Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Wednesday, July 24, 2024.
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READ: Govt ready to help ex-POGO workers
THE government is ready to provide assistance to the estimated 25,000 workers who will be affected by the ban on all Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said Tuesday. The statement came after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., citing the many crimes associated with POGOs, ordered the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to wind down and cease their operations by the end of the year during his third State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) on Monday. Speaking to reporters at the sidelines of the post-SONA briefing in Pasay City, Recto said the Department of Finance (DoF) would work closely with the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) to ensure the workers' incomes would not be severely disrupted.
READ: Blinken begins Southeast Asia tour
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Southeast Asia this week to deepen ties with Washington's strategic allies, including a visit to Manila on July 30, as the United States seeks to bolster its regional stance against an increasingly assertive China. On a 10-day trip that will see him visit Vietnam, Laos, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Mongolia, Blinken will carry a message of US commitment to its allies in the region, said Daniel Kritenbrink, a senior US State Department official.
READ: 8 dead, 2 hurt in Carina's fury
AT least eight people died and two were injured as Typhoon Carina brought torrential rains across the country, the state disaster agency said Tuesday. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said seven of the eight fatalities have been validated, but the circumstances of their deaths were not reflected in its report. Four of the dead were from Region 9, and one each was from Region 10, 11 and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Carina affected 179,744 families or 866,483 persons, the hardest hit of which was BARMM, with 110,648 families or 553,241 persons, followed by Region 12 with 47,892 families or 233,322 persons, the NDRRMC reported. Other areas affected by Carina were Regions 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, and Caraga.
READ: Castro, 12 others appeal conviction
ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, former Bayan Muna congressman Satur Ocampo and 11 others appealed their conviction on child abuse before the Tagum City Regional Trial Court on Monday. Castro, Ocampo and co-accused Ma. Eugenia Victoria Nolasco, Jesus Madamo, Meriro Poquita, Maria Concepcion Ibarra, Jenevive Paraba, Nerhaya Talledo, Maricel Andagkit, Marcial Rendon, Mariani Aga, Nerfa Awing and Wingwing Daunsay filed a notice of appeal to kick-start the appeals process. Under this process, the RTC will forward the case records to the Court of Appeals, which will raffle the case to a specific division of the court. In a statement, Castro lamented that while the military, paramilitary, and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict remain scot-free, they, who rescued the students, were the ones charged in the case.
READ: China ships patrol off Palawan
DAYS after Beijing and Manila announced they have agreed to jointly manage maritime disputes in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), two China Coast Guard (CCG) ships were seen in Philippine waters off Palawan Monday night. Retired United States Air Force Col. Ray Powell, director of SeaLight, a maritime transparency project that monitors and reports activities in South China, said CCG 3105 was detected through its automatic information System (AIS) signal sailing past Coron, Palawan, around 5:47 p.m. It was followed closely by CCG 3301 in the same area at 6:52 p.m. Both ships were monitored sailing past El Nido at a distance of only 40 nautical miles (74 kilometers). The CCG vessels were dispatched from nearby Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) in the WPS.
READ: PH athletes arrive at Paris Olympic Village
FILIPINO athletes have started arriving at the Paris Olympic Village as the 2024 Olympics nears. The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) shared a photo of the Philippine gymnastics team of Carlos Yulo, Aleah Finnegan, Levi Ruivivar and Emma Malubuyo arriving at the Village.
SPORTS: Eala rises to new career-high in world rankings
FOLLOWING her singles and doubles titles at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women's 100 Tennis Tournament in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain over the weekend, Filipina tennis superstar Alex Eala achieved a new career-high in the world rankings. At the latest Women's Tennis Association world rankings, Eala jumped to 143rd, 12 places better from her previous career best of 155th last week. Eala's previous career best came after appearances at the qualifying rounds in Wimbledon and the French Open.
BUSINESS: Idle funds could boost growth to 6.5% – Recto
Over to business, tapping unused and idle government funds could help boost economic growth and make it easier to achieve this year's target, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said on Tuesday. The government is aiming for 2024 economic growth of 6.0-7.0 percent after last year's below-target 5.5 percent — a result that has been blamed on state underspending. Recto said that Congress had directed the DoF to issue a circular that would mandate the use of funds "possibly just hibernating or lying dormant and unused by some government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs)," particularly Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC).
READ: Opinion and editorial
Rigoberto Tiglao, Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, and Francisco Tatad are today's front page columnists, as they give their post-SONA analyses.
Today's editorial says a Department of Finance order on PhiHealth and government-owned and -controlled corporations' funds needs a critical review. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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