News Roundup 30 July 2022
Jul 30, 2022 • 4 min Read
Diesel price rollback, gas seen slightly up next week | PHILSTAR.COM – Diesel could be up for another round of price rollback next week, while gasoline prices could see a slight increase. Philippine Petroleum Companies Association founding chairman Fernando Martinez said there are indications of rollback for diesel by P0.90 per liter, while gasoline products may have slight increase of P0.60 per liter. “Latest trend is the tightness of supply last three trading days with OPEC meeting expected next week,” Martinez said, referring to Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The price adjustments will be announced by oil firms on Monday, which will take effect the next day. Should the forecast adjustments be implemented next week, it would be the fifth consecutive week of price decrease for diesel. As for gasoline, it would put an end to three straight weeks of rollback. Last week, oil firms slashed diesel prices by P1.85 per liter, gasoline by P0.40 per liter and kerosene by P1.30 per liter. These resulted in year-to-date adjustments of a net increase of P18.90 per liter for gasoline, P32.95 per liter for diesel, and P28.05 per liter for kerosene.
US top diplomat Blinken to meet Marcos on alliance | PHILSTAR.COM – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel next week to the Philippines to meet new President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., with Washington expecting a close alliance despite rights concerns. Blinken will meet Marcos in Manila on August 6 as part of efforts “to strengthen the US-Philippines alliance” including on energy and trade, the State Department said. They will also discuss “our shared democratic values,” a statement said. Blinken will head to the Philippines after attending talks of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia. Blinken has not scheduled but does not rule out meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Phnom Penh, said Daniel Kritenbrink, the top US diplomat for East Asia. “We’ll see how things develop, but no formal plans,” he told reporters. Blinken and Wang held extensive talks on July 9 on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting in Bali, but tensions have since risen again over a potential visit to Taiwan by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. US officials said Blinken would also not meet in Cambodia with counterparts from Russia or North Korea, despite speaking by telephone Friday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a bid to free two US prisoners. Marcos, the son of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, quickly received a congratulatory call from President Joe Biden after he won May elections. The United States has a treaty alliance with the Philippines and has backed its former colony in increasingly heated disputes in the South China Sea with Beijing. US relations rebounded with Manila toward the end of the tenure of Marcos’ predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, who waged a brutal war on drugs that rights groups say left tens of thousands of dead. Then president Barack Obama raised concerns about human rights in 2016, leading Duterte to attack Obama publicly with profanity, but Duterte enjoyed unstinting support from Obama’s successor Donald Trump. Marcos senior and the first lady, Imelda, were notorious for their graft and high-flying lifestyle in a country marked by rampant poverty. The United States supported the elder Marcos for two decades but nudged him into going into exile in Hawaii in 1986 in the face of mass protests.
Lamitan City under tight security after murder of Ateneo shooting suspect’s father | INQUIRER.NET – The Philippine National Police (PNP) has tightened security in Lamitan, Basilan following the murder on Friday of the father of Dr. Chao Tiao Yumol, suspect in the gruesome Ateneo shootout last July 24. PNP officer-in-charge Vicente Danao Jr. said in a statement that Interior Secretary issued the directive for the PNP in Basilan to implement tighter security measures in Lamitan City after the killing of Rolando Yumol. “We adhered to the mandate of Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos and beefed up border controls to halt the possible escape of the gunmen,” Danao said. Danao said that PNP personnel have already been deployed in checkpoints to monitor suspected persons attempting to pass through. According to Danao, the arrest of the perpetrators is vital to deepen the investigation as many assumptions would link the incident to last Sunday’s shooting at the Ateneo de Manila University. “Let the probe take its course. We need concrete proof to establish the motive of the crime killing Mr. Rolando Yumol,” he said. Danao also sought for the public’s cooperation in informing law enforcers for any suspicious looking individuals in their community. The older Yumol was killed a day after his son was indicted for the killing of former Lamitan Mayor Rose Furigay along with two other individuals during Ateneo College of Law graduation rites at the Ateneo de Manila University campus in Quezon City.
