PMO directly involved in Rafale deal, PM is guilty: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi, Feb 8: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) was directly involved in conducting negotiations with the French side on the Rafale deal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "guilty" in the scam.
It is an open and shut case, Gandhi said, mounting a fresh attack on the government on the fighter jet deal following a media report.
The government can use the law against everyone, including his brother-in-law Robert Vadra and former Union Finance minister P Chidambaram, but must answer questions on the Rafale deal, the Congress chief said.
He was responding to a question on the Enforcement Directorate interrogating his brother-in-law Robert Vadra in a money laundering case and the government's sanction to prosecute former finance Minister P Chidambaram in the INX MEDIA case.
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Philippines president declares national energy emergency amid global fuel supply risks
Manila: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has declared a national energy emergency, citing the “imminent danger” to the country’s fuel supply due to global disruptions linked to the ongoing conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran, Al Jazeera reported.
“The declaration of a state of national energy emergency will enable the government… to implement responsive and coordinated measures under existing laws to address the risks posed by disruptions in the global energy supply and the domestic economy,” Al Jazeera quoted Marcos Jr as saying.
As part of the emergency response, a committee has been formed to ensure the orderly movement, supply, distribution and availability of fuel, food, medicine, agricultural products and other essential goods, he said.
The emergency declaration, which will remain in force for one year, allows the government to procure fuel in advance and take action against hoarding and profiteering.
Authorities are also empowered to take action against the hoarding, profiteering and manipulation of petroleum product supplies.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said the country currently has about 45 days of fuel supply based on current consumption. She added that the government is working to procure 1 million barrels of oil from countries within and outside Southeast Asia to build a buffer stock, though uncertainties remain.
Meanwhile, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said the government is in talks with Washington to secure exemptions that would allow for the purchase of oil from countries under US sanctions.
The announcement comes amid rising public discontent. Transport workers, commuters, and consumer groups have planned a two-day strike to protest fuel price hikes and what they call inadequate government response.
Piston, a federation of public transport associations, described the declaration of a national energy emergency as a “superficial band-aid that deliberately ignores the structural roots of the fuel crisis”.
“If the government genuinely intends to protect transport workers and commuters from this geopolitical crisis, it would immediately suspend the Excise Tax and Value-Added Tax on petroleum products to drastically lower prices overnight,” Al Jazeera quoted Piston as saying.
Renato Reyes Jr, of the progressive civil society coalition Bayan, said the declaration “does not address the basic problem of runaway oil prices and [their] effects on the mass transport system and other sectors in the country”.
As part of the government’s mitigation measures, students and workers in some cities are being given free access to bus rides, and the government has started to provide a 5,000 peso subsidy for public transport workers, including motorcycle taxi drivers, to help them cope with rising fuel costs.
