Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Wednesday, November 22, 2023.
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FORMER president Rodrigo Duterte said he would be forced to run for either vice president or senator if Vice President Sara Duterte gets impeached over the use of confidential and intelligence funds. Duterte issued the statement following reports that some members of the House of Representatives were hatching a plan for the ouster of his daughter. ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro earlier said there were "informal discussions" among her colleagues about a possible impeachment case against the younger Duterte. But Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and other leaders in the lower chamber denied the rumors.
'Self-rated hunger, poverty dip in Q3'
THE number of Filipinos who consider themselves poor and hungry decreased in the third quarter of this year, a survey conducted by OCTA Research showed. In its Tugon ng Masa survey conducted from September 30 to October 4, only 46 percent of respondents said they consider themselves poor, equivalent to around 12.1 million Filipino families based on the 2020 Census. This is a slight decline from the TNM second quarter 2023 survey, where 50 percent said they consider themselves as poor, equivalent to around 13.2 million families based on the 2020 Census. According to OCTA, the 4-percent decrease is equivalent to 1 million families, and it is the first time in three quarters that there has been a dip in self-rated poverty. The declines can be attributed to the significant reduction in self-rated poverty in Balance Luzon, from 46 percent to 37 percent, being driven by a 7-percent increase in adult Filipinos from Balance Luzon who consider themselves as poor, from 13 percent to 20 percent. The Visayas had the highest among all major regions who said that they were poor at 59 percent, followed by Mindanao at 58 percent.
THE Philippines and the United States began joint maritime and air patrols in the West Philippine Sea on Tuesday as the longtime allies stepped up cooperation in the face of Beijing's aggressive moves in the South China Sea. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the three-day joint activity aims to enhance the interoperability of both military forces in the conduct of maritime and air patrols.
Transport strike stretches to Friday
THE transport strike will continue for a full workweek after another drivers' group decided to carry on with the stoppage until Friday following the refusal of the Department of Transportation to "listen to the transport group's pleas." Transport group Pagkakaisa ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston) on Monday started their three-day strike until Wednesday, and another group, the Malayang Alyansa ng Bus Employees at Laborers (Manibela), will carry on with the protest until Friday. These developments emerged despite the dialogue with Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Chairman Teofilo Guadiz 3rd on Monday. Piston President Mody Floranda confirmed to The Manila Times that they are pushing with the original three-day strike from November 20 to 22.
BUSINESS: Debt service surges 125% as of end-Aug
Topping business, the country's external debt service burden more than doubled at the end of August following a surge in both interest and principal payments, preliminary Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data showed. At $8.89 billion, the external debt service burden was 125 percent higher compared to the $3.95 billion recorded a year earlier. Both principal and interest payments surged during the eight-month period, the former by 92 percent to $4.46 billion from $2.32 billion, and the latter by 171 percent to $4.42 billion from $1.63 billion. The debt service burden comprises principal and interest payments on fixed medium- to long-term credits including those from the International Monetary Fund, loans subject to Paris Club agreements and commercial bank rescheduling, as well as New Money Facilities. It also includes interest payments on fixed and revolving short-term liabilities of banks and non-banks but not prepayments on future years' maturities of foreign loans and principal payments on fixed and revolving short-term liabilities. The country's outstanding external debt, meanwhile, reached $117.92 billion as of end-June, the BSP data showed. This was 9.5 percent higher compared to year-earlier $107.69 billion. Broken down, $74.48 billion of the amount was owed by the public sector, up 13.3 percent from the $65.71 billion recorded a year earlier.
SPORTS: Ateneo, Adamson dispute last F4 spot
Over to sports, defending champ Ateneo de Manila and Adamson University clash in a playoff for the last Final Four berth in the U.A.A.P. Season 86 men's basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday, November 22. The Blue Eagles and the Soaring Falcons meet at 2 p.m., with the winner of the do-or-die game advancing to the semifinals and earning the right to face the top seed and twice-to-beat armed U.P. Fighting Maroons. Ateneo and Adamson ended up with identical 7-7 win-loss cards to tie at no. 4, as the results of their respective last games in the elimination round paved the way for this playoff. The Blue Eagles had a chance to advance to the semifinals outright but fell to rivals De La Salle Green Archers, 69-72, last Saturday to drop to 7-7 and open the door for the Soaring Falcons, then at no. 5 with a 7-6 slate, to set up a playoff for no. 4. The loss made Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin cheer for the already-eliminated U.E. Red Warriors, who were the Soaring Falcons' final elimination round assignment last Sunday.
Rigoberto Tiglao and Francisco Tatad are today's front page columnists. Tiglao calls on President Marcos to fire his advisers over the dispute with China, while Tatad weighs in on impeaching Vice President Sara Duterte.
Today's editorial believes that an unreliable legal environment threatens the country's aspirations to become an investment hub. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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