CARPIO: FILIPINOS NEED LEADER WHO CAN ADDRESS CHINA ISSUEMANILA - Retired Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Friday saidFilipinos need a leader who can address the country’s territorial issueswith China.The statement came months after President Rodrigo Duterte said he will notraise the territorial disputes with China again, particularly Manila's legalvictory against Beijing before a UN tribunal, after he met with ChinesePresident Xi Jinping in August 2019.“He brought it up already and he said, that’s it. I will not bring it upagain. So he will not bring it up until the end of his term,” Carpio toldreporters after making a presentation at the Chamber of Commerce of thePhilippine Islands.“We must be vigilant that there is no waiver expressing implied oursovereign rights, because we will wait for the next administration.. toassert strongly,” he adds.Filipinos must always be brave to speak up against any “waiver” or signs ofit every time such situation arises, said Carpio, who became acting ChiefJustice before he retired.The July 2016 ruling of a United Nations-backed arbitral tribunalinvalidating China's nine-dash line claim, will only lose its validity if awaiver has been “expressed or implied” according to Carpio.China has no right to be within PH EEZCarpio also cautioned the Philippine Coast Guard against discussing apossible agreement with China to “regulate” fishing within the Philippines’exclusive economic zone (EEZ).The idea should not be considered because China primarily, has no “right” toprotect our EEZ, he said.“They (China) cannot give us protection because they don’t have the right tobe there in the first place. They don’t have the right to protect anyonethere because we have jurisdiction over there, they don’t havejurisdiction,” Carpio pointed out later on in an interview.The retired justice official earlier lambasted China for after one of itsships was spotted patrolling Ayungin Shoal on the day the Chinese CoastGuard arrived in Manila for a goodwill visit.DUTERTE SAYS TO APPOINT PNP OFFICER-IN-CHARGE GAMBOA AS NEXT CHIEFMANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said he would appointPhilippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Archie Gamboa asthe police force's next chief.In a speech in Davao City, Duterte said he would formally name Gamboa as thenew PNP chief after they meet with Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, whom thePresident asked to supervise the institution until the country's next policehead is chosen."I'm going to place you as the regular PNP [chief]. But you and I, and Sec.Año, will have a long, long talk first," he said.Gamboa was named PNP OIC after its former chief Oscar Albayalde stepped downin October, weeks shy of his retirement, over allegations he protectedpolice officers tagged in selling seized drugs in 2013, when he was Pampangapolice chief.The PNP welcomed Duterte's announcement, saying in a statement that underGamboa's leadership, "we assure the public that the PNP remains committed tointensify the campaign against criminality, illegal drugs and corruption,following the rule of law and with utmost respect for human rights."It said it would also "vigorously pursue internal cleansing" to get rid ofrogue cops in the hopes of "winning back the trust and confidence of thepeople."Gamboa, PNP's Deputy Chief for Administration, is a member of the PhilippineMilitary Academy's Sinagtala Class of 1986 and was a classmate of formerchiefs Albayalde and now Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa.He is set to retire in September.CARDINAL TAGLE REMINDS FAITHFUL 'DON'T REPLACE GOD, STO. NIÑO WITH OTHERKINGS'MANILA - Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle on Friday called onthe Catholic faithful to always put God in their hearts and be mindful ofHim amid the world's present temptations of wealth and power.This, as Tagle offered his last mass at the Archdiocesan Shrine of SantoNiño in Tondo, Manila before he departs for the Vatican City to take up anew post in the Holy Office.“Huwag palitan ng ibang hari ang Diyos. Huwag palitan ng ibang hari ang Sto.Niño na siyang nagdadala talaga ng tunay na kagalingan, paghihilom attagumpay sa kasalanan at kamatayan,” Tagle said.Tagle said the kingship of Christ is not based on the kingdoms of the world,but is based on openness and mercy. Using the Child Jesus as an example,Tagle said Christ is open to the Father and to the lowly and whose reign ismarked by holiness, life and forgiveness of sins.