‘AUKUS TO HELP DETER THREATS IN SCS’

The AUKUS security bloc — composed of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States — will support the Philippines and neighboring countries by helping deter threats to a rules-based international order and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

This is amid escalating tensions in the contested waters, British Ambassador Laure Beaufils said Wednesday.

The UK has deployed at least two ships, which have visited the Philippines and will have “a persistent naval presence” in the Indo-Pacific region as a concrete sign of its long-term commitment to regional peace and stability, the envoy said.

Beaufils also said a UK Carrier Strike Group led by the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier may also visit the Philippines for the first time when the British warships sail back to Asia in about two years.

In an interview with GMA News, the ambassador said the UK has been expanding its international engagements since exiting from the European Union on January 31, 2020.

It belongs to the AUKUS, a three-nation security bloc in the Indo-Pacific that was unveiled in September 2021 partly for the US and the UK to help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

The diplomat also revealed that the British minister for the Indo-Pacific, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, will pay a visit this week to the Philippines.

The UK and the Philippines forged their “enhanced partnership” in December 2021 to deepen ties including in maritime cooperation that allows Great Britain to help the Philippines enhance its maritime domain awareness and strengthen capacity to address unregulated and illegal fishing.

PHILIPPINE DEBT RISES TO P13.75 TRILLION IN FEBRUARY

MANILA - The Philippine national government's total outstanding debt reached P13.75 trillion as of the end of February, higher by 0.4 percent compared to the previous month, the Bureau of Treasury said on Thursday.

Out of the total debt stock, 31.3 percent was sourced externally while 68.7 percent were domestic borrowings, the BTr said.

Domestic debt amounted to P9.44 trillion, higher by 0.6 percent in January, data showed. Meanwhile, foreign debt reached P4.31 trillion or 0.1 percent lower than the previous month, records showed.

The slight decline in external debt was due to the net repayment of foreign loans and the impact of third-currency adjustments against the US dollar which outweighed the effect of local currency depreciation, the BTr said.

The government earlier said its debt-to-GDP ratio improved to 60.9 percent in the third quarter of 2022.

AT LEAST 12 DEAD AFTER SHIP CATCHES FIRE OFF BASILAN; COAST GUARD SAYS NO OIL SPILL SO FAR

MANILA — At least 12 people were killed after a fire gutted a commercial boat off the coast of Basilan on Wednesday night, authorities said.

MV Lady Mary Joy 3 was carrying some 200 passengers when it caught fire off Baluk-Baluk Island past 11 p.m., Governor Jim Hataman-Salliman said in a text message on Thursday.

As of 8:36 a.m., 230 passengers were rescued from the ship with 9 of them given first aid, said Cmdr. Rejard Marfe, chief of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Salliman also told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo 14 passengers were brought to the hospital.

The death toll included at least 3 children, the governor said.

The vessel was on its way to Sulu from Zamboanga. The cause of the blaze remained unclear, the governor said.

"Hindi ako nakakuha ng accurate na kuwento kung ano talaga iyong nangyari kasi karamihan sa na-rescue rito sa Basilan, doon sa mga nakausap ko, nagising sila may sunog na," he said in a separate ANC interview.

Citing eyewitness accounts, PCG's Marfe said the fire started from an air-conditioned cabin.

The PCG has also deployed a 4-man Maritime Casualty Investigation Team (MCIT) from Manila to conduct a formal investigation into the incident, with the team expected to arrive within Thursday, Marfe said.

He added that a Marine Environmental Protection (MEP) has also been deployed to Basilan to check on a possible oil spill.

"So far wala namang reported na oil spill sa area," Marfe told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.

The ship has reached the shore of Baluk-Baluk, said Nixon Alonzo, the chief of disaster reduction and management office in Basilan.

"Base po sa pagpunta ko pabalik doon… wala namang mga tagas-tagas [na langis]. Kaya lang, may umuusok pa at may mga naririnig kami na mga putok-putok doon sa loob na hindi naman mayadong marami," he told TeleRadyo.

RODY BLASTS ICC, READY FOR JAIL

Former President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday cursed the International Criminal Court (ICC) for seeking to investigate his bloody war on drugs, and was unapologetic for the thousands of deaths it caused.

