INQToday: US, PH eye cooperation to use space tech for maritime safety

Here’s a quick roundup of today’s top stories:

Task force steps up WPS watch amid reclamation by the Chinese

The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) is stepping up its watch of marine features in the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) following traces of ongoing reclamation activities in one of the shoals, its spokesperson said on Monday.

Jonathan Malaya, National Security Council (NSC) assistant director general, said the task force had ordered the government to intensify patrols in all marine features within the Philippines’ 322-kilometer (200-mile) EEZ after the Philippine Coast Guard reported the alleged dumping of corals on Escoda (Sabina) Shoal, east of Palawan province.

US, PH eye cooperation to use space tech for maritime safety

The governments of the Philippines and the United States (US) are looking at expanding their cooperation on the potential use of space technology for maritime domain awareness that would be beneficial in ensuring the safety of Filipino mariners at sea.

In a joint statement issued Tuesday (Philippine time), the US and the Philippines said they conducted the first Bilateral Space Dialogue in Washington, D.C. early May, agreeing that Earth observation is a “priority area for bilateral cooperation.”

Comelec: Bamban Mayor may face perjury charge

While it has already distanced itself from the issue, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said embattled Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo may be charged with perjury if she is proven to have misrepresented herself as a Filipino citizen when she filed her candidacy.

After a Senate hearing on Monday, Comelec Chair George Garcia said “there was a possibility” that some candidates in the 2022 elections, including Guo, had submitted fake documents, particularly about her Filipino citizenship, that allowed her to run as mayor of the municipality.