Good day. Here are the top stories of The Manila Times for Monday, Nov. 20, 2023.

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'Filipino kids hit hard by climate change'

VICE President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte said climate change has hit Filipino children hard, thus the need to address the crisis. She said typhoons cause flooding, landslides and storm surges in high-risk areas, affecting children. The vice president said the country ranked first in the World Risk Index for 2022.From 2016 to 2021, about 9.7 million Filipino children were displaced because of climate-change related events. Duterte said children must be given "meaningful participation" in the fight against climate change. The upcoming COP28 presents a critical opportunity for the Philippine government to design and implement child-responsive climate action that prioritizes the needs and perspectives of children."

'Crack down on immoral internet operators'

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THE country's cable operators called for an investigation into what they claim was the National Telecommunications Commission's (NTC) "one day" approval and release of certificate of registration or license to disreputable independent internet providers. The Federation of International Cable TV and Telecommunications Association of the Philippines (Fictap) said it has evidence that the NTC granted "quickie" licenses to independent internet providers or so-called value-added services (VAS) providers who were using their license in illegal activities like pornography. The license granted to VAS providers specified that they must comply with the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Materials Act (Republic Act 11930), which amended the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009 or RA 9775. Fictap President Estrellita Juliano-Tamano said that two months ago, the group asked the NTC for a list of independent internet providers that were issued licenses but has received no response. Juliano-Tamano told The Manila Times in an interview she believes "there is an ongoing collusion among the NTC [commissioners], the quickie operators and ill-advised telecoms who rent out transmissions to these money-hungry outfits."

Govt urged to boost business education

THE government must support programs that would equip entrepreneurs with the skills for starting a business, a co-founder of a restaurant chain said on Saturday. Rommel Ng, co-founder of Buffalo's Wings N' Things, said there is a need to "start with the grassroots, meaning [in] education" during his guesting at the "Business and Politics" program hosted by The Manila Times Chairman and CEO Dante "Klink' Ang 2nd. He underlined the need for aspiring entrepreneurs to gain sufficient industry exposure, pointing out that universities and colleges only offer limited courses on the subject, particularly in the restaurant business. While there were government-initiated conferences locally, Ng said restaurant entrepreneurs must also be given the chance to join trade visits to other countries. He said these initiatives could help the country's restaurant industry be recognized globally, noting the amount of talent Filipinos could offer amid the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Ng believed that the government should also provide more assistance to the local supply chain to help restaurants meet the demands of consumers.The government "can also step in and provide support for the local poultry industry [and] the other processes leading towards being consumed in the restaurant," he said.

Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital a death zone – WHO

Gaza's largest hospital has become a "death zone," the World Health Organization (WHO) said Sunday, announcing plans to evacuate the last remaining patients as Israel's army said it was expanding operations to destroy Hamas. The assessment came after a visit by WHO and other UN officials to the hospital, which Israeli troops raided earlier this week in pursuit of Hamas militants. Elsewhere, a Hamas health official said more than 80 people were killed Saturday in twin strikes on a northern Gaza refugee camp, including on a UN school sheltering displaced people. Social media videos verified by Agence France-Presse showed bodies covered in blood and dust on the floor of a building where mattresses had been wedged under school tables in Jabalia, the Palestinian territory's biggest refugee camp. Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, described "horrifying images" from the incident, while Egypt called the bombing a "war crime" and "a deliberate insult to the United Nations." Israel has vowed to destroy the Palestinian armed group Hamas in response to the October 7 attacks, which Israeli officials say killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw about 240 people taken hostage. The army's relentless air and ground campaign has since killed 12,300 people, more than 5,000 of them children, according to the Hamas government, which has ruled Gaza since 2007.

Columnist Danton Remoto writes an exclusive report on "The storm over confidential and intelligence funds"

Topping Business

BSP likely done hiking key rates

KEY interest rates may have peaked and remain unchanged well into next year amid continued risks to the inflation outlook, analysts said. Monetary authorities decided to resume pausing last week following an unscheduled 25-basis point (bps) hike that brought the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) policy rate to 6.5 percent, the highest since 2007. A more moderate inflation outlook was cited as having prompted the move to keep interest rates on hold. The central bank's policymaking Monetary Board, however, also said that settings would remain tight until a sustained inflation downtrend "becomes fully evident and inflation expectations are firmly anchored." Consumer price growth forecasts were tweaked and monetary authorities said they would allow prior rate hikes to continue working their way through the economy. Adjustments totaling 450 bps since May of last year have weighed on economic growth and the BSP also said that growth for this year and the next could fall below government targets. Depending on the data, the central bank said it was "prepared to resume monetary policy tightening as necessary to steer inflation towards a target-consistent path, in line with its price stability mandate."

In Sports

Eala enters Kyotec Open final

FILIPINO tennis ace Alex Eala outdueled German Anna-Lena Friedsam, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, in Petange, Luxembourg to enter the W40 Kyotec Open final on Saturday night, November 18 (Manila time). After taking down world no. 114 Friedsam in the semifinal match that dragged to two hours and 30 minutes, No. 204 Eala was set to face No. 101 Océane Dodin in the championship round on Sunday, gunning for her fifth singles professional title.

Cone named PBAPC Coach of the Year

LIKE what they did in the past, Tim Cone and Jojo Lastimosa share the spotlight together once more as they will be bestowed with the two highest honors by the PBA Press Corps during its Annual Awards Night on Monday at the Novotel Manila Araneta City. Cone of Barangay Ginebra is named the winner of the Virgilio "Baby" Dalupan Coach of the Year, while Lastimosa of TNT is conferred with the Danny Floro Executive of the Year by the men and women who cover the PBA beat. Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Richard Bachmann will be the guest of honor and keynote speaker in the formal event presented by ArenaPlus together with Cignal TV. Hosts are Rizza Diaz and Sev Sarmenta.

Woods set for golf return at Hero World Challenge

Golf superstar Tiger Woods will play the Hero World Challenge he hosts in the Bahamas, his first competitive golf start since the Masters. The 15-time major champion announced his intention on social media on Saturday (Sunday in Manila). "Tournament host @TigerWoods to play in the 2023 #Hero WorldChallenge," a post on Twitter, which is being rebranded as 'X' said, adding that Justin Rose and Lucas Glover would round out the 20-man field for the November 30-December 3 event at Albany in the Bahamas.

Opinion/Editorial

Today's editorial is on modular reactors as the new face of nuclear energy. Read the full version on print or 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 writes about an oust BBM plot, Aquino on posse comitatus and the West Philippine Sea and Tatad on whether Xi can keep the West Philippine Sea incident-free.

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