Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Tuesday, September 10, 2024.
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READ: Senate finds Guo in contempt anew
DISMISSED Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo on Monday told the Senate she and her siblings Shiela and Wesley were "smuggled out" of the country and did not escape. Her lack of credible answers again caused senators to find her in contempt. Guo contradicted her sister's earlier testimony that she asked her elder sister to accompany her abroad because she was "sad and bored." She brought $20,000 to fund their "trip." The former mayor said there was a time during their journey at sea that she "regretted" leaving the country and contemplated returning. She also said that she started receiving death threats in June over the phone. But she refused to provide details, which prompted senators to accuse her of just making it up. She also denied that Sual, Pangasinan Mayor Liseldo Calugay is her "boyfriend" amid reports that he helped her escape. Alice, who is under police custody, was brought to the Senate on Monday to attend the inquiry on her escape from the country in the middle of July. The public hearing was jointly conducted by the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, the Committee on Migrant Workers, and the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs.
READ: 'Quiboloy must face local courts'
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday said Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KoJC) founder Apollo Quiboloy must first answer the charges filed against him in Philippine courts before there is any talk of his extradition to the United States. Quiboloy, who surrendered to government forces on Sunday, has warrants for his arrest for violating Section 5(b) and Section 10(a) of Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act. He was also slapped with a non-bailable qualified human trafficking charge under Section 4(a) of Republic Act 9208, or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.
READ: Marcos sacks Tansingco
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has sacked Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco, the Palace confirmed on Monday. Justice Secretary Jose Crispin Remulla earlier bared that he had recommended to the President the sacking of Tansingco over the escape of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo in July. In late August, Marcos said "heads will roll" if people in his government were found to have helped Guo flee the country. In an interview earlier, Remulla said the President, and he agreed that Tansingco would be replaced.
READ: VP Sara: I'm no brat
VICE President Sara Duterte said she is not a "bratinella" or spoiled brat. She drew a storm of criticism over her behavior during the OVP's budget briefing before the House Committee on Appropriations on August 27. But House Assistant Majority Leader Amparo Maria Zamora said that budget deliberations were not about "getting what we want" or "hearing what we want to hear" but about ensuring proper use of public funds.
BUSINESS: PH CEOs more upbeat – survey
Headlining business, company chief executives in the country remain overwhelmingly upbeat given the country's continued resilience and growth amid global headwinds, an annual survey showed. Optimism was said to have "significantly improved," with 86 percent of the respondents in the 2024 Philippine CEO Survey expressing confidence about their industry's prospects for the year and 85 percent expecting revenue growth over the next three years. Infrastructure development is still expected to drive the domestic economy — the government is seen as performing particularly well in this regard — and — despite geopolitical uncertainties being the top worry for most — more than half also see an improvement in global economic growth. The survey, conducted from July 8 to August 9 by PwC Philippines/ Isla Lipana & Co. in partnership with the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), involved 168 chief executives across a range of industries. Most of the respondents are MAP members and most of the firms they represented have assets of over 100 million pesos. Optimism about industry prospects improved from 86 percent in the 2023 edition of the survey, with 34 percent and 54 percent saying they were "very confident" and "somewhat confident," respectively, from 30 percent and 54 percent previously. Thirteen percent, meanwhile, said they were "not very confident," more than double the 6 percent in 2023. Confidence about company revenues, meanwhile, slipped from 88 percent a year earlier with 36 percent "very confident" and 50 percent "somewhat confident" — a year ago, these were at 43 percent and 45 percent, respectively. Fifty-nine percent said infrastructure development would be a key growth driver, unchanged from 2023, followed by domestic consumption at 51 percent, although this was down from 59 percent a year ago.
SPORTS: Paris Paralympics close with a party after 'historic summer'
Over to sports, the Paralympic Games closed on Sunday with a giant music-fueled party as chief Paris 2024 organizer Tony Estanguet said the Games and the Olympics had created a "historic summer." The Paralympic flame and cauldron were extinguished before a concert featuring the best of French electronic music capped off proceedings at a packed Stade de France. More than 4,400 athletes from 168 Paralympic delegations partied despite persistent rain. Estanguet said the closing ceremony marked the end of six weeks of Olympic and Paralympic fervor in the City of Light. The former Olympic gold medal-winning canoeist said that period would remain "etched in people's memories." The next Paralympics will take place in Los Angeles in 2028. In the official handover, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo passed the Paralympic flag to International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons, who gave it to Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass. The Philippine Paralympic team finished the Games without a medal, but javelin thrower Cendy Asusano nearly made the podium, finishing 4th and setting a new personal best in her event on Saturday. She and para taekwondo jin Allain Ganapin carried the Philippine flag at the ceremony. The country had 4 medals from the Olympic Games, two of which were gold medals coming from gymnast Carlos Yulo.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta, and Orlando Mercado are today's front page columnists. Contreras said the Philippines should have acted on the climate issues, Makabenta claims that Vice President Sara Duterte's "designated survivor" is a real plan, while Mercado talks about issues surrounding dementia.
Today's editorial looks into updating the country's geohazard maps. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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