Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Wednesday, January 10, 2024.
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READ: Binay eyes run for Taguig mayor
MAKATI Mayor Mar-Len Abigail "Abby" Binay is considering running for mayor of Taguig City next year. Binay said she is waiting for a "sign" before making her final decision. She admitted that running in the city currently led by Mayor Lani Cayetano is a "very difficult decision." Before deciding to run as mayor of Taguig, Binay said there are several factors she has to take into account, such as establishing residency in the city.
READ: Senator seeks probe of cha-cha 'bribery'
SENATE Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel 3rd said Congress and law enforcement agencies should investigate the reported 100-peso bribe to anyone who will sign the petition supporting Charter change (Cha-cha). The senator on Tuesday reacted to reports that some Cha-cha proponents have been going around some provinces and bribing individuals to sign the petition amending the 1987 Constitution. Some local government officials were also reported to have been offered aid if they would help mobilize their constituents to sign the Cha-cha petition. Cha-cha proponents reportedly dangle aid through the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/ Displaced Workers of the Department of Labor and Employment, and the Medical Assistance to Indigent Patients program of the Department of Health.
READ: Comelec budget up by 700% – Lagman
ALBAY 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman claimed on Tuesday that the budget for the conduct of plebiscites and referendums ballooned by 700 percent due to an insertion made by the Bicameral Conference Committee under the budget of the Commission on Elections (Comelec). Lagman, who earlier revealed that the House supermajority had begun its campaign for Charter change (Cha-cha) through people's initiative, said the budget of the Comelec for the "conduct and supervision of elections, referenda, recall votes and plebiscites" is at 14 billion pesos, an increase of 700 percent from the 2023 allocation of 2 billion pesos.
READ: Brace for record hot year – Pagasa
SOME areas in the country may wilt under a record heat of more than 40 degrees Celsius, especially during the second quarter of 2024, due to the feared impact of the El Niño phenomenon, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said. Climate Monitoring and Prediction Section chief Ana Liza Solis said Cagayan Valley may register the highest temperature during the dry months.
READ: Over 5M join Traslacion
MORE than 5 million devotees joined this year's Traslacion (procession), according to the latest crowd estimate from the Quiapo Church command post on Tuesday. From the start of the procession at 5 a.m. until 5 p.m., there were about 5.7 million devotees seen joining the Traslacion. This is more than double the estimated 2 million attendees in 2020, the last grand celebration of the Feast of the Black Nazarene shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, putting the popular procession in hiatus for three years. In making a comeback, it adopted the theme "Ibig Po Naming Makita si Hesus" (We want to see Jesus), which encourages the faithful to see the blessed image. Manila Police District chief Thomas Ibay said the current number is expected to rise before the image arrives at the Quiapo Church on January 10.
READ: Jobless rate drops to 3.6% in November
THE country's unemployment rate fell to 3.6 percent in November from 4.2 percent in October last year, the lowest since 2005, the Philippine Statistics Authority said on Tuesday. This translates to 1.83 million Filipinos without jobs, 260,000 fewer than October's figure of 2.09 million. It is also lower than the 2.18 million in November 2022, reflecting a year-on-year drop of 350,000 unemployed individuals. Underemployment remained at 11.7 percent, the same as in October. The number of underemployed is equivalent to 5.79 million. These are people "who have expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have additional jobs, or to have a new job with long hours of work."
BUSINESS: PH growth seen slowing this year
Topping business, Philippine growth will likely slow this year but remain one of the highest among the Asean-6 economies that include Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand, D.B.S. Bank Ltd. said. In a January outlook for the six Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries, the Singaporean multinational forecast Philippine gross domestic product growth of 5.3 percent for 2024, short of the government's target of 6.5-7.5 percent and moderating from the expected 5.8 percent for last year. Full-year G.D.P. results will be released at the end of this month. As of end-October, growth remained below target at 5.5 percent.
SPORTS: My team in PH could beat Pistons – Howard
Over to sports, former N.B.A. veteran Dwight Howard said his Strong Group Athletics team could beat the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons are 3-33 in the NBA season and was also fresh off a 28-game losing streak, a record that is tied with the Philadelphia 76ers, which stretched two regular seasons. Strong Group Athletics is set to take part in the Dubai International Basketball Championship, consisting of Howard, former Gilas naturalized player Andray Blatche, former N.B.A. veteran Andre Roberson, and 2023 U.A.A.P. champion and MVP Kevin Quiambao. Strong Group coach Charles Tiu liked what he saw on Monday afternoon as Howard and Blatche joined the team in practice at the Urdaneta Village gym in Makati. Fresh off his T1 League stint in Taiwan with the Taoyuan Leopards last year, the 38-year-old Howard hardly showed signs of slowing down.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Fr. Ranhilio Aquino and Francisco Tatad are today's front page columnists. Fr. Aquino refuses to abide by so-called traditionalism, while Tatad talks about raising the South China Sea tension.
Today's editorial weighs in on Tacloban City's decision to enact a plastic ban. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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