News Roundup 04 October 2023
Oct 04, 2023 • 4 min Read
3 Filipino fishers dead after ramming by foreign vessel | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines(Updated 11:49 a.m.)— Three Filipino fishermen died after their fishing boat was rammed by a foreign commercial vessel off Bajo de Masinloc, the Philippine Coast Guard reported Wednesday.
Filipino fishing boat Dearyn was moored to a payao, or a floating fish aggregating device, located 85 nautical miles northeast of Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal, when it was struck by a still unidentified foreign vessel at around 4:20 a.m. Monday.
“Due to the adverse weather conditions causing darkness, the crew on board the mother boat failed to detect an unidentified vessel approaching, resulting in a collision that caused the mother boat to capsize,” the Coast Guard said.
This resulted in the death of three individuals on board, including the captain.
An update from the PCG revealed that Pacific Anna, a crude oil tanker sailing under the flag of Marshall Islands, might have collided with the fishing boat. It noted that the vessel “aligns with the details provided by the fishermen.”
The PCG will reach out to the flag of the vessel and the next port to be visited by the said vessel to be boarded by the Port State Control Officers. According to maritime tracker MarineTraffic, the vessel is en route to Singapore and is owned or operated by Atlantiss Ship Management, which is based in the city state.
The 11 survivors used their eight service boats to transport the deceased victims to Infanta town in Pangasinan. They arrived Tuesday morning and reported the incident to a PCG substation.
Full Story at: 3 Filipino fishers dead after ramming by foreign vessel | Philstar.com
Marcos lifts rice price cap | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has announced the immediate removal of the price ceiling on rice after about a month since its imposition.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Marcos said that “as of today,” the government is “lifting the price caps on rice, both for the regular-milled rice and the well-milled rice.”
This comes after the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Trade and Industry presented “positive” indicators to Marcos on Tuesday reportedly showing the effectiveness of the price cap, which was implemented on September 5 to arrest surging rice prices.
Executive Order No. 39 had imposed a P41 per kilogram cap on regular-milled rice and P45 per kilogram on well-milled rice.
“We are now removing the control. But we still have to fix the agricultural sector and help the poorest sectors,” Marcos said.
Full Story at: Marcos lifts rice price cap | Philstar.com
Zubiri tells Bongbong Marcos: Replace underperforming Cabinet members | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Wednesday advised President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to “crack the whip” or even replace underperforming Cabinet officials.
“Kung ako ang tatanungin ninyo, ang suggestion ko sa ating Pangulo [ay] to crack a whip with his Cabinet. Lalo na ‘yung mga poorly performing members of the Cabinet na imbes na tumulong ay lalong napeperwisyo ang iba,” Zubiri told reporters in a press briefing.
(If you’re going to ask me, my suggestion to the President is for him to crack a whip with his Cabinet, especially those who are poorly performing members of the Cabinet who burden others instead of helping.)
Full Story at: Zubiri tells President: Replace underperforming Cabinet members (inquirer.net)
As price cap ends, let those accountable be penalized – Hontiveros | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Senator Risa Hontiveros expressed hope that entities who caused the increasing prices of rice would be penalized as the price cap ended on Wednesday.
“The claim that cartels, hoarders, and price manipulators were responsible (but thwarted by the price cap) remains unproven, even months after the President ordered an investigation. Sana sa pagtatapos ng price cap, may mga nakasuhan at naparusahan na,” Hontiveros said on Wednesday.
(As the price cap ends, hoping that those who are accountable be punished.)
Hontiveros also hit the price cap as a “show of dramatic action” to popularize the administration and to induce “widespread concern and panic,” which were done to prepare the public for the government’s agricultural moves, such as the importation of rice.
Full Story at: As price cap ends, let those accountable be penalized – Hontiveros (inquirer.net)
