Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Wednesday April 12, 2023.
READ: 'EDCA key pillar of US, PH alliance'
FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) is a "key pillar" of the alliance between the Philippines and the United States as they aim to "reforge" their relations in a high-level dialogue this week. Manalo made the remark on Monday in Washington, D.C., during a forum organized by the Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) ahead of the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue between top foreign affairs and defense officials of both countries. Manalo and Defense department Officer in Charge Carlito Galvez Jr. will hold the dialogue with their US counterparts, State Secretary Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd James Austin. He noted that last week the Philippines identified four new locations to "house" US troops and equipment under the EDCA. These are in Cagayan's Naval Base Camilo Osias and Lal-lo Airport; Camp Melchor F. Dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela; and Balabac Island in Palawan. The Philippines and the US, according to Manalo, are conducting this month "the biggest joint [Balikatan or shoulder-to-shoulder] exercises in EDCA history" with over 17,600 Filipino and American troops and observers from Japan and Australia.
READ: Blinken meets PH officials
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will discuss growing military ties with the Philippines on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) before heading to Vietnam and Japan days after a new flare-up of tensions with China over Taiwan. The Philippines, Vietnam and Japan all have long-standing territorial disputes with China that have grown more intense in recent years as Beijing flexes its muscle. Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet jointly in Washington with their Philippine counterparts in the first such joint talks in seven years between the United States and its former colony.
READ: PH, US troops train in first Balikatan salvo
THE Philippines and the United States formally opened the biggest iteration of the Balikatan (shoulder to shoulder) exercises on Tuesday at the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) general headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. The opening salvo was held in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija where Filipino and American soldiers trained side by side in knock-out bunker and room clearing operations. With over 17,500 combined troops from the AFP and the US Indo-Pacific Command, the 38th edition of the annual joint military drills will highlight four major events: command post exercise, cyber defense exercise, field training exercise and humanitarian civic assistance. Present at the opening ceremony were US Chargé d'Affaires Heather Variava, representing the US Ambassador to the Philippines Marykay Loss Carlson; AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Andres Centino; US Exercise Director Representative Maj. Gen. Eric Austin of the US Marine Corps; and Philippine Exercise Director Maj. Gen. Marvin Licudine of the Philippine Army.
READ: Cagayan gov to constituents: Speak out vs EDCA sites
CAGAYAN Gov. Manuel Mamba has expressed his firm opposition to the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites in the province and called on the people of Cagayan to also stand against hosting the bases for use by American military forces. Earlier, Malacañang announced four more EDCA sites in the country — the Naval Base Camilo Osias in Santa Ana town and Lallo Airport in Lal-lo town, both in Cagayan; Camp Melchor dela Cruz in Gamu town in Isabela province; and Balabac Island in Palawan province. Mamba also urged all Cagayanos to join in prayer against a possible war between China and the United States over Taiwan, and pray to open everyone's minds to prevent the existence of EDCA sites in the province.
READ: Marcos defers LRT fare hike
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday ordered the Department of Transportation (DoTr) to defer an earlier approved fare increase for train lines Light Rail Transit 1 and LRT-2, taking into account its "economic impact" on commuters. The fare adjustment for another train line, the MRT-3, was also deferred "due to infirmities in complying with requirements and procedure." In a briefing in Malacañang, DoTr Secretary Jaime Bautista said the agency will heed the Chief Executive's order and will immediately conduct further study of the effect of a fare increase on passengers of the three major rail lines.
BUSINESS: Jobless rate steady; job quality improves
Topping business, unemployment was unchanged in February from a month earlier but job quality improved, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday. The country's jobless rate stayed at 4.8 percent while underemployment — which counts those looking for more work or an extra job — dropped to 12.9 percent from 14.1 percent in January. A year earlier, unemployment was higher at 6.4 percent and underemployment was at 14.0 percent. Employment was also unchanged month on month at 95.2 percent but improved from February 2022's 93.6 percent. The number of Filipinos with jobs rose to 48.8 million from 47.35 million in January and 45.48 million a year earlier. Those without jobs numbered 2.47 million, up from the prior month's 2.37 million but still better than February 2022's 3.12 million. Employed Filipinos looking to work more hours or get an additional job, meanwhile, totaled 6.29 million. This was an improvement from January's 6.65 million and the year-earlier 6.38 million.
SPORTS: Ginebra guns for 2-0 lead versus TNT
Over to sports, Barangay Ginebra tries to stay undefeated in the playoffs and more importantly, guns for a 2-0 series bulge when the Gin Kings clash with TNT Tropang Giga in their best-of-seven PBA Governors' Cup Finals today, April 12, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. Game time is 5:45 p.m. The Gin Kings surprised the Tropang Giga and hardly showed signs of rust coming off a 10-day break with a 102-90 victory on Easter Sunday to draw first blood in the title series. Coming out with a resolute defense, Ginebra held TNT to just 35.9 percent shooting from the floor. The superb defense also held the usually hot-shooting Tropang Giga to just nine three-pointers in the game with top gunners Roger Pogoy (1-of-5) and Jayson Castro (0-of-3) misfiring in the series-opening game. But all that could easily change, according to Ginebra coach Tim Cone, knowing that in a long series, TNT is capable of making the adjustments.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Rigoberto Tiglao, Fr. Ranhilio Aquino and Francisco Tatad are today's front page columnists. Tiglao analyzes if China could invade Taiwan, Fr. Aquino tackles the lack of nurses working in the country, while Tatad discusses designing a new Constitution.
Today's editorial thinks the country is setting the pace in coal retirement. 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 Isabelle Dignadice.