NEWS AROUND SUBIC BAY

State subsidies to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) dropped in August, but the Duterte administration’s total monetary aid to these companies continued to rise in the first eight months of the year.

Filipino and Australian naval forces darted across the sea and landed on a Philippine wharf in a disaster-response drill Sunday that reflects their deepening security ties in a region prone to calamities, piracy and territorial rifts.