Abbey M.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is scheduled to leave for Japan next week for a state visit, with security and energy as the main topics he intends to discuss with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

One of the key matters Marcos plans to take up during their meeting in Tokyo is the security cooperation between the Philippines and Japan, which is also tied to the recently signed Reciprocal Access Agreement between the two countries.

"I expect that we will be talking about many things in Japan, but of course, security cooperation will be a very important part of that discussion," the President said. 

(Inaasahan kong marami tayong pag-uusapan sa Japan, ngunit siyempre, ang kooperasyon sa seguridad ay magiging napakahalagang bahagi ng talakayang iyon.)

The Chief Executive also cited Japan's significant contribution to the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

As current Chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Marcos likewise intends to discuss the situation in the South China Sea, where both the Philippines and Japan are facing similar security concerns.

"I will also bring up to see what it means in terms of further cooperation and assistance, not only to the Philippines but to ASEAN as well. As Japan and the Philippines have experienced the same difficulties in terms of coercive acts, in terms of different gray zone, so to say, tactics that are being exercised in the South China Sea and in all of China," Marcos stated. 

(Babanggitin ko rin upang makita kung ano ang ibig sabihin nito pagdating sa karagdagang kooperasyon at tulong, hindi lamang sa Pilipinas kundi pati na rin sa ASEAN. Dahil ang Japan at Pilipinas ay parehong nakaranas ng mga kahirapan pagdating sa mga mapilit na hakbang, sa iba't ibang gray zone tactics na ipinatutupad sa South China Sea at sa buong China.)

Aside from this, the President noted that the Philippines will also seek Japan's support in terms of energy supply amid the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

"And so we will again try to engage Japan and to see how it will work together – together with Japan, as Japan has now taken a more active role when it comes to the – when it comes to the subject of energy and energy supply," he added. 

(Kaya muli naming susubukang makipag-ugnayan sa Japan at tingnan kung paano ito gagana – kasama ang Japan, dahil mas aktibong papel na ang ginagampanan ng Japan pagdating sa usapin ng enerhiya at suplay ng enerhiya.)

According to Marcos, Asian countries should begin looking for alternative sources of oil.

"I don't think that we will go back to the old system where the majority of the petroleum products that are coming out of the Strait of Hormuz are going to Asia. I think Asia is going to start looking for alternative measures in case this happens again," he pointed out. 

(Sa palagay ko, hindi na tayo babalik sa lumang sistema kung saan karamihan ng mga produktong petrolyo na nagmumula sa Strait of Hormuz ay napupunta sa Asya. Sa tingin ko, magsisimula nang maghanap ang Asya ng mga alternatibong hakbang kung sakaling muling mangyari ito.)

The Chief Executive stressed that affected countries must act before tensions in the Middle East escalate again and further endanger the supply of petroleum products. He cited the planned ASEAN Grid and oil reserve for ASEAN member countries as examples.

The entire Visayas grid was once again placed under yellow alert today as several major power plants in the region remain non-operational. This comes despite the Department of Energy's policy against plant shutdowns during the summer season.

"To be transparent, the plants that are not available for Visayas is the large plant in Cebu that we call it TVI. May problema sila sa planta na kino-correct nila. Dalawang 169 megawatts sa Cebu. And then sa Panay, may tinawag tayong planta na PEDC, 150 megawatts. Ang out gyud natu sa Visayas is 845 megawatts, daku na kaayu na," said Engr. Neil Martin Modina, Assistant Vice President and Head of Visayas System Operations of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP). 

(To be transparent, the plants that are not available for Visayas include the large plant in Cebu that we call TVI. They have a problem with the plant which they are correcting. That's two units of 169 megawatts in Cebu. And then in Panay, there's a plant we call PEDC, 150 megawatts. Our outage in Visayas is 845 megawatts, which is already very significant.)

