Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Friday, December 10, 2021.
READ: Parts of anti-terror law unconstitutional
THE Supreme Court has declared two provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (Republic Act 11479) unconstitutional but ruled that the other provisions that were challenged by several petitions were constitutionally sound. Voting 12-3, the court ruled as unconstitutional for being overbroad and violative of freedom of expression "the qualifier to the proviso in Section 4 of RA 11479, i.e., ... which are not intended to cause death or serious physical harm to a person, to endanger a person's life, or to create a serious risk to public safety." It also declared unconstitutional by a vote of 9-6 the portion in Section 25, paragraph 2 that states: "Request for designation by other jurisdictions or supranational jurisdictions may be adopted by the ATC (Anti-Terrorism Council) after determination that the proposed designee meets the criteria for designation of UNSCR (United Nations Security Council Resolution) No. 1373." All the other provisions of the law "are not unconstitutional," the court ruled.
READ: 9 Metro Manila mayors back Sara
VICE presidential aspirant Sara Duterte-Carpio got the support of nine of the 17 mayors in the National Capital Region (NCR). Duterte-Carpio had lunch with the mayors on Wednesday after her caravan in Quezon City, her regional party Hugpong ng Pagbabago said in a statement. The 43-year-old Davao City mayor shared the photo of her meeting with the local executives in her Facebook page. In attendance were Mayors Edwin Olivarez of Parañaque, Oscar Malapitan of Caloocan City, Francisco Javier Zamora of San Juan, Tobias Tiangco of Navotas, Marcelino Teodoro of Marikina City, Rexlon Gatchalian of Valenzuela City, Imelda Calixto-Rubiano of Pasay City, Carmelita Abalos of Mandaluyong City, and Mar-Len Abigail Binay of Makati City. The meeting was also attended by Las Piñas Vice Mayor April Aguilar, Pasig City Vice Mayor Christian Caruncho-Bernardo, and former Mandaluyong Mayor and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Benhur Abalos. Duterte-Carpio, the eldest daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, is running with former senator and presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. The President has stressed that he does not support Marcos, whom he called a "spoiled" and "weak" leader. The 76-year-old Duterte, who is running for senator, is backing the presidential bid of his long-time aide turned senator, Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go. Marcos and Duterte-Carpio confirmed their decision to run as a tandem for next year's elections on November 16.
READ: Bongbong-Sara tandem backs 3 Senate bets
PRESIDENTIAL aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and running mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio endorsed the senatorial bids of former Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, former Malacañang spokesman Harry Roque and former senator Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada. Marcos, the standard bearer of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), introduced Villar, Roque from the People's Reform Party and Estrada from the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) as the UniTeam's senatorial bets in his speech in a rally in Bacoor City, Cavite. Villar filed his certificate of candidacy under the Nacionalista Party. Duterte-Carpio also named Villar, Roque and Estrada as her senatorial bets. The PFP, Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD), Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP), and PMP have formed the UniTeam Alliance to support the election bids of Marcos and Duterte-Carpio. The four parties entered into an alliance agreement on November 25.
READ: 2 hospitals note rise in non-Covid admissions
PATIENTS with heart and respiratory diseases, cancer, and surgical operations are replacing Covid-19 admissions in two hospitals in Metro Manila. Dr. Jonas del Rosario, Philippine General Hospital (PGH) spokesman, said on Thursday there are now more patients with other chronic diseases as well as those whose surgery was delayed due to the surge caused by the Delta variant. Del Rosario believes these patients are taking advantage of the low number of Covid-19 patients to have medical check-ups and follow up on conditions that they had been experiencing during the surge.
READ: Bello: Labor market on way to recovery
LABOR Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd is confident that the country's labor market is on its way to recovery as the economy starts to gain momentum. In his keynote message at a World Bank-organized forum, Bello said the situation remains volatile but there are signs of recovery. The September Labor Force Survey showed that the employment rate is at 91.1 percent, unemployment at 8.9 percent and underemployment at 14.2 percent.
BUSINESS: BSP sees 7% GDP growth in Q4
Over to business, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) forecasts the Philippine economy to grow by 7 percent in the fourth quarter, which will support the full-year expansion to surpass the government's target. In a briefing on Thursday, Central Bank governor Benjamin Diokno said their revised forecast for this year is 4-5 percent.
SPORTS: Azkals coach rues 'silly 3 minutes' in loss
In sports, Philippine Azkals acting coach Stewart Hall regretted the three-minute stretch that led to the national football team's 1-2 loss to home squad Singapore in the 2020 AFF Suzuki Cup at the National Stadium on Wednesday night. Hall was talking about the period from the 62nd to 64th minute where the Singaporeans scored two quick goals after the Azkals held them scoreless for the first 61 minutes of the match. Harris Harun scored on a header at the 62nd and Faris Ramli converted off a cross at the 64th to give Singapore a 2-0 lead.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Rigoberto Tiglao and Ruben Torres are today's front page columnists. Tiglao believes the elections next year are going to be boring, while Torres reflects on the legacy of the late former senator Blas Ople.
Today's editorial discusses the recent decision of four countries for a diplomatic boycott of next year's Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. 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.