Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Sunday, September 17, 2023.
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READ: Corals in WPS gone after China 'swarming'
CORALS that grow in abundance in the shallow waters close to Rozul (Iroquios) Reef in the West Philippine Sea have disappeared, apparently due to massive harvesting, a military official said on Saturday. Vice Admiral Albert Carlos, who heads the Western Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said in a news forum on Saturday that this was what their divers discovered after surveying the Rozul Reef, where Chinese maritime militia vessels had been monitored by Philippine military air assets to be "swarming" on September 6 and 7. The Rozul Reef is within the country's exclusive economic zone. The Wescom chief said that while he did not want to draw any conclusions, he expressed suspicion that the Chinese ships have been harvesting the corals.
READ: Surigao del Norte offered as EDCA site
OFFICIALS of Surigao del Norte have invited the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the U.S. Armed Forces to inspect the province for possible consideration as a base for defensive and humanitarian purposes under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said the province's deep waters, which face the Pacific Ocean, can accommodate huge U.S. naval ships.
READ: 249 villages tagged 'areas of grave concern' ahead of BSKE
ABOUT 249 villages nationwide out of the 2,603 where election-related violence may occur were listed as "areas of grave concern" ahead of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, the Philippine National Police said on Saturday. Of the total, 1,344 barangay (villages) have been classified under the orange category, while 1,010 are under the yellow category. The P.N.P. clarified, however, that the list submitted by the Directorate for Intelligence is not yet final, as this is "constantly changing."
READ: Singapore's Dyson to invest in PH
SINGAPORE-BASED technology company Dyson Ltd. has pledged to invest 11 billion pesos in the Philippines in the next two years, Malacañang said Saturday. Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said the commitment was made during a meeting of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Dyson officials in Singapore on Saturday. Marcos was delighted by Dyson's interest in investing in the Philippines, noting that the country is a good place to do business.
READ: Manila imposes liquor ban for 2023 Bar exams
A LIQUOR ban is in effect at certain times and in some parts of the City of Manila, following the issuance of an executive order by Mayor Maria Sheilah "Honey" Lacuna-Pangan, ahead of the 2023 Bar Examinations. According to the Manila Public Information Office, the city government issued an executive order on Friday imposing a liquor ban, prohibiting ambulant vendors, and other disruptive activities.
BUSINESS: Local output helps keep BSP rates
In business, domestic economic challenges were among the factors that Philippine monetary authorities looked into during their policy meeting on August 17, wherein they decided to keep key rates steady. Based on the minutes of the meeting released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Thursday, the policymaking Monetary Board considered it appropriate to maintain the key rates amid the rise in the projected path of inflation rate relative to past assessments. The central bank's overnight reverse repurchase rate is still at 6.25 percent, the overnight deposit facility rate at 5.75 percent and the overnight lending rate at 6.75 percent. During the board's policy meeting in August, the fifth for the year, projected average inflation for this year was hiked to 5.6 percent. For 2024, the forecast is for an average of 3.3 percent while it is at 3.4 percent for 2025. These projections are higher than the figures during the Board's rate-setting meeting on June 22. During that meeting, the 2023 average inflation forecast was 5.4 percent while it was 2.9 percent for 2024 and 3.2 percent for 2025. The rate of domestic price increases ended its six-month deceleration when it registered an uptick to 5.3 percent in August from the previous month's 4.7 percent. Average inflation in the first eight months of the year stood at 6.6 percent, way higher than the government's 2-percent to 4-percent target band.
SPORTS: Gilas Pilipinas moves up in FIBA ranking
Over to sports, Gilas Pilipinas may have failed to come up with an impressive showing in the 2023 FIBA World Cup right at its home floor, but the good news is, the Philippines managed to climb up from 40th to 38th place in the latest ranking released by the international governing basketball body. The Philippines placed 24th overall in the just-concluded world basketball showpiece, punctuated by a 21-point hammering of China to end a nine-game losing skid in the tournament dating back to 2019. Gilas went on to conclude the FIBA World Cup with a 1-4 record. Newly minted World Cup champion Germany made a huge leap that saw the Dennis Schroder-led national squad break into the top 3 of the rankings for the first time in the country's basketball history after moving up eight spots (759.7 ranking points).
READ: Opinion and editorial
Marlen Ronquillo is today's front page columnist, as he weighs in on the latest rice crisis.
Today's editorial discusses the latest meeting between Russia and North Korea. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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