Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Sunday, April 17, 2022.
Will 5 presidential candidates 'coalesce'?
WITH 24 more days to go before the May 9, 2022 elections, five presidential candidates are allegedly scheduled to hold a joint press conference on Easter Sunday. The reason behind the joint press conference isn't clear but the meeting was confirmed by Senate President Vicente Sotto 3rd, running mate of Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson. The presidential aspirants who were said to be attending aside from Lacson are Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso of Aksyon Demokratiko, Leodegario "Ka Leody" de Guzman of Partido ng Manggagawa, Promdi standard-bearer Sen. Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao, and Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo. Of the five, Moreno and Lacson announced the press conference separately on Saturday. It will be held at 11 a.m. on Sunday at the Rigodon Ballroom, Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City. A check by the Times on Pacquiao and de Guzman showed that the two have scheduled sorties. De Guzman, for one, will be in Mindanao. There has been no confirmation from their respective campaign teams on whether they would be present at the press conference. Robredo's camp has kept mum about the meeting when sought for comment. Domagoso did not elaborate on the reason for the joint press conference. In his previous pronouncements, Domagoso rejected any possible behind-the-scenes talks with other camps to discuss withdrawal and support for Robredo.
THE number of individuals affected by Tropical Storm "Agaton" (international name: "Megi") has reached 1,596,337, or 427,379 families as of Friday evening, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported. The latest DSWD report also said that 545 houses have sustained total damage, while 8,778 more were partially destroyed. This is a huge jump from Thursday's tally of 1,222,265 individuals affected and 483 houses totally damaged. More individuals were also recorded staying in evacuation centers — 227,459 of the 1.5 million people affected — compared to Thursday's tally of 213,779. The DSWD said that to date, it has released P40,871,020.48 worth of aid to areas affected by Agaton.
Duterte pushes in-person classes to restore normalcy
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said there is a need to resume face-to-face classes for both public and private schools as it is crucial in restoring normalcy to the country amid the Covid-19 pandemic. During a situation briefing in Baybay City, Leyte on Friday, Duterte expressed confidence in the Department of Education's (DepEd) readiness to supervise the resumption of in-person classes nationwide. Education Secretary Leonor Briones had reminded participating schools in areas under Alert Levels 1 and 2 to secure a clearance from the local government unit on the holding of face-to-face classes. Only vaccinated students and teachers are allowed to take part. The national government had suspended the implementation of limited face-to-face classes in areas placed under a stricter alert level status due to the surge of Covid-19 cases. As of March 28, about 13,692 public and private schools have been participating in in-person classes, according to DepEd data. More than 10 million children have, so far, been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, as of April 11.
'Easter Sunday celebrating our new life through Christ'
EASTER Sunday is the "fulfilled prophecy of the Messiah who would be persecuted, die for our sins, and rise on the third day," Fr. Peterson Tieng of the Lorenzo Ruiz Mission Society, parish priest of the San Jose de Trozo in Tondo said. Fr. Tieng said Easter is a very significant date within Christianity and is the foundation of the Christian faith.
500K active cases by May unlikely – OCTA
THERE is a low possibility that the number of Covid-19 cases in the Philippines will hit 500,000 by middle of May, said Dr. Guido David, a senior fellow of OCTA Research. The Department of Health (DoH) warned on Thursday that a 50 percent reduction in the practice of minimum health protocols might lead to an explosion of active cases by as high as 500,000, surpassing the nearly 292,000 active cases reported during the peak of the Omicron surge in January. David instead estimated a surge of around 100,000 active cases, warning many could get a severe form of Covid that leaves long-term effects.
Lawmakers laud veto of SIM Card Registration Bill
LAWMAKERS over the weekend heaped praises on President Duterte's veto of the proposed Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card Registration Act. Malacañang earlier announced that the President disagreed with the inclusion of social media in the regulatory measure without providing proper guidelines, which are tantamount to state intrusion and surveillance. Congress in February ratified Senate Bill 2395 and House Bill 5793 that seek to mandate all public telecommunications entities to require the registration of SIM cards as a prerequisite to their sale and activation. The consolidated measure also requires social media networks to get real names and phone numbers of users upon the creation of their accounts.
PH urged to enhance business, services
In business, the Philippines should enhance its strengths in business and professional services to take advantage of the opportunities in trade in services brought about by the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), according to a recent research by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). The study, "Opportunities for the Philippines under RCEP: Trade in Services," looks into how the RCEP might enhance the contributions of trade in services to the Philippine economy through commitments made and restrictions imposed. In terms of coverage and degree of liberalization, it identified RCEP as an alternate avenue for regional trade liberalization and a challenger to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The paper said the RCEP would open up new trade and investment opportunities.
Gin Kings, Bolts clash in pivotal Game 5
Topping sports, with the series now down to a best-ofthree affair, Game 5 of the championship showdown between the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings and the Meralco Bolts is expected to be the most pivotal one, as the winner will move on the threshold of capturing the season-ending conference crown. The two teams take center stage for their 6:30 p.m. encounter at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, hoping to get the upper hand and a big psychological advantage of winning the title. Ginebra equalized the series following a 95-84 triumph in Game 4 on Wednesday, which saw veteran guard LA Tenorio stepping up big after struggling in the first three games of the series. Tenorio, the modern day iron man of the PBA, who has played his 697th game since turning pro, has averaged only 9.7 points in the first three games, but came out strong in Game 4 after hitting 17 points, including three 3-point shots, while also dishing out five assists and completing two steals.
Today's front page columnist is Marlen Ronquillo, where he believes the next president will deal with global rupture.
The Times also introduces a new columnist, retired Major Gen. Edgard Arevalo, whose column will appear every Sunday on the opinion section. In his first column, Arevalo discusses the upcoming elections and national security.
Today's editorial discusses alliances and parties of other candidates supporting the presidential candidacy of vice president Ma. Leonor "Leni" Robredo. Read a full version on the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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For The Manila Times, this is Paulo Dimaapi. Happy Easter.