Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Sunday, February 11, 2024.

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READ: 'Mindanao secession no constitutional travesty'

FORMER president Rodrigo Duterte's idea of an independent Mindanao is "not a travesty of the Constitution," as it is "covered by the guarantee of freedom of speech or of expression," his former top legal counsel Salvador Panelo said Saturday. Panelo issued the statement after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that calls for a separate Mindanao were "doomed to fail" for they were "anchored on a false premise." Panelo said that Marcos "has been swayed to adopt such [a] misplaced response."

READ: Landslide death toll up as earthquake stalls rescue

THE number of casualties from the Davao de Oro landslide on Tuesday has climbed to 28, authorities reported on Saturday. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in its updated report that 35 have been reported injured, and 89 remain missing from the landslide that buried several houses and two buses that ferried miners. The disaster council added the figures were subject to validation. Reports said a total of 1,315 families or 5,318 persons from four villages have been affected by the calamity. Sixty-two houses were damaged by the landslide, which the Mines and Geosciences Bureau said was caused by persistent rains in the province since late January. Most of those believed to have been buried in the landslide were workers of Apex Mining Corp.

READ: Marcos says Dragon Year embodies endless possibilities

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged Filipinos to ponder on the limitless potential symbolized by the dragon as the country celebrates the Chinese New Year on Saturday. The Chinese zodiac said 2024 is the year of the Wood Dragon. It begins on February 10 and will end on Jan. 28, 2025. In Chinese culture, the dragon is considered an auspicious and excellent creature that is unparalleled in talent.

READ: A feng shui expert's 'dragon' predictions

A FENG shui expert said on Saturday that 2024, the Year of the Wood Dragon in the Lunar Year, would be marked by many "breakups." Speaking at an event at the S.M. North Edsa, Master Hanz Michael Cua said the wood element in the wood dragon is "like a tall tree, so it takes time to grow; it's not rushed." He said, however, that the dragon has a lot of energy and "acts fast." He said these opposing characteristics might result in many more separations this year, compared with the number of breakups in 2023, referring to celebrities Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, Kim Chiu and Xian Lim, and Sarah Lahbati and Richard Gutierrez, among others. The same may happen to ordinary couples, especially those who have been together for a long time, and between bosses and their employees. The energy on the homefront and workplace is "in the realm of anger," said Cua.

READ: 'Ensure teachers' non-administrative tasks'

THE Second Congressional Commission on Education has called on the Department of Education to ensure that its newly released policy on removing administrative tasks of public school teachers be fully implemented despite possible bottlenecks due to a lack of non-teaching personnel and clustering of schools. DepEd Order 2 series of 2024, signed by Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on January 26, ordered the immediate removal of administrative tasks of public school teachers with the aim of "building a conducive environment for effective teaching and learning to thrive." DO2 also said there would be a 60- day transition period for Schools Division Offices where it would provide support for clustering of schools, deployment of non-teaching personnel, insurance of the immediate transfer and turnover of existing administrative tasks, and hiring of administrative support personnel. Edcom 2's Year One report indicated that teachers had lamented their inability to focus on teaching their students, given the burden of more than 50 ancillary and administrative tasks. During a hearing of the commission last February 8 at the University of the Philippines-Bonifacio Global City campus, Education Officer in Charge Wilfredo Cabral, undersecretary for Human Resource and Organizational Development, said that during the transitory period, S.D.Os should be tasked to submit a proposed deployment of non-teaching personnel and clustering of schools.

READ: Times editor Mariñas passes away at 74

ROMULO "Romy" P. Mariñas, who served as a desk editor for The Manila Times, has died, according to a relative who called the Times on Saturday. Mariñas was 74 years old. As a desk editor, he edited stories in the News, Regions, and Opinion sections of the paper. He had also contributed pieces in the Times' opinion and sports sections. Also, on the Times sports page, he had a weekly column titled "Free Kick," which mostly talked about football and other sports matters. Mariñas' last article for the Times was published online on Dec. 28, 2023.

BUSINESS: Cocoa prices reach record high

In business, cocoa struck record renewed peaks Friday in both London and New York, driven by a supply crunch over bad weather in top producers Ghana and Ivory Coast. The New York price of cocoa zoomed to $6,030 per ton, shattering its previous long-standing 1977 high of $5,379.

SPORTS: SMB, Magnolia clash for 2-1 series lead

Over to sports, springing back to life after back-to-back wins, Magnolia guns for the series lead against San Miguel Beer in Game 5 of their PBA Season 48 Commissioner's Cup Finals on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum. The Hotshots will be shooting for the 3-2 series lead in their 6:15 p.m. clash. Magnolia reduced the championship series to a best-of-three affair after another strong defensive job en route to a 96-85 win against the talent-laden San Miguel side. Despite bouncing back from a 0-2 deficit, Magnolia coach Chito Victolero remains low-key.

READ: Opinion and editorial

Marlen Ronquillo is today's front page columnist, as he looks into the optics of a banana republic.

Today's editorial believes former president Rodrigo Duterte's Mindanao statements have been blown out of context. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.

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