00:00Nightly greetings to all of you, yours truly, Gabriela Lopez here and this is PTV News Now,
00:09kicking off our second round of major stories at the hour.
00:13Isn't it so ironic how a billionaire business person who's made her fortune on government money
00:19could also be stipping the very cash cow she's milked over the years by deliberately skipping tax payments or customs duties?
00:26A speculation or hypothetical that could prove true if fond she did not pay tax appropriate taxes on a fleet of luxurious imported vehicles she owns.
00:36The prospect of the Diskaya sinking into deeper woes against the government and the public is looming large
00:42with more discoveries unraveling on their amassed fortune.
00:46To include, by their very admission in TV interviews late last year, at least 40 high-end set of wheels parked in a secure garage.
00:54Land Transportation Office records gleaned of late show a far higher number of luxury automobiles registered under their names, proxies and businesses.
01:04So much so, the Bureau of Customs officers and personnel came knocking on their door today
01:09to check on their fleet of vehicles and if proper taxes were paid in where purchase or procurement.
01:15But a clearly panicking Diskaya's couple and family, fearing the prospects of confiscation,
01:20had made sure to transfer the locations of all but two in their garage to locations unknown.
01:27Customs officials, however, assured to find them in due time.
01:32America may still be the most powerful nation on the planet, economically and military,
01:37but her chief rival for global supremacy has surpassed and taken over the world's top shipbuilder of the largest naval superpower.
01:45And as VOA's Carla Barb reports, while China continues to up productions, U.S. shipbuilding is on a downtrend.
01:53The U.S. Navy, 296 ships strong.
02:00Thousands of companies build the parts and maintain them, including Fairbanks Morse Defense,
02:05the largest engine manufacturer in North and South America.
02:09This engine has about 10,000 horsepower.
02:11CEO George Whittier tells VOA 90% of the company's business goes to the U.S. Navy or Coast Guard.
02:18The company, he said, expected the size of the Navy fleet to increase,
02:23to match Navy force structure goals that get bigger every year.
02:27But in recent years, the fleet decreased.
02:30Last year's budget funded just six new Navy ships, while decommissioning 15 from the fleet.
02:36And then for the 2025 budget plan, originally that was supposed to be 10 new ships,
02:40and now they're only going to ask for six new ships again, and they want to decommission 19.
02:45So that's then down minus 13.
02:47While the U.S. Navy is still considered the most powerful in the world when it comes to firepower and tonnage,
02:53the number of U.S. Navy ships is falling behind China's.
02:57Its Navy is on pace this year to surpass 400 ships, according to the Pentagon.
03:02It's very frustrating and very challenging to be a supplier.
03:05They're rapidly growing the size of their Navy, and here we are on the sidelines.
03:09It's, you know, we need to get more ships that are out there.
03:11We send a shipbuilding plan to Congress every year.
03:14Admiral Jim Kilby, the acting chief of Naval Operations, agrees.
03:18And we've advocated for a bigger Navy for a long time.
03:21But he says he hasn't had the budget to replace all his aging ships and submarines, much less grow the force.
03:27And when we get a new ship, we'll replace an old ship, because that old ship is more expensive and harder to maintain.
03:34Whittier says the lack of growth isn't just slowing the maritime defense industry, it's sinking the supply chain.
03:41There's thousands and thousands of suppliers that have gone out of business, and it's a real risk.
03:46I got a note from the folks at Electric Boat that make the submarines,
03:51and they'd identified something like 350 critical suppliers where they were concerned,
03:56if they go out of business, that they don't necessarily have a backup.
03:58Fairbanks Morse Defense happens to be one of the biggest suppliers to U.S. submarines,
04:03and the sole U.S. company supplying the biggest engines used in the military's amphibious warfare ships.
04:09Without four of these, an amphib is nothing but a piece of metal floating in the water.
04:13Each engine, about the size of a small school bus.
04:17We should have two engine suppliers, but the reality is, is if the Navy's only going to build six ships a year,
04:22it's a struggle to keep one engine supplier in business, let alone two.
04:26A problem so concerning, the president is taking action,
04:30announcing this month a new office in the White House devoted entirely to shipbuilding.
04:34We used to make so many ships.
