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China has a new policy that could discourage future civilian-led missions in the West Philippine Sea
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while posing a threat to the safety of Filipino fishermen.
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The new regulation gives Chinese Coast Guard powers to detain foreigners suspected of illegally crossing highly disputed waters.
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The regulatory document was released Wednesday,
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just as a group of Filipino civilians and fishermen sailed to the Scarborough Shoal,
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also known as Panatag Shoal, to assert Philippine sovereign rights.
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According to this arbitrary rule,
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foreign trespassers can be held for up to 60 days without trial.
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The policy takes effect in June.
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The Philippine Coast Guard calls the policy an empty threat.
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Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Commodore J. Tariella,
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believes China is aware of the possible negative impact of this fresh policy before the international community.
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Definitely, these are things na masasabi na nating illegal na action na naman ng China.
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Definitely, it's not just the Philippines that will be affected.
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On this kind of domestic law na ginawa nila.
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I don't think that China is really serious in doing this
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because mas malaki ang magiging backlash dito sa kanila.
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For security analyst Chester Cabalza, the regulation is clearly illegal
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and another attempt by Beijing to change the narrative on its maritime role with Manila.
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He urges the Marcos administration to raise the dispute to international courts once again.
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This is a preposterous, illegal, and retaliative.
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Because of what happened in the flotilla parade and the regatta show force of our civilian fishermen.
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This is their call to prevent any massacre that would happen at sea.
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They had in the past the Chinaman massacre where civilians were protesting against their aggression.
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And we are seeing right now in our own waters, in our own backyard, in our own territory,
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Filipinos fighting against the aggression.
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Congressional leaders slam China's new rule saying it violates the right to free passage.
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Clear violation of UNCLOS yan.
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Clear violation of the law of the seas, particularly on the freedom of navigation.
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Kung sibilyan po ang dumaan dyan, hindi dapat tagalawin ng China yan.
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At napakaklaro na itong lugar na ito, West Philippine Sea, South China Sea, deserve freedom.
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Of navigation lanes, dapat libre po dumaan ang tao kahit sino po.
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House Deputy Minority Leader Franz Castro agrees.
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She says China has no right to impose any regulation within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.
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She also echoes Cabaliza's call to expedite the filing of a new international case against China.
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China's illegal policy will be another thing Filipino fishermen will have to worry about.
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But many are inspired by the Philippine government's actions to assert the country's...
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...sovereign rights.
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Natutuwa kami dahil alam namin ng ating pangulo po ngayon ay pinaglaraban po yung ating subiran niya.
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Earlier this week, the civilian mission to the West Philippine Sea was considered a success.
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But there were some tense moments.
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You are approaching the water dating to Huang Yantou of the People's Republic of China.
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We persuade you not to go to Huang Yantou causing trouble. Over.
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Radio Challenges greeted the Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP Bagay.
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And route to the Panatag Shoal or Scarborough Shoal while escorting the Atintok Convoy Wednesday afternoon.
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Two Chinese Coast Guard vessels with bow numbers 4108 and 4203 shadowed the Philippine ship on both sides.
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In response, the PCG removed the LED hanging on its railings and moved all other furniture inside the ship to prepare for a possible water cannon.
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In its monitoring, the PCG said they were able to spot 10 Chinese Coast Guard vessels.
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10 Maritime Militia Vessels and 1 PLA Navy Ship around the Scarborough Shoal during the Aten Ito Mission.
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Commodore J. Tariella described it as an overkill and an abnormal display of power from China in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.
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Ngayon, kakaiba yung ginawa nila. There are 10 Chinese Coast Guard vessels.
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Iba yung nasa ibang layer of security yung ginawa nila na malapit sa Shoal.
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Another layer na 30 nautical miles.
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And then another layer.
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From 40 to 45 nautical miles.
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Ibig sabihin, they were really paranoid.
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Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News.
05:38.5
A vessel with 7 Chinese crewmen is detained by the Philippine Coast Guard.
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The Sierra Leone flagged vessel was boarded by the Coast Guard while it was anchored near San Felipe in Zambales province.
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The crew failed to present original copies of relevant documents.
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The shipmaster said they originally intended to make port in Manila.
