Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Sunday, June 30, 2024.
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READ: Marcos seeks coalition based on 'ideology'
AS part of his quest to forge a strong coalition for the 2025 midterm elections, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday led the signing of an alliance between his political party, the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), and the National Unity Party (NUP), the fourth political group to join the "Alyansa Para Sa Bagong Pilipinas (Alliance for a New Philippines)." Marcos, PFP chairman, witnessed the signing of a partnership that was "more than a political maneuver for the 2025 elections." In his speech during the event in Makati City, the President said the alliance between the PFP and NUP was "not a marriage of convenience" with the single-minded goal of dominating next year's polls but an "ideology."
READ: China to US: Stop support of PH 'provocations' in SCS
CHINA urged the United States to cease bolstering and endorsing the alleged "provocations" of the Philippines in the disputed territories in the South China Sea (SCS). In a statement posted on the Chinese Embassy website Friday night, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said that Beijing's message was conveyed by Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu in a phone conversation with US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, where the two sides had a "candid and in-depth exchange of views" on the current ChinaUS relations and issues of mutual interest. Mao Ning said Ma Zhaoxu urged the US to act on President Joe Biden's "fivenoes" commitment, which included not supporting Taiwan independence, not challenging China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, not interfering in China's internal affairs, not using Taiwan as a bargaining chip, and not engaging in military or official exchanges with Taiwan. He urged the US to earnestly respect China's sovereignty, security and development interests and play a positive role in the steady development of China-US relations rather than doing the opposite.
READ: 'Indie Sara': Neither admin nor opposition
VICE President Sara Duterte said that she was neither for the administration nor the opposition but would rather serve the interests of Filipinos. In a chance interview with reporters at the Office of the Vice President (OVP) during the Pasidungog 2024 in Cebu City, Duterte was asked if she would consider herself part of a "new opposition." Speaking in Filipino, Duterte, who resigned as education secretary, said that "in her job, her personality and principle, she does not move for the administration, but neither is she for the opposition or whatever politics that is."
READ: Marcos yet to pick DepEd chief
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Saturday that he had yet to choose the next secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), adding the candidate must be a good educator and administrator. The President said he had gone through the credentials of various candidates, noting many of them were very good. Marcos said the next DepEd secretary should be able to "bring up the test scores."
BUSINESS: GCash accounts safe from data breach
MOBILE payments service GCash has assured its customers that their funds are safe as investigations on the alleged data leak continues. On Thursday, GCash checked its know-your-customer (KYC) data and found no indication of any data compromise. The inspection was in response to a report made by Deep Web Konek that threat actor KryptonZombie has uploaded about 100 gigabytes of compromised data from GCash, such as mobile numbers, IDs used for KYC processes, GSave account numbers, signatures and selfie IDs.
SPORTS: Gilas has 'real chance' to make it to Paris
AFTER Gilas Pilipinas' narrow loss versus Turkey, national team manager Richard del Rosario believes the Philippine team can "hold its own against higher-ranked teams" as the Tim Cone-coached quintet eye an Olympic slot next week in Riga, Latvia. The Philippines engaged Turkey in a neck-and-neck battle, before Bosnian-Turkish gunner Tarik Biberovic buried a late triple, capping his 23-point effort to seal an 84-73 win by Turkey in their tune-up game.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Marlen Ronquillo is today's front page columnist, as he says Philippine offshore gaming operators and Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo are mocking the Marcos administration's "Bagong Pilipinas" program.
Today's editorial says the acquittal of former senator Leila de Lima shows the long road to justice in the country. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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