Malacañang already made it clear in earlier statements, but now the affirmation came from the President himself. In his Independence Day speech on Friday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recognized Senate President Pro Tempore Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian as the new leader of the chamber. READ: Gatchalian rejects Cayetano ‘power-share’ proposal The President opened his remarks by

MABALACAT CITY—Thirty-five years after Mt. Pinatubo’s 1991 eruption buried towns, darkened skies and displaced hundreds of thousands across Central Luzon, survivors remember not only the destruction—but the solidarity that helped them endure one of the world’s most powerful volcanic eruptions of the 20th century. As Pampanga marks the anniversary of the June 15, 1991 eruption,