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But Manila's high anchorage fees prompted them to proceed instead to San Felipe.
06:04.2
The Philippine Coast Guard is beefing up its fleet with five multi-role response vessels from Japan.
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Manila and Tokyo signed a deal for the vessels worth $400 million.
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This boost to the Coast Guard's capabilities comes amid the Philippines' maritime row with China.
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Japan's foreign ministry says the purchase will be covered by a loan.
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Japan expects the new ships to strengthen the Philippine Coast Guard's capability to address transnational crimes.
06:37.7
Filipino and American Marines conclude their interoperability drills in the Philippine province of Palawan.
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The three-day drills, which ended Friday, are part of the so-called Archipelagic Coast Defense Continuum.
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These involve the coordinated movement of vehicles and soldiers to secure supplies and troops.
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Drones were also used as part.
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This is part of the training for coastal defense capabilities.
07:03.5
Philippine Senators hold a public consultation in Baguio City on proposed amendments to the Constitution's economic provisions.
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Senators say the response so far has been positive.
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Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong hits efforts to revise the 1987 Charter by People's Initiative
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during the consultations of the Senate Subcommittee on Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 in his city.
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On Friday, RBH 6 proposes to empower Congress to regulate foreign investments in public utilities, higher education, and advertising.
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I would like also to decry some efforts of some legislators to pursue the People's Initiative.
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I believe it is purely unethical.
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I also firmly believe that the process for moving these kinds of legislations forward should be aligned with what is provided in our Constitution.
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And that the core foundations of national legislation,
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nationalism, and national interests are still primarily protected and, if not, strengthened.
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But other local officials from northern Luzon supported the proposed amendments.
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La Trinidad Benguet Mayor Romeo Salda says relaxing foreign participation in local investments would greatly contribute to local development.
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While Erickson Singson, board member of Ilocosur, says the changes have the potential of creating economic progress,
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jobs, and better services, even as they also come with threats of national control and economic sovereignty.
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But the Mariano Marcos State University,
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the city's position paper says allowing foreigners to own, control, and administer the country's higher educational institutions gives rise to issues surrounding national security.
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Senate President Pro Tempore Lauren Legarda, for her part, gave assurances that lawmakers will still have a chance to retool any amendments in case charter change is approved before foreigners can come in and invest.
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In the legislature, we still have to enact the pieces of legislation that will lead to that.
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100% allowing at least, 100% ownership sa foreigners, but depends on discussion of both houses of Congress.
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Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, meanwhile, has a sense of how many senators they need to convince to push economic charter change over the legislative hump.
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Right now, we need 18 votes. Right now, sa tingin ko, kulang pa kami ng dalawa.
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So, kailangan talaga kausapin natin yung mga medyo natatakot dito sa mga provisionalities.
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There's certain trust issues. I think it boils down to trust issues na baka may ibang topics na ma-take up at may lalagay.
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Both Zubiri and Subcommittee Chair Sonny Angara are encouraged by the public consultation they held in Baguio City.
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Very encouraging yung hearing namin today because if you noticed, a majority, if not almost 95%, are in favor of the lifting of economic restrictions in the Constitution.
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I think very productive kasi...
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...multi-sectoral. So, ang dami nagbigay ng kanilang viewpoints and we saw different points of view.
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But at least one senator urges his colleagues to be more deliberate.
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Ako, from the very beginning, ang aking position talaga is open ako for charter change only on economic provisions.
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It should be voted upon separately by both houses of Congress.
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The consultation in Baguio...
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...in Baguio is the first of three regional consultations.
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The consultations will continue in Cebu and end in Cagayan de Oro next week, paving the way for the panel to finish its report and recommendations to the Senate.
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Charter change has always been dead on arrival at the Senate, even if it has hurtled the House of Representatives many times.
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RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News.
10:50.6
Controversial Philippine Town Mayor Alice Guo continues to evade the public eye after questions arise over her citizenship.
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But the Interior Department continues to look up details of the Bamban Mayor's shadowy background.
11:05.2
Rafael Busano reports.
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For more than six decades, Tony Corpuz Jr. has been living in the small town of Bamban in the province of Tarlac.
