Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Tuesday, October 1, 2024.
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READ: Julian pounds Batanes islands
TYPHOON Julian (international name: Krathon) pounded the Batanes islands near Taiwan on Monday, before moving away toward the northwestern boundary of the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR), the state-run weather agency said Monday. In its 5 p.m. bulletin, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Signal No. 4 remained hoisted over Batanes while Signal No. 3 was up over the northern and western portions of Babuyan Islands (Babuyan Island, Calayan Island, Dalupiri Island and Fuga Island). Pagasa said Signal No. 2 was still raised over the northern and western portion of mainland Cagayan (Piat, Santo Nino, Camalaniugan, Tuao, Lal-Lo, Pamplona, Gonzaga, Alcala, Amulung, Santa Teresita, Baggao, Buguey, Solana, Rizal, Claveria, Gattaran, Iguig, Lasam, Aparri, Ballesteros, Abulug, Allacapan, Sanchez-Mira, Santa Praxedes and Santa Ana) including the rest of Babuyan Islands, Apayao, Abra, Kalinga, Ilocos Norte, and the northern and central portions of Ilocos Sur (Sinait, Cabugao, