LACSON HITS WARNING FROM CHINESE NAVY: THIS IS MY COUNTRY, THEY HAD NO RIGHT
MANILA — "This is my country and no foreign armed forces can tell me to stay out."
Sen. Ping Lacson said this Monday after the plane he was riding to Pag-asa Island in Kalayaan, Palawan received warnings from the Chinese Navy.
He said he "never [considered] backing out" despite receiving a challenge on radio by a Chinese Coast Guard vessel while their plane was approaching the airstrip in Pag-asa Island.
"Aside from the possibility of being fired at being remote, this is my country, not theirs. They had no right. That was my mindset," he said in a statement.
"You are approaching our military zone. Please stay away from the area and leave immediately. Your actions are unfriendly and dangerous. Your actions are dangerous," the Chinese Navy warned Lacson's plane.
“This is Chinese Navy. You are approaching our military alert zone. Leave immediately in order to avoid misjudgment,” the Chinese authorities later added.
After arriving at Pag-asa Island, Lacson said he also received a text message saying, "Welcome to China," which he said was "unusual."
During his visit, the senator led a flag-raising ceremony and planted 3 Philippine flags. He also had a dialogue with the civilian community and Filipino troops stationed in the island.
Lacson, who chairs the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, reiterated the need for "balance of power" in the West Philippine Sea to allow the Philippines to exercise its sovereign rights.
Lacson has also filed his certificate of candidacy for president in next year's polls.
PHILIPPINES SENDS RESUPPLY SHIPS TO BRP SIERRA MADRE SANS ESCORT
The Philippines deployed Monday resupply vessels to Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin Shoal, a week after three Chinese coast guard vessels blocked and used water cannon on Philippine resupply boats in the area.
"The resupply ships left this morning Oyster Bay in Palawan and will reach (BRP) Sierra Madre tomorrow (Tuesday) morning," Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters.
He said he had received assurance from Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian that the resupply mission will not be impeded. "Pero pakiusap nila walang escort (But they asked that there will be no escort)," he said.
He added the Philippine military will remain in constant communication with the crew to monitor the mission and will deploy a Navy plane in the vicinity when the resupply ships are in Ayungin.
PHILIPPINES BEGINS ADDITIONAL COVID-19 JAB FOR ELDERLY, IMMUNOCOMPROMISED
MANILA—The Philippines on Monday began the administration of COVID-19 booster shots for senior citizens and third doses for immunocompromised individuals, allowing more Filipinos get additional protection against the virus.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the rollout of additional jabs for the A2 and A3 priority groups would be conducted in phases, saying it is not yet available for the general population.
"Hindi pa lahat ng A3 ay mababakunahan ng booster. Mag-umpisa po tayo sa immunocompromised individuals," she told Teleradyo.
Included in this category are those in immunodeficiency state; people living with HIV: active cancer or malignancy; transplant patients; and patients under immunosuppressive treatments.
Vergeire stressed those who want to receive the additional COVID-19 vaccine must be preregistered and have clearance from their attending physician.
The government aims to vaccinate at least 15 million Filipinos for the 3-day campaign, which is set on Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, she added.
MARCOS, SARA LAUNCH DAVAO DEL NORTE HQ
MANILA — Former Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio led Sunday the launching of their 2022 campaign headquarters in Tagum City, Davao del Norte days after confirming they are running in tandem for president and vice president, respectively.
The two, calling their tandem 'Uniteam', engaged their supporters, joining the last part of a caravan and distributing some souvenirs, with Duterte-Carpio disclosing that what made her decide to team up with Marcos was his experience as governor for four terms, a congressman and a senator.
Days after the two confirmed their tandem, President Rodrigo Duterte, the father of Duterte-Carpio, called Marcos a "spoiled" and "weak leader". Duterte is backing the presidential bid of his longtime aide, Sen. Christopher "Bong" Go.
"I confidently believe nga iyang experience nga mao na iyang magtabang sa iya sa pagkapangulo sa Pilipinas," Duterte-Carpio said of her 64-year-old running mate.
The Marcos camp has not yet reacted to Duterte's latest remark, but Duterte-Carpio has called on her supporters to “protect Marcos.”
“Kailangan masigurado natin na maprotektahan ang ating pagsuporta, protektahan natin ang ating kandidato, protektahan natin si BBM,” Duterte-Carpio said.
Duterte-Carpio, 43, is running under Lakas-CMD, which she now chairs along with the Davao-based Hugpong ng Pagbabago regional party, while Marcos is under Partido Federal ng Pilipinas.
The Davao City mayor said she accepted the offer to run as vice president because she realized she can help Filipinos in need.
The tandem added that Mindanao also had the potential to strengthen the country's agricultural exports.
2022 ASPIRANTS BARE PROPOSED PROGRAMS IF ELECTED AS PRESIDENT
ISKO'S 'BILIS KILOS'
Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso, the standard bearer of Aksyon Demokratiko, said his “Bilis Kilos” agenda of governance in can be replicated all over the entire country.
“Nasa pandemya tayo. Ang buhay at kinabukasan ng tao ang nakasalalay. Kaya naisip ko na kung ano ang ginawa natin sa Maynila, ganun din ang gagawin natin sa buong bansa,” Domagoso said in a recent radio interview, according to a statement from his camp.
The agenda include Domagoso's mass housing project, the construction of a COVID-19 field hospital and a new Ospital ng Maynila, the provision of free antigen testing and free remdisivir and Tocilizumab for COVID patients, and delivery of relief goods, his camp said.
"I will devote the first two years of my administration towards reinforcing our health system to best cope with the pandemic... even as we do everything to revive and rehabilitate our economy, to create more jobs, more business and more opportunity," he said.
"We must build more and better health facilities while addressing problems of malnutrition and mental health."
The actor-turned-politician said he would provide gadgets and other school supplies to public school students nationwide, similar to what he did with learners in Manila.
Public school teachers will also be given laptops and internet connection, he added.
Domgaso said housing would become the new focus of "Build, Build, Build," the Duterte administration's infrastructure program.
He added that he would work with Congress to reduce taxes on petroleum and electricity.
BONG GO'S STAND ON VACCINATION, NTF-ELCAC
Go, for his part, reiterated his appeal to grant cash incentives to beneficiaries of the government's conditional cash transfer program once they get vaccinated against COVID-19, amid proposals to make inoculation mandatory.
He also stands by his position to back the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) after its budget was slashed by the Senate due to unexplained spending this year.
ROBREDO SUPPORTERS
Vice President Leni Robredo meanwhile said she was not bothered by her survey numbers and acknowledged that she needs to work hard to improve them. Robredo was a far second to Marcos in the survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations.
If elected, Robredo said she will run after the alleged ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses, and let the rule of law run its course with regards with former First Lady Marcos’ graft conviction.
"Whether kung si Imelda Marcos yan or kung sino ka man na tao, kung ano ang sinasabi ng batas, kailangan sundin," Robredo said in an interview with Korina Sanchez.
PING ON A BREAK
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who recently visited Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea days after the Chinese Coast Guard blocked and used water cannon on Filipino supply boats at the Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal), spent the day in his home province, according to his social media post.
The final list of candidates for the May 9, 2022 elections will be released in the coming weeks, according to the Comelec. The campaign period for national aspirants officially begins on Feb. 8, 2021.
DUTERTE: PDDS, PDP-LABAN ARE ONE
MANILA — President Duterte has described as a “political strategy” his decision to run for senator under the Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan (PDDS) as he assured his allies in PDP-Laban that he remains a member of their party.
Speaking during a gathering of local leaders in Calapan City last Friday, Duterte said that under the PDP-Laban’s constitution the party can enter into alliances with other political parties to strengthen its chances of achieving victory in the elections.
He vowed to campaign for the candidates of the party at the national and local levels.
Duterte noted that the PDP-Laban is facing a leadership row between his allies and that of Sen. Koko Pimentel. He said his group would be “left hanging” if it loses in the dispute, which he claimed stemmed from Pimentel’s decision to support the presidential bid of Sen. Manny Pacquiao without consulting the party’s members.
“In the meantime, our strategy is if we lose, at least we would have a legal standing because we are also in alliance with a political party which is recognized by the Comelec (Commission on Elections),” Duterte said.
“For those (asking) why we used the CONA (certificate of nomination and acceptance) of our allied political party, PDDS, it can be summed up in two words, political strategy... The decision to use the CONA of PDDS is a strategic decision, which in due time will unfold on its own,” he added.
Duterte is chairman of the PDP-Laban faction of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, who supports the presidential bid of the President’s former aide Sen. Bong Go. Both Go and Duterte are running under PDDS. The Pimentel-led faction, meanwhile, backs the candidacy of Pacquiao, a former ally of the Duterte administration. The Comelec has yet to resolve the leadership row in the ruling party.
