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Here are the top stories of The Manila Times for Wednesday, May 18, 2022.
READ: Marcos wants Ople, Laguesma in Cabinet
President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has offered Cabinet posts to former Labor secretary Bienvenido "Benny" Laguesma and overseas Filipino worker advocate Susan "Toots" Ople, his spokesman confirmed on Tuesday.
READ: Local spread of new variant confirmed
The Philippines has confirmed the local transmission of the BA.2.12.1 sublineage of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 with three new cases detected in Iloilo City, the Department of Health said.
READ: Comelec: Poll winners can be sworn in before June 30
There is nothing illegal if Vice President-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio or other winning candidates in the May 9, 2022 elections take their oath of office before June 30, the Commission on Elections or Comelec said.
READ: Sea supremacy the key to economic prosperity
WITH over 80 percent of the volume of global trade transported across oceans and seas and with an even higher percentage for the majority of developing countries, based on a 2021 maritime transport review by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, it is no surprise that supremacy at sea is the key to economic prosperity and that the application of maritime tactics and technologies changes the game for our country.
READ: Marcos DQ case reaches high court
A group of civic leaders asked the Supreme Court to reverse the ruling of Comelec, dismissing the disqualification case or DQ they filed against Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
READ: Law extending validity of gun license signed
President Rodrigo Duterte has approved a measure extending the validity of the license to own and possess, registration, and permit to carry firearms outside of residence or place of business.
In regional news,
READ: Lambino hails Duterte's achievements
"The successor of President Rodrigo Duterte will inherit a country much more stable and peaceful, much more investor-friendly and progressive, and much more confident of itself and hopeful for the future," said Secretary Raul Lambino, presidential adviser for Northern Luzon.
In world news,
READ: Shanghai: Zero-Covid attained in all districts
Shanghai declared on Tuesday that it had achieved "zero-Covid" across all its districts, sparking derision on social media as millions in China's biggest city remained under lockdown.
READ: Efforts to rescue Azovstal's last defenders mounted
Efforts were underway on Tuesday to rescue the last of the defenders inside the Azovstal steel plant in the ruined city of Mariupol after Ukrainian officials said the fighters had "completed their mission," and there was no way to free the plant through military means.
In business,
READ: Foreign investment pledges down 54%
Foreign investment pledges approved in the first quarter of the year fell by 54.1 percent, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.
And in sports,
READ: PH on track for 3rd place
Team Philippines chef de mission Ramon Fernandez is optimistic that the country will hit its goal of finishing third overall in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Rigoberto Tiglao and Fr. Ranhilio Aquino are the featured columnists on the front page of The Times.
Tiglao wonders
READ: Do the Reds and Finks control Facebook, its fake 'fact-checkers'?
Fr. Aquino considers
READ: Reviving federalism
In The Times editorial, it is insisted that
READ: Competitions should be decided in the arena, not with paperwork
Read all about it.
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This is Dafort Villaseran reporting. Stay safe and take care of your mental health.