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Unlike other residents who claim they know Mayor Alice Guo since she was a teenager, this Bamban resident is not familiar with her background.
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I don't know her. I don't know her. She suddenly disappeared.
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Kaya na ginano ko yung mga kababayan ko na bakit binood ko nila yung Chinese, sabi ko.
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Ngayon, mas mahal nila yung Chinese kaysa kababayan nila na ipinanganak dito sa Bamban.
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Eduardo, another senior citizen, says he only heard of Guo when she ran during the last elections.
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Both also expressed disbelief over Guo's statements about her personal background when she faced senators in a hearing last week.
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Kaya po ba, natatandaan niyo ba yung lahat ng mga eskwela?
12:03.8
Ah, siyempre po. Natatandaan ko. Pati yung mga kaklasko. Siguro po, imposible po yan.
12:10.5
Siyempre, hindi mo matanda ng nanay mo.
12:16.8
We went back to Bambang's Municipal Hall in the hopes of chancing upon the local leader where we talked to two of her supporters.
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Hindi po lang ako na suspended. Talagang nagrawa ni kami kung siya suspended.
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After the transaction windows, no one attended to our queries.
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This is the fourth day that the media has tried to reach out to the mayor.
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She was last seen in the Municipal Hall on Monday.
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Even the town's information officer was nowhere to be found.
12:44.2
In the documents obtained by ABS-CBN News from the Securities and Exchange Commission on Businesses,
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linked to Mayor Guo and her father, one showed an address in Bamban.
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This is QJJ Farms located in Virgen de los Remedios Village.
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We were unable to talk to anyone and the gates remained closed.
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Mayor Guo made headlines this month after the Senate cast doubt on her identity.
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The Department of the Interior and Local Government, which is already conducting an investigation, said
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it was Guo herself who applied for a no objection on the construction of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator even before becoming a mayor.
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Hindi po klaro doon kung ano po yung kanyang ownership doon sa Pogo Company na yan.
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Baga namin nakita sa dokumento, bagamat siya ay part owner naman, may ari ng mga facilities, yung bao po development.
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Interior Undersecretary Juan Victor Llamas adds,
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When Guo took office, she did not cancel a Pogo operator's business permit even after the expiration of its permit with PAGCOR.
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The DILG has passed on their information to the Ombudsman, which has authority to suspend a local government official.
13:58.5
ABS-CBN News, Bamban, Tarlac.
14:28.5
The State Department says the lower travel alert reflects the Philippine government's move last year to lift a state of national emergency in Mindanao.
14:38.0
A Canadian link to last month's massive drug haul in Batangas province is charged before the Philippine Justice Department.
14:46.7
Thomas Gordon O'Quinn underwent inquest proceedings Friday on an illegal drugs charge.
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O'Quinn was arrested Thursday in Tagaytay City by police and immigration authorities.
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Police say O'Quinn is a primary suspect in the smuggling of nearly 10 billion pesos worth of illegal drugs in Batangas.
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Several sachets of suspected shabu and cocaine were recovered from the suspect.
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O'Quinn is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice for exporting and distributing illegal drugs in America.
15:20.3
Coming up, a temporary pier opens in Gaza allowing the delivery of much-needed aid.
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This and other stories when The World Tonight returns.
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Thank you for watching!
16:28.4
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17:28.4
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17:58.4
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18:28.4
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18:58.4
The opposition wants to give Parliament greater oversight powers.
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These include a controversial proposal to criminalize officials who are deemed to make false statements in Parliament.
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But the Democratic Progressive Party accused the opposition of railroading the proposals without a customary consultation process.
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Philippine President Marcus Jr. says,
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These lawmakers have found a way to bring down domestic rice prices.
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Details have yet to be announced.
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But the President clarifies it would allow more rice imports by the government.
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Amendments to the country's rice tarification law are set to be passed by the House next week.
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The amendments aim to curb further increases in rice prices.
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Well, I don't want to preempt the Bicameral Committee.
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But I think we have found a solution already.
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So that kahit papano,
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maybe the mechanism will be different from that which was proposed.
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ang net effect pareho pa rin.
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Makakapag-import ang national government.
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I don't know through which agency first.
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They will have to decide which is best.
