Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Saturday, April 20, 2024.
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READ: Chinese 'swarm' forming in WPS
CHINA'S maritime militia has been repositioning its ships in preparation for "swarming" maneuvers in the West Philippine Sea. Ray Powell, director of SeaLight, a maritime transparency project that monitors and reports activities in the South China Sea, said on Friday at least 20 large militia ships moved south. Powell said based on the automatic identification system (AIS), two groups of eight vessels headed to the Spratly Islands, while another group of four moved southeast and headed toward the Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal), where a Philippine research vessel recently conducted a hydrographic survey. The previous week, a swarm of Chinese vessels was monitored at Bajo de Masinloc. It included at least China Coast Guard (CCG) ships and 10 Qiong Sansha Yu maritime ships.
READ: First lady dares Sara, other critics: Bring it on
THE first lady Marie Louise "Liza" Araneta-Marcos brushed off the bashing from the Dutertes and other detractors, and said she would never stoop to their level. Interviewed on the television show hosted by broadcaster Anthony Taberna, which aired on Friday, Mrs. Marcos said her critics "stupid" remarks do not really affect her. Cracks in the relations between the Marcoses and Dutertes began to show early this year after the former president claimed in a fiery speech during a rally in Davao City that Marcos uses illegal drugs.
READ: Female cadet tops PNP class of 2024
A FEMALE cadet who used to sell siopao to pay for school expenses is the valedictorian of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) Class of 2024. As the class topnotcher, Police Cadet Ma. Camille Cabasis, who hails from the town of Lian in Batangas, received the Presidential Kampilan Award during Friday's graduation rites at the PNPA headquarters at Camp General Mariano N. Castañeda in Silang, Cavite.
READ: Inflation urgent issue among Filipinos – survey
CONTROLLING inflation remains the most urgent national concern among Filipinos, the latest OCTA poll revealed. In the survey conducted from March 11 to 14, 66 percent of the participants said controlling the price increase of basic goods and services was their most urgent concern, followed by improving the salaries of workers (44 percent), creating more jobs (33 percent), and reducing poverty (20 percent). Completing the top 10 most urgent national concerns among Filipinos were providing free quality education, fighting graft and corruption, promoting peace and order, enforcing the law on everyone, and fighting criminality.
BUSINESS: First phase of PH fiber backbone inaugurated
Over to business, the government on Friday inaugurated the initial stage of a national connectivity project that is expected to boost the country's development via the
delivery of improved internet services. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., speaking at the launch of the National Fiber Backbone project's first phase, said he envisioned a landscape where the smallest business ventures could easily go online.
SPORTS: Yulo advances to final in vault, parallel bars
In sports, Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo advanced to the vault and parallel bars final at the Doha leg of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series in Qatar early Friday (Manila time). The Paris Olympics-bound Yulo placed second in the parallel bars qualification with a score of
14.633 points on 6.0 difficulty and 8.633 execution. Yulo, likewise, finished second in the vault qualification round with an average score of 14.966 points. The 24-year-old gymnast from Malate, Manila garnered 15.300 points in his first attempt and 14.633 in his second. Only the top eight athletes in each apparatus get to compete in the championship round. Yulo, who finished 21st in the floor exercise qualification, will vie for a medal in the parallel bars and vault finale on Sunday.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta, and Danton Remoto are today's front page columnists. Contreras surveys the opinions of those who lack information, Makabenta asks what happens if controversial preacher Apollo Quiboloy resists arrest, and Remoto looks into a Chinatown in the United States.
Today's editorial looks into a practical path to sustainability. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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