Good day. Here are the top stories of The Manila Times for Monday, March 6, 2023.
READ: Degamo slay suspect killed
ONE of the suspects in the gunning down of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo was killed Saturday night by a team of police and soldiers. The suspect, whose identity has yet to be established, refused to surrender and instead traded shots with the team who had cornered him in Barangay Cansumalig in Bayawan City around 9 p.m., officials said. Early Sunday morning, authorities recovered several high-powered firearms, ammunition and military uniforms supposedly used in the attack on Degamo that also left nine other persons dead and 16 others injured. PNP Region 7 spokesman LtCol. Gerard Ace Pelare said the weapons will undergo forensic analysis to determine their owners. Hours after Degamo was killed in front of his residence in San Isidro Village, police arrested three individuals suspected of taking part in the attack.
READ: Metro LGUs ready to blunt impact of transport strike
CONTINGENCY plans have been laid down by several cities in Metro Manila to minimize the impact of the weeklong transport strike that will start today, Monday. Quezon City Mayor Maria Josefina "Joy" Belmonte said the city's Traffic and Transport Management Department will put buses on standby for deployment to areas with a high number of stranded passengers. Navotas City Mayor John Rey Tiangco also said the city is ready to provide free shuttle services to Navoteños.n Valenzuela, Mayor Weslie "Wes" Gatchalian said they will utilize all their vehicles to provide transportation for public commuters despite the assurance from several associations of jeepney operators and drivers in the city that they will not join. Caloocan City Mayor Dale Gonzalo Malapitan told The Manila Times that some of the city's vehicles will be deployed throughout the duration of the jeepney strike. Malabon Mayor Jeannie Sandoval said the city government has recommended to private companies and institutions to have a skeleton force or rotating assignment of their workers so that they would not be directly affected by the strike. San Juan City in eastern Metro Manila will allow tricycles to ply the main streets during the transport strike. The Philippine National Police (PNP) is on heightened alert status in anticipation of the transport strike.
READ: Yulo cops 2 more medals in World Cup
TOKYO Olympics veteran Carlos Edriel Yulo bagged two more medals — a silver and a bronze — on the final day of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series Second Leg held at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. Yulo sealed his last-day performance with a silver finish in the parallel bars and a bronze medal in the vault event. He emphasized a brilliant stuck double front half-out dismount to score a 14.933, just 0.33 behind Illia Kovtun of Ukraine, who claimed the gold in parallel bars. Ferhat Arican of Turkey landed in third place with 14.733 points. Earlier, Yulo bagged the bronze in the vault event highlighted by a handspring front double pike or Blanik. But the 23-year-old Filipino under-rotated slightly his Kasamatsu double twist where he took a step back after landing to finish with a 14.83 3-point showing. Davtyan Artur of Armenia bagged the gold with 15.083, followed by Radivilov Igor of Ukraine at second who had 14.899.
READ: China hikes military spending in face of 'escalating' threats
China said Sunday its military spending will rise at the fastest pace in four years, warning of "escalating" threats from abroad at a meeting of its rubber-stamp parliament that is set to hand Xi Jinping a third term as president. The increase in the world's second-largest defense budget came as Beijing announced an economic growth goal of around 5 percent for this year — one of its lowest in decades. The country's planned budgets for the year put defense spending at 1.55 trillion yuan ($225 billion), a 7.2 percent rise and the quickest rate of increase since 2019. It officially rose 7.1 percent last year. Outgoing Premier Li Keqiang told delegates to the National People's Congress (NPC) that "external attempts to suppress and contain China are escalating."
READ: Modern jeepney to retain iconic look
Francisco Motor Corp., which has been building jeepneys for 76 years is taking the "King of the Road" to the modern age with its iconic look intact. From diesel-fueled jeepneys, FMC plans to shift to assembling public utility vehicles (PUVs) with electric motors that retain the jeepney's traditional design. What the FMC did was modernize the jeepney to make it compliant with the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), said Francisco, whose uncle established the company in 1947. The PUVMP aims to phase out all jeepneys that are 15 years old and older and replace them with brand new ones that conforms with the Philippine National Standards and powered by either an electric powertrain or at least a Euro 4 compliant diesel engine. The fully electric Francisco Passenger Jeepney has already received an endorsement from the Department of Transportation (DoTr) for inspection by the Department of Science and Technology (DoST).
Topping Business
READ: Analysts: Feb inflation to settle within forecast
Higher food and energy costs likely kept inflation elevated in February, economists said, but official data due for release tomorrow isn't expected to breach central bank expectations. Three out of the six analysts polled by The Manila Times replied inflation could have stayed at 8.7 percent last month. Two said it could have gone higher but not to 9.0 percent, while one projected a spike to 9.3 percent — the upper end of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) 8.5- to 9.3-percent forecast. Any acceleration, the BSP said last week, would be due to "upward price pressures... from higher LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) prices as well as elevated prices of key food items, such as pork, fish, egg and sugar." January's higher-than-expected 8.7-percent result prompted the BSP's policy-making Monetary Board (MB) to raise key interest rates by 50 basis points last month. The central bank's policy rate now stands at 6.0 percent, the highest in nearly 15 years. Analysts expect another increase to be ordered during the MB's next rate-setting meeting on March 23.
In Sports
READ: Diaz to receive Athlete of the Year plum
THE past links with the present in a celebration to toast the best and brightest of 2022 in the San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association (SMC-PSA) Annual Awards Night today, March 6, at the grand ballroom of the Diamond Hotel. Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz is expected to be the star of the night as she will be feted with the prestigious Athlete of the Year award for the second time by the oldest media organization in the Philippines headed by its president Rey Lachica, sports editor of Tempo. Diaz, 31, leads the list of close to 100 awardees who will be honored on this memorable night that will also have the late track great Lydia de Vega elevated to the PSA Hall of Fame and bosom buddy Elma Muros-Posadas recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
READ: 76ers rally to snap Bucks' 16-game streak
Joel Embiid made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 41.4 seconds left and the Philadelphia 76ers rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat Milwaukee 133-130 on Saturday, snapping the Bucks' 16-game winning streak. Milwaukee had the longest winning streak by any NBA team since the Phoenix Suns had 18 straight victories early last season. James Harden added 10 assists and nine rebounds. Embiid had 31 points, 10 assists and six rebounds. Tyrese Maxey added 26 points and Georges Niang had 16. Antetokounmpo had 34 points and 13 rebounds for Milwaukee. Brook Lopez and Holiday added 26 points apiece. Grayson Allen had 20, all in the third quarter.
The Times in its editorial says more leaders should be open to peace in Ukraine. Read the full version on print, digital or listen to the Voice of the Times. Featured columnists on the Times front page are Rigoberto Tiglao, Fr. Ranhilio Aquino and Francisco Tatad. Tiglao asks what's happening to the country in the wake of the assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo; Aquino on hazing; and Tatad on the question of who does the country turn to when the clash begins, referring to the Enhanced Development Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and the US and its impact in the Asian region, including China.
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This is Pete Llevares reporting.