Good day. Here are the stories from The Manila Times for Wednesday, October 26, 2022.
READ: Marcos OKs optional use of masks indoor
PRESIDENT Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has supported a recommendation to make indoor mask-wearing voluntary with a goal of further boosting the economy, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said on Tuesday. The easing of the country's health protocols was discussed during the President's meeting with his Cabinet on Tuesday in Malacañang. Frasco said the order was it was agreed with the President that he will be issuing an executive order, as per the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases's recommendations to make mask-wearing indoors voluntary nationwide with a few exceptions. She added that the wearing of masks will still be required in public transportation and medical facilities.
READ: Escorial identifies second middleman
JOEL Escorial, the self-confessed gunman in the ambush-slay of veteran radio commentator Percival "Percy Lapid" Mabasa, has provided Department of Justice (DoJ) prosecutors additional extrajudicial confession that could lead to the mastermind behind the assassination. Bertini Causing, lawyer and spokesman for the Mabasa family, on Tuesday disclosed that among the new information from an initial probe was the identity of the alleged second middleman, Christopher Bacoto, who is now in the custody of the Philippine National Police (PNP). The other suspects whom Escorial identified are brothers Edmon and Israel Dimaculangan, who acted as lookouts, and a certain "Orly/Orlando" who drove the get-away motorcycle after Lapid was shot dead. In the same preliminary investigation, Causing said the PNP submitted ballistic evidence to prove that the gun used in the killing of Lapid was the same gun that Escorial surrendered to the police. He expressed belief that the second alleged middleman could provide the missing link that could lead to the identification of the mastermind behind the murder of Lapid.
READ: Ex-US State dept employee pleads guilty to sex crime in PH
A FORMER US State Department employee on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) pleaded guilty to engaging in illicit sexual acts in the Philippines, US justice officials said. Based on court records, Dean Edward Cheves met multiple minors over the internet while he was serving at the US Embassy in the Philippines from 2017 to 2021. The 63-year-old Cheves communicated online with a Filipino minor from December 2020 to March 2021 and paid her to produce and send to him sexually explicit images. Likewise, in February 2021, Cheves engaged in sex acts on two separate occasions with a 16-yearold Filipino who he met online. In both instances, prosecutors said Cheves knew the victims were minors. The child sex abuse material that Cheves produced and received were found on devices seized from his embassy residence in the Philippines. Cheves is being prosecuted at a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia where he was arrested after returning to the US last year. He will be sentenced on Jan. 20, 2023. He faces a penalty of up to 30 years in prison on each count.
READ: Govt needs more IT experts vs cybersecurity
GOVERNMENT needs more experts on information technology to battle the growing threat of cybersecurity, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Information and Communications Department said on Tuesday. Col. Walter Icaro, commander of the Armed Forces' Cyber Group, said that government needs to invest in cybersecurity. They need to get experts in the field. However, Icaro lamented that the government loses quality cybersecurity experts to private companies here and abroad due to low salary.
READ: Marcos eyes STEM scholarship program
PRESIDENT Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. wants the government to set up a scholarship program for students who will take up STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) courses to help fill the gap in the fields of information and communication technology businesses, Malacañang said Tuesday. lan during the Cabinet meeting Tuesday, saying that having a scholarship program in place will help entice more students to pursue STEM courses. Marcos directed Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan John Uy to coordinate with industry players to determine their specific needs and address jobs mismatch, which, he said, is important to enable the government and the industry to make necessary adjustments. Uy hailed the timeliness of the order, admitting that many IT graduates do not have the right tools and training required to thrive in the ICT industry.
MANY areas in Mindanao have no electricity because of the bombing of a transmission tower in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte on Monday, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines' (NGCP) said. The NGCP said that the bombing of Tower 8 resulted in Manual Load Dropping (MLD) to prevent overloading of the remaining line. The affected areas include the entire Zamboanga Peninsula, namely Zamboanga del Norte (including Dipolog City and Dapitan City), Zamboanga del Sur (including Pagadian City and Zamboanga City), Zamboanga Sibugay, entire Misamis Occidental, and parts of Lanao del Norte.
BUSINESS: Peso inches up to P58.78 vs US dollar
Over to business, the Philippine peso on Tuesday slightly appreciated to P58.78 against the United States dollar. The peso opened trading at P58.87 and traded between P58.78 and P58.87. The average rate stood at P58.824, while volume reached $561 million, lower than the $633 million in the previous session. The US dollar rate declined by -0.09, or -0.1 percent, to close at P58.78, and eased from the record-high closing rate of P59 posted on October 3, 10, 13 and 17, 2022. The peso-dollar exchange rate remained stable for the fifth straight week below the P59.00 psychological mark.
SPORTS: Beermen collides with Batang Pier
In sports, San Miguel Beer hopes to follow up its breakthrough win when it collides with NorthPort in the 2022-23 PBA Commissioner's Cup today, October 26, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City. The Beermen snapped their two-game losing skid last Sunday following their 124-116 victory against the NLEX Road Warriors to snare their second win in five starts. That win could hopefully create a bit of confidence on coach Leo Austria's wards as they take on the Batang Pier (3-3) at 5:45 p.m. Devon Scott, playing in just his second game in the PBA, gave a good account of himself against NLEX after scoring 26 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing off seven assists. Austria believes Scott will improve further as he progresses in the elimination round.
Rigoberto Tiglao and Marlen Ronquillo are today's front page columnists. Tiglao called on the President to seek the counsels of two former presidents, while Ronquillo discusses on libertarian rhapsody.
Today's editorial agrees with Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel 3rd over the issue of "unprogrammed" funds of the 2023 national budget. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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For The Manila Times, this is Kim Isabelle Dignadice.