04:36We don't make them anymore very much, but we're going to make them very fast, very soon.
04:42Congress is expected to increase the military's budget to surge resources for its shipbuilding shortfalls.
04:49While most ships made in the United States are for its military,
04:52Senator Mark Kelly tells VOA the state of U.S. commercial shipping is even more dire.
04:57We went from 10,000 ships during World War II to 85 today.
05:02So in case of an emergency, in case of a conflict with a near-peer adversary,
05:08we're quite limited to getting all those supplies and equipment, troops across the ocean.
05:15The United States builds about five commercial ships each year.
05:19China builds more than 1,000.
05:21They have one shipyard, just one shipyard, that's bigger than all of our shipyards put together.
05:28They can construct them very, very quickly.
05:31And we just don't do that anymore.
05:34Kelly in December introduced bipartisan legislation called the Ships for America Act.
05:39The bill aims to increase the U.S. commercial fleet by 250 ships in 10 years,
05:44which will also increase the supply chain for military ships.
05:48A lot of the parts that go into a U.S. aircraft carrier, some of those same parts for those systems go in merchant ships.
05:57Kelly says the bill uses tax incentives and fees on cargo coming into the country to fund the growth.
06:04There are provisions in the legislation to have it fully paid for,
06:07so we don't have to add anything to the annual deficit.
06:13Defense industry leaders say they welcome efforts to prioritize shipbuilding to help counter China,
06:19and warn inaction will put the U.S. even further behind in the future.
06:24The Navy's latest shipbuilding plan only increases its fleet to 380 ships by 2040,
06:29still fewer than the number of Chinese naval vessels today.
06:34Carla Babb, VOA News, Norfolk, Virginia.
06:40At this moment, let's lend our eyes and ears to my colleagues in PTV's Baguio City Studios
06:46for what's hot and happening in the Cordilleras.
06:48Audrey?
06:48Thank you very much.
07:18I think he's the best choice.
07:33Kilalang-kilala ko si Vince Dyson.
07:36And if you want something to happen,
07:39and if you want, you know, to make things happen,
07:44it's Vince Dyson.
07:45Meron kaming strategy.
07:47So, nagtatawagan kami dalawa.
07:49Continuous yung aming communication,
07:51and talagang kundinsya is really very much committed
07:57to transform DPWH,
08:01at the same time get to the bottom of all these anomalies na nangyari,
08:06involving the agency.
08:07Kabayatan na ag-talak ni Sen. Francis Kiko Pangilinan,
08:14at akal te epekto ti isyo dag iti anomalya iti flood control projects,
08:17iti ekonomiya, iti pagilian.
08:19Sigunten ko na ka-sherperson
08:23ti Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform,
08:26adamot lang ti epekto na iti sektor, iti agrikultura, iti pagilian,
08:30naskan a madusa dag iti karaman, iti anomalya dag iti proyekto.
08:33Mamatimot lang ti Senador,
08:35anaskan a mabukal baban, iti lentag,
08:37ti may sang investigative body,
08:39amang investiga iti kadag iti anomalya iti proyekto.
08:42In yun ay unay na anaskan a karaman iti investigative body
08:45na sigod at sekretary tDPWH
08:47a ni Rogelio Babe Singson
08:49ka ni sigod ng ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales.
08:52Mensay na matlangki ni Presidente Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.,
08:55anaskan ay pasigurado na matutukan
08:57ti sumarunong ombudsman ti issue
08:59ti na anomalyaan a flood control projects.
09:02Itong mga ito, hindi pa,
09:04buhay pa sila pero yung kaluluan nila
09:06isinusunog na sa imperno
09:08at dapat talaga busisiin ito
09:10at parusahan itong mga sugapa.
09:14Bira mo yun,
09:15trilyon.
09:20Dagita-dagiti damdamag manipod iti
09:22PTV Cordillera,
09:23siya kami Audrey Villana,
09:25na Imbag Arabi.
09:27Many thanks Audrey,
09:28and with that,
09:29we've come to the end of our show tonight.
09:31Join us a new tomorrow
09:32for another set of major stories
09:34here and abroad at the hour.
09:36This is Gabby Lopez,
09:37wishing you all
09:38a restful night ahead
09:39and thank you for watching
09:40PTV News Now.
