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Here are the top stories of The Manila Times for Wednesday, March 23, 2022.

READ: Duterte's party backs Marcos

President Rodrigo Duterte's party endorsed survey frontrunner Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. as its presidential candidate for this year's national elections.

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READ: Comelec to resume 'Operation Baklas'

The Commission on Elections or Comelec will resume its "Operation Baklas" or dismantling of prohibited campaign materials on Friday, the start of the official 45-day campaign period for candidates for local positions in the May 9 polls.

READ: Namfrel denies involvement in May poll fraud discussions

Election watchdog National Movement for Free Elections or Namfrel has denied having issued a statement that it was involved in discussions about allegations of massive cheating in the May 9, 2022 national and local elections.

READ: Mandatory mask wearing to continue ‒ Duterte

While other countries have lifted their policies on mandatory wearing of masks, President Rodrigo Duterte maintained that he was not inclined to scrap the country's mask mandate even though the Philippines was considered very low risk for Covid-19.

READ: DoH open to yearly jabs

The Department of Health or DoH said on Tuesday it was ready to administer yearly inoculations for Covid-19 if there is strong evidence to back up the move.

READ: 'Truth must come out in e-sabong abductions'

Sen. Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go said on Monday the truth must come out on the mystery behind the disappearance of at least 34 e-sabong players.

READ: DBM releases P7B for drivers' subsidy

The Department of Budget and Management or DBM has given the Department of Transportation P7 billion for its Service Contracting Program, which intends to provide cash subsidies to public utility vehicle drivers affected by rising oil prices.

In regional news,

READ: Biggest Balikatan rolls off

The largest iteration of the Philippine-led annual exercise Balikatan that takes place across Luzon from March 28 to April 8 will be joined by approximately 8,900 members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States military this year.

In world news,

READ: No survivors found in Chinese plane crash

Mud-stained wallets, bank cards, official identity cards — some of the personal effects of 132 lives presumed lost were lined up by rescue workers, scouring a remote mountainside on Tuesday for the wreckage of a China Eastern plane that inexplicably fell from the sky and burst into a huge fireball a day earlier.

READ: Ukraine troops retake Kyiv suburb

Ukrainian forces said they retook a strategically important suburb of the capital, Kyiv, on Tuesday while Russia's attack on the embattled southern port city of Mariupol raged unabated.

In business,

READ: Govt raises $2.25B in global bonds

The government raised $2.25 billion or about P118 billion through its most recent dollar bond issuance, which would be utilized to support the national budget and the country's Sustainable Finance Framework.

And in sports,

READ: Ginebra favored over NLEX semis

Make no mistake, the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings are the defending champions of the PBA Governors' Cup, and despite their early struggles in the tournament, the country's most popular basketball team is playing like champions in the ongoing playoffs.

Rigoberto Tiglao and Fr. Ranhilio Aquino are the featured columnists on the front page of The Times.

Tiglao asserts the Philippines is

READ: Not a divided nation: Only the Yellow-brainwashed elite vs ordinary Filipinos

Fr. Aquino analyzes

READ: The spheres of influence

In The Times editorial, it is urged that

READ: President Duterte must veto vape bill

Read all about it.

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With Aric John Sy Cua, Paolo Dimaapi and Christian Maghanoy, this is Dafort Villaseran reporting. Have a great week!