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Here are the top stories of The Manila Times for Friday, Aug. 19, 2022.
READ: P1B smuggled rice unloaded in Iloilo
ABOUT 38,400 metric tons (MT) of rice believed to have been smuggled from Vietnam and worth more than P1 billion were unloaded at the Port of Iloilo and released by the port's Customs authorities. A highly reliable source at the Bureau of Customs told The Manila Times that the rice shipment arrived in 10 ships. As of Thursday afternoon, seven ships have unloaded their cargo, while the three others were waiting their turn to dock. The source said the ships arrived between August 4 and 13. The source said the unloading of the suspicious rice shipment at the Port of Iloilo had the blessings of top Customs officials. The Times reached out to Iloilo port district Collector Ciriaco Ugay who at first agreed to be interviewed. Ugay, however, did not answer The Times' follow-up calls.
READ: Ex-DA chief accuses sugar traders of profiteering
Former Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary and Federation of Free Farmers president Leonardo Montemayor on Thursday accused sugar traders of profiteering. He said United Sugar Producers Federation (Unifed) President Manuel Lamata shared his suspicions. Lamata said in a statement that traders buy their sugar at P45 per kilo, but the retail price of refined sugar now sells at more than P100 a kilo. Even if the government allows the importation of refined sugar, its price will remain high because of profiteering, Montemayor said. Lamata reiterated his call to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to inspect the traders' sugar mills and warehouses.
READ: Govt runs after sugar hoarders, smugglers
THE government has launched a crackdown on sugar hoarders and smugglers, as it sealed three warehouses and recovered thousands of sacks of sugar suspected to have been imported illegally. The raids were conducted on Wednesday and Thursday in San Fernando, Pampanga, and San Jose del Monte, Bulacan on orders of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. as the price of refined sugar in markets continued to climb. Press Secretary Rose Beatrix "Trixie" Cruz-Angeles said on Thursday the President, through Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez, ordered the Bureau of Customs (BoC) "to exercise its visitorial powers to all customs bonded warehouse and to check on the inventory of imported agricultural products with the aim of finding out if there is hoarding of sugar."
READ: Red onion supply good until December
LOCAL onion producers on Thursday gave assurances the supply of red onions will last until December. In a radio interview, Katipunan ng mga Samahan ng mga Magsisibuyas ng Nueva Ecija General Manager Arnel Llamas said that based on the group's consultation with the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) two weeks ago, there will be enough red onions in the market until the end of the year. White onions, however, will continue to be in short supply. He said the white onions in their storage facilities were sold out last month. Onions are harvested from January to March, Llamas said. The harvest season varies with each province. Based on the monitoring of the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday, red onions retail for P110 to P160 per kilo in markets in Metro Manila. Llamas said the farm gate price for red onions ranges from P60 to P65 a kilo. He said local onion growers do not oppose the importation of white onions, but it should just be enough to ensure that it will not dampen the local industry.
READ: TMTC Subic staffer reaps honors for short film
A SHORT film created by a member of The Manila Times College of Subic–Creative Arts & Multimedia Program (TMTCS-CAMMP) has earned accolades from various cinematic award-giving institutions. "Pagtatapos" by Jhonny Mercida Bobier 2nd, a 22-year-old self-learned filmmaker and director, won the Jury Special Citation from the 34th Gawad Cultural Center of the Philippines' (CCP) Alternatibo for the experimental category and Best Film in the Region Cinema in Region 14 from the National Center for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) National Committee on Cinema. The film is a depiction of how the despair, anxiety, harassment and pressure students go through in and outside of school constantly threaten to kill their passion to continue. The TMTCS-CAMMP aims to provide learning opportunities and experiences in the creative arts and multimedia to young people. The program teaches students to continuously build and hone their skills to become future leaders in the creative sector.
Topping Business
READ: BSP rates raised by half a percent
MONETARY authorities on Thursday raised key interest rates by 50 basis points (bps), acknowledging that inflation remained a threat to growth. The adjustment — the fourth so far for 2022 — brought the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) overnight reverse repurchase, overnight deposit and overnight lending rates to 3.75 percent, 3.25 percent and 4.25 percent, respectively. It was in line with most analysts' expectations and followed quarter-point increases in May and June and a shock off-cycle, or outside the policy meeting schedule, 75-bps hike last month. Inflation accelerated to 6.4 percent in July, well above the central bank's 2- to 4-percent target and bringing the year-to-date average to 4.7 percent. This prompted the BSP's policy-making Monetary Board on Thursday to again raise its 2022 forecast, to 5.4 percent from 5 percent.
In Sports
READ: Obiena grateful to be back with national team
FILIPINO Olympian pole vaulter Ernest John "EJ" Obiena expressed his gratitude to the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) for reinstating him to the national team. Patafa, then headed by Dr. Philip Juico, dropped Obiena from the national team last January for his alleged falsification of liquidation documents as well as misappropriation of government funds intended as payment for his coach Vitaly Petrov. A truce was forged last March following a successful mediation process facilitated by the PSC, previously headed by William "Butch" Ramirez. The following month, the Commission on Audit cleared Obiena of any wrongdoing pertaining to his liquidation of training funds.
READ: Warriors face Lakers in NBA opener
Defending champion Golden State will host the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston will entertain Philadelphia when the 2022-23 NBA season opens on October 18 in a league schedule announced Wednesday (Thursday in Manila). Each team will play 82 regular-season games through April 9 with a play-in tournament ahead of the April 15 start of the playoffs and the NBA Finals commencing on June 1. The schedule sees the resumption of international regular-season contests with the Miami Heat playing the San Antonio Spurs on December 17 in Mexico City and the Chicago Bulls meeting the Detroit Pistons in Paris on January 19. There will be five games played on Christmas Day for the 15th consecutive year, tipping off with Philadelphia at New York and followed by the Lakers at Dallas, Milwaukee at Boston and Memphis making a December 25 debut at Golden State before the holiday slate concludes with Phoenix at Denver.
In today's Editorial, the Times tells the Department of Health that it needs sharper vaccine focus after the government launched "PinasLakas," an ambitious program to administer Covid-19 booster doses to 23 million eligible individuals within the first 100 days in office of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Read its full version on the print and digital editions of listen to The Voice of the Times. The featured columnists on the front page are Rigoberto Tiglao and Ruben Torres. Tiglao writes about how SRA issue shows Marcos should appoint ASAP a full-time agriculture secretary; Torres sugar shortage a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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This is Eireene Jairee Gomez reporting.