Good day. Here are the stories of The Manila Times for Tuesday, September 13, 2022.
READ: Obiena soars, bags new gold
FILIPINO pole vault sensation Ernest John "EJ" Obiena continued his spectacular run this year, winning the Liechtenstein leg of the Golden Fly Series on Monday. Obiena cleared 5.71 meters to take the gold medal, beating five other rivals in the penultimate tournament of his season. American Olen Tray Oates took the silver with a leap of 5.61m, and Austrian Riccardo Klotz the bronze (via countback) with 5.51m. Americans Austin Miller (5.51) and Nate Richartz (5.51) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, while Slovenian Robert Renner (5.21) was sixth. On the anniversary of his Asian record leap of 5.93 meters — which he reset this year to 5.94 — the 26-year-old Obiena went for a new mark at 6.0m but failed in three attempts.
READ: Filipino cue artists rule World 10-ball team event
THE Philippine trio of Carlo Biado, Rubilen Amit and Johann Chua ruled the Predator World Teams 10-Ball Championship in Klagenfurt, Austria last Sunday. The Filipino cue artists blanked Great Britain in the final, 3-0, to grab the country its first title in the 24-team competition. The Philippines placed second in the 2010 and 2014 editions of the championship. The 2014 version was the last one to have been held before the organizers staged it back this year.
SPORTS: PH snares bronze in FIBAU18 Asian tilt
Staying in sports, Gilas Pilipinas Women defeated Samoa in the FIBA Under 18 Women's Asian Championship Division B battle for third, 84-68, to snare a bronze medal at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in India. Sumayah Sugapong played splendidly on both ends of the floor, scoring 27 points and tallying nine steals on top of six rebounds and two assists to lead the way for the Filipinos. Sugapong had more steals than the rest of the Samoan team which only got five.
READ: Refined sugar price drops to P88/kilo
Back to other news stories, the prices of sugar have started to go down in some areas outside of Metro Manila, with refined sugar now retailing at P88 per kilo from P100 per kilo. The drop in sugar prices was revealed by the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. President Danilo Fausto in an interview with The Manila Times on Monday. Fausto called on the government to release the sugar confiscated during raids in warehouses to boost the sugar supply in the market.
READ: Zobel de Ayala gives up all executive posts
FERNANDO Zóbel de Ayala has quit all his executive positions in the Ayala group of companies. In separate disclosures on Monday, Ayala Land, Globe Telecom, Integrated MicroElectronics Inc. (IMI), Ayala Corp., Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), ACEN Corp. and Manila Water announced that the 62-year-old Zobel de Ayala has resigned as a member of each of the listed companies' board of directors to focus on the health issues he is facing. The disclosures did not specify the health issues.
READ: Food security tackled in Cabinet meeting
THE country's food security was again the main agenda when President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. convened his Cabinet on Monday, Malacañang said. The government is looking at food security in the general sense, Press Secretary Rose Beatrix "Trixie" Cruz-Angeles stressed, and this includes determining certain crops being prioritized for higher yields. She said the Executive branch "will be working together on the policy review, assessment review, and proposals."
READ: Flood of imported chicken hit
POULTRY raisers on Monday called on President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to act on the "flooding" of imported and smuggled chicken in the country, saying local raisers were affected by the decline in the farmgate prices now pegged between P92 and P112 per kilo. In a radio interview, United Broilers Raisers Association (UBRA) Chairman Gregorio San Diego Jr. said that at least 212 million kilos of imported chicken arrived in the country from January to July 2022. He said that 24 million kilos of frozen chicken arrived in May, 45 million kilos in June, and 38 million kilos in July.
BUSINESS: Survey: PH needs 2 yrs to recover
Topping business, top business leaders believe that the Philippine economy still needs over two years to recover from the impact of Covid-19, a new PwC Philippines and Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) of chief executive officers (CEOs) survey revealed. revealed. The PwC MAP 2022 Philippine CEO survey that follows the conference theme "The Wins of Change: Thriving in a World of In-Betweens" surveyed 119 CEOs, primarily members of MAP. The respondents answered the online survey, with the responses spread across a range of industries. Of the total CEO respondents, 52 percent believe that it will take more than two years for the Philippine economy to recover from the ill impacts of the pandemic, which is in contrast to the government's, particularly the National Economic and Development Authority's (NEDA), economic recovery projection. The NEDA earlier said that the Philippine economy is expected to return to its pre-pandemic growth track by this year as the country continues to build on progress in recovering from Covid-19 from the first half of the Marcos administration.
Antonio Contreras and Yen Makabenta are today's front page columnists. Contreras tackles a premature blaming game in the current administration, while Makabenta echoes columnist Rigoberto Tiglao's stance on Sen. Loren Legarda's links to communism.
Today's editorial discusses the hazards of satire. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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On behalf of The Manila Times, this is Aric John Sy Cua reporting.