Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Saturday, February 25, 2023.
READ: PH joins UN call to end Ukraine war
THE Philippines has voted for a United Nations resolution calling for a "comprehensive, just and lasting peace" in Ukraine, which was invaded by Russian forces one year ago. In a statement issued on Friday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the Philippines continues to urge all parties to end the war through peaceful and diplomatic means. The resolution was adopted on Thursday with 141 of the 193 UN members in favor, seven opposed and 32 — including China and India — abstaining.
READ: De Lima marks 6 years of 'unjust detention'
FORMER senator Leila de Lima on Friday marked her sixth year in detention, which she has branded as unjust. De Lima, who spent nearly her entire tenure in the Senate in Camp Crame, wrote that she continues to fight for her innocence. She was arrested on Feb. 24, 2017, on charges filed by the Department of Justice (DoJ) related to drug trafficking in the New Bilibid Prison.
READ: DoLE declares today a regular working day
AFTER declaring Friday as a special nonworking holiday to mark the 37th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has announced that today, February 25, is a regular working day. The DoLE had written a memo signed by Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, adjusting wages for those who worked on Friday. That means, for work done on Friday, employers will pay their workers an additional 30 percent of the basic wage for the first eight hours of work. Malacañang late on Thursday declared February 24 a special non-working holiday, instead of February 25, which is the actual date of the event. DoLE clarified that today will still be observed as the anniversary of the People Power Revolution.
READ: Rain, terrain foil retrieval of crash victims' bodies
RAIN, the mountainous terrain and technical problems are impeding efforts to bring down the bodies of the victims of the Cessna plane crash from Mount Mayon, authorities said Friday. All four people aboard the Cessna RPC 340 — pilot Capt. Rufino James Crisostomo Jr., mechanic Joel Martin, and Australians Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santhanam — were killed when the aircraft slammed into the west slope of Mount Mayon last Saturday. Camalig Mayor Carlos Irwin Baldo Jr., the ground commander for the retrieval operations, said on Friday that teams from government and mountaineering groups have set up a base camp close to the crash site, which is about 6,000 feet from the mountain's base, and just 300 meters below the crater.
READ: Anti-corruption group probes PNP generals first
SENIOR officers holding key positions in the Philippine National Police (PNP) will be the first to be assessed by the five-man committee that will filter the courtesy resignations of the third-level officials in the organization. PNP chief information officer Col. Redrico Maranan said this was agreed upon during the initial meetings of the five members of the committee, since these positions are relevant to the internal cleansing process in the police organization. The committee is composed of PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin, Jr., retired police general and now Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, retired police general Isagani Nerez, and retired Court of Appeals associate justice Melchor Sadang.
BUSINESS: PH growth 'could normalize' to 5.5-6.6%
Topping business, the Philippine economy continues to be supported by favorable demographics and strong fundamentals but growth will likely "normalize" below last year's better-than-expected result, an analyst said. In a report released on Thursday, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort said gross domestic product (GDP) growth "could normalize to around 5.5-6.5 percent in 2023 and beyond," down from 2022's 7.6 percent and lower than the government's 6.0- to 7.0-percent target for this year. For 2024 to 2028, the official growth target is 6.5 to 8.0 percent. "Beyond" was qualified by Ricafort spanning five to 10 years, and he premised his forecast on majority of the population being of working age and the full reopening of the economy after more than two years of Covid-19 restrictions. The threat from high inflation, he said, could be reduced by lower individual income taxes starting January and a subsequent rise in consumer spending, which accounts for at least 75 percent of the economy.
SPORTS: Road Warriors gun for playoffs ticket
Over to sports, the NLEX Road Warriors try to recover their bearing and shoot for a win to formalize their entry into the 2022-23 PBA Governors' Cup playoffs when they collide with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Saturday, February 25, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. NLEX (5-3) takes on Rain or Shine (2-5) at 6:45 p.m. Both teams are coming off ugly losses. NLEX suffered a 114-98 beatdown at the hands of sister team Meralco, while Rain or Shine absorbed a 112-97 flattening from Magnolia Chicken Timplados. Considering the playoff implications involved in both team's remaining games in the eliminations, intensity and energy will be high. The Road Warriors, in particular, are still trying to get their rhythm with import Wayne Selden, who came in to take the spot of Jonathon Simmons.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras and Yen Makabenta are today's front page columnists. Contreras weighs in on the International Criminal Court's investigations on former president Rodrigo Duterte, while Makabenta asks if it's time to lift the mask mandate.
Today's editorial asks the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to heed calls about dredging activities. 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 Luden Salinas reporting.