Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Friday, November 12, 2021.
READ: Sara joins Lakas-CMD
DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has joined the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) party, adding more fuel to speculations she is running for a national position, perhaps the presidency, in next year's elections. Duterte-Carpio, who resigned from her regional party Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) hours earlier, took her oath on Thursday before House Majority Leader Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, the Lakas-CMD president. The oath-taking took place at the Revilla Farm in Silang, Cavite.
READ: NCR shift to Alert Level 1 in December eyed
PRESIDENTIAL Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Maria "Joey" Concepcion 3rd said the National Capital Region (NCR) could shift to Alert Level 1 by December as Covid-19 cases continue to decline. Concepcion made the proposal during a press briefing organized by OCTA Research on Thursday. His comments comes after Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd floated the idea of further easing restrictions in Metro Manila, which is on Alert Level 2, if Covid-19 cases drop below 500 to 1,000 cases per day. Duque's proposal was opposed by Philippine College of Physicians' President Dr. Maria Encarnita Limpin, who said transmissions could rise again if Alert Level 1 was implemented too soon. Concepcion said that even if NCR moves to the most lenient level, the government should be more aggressive in convincing more people to get vaccinated, especially those in the provinces and the Class D and E income scale, where vaccine hesitancy remains high.
READ: Drugs board downshifts target for 2022
THE Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) has downshifted its vision to make the country drug-free to making it drug-resilient by 2022. Guesting at The Manila Times forum on Thursday, DDB Chairman Catalino Cuy said the goal to rid the Philippines of illegal drugs by next year was too ambitious. Cuy said the downgrade was supported by DDB's implementing arm, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, which reported there are still villages which have not been cleared of drugs. Of the country's 42,000 barangay (villages), only 23,000 have been cleared of drugs, he said. He attributed the difficulty in eliminating the drug problem to rampant drug trafficking in Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and China.
READ: Approval rating for Covid response down
HALF of Filipinos still approve of the government's response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), according to the September survey of OCTA Research. Still, it was a 30-percent drop from the 80-percent approval rating last July. Seventeen percent of the respondents "truly approve" of the administration's Covid-19 response, while 33 percent "somewhat approve." The survey showed that 23 percent said they either "disapprove" or "somewhat disapprove," while 27 percent could not say if they approve or disapprove. OCTA Researcher Prof. Ranjit Rye attributes the drop to the "great Delta surge that started in the latter part of July." The drop was biggest in the National Capital Region (NCR) at 49 percent, followed by Balance Luzon and the Visayas at 37 percent and 30 percent, respectively.
READ: Comelec wants law vs premature campaigning
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Thursday it has recommended to Congress to legislate a law against premature campaigning. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the poll body wants to return to the old rules wherein an official candidate is only allowed to engage in partisan political activities at the start of the campaign season. Jimenez lamented that the Comelec, despite being the most powerful government agency on suffrage, is a lame duck against candidates who engage in premature campaigning.
BUSINESS: Foreign banks hike PH growth outlook
Over to business, DBS and Standard Chartered Bank expect Philippine economic growth to hit the high end of the government's 2021 target following a better-than-expected third quarter outturn. Full-year gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecasts were raised to 5 percent by both banks, which cited this week's announcements of a 7.1-percent third quarter result and an upward revision to 12 percent for the second quarter. Analysts had expected third quarter growth of around 4-5 percent while the second quarter figure was previously lower at 11.8 percent. With year-to-date GDP growth at 4.9 percent, the government has claimed that its 4.0-5.0 percent goal for 2021 will be achieved.
SPORTS: PBA allows 2 more Fil-Ams per team
In sports, for the upcoming 2022 Philippine Basketball Association season, the league has increased its limit to seven Fil-foreigners per team. According to chairman of the board Ricky Vargas, the league has been getting numerous inquiries from Fil-foreign players who want to join Asia's pioneering professional basketball league and they expect another big turnout of applicants for the 2022 draft.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Stephen CuUnjieng and Ruben Torres are today's front page columnists. CuUnjieng talks about how to be against corruption, while Torres discusses the "Duterte game" in politics.
Today's editorial discusses the return of face-to-face classes.
For more news and information, get a copy of The Manila Times on print, subscribe to its digital edition or log on to www.manilatimes.net. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and Keep Up With The Times.
On behalf of The Manila Times, this is Aric John Sy Cua reporting. Have a safe Friday ahead.