At a national prosecutors convention in Davao City, Duterte called the ICC “sons of whores” and said he fought the drug war the same way he fought criminality in his hometown when he was a mayor.

He said he was ready to face the consequences and even “rot in prison” for his actions.

Meanwhile, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said he would meet President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to consider other options available to the government, after the ICC denied its plea to suspend its investigation into Duterte’s drug war.

Earlier, the President said the ICC decision signaled the Philippines’ disengagement from any dealings with the body.

“We don’t have a next move,” the President said. “That is the extent of our involvement with the ICC. That ends all our involvement with the ICC since we can no longer file another appeal.”

But Guevarra, who was Duterte’s Justice secretary, said he prefers that the government wait for the ICC-Appeals Chamber to finally resolve its March 13 appeal.

“Personally, though, since we have already filed the appeal, we are not going to lose anything further by waiting for its resolution,” Guevarra said in an interview.

Guevarra said he would explain to the President. that the March 13 appeal of the government is still pending despite the ICC-Appeals Chambers’ denial of its request to halt the implementation of the Jan. 26 decision pending the final resolution on the merits of its appeal.

“I am sending a memo today for the President to explain to him the status of our appeal with the ICC Appeals Chamber. I’ll have to clarify with him that the appeal itself is still pending, it has not been denied, it has not been dismissed,” Guevarra told the ABS-CBN news channel.

He said the President may have gotten the impression that the main appeal was already rejected with the March 27 ruling considering that the ICC did not formally notify the government in advance of its decision.

POPE FRANCIS IN HOSPITAL, EVENTS CANCELLED

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican said Wednesday that Pope Francis, 86, was in hospital in Rome for previously scheduled health checks, before later cancelling his Thursday appointments.

"The Holy Father has been at Gemelli (Hospital) since this afternoon for some previously scheduled checks," wrote Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni in a one-sentence statement.

The pontiff, who this month marked 10 years as head of the Catholic Church, had earlier appeared in good spirits at his weekly audience at the Vatican, smiling as he greeted the faithful from his "popemobile".

However, he was seen grimacing as he was helped getting into the vehicle.

Italian media reported he was taken to hospital by ambulance after suffering from respiratory and cardiac problems.

His appointments for Thursday morning were cancelled, a Vatican source told AFP, adding that there was a possibility Francis could stay in hospital overnight.

The Argentine pontiff suffers from chronic knee pain that has forced him to rely on a wheelchair in recent months.

DEPED WON’T REVERT TO ‘OLD’ SUMMER BREAK

Despite the call of a senator to move back summer vacation for schools to April and May amid the hot weather, the Department of Education (DepEd) has no plan to do so at present, spokesperson Michael Poa said on Wednesday.

“At the moment, there are no plans to revert,” Poa told reporters in a message when asked about Senator Sherwin Gatchalian’s call to move the school break back from its current July to August schedule.

“As mentioned in a previous statement, school heads have the discretion to suspend in-person classes and immediately switch to ADM (Alternative Delivery Mode) or blended learning if the environment is not conducive to learning,” he added.

Poa said the DepEd “will take note of the suggestions and study the matter.”

On Tuesday, Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate basic education committee, said it is time to bring back the April–May summer vacation, prompted by a recent incident in Cabuyao City, Laguna where more than 100 students were taken to a hospital during a surprise fire drill at noontime.

“Kailangan ibalik ‘yan sa dati (We need to bring it back) … It’s time to bring it back, especially now that it’s normal already,” the senator said, referring to the lifting of restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some students passed out due to hunger and dehydration as on the day of the drill, the heat index in Cabuyao hovered between 39 to 42 degrees Celsius, according to a disaster management official.

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P4-B SHABU PACKED IN TEA BAGS SEIZED IN BAGUIO

Police and anti-drug operatives seized 575 kilos of suspected shabu, stored in tea bags, worth around P4 billion and arrested a Chinese national in an operation in Baguio City on Wednesday.

Joint operatives of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said 51-year-old Ming Hui was arrested during the implementation of a search warrant in Purok 4, Irisan, along Naguilian Road in Baguio at about 8:55 a.m.

The haul was the biggest so far this year in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Police Cordillera Director Brig. Gen. David Perado said.