“Ang paghahari ni Kristo ay paghahari ng isang anak, isang sanggol. Kaya angkanyang paghahari ay hindi naayon sa patakaran ng paghaahari ng mundo kundimas malalim, mas laganap, mas nanunuot dahil kasalanan, kamatayan, angkanyang nilulupig at napagtatagumpayan.”Tagle also urged others to pray for those who were affected by the TaalVolcano eruption.ON LEAVING FOR THE VATICANAfter the Mass, parishioners of the Sto. Nino Shrine gave a tribute to Taglethrough dance, song and a Sto. Niño image gift, before the Cardinal leavesfor Rome to take up his position as the new prefect of the Congregation forthe Evangelization of Peoples, the Vatican department responsible for thespread of the Catholic faith throughout the world through its missionaryworks and related activities.Pope Francis appointed Tagle to the position in December 2019.THREAT OF TAAL VOLCANO'S HAZARDOUS ERUPTION STILL HIGH DESPITE SIGNS OFEASING ACTIVITYMANILA —Despite weak emissions and fewer tremors, the threat of the TaalVolcano's catastrophic eruption remains high, the state seismology agencysaid Saturday.The volcano is still under alert level 4, the second-highest danger level,which means a "hazardous explosive eruption is possible within hours todays," Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs)director Renato Solidum said.In the past 24 hours, the volcano's main crater steadily emitted steam andhad infrequent weak explosions, he said during a press briefing.It sent a plume of ash as far as 600 meters in the air while sulfur dioxideemission was measured at 360 tons, he added.Though the Taal Volcano showed signs of calming down, Solidum said there wasstill "intense" activity underground as magma continued to move beneath."Naiiba ang nakikita natin sa taas at naiiba sa ilalim," he said.Phivolcs maintained that those living within the 14-kilometer radius of thevolcano, which sits on an island surrounded by a lake in Batangas province,remains susceptible to base surges in case of a major eruption.Data from the Philippine Seismic Network showed that some 666 volcanicearthquakes were plotted in the Taal region. Among these, some 174 werefelt, ranging from between Magnitude 1.2 and 4.1 and experienced at betweenIntensity 1 and 4.Meanwhile, the Taal Volcano Network recorded 876 volcanic earthquakes,including 6 tremors and 20 low-frequency earthquakes."Such intense seismic activity likely signifies continuous magmaticintrusion beneath the Taal edifice, which may lead to further eruptiveactivity," the agency added.The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) saidSaturday that some 16,174 families or 70,413 people were still living in 300evacuation centers.Some 14 towns in Batangas province have been placed on lockdown to preventresidents from returning to their homes amid Taal Volcano's continuedunrest.HUNDREDS' LIKELY AFFECTED BY CHINESE VIRUS: RESEARCHERSLONDON - The number of people infected by a mystery SARS-like virus that haskilled two people in China is likely hundreds more than officially reported,researchers have said.Chinese authorities have said pneumonia linked to the virus has hit at least41 people in the country, with the outbreak centered around a seafood marketin the central city of Wuhan.But a paper published Friday by scientists with the MRC Center for GlobalInfectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College in London said the number ofthose affected in the city was likely to be well over a thousand.The scientists at the Center -- which advises bodies including the WorldHealth Organization -- said they estimated a "total of 1,723 cases" in Wuhanwould have been infected as of January 12.The researchers took the number of cases reported outside China so far --two in Thailand and one in Japan -- to infer how many were likely infectedin the city, based on international flight traffic data from Wuhan'sairport."For Wuhan to have exported three cases to other countries would imply therewould have to be many more cases than have been reported," Professor NeilFerguson, one of the authors of the report, told the BBC."I am substantially more concerned than I was a week ago," adding, however,that it was "too early to be alarmist.""People should be considering the possibility of substantial human-to-humantransmission more seriously than they have so far," he added, saying it was"unlikely" that animal exposure was the main source of infection.Two people are known to have been killed by the virus, a pathogen from thesame family as the deadly SARS virus -- even as health authorities aroundthe world sought to assure the public that the overall risk of infectionremained low.Authorities in Hong Kong have stepped up detection measures, includingrigorous temperature checkpoints for inbound travelers from the Chinesemainland.The US said from Friday it would begin screening flights arriving from Wuhanat San Francisco airport and New York's JFK -- which both receive directflights -- as well as Los Angeles, where many flights connect.UP HISTORY PROFS SLAM BONGBONG’S CALL TO REVISE MARTIAL LAW IN TEXTBOOKSMANILA — The University of the Philippines Diliman Department of Historyfaculty denounced defeated vice presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong”Marcos Jr. for his attempt to downplay Martial Law atrocities by calling torevise school textbooks.