PHILIPPINES' MARCOS IN TOKYO TO SIGN DEFENSE, INFRASTRUCTURE DEALS

MANILA — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos will meet Japan's prime minister Thursday seeking to deepen ties, including with defense deals, in response to growing Chinese military pressure in the region.

Marcos' trip comes a week after Manila announced a deal giving US troops access to another four bases in the country, and with Japan and the Philippines already in talks on a key defense pact.

The so-called Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) would allow the countries to deploy troops on each others' territory for training and other operations.

Japan, which invaded and occupied the Philippines during World War II, has recently inked similar pacts with Britain and Australia.

Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are not expected to complete negotiations on the RAA deal immediately, but they will likely agree to measures aimed at speeding up military deployments for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

The 2 leaders are taking an incremental approach towards the RAA, probably to avoid provoking Beijing, Renato DeCastro, distinguished professor in the International Studies Department at De La Salle University in Manila, told AFP.

"Both countries are still very much aware that they have touched a sensitive nerve in China (by) creating the possibility of an Asian encirclement of China," DeCastro said.

In Beijing's view, "this might the beginning of an Asian NATO. Because you really have Asian countries strengthening and enhancing their security partnerships."

Before departing on Wednesday, Marcos called his trip to Japan an "essential" part of a drive to strengthen partnerships "with major countries in the region amid a challenging global environment".

He said he was "actively seeking" collaborations with Tokyo in areas including "agriculture, renewable energy, digital transformation, infrastructure, defense and security".

He and Kishida are expected to sign 7 agreements covering those areas on a trip that will also see Marcos meet Japan's emperor on Thursday afternoon.

PH, JAPAN EYE VFA-LIKE PACT

Tokyo—Security and defense cooperation across the Asia-Pacific region—including more patrols in the South China Sea—will be the key issues during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s five-day visit here as Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the Philippines and Japan are “very close” to forging a pact similar to the Visiting Forces Agreement.

Mr. Marcos who deplaned at Haneda International Airport at 5:35 p.m. yesterday, said security is “a new element” in the relationship between Manila and Tokyo.

Galvez, who arrived in Japan along with the official delegation of Mr. Marcos, said “malapit na” (very close) in an ambush interview on the possibility of the military agreement.

Mr. Marcos, however, said there has been no formal discussion yet on the possible VFA equivalent.

“We haven’t formally discussed that,” the President said. “I don’t know if (Japanese) Prime Minister (Fumio) Kishida will take it up with me on this trip. But, so far, there have not been any formal proposals in that regard.”

A Visiting Forces Agreement paves the way for foreign troops to have wider access to military bases in the Philippines and to hold joint military drills and exercises with Filipino soldiers, as the United States has with the PH.

Mr. Marcos said Japan is supporting the improvements in the capacity of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) apart from donating patrol vessels because it wants to assure free passage for ships in the South China Sea.

Mr. Marcos’ Japan visit, his ninth official overseas trip since he assumed office.

PH GOVT NOTIFIES ICC IT WILL APPEAL DRUG WAR PROBE RESUMPTION

MANILA — The Philippine government has taken the first step in appealing an International Criminal Court Pre-Trial Chamber ruling authorizing the resumption of the probe on the deadly drug war of the previous administration and the alleged Davao Death Squad.

In a 5-page notice filed on Feb. 3, the government, led by Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, told the ICC Appeals chamber it will file an appeal. The filing was confirmed by the official to reporters.

“The Appeal is directed against the whole decision,” the notice read.

“The relief being sought is a reversal of the decision and the denial of the OTP’s (Office of the Prosecutor) request to resume investigation regarding the Situation in the Republic of the Philippines,” it added.

The ICC PTC also found that the measures taken by the Philippine government “do not amount to tangible, concrete and progressive investigative steps being carried out with a view to conducting criminal proceedings, in a way that would sufficiently mirror the Court's investigation."

The government made clear it disagrees and rejects the ICC PTC’s ruling.

It sought instead for a “suspensive effect” so that the implementation of the ruling will be suspended pending final resolution of the appeal.

Under ICC rules, the Philippine government has 21 days from the notification of the decision to file an appeal brief laying out its reasons opposing the resumption, and the ICC Prosecutor has another 21 days from notification of appeal brief to file a response, according to experts from Human Rights Watch.

It could take four months before the ICC Appeals Chamber could rule on the matter, counted from the filing of the response to the appeal brief.

