Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Sunday, April 28, 2024.
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READ: Police expand hunt for Quiboloy
THE Philippine National Police (PNP) on Saturday said it expanded the scope of its manhunt for embattled Kingdom of Jesus Christ leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy and his co-accused in the sexual charges and other court cases against them. In a press conference in Quezon City on Saturday, PNP spokesman Jean Fajardo said the manhunt for Quiboloy was no longer limited to the Davao Region. Fajardo said that the PNP is closely working with the National Bureau of Investigation in the hunt for the fugitive pastor in other parts of the country.
READ: Gatchalian 2nd top performing govt exec
SOCIAL Welfare Secretary Rexlon "Rex" Gatchalian is the second top-performing Cabinet official based on the recent "Boses ng Bayan" survey by the RP-Mission and Development Foundation Inc. Based on RPMD's survey conducted from March 18 to 24, whose results were released on Friday, Gatchalian received an 89 percent "job approval rating" and a 91 percent "trust rating." The "Boses ng Bayan" study involved 10,000 participants from the Philippines' 67.75 million registered voters who were interviewed in person.
READ: 34 LGUs unite to protect West PH Sea
THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has launched a group of 34 local government units (LGUs) supporting the government's efforts to protect and assert the sovereign rights of the country over the West Philippine Sea, Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said Saturday. Abalos said the DILG identified the group as its first "National Summit of the West Philippine Sea LGUs."
BUSINESS: Calabarzon needs more infra devt
Over to business, economists in the government and academe agreed that Calabarzon Region's stature as a manufacturing hub is poised for further growth, but they pointed out that more interventions are needed to support the expansion of production activities as well as the movement of goods and raw materials. The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that the value of the five-province region's economy breached the P3-trillion barrier in 2023. Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) also maintained its position as the second-largest contributor to the gross domestic product, accounting for 14.7 percent last year. Only the National Capital Region contributed more, accounting for 31.2 percent of the final tally in 2023. However, Calabarzon narrowly missed its 6- to 7-percent gross regional domestic product (GRDP) target last year, growing by a stillrespectable 5.2 percent.
SPORTS: SMB, Magnolia step up bid for playoffs bonus
In sports, still unbeaten after eight games, San Miguel Beer (SMB) now pushes further when it goes for another victory against NLEX to formally secure a Top 2 seeding heading to the playoffs as the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup elimination round heads to the final stretch on Sunday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City. The Beermen marched to their eighth straight win after vanquishing the Magnolia Hotshots, 98-91, on Friday in their first encounter since SMB beat its sister team, 4-2, in the Commissioner's Cup title series last February. SMB faces NLEX in their 6:15 p.m. collision, preceding the match between Magnolia (5-3) and Meralco (4-5) at 3 p.m., where a win or a loss has serious playoff implications.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Marlen Ronquillo is today's front page columnist, as he believes the Marcos administration's centerpiece program crashed and burned.
Today's editorial calls for more plans against traffic and not experiments. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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