“I am a PDP member. I remain a PDP Laban member. I will not abandon the party, whose members helped me in my program of governance. I appreciate the loyalty and support of my partymates and will not waver in my commitment to them. I will continue to serve and be of service to PDP-Laban in my capacity as chairman and as member of the council of elders,” he added.
DUTERTE NAMES 70 NEW DOJ PROSECUTORS
MANILA — President Duterte has approved the appointment of 70 new prosecutors assigned to the Department of Justice.
DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Duterte appointed two batches of prosecutors for the department’s National Prosecution Service.
Guevarra said additional prosecutors were assigned to Quezon City, Taguig, San Juan, Manila, Las Piñas, Valenzuela and Makati.
The other prosecutors were deployed to provinces including Cagayan, Cagayan de Oro, Negros Oriental, Cagayan, Nueva Vizcaya, Western Samar and Lanao del Norte.
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PHILIPPINES REPORTS 175 NEW DEATHS FROM COVID, DEATH TOLL NOW AT 47,074
MANILA - The Philippines confirmed 175 new deaths from COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the country’s death toll from the disease to 47,074.
The Department of Health also reported 2,227 new cases of the disease, bringing the country’s total to 2,826,410.
The DOH also said there were 3,152 new recoveries, pushing the total number of Filipinos who recovered from the disease to 2,758,235.
This means that the country has a total of 21,101 active cases as of 4 p.m. Sunday.
ABS-CBN News has been tracking the number of vaccinations since March, and as of Nov. 18, the government has achieved only 42.7 percent of its targeted 77.1 million people after more than 8 months.
MMDA MULLING RETURN OF NUMBER CODING SCHEME WITH RISING VEHICLE VOLUME
MANILA — The Metro Manila Development Authority is looking at implementing the number coding scheme in the capital region once more as traffic continues to rise heading into the Christmas season.
Speaking in an interview aired over CNN Philippines' New Day, MMDA Director Noemie Recio said that the scheme could be implemented by late November or early December pending the approval of the Metro Manila Council.
"The pre-pandemic volume is 405,000. We are expecting by this Christmas season, it will be nearing 405,000 or over 405,000 a day," she said.
PNP CHIEF: DRUG SURRENDEREES WILL BE 'TAKEN CARE OF' AT RECOVERY FACILITIES FOR DRUG WAR 'FINALE'
MANILA — The Duterte administration's flagship anti-narcotics campaign will see changes in its final stretch as it looks to focus on the recovery of drug suspects, the chief of the Philippine National Police said Monday.
Speaking in an interview aired over CNN Philippines' "The Source," Police Gen. Dionardo Carlos said that for instance, drug users will be taken care of if they surrender to authorities.
According to Real Numbers PH, the Presidential Communications Operations Office's centralized report on drug war numbers, some 12,254 barangays in the country have yet to be cleared of illegal drugs.
"That's why we're reviving our recovery programs in the different barangays as the situation allows," he said, adding that the previous initiative was derailed by coronavirus restrictions earlier.
"We will do a little tweaking on the current version, but at the end of the day we want to end this administration the best way we can for our anti-drug campaign."
Asked about his rehabilitation plan under the war on drugs, Carlos said: "The lockdown is easing up, so we can go back to putting up these recovery facilities to take care of surrenderees."
PAL REROUTES MORE FLIGHTS TO ALTERNATIVE GATEWAYS
MANILA — Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is rerouting flights to alternative gateways outside Manila to accommodate the high demand this holiday season and prevent greater inconvenience.
“We are utilizing new ports of entry to accommodate more returning Filipinos and prevent cancellations of flights due to arrival limit at NAIA,” PAL said.
“Our top priority is to help more of you fly home for the holidays,” the airline said.
International arrivals to Manila are currently limited to 4,000 passengers daily, which are shared by all international airlines.
Given this existing cap at NAIA, PAL has recently rerouted flights from Bangkok to Panglao, Los Angeles and San Francisco to Cebu, Kuala Lumpur to Laoag, Doha to Subic, and Dubai to Subic, Davao or Cebu, among others.
“We realize that any change of routing affects your travel plans and regret the inconvenience. However, we believe this is better than scaling back on flights that would make it harder for Filipinos to proceed with their homecoming plans,” PAL said.
NEGROS PROVINCES OPEN BORDERS
BACOLOD CITY – Cross-border travel between Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental are now allowed as the provinces have opened their borders after a year of being closed.