In an advisory released by the NGCP this morning, the Visayas grid was placed under yellow alert from 3PM to 9PM. 

According to the NGCP, aside from the high electricity consumption due to the hot weather, the forced outage of several major plants in the region is also having a significant impact.

An estimated 845 megawatts have been deducted from the Visayas grid's power supply due to the non-operation of plants in Cebu and Panay.

Modina noted that the affected facilities include major coal plants in Cebu and one plant in Panay currently undergoing repair.

Although the plants had already conducted maintenance before the onset of summer, defects were reportedly discovered after inspection, prompting the implementation of a force outage.

The NGCP added that the Department of Energy (DOE) has a policy to avoid maintenance shutdowns of plants during the summer season, but unforeseen problems must still be considered for the safety of operations.

"Ang policy sa DOE, gihatag ni nga policy nga wa gyuy mag-shut down og planta og summer. Pero gi-cut off gud na sya nga 1st quarter ra gyud ang shut down sa mga planta. Tanang planta i-require gyud na nga way maintenance karung summer. Karun ang nahitabo paghuman og maintenance sa planta, naa silay nakita, ingun sa plant manager I-RCA pa nila, root cause analysis. Mao na sya nigamay ang atung output sa mga planta kay dili man sila available," the NGCP official explained. 

(The DOE policy states that no plant should shut down during summer. It was set such that the shutdown of plants is limited to the 1st quarter only. All plants are required to have no maintenance during summer. What happened now is that after the maintenance of the plant, they saw something — the plant manager said they still need to conduct a root cause analysis or RCA. That's why our output from the plants has decreased because they are not available.)

Because of this, the NGCP is not ruling out the possibility of rotational brownouts should the power supply shortage in Visayas continue.

Nevertheless, the power supply coming from Mindanao is reportedly providing a big help in filling the gap in the Visayas grid.

"Si Mindanao na naay surplus of power, nag-supply na natu og 450 megawatts daily. Kung atung tan-awn, walay supply ni Mindanao, musamot ta'g ka-deficient. Mao na'y atung nindut nga nabuhat sa NGCP, gi-connect natu ang Mindanao which is surplus of power," he added. 

(Mindanao currently has a surplus of power, supplying us 450 megawatts daily. If we look at it, without Mindanao's supply, we would be even more deficient. That's the good thing NGCP was able to do — we connected Mindanao, which has a surplus of power.)

The affected major plants are expected to return to operation by July and August, which will help augment the power supply in the region.

The United States has imposed a travel ban on its citizens and foreigners coming from Uganda, Congo, and South Sudan.

This follows the confirmation that a US missionary tested positive for the Ebola virus in the Republic of Congo.

The said missionary and six of her companions will not be allowed to return to the US for the time being. Instead, they will be sent to Germany for treatment and recovery.

Officials assured the public that there is no cause for alarm as there are no recorded cases of the Ebola virus within their country.

"That American, as well as 6 high-risk contacts are going to be taken out of that region and taken to Germany. That is an internationally recognized location for viral hemorrhagic fever treatment. For all other Americans, we issued travel warnings. Right now there are no cases of Ebola in America, we want to keep it that way. And we want to make sure to support all Americans in that region," said Dr. Heidi Overton, Chief Policy Officer of the America First Policy Institute. 

(Ang Amerikanong iyon, kasama ang anim na high-risk contacts, ay ilalabas sa rehiyong iyon at dadalhin sa Germany — isang internasyonal na kinikilalang lokasyon para sa paggamot ng viral hemorrhagic fever. Para sa lahat ng iba pang Amerikano, naglabas kami ng travel warnings. Sa ngayon, walang naitatalang kaso ng Ebola sa Amerika at nais naming panatilihing ganoon. Nais din naming tiyakin na nasusuportahan ang lahat ng mga Amerikano sa rehiyong iyon.)

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) asserted that the arrest of Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa based on the warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) is legal.

