Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Sunday, October 3, 2021.
BANNER: Duterte: It's Sara-Go tandem in 2022
IT'S a go for the tandem of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and Sen. Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go in the 2022 national elections, President Rodrigo Duterte said on Saturday. Duterte made the statement after Go filed his certificate of candidacy (CoC) to replace him as the vice presidential candidate of the ruling party Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi. The President confirmed that Duterte-Carpio will pursue the presidency next year but does not know when the mayor will file her CoC. After endorsing Go's candidacy for vice president, Duterte announced he is retiring from politics.
Pastor in investment scam, broadcaster join Senate race
A detained pastor, a comebacking legislator, a broadcaster and 13 others filed their certificates of candidacy (CoC) at the Sofitel Manila in Pasay City on Saturday for the May 2022 elections. The second day of the CoC filing went off to a slow start compared to the 41 on Friday but ended with a bang when President Rodrigo Duterte accompanied Sen. Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go who filed his certificate of candidacy for vice president late Saturday afternoon. Director Elaiz Sabile-David, head of the poll body's Education and Information Department (EID), said that of the 16, one was for president, one for vice president, five for senators and nine for party-list groups. One Victor Inde from Lobo, Bohol filed his CoC for president. Joel "Pastor" Apolinario, broadcaster Raffy Tulfo, Loreto Banosan, Jose Victor "JV" Ejercito and Rodelo Pidoy filed CoCs for senator. Except for Ejercito who is running under the National People's Coalition (NPC), the others are independents.
Experts call for explicit Covid alert system labels
PRESIDENTIAL Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Maria "Joey" Concepcion 3rd and molecular biologist Nicanor Austriaco Jr. on Saturday called for a more comprehensible alert level classifications for Covid-19 threat in the National Capital Region (NCR). The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) extended the pilot run of the new alert level system in Metro Manila until October 15 despite the declining Covid-19 reproduction rate in the area.
Duterte wants swift passage of 'pandemic budget'
MALACAÑANG said on Saturday that President Rodrigo Duterte wants to expedite the passage of House Bill 10152 or the "2022 General Appropriations Bill," which he called a "pandemic budget." Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said with Duterte certifying the bill as urgent, he hopes the House of Representatives would be able to pass it on the second and third reading. Duterte, in the letter read during the House plenary session on September 29, said the spending measure must be immediately enacted to "address the need to maintain continuous government operations following the end of the current fiscal year (FY), to expedite the funding of various programs, projects, and activities for FY 2022, and to ensure budgetary preparedness that will enable the government to effectively perform its constitutional mandate." The Congress is still deliberating on the proposed P5.024-trillion national budget, which is 11.5 percent higher than this year's P4.506 trillion. Speaker Lord Allan Velasco earlier said the House aims to pass its version of the 2022 national budget by September 30, or before Congress suspends session on October 17 to November 15 for the filing of certificates of candidacy for the May 2022 elections.
US Congress leaders back strong Manila-Washington ties
KEY members of the US Congress have expressed their full support for further strengthening the ties between the Philippines and the United States as the two countries mark 75 years of diplomatic relations and 70 years since the signing of the Mutual Defense Treaty. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. held a series of meetings on Friday with key members of the US Congress who expressed support for intensified cooperation between the Philippines and the United States. Locsin, together with Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez, met with Sen. James Risch, Ohio Rep. Steve Chabot and Connecticut Rep. Joe Courtney. Locsin went to Washington D.C. after attending the 76th UN General Assembly in New York last week. During the meeting, Locsin also expressed Manila's gratitude to the United States for its donations of vaccines now reaching over 9 million through the Covax Facility. The American lawmakers, for their part, thanked the Philippine government for getting the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) back on track, underscoring the critical role the Philippines-US alliance continues to play for the security and stability of the Indo-Pacific region. Locsin, who also met with other US senators who affirmed the centrality of Philippines-US relations for the stability of the Indo-Pacific region, thanked the Philippine government for bringing the VFA back on track and recognizing the key role of the Filipino diaspora in the US.
BUSINESS: Bleak future for PH economy – experts
In business, the lackluster list of presidential candidates for the impending national elections next year, according to research consultancy firm Capital Economics, foreshadows a bleak future for the Philippines. Capital Economics said that the Philippine economy remained poor, with gross domestic product (GDP) falling by 1.3 percent quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter and now hovering around 9 percent below its pre-Covid-19 epidemic level.
SPORTS: Explosive match-ups spice up PBA semis
Topping sports, the top four teams in the elimination round are also the remaining teams left standing in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals, and they take part in a pair of best-of-seven series. TNT, the top seed and the first squad to make the Final Four, begins its best-of-seven series against the only team that defeated them in the tournament — the San Miguel Beermen. The two teams square off at 4:35 p.m. TNT is the hottest team in the PBA Philippine Cup as the Tropang Giga won 11 of its 12 games en route to the semifinal round. The Tropang Giga, gifted with a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinal round, ousted last year's champion Barangay Ginebra, 84-71, last Wednesday. Chot Reyes, the returning multi-titled coach of the franchise, expects every game to be a lot tougher now that the stakes are getting higher.
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For The Manila Times, this is Paulo Dimaapi.