Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Saturday, May 11, 2024.
Today's episode is brought to you by Wilcon Depot, The Philippines' leading home improvement and construction supplies retailer—your Trusted Building Partner.
READ: Marcos: No report PNP plotting a coup
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday said he has not received any reports that active senior officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) were planning to oust him from power. Marcos issued that statement after former senator Antonio Trillanes IV warned of a brewing destabilization plot being hatched by police officials.
READ: El Niño likely to end June, with La Niña close behind
THE El Niño weather phenomenon, which has damaged over 4 billion pesos worth of crops and resulted in record highs in temperature, may be over by June. Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) chief Nathaniel Servando told The Manila Times via Viber on Friday that El Niño has started to weaken but will continue to affect the country in the coming days. Servando also said Pagasa could declare the onset of the rainy season at any time between June 1 and June 15. Pagasa said a La Niña episode could coincide with the wet season and bring more rain than usual. Servando said 13 to 16 storms could enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) until the end of the year. Typically, the Philippines experiences about 20 storms annually.
READ: France's plan to join WPS drills welcomed
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday welcomed France's intention to hold joint maritime exercises with the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea as vital to maintaining stability in the region. The President told reporters in General Santos City that he is "thankful that different countries, some are far countries but stand ready to help us." He said support from the international community was important in guaranteeing the freedom of navigation in the West Philippine Sea, where incidents of Chinese intrusion have been escalating. France joined the Philippines and several other countries in the first "multilateral maritime exercise," which ended on Monday.
READ: PAO renews call to extend services to OFWs
PUBLIC Attorney's Office (PAO) chief Persida Rueda-Acosta has renewed her call to expand her agency's free legal services to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) by assigning its lawyers to embassies and consulate offices. Rueda-Acosta revealed her vision to defend OFWs who are facing legal battles while working away from their families during an interview with The Manila Times' streaming show, "PrimeTimes with Atty. Lia Badillo-Crisostomo." She said the plan was first presented during the time of former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte, who also liked the idea of assigning a PAO lawyer to every embassy or consulate office abroad.
BUSINESS: Govt underspending stalls Q1 growth
Topping business, government underspending impeded the Philippine economy's potential for higher growth in the first quarter of this year, analysts said. Bank of the Philippine Islands senior economist Emilio Neri said the economy could have expanded by 6.4 percent in the first three months of the year if the govern- ment had ramped up spending. He noted that the government "continues to underspend," with growth of government final consumption expenditure at just 1.9 percent after last year's disappointing 0.6-percent spending growth. First quarter gross domestic product (GDP) expanded to 5.7 percent in the first quarter of this year — up from 5.5 percent in the last three months — but lower than the 6.4 percent recorded in the previous year and the 5.9-percent median in a Manila Times poll of economists.
SPORTS: UST vs NU showdown in UAAP finals begins
In sports, the women's and men's volleyball championship of UAAP Season 86 will be disputed by National University (NU) and University of Santo Tomas (UST) starting today, May 11, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City. The NU Lady Bulldogs and the UST Tigresses, who finished 1-2 in the elimination round, split their head-to-head match-up this season. Coaches Norman Miguel of NU and Kungfu Reyes of UST are working double time in training with a mission to win Game 1 and gain a huge psychological advantage in the best-of-three series.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta, and Danton Remoto are today's front page columnists. Contreras looks at inconsistencies of an intervention by the International Criminal Court, Makabenta says crisis management in public relations is different from crisis management in foreign relations, and Remoto looks into a former official of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Today's editorial calls for comprehensive changes at the National Economic Development Authority. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
For more news and information, read The Manila Times on print, subscribe to its digital edition or log on to www.manilatimes.net. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and LinkedIn; and be part of our communities on Viber, Telegram, and Mastodon.