It emphasized that there is no longer a need for a corresponding warrant from a local court in the Philippines in order to enforce the arrest issued by the ICC.

Based on Section 17 of RA 9851, "in the interest of justice," authorities in the Philippines may choose not to pursue their own investigation or prosecution of a crime if there is already another international court such as the ICC, or another country, currently undertaking it.

The OSG called the senator a "fugitive from justice" due to his deliberate evasion of arrest, and as such, he allegedly has no right to seek judicial relief or a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Supreme Court.

It also clarified that Dela Rosa is not protected by parliamentary immunity because the crimes against humanity he is facing carry a penalty of more than six years of imprisonment.

In light of these arguments, the OSG asked the Supreme Court to dismiss Dela Rosa's motions for lack of merit.

Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano assured the public that the CCTV footages of the shooting incident at the Senate last week have been immediately secured.

According to the Senate leader, they are ready to share the said videos with authorities.

Cayetano clarified that on the very day of the shooting incident at the Senate, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla already reached out to him.

This was to ensure that the CCTV footages of the incident on the night of May 13 would be secured.

According to Senator Cayetano, he ordered the Sergeant-at-Arms to release a copy of the video.

"I'd like to clarify na agad-agad sinecure yung CCTV sa Senate. Marami pong theories, marami pong haka-haka, maraming nagpupush ng narrative. Isa sa unang sinabi sa akin ni Secretary Jonvic Remulla ay pagdating sa Senate, we will secure the Senate, we will make sure that everyone's safe. Sabi niya, Senate President, or kilala naman niya ako, so sabi niya, Alan, please make sure may access kami at na-secure yung CCTV. So as soon as I saw the Sergeant-at-Arms, sinabi ko na parating dito si Secretary Remulla, make sure that in front of them, makita nila yung CCTV, tapos may dalawang kopya. May kopya tayo, may kopya sila," Cayetano said.

("I'd like to clarify that the CCTV at the Senate was immediately secured. There are many theories, many speculations, many people pushing a narrative. One of the first things Secretary Jonvic Remulla told me was that upon arriving at the Senate, we will secure the Senate, we will make sure that everyone's safe. He said, Senate President — or since he knows me, he said, Alan — please make sure we have access and the CCTV is secured. So as soon as I saw the Sergeant-at-Arms, I told him that Secretary Remulla was on his way here, make sure that in front of them, they will see the CCTV, and there should be two copies. We have a copy, they have a copy.")

Senate President Cayetano emphasized that full transparency in the investigation is a priority of the new Senate leadership.

Because of this, he said they are ready to provide copies of the CCTV to all authorities that will request them for the investigation.

"So as far as I can recall, joint investigation ito. Kailangan full transparency. Hindi pwede natin sabihin jurisdiction natin ito, so tayo lang mag-iimbestiga. Klarong-klaro po yun na sinabi natin na to be transparent. At naibigay ka agad 'to sa PNP at DILG. So sa lahat ng humihingi ng kopya, maging sa Office of the Ombudsman, maging sa NBI," he added.

("So as far as I can recall, this is a joint investigation. There has to be full transparency. We cannot say this is our jurisdiction alone, so only we will investigate. It was made very clear that we said we would be transparent. And we immediately gave [copies] to the PNP and DILG. So to all those requesting copies, including the Office of the Ombudsman and the NBI.")

Meanwhile, Acting Sergeant-at-Arms, retired Police Major General Mao Aplasca, also issued an official statement.

The Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) strongly denied the fake news circulating on social media and some media outlets claiming that no video was obtained from the second floor of the building.

In the released statement, the OSAA said that on the night of May 14, it formally turned over to the Philippine National Police - Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) National Capital Region the original and unaltered copies of the CCTV footages.

The OSAA warned that the spread of unverified and fake information only damages the integrity of the ongoing investigation.

The Senate leadership thus appealed to the media and the public to be responsible and to trust only official documents.