Good day. Here are the top stories of The Manilla Times for Monday, Feb. 12, 2023.
READ: PH eyes tripartite pact with US, Japan
The Philippines is considering a tripartite agreement with its two close allies, the United States and Japan, amid the "dangerous situations" the country faces, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said. Interviewed by Japan's Kyodo News Friday, the President said one of the "many other issues" raised by the Philippine delegation during his visit to Tokyo was creating alliances with its long-time partners. Forging alliances is "a central element to ... providing some sort of stability in the face of all these problems that we are seeing us," Marcos said. The President and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida earlier agreed to beef up Manila and Tokyo's defense and security relations. The Japanese Embassy in Manila said in a statement Marcos and Kishida have "concurred to advance consideration to promote cooperation in defense equipment and technology as well as trilateral cooperation among Japan, the United States and the Philippines." In a joint statement on Friday, February 10, the two leaders resolved to "increase the defense capabilities of their own countries, and further strengthen overall security cooperation." This will entail strategic reciprocal port calls and aircraft visits, the transfer of more defense equipment and technology, continuous cooperation on previously-transferred defense equipment, and capacity building, the embassy said.
READ: US jet shoots down mystery 'object' over Canada
A US fighter jet shot down an unidentified object over Canada on Saturday, the second such incident in North American skies since the dramatic downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon a week ago. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a joint US-Canadian military operation led to the takedown of the object, the latest in a series of mysterious air intrusions. Shortly after the 3:41 p.m. (2041 GMT) downing of the object, aviation authorities shut down part of the airspace over the northwest US state of Montana after detecting what they called a "radar anomaly," the US Northern Command said. Skies were then reopened to commercial air traffic. Trudeau said Canadian forces in the Yukon "will now recover and analyze the wreckage of the object."
READ: Namfrel wants set dates for barangay, SK polls
THE election watchdog National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) is confident the Supreme Court will resolve the ambiguities in the interpretation of law governing the holding of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections. Namfrel President Lito Averia said he is looking forward to the resolution of the petition filed by election lawyer Romulo Macalintal for the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) directing the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Office of the President to stop from implementing Republic Act (RA) 11935. RA 11935, signed by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Oct. 10, 2022, moved the date of the simultaneous elections from Dec. 5, 2022 to the last Monday of October 2023, and every three years thereafter. Averia said during SMNI's weekly public affairs program "Business and Politics," hosted by The Manila Times Chairman and CEO Dante "Klink" Ang 2nd that Namfrel was against the postponement of the two polls because it negates the purpose for the creation of barangay, the primary planning and implementing unit of government policies, plans, programs, projects and activities in the community.
READ: Cancer patients' chances for recovery bigger
FILIPINO cancer patients now have a bigger chance of recovering, thanks to advances in the medical field, an oncology specialist said. Dr. Marvin Mendoza, Medical Oncology Section head of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), said that even patients diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer — where the cancerous cells have metastasized or spread to other organs — have better prospects for recovery. The patients' burdens are also eased with the availability of cancer medications locally, Mendoza said. The NKTI is one of the government facilities that offer more than just chemotherapy. It also provides targeted therapies for patients needing aggressive medical interventions for two types of cancer, breast and lymphoma. Breast cancer patients who cannot afford the P300,000 to P450,000 needed for the 18 treatment cycles can go to at least 23 public hospitals throughout the country for free treatment. However, only about 200 patients can get free treatments because the Department of Health has been allocated only P1 billion for the program.
Also on today's front page is a special report on Filipino pilots, starting with the Philippine Air Force and a side story on their two female flyers. Read them only on The Manila Times.
In Business
READ: BSP rate hike all but certain
KEY interest rates are expected to be raised anew this Thursday after inflation blew past expectations last month. All that remains to be answered is the size of the adjustment, with most analysts favoring a larger 50-basis-point (bps) hike instead of the 25 bps earlier projected. At 8.7 percent, January inflation was significantly higher than the 7.6-percent market consensus and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) 7.5- to 8.3-percent forecast. The BSP's policymaking Monetary Board raised key interest rates by a total of 350 bps last year after inflation began surging in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It hit a peak of 8.1 percent in December, after which economic managers said it would then gradually decline. The BSP's policy or overnight reverse repurchase rate currently stands at 5.5 percent, and a 50-bps increase will raise this to 6.0 percent, earlier seen by analysts as the likely terminal rate for 2023. The BSP's overnight lending and deposit rates, meanwhile, are at 6.0 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively.
Topping Sports
READ: Marcial KOs Argentine foe in 2nd round
FILIPINO Olympic boxer Eumir Marcial scored a second round knockout of Argentine Ricardo Villalba at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on Sunday (Manila time). With the victory in his first eight-round contest, Marcial, who claimed a bronze medal in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, stayed unscathed in his professional career with a 4-0 slate. It was Marcial's second knockout victory in his professional career. Villalba dropped to 20-8-1 (8 KOs).
READ: Lakers down Warriors sans LeBron
The Los Angeles Lakers, with LeBron James sidelined and their new recruits still getting up to speed, snapped a three-game skid with a 109-103 victory over the NBA-champion Golden State Warriors on Saturday (Sunday in Manila). Dennis Schroder led the Lakers with 26 points. Rui Hachimura added 16 and D'Angelo Russell — newly arrived in a trade deadline deal — chipped in 15 with five rebounds and six assists. Anthony Davis had a quiet scoring night with just 13 points on five-of-19 shooting.
READ: Opinion/Editorial
The Times, in its editorial, warns of more trouble ahead for agriculture. Read the full version on print, its digital edition or listen to The Voice of the Times. Featured columnists on the front page are Fr. Ranhilio Aquino who writes about the human of the future and Francisco Tatad who says BBM should ask what we're willing to die for.
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This is Pete Llevares reporting.