Baguio City Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Rufus Malecdan Jr. issued the search warrant on Tuesday, NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Edgar Alan Okubo said.

The operation stemmed from the surveillance operations of the NCRPO, in coordination with PDEA, to locate the possible storage site of a big haul of illegal drugs until it was found to be in Baguio, Okubo said.

“Due to the unfavorable operating environment of these illegal drug syndicates in Metro Manila and rigorous anti-illegal drugs operation of NCRPO, these drug syndicates had no other choice but to hide these illegal drugs to Baguio City, which is known to have very low cases of drug affectation, thereby, becomes conducive for less likelihood of detection,” he said.

Okubo said an initial investigation showed the seized illegal drugs were to be distributed or sold in Luzon.

The Philippine National Police will take custody of the evidence gathered for safekeeping and further investigation while PDEA would undertake drug profiling to establish the DNA of the narcotics to aid the conduct of follow-up operations, he added.

MARCOS TO CHED: ADDRESS, REVERSE BRAIN DRAIN AMONG FILIPINO NURSES

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has directed the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to immediately address the shortage of nurses due to migration, which has been affecting the delivery of effective healthcare in the country.

“We have to be clever about the healthcare manpower. Our nurses are the best. We are competing with the entire world in terms of hiring Filipino nurses,” the President said during a meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Healthcare Sector group at the Palace Wednesday.

“All the Presidents and Prime Ministers I have talked to, they are asking for more nurses from the Philippines,” Mr. Marcos said as he asked CHED for concrete steps to keep Filipino nurses working in the country.

In response to the President, CHED chairperson Prospero de Vera III said it is already carrying out interventions to address the shortage of nurses, which include retooling board non-passers, adopting nursing curriculum with exit credentials, redirecting non-practicing nurses and conducting exchange programs with other countries.

“Under the nursing curriculum with exit credentials, students could have several options: exit at the end of Level I or II, obtain the certificate or diploma in Nursing, or choose to continue and finish the four-year nursing program to become a registered nurse,” De Vera reported to the PSAC Health Sector group.

De Vera said CHED is also working on a flexible short-term masteral program to address the lack of instructors in nursing and medical schools.

The Department of Health (DOH), according to Officer-in-Charge Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire, is also assessing the status of the proposed legislation on the Magna Carta for Public Health Care Workers and Philippine Nursing Act while doing a study on the standardization of salaries of nurses, doctors and healthcare workers.

It was also agreed on during the meeting that PSAC will monitor new technologies in healthcare that can be used for geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas and recommend those to the DOH and PhilHealth.

The PSAC will also study the feasibility of establishing remote diagnostics centers and assess new medical technologies and their costs.

FILIPINO-CHINESE BIZ GROUP TO FOCUS ON DIGITALIZATION

MANILA - Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc's new President Cecilio Pedro said on Thursday his leadership will focus on helping businesses digitalize and support the government in attracting more investments.

Pedro, who is also Lamoiyan Corp's President and CEO, replaced the group's former head Henry Lim Bon Liong.

"Digitalization is the key. How do we bring digitalization into the new, the old businesses here in the Philippines and become competitive in the world," Pedro told ANC.

He said the group is ready to help the government promote rules, regulations and other policies such as the ease of doing business to attract more foreign investments.

"Ang dami pong investments that wanted to come in but they want to look at what are we offering for them. We have to compare ourselves to our neighbors in Southeast Asia, even China and Japan," he said.

"The key is investments so we can generate jobs and generate income for the country in the months and years to come," he added.

Pedro said FFCCCII would still put food security and agriculture as priorities but he added that they would strive to be "effective" in other segments as well.

EX-GOV. TEVES SIGNS WAIVER FOR PHONE, BANK RECORDS

Former Negros Oriental Governor Pryde Henry Teves on Wednesday filed a waiver allowing the Department of Justice to probe his bank accounts, phone records, and emails in an effort to clear his name of involvement in the March 4 assassination of his successor, Roel Degamo.

Teves appeared at the Hall of Justice in Dumaguete City yesterday with the waiver, which he said may help authorities in their ongoing probe on him and his brother, suspended Negros Oriental Third District Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr.

In his waiver, Teves wrote he was a “law-abiding citizen” with “nothing to hide, and who desires nothing but to simply live in peace.”

