Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Friday, July 5, 2024.
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READ: Boost education, teachers' benefits
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has instructed incoming Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara to focus on improving teachers' benefits and elevate the quality of teaching in basic education. Angara, who leaves the Senate to join the Cabinet, said he would do this by continuing the reforms at the Department of Education (DepEd).
READ: Health workers to finally get paid
BUDGET authorities on Thursday announced that about 27 billion pesos will be disbursed to settle unpaid emergency allowance for health care workers. In a statement, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said they will release the additional funds on Friday. This is in accordance with the Department of Health's (DoH) official request in May for the issuance of a Special Allotment Release Order and Notice of Cash Allocation amounting to 27.453 billion pesos. The amount was said to cover the payment of over 5 million remaining validated unpaid Health Emergency Allowances (HEA) and 4,283 Covid-19 Sickness and Death Compensation claims for eligible health care and non-health care workers.
READ: Binay eyes ethics complaint vs. Cayetano
SEN. Nancy Binay said she would consult her lawyers about whether to file a complaint against Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano before the Senate Committee on Ethics for his "ungentlemanly conduct" toward her during a public hearing. The two senators had a heated argument Wednesday during the Senate inquiry, led by Cayetano, on the increased cost in the construction of the new Senate building in Taguig City. Binay said Cayetano insulted her during what she described as a politically motivated hearing in which the goal was to go after the Binays. She slammed Cayetano for calling her names such as "nabuang" (gone crazy) and "Marites" street lingo for someone gossipy or nosy.
READ: DA wants greater market access for high-value crops
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is pushing to increase the export market for high-value crops with P10 billion in funding for next year. Agriculture Undersecretary Cheryl Natividad-Caballero said during an interview with The Manila Times that they would maximize the current trade agreements with other countries. The DA has trade cooperation deals for agricultural commodities with Vietnam, South Korea, Australia, Japan, China, and New Zealand, among others. The official also noted that the ability of the country to produce and supply sustainably would depend on the volume of production, which is dependent on the quality of planting materials. The high-value crops program of the DA focuses on managing the productivity of around 30 commodities and the export market access for these. Caballero also identified crops that are nontraditional but have good market potential, such as purple yam or ube. She said that they are in talks with a private sector group in France that expressed interest in the Philippine ube.
BUSINESS: Gov't debt hits record P15.35T
Over to business, the national government's outstanding debt ballooned to a new record high of 15.35 trillion pesos in May as the peso weakened, the Bureau of the Treasury reported on Thursday. In a statement, the Treasury said total debt increased by 330.39 billion pesos, or 2.2 percent, from the end-April 2024 level, primarily due to the impact of local currency depreciation on the valuation of foreign currency-denominated debt.
SPORTS: Gilas Pilipinas played very good game says Latvian coach
FOR the first time in 64 years, the Philippines has won against a European team in men's basketball. This was achieved early Thursday morning when Gilas Pilipinas scored an 89-80 upset win against host Latvia in Group A of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia. While Philippine team coach Tim Cone said he was "shocked" by the stunning victory, Latvia coach Luca Banchi attributed the setback to the host squad's failure to match the Filipinos' "sharp" performance throughout the game.
READ: Opinion
Rigoberto Tiglao and Francisco Tatad are today's front page columnists. Tiglao looks into Senator Pia Cayetano's pursuit of a Gas Industry Development Act, while Tatad asks if the system in the United States is now in crisis.
Today's editorial says Artificial Intelligence-generated deepfakes are threatening the electoral system. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
READ: TMT School of Journalism slates workshop
THE Manila Times School of Journalism will soon conduct its inaugural Workshop in Journalism for Social Media Content Creators, a two-day workshop designed to elevate the skills of social media content creators in the Philippines. The workshop, set for July 26-27, will be conducted by multi-awarded multimedia journalist Jacque Manabat, who is known for her innovative approach to storytelling and dedication to reaching a broader audience. Manabat was the first Southeast Asian journalist to use TikTok as a news platform, revolutionizing storytelling through an infotainment approach, and the first Filipino journalist verified on TikTok. She has been included in Nieman's Lab Mapping Journalists on Social Media and was one of 120 creators worldwide recognized at the Global Creators' Festival in South Korea.
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