Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Wednesday, May 10, 2023.
READ: Teves seeks asylum in East Timor – DFA
SUSPENDED Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. is seeking asylum in Timor Leste, according to the Department of Justice (DoJ). Teves' presence in Timor Leste or East Timor was relayed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo in a letter, dated April 29, 2023, to Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla. In the letter, Manalo said based on confidential information he received from the Philippine ambassador to Timor Leste, "Congressman Arnolfo Teves Jr. is in the capital city of Dili where he applied for a protection visa with the intent of asylum." Remulla, in his response letter dated May 8, 2023, informed the DFA secretary that the Justice department has already taken concrete steps to designate Teves as a "terrorist" under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
READ: Myanmar, sea feud focus of summit
Alarm over Myanmar's still-unfolding deadly civil strife, including an armed attack on an aid convoy, and China's aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea are expected to be put under the spotlight this week when Southeast Asian leaders meet in Indonesia. Top diplomats of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) convened Tuesday in the resort town of Labuan Bajo to finalize the agenda ahead of the two-day summit of the 10-nation bloc's heads of state. The United States and China are not part of the twice-yearly summit, but their escalating rivalry looms large over the high-profile Asian gathering. Beijing has warned that US efforts to strengthen security alliances and intensify combat-readiness drills with Asian allies would endanger regional stability. Founded in 1967, Asean has struggled to avoid getting entangled in the major-power competition as a bloc.
READ: Globe on GCash woes: No funds lost, no hacking
GLOBE Telecom on Tuesday said there were no funds lost, contrary to an earlier report that some P37 million worth of transactions were allegedly stolen by suspected hackers. But Globe admitted that they had received reports that several of their customers lost their money in their digital wallets.
READ: DoH unfazed by Covid rise
THE Department of Health (DoH) on Tuesday remained unperturbed by the increase in Covid-19 cases even if the case numbers increased by 87 percent in the previous week. Based on its Covid-19 situationer report, the daily average caseload reached 1,400 cases per day from May 2 to 8, an increase of 87 percent from the 747 daily average from April 25 to May 1. Health Officer in Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said that most of those who had been infected either were asymptomatic or had mild or moderate symptoms.
READ: Yulo reaps more gold in SEA Games
The Philippine men's gymnastics team delivered another solid performance, winning three gold medals in the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games on Tuesday, May 9, at the National Olympic Stadium's Marquee Tent. World champion Carlos Yulo scored 14.850 points to rule the men's parallel bars to earn his second gold medal in the biennial meet. His first gold came from the individual all-around on May 8. He also contributed to the Philippine team's silver medal finish in the team event and settled for another silver medal in still rings. While Yulo was expected to deliver, promising gymnasts John Ivan Cruz and Juancho Miguel Besana were somehow surprise gold medal winners in their respective events.
SPORTS: Besana, Cruz steal show as Yulo delivers anew
Sticking to the two men who won gold alongside Yulo, Cruz and Besana rose to the occasion, winning a gold medal each in the men's floor exercise and vault final, respectively. Cruz topped the seven-man field as he unleashed a dazzling performance on the floor to take 13.850 points, much to the delight of the Filipino fans in attendance. After winning the event, the 20-year-old Cruz couldn't help but break down into tears. Besana topped the five-man field of the vault final as he scored 14.425 points, proving that Yulo, a former world champion in vault, was right in trusting him to compete in the event instead of Yulo himself.
BUSINESS: PH trade deficit widens to $4.93B
Topping business, the country's trade deficit hit $4.93 billion in March as imports continued to outweigh exports, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Tuesday. Both inbound and outbound shipments again contracted during the month from a year earlier but the declines moderated from February's double-digit drops. March's deficit was 7.5 percent higher compared to the year-earlier $4.58 billion and also 2.6 percent up from February's $3.9 billion. It brought the year-to-date shortfall to $14.58 billion, 11.4 percent more than the $13.08 billion posted in the comparable 2022 period.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Rigoberto Tiglao and Francisco Tatad are today's front page columnists, as they both weigh in on the consequences regarding the Marcos' administration's pivot to the United States.
Today's editorial tells the country to watch closely reforms within the International Finance Corporation. 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.