News Roundup 16 February 2023
Feb 16, 2023 • 4 min Read
In face of China denial, DFA says there’s no reason to doubt Coast Guard account | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines on Thursday stood by the Philippine Coast Guard in the face of China’s account of an incident in Ayungin Shoal as the BRP Malapascua was on a rotation and resupply mission last week.
The clashing accounts of the incident comes despite the use of a direct line that the countries had agreed to put up to ease tensions over the maritime row.
“As far as the DFA is concerned, we have no reason to doubt the [PCG’s] account of the incident,” said Amb. Ma. Teresita Daza, spokesperson of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
This comes after China denied that it used a military-grade laser against BRP Malapascua and instead claimed its coast guard used a “hand-held laser speed detector and hand-held greenlight” as a means of measuring distance and speed.
Full Story at: In face of China denial, DFA says there’s no reason to doubt Coast Guard account | Philstar.com
‘Big guns’ mulled for PCG vessels | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — While intending to stay true to its mandate to preserve peace and de-escalate tensions in the West Philippine Sea, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Tuesday that it is considering arming its vessels with “big guns.”
Interviewed by “The Chiefs” on Cignal TV’s One News, PCG spokesman Rear Admiral Armand Balilo said the possibility of arming PCG vessels will be studied, but it will still abide by its mandate to avoid any confrontation with the China Coast Guard (CCG) despite its aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea.
“Perhaps we will study and see if it is really warranted to have big guns on our ships,” Balilo, speaking partly in Filipino, said.
Balilo emphasized that all PCG vessels have no guns because they are designed mainly for maritime law enforcement and the preservation of peace, upon which their mandate was established.
However, recent aggressive behavior by CCG vessels in the West Philippine Sea has raised questions on how the PCG should respond, particularly to the laser-pointing incident that resulted in the temporary blindness of a Filipino coast guardsman.
Full Story at: ‘Big guns’ mulled for PCG vessels | Philstar.com
Philhealth charter bars investing in Maharlika | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) cannot invest in the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) because its charter prohibits such a move, the head of the state-run agency said on Wednesday.
“For now, it’s very clear in the [PhilHealth] charter [that] it’s not allowed, so we’re not considering it,” PhilHealth president and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. told reporters.
But in the event Congress decides to amend PhilHealth’s charter to allow investments in the proposed wealth fund, he said: “If it will help the country, we’re open. But we will [have to] study [it] thoroughly.”
He made this position as PhilHealth executives told a press briefing that the agency maintains a good fiscal position despite the “opportunity loss” of about P17 billion due to the delayed increase in premium payments.
Ledesma expressed confidence that his agency could cover the planned rollout of new benefit packages for 2023, given its nearly P400 billion in assets and a projected annual income this year of about P50 billion.
Full Story at: Philhealth charter bars investing in Maharlika | Inquirer News
Imported sugar raises fears of favoritism, monopolies – Hontiveros | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA Philippines — Senator Risa Hontiveros had her doubts on Thursday about Sugar Order (SO) No. 6, which green-lights the importation of 440,000 metric tons (MT) of refined sugar.
The senator expressed concern about the size of the order, wondering how such an extensive volume was calculated.
“Una [First], where did they get the volume of 440,000MT when three major federations of sugar producers pushed for only 330,000MT?” Hontiveros asked in a statement.
The senator also remarked that previous SOs were prorated based on a mechanical calculation and questioned why the Department of Agriculture (DA) controls the quantity to be allocated to importers.
“Pwede bang sabihin ng DA na sa tatlong trader lang, at etsapwera na ang iba kahit sila ay nag-apply at eligible importers naman? Hindi ba ito favoritism at virtual monopoly?” the senator also pointed out.
(Can the DA say that the import will only go to three traders while the rest will be excluded even if they applied and are eligible importers? Isn’t this favoritism or virtual monopoly?)
Full Story at: Imported sugar raises fears of favoritism, monopolies – Hontiveros | Inquirer News
