Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Sunday, July 18, 2021.
Pacquiao knocked out as party president
ENERGY Secretary Alfonso Cusi on Saturday was elected as the new president of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), knocking out Sen. Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao. The PDP-Laban installed Cusi during the party's national assembly in Clark, Pampanga on Saturday. No less than President Rodrigo Duterte, PDP-Laban's chairman, administered the oath to Cusi and other new officers of the ruling party. However, Pacquiao, who is training in the US for his fight against Errol Spence Jr. in August, along with Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel 3rd and "thousands" of supporters, rejected the election of the new set of officers and branded the Clark assembly as "farce and illegal." He maintained that the Cusi-led national council meeting on Friday and the subsequent Saturday national assembly were both held in violation of the constitution and by-laws of the party, as they were not coordinated with him and Pimentel, who is the executive vice chairman of the ruling party.
OCTA: Return to stricter quarantine vs Delta
THE head of the independent OCTA Research group proposed a rollback in the easing of restrictions against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) after its more transmissible Delta variant was detected in the Philippines. In a phone interview with The Manila Times on Saturday, Professor Ranjit Rye said the general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions that was enforced previously in the National Capital Region (NCR) and its so-called bubble in Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal should be reimposed.
Metro Manila mayors likely to be reelected in '22 – poll
THE top five performing mayors in Metro Manila will win if elections were held today, according to an independent non-commissioned survey. On top is Quezon City Mayor Josefina "Joy" Belmonte with 87 percent, closely followed by Pasig Mayor Victor Maria Regis "Vico" Sotto with 86 percent; Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso, 80 percent; Valenzuela Mayor Rexlon "Rex" Gatchalian, 79 percent; and Navotas Mayor Tobias "Toby" Tiangco, 77 percent. The "NCR Halalan 2022 survey," conducted by the RP-Mission and Development Foundation Inc. (RPMDinc) said Belmonte topped the preference ratings for mayor in Quezon City at 65 percent against closest rival, Kalusugan party-list Rep. Michael Defensor, who has 24 percentage points. It also showed that if Domagoso will run for reelection, he will be unopposed.
BIR surpasses collection target in H1
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) breached its tax collections target for the first half of this year. BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay told The Manila Times that his agency raked in P1.034 trillion in January to June 2020, exceeding its tax goal of P1.017 trillion by P16.35 billion or 1.61 percent. The amount is an 8.11-percent uptick from the P956.4 billion collected in the same six-month period in 2020. Dulay attributed the BIR' performance to "more sustained and focused collection effort, intensified audit and investigations." He added that the tax agency also gave quality service to taxpayers through the use of digital technology.
India's 'People's Vaccine' to be used in PH
Corbevax, a Covid-19 recombinant protein subunit vaccine, developed and manufactured by Indian pharmaceutical firm Biological E Limited (BioE) is set to apply for an emergency use authorization (EUA) in the Philippines. BioE created Corbevax with technology from Baylor College of Medicine, United States and adjuvant procured from Dynavax Technologies, USA. The vaccine uses spike protein from the virus to induce an immune response once injected into the human body.
BSP securities auction nets P100B
In business, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) weekly securities auction netted P100 billion. According to BSP Deputy Governor Francisco Dakila Jr., the central bank's one-month bill was oversubscribed by 1.87 times the offered volume of P100 billion, resulting in a total of P186.61 billion in bids.
Bills for Filipino athletes pushed
Over to sports, lawmaker appealed to the House of Representatives to expedite the passage of two sports bills that seek to recognize and provide support to Filipino athletes representing the country in the global field. Agusan del Norte First District Rep. Lawrence Fortun on Saturday stressed the need for House Bill (HB) 5728 or the "International Filipino Sports Achievers Recognition and Career Development Act" and HB 5782 or the "Bayaning Atletang Filipino Act." He made the appeal in light of the Tokyo Olympics, which is set to begin on July 23.
Marlen Ronquillo is today's front page columnist. He believes tax cuts and charter change are reasons for an "epic fail" in Philippine education.
Today's editorial welcomes the recent space launch of Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos' race to space, in light of the recent news of Covid-19 outbreaks. Read a full version on the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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