“Who is doing revisionism? Nilagay nila sa libro, sa textbook ng mga bata naang mga Marcos ganito ang ninakaw, ganito ang ginawa,” Marcos claimed in apress briefing last week.The UP History Department said Marcos' statement is a brazen effort tofurther his family’s political dynasty while shirking accountability fortheir crimes.“Isa itong malinaw na pagkutya at pagbabaluktot sa katotohanan. Wala itongibang layunin kundi ang tuluy-tuloy na pagtakpan ang 'di mabilang na mgapaglabag sa karapatang pantao at katiwalian sa ilalim ng diktadurang Marcosmula 1972 hanggang 1986,” the department’s statement Friday read.Notwithstanding, the former senator said that school textbooks painted hisfamily in a bad light and that criticisms against them are unfounded.“What we are trying to teach is understanding and an involvement in politicsin our young people…Tinuturuan sila to hate people (Instead they are beingtaught to hate people).”He called on history professors and political scientists to fix what he saysare lies spun against the Marcoses through politicking.UP history teachers, on the other hand, said it is the Marcoses who arerevising history for their own convenience.“Malaon nang agenda ng mga Marcos ang pabanguhin ang pangalan ng kanilangpamilya, lalo na ang pagpipilit na itanghal ang diktador na si Ferdinand E.Marcos bilang isang bayani. Kakasangkapanin ni G. Marcos ang pagnanais naito sa ninanais niyang pagtakbo sa 2022 upang makabalik ang kanyang pamilyasa Malacañang.”BATANGAS, CAVITE VOTER REGISTRATION POSTPONEDMANILA — Voter registration in Batangas and Cavite set on Jan. 20 will besuspended due to Taal Volcano’s continuing unrest.Commission on Elections spokesman James Jimenez said registration of votersin Makilala, North Cotabato was also suspended amid the devastation causedby powerful earthquakes in the last quarter of 2019.“Recent events have forced us to suspend the resumption of voterregistration in 25 places in Calabarzon and in North Cotabato, wherefacilities have been damaged or destroyed because of the earthquake... Wecannot reasonably provide registration services at this time,” Jimenezsaid.He said the suspension of voter registration in Batangas and Cavite coversthe areas within the volcano’s 14-kilometer danger zone.Jimenez said the resumption of voter registration, would depend on whenaffected areas could recover and return to normalcy.699 OBESE COPS MAY FACE DISMISSAL IN ZAMBOZAMBOANGA — A total of 699 police personnel from Police Regional Office 9(PRO-9) considered obese may face removal from service if they fail tocomply with the intervention program, according to official.Brig. Gen. Froilan Quidilla, PRO-9 regional director, called for the saidpolicemen from their mother units Zamboanga peninsula region, who reportedThursday to the regional headquarters for Body Mass Index (BMI) evaluation.Philippine National Police officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Archie FranciscoGamboa ordered all police personnel to undergo a BMI evaluation as part ofthe PNP internal cleansing program.CHINESE FIRM IN SANGLEY AIRPORT PROJECT HELPED BUILD SOUTH CHINA SEAARTIFICIAL ISLANDSMANILA — The Chinese state-owned firm that will handle the development ofSangley airport in Cavite is the same company that helped build Beijing'sartificial islands in the South China Sea.The tandem of Lucio Tan's MacroAsia Corp. and China CommunicationsConstruction Co. (CCCC) was the sole bidder for the Sangley PointInternational Airport project.The provincial government of Cavite earlier said it would award the projectto the MacroAsia-CCCC tandem mid-January. The proposal also includes CCCC'ssister companies China Airport Construction Group Co. Ltd. and CCCC DredgingGroup Co. Ltd.According to a Wall Street Journal report in November 2015, a ship owned byCCCC Dredging was seen in surveillance photos at one of China's artificialislands in the Spratly Islands. This report was based ondefense-intelligence provider IHS Jane's Defence Weekly.PAL WARNS AGAINST 'PHISHING SITE' LURING PUBLIC 'TO WIN PLANE TICKETS'MANILA - Philippine Airlines warned the public on Friday against a phishingsite that it said is circulating a "fake advertisement" supposedly