Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Friday, September 3, 2021.
READ: Go, Gatchalian want to be my VP – Sara
DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has revealed that Senators Christopher Lawrence "Bong'' Go and Sherwin Gatchalian "personally expressed" their offer to be her running mate should she run for the presidency in the 2022 elections. Duterte-Carpio also denied the claim of her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, that Sen. Maria Imelda Josefa "Imee" Marcos visited her in Davao City to also offer to be her vice-presidential bet. Early in August, the faction in the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, endorsed Go as the party's standard-bearer and President Duterte as his running mate. Duterte has already confirmed he wants to run for vice president while Go has rejected the offer to be PDP-Laban's presidential candidate. Duterte-Carpio has yet to announce whether she is joining next year's presidential derby. She said "common friends" had told her that former Defense secretary Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro also wants to be her running mate. And there are groups that want either House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez or Sen. Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara to be her partner in next year's polls, she said.
READ: Bongbong considering 2022 run for president
FORMER senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. admitted he was considering running for president next year amid the support he was receiving from some sectors and political groups. Marcos confirmed he was talking to both factions of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) since he has friends from both sides. But everything "is very fluid," he said on Wednesday evening during a virtual forum organized by the Anvil Business Club. He was asked to react to a report that some political parties were willing to support him if he decides to run for the presidency. These parties, however, said they will withdraw their support if he slides down to the vice president position.
READ: Concepcion: Test 'Bakuna Bubbles' in Metro Manila
PRESIDENTIAL Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Maria "Joey" Concepcion 3rd on Thursday proposed testing "Bakuna (Vaccine) Bubbles" in cities in the National Capital Region (NCR or Metro Manila) that have achieved high vaccination rates. Concepcion, also the founder of Go Negosyo, said testing the concept in cities with high vaccination rates could help solve the problem of how to reopen the economy safely while simultaneously boosting the public's confidence in vaccination.
READ: PH in talks with 4 firms for booster shots
THE Philippines is negotiating with four drug manufacturers for booster shots against Covid-19 that may be supplied as early as the first quarter of 2022, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said on Thursday. Galvez made the statement as he revealed that China's Sinovac Biotech wanted to donate 500,000 booster shots to Filipino health workers. He said the government has set aside P45 billion for the possible purchase of booster shots. For the meantime, Galvez is waiting for guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Department of Health (DoH), the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group and the vaccine expert panels regarding the administration of boosters. The WHO has ruled out the need for booster shots for now, since the world's most vulnerable people have to be fully vaccinated first.
READ: NCR Covid transmission down but cases stay high
THE reproduction number in the National Capital Region (NCR or Metro Manila) has gone down but case numbers remain high, according to OCTA Research. The region's R-naught is now at a manageable 1.39 but the daily case average for the August 26 to September 1 period was 4,637, up by 12 percent from the 4,147 cases on August 19 to 25. OCTA expects the reproduction number to drop below 1 by the third week of September and the daily caseload to keep rising but at a slower rate.
READ: Duterte can run for VP without a partner – Go
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte can run for vice president next year even if he does not have a running mate, Sen. Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go said on Thursday. The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) faction led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi had endorsed the Go-Duterte tandem, but the senator had declined the offer. The President accepted the nomination.
BUSINESS: Peso surges to one-week high
Topping business, the Philippine peso experienced its strongest day in a one-week period after returning to P49:$1 territory on Wednesday. After opening at P50.04:$1, the local unit climbed 24 centavos to P49.82:$1. It hasn't reached this level since August 31, when it closed at P49.76 to $1. The peso's rise, according to Japan-based MUFG Bank Ltd., is expected to be short as risk attitudes are likely to remain dragged down by Covid-19 Delta variation fears.
SPORTS: PH seek strong finish at Paralympics
In sports, Team Philippines looks to finish its campaign at the Tokyo Paralympics in a strong fashion on Friday. Still without a medal in the games, the country leans on swimmer Gary Bejino and wheelchair racer Jerrold Mangliwan to make the podium on Friday. Bejino plunges into action first as he swims in lane 1 of heat 2 in the 100-meter backstroke S6 at 8:23 a.m at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. Bejino previously competed in the 200-meter individual medley SM6, 50-meter butterfly S6, and 400-meter freestyle S6 events, where he finished at 17th, 14th and 13th places, respectively. Mangliwan, on the other hand, competes in the men's 100-meter T52 final round at 10:07 a.m at the Olympic Stadium.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Rigoberto Tiglao and Ruben Torres are today's front page columnists. Tiglao talks about the personal protective equipment (PPE) issue, while Torres calls out the corruption by the pharmaceutical company Pharmally.
Today's editorial calls for granular lockdowns in the country, amid an increase of Covid-19 cases. Read a full version on the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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On behalf of The Manila Times, this is Aric John Sy Cua reporting. Have a safe Friday ahead.