Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Tuesday, May 21, 2024.
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READ: Zubiri out, Escudero in
SEN. Juan Miguel Zubiri said that his failure to follow instructions from "powerful" blocs led to his ouster as Senate president as Sen. Francis Escudero replaced him on May 20, triggering a major reorganization in the upper chamber. Zubiri, who had led the Senate since July 2022, confirmed the coup staged against him in a chance interview minutes before the start of the Senate session.
READ: Trust ratings decline for Marcos, Duterte
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte continue to enjoy the trust of the majority of adult Filipinos but their ratings declined in March, the latest survey results of OCTA Research show. In face-to-face interviews held from March 24-27, 2024, with 1,200 male and female respondents ages 18 years and above, 69 percent said they continue to trust Marcos, while 65 percent said they approve of him. The trust rating, however, was 6 percentage points lower than the 75 percent he obtained during OCTA's December 2023 survey.
READ: Police make paradigm shift on drugs
THE Philippine National Police-Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-DEG) said it was making a paradigm shift in its approach to combating illegal drugs. Gone are the days when daily news carried accounts of suspected users and pushers being gunned down on the streets. This time around, authorities are zooming in on community engagements to address the root causes of drug abuse and addiction. By fostering collaboration and empowering communities, the group advocates a holistic approach to tackling a multifaceted problem. During The Manila Times Roundtable discussions on May 20, Cpl. Francis Alura of the PNP-DEG Special Operations Unit in Metro Manila said this shift marks a significant juncture in the country's battle against drug use and trafficking and aligns with the government's holistic approach to combating illegal drugs.
READ: DFA, DND have no record of 'gentleman's agreement'
OFFICIALS from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of National Defense (DND) on Monday told members of the House of Representatives they were not aware of the purported "gentleman's agreement" between former president Rodrigo Duterte and China concerning the West Philippine Sea (WPS). DFA Assistant Secretary Aileen Mendiola-Rau said the department "has no record of a gentleman's agreement . ..with regard to Ayungin Shoal" and reiterated that "the Philippines has not entered into any agreement abandoning its sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf including on the Ayungin Shoal." Defense Undersecretary Ignacio Madriaga said the DND is "not privy to any gentleman's agreement with China" and has no record "detailing or potentially showing the contours of a deal." Mendiola-Rau and Madriaga were among the resource persons who gave testimony during the joint hearing of the Committee on National Defense and Security and the Special Committee on the West Philippine Sea.
READ: Guo 'a love child, not a Chinese spy'
IN an attempt to explain gaps in her personal history, embattled Bamban Mayor Alice Guo said on May 20 that she was the "love child" of her father and a domestic helper who left them when she was still young. She said what she told a Senate panel was true, that she was homeschooled, which explained her lack of a diploma or any document to show that she completed a formal education. Guo admitted that she was traumatized when the senators grilled her about her personal life, a thing that she wanted to keep to herself. She added that her failure to respond to some queries posed by the senators was due to her reluctance to drag her 70-year-old father into the controversy.
BUSINESS: Onion imports to stay suspended
Headlining business, onion imports will remain suspended up to July given sufficient domestic supplies and low market prices, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Monday. A temporary halt on onion imports up to May was ordered in January, with the DA citing a supply glut and plunging prices. At that time, it also said that the ban could be extended up to July should domestic production remain sufficient to meet demand.
SPORTS: Yulo reigns supreme in Asian Championships
Over to sports, Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo reigned supreme against continental counterparts as he claimed four gold medals at the just concluded 11th Senior Men's Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Reminding everyone that Asia is his playground, Yulo conquered the individual all-around and floor exercise events as well as the vault and parallel bars apparatuses in the tournament slated from May 16 to May 19. Yulo, bound for the Paris Olympics, kicked off his campaign by seizing his first-ever gold in the individual all-around with a total of 84.931 points on May 17. The 24-year-old finally eclipsed his silver medal finishes in both the 2022 and 2023 editions of the tournament held in Qatar and Singapore, respectively.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta, and Orlando Mercado are today's front page columnists. Contreras asks whose interests does Sen. Cynthia Villar serve, Makabenta looks into how the Philippine exclusive economic zone meets China's so-called "indisputable sovereignty", and Mercado weighs in on legalizing divorce in the country.
Today's editorial talks about the said bill on divorce. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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