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Pagka mataas ang presyo ng bigas,
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magbibitaw tayo ng bigas,
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magbibenta tayo ng mababa para sumunod ang merkado.
20:22.1
The Philippine Central Bank is investigating reports that it has ghost employees.
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It did not disclose further details.
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Earlier reports said two central bank officials had hired staff who received salaries and benefits
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without actually reporting for work.
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The BSP says it is committed to uphold integrity and to ensure any erring employee will be held accountable.
20:47.2
BSP officials are among the highest paid in the Philippine bureaucracy.
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Employees there are also generally hired after rigorous screening.
20:58.0
China announces historic steps to stabilize its ailing property sector
21:02.7
as home prices fall in their fastest pace in nearly a decade.
21:07.2
Local Chinese governments are now allowed to buy some apartments
21:10.3
while mortgage rules are relaxed.
21:13.2
Beijing also vows to deliver on unfinished homes.
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Investors hope the measures show more decisive state intervention
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to compensate for the waning demand for apartments
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and to reduce the growing stock of unsold homes.
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Several developers have defaulted
21:28.0
since the Chinese property market began its downturn in 2021.
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This has sapped confidence in what was once
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the preferred savings instrument for Chinese citizens.
21:40.3
Philippine shares declined further on Friday
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as investors assessed comments by the central bank governor
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on possible monetary easing.
21:49.1
Details in this report.
21:52.1
Most Asian markets capped Friday lower on mixed economic developments in China.
21:57.1
Retail sales growth was at its slowest since 2022.
22:01.8
But property developers there get a much-needed boost
22:04.7
as Beijing eases mortgage regulations.
22:08.4
Here at home, Philippine shares notching their first weekly gain in a while
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although still marginally lower this Friday.
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Traders reacting to comments by central bank governor Eli Remolona on Thursday
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that they could start cutting rates by the third quarter.
22:22.2
I continue to expect a range of between 6.4 to around
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One thing that we need to understand that the first quarter growth numbers are actually good.
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So this is actually highlighting that the economy can withstand higher interest rates.
22:44.3
I think the only challenge really is trying to bring down that inflation expectations
22:49.3
so that consumer spending will eventually lift off.
22:54.5
Once the market becomes convinced that
22:57.1
the biggest portion of our economy, which is spending, starts coming back,
23:04.2
then most likely we could break out above the 6.8 and probably retest the 7,000.
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As long as we maintain trading above the 6,500 support level, we're still good.
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And if there are no any negative surprises locally or even globally,
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I think we should worry much less.
23:29.1
In corporate stories, the Ayala Group begins its divestment from Manila Water.
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It finalized today deals to sell its shares and those of its two units in the water concessionaire
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to Trident Water of Enrique Razon.
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The shares are equivalent to 14.5 billion pesos.
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Razon's Trident Water acquired a 25% stake in the company in 2020.
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The Ayala Group will continue to divest in Manila Water in the next five years
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when its preferred shares are fully paid for.
23:57.5
Some changes in Manila Water's organizational structure from this,
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Ayala Corp. CFO Alberto Larrazabal is out as director along with the economist Carl Chua.
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The former National Economic and Development Authority Secretary
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also exits as member of Manila Water's Executive Committee.
24:16.7
Still on acquisitions,
24:18.5
Aboytis Power closes its purchase of an additional stake in coal plant operator Stieg State Power.
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Total purchase price was at $11.
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billion dollars or 634 million pesos.
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This brings to 85% Aboytis Power's equity interest in the company.
24:36.2
Finally, Philippine Airlines boosts its fleet management with a deal with the Spanish charter firm Huamos Air.
24:42.8
The flag carrier is leasing two units of its Airbus A330-200 aircraft
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to fly passengers from Manila to Sydney and Melbourne.
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Powell says the move is to ensure operational resilience among others ahead of the peak travel period.
24:57.5
The agreement takes effect on June 1st.
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Our final word tonight is a quote from Geert Wilders.
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Without sovereignty, a nation cannot exist.
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Without borders, it can't be defined or protected.
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And that is The World Tonight, the 17th of May 2024.
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I'm Tia Gutierrez.
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I'm Tony Velasquez from the Philippines.
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Thank you for watching!
