Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Wednesday, July 17, 2024.
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READ: 5 senior DepEd officials resign
FIVE senior officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) have tendered their courtesy resignations to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to give the new leadership a "clean slate" in choosing his own team. The five officials who sent their resignations to Marcos were chief of staff and longtime department spokesman Undersecretary Michael Wesley Poa, Undersecretary for Administration Nolasco Mempin, Assistant Secretary for the Office of the Secretary Sunshine Fajarda, Assistant Secretary for Procurement Reynold Munsayac, and Assistant Secretary for Administration Noel Baluyan. The resignations were revealed by incoming Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara during a chance interview with reporters on Tuesday at the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority office in Pasig City. Poa said their resignations are effective on July 19, 2024, the day Vice President Sara Duterte is set to leave her post as education secretary.
READ: Brosas to seek Senate seat in '25
GABRIELA Women's Partylist Rep. Arlene Brosas announced she would run for senator in the 2025 midterm elections to push for more comprehensive legislation aimed at protecting women and children. Brosas believes that her candidacy as part of the Makabayan bloc's Senate slate will be driven by her supporters, who are mainly women from civil organizations, marginalized sectors, youth and even the LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) community. Brosas was nominated by a committee of 100 women that represented various sectors and professions, as well as a coalition of women leaders and various women's groups across the country. She said the "unprecedented" crisis that has burdened women, including severe oppression, discrimination and state-sponsored violence, gave her the determination to serve the oppressed and those in need.
READ: Manhunt for Guo to widen
SENATE President Francis Escudero said Tuesday a broader manhunt would be launched for Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, if she continues to hide instead of cooperating with the Senate panel looking into her alleged involvement with unlicensed Philippine overseas gaming operators (POGOs). On Saturday, in coordination with the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms (OSAA) deployed four teams to serve arrest orders against Guo and seven others but failed to locate them as they were not in their given addresses. Retired Lt. Gen. Roberto Ancan, the Senate sergeant-at-arms, reported to Escudero that the OSAA teams failed to serve the arrest warrants since Guo and the others. Escudero said they were considering mounting a broader manhunt for Guo and company if they continue to snub the invitation of the Senate to attend the July 29 hearing of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality chaired by Sen. Risa Hontiveros. The Senate chief instructed Ancan to collaborate with the National Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies to ensure the attendance of Guo and other relevant individuals during the forthcoming hearings on POGO-related issues. Meanwhile, Stephen David, Guo's lawyer, said his client was still in the country and had advised her to voluntarily appear before the Senate.
READ: LTFRB told: Set reentry rules for banned PUVs
SEN. Grace Poe on Tuesday urged the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to set guidelines for the reentry of some unconsolidated public utility vehicles (PUVs) into roads, which she said was a welcome development. LTFRB's directive to allow unconsolidated jeepneys and UV Express units to operate in some routes was a "welcome development," she said. Last Monday, the LTFRB said it issued Board Resolution 53 series of 2024, allowing unconsolidated jeepneys and UV Express units to operate in over 2,500 routes.
READ: NCR retains Palarong Pambansa overall crown
The National Capital Region (NCR) dominated the 64th Palarong Pambansa to claim its 17th straight overall championship here. NCR stamped its class anew by harvesting 98 gold medals, including the secondary boys basketball crown, which it lost last year to this year's host, Central Visayas. The Big City also raked in 66 silver medals and 74 bronzes for a total of 238 medals. Calabarzon, which dropped to third place last year, redeemed second place this time as it beat Western Visayas by one gold medal for the runner-up position, 57-56. Calabarzon added 51 silvers and 53 bronzes to its medal haul, while Western Visayas, which placed second last year, collected 41 silvers and bronzes each. Davao Region ranked fourth with a 32- 25-35 gold-silver-bronze haul, while host Central Visayas rounded out the top five with 25-37-45. Meanwhile, Calabarzon's Albert Jose Amaro emerged as the most bemedaled athlete. Amaro, an incoming Grade 12 student at San Beda Taytay, swept his way to seven gold medals in the secondary boys class, capped by a 4x100 m freestyle relay championship on Sunday at the Cebu City Sports Center. Amaro, alongside Eric Umali, Kevin Arguzon and Nimrod Montera, clocked a time of 3:38.83 as he has totaled eight gold medals in his Palaro career.
SPORTS: Cone: No plans to expand Gilas pool
TIM Cone stressed that he has no plans of expanding the Gilas Pilipinas pool in the future. In fact, the American mentor clarified that his philosophy has to do with the short preparation time he has with the players, given the various tournaments that they are into outside Gilas. In the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers last February, Cone shared that the team only had about one week to prepare since he had to wait for the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals to finish. San Miguel Beer, which won that conference title, had June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez in the Gilas team. Shortly after the title series, Gilas started its camp at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna with the two SMB stars joining the national squad.
BUSINESS: AMRO trims PH growth forecasts
Over to business, infrastructure gaps and a weaker external sector recovery could hamper Philippine economic growth, the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) said on Tuesday as it revised its forecasts for the country. AMRO trimmed its 2024 and 2025 growth outlooks to 6.1 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively, from 6.3 percent and 6.5 percent previously. The revision for 2024 falls within the government's downwardly revised 6.0- to 7.0-percent target while that for next year is short of the 6.5- to 7.5-percent goal. Growth moderated to 5.6 percent last year from 7.6 percent in 2022, missing the 6.0- to 7.0-percent target.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Rigoberto Tiglao, Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, and Francisco Tatad are today's front page columnists. Tiglao claims the arbitration suit against Beijing militarized the South China Sea, Fr. Aquino looks into the Catholic Church and its unconventional relations, while Tatad asks if the Supreme Court can compel Congress to follow the Constitution on the issue of political dynasties.
Today's editorial discusses the state of emergency in cyberspace. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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