Good day. Here are the top stories of The Manila Times for Monday, Nov. 13, 2023.
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READ: Purge voters list, Comelec urged
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) must start purging the voters list in preparation for the 2025 elections, the head of the National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) said.Guesting at SMNI's "Business and Politics" hosted by The Manila Times Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dante Francis "Klink" Ang 2nd, Namfrel Chairman Lito Averia Jr. said the Comelec must focus on cleaning up the list instead of determining whether the voting process should be automated or manual. During last month's Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Election, the Comelec dropped more than 400,000 double and multiple registrants from the voters list and filed charges against them. An expert in cybersecurity and data protection privacy, Averia said the Namfrel is also looking into artificial intelligence (AI) in providing solutions to election-related issues like data breach, which Comelec experienced in 2016. Blockchain technology allows transactional records of the public to be stored in a network of databases or "digital ledger" connected by peer-to-peer nodes.He said that the mechanism will establish a system of verifying the profile of a voter.
READ: PCG blasts Chinese risky maneuvers
THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) blasted the unprovoked acts of coercion and dangerous maneuvers of the China Coast Guard (CCG) against resupply missions to Ayungin Shoal on November 10. In a statement over the weekend, PCG Commandant Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan said the systematic and consistent manner in which the CCG vessels harassed and intimidated Philippine vessels does not "align with the universally accepted behavior of a coast guard." The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea earlier accused a CCG vessel with bow number 5203 of firing a water cannon at the supply boat Kalayaan in an "illegal though unsuccessful attempt to force the latter to alter course." It said the Kalayaan and another supply boat, the Unaizah Mae 1, were also subjected to "extremely reckless and dangerous harassment at close proximity" by CCG inflatable boats inside the Ayungin lagoon during their approach to the Sierra Madre, a Philippine Navy ship deliberately beached at Ayungin to serve as an outpost for Philippine soldiers. Three PCG vessels — the Sindangan, Melchora Aquino and Cabra — escorting the supply boats were also "recklessly harassed and blocked" by CCG and China maritime militia ships at the entrance to Ayungin It was the first time the Melchora Aquino joined an Ayungin resupply mission. The 97-meter-long Melchora Aquino is one of the PCG's biggest ships.
READ: Israel-Hamas battles create havoc in Gaza hospitals
Heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas trapped thousands of people in Gaza's hospitals on Sunday, as medics and aid workers warned patients will die in the crippled facilities unless there is a pause in the battle. Bright flares lit up the night sky over Gaza City and blasts echoed across the city as Israel's air and ground campaign to destroy Hamas brought the fight to key medical installations. Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the biggest in the territory, is "totally surrounded and bombardments are going on nearby," the hospital's director, Mohammad Abu Salmiya, said in a statement late on Saturday. Inside the hospital, Doctors Without Borders surgeon Mohammed Obeid said there was no water, power, food or internet for about 600 post-operative patients, 37 to 40 babies and 17 people in intensive care. Countless other people are seeking refuge in the hospital grounds. Two babies died in the Al-Shifa neonatal unit after power to their incubators was cut off, and a man also died when his ventilator shut down, the surgeon said in an audio message posted on social media. The United Nations' World Health Organization (WHO) expressed alarm at the situation in Al-Shifa.
READ: Obesity drug cuts risk of serious heart problems – study
THE popular weight-loss drug Wegovy reduced the risk of serious heart problems by 20 percent in a large, international study that experts say could change the way doctors treat certain heart patients. The research is the first to document that an obesity medication can not only pare pounds, but also safely prevent a heart attack, stroke or a heart-related death in people who already have heart disease — but not diabetes. The findings could shift perceptions that the new class of obesity drugs are cosmetic treatments and put pressure on health insurers to cover them. Wegovy is a high-dose version of the diabetes treatment Ozempic, which has already been shown to reduce the risk of serious heart problems in people who have diabetes. The new study looked to see if the same was true in those who don't have that disease. Experts have known for years that losing weight can improve heart health, but there hasn't been a safe and effective obesity medication proven to reduce specific risks, said Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, a heart expert at the Mayo Clinic. He expects the new findings to change treatment guidelines and "dominate the conversation" for years to come.
In Business
READ: Key rates likely to stay unchanged
KEY interest rates will likely be kept unchanged this Thursday, analysts said, following markedly slower inflation and economic growth still falling below target. With the Monetary Board already having ordered an off-cycle rate hike last month, 11 out of 12 analysts polled by The Manila Times said there was room to resume pausing. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) policy rate currently stands at 6.50 percent, the highest since 2007, following October 26's unscheduled 25-basis-point (bps) hike. Monetary authorities have now raised key rates by a total of 450 bps since May last year in a bid to temper inflation, with pauses ordered during the last four regular policy meetings. Inflation, which again started rising in August and September, markedly slowed to 4.9 percent in October. Third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth, meanwhile, rebounded to 5.9 percent from the disappointing 4.3 percent seen three months earlier. Both results exceeded consensus forecasts of 5.4 percent for inflation and 4.9 percent for growth. Inflation remains well over the 2.0- to 4.0-percent target while GDP growth continues to average below the 6.0- to 7.0-percent goal for the year.
Topping Sports
READ: Obiena leads candidates for 2023 PSA AoY award
THE top performers in Philippine sports in the year about to end will be honored by the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) as it holds its traditional Awards Night on January 29 at the Diamond Hotel in Manila. Asian Games gold medal winners Ernest John "EJ" Obiena, Margarita "Meggie" Ochoa, Annie Ramirez, and Gilas Pilipinas lead the long list of achievers to be recognized by the country's oldest media organization headed by its president Nelson Beltran, sports editor of the Philippine Star. All four, together with the Filipinas football team, are vying for the prestigious Athlete of the Year (AoY) award. Obiena's golden record in pole vault, the two-pronged triumph of Ochoa and Ramirez in jiu-jitsu, and Gilas' epic march to reclaim basketball supremacy in Asia, spearheaded the country's four golds, two silvers, and 12 bronzes finish (17th overall) in the 19th edition of the Asiad in Hangzhou, China, in the Philippines' highest placing yet in the quadrennial showcase since finishing 14th in Hiroshima, Japan 29 years ago. The Filipinas on the other hand, made history following their debut in the FIFA Women's World Cup in New Zealand, in a campaign which became even more memorable following the team's stunning 1-0 victory over the host country through the breakthrough goal of Sarina Bolden.
READ: Opinion/Editorial
Today's editorial talks about whether the country is ready for the next El Niño. Read the full version on print and digital or listen to the Voice of the Times. Featured columnists on the front page are Rigoberto Tiglao, Fr. Ranhilio Aquino and Francisco Tatad. Tiglao claims fake news drives outrage over Chinese actions at Ayungin, Aquino asks what's the matter. America, and Tatad on no rush to win the peace.
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