Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Saturday, March 11, 2023.
READ: Gun stash found in Teves house
ASSORTED firearms, ammunition and a grenade were seized by authorities during a raid in one of five residences of Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves on Friday. The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said it found the gun stash in the congressman's house in Purok 4, Barangay Poblacion, Basay town. Recovered were a hand grenade; a .45 caliber pistol and magazine; a .40 caliber Glock pistol with magazine; a .40 caliber pistol with magazine; one rifle scope; seven .45 caliber rounds; and 50 .40 caliber rounds. Authorities were checking if the firearms were licensed. The congressman has been implicated in the killing of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo and eight others on March 4. Teves has denied any involvement in the killing. He already faces murder charges over the killing of three individuals in the province in 2019. Teves' lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, said he has not seen the search warrants for the raids on his client's residences.
READ: Fishers grounded by oil spill mobilized in cleanup drive
FISHERMEN in Oriental Mindoro deprived of their livelihood by the massive oil spill will be hired to clean up oil-polluted beaches. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said it is implementing a cash-forwork (CFW) program to provide temporary jobs to fishermen who cannot go out to sea because the waters and marine life have been contaminated by the oil that has been leaking from the tanker MV Princess Empress. The ship sank off Pola town on February 28 while sailing to Iloilo from Bataan with 800,000 liters of industrial oil. The oil has fouled up coastlines in Oriental Mindoro, forcing the provincial government to declare a state of emergency.
READ: Chinese ship shoos off PH plane
AS a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) plane carrying journalists flew over the Spratly Islands in the hotly disputed South China Sea, a Chinese voice issued a stern command over the radio: "Leave immediately." The order came from a radio operator on a Chinese coast guard vessel 3,500 feet (1,000 meters) below — one of the dozens of ships seen prowling the waters. Several media outlets were given the rare opportunity on Thursday to fly over some of the dozens of tiny islands and reefs where the Philippines, China and several other nations have competing claims. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, including the Spratlys, ignoring an international ruling that its claims have no legal basis.
READ: Times head named to Clark firm's board
THE Manila Times' Chairman and CEO Dante Francis "Klink" Ang 2nd has been named as acting member of the board of directors of the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC), according to the list of new presidential appointees released by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO). The CIAC is under the Department of Transportation (DoTr).
Topping business, net foreign direct investments (FDI) plunged in December, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Friday, contracting by 76.2 percent to $634 million from $2.7 billion a year earlier. Full-year net inflows subsequently narrowed to $9.2 billion, down 23.2 percent from the $12.0 billion recorded in 2021.
SPORTS: Catantan eyes spot in US NCAA fencing tilt
Over to sports, Filipino fencing sensation Samantha Catantan of Penn State University targets a berth in the 2023 US NCAA Fencing Championship as she competes in the regionals that start Saturday in the US. The 21-year-old Catantan expressed confidence in her chances of advancing in the main draw to be hosted by Duke University on March 23-26 at the Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. Catantan is the first Filipino "homegrown" fencer to be given a full athletic scholarship by a Division 1 US NCAA school.
Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta and Danton Remoto are today's front page columnists. Contreras talks about the partisan weaponization of art as propaganda, Makabenta cites about the green movement facing "painful confrontation" with reality, while Remoto discusses turning 60.
Today's editorial believes more challenges loom, amid positive news on unemployment figures. 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.