offeringa chance to win plane tickets.In an advisory on its official Facebook page and website, PAL said openingthe site where the spurious ad appears places personal data of thoseaccessing it at risk.The airline company described the fake ad as showing a PAL logo with thephrase 'Home in the Sky' and lures "netizens to reply to several questionsin exchange for a chance to win plane tickets.""We urge everyone NOT TO open the site as doing so will compromise yourpersonal data," the PAL advisory reads."Our Information Systems Department has classified it as a phishing sitedesigned to capture personal information," it added.PAL said it is coordinating with authorities regarding the incident, andwarned those behind it "to desist from carrying out this illegal act."It reiterated that all official advertisements of the company are posted onits official website, and Facebook page.Banks and even government agencies have also issued warnings in the pastagainst phishing activities which have spiked amid the growing digitaltransformation across many sectors globally.JUDY ANN COOKS HOT MEALS FOR TAAL EVACUEESMANILA—She said that she's looking to take a break from doing teleseryes,following the conclusion of "Starla," at least for the first few months ofthe new year to spend more time with her family.And it looks like Judy Ann Santos has been putting her free time to gooduse, cooking and packing hot meals for the many who were displaced toevacuation centers due to the Taal eruption.On her Instagram Stories, Santos could be seen busy preparing the packedmeals with her family and friends, with husband Ryan Agoncillo leading thedistribution side.She shared that they managed to make a thousand packed meals, in addition tothe 35 relief packages they stored in reusable boxes.She wrote: "Sama sama tayong babangon para sa mga kababayan natingnangangailangan ng tulong."CROWN RETURNS TO BARANGAY, AS GINEBRA WINS PBA GOVERNORS’ CUP TITLEJapeth Aguilar scored 25 points, and Barangay Ginebra used a strong thirdquarter to beat Meralco 105-93 and win the 2019 PBA Governors' Cup title atMall of Asia Arena on Friday.It is the third Governors' Cup title in four years for Justin Brownlee andco. — all at coach Norman Black and Meralco's expense — and 12th overall forinarguably the league's most popular franchise.Ginebra fell behind by 14 points in the first half, but came alive after thebreak to close the best-of-7 series in 5 games.Brownlee contributed 24 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds, and StanleyPringle added 17 points and 8 assists in his first PBA championship, as allGinebra starters finished in double-digit scoring.Scottie Thompson chipped in 14 points and 6 assists, while LA Tenorio added12 points for Ginebra, which finished with 33 assists on 40 field goals.Meralco was in control early, leading by as many as 14 points, 39-25, beforeGinebra cut the deficit to 40-34 at halftime.Down 59-53 in the third, Ginebra went on a 15-3 run to go up 68-62 with 1:22left in the quarter.Instead of yielding in the midst of that run and a boisterous pro-Ginebracrowd, Meralco didn't go down without a fight.Bong Quinto's basket made it 86-84 with 5:47 left in the game, beforeGinebra a 13-2 burst made it 99-86 and put the game out of the reach.Allen Durham led Meralco with 29 points and 21 rebounds playing 48 minutes.Without injured center Raymond Almazan and its outside shootingdisappearing, though, Meralco couldn't match Ginebra's firepower.NBA SCORES JAN 16FINAL    1    2    3    4    Tteam logo Suns 17-24    25    33    32    31    121team logo Knicks 11-31    32    20    27    19    98SCORING LEADERSD. Booker PHO29 PTS, 4 REB, 4 ASTJ. Randle NY26 PTS, 6 REB, 3 ASTFINAL    1    2    3    4    Tteam logo Celtics 27-13    20    38    29    36    123team logo Bucks 37-6    36    40    30    22    128SCORING LEADERSK. Walker BOS40 PTS, 11 REB, 3 ASTG. Antetokounmpo MIL32 PTS, 17 REB, 7 ASTFINAL/OT    1    2    3    4    OT    Tteam logo Jazz 28-13    28    21    42    31    10    132team logo Pelicans 16-26    25    31    31    35    16    138SCORING LEADERSD. Mitchell UTA46 PTS, 6 REB, 2 ASTB. Ingram NO49 PTS, 8 REB, 6 ASTFINAL    1    2    3    4    Tteam logo Magic 20-22    26    22    28    19    95team logo Clippers 29-13    34    33    24    31    122SCORING LEADERSN. Vucevic ORL22 PTS, 9 REB, 4 ASTK. Leonard LAC32 PTS, 5 REB, 5 ASTFINAL/OT    1    2    3    4    OT    Tteam logo Nuggets 29-12    19    26    28    40    21    134team logo Warriors 9-34    34    28    23    28    18    131SCORING LEADERS    W. Barton DEN31 PTS, 5 REB, 7 AST    A. Burks GS25 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST