Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Thursday, August 24, 2023.
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READ: Chinese ships block PH boats
As a U.S. military surveillance plane circled overhead, eight Chinese ships chased and briefly blocked four Philippine boats on a resupply mission to a tiny garrison in the hotly contested South China Sea. The high seas cat-and-mouse game on Tuesday followed assurances from Chinese coast guard vessels patrolling the waters that Philippine boats would be allowed to deliver provisions to the remote outpost on Second Thomas Shoal "in the spirit of humanism." But, the Chinese radio operator warned, the two Philippine Coast Guard vessels escorting the two boats carrying supplies for Filipino marines stationed on a crumbling navy ship grounded atop the reef should leave or "bear full responsibility for all the consequences."
READ: Retooled Toyota Tamaraw returns
TOYOTA Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda announced the return of the Toyota Tamaraw — a popular multi-purpose vehicle first produced in the country in December 1976 — to the local market in time for the 35th-anniversary celebration of Toyota Motor Philippines on Monday. The vehicle was named after the tamaraw or Mindoro dwarf buffalo (Bubalus mindorensis). Toyoda added that a 4.4-billion peso investment was poured into Toyota to bolster its production capacity
READ: Lawmaker pushes AI education
A RANKING lawmaker has proposed educating a million Filipinos on artificial intelligence and the creation of a grant facility for AI research amid the proliferation of generative AI platforms such as Chat G.P.T. In a privilege speech delivered on Tuesday, House Committee on Higher and Technical Education Chairman and Baguio Lone District Rep. Mark Go said that his proposed "One-percent A.I. Education program" will empower individuals across diverse backgrounds to grasp the essentials of A.I. He said that his proposal was inspired by Finland's initiative to train 1 percent of its citizens in A.I. and the Development Academy of the Philippines' Project Sparta, which is dedicated to data and analytics.
READ: Clarkson banners Gilas Pilipinas Final 12
UTAH Jazz superstar Jordan Clarkson will banner the Gilas Pilipinas final 12 in the 2023 FIBA World Cup group stage that begins on Friday, August 25, at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan. Supporting Clarkson are veteran big men June Mar Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar, the 7-foot-3 young slotman Kai Sotto, Filipino Cypriot AJ Edu, Jamie Malonzo, Dwight Ramos, versatile wingmen CJ Perez and Rhens Abando, as well as shooter Roger Pogoy and guards Kiefer Ravena and Scottie Thompson. The 16-man roster also includes Bobby Ray Parks, Thirdy Ravena, Calvin Oftana and Chris Newsome. With the exception of the 31-year-old Clarkson and Sotto, most of the team members joined the Europe training camp held in June through the early part of July before participating in the China pocket tournament, where they battled Senegal and Iran Team B twice. Coach Chot Reyes aims to lead Gilas to a finish that will guarantee a spot in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France. The Philippines is bracing for a hungry Dominican Republic team that includes Minnesota Timberwolves star big man Karl-Anthony Towns leading the way. Supporting the three-time N.B.A. All-Star are former Golden State Warriors guard Lester Quiñones, Justin Minaya and Jean Montero.
SPORTS: Current Gilas more talented than 2014 batch – Aguilar
Sticking to Gilas, veteran big men Japeth Aguilar and June Mar Fajardo both agree that the 2023 edition of the Philippine team that is preparing for the FIBA World Cup is more talented compared to the 2014 batch that saw action in Seville, Spain. The 36-year-old Aguilar, one of the few senior players in the national team, however, reiterated that they intend to emulate the way the 2014 batch played during the World Cup. That batch, which had diminutive playmaker Jimmy Alapag leading the way, gave world-class national squads like Croatia, Greece, which then had a budding forward by the name of Giannis Antetokoumpo, and Argentina, scary moments before eventually folding up during the group stage match.
BUSINESS: IMF to revise PH growth forecasts
Over to business, the International Monetary Fund will be revising its growth outlook for the Philippines following the second quarter's steeper-than-expected slowdown. The Washington-based multilateral organization, which just last month revised its 2023 and 2024 projections for the country to reflect the first quarter's surprisingly strong results, is now looking to again change its outlook. First-quarter gross domestic product growth slowed to 6.4 percent in the first quarter from 7.1 percent three months earlier. Still, it beat the consensus forecast of 6.0 percent and fell within the government's 6.0- to 7.0-percent target for 2023. The I.M.F. subsequently announced in July that it was raising this year's forecast to 6.2 percent from 6.0 percent but also trimmed that for 2024 to 5.5 percent from 5.8 percent, citing the global headwinds and the impact of higher interest rates. While growth was expected to keep slowing as the year progressed, the second-quarter result of 4.3 percent was well below the 6.0-percent median forecast. The disappointing result has been blamed on a contraction in government spending. With the full effects of monetary tightening still to be felt and with inflation again threatening to pick up, analysts have said that hitting the 6.0- to 7.0-percent G.D.P. goal will be a tall order.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta, and Danton Remoto are today's front page columnists. Contreras discusses the use of persona non grata, Makabenta says China cannot rewrite the rules of the maritime order unless if the world consents, while Remoto talks about an English translation of a novel by Amado V. Hernandez.
Today's editorial talks about a golden opportunity for the Philippines, particularly on European investments. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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