DTI LISTS HIGHER SRP FOR 70 FOOD PRODUCTS LIKE NOODLES, MILK, BREAD

After months of delaying the inevitable, the Department of Trade and Industry published Wednesday the new and updated Suggested Retail Price (SRP) Bulletin with higher prices for at least 70 stock keeping units (SKUs), including canned goods, milk, noodles and bread.

The price hikes came a day after the country posted a record inflation of 8.7 percent in January.

Trade undersecretary Carol Sanchez assured consumers the DTI made sure to allow only minimal adjustments for commodities seeking price hikes, particularly for daily consumables.

“Generally, the highest increase on food items is about P2, thereabouts, and those are mostly canned meat products and a few milk items have also increased by an average of P3,” she said.

Based on the new SRP, the retail price of budget breads Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy pandesal went up by P2 for a retail price of P40.50 per loaf while a plastic pack of pandesal went up by P1.50 for a retail price of P25 per pack.

The DTI also confirmed price increases for 6 sardines brands of about P 1 to P1.50 per 155 gram-tin can.

A noodle brand and powdered milk brand have also increased their SRP by P0.50 and P2.25, respectively.

For canned milk, a condensed milk brand increased price by P1.75 to P41 per 300 milliliter can while an evaporated milk brand now sells at P41 per 300 ml can from P37.40. About 4 skus on canned milk products introduced new price increases.

Meanwhile, 15 SKUs of canned meat—meat loaf, corned beed and beef loaf—showed increase in retail prices.

Candles have the most number of skus that have increased retail tags. There about 30 skus for candles alone.

Among the condiments, 3 SKUs of fish sauce has also enforced upward adjustments in prices as well as 5 skus on bath soaps and some detergent bar brands.

There is no movement for salt and bottled water, as well as for batteries.

PINAY RESCUED FROM RUBBLE OF TURKEY QUAKE: FILIPINO COMMUNITY

MANILA – A Filipina earlier presumed to have died from the magnitude 7.8 quake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday is still alive, the Filipino community in Ankara said.

On Wednesday, a leader of the Filipino community in Turkey said they received word that a Filipina had died from the quake, according to her employer.

But she has since been found alive, according to Cherry Torres, president of the Pinoy in Ankara Community.

“Kanina pong hapon, may lumabas po na balita na parang may narecover na pong isang Pinay. Isang kababayan po natin ang na-recover, napabalita po nung una na cinonfirm po ng amo na patay na pero na-recover po siya, buhay po,” she related.

Torres said they rarely get a chance to communicate with Filipinos in affected areas of Turkey. “Yung communication po hindi po madalas, kasi po nakiusap po ang gobyerno na wag muna masyadong tumawag sa mga affected areas gawa ng hindi po kayang supplyan ng telecommunication company,” she said.

She said they are now seeking cash donations for the affected Filipinos.

“Ang Turkish government po, siyempre po unahin po nila yung mga locals nila. So ngayon po yung ginagawa po naming donation drive, para po yun sa mga kababayan natin, and may mga natatanggap po kaming mga messages galing sa ibang bansa na gustong mag-cash donation. Yun na lang po sana hinihiling namin para po hindi na po kami mahirapan sa mga stuff, kasi ipapa-cargo pa po yun,” she explained.

“Kung cash donations po, makakabili po kami or ibibigay naming doon sa mga biktima yung cash para sila na lang po yung bibili ng mga pangangailangan nila,” she added.

She said they are now seeking cash donations for the affected Filipinos.

GOV’T RATES HIGH ‘OVERALL’ BUT LOW IN INFLATION FIGHT

The current Marcos Jr. government has received low satisfaction ratings in fighting inflation and corruption but received a high satisfaction rating “on the overall” after the Social Weather Stations (SWS) released its annual Survey Review summarizing reports from past administrations on Wednesday.

“Satisfaction with governance is generally high. However, net satisfaction ratings are ‘moderate’ (plus-12) for fighting corruption and ‘neutral’ (plus-1) for fighting inflation,” the private polling firm said in its survey findings.

The survey covers a total of 13 topics and showed how Filipinos responded to issues ranging from disaster preparedness and the COVID-19 pandemic to elections and satisfaction with government officials.

