Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Thursday, March 30, 2023.

READ: Teves: Guns are not mine

FORMER Negros Oriental governor Pryde Henry Teves, brother of embattled Negros Oriental Third District Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr., said on Wednesday he is cooperating with the authorities after a police search on a property connected to him yielded unregistered guns and bullets. He denied owning the illegal firearms. Teves said he does not want to put in jeopardy HDJ Bayawan Agri-Venture Corp., a sugar company wherein he is the president, owning a 10 percent share. A raid by the authorities in the company's Tolong compound located in Barangay Caranoche, Santa Catalina, Negros Oriental on Friday produced multiple firearms, hundreds of live ammunition and millions of cash. Over the next few days, the police unearthed more guns, ammunition and explosives in the compound. Teves said Tolong, measuring 10 hectares, is a compound within a compound — situated inside a 52-hectare raw land property. He said the area where authorities recovered the firearms is located outside his company's compound.

READ: De Vera ready to face accusers in court

COMMISSION on Higher Education (CHEd) Chairman J. Prospero de Vera 3rd said that he is ready to answer allegations against him concerning the delay in the release of Tuition Education Subsidy (TES) in court. De Vera issued the statement following claims from some community colleges that the CHEd had been negligent in the disbursement of TES for the past three semesters, from 2021-2022 and 2022-2023.

READ: Filipinos eyed for Ukraine reconstruction

UKRAINE Deputy Head of Mission to the Philippines Denys Mykhailiuk has raised the possibility of tapping Filipino workers in the reconstruction of Ukraine. Ukraine has an embassy in Malaysia which has jurisdiction over the Philippines. Kyiv has a consulate in Manila. In a press conference on Wednesday, Mykhailiuk said the hiring of Filipino construction workers is one of the "possible" cooperation between Ukraine and the Philippines.

READ: Cabinet members back Cha-cha – Rodriguez

REP. Rufus Rodriguez, chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments, said on Wednesday that several members of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s Cabinet voiced support for the House of Representatives' move to amend the Constitution's "restrictive" economic provisions. He cited the position papers presented to his committee by Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo Pascual, Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin "Benhur" Abalos Jr., Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rexlon "Rex" Gatchalian, and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director General Arsenio Balisacan. The committee publicly requested that the five departments offer their perspectives on Charter change, indicating support for the amendments, with Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno being the most recent addition.

BUSINESS: PH banks can take additional tightening

On top of our business stories, Philippine banks remain resilient and can withstand continued policy tightening, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Felipe Medalla said on Wednesday. Key interest rates have been raised by a total of 425 bps since May last year to bring down surging inflation. While consumer price growth eased to 8.6 percent last month from January's 14-year high of 8.7 percent, it remains well above the BSP's 2.0- to 4.0-percent target. When last week's 25-bps increase was announced, Medalla said that it was "based on the sum of new information and its assessment of the effects of past policy actions, which warranted a continuation of monetary tightening to anchor inflation expectations."

SPORTS: Creamline, Petro Gazz go all out for the crown

Over to sports, Creamline and Petro Gazz are set to collide in a winner-take-all for the coveted Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino crown at the SM Mall of Asia Arena today, March 30. The Cool Smashers flashed not only their mental toughness but also their big fighting heart in a nerve-wracking stretch to stop the Angels, 18-25, 25-16, 25-18, 23-25, 15-6, on Tuesday that sent their bestof-three championship series into a no-more-tomorrow contest. Game time is 5:30 p.m. Despite its championship experience, Creamline had to buck the odds to force the equalizer in Game Two and keep its bid for a sixth PVL crown alive. Creamline lost Game One, 22- 25, 26-24, 23-25, 24-26, but rose to the challenge as Tots Carlos, Jema Galanza, Michele Gumabao, Ced Domingo and playmaker Jia Morado, along with the rest of the Cool Smashers, stepped up to foil the Angels with that blistering run in the fifth set and send the highly charged series back to square one.

READ: Opinion and editorial

Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta and Danton Remoto are today's front page columnists. Contreras weighs in on the controversy surrounding the Ateneo Senior High School student who treated a communion element like a snack, Makabenta discusses the "fake news" on the supposed death of former first lady Imelda Marcos, while Remoto believes translation is a bridge between worlds.

Today's editorial believes the United Nations' High Seas Treaty offers opportunities for the Philippines. 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.