Starting on Nov. 20, the Ceres Liner buses of the Vallacar Transit Inc. (VTI), the major transportation firm operating on the island as well as in other areas of the Visayas and Mindanao, were allowed to travel in and out of the provinces.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson issued an executive order providing the guidelines for incoming passengers plying the Dumaguete-Bacolod and Bacolod-Cebu routes, both through Mabinay town, as well as the Bacolod-Cebu route through Don Salvador Benedicto.
Fully vaccinated individuals are required to present an S-PaSS and a verifiable vaccination card or certificate of vaccination.
Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated travelers must present an S-PaSS and a negative RT-PCR or reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test result.
ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE
CAST OF PINOY ADAPTATION OF 'FLOWER OF EVIL' REVEALED
MANILA – The cast of the much anticipated Philippine adaptation of “Flower of Evil” has finally been revealed.
Joining lead stars Lovi Poe and Piolo Pascual are Robert Seña, Epy Quizon, Jett Pangan, Pinky Amador, Kit Thompson, Agot Isidro, Rita Avila and Denise Laurel.
All of them were at the story conference held inside the ABS-CBN compound on Sunday.
While not present during the event, Dreamscape Entertainment also announced that Joross Gamboa and Edu Manzano are part of the series.
The suspense drama marks Pascual and Poe’s first team up, and also the actress’ first project as a Kapamilya talent, but her second with ABS-CBN overall after the iWant movie "Malaya."
“Flower of Evil,” which is currently streaming on Netflix Philippines, follows the story of a husband trying to hide his twisted past under a different identity while deceiving his wife who is a detective.
The South Korean version was originally headlined by Lee Joon-Gi and Moon Chae-Won as the husband and wife, respectively.
ABS-CBN has yet to announce when the Filipino version will be released.
SPORTS
NBA SCORES NOV 20
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Rockets1-15 21 26 26 26 99
Knicks9-7 13 34 25 34 106
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, NEW YORK, NY
SCORING LEADERS
C. Wood HOU
18 PTS 12 REB 3 AST
A. Burks NY
20 PTS 5 REB 3 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Heat11-6 25 18 32 25 100
Wizards11-5 26 15 30 32 103
CAPITAL ONE ARENA, WASHINGTON, DC
SCORING LEADERS
J. Butler MIA
29 PTS 5 REB 4 AST
B. Beal WAS
21 PTS 4 REB 9 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Pelicans3-15 19 27 18 30 94
Pacers7-11 32 26 38 15 111
GAINBRIDGE FIELDHOUSE, INDIANAPOLIS, IN
SCORING LEADERS
J. Valanciunas NO
19 PTS 13 REB 2 AST
D. Sabonis IND
20 PTS 10 REB 6 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Hornets10-8 21 27 29 28 105
Hawks8-9 25 35 29 26 115
STATE FARM ARENA, ATLANTA, GA
SCORING LEADERS
M. Bridges CHA
35 PTS 10 REB 3 AST
C. Capela ATL
20 PTS 15 REB 1 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Thunder6-10 23 22 29 31 105
Celtics9-8 30 28 31 22 111
TD GARDEN , BOSTON, MA
SCORING LEADERS
L. Dort OKC
16 PTS 4 REB 3 AST
J. Tatum BOS
33 PTS 8 REB 5 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Grizzlies8-8 23 20 28 24 95
Timberwolves7-9 40 32 41 25 138
TARGET CENTER, MINNEAPOLIS, MN
SCORING LEADERS
D. Bane MEM
21 PTS 5 REB
D. Russell MIN
28 PTS 4 REB 5 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Magic4-13 24 26 21 37 108
Bucks9-8 36 26 34 21 117
FISERV FORUM, MILWAUKEE, WI
SCORING LEADERS
R. Hampton ORL
19 PTS 5 REB 9 AST
G. Antetokounmpo MIL
32 PTS 20 REB 5 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
76ers9-8 25 21 32 33 111
Trail Blazers9-8 30 25 31 32 118
MODA CENTER AT THE ROSE QUARTER, PORTLAND, OR
SCORING LEADERS
T. Maxey PHI
28 PTS 3 REB 9 AST
D. Lillard POR
39 PTS 7 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Jazz11-5 29 25 30 39 123
Kings6-11 28 21 31 25 105
GOLDEN 1 CENTER, SACRAMENTO, CA
SCORING LEADERS
D. Mitchell UTA
26 PTS 5 REB 5 AST
R. Holmes SAC
22 PTS 7 REB
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
I am patient with stupidity, but not with those who are proud of it. - Edith Sitwell
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