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HEADLINES: Inflation continues steady downtrend | Aug. 5, 2023

Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for August 5, 2023.

Today's episode is brought to you by Wilcon Depot, The Philippines' leading home improvement and construction supplies retailer—your Trusted Building Partner.

READ: Inflation continues steady downtrend

INFLATION slowed for a sixth consecutive month in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Friday, owing mainly to a slower increase in housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels. The 4.7 percent, down from 5.4 percent in June and July of last year at 6.4 percent, fell within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' 4.1 to 4.9 percent forecast for the month. It is, however, slightly lower than the 4.8-percent median in a Manila Times poll of economists. This is also the lowest recorded inflation since March 2022, at 4 percent, the P.S.A. said. Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy items, significantly dropped to 6.7 percent from 7.4 percent in June. Year to date, headline inflation stood at 6.8 percent, while core inflation was at 7.6 percent. It remained well over the central bank's 2 to 4-percent target.

READ: 3M affected, 200K displaced by monsoon rains – NDRRMC

MORE than 3 million persons were affected and over 200,000 were displaced by relentless rains spawned by the southwest monsoon, or "habagat," interacting with Typhoons "Egay" and "Falcon," according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Based on the agency's report Friday, 3,028,040 individuals, or 805,621 families, in 14 regions were affected by the rains, while 287,057 persons were displaced. A total of 17,349 persons were preemptively evacuated in the regions of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) and Western Visayas. The death toll rose to 29, while injuries numbered 165. At least 11 people were reported missing. The damage to infrastructure was placed at 3.631 billion pesos and 1.95 billion pesos to agriculture.

READ: Teves claims innocence, slams govt's terrorist tag

SUSPENDED Negros Oriental Third District Rep. Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr. has maintained his constitutional right to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty after he was tagged a terrorist by the government. Teves described his situation as political execution during an online news conference with vloggers and mainstream media on Friday, Aug. 4, 2023.

READ: Trump pleads not guilty to election conspiracy

Former U.S. president Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday to criminal charges that he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election and defraud the American people. Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, entered his plea during a nearly 30-minute hearing at the same Washington courthouse where hundreds of his supporters have been convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. "Not guilty," Trump said after magistrate judge Moxila Upadhyaya read the four criminal counts — and the potential maximum prison sentences — in the 45-page indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith. The 77-year-old has already been charged in two other criminal cases, and the new conspiracy charges raise the prospect of his being further embroiled in legal proceedings at the height of next year's election campaign.

READ: Yulo scores golden sweep in Palaro gymnastics

IT was a sweep that was six years in the making for upstart National Capital Region gymnast Karl Eldrew Yulo. Yulo, the younger brother of two-time world champion Carlos Edriel Yulo, topped the floor exercise with 13.500 points, the vault with 13.95 points, horizontal bars with 9.00 points, and mushroom (pommel horse) with 9.250 points to dominate the gymnastics competition of the Palarong Pambansa on Friday. The 15-year-old also won the individual all-around with 46.25 points and led the NCR to a gold medal triumph in the team all-around after recording 41.7 points last Wednesday. The 4-foot-11 Yulo said he was ecstatic to have swept all the events for secondary boys in the Palaro gymnastics. He said the last time he swept the tournament was in 2017 in the elementary division.

SPORTS: Gilas needs to address 'slow start' in games

Sticking to sports, Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes pointed out that the players and the coaching staff need to immediately address the team's "slow starts" in the game if the Filipinos want to stand toe to toe against tough squads in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which the Philippines is co-hosting with Japan and Indonesia starting August 25. Tentative on offense and a step late on defense, Gilas Pilipinas fell by five points midway in the opening quarter while allowing Iran's B team to score 23 points in the 2023 Heyuan WUS International Basketball Tournament Thursday night, August 3, at Heyuan Sports Gymnasium in Guangdong, China. The Filipinos, however, settled down on offense and tightened their defense in the second and third quarters to pull away. Iran, however, rallied in the final period to make the loss respectable at 65-76.

BUSINESS: Jollibee to introduce two Asian food brands

Over to business, Jollibee Foods Corp. will be bringing in two Asian food brands — Tiong Bahru Bakery and Common Man Coffee Roasters — in a bid to further expand its domestic presence. In a disclosure on Friday, Jollibee said it would be setting up a joint venture firm with Food Collective Private Limited that would own and operate Tiong Bahru Bakery and Common Man Coffee Roasters restaurants in the country.

READ: Opinion and editorial

Antonio Contreras, Danton Remoto, and Leonor Briones are today's front page columnists. Contreras talks about the vulnerability of people in power, Remoto discusses the political game during the time of Jose Rizal, while Briones tackles the travails of travel.

Today's editorial revisits the controversy involving the Philippines bringing in refugees from Afghanistan. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.

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