This developed as three people arrested during the raid on a compound allegedly owned by former Governor Teves are set to file a complaint against the police before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), a lawyer said Wednesday.

Nigel Electona, Jeson Tintin, and Dionilo Mayagua Jr. said they were being pressured by policemen to point to the Teves brothers as the ones who ordered them to bury firearms retrieved during the raid last weekend, lawyer Michael Mella said.

“They told me that they were being pressured to admit that Congressman Teves and his brother Governor Pryde ordered them to bury the firearms recovered during the raid,” Mella said. “They did not submit to the pressure, and I advised them to remain silent.”

Asked who was pressuring the three, Mella said he assumed it to be the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group since they are detained there.

The PNP-CIDG or the Department of the Interior and Local Government had yet to comment as of press time.

Rep. Teves’ lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, called on Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos to investigate the alleged pressure.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

DONNY PANGILINAN TO STAR IN NEW FILM 'GG' WITH MOM MARICEL LAXA

MANILA -- Kapamilya actor Donny Pangilinan is set to star in the upcoming barkada esports-themed movie "GG" with his mother Maricel Laxa.

In their respective posts on Instagram Stories, Pangilinan and Laxa shared photos taken from the contract signing event for their project.

In the film to be directed by Prime Cruz, Pangilinan plays an aspiring gamer.

"GG" also stars Ronaldo Valdez and Baron Geisler.

Fans of Pangilinan expressed their support for the actor as GGMovieSoon WithDONNY landed on top trending topics on microblogging site Twitter.

Pangilinan last starred in 2022 Star Cinema film "An Inconvenient Love" with his love team partner Belle Mariano.

The two are set to star in the upcoming television series “Can’t Buy Me Love.”

DonBelle earned their “phenomenal” moniker in 2021, their breakout year as a record-breaking pair with the iWantTFC limited series “He’s Into Her” and the digital release of their launching movie “Love Is Color Blind.”

SPORTS

PBA SEMIFINALS GAME 3

GINEBRA ELIMINATES SAN MIGUEL, 87-85, ADVANCES TO FINALS

Crowd-favorite Barangay Ginebra eliminates sister team San Miguel Beermen, 87-85 in Game 3 of their best-of-5 semifinal series in the 2023 PBA Governors' Cup on Wednesday, March 29 at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.

The Scores:

GINEBRA 87 - Brownlee 22, Thompson 17, Standhardinger 14, Gray 13, Malonzo 12, Pinto 4, Pessumal 3, Mariano 2, Pringle 0.

SAN MIGUEL 85 – Clark 16, Perez 14, Lassiter 13, Cruz 12, Enciso 11, Tautuaa 6, Herndon 6, Ross 5, Manuel 2.

Quarters: 16-17, 38-50, 58-70, 87-85

TNT DEF. MERALCO, 99-80, TAKES COMMANDING 2-1 SERIES LEAD

TNT Tropang GIGA defeated the Meralco Bolts, 99-80 in Game 3 to take a commanding 2-1 lead in their best-of-5 semifinal series in the 2023 PBA Governors' Cup on Wednesday, March 29 at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson led the Tropang Giga with a huge double-double of 40 points (14/27fg, 2/4 3pts, 10/12ft), thirteen rebounds, two assists and one steal. Mikey Williams, the only local player to finish in double figures, finished with 29 points on 9-of-21 shooting from the field including 6-of-15 from beyond the arc and 5-of-6 from the line to go with one rebound and three assists while RR Pogoy and Jayson Castro added 7 points apiece.

Semis Game 4 is on Friday, March 31 at 5:45pm at the Big Dome.

The Scores:

TNT 99 - Hollis-Jefferson 40, M Williams 29, Pogoy 7, Castro 7, Erram 4, Oftana 4, Khobuntin 3, Montalbo 3, Chua 2, Varilla 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0.

MERALCO 80 – McDaniels 30, Newsome 12, Black 11, Hodge 11, Maliksi 4, Caram 3, Almazan 3, Pasaol 3, Jose 2, Quinto 1, Banchero 0, Pascual 0.

Quarters: 30-15, 56-30, 75-59, 99-80

INDICATORS

FOREX $1 = P 54.45

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

We cannot change our memories, but we can change their meaning and the power they have over us. - David Seamans