Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Wednesday, September 6, 2023.
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A MANILA court issued on Tuesday warrants for the arrest of former Negros Oriental 3rd District representative Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr. and several others for allegedly killing Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo and 10 other people. Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 51 Presiding Judge Merianthe Pacita Zuraek also reset the arraignment and pre-trial conference of the Degamo slay case to Oct. 4, 2023 due to the "voluminous documents" submitted before the court. Also ordered arrested were Capt. Lloyd Garcia 2nd, Angelo Palagtiw and a certain "Gee Ann," who was identified as the sister of Palagtiw. Garcia, a helicopter pilot, was accused of helping the suspects flee after committing the crime. Meanwhile, a commitment order was issued against another accused, Nigel Electona, who is currently detained at the Manila City Jail. He will be transferred to the custody of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City. Complaints for murder, frustrated murder and attempted murder were filed by the Department of Justice against Teves on August 18 for the killing of Degamo and several others.
Asean leaders seek unity in summit dominated by Myanmar crisis
Southeast Asian leaders met in Indonesia on Tuesday to seek a united voice on the years-long Myanmar crisis. Myanmar has been ravaged by deadly violence since a 2021 military coup deposed Aung San Suu Kyi's government and unleashed a bloody crackdown on dissent. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) — long decried by critics as a toothless talking shop — has been left divided over how to deal with Myanmar's rulers and other issues including Beijing's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.
PH to host Asean summit in 2026
THE Philippines will host the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in 2026, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced on Tuesday. Expressing the country's readiness to chair the regional bloc's gathering, Marcos vowed to further fortify the foundations of Asean's community-building efforts and steer them toward a new chapter. As host, the Philippines will focus on the empowerment of women, persons with disabilities (PWD) and migrant workers, Marcos said. Originally, Myanmar was the designated host of the 2026 summit.
Free college education changes lives – CHEd
THE Commission on Higher Education defended the implementation of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education, or the Free Higher Education Act, saying it changed the lives of poor students. In a television interview, CHEd Chairman J. Prospero de Vera 3rd said that most of those who study in state universities and colleges are not well-off. The country, he added, is seeing a phenomenon of "first-generation graduates" among very poor students, or those who were the first in their family to finish higher education.
Govt, MNLF to pursue 1996 peace accord
THE Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front, under its chairman Nur Misuari, have agreed to reconstitute the Joint Peace Coordinating Committee into the Peace Implementing Committee to continue the implementation of the agreement both parties signed in 1996. In a three-point resolution, Presidential Peace Adviser Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and M.N.L.F. Vice Chairman Abdulkarim Tan Misuari signed an accord to strengthen the composition of the Joint Peace Implementing Committee.
Inflation halts decline, rises to 5.3% in August
Topping business, inflation snapped a downtrend in August following a sharp rise in food and transport costs, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Tuesday. At 5.3 percent, August inflation rose from July's 4.7 percent and was also higher than the 4.9-percent consensus in a Manila Times poll of economists. It fell within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' 4.8- to 5.6-percent forecast for the month and was lower than the 6.3 percent recorded a year earlier.
7 FWC veterans in Gilas roster for Asian Games
In sports, 7 of the players who saw action in the FIBA World Cup are on the Team Philippines' list for men's basketball to the 12th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. The lineup, according to Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino, was submitted along with those of the 39 other sports or disciplines where Filipino athletes are competing in the Games that start September 23. Any changes, Tolentino said, would have to be appealed to the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee. The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas list had World Cup veterans Kiefer Ravena, Scottie Thompson, Roger Pogoy, June Mar Fajardo, JR Perez, Japeth Aguilar and Jamie Malonzo. Also in the roster are Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser and naturalized players Justin Brownlee and Ange Kouame. Dwight Ramos, Renz Abando, Kai Sotto and naturalized player Jordan Clarkson as well as AJ Edu, are not on the Asian Games roster. Tolentino also noted that Justin Brownlee and Ange Kouame, both naturalized, are eligible for the Asian Games for the simple rule that they only need to show a valid Philippine passport.
Rigoberto Tiglao and Francisco Tatad are today's front page columnists. Tiglao wants the country to forget the Mutual Defense Treaty with Washington, while Tatad discusses a nuclear alternative.
Today's editorial calls for a review of the free tuition program. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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