SWS classifies net satisfaction ratings of at least +70 as “excellent;” +50 to +69 as “very good;” +30 to +49 as “good;” +10 to +29 as “moderate;” +9 to -9 as “neutral;” -10 to -29 as “poor;” -30 to -49 as “bad;” -50 to -69 as “very bad” and -70 and below as “execrable.”

Comparing past administrations from President Corazon Aquino to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., scores on fighting inflation and corruption were consistently rated low.

GLOBE SAYS POSTPAID USERS MAY NOW CONFIRM SIM REGISTRATION IN JUST ONE STEP

MANILA — Globe Telecom said on Thursday its postpaid users may now confirm their SIM registration in just one easy step.

From Feb. 9, Globe said it would start sending out an SMS asking postpaid users to confirm their details by simply texting SIMREG to 8080.

Sending the SMS confirms the postpaid and platinum customers' name, date of birth, sex, address and proof of identification that they have already submitted to Globe during their postpaid application, the telco said.

“We have made it very easy for our valued Postpaid customers to complete their SIM Registration. With just one text, they will be compliant with the SIM Registration law. With this step, we hope to reach more of our customers and get them to register,” said Darius Delgado, Head of Globe’s Consumer Mobile Business.

Prepaid subscribers can still register using the official channel at https://new.globe.com.ph/simreg.

As of Feb. 7, some 30 million SIMs have been registered in compliance with the law, the Department of Information and Communications Technology said.

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SC JUNKS GRAFT CASE VS. ENRILE, OTHERS OVER COCO FUNDS MISUSE

The Supreme Court has ordered the dismissal of the graft charges filed against former Senator and now chief presidential legal counsel Juan Ponce Enrile and several others in connection with the alleged misuse of coconut levy funds amounting to P840.7 million.

In a 52-page decision penned by Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, the SC’s First Division ruled that the Office of the Ombudsman violated the constitutional right to speedy disposition of cases of respondents Enrile, businessman Jose Concepcion, Rolando dela Cuesta, Narciso Pineda and Danila Ursua, warranting the dismissal of the graft charges against them.

The SC also ordered the dismissal of the graft case against Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., Jose Eleazar, Maria Clara Lobregat, and Augusto Orosa due to their supervening deaths.

The SC said criminal and civil liabilities are distinguished by Article 89 of the Revised Penal Code.

For civil liability, the high court said the government may still file civil cases against the respective estates of Cojuangco Jr., Eleazar, Lobregat and Orosa, “as may be warranted by law and procedural rules.”

If a case has already been filed, the high tribunal said the civil action “shall survive notwithstanding the dismissal of the criminal case in view of their deaths.”

MANILA NAMED WORLD’S ‘MOST LOVING CAPITAL CITY’

MANILA, Philippines — Are you a Manila resident? Chances are, you just sent all your loving to a crush, but in a tweet.

Love is in the air in the city of Manila, according to a global word analysis from Crossword Solver, which called the Philippine capital the “most loving city in the world.”

In its website, the word search tool analyzed geotagged tweets from all over the world that contained variations of the phrase “I love you” and those that contained the heart emoji.

“We could calculate the proportion of loving tweets per 100,000 overall to determine which location was more loving than others,” the website said.

Manila turned out to be the “most loving capital city in the world” with 1,246 “loving tweets” per 100,000 tweets.

Manila even trumped the city associated with romance – Paris, France – which did not land in Crossword Solver’s top 20 ranking.

It seems Manila residents had the most “hugot” lines on Twitter by sharing their emotions or terms of endearment online.

The website cited a 2006-2007 Gallup study that found that 93 percent of people in the Philippines reported feeling love on a typical day, the highest proportion of any country in the world.

In the Gallup poll, which quantified feelings of love from residents in 136 countries, Philippines was “the world leader in love” with 93 percent of the population reported feeling love.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

‘TEN LITTLE MISTRESSES’ HAS MESSAGE FOR WOMEN ON VALENTINE’S DAY: DON’T SETTLE FOR LESS

MANILA – Just in time for Valentine's Day, Amazon Prime Video is releasing its first-ever original Filipino movie “Ten Little Mistresses” that aims to empower women.

Top-billed by veteran stars John Arcilla, Eugene Domingo, and Pokwang, "Ten Little Mistresses" will be available to stream in the Philippines and more than 240 countries and territories starting February 15.

Directed by Jun Robles Lana, "Ten Little Mistresses" tells the story of a widowed billionaire Valentin Esposo (Arcilla), and his 10 mistresses contending to become his new legal wife. All 10 women end up being suspects when Valentin unexpectedly drops dead during a gathering.

According to the cast members, the film will highlight women’s worth and self-respect which are timely reminders to everyone on Valentine’s Day.

“Kailangan mo pakiramdaman 'yung mga nangyayari sa palagid. Hindi palaging nasa ulap. Dapat maging wise ka,” comedienne Pokwang said.

For Carmi Martin, the happiness of a woman is not dependent on a man: “You don't need a man to be happy. You can express your love to your family, to someone. Hindi naman kailangan lalaki.”

Meanwhile, Domingo credited Lana for yet another masterpiece that boasts the beauty of women.

“The point is, we are very beautiful. We are the most beautiful God has created. Do not settle for anyone who is less than what you deserve,” Domingo said.

She went on to remind everyone that being beautiful is not connected to being in a relationship.

“So for Valentine's Day, it is not important that you have a partner. It's not important that you are alone. Just remember, whether it's Valentine's or every day, when you wake up, I am the most beautiful creature God has ever made. I am beautiful,” she explained.

Fortunately for her, she found the love of her life but she admitted that she was also losing hope before. “I was desperate for love. I was almost giving up. But I don't want to settle for anything less,” she said.

The movie also stars Christian Bables, Arci Munoz, Agot Isidro, Kris Bernal, Sharlene San Pedro, Adrianna So, Kate Alejandrino, Iana Bernardez, and Donna Cariaga.

SPORTS

TNT DEF. CONVERGE, 128-122

TNT Tropang GIGA (4-1) defeated Converge FiberXers (4-1), 128-122 to grab their fourth win in the 2023 PBA Governors' Cup on Wednesday, February 8 at the SMART Araneta Coliseum .

Jalen Hudson led the Tropang Giga with a huge double-double performance of 56 points on 21-of-31 shooting from the field including 6-of-11 from beyond the arc and 8-of-11 from the line along with 12 rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in 41 minutes of play. Mikey Williams had a solid game of 19 points, five rebounds and two assists while RR Pogoy added 18 points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal.

Jamaal Franklin paced the FiberXers in the losing effort with a double-double of his own with 47 points (15/29fg, 9/22 3pts, 8/10ft) to go with 14 rebounds, seven assists, three steaks and three blocks while Maverick Ahanmisi finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.

The Scores:

TNT 128 - Hudson 56, M Williams 19, Pogoy 18, Varilla 12, Castro 10, Oftana 5, Khobuntin 3, Chua 3, K Williams 2, Marcelo 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0.

CONVERGE 122 – Franklin 47, Ahanmisi 21, Tratter 11, Arana 10, Racal 9, Stockton 8, Teng 8, Murrell 6, Balanza 2, Guinto 0, Tolomia 0.

Quarters: 35-32, 64-65, 93-94, 128-122

GINEBRA DEF. NLEX, 114-111

Barangay Ginebra (2-0) defeated NLEX Road Warriors (4-1), 114-111 grab their second win in the 2023 PBA Governors' Cup on Wednesday, February 8 at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.

Justin Brownlee led all scorers with huge 44 points (16/29fg, 14/18 2pts, 2/11 3pts, 10/11ft) along with 16 rebounds and six assists in 47 minutes of play. Jeremiah Gray delivered clutch baskets down the stretch to finished with 19 points including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc to go with four rebounds, three assists and one steal while Scottie Thompson had a near triple-double of 12 points, seven rebounds, ten assists, one steal and one block.

NLEX new import Wayne Selden Jr. paced the Road Warriors in the losing effort with a double-double of his own with 44 points (14/30fg, 12/19 2pts, 2/11 3pts, 13/17ft), seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals while Kevin Louie Alas finished with 22 points, six rebounds and three assists.

The Scores:

GINEBRA 114 - Brownlee 44, Gray 19, Thompson 12, Pringle 10, Malonzo 9, J Aguilar 9, Pinto 8, Tenorio 3, Pessumal 0, R Aguilar 0, Mariano 0.

NLEX 111 – Selden Jr. 43, Alas 22, Ganuelas-Rosser 19, Rosales 10, Trollano 6, Semerad 6, Gabo 3, Anthony 2, Doliguez 0, Pascual 0.

Quarters: 28-25, 59-55, 84-92, 114-111

INDICATORS

FOREX $1 = P 54.80

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. - The Dalai Lama