Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Thursday, December 28, 2023.
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BANNER: Ex-president top Senate bet in 2025
FORMER president Rodrigo Duterte is the top choice for senator in the 2025 midterm elections, a survey conducted by Publicus Asia Inc. showed. The polling firm said its Pahayag End of Year voting disposition survey showed that the former president got the "vote" of 48 percent of the respondents and an "impressive" trust rating of 59 percent. Following closely is Anti-Crime and Terrorism Community Involvement and Support Partylist Rep. Erwin Tulfo, who secured a 44 percent voting disposition and a parallel 44 percent trust rating.
Over 30K jeepney drivers may lose franchise
More than 30,000 traditional jeepneys in Metro Manila are at risk of losing their franchises by year-end. Based on data from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, 73.5 percent of jeepneys plying in various routes in Metro Manila have not yet filed their application for consolidation less than a week before the December 31 deadline for the consolidation of public utility vehicles under the P.U.V. Modernization Program.
Injuries mostly caused by pla-pla, boga
INJURIES related to firecrackers were caused by illegal powerful blasters such as "pla-pla", "boga", five-star, and Goodbye Philippines, the Department of Health said Wednesday. It said that 96 percent of the cases occurred at home and on the streets. Since the Department started monitoring on December 21, 75 firecracker-related injuries have been reported.
Marcos' foreign trips yield P294B investments – Palace
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s foreign trips this year yielded $5.28 billion or 294 billion pesos worth of "actualized" investments or businesses, Malacañang said Wednesday. Citing a statement from the Department of Trade and IndustryBoard of Investments, Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said Marcos' foreign visits actualized $4.089 billion investments for eight projects, $790.58 million for 11 projects, and $398.17 million for nine projects, as of December 21. These investments are "not pledges but actual investments and/or businesses that have already come into the Philippines," Garafil told The Manila Times.
BUSINESS: Four groups bid for NAIA rehab
Headlining business, four groups have submitted bids for the 171-billion-peso contract to rehabilitate, optimize and maintain the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the Department of Transportation announced on Wednesday. Technical and financial bids from the Manila International Airport Consortium, Asian Airport Consortium, G.M.R. Airport Consortium, and S.M.C. S.A.P. & Co. Consortium will be opened next week, and the government is hoping to award the project in the next three months.
SPORTS: Tapales surprised by Inoue's speed
Over to sports, Japan's Naoya Inoue said he was still as hungry as ever after becoming an undisputed world champion in a second weight class on Tuesday night, knocking out Marlon Tapales to claim all four super bantamweight belts. The unbeaten Inoue, nicknamed "Monster," floored the Filipino fighter with a huge right hand in the 10th round in Tokyo to add the W.B.A. and I.B.F. titles to his own W.B.C. and W.B.O. belts. Tapales, who upset Uzbekistan's Murodjon Akhmadaliev by split decision in April to win the I.B.F. and W.B.A. titles, vowed to come back from the loss but conceded that the result was a fair one.
Antonio Contreras and Yen Makabenta are today's front page columnists. Contreras looks into the disinformation campaign on the Masungi georeserve, while Makabenta believes the nation is at the crossroads.
Today's editorial thinks that maintaining low food tariffs is a good call. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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