Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Thursday, May 11, 2023.
READ: DoJ moves to cancel passport of Teves
THE Department of Justice (DoJ) said on Wednesday that it will request the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel the passport of suspended Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. to compel his return to the Philippines, following his failed bid to seek asylum in East Timor. The DFA said the Ministry of Interior of East Timor has confirmed denying the political asylum application of Teves but added the lawmaker can still file an appeal. Teves has been tagged as the mastermind in the murder of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo and nine other individuals on March 4. He denied involvement in the killing and has vowed to return to the Philippines "once the threat to his life is dealt with accordingly." Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said that without a passport, Teves would be tagged as an illegal alien and would be automatically deported back to the Philippines.
READ: New South China Sea code needed – Marcos
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said a new Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea was needed to resolve the long-standing territorial disputes with China. Speaking to reporters covering the 42nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit, Marcos said he would urge his fellow Asean leaders to find a way to ensure the immediate issuance of a new COC. The President said the disputes in the South China Sea would not be resolved unless there was a COC to "make things clearer" between Asean and China. However, he admitted that China's separate bilateral negotiations with Asean member-states only make things "complicated." Marcos acknowledged that the negotiations for the COC in the South China Sea were "separate from the Asean Summit."
READ: EastWest, AUB join GCash 'glitch' probe
EASTWEST Bank (EWB) said it was cooperating with authorities after one of its accounts was tagged as the recipient of unauthorized cash transfers from GCash wallet users. Netizens said an EastWest Bank account number ending in 5239 was deducting thousands of pesos from their GCash wallets.
READ: 'Legislated wage hike needs consultations'
THE bill that seeks to provide P150 across-the-board wage increase that is now pending at the Senate needs to be thoroughly discussed with concerned agencies of the government to balance the interest of business and labor, including that of the informal sector workers, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said. ECOP President Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said on Wednesday that the bill's author, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, is highly respected by the business sector. However, consultations must be made with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Labor and stakeholders, among others. Speaking at the weekly Laging Handa briefing, Ortiz-Luis expressed concern on the impact of the increase on informal sector workers which, he pointed out, comprises 84 percent of the country's 50 million workforce.
BUSINESS: Farm output up 2.1%
Over to business, farm output grew by 2.1 percent in the first quarter, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday, rebounding from declines posted three months and a year earlier. The value of production in agriculture and fisheries, at constant 2018 prices, totaled P428.69 billion with crops, livestock, poultry and fisheries all expanding during the January-March period. At current prices — not adjusted for inflation — of agriculture and fisheries output was valued at P569.94 billion, 14.1 percent higher year on year. In the first quarter of last year, overall farm output fell by an annual 0.3 percent to P419.97 billion at constant prices. It was P490.05 billion in the last quarter of 2022 but year on year was down 1.0 percent.
SPORTS: Gilas battles 'import' filled Cambodia team
Headlining sports, a more cautious Gilas Pilipinas guns for a second straight win when it faces host Cambodia on Thursday, May 11, in the second day of group stage competition in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games men's basketball at the Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh. The keenly awaited match begins at 6 p.m., Manila time. The Filipinos opened their gold medal redemption tour with all guns blazing as they bludgeoned the hapless Malaysia five, 94-49, last Tuesday. But Cambodia, to no one's surprise, started its own men's basketball campaign with a strong 85-60 rough housing of Singapore, also two days ago. The host squad's solid winning tournament debut was credited to the presence of six naturalized players, whose exceptional basketball credentials instantly turned Cambodia into a title contender.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta and Danton Remoto are today's front page columnists. Contreras discusses a manufactured crisis, Makabenta asks what happened to the government's supposed communications agenda, and Remoto talks about issues from the country's Southeast Asian neighbors.
Today's editorial believes that the country is still lagging badly in digitalization. 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.