, Maynila na tinawag na Basecommunity.

Kakalipat lamang sa lugar ng ilang pamilya ngayong linggo at masaya sila na mayroon na silang may maayos na pabahay.

Sila rin ang nakatira sa lugar na nasunugan noong isang taon. Napagdesisyunan ng lokal na pamahalaan na imbes na ibalik ang informal settler community, gawing pabahay project na lamang ito.

Mayroong 226 na townhouse unit sa lugar na may laking 42 square meters. Mayroon itong dalawang kwarto, sala at kusina, may service area at banyo.

Dalawang palapag ang unit at malawak rin ang kalsada sa paligid.

Ayon sa mga residente, unang batch pa lamang sila. Nasa P2,000 hanggang P3,000 ang babayaran nila monthly para sa 25 hanggang 50 taon.

Hindi nila maaaring ibenta ang unit base na rin sa pinirmahan nilang kontrata.

Nasa higit 90 pa lamang na units ang okupado.

COPS TO GET REWARDS FOR ‘GOOD DEEDS’

MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) has embarked on a program to showcase the good deeds of police officers to counter the negative publicity it has received as a result of the misdeeds of police scalawags.

The PNP has partnered with the Ayala Foundation Inc. (AFI) for the “Pulis Magiting x Pilipinong Magiting,” a modified spot award and communication program that aims to recognize the exemplary acts of police officers.

“It is aimed to strengthen positive public image perception towards the PNP and boost the morale of its personnel as they perform their sworn duties,” PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said during the program’s launch yesterday.

Under the agreement, the PNP and the AFI will give cash or in-kind tokens worth at least P5,000 to PNP personnel or teams who display noteworthy deeds and accomplishments.

Awarding ceremonies will be held every first Monday of the month, with a maximum of 15 to 20 awardees per month in the next six months starting July.

Eleazar is hoping to highlight inspiring stories from PNP personnel.

EMONG EXITS, BUT MONSOON BRINGS RAINS

MANILA — The southwest monsoon will continue to bring rains over most parts of Luzon even as Tropical Depression Emong left the Philippine area of responsibility yesterday, according to the state weather bureau.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said isolated rainshowers and thunderstorms can be expected over Metro Manila, Calabarzon, MIMAROPA, Western and Central Visayas, Zambales and Bataan.

Meanwhile, the rest of the country will also see isolated rainshowers due to the southwest monsoon and localized thunderstorms.

PAGASA warned of possible flash floods and landslides during moderate to at times heavy rains.

Emong left the Philippine area of responsibility at 9 a.m. and dissolved as it moved towards Taiwan and China yesterday.

The low-pressure area was spotted 855 kilometers west of Iba, Zambales as of 3 p.m. yesterday. It is moving westward towards Vietnam.

All ground operations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport were temporarily suspended after PAGASA issued a Lightning Red Alert at 3:01 p.m. yesterday due to thunder and lightning. The alert was lifted at 4:17 p.m.

Temperatures in Metro Manila will range between 25 to 33 degrees Celsius.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

ANGEL AQUINO AND TONY LABRUSCA'S 'GLORIOUS' IS COMING TO NETFLIX ON JULY 17

MANILA – The much-talked-about film "Glorious," starring Kapamilya stars Angel Aquino and Tony Labrusca, is coming to Netflix this month.

As teased by the streaming platform, the drama will become available for viewing starting July 17.

The May-December romance flick was originally released on ABS-CBN’s revamped iWant streaming service in November 2018.

"Glorious" tells the story of a woman in her 50s who begins a passionate affair with a 22-year-old who sweeps her off her feet, but those around them are quick to judge their love.

It is written and directed by Connie S. Macatuno and produced by Dreamscape Digital.

Currently, Aquino is part of ABS-CBN's long-running action drama "FPJ's Ang Probinsyano," while Labrusca is one of the stars in the new episodes of the digital anthology series "Click, Like, Share."

SPORTS

NBA SCORES JULY 6

FINAL

1          2          3          4          T

3 Bucks0-1       26        23        27        29        105

2 Suns1-0         30        27        35        26        118

GAME 1: PHO LEADS 1-0, PHOENIX SUNS ARENA, PHOENIX, AZ

SCORING LEADERS

            K. Middleton MIL

29 PTS 7 REB 4 AST

            C. Paul PHO

32 PTS 4 REB 9 AST

INDICATORS

FOREX $1 = P 49.50

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there. - John Wooden