Good day. Here are the Top Stories of The Manila Times on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022 brought to you by Wilcon Depot, the country's leading home improvement and construction supplies retailer. Shop conveniently 24/7 with Wilcon online store, just go to shop.wilcon.com.ph.
READ: Lower alert level for NCR looms
WITH the number of new Covid-19 cases steadily dropping, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases is considering downgrading the coronavirus alert level in the National Capital Region (NCR). The task force will meet today, January 27, to review the Covid-19 growth rate and hospital bed utilization in Metro Manila in the past two weeks to determine if it is safe to lower the region's alert level to 2 from the present 3 by the beginning of February, acting Palace spokesman and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles said in an interview on CNN Philippines on Wednesday. On Wednesday, the country reported 15,789 new Covid-19 cases, down from the 17,677 cases last Tuesday. The IATF is also monitoring the Covid-19 situation in 22 areas where cases remain high.
READ: POC affirms Juico's persona non grata status
THE Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) on Wednesday declared as persona non grata Philippine Athletic Track and Field Association (Patafa) President Philip Ella Juico, who has been embroiled in a bitter dispute with pole vaulter Ernest John "EJ" Obiena. The committee decided to accept the recommendation of its ethics committee to sanction Juico during a general assembly meeting. Thirty-six of the POC's 54 members voted for the ethics committee's recommendation. The national sports associations representing wushu, weightlifting, squash, hockey and athletics voted against, while the associations representing netball, dance sports and the IOC representative abstained. Ten POC members failed to cast their votes but the two members of the Athletes Commission — Hidilyn Diaz of weightlifting and Jessie Lacuna of swimming — voted in favor of the resolution.
READ: Ka Leody offers new brand of governance
PRESIDENTIAL candidate and labor leader Leodegario "Ka Leody" de Guzman vowed to put the needs of workers, farmers and fishermen first in a new kind of governance if elected. Speaking during the "Bakit Ikaw? The Presidential Job Interview" program on Wednesday hosted by DZRH in partnership with The Manila Times, de Guzman said there is a dire need to resolve a host of challenges the country faces — from contractualization and unequal wages to rice tariffication and climate change — against the backdrop of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. He said better industries have to be established if the economy is to thrive. He suggested using and funding the agriculture and fisheries sector in the countryside and treating it as the foundation of the economy.
READ: Times forum to feel PH logistics industry's pulse
THE country's logistics industry expects to rebound this year following a slump because of the coronavirus pandemic. The prospects for the sector will be discussed in-depth by its movers and shakers in The Manila Times online forum, "The PH logistics industry scales big and high: An industry outlook for 2022 and beyond," at 10 a.m. today. It will be livestreamed on The Times' Facebook, youTube and Dailymotion accounts. Invited as speakers are Norman Fulgencio, postmaster general and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Philippine Postal Corp., and Sheila Lobien, CEO of the Lobien Realty Group Inc.
In Business,
READ: Q3 GDP growth adjusted to 6.9%
THE country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the third quarter of 2021 was revised downward to 6.9 percent from the earlier 7.1 percent, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Wednesday. Net primary income from the rest of the world recorded an upward revision from -52.3 percent to -50.6 percent. The growth rate in gross national income in the third quarter of 2021, however, recorded a downward revision from 2.8 percent to 2.7 percent. The PSA is set to release today the official fourth quarter and full-year 2021 GDP growth data.
Topping Sports
READ: Lakers conquer Nets in Davis' return
NEW YORK: LeBron James welcomed Anthony Davis back with a lob pass for the game's first basket, then turned to his own offense to score 33 points in the Los Angeles Lakers' 106-96 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila). Davis had eight points in 25 minutes after missing 17 games with a sprained left knee and the Lakers got good nights off the bench from Malik Monk and Carmelo Anthony. James Harden had 33 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in an impressive follow-up to his strong game in Los Angeles when the Nets won there on Christmas.
READ: Collins blasts Cornet to reach AO semis
Danielle Collins swept into the last four of the Australian Open (AO) on Wednesday to match her feat from 2019 and shatter French veteran Alize Cornet's dream of making a first Grand Slam semifinal. The American 27th seed came through an intense clash 7-5, 6-1 in sweltering temperatures on Rod Laver Arena to continue her resurgence after surgery last year. She will face either Polish seventh seed Iga Swiatek or Estonian veteran Kaia Kanepi for a place in the final.
READ: Opinion and Editorial
In its Editorial, The Manila Times asks health and policy experts of the Philippines whether they are in government or not: Once the country's vaccination campaign is completed, what comes next? Read the full version on the paper's Opinion Section or listen to The Voice of The Times. The featured columnists on the front page are Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta and Edcel Lagman. Contreras talks about democracy imploding; Makabenta on elections as a marketplace of ideas; and Lagman on the implications of Novak's no vac, referring to top seed tennis player Novak Djokovic who was unable to play at this year's Australian Open because he was not vaccinated against Covid-19.
These are the Top Stories for Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022.
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This is Christian Crow Maghanoy reporting.