Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Saturday, October 28, 2023.
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READ: Marcos warns AFP of 'emerging threats'
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday told the Armed Forces of the Philippines to be "ready to defend the archipelago from emerging threats," following the United States' "ironclad" commitment to defend the Philippines against China's aggressive actions. Speaking after the oathtaking of the newly promoted A.F.P. officers in Malacañang, the President urged the military "to enhance joint planning and operations to ensure interoperability across all A.F.P. units and platforms" as they respond to emerging national security and defense realities in the country and within the region.
READ: Napoles gets life term in another 'pork' case
THE Sandiganbayan has sentenced businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles to life imprisonment in another case involving pork barrel funds. In a 60-page ruling released on Friday, the court convicted Napoles on four counts of malversation, with two prison terms of 6-10 years each and two sentences of reclusion perpetua, or life term.
READ: Israel 'has no plans' of occupying Gaza
Israeli ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss on Friday stressed that his country has no intention or plan to occupy the Gaza Strip, and that its goal is to dismantle the militant group Hamas. He said the main objective of Israel was to bring back all the hostages taken by Hamas when the group attacked Israel on October 7. Israeli authorities are still verifying reports that two overseas Filipino workers were among the hostages, Fluss said. He said the hostages could be kept in different structures and possibly in secret tunnels below Gaza. Gaza Strip is one of the two self-governing Palestinian territories inside Israel. The other is the West Bank.
READ: Police on red alert ahead of Monday's elections
THE Philippine National Police went on red alert on Friday as it finishes its preparations for Monday's Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections. P.N.P. chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. also said 187,600 officers will be deployed during the election period. Acorda reminded all personnel of the critical role they will play during the election.
BUSINESS: Further tightening likely next month
Over to business, monetary authorities could raise key interest rates again in November following Thursday's off-cycle hike, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona Jr. said. Any increase, Remolona added, could be limited to 25 basis points given the likely economic impact.
SPORTS: Obiena moves on, shifts focus on Paris Olympics
Headlining sports, Filipinopole vault ace Ernest John "E.J." Obiena said he's now shifting his full attention to his 2024 Paris Olympics preparation, having cleared his name from doping allegations that hounded him for almost two weeks. For Obiena, the doping issue is already water under the bridge as he revealed that he passed 34 doping tests since turning professional, including 11 this year, as well as the polygraph and EyeDetect tests he recently took. In those tests, Obiena was asked if he doped or if he was involved in match-fixing activities and he said no. The results of those separate tests showed that Obiena wasn't lying with his answers.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras and Danton Remoto are today's front page columnists. Contreras sees early signs of trouble with the Duterte family, while Remoto looks into reaching digital publics.
Today's editorial calls for inflation forecasts to be realistic. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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