Good day. Here are the top stories of The Manila Times for Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022.
READ: Marcos to meet Biden – Palace
PRESIDENT Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and his American counterpart Joe Biden will meet here this week, Malacañang confirmed on Tuesday. Marcos, who arrived in New York City on Sunday, will hold a bilateral meeting with Biden, who will host a reception on September 21 (September 22 in Manila) for all heads of state attending the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). In July, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said Biden invited Marcos to come to the US through a handwritten letter brought by US second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, who was his personal emissary to the Filipino leader's inauguration last June 30. Aside from Biden, Marcos is also expected to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in New York City on Wednesday.
READ: Philippine peso sinks to new record low at 58 vs dollar
THE Philippine peso closed to a new record low of P58 against the United States dollar at spot trading on Wednesday. The peso opened lower at P57.70 compared to Tuesday's record close of P57.40, traded between P57.70 and P57.91, and closed near its lowest intraday rate. Wednesday's volume also hit $1.0515 billion, higher than the previous session's $967 million. Exchange rate pressures have worsened since higher rates were favoring the US dollar.Since the end-2021's closing of P50.99, the peso has lost P7 or has devalued by 13.74 percent.
READ: Enrile pushes scrapping of 1987 Constitution
CHIEF Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile on Wednesday, September 21, said he favors the scrapping of the 1987 Constitution and charter change at this time, but only through a constitutional assembly. Enrile issued the statement during the continuation of the hybrid hearing of the Senate Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes chaired by Sen. Robinhood "Robin" Padilla on the Review and Study of the 1987 Constitution. While acknowledging that constitutional experts should be consulted, Enrile said he prefers to have public officials elected by the people, "who have to live with the present Constitution and already have an intimate grasp of problems facing the nation" to amend the fundamental law.
READ: Construction of office spaces seen slowing down
THE number of office spaces that will be built in the Philippines will go down in the next three to five years, mainly due to higher building and construction costs and decreasing demand for office spaces. During The Manila Times' Online Business Forum titled "State of the Art in Real Estate" on Wednesday, Sheila Lobien, chief executive officer of Lobien Realty Group, highlighted the state of the country's property sector and the challenges it currently faces. Among these are the increasing cost of construction materials and the decreasing demand for office space acquisition and rentals.Based on the data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, the retail prices of construction materials in the National Capital Region (NCR) last February grew at their fastest pace in more than five years, amid supply chain constraints. Lobien noted, however, that there will be a sustained market for residential spaces as more people search for and invest in residential homes amid the pandemic.
READ: Wife of Vhong: It was the longest two days of our lives
AN emotional Tanya Bautista, wife of Vhong Navarro, faced the press on Wednesday to share the current situation of the actor-host since his detention at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on September 19 for rape and acts of lasciviousness case filed against him by Deniece Cornejo. Bautista described it as "the longest two days of [their] lives" after handing him two arrest warrants from the Taguig Regional Trial Court. Bautista also shared the pain that their family has to experience because of what happened. According to her, it was difficult to explain to Navarro's two sons, Isaiah and Frederick, what happened. Bautista then revealed the next step they had to take to force a petition for bail.
In Business
READ: ADB maintains PH GDP forecast at 6.5%
THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Wednesday it is maintaining its 6.5-percent growth outlook for the Philippine economy this year, fueled by the country's recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. The Asian Development Outlook 2022 Update added that the growth projection for 2023 is kept at 6.3 percent as monetary policy tightening and accelerating inflation will affect domestic demand. For this year, the ADB noted the bouncing back of travel, recreation, dining and household consumption in the first half of 2022 as mobility restrictions further eased. It added that most sectors, such as services, have contributed to employment recovery. While some economists expect the gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the Philippines to slow down to the 5.9-percent to 6.6-percent range, the government expects the country's GDP to grow between 6.5 percent and 7.5 percent this year.
Topping Sports
READ: San Beda wins over San Sebastian
SAN Beda weathered a San Sebastian fightback from a 23-point hole to carve out a 78-71 victory and rediscover its winning ways Wednesday in the NCAA men's basketball tournament at the Filoil EcoOil Centre. The Red Lions improved to 2-2 to tie their victims and climb at the upper half of the standings. Determined to rebound from last Saturday's stunning 81-89 setback to Lyceum of the Philippines University, San Beda ran out the gates with a 25-2 lead. The Stags, however, stormed back behind Jessie Sumoda, Ken Villapando and rookie Rhinwill Yambing to cut the deficit to 57-59 entering the final period. San Sebastian, however, could not break the two-point barrier as San Beda preserved the win.
READ: Record five Asians at Presidents Cup
A record five Asian players will be part of the Internationals lineup attempting to pull off an upset over the United States at the Presidents Cup starting on Thursday (Friday in Manila). Japan's Hideki Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion, is joined by a record four South Koreans — Im Sung-jae, Kim Joo-hyung, Lee Kyoung-hoon and Kim Si-woo — in the Internationals team at Quail Hollow. While the larger than usual Asian contingent owes something to the slew of players who are unavailable due to signing with LIV golf, Internationals captain Trevor Immelman believes it also highlights the rise of Asian golf. Kim Joo-Hyung, who won his first PGA title last month at nearby Greensboro, sees this week as a potential milestone moment for Asian golf, especially if his squad could pull off a shocking upset of a US team with 11 of the world's 18 top-ranked players.
In today's Editorial, The Manila Times calls the government's inaction on the Masungi invasion inexcusable. Read the full version on the print and digital editions or listen to The Voice of the Times. Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta and Danton Remoto are the featured columnists on the front page. Contreras writes about the rising crime, anti-EJK advocates and the death penalty; Makabenta on how the implosion of former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez has shaken the confidence in the Marcos administration; and Remoto on martial law fiction.
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This is Pete Llevares reporting.