Good day. Here are the top stories of The Manila Times for Monday, Sept. 16, 2024.
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READ: DoJ vows strong case vs Alice Guo
THE Department of Justice (DoJ) said it has enough evidence and testimonies to build a strong case of qualified human trafficking against Alice Guo and her co-accused. Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty, who heads the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, said on Sunday the case would be filed this week before the appropriate court. Ty said the charges stem from the complaint lodged by the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission. To be charged with the dismissed mayor are her business partners, including Huang Zhiyang, the Chinese national believed to be the "boss of all bosses" of illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs). In a related development, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has secured the Supreme Court's approval to transfer to Metro Manila the cases filed before the Capas Regional Trial Court Branch 66 against several foreign nationals who were arrested during the raid of the Zun Yuan Technology, a POGO site in Bamban, Tarlac. The site was raided on March 13, and several foreigners were arrested. Guo was mayor of Bamban before she was dismissed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government for having links with Zun Yuan Technology.
READ: PNP to charge Quiboloy coddlers
THE Philippine National Police (PNP) will file charges of obstruction of justice against individuals who helped Kingdom of Jesus (KoJC) leader Apollo Quiboloy evade arrest. Quiboloy is facing multiple charges, including child sexual abuse and qualified human trafficking. He surrendered inside the KoJC compound in Davao City a week ago following an assault by 2,000 police officers. In a statement Sunday, PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil said they would not tolerate any form of obstruction of justice. He said their investigation was to identify those who provided refuge to Quiboloy so that they would face appropriate legal consequences.Marbil said the televangelist could not have eluded arrest without the assistance of close associates, including legal representatives who misled authorities about his whereabouts. The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, led by Maj. Gen. Leo Francisco, will spearhead efforts to gather evidence and ensure the people who aided and abetted him are brought to justice. Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos had warned that Quiboloy's coddlers would be charged.
READ: PH ship ends watch on flashpoint reef
A PHILIPPINE Coast Guard (PCG) vessel that spent five months anchored at the disputed Escoda Shoal in the South China Sea has left the area, Philippine officials said Sunday. The BRP Teresa Magbanua had been anchored inside the shoal since April to assert Manila's claims to the area and prevent China from seizing it. Beijing has continued to press its claims to almost the entire South China Sea despite an international tribunal ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. Philippine and Chinese vessels have collided at least three times recently near Escoda, located 140 kilometers from Palawan and 1,200 kilometers from China's nearest major landmass, Hainan Island. On August 31, a China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel "carried out a dangerous maneuver," ramming the port bow of the Teresa Magbanua, according to the PCG. The ship's bridge wing and freeboard were damaged in one of the collisions. Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who is also chairman of National Maritime Council, said in a statement Sunday that the Magbanua, during her deployment ... challenged an encirclement by a larger flotilla of intruders, battled inclement weather despite her crew surviving on diminished daily provisions. China's coast guard noted the ship's withdrawal on Sunday and said Beijing "has indisputable sovereignty over ... Xianbin Jiao and its adjacent waters," using the Chinese name for Sabina Shoal.
READ: AI 'accelerating climate crisis,' expert warns
MONTREAL — If you care about the environment, think twice about using AI. Generative artificial intelligence uses 30 times more energy than a traditional search engine, warns researcher Sasha Luccioni, on a mission to raise awareness about the environmental impact of the hot new technology. Recognized as one of the 100 most influential people in the world of AI by the American magazine Time in 2024, the Canadian computer scientist of Russian origin has sought for several years to quantify the emissions of programs like ChatGPT or Midjourney. The language models on which the programs are based require enormous computing capacities to train on billions of data points, necessitating powerful servers. Then there's the energy used to respond to each user's requests. Instead of simply extracting information, "like a search engine would do to find the capital of a country, for example," AI programs "generate new information," making the whole thing "much more energy-intensive," she explains. According to the International Energy Agency, the combined AI and the cryptocurrency sectors consumed nearly 460 terawatt hours of electricity in 2022 — 2 percent of total global production.
In Business
READ: PH external debt manageable – BSP
THE country's external debt ratios stayed at manageable levels as of the second quarter despite additional borrowings, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported late on Friday. External debt totaled $130.18 billion in the April-June period, up from $128.69 billion as of end-March. As a percentage of the economy, external debt slightly improved to 28.9 percent from 29.0 percent in the first quarter. Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded to $221.47 billion as of end-June 2024 from $208.24 billion a year earlier. The country's debt service ratio (DSR), meanwhile, improved to 9.5 percent from 11.1 percent due to lower payments in the first half. Gross international reserves (GIR) stood at $105.19 billion, equivalent to 3.84 times short-term (ST) debt and up from 2023's $99.39 billion. The increase in debt mainly came from net borrowings totaling $1.50 billion. This included $2.61 billion raised by the national government through $2.0 billion in global bonds and $611.81 million from official creditors.
Topping Sports
READ: Pirates escape Bombers, grab 1st win in NCAA
LYCEUM of the Philippines University mustered all courage and kept its composure in the fourth quarter to prevail over Jose Rizal University (JRU), 97-92, to take its first win in the NCAA Season 100 men's basketball tournament at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City on Sunday. John Barba made a career-high performance of 28 points and was the go-to guy of the Pirates in the final canto to escape the Heavy Bombers. Down by 13 points early in the fourth quarter, the Pirates used a 7-0 rally in the last four minutes of the match, capped by Mclaude Guadaña's hustle play as he penetrated the rim for the layup, 85-83. Cunanan and Guadaña scored 20 and 17 points, apiece for Lyceum. While JRU's Medina scored a career-high of 22 points that went down the drain. Team captain Guiab and Argente added 20 and 11 markers, respectively. Lyceum now holds a 1-2 win-loss card, while JRU is still winless (0-3).
READ: Singapore Grand Prix revs up with 'Glam Circuit Festival'
SINGAPORE — Revving up the excitement for Grand Prix Season Singapore (GPSS) 2024, "The Glam Circuit Festival" opened on September 13 in the vibrant Kampong Gelam, a Muslim heritage district in the Lion City, with the Sultan Mosque and the Malay Heritage Centre being the banner tourist attractions. The race-themed event attended by Singapore Tourism Board Chief Executive Melissa Ow, One Kampong Gelam Chairman Zaki Ma'arof, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment of Singapore and Minister in Charge of Trade Relations Grace Fu, and Singapore Tourism Board Chairman Oliver Lim will run until the 22nd, simultaneously with the three-day F1 race starting from the 20th at the Marina Bay Circuit. Organized by the One Kampong Gelam (OKG) team, this is the fourth year GPSS is being held in Kampong Gelam.
READ: Quizon secures GM title at Chess Olympiad
FILIPINO Daniel Quizon accomplished what he originally set out for, sealing his dream Grandmaster (GM) title and helping the Philippines smash Monaco, 4-0, that catapulted it closer to the top 10 after four rounds of the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad at the BOK Sports Hall on Saturday in Budapest, Hungary. The 20-year-old International Master (IM) from Dasmariñas in Cavite outlasted GM Igor Efimov, a 64-year-old Georgian émigré, in 37 moves of a King's Indian duel to earn the two rating points needed to breach the 2500 plateau and claim the GM title that he has long pursued. Quizon's feat underscored what had been a dominant day for the Filipinos as GM Julio Catalino Sadorra and IMs Pau Bersamina and Jan Emmanuel Garcia. It catapulted the Filipinos, seeded 51st out of a record 197 teams, into a 25-country logjam at 13th place with six match points apiece and will play the 26th seeded Slovenians in the fifth round of this 11-round tournament.
READ: Opinion
Preventing 'truth decay' during elections is today's editorial in the Times. Read the full version on print or digital or listen to the Voice of the Times. Rigoberto Tiglao, Fr. Ranhilio Aquino and Francisco Tatad are the featured columnists on the front page. Tiglao claims the Marcos govt abandoned Sabina (Escoda) Shoal to the Chinese; Aquino on yet another heresy and Tatad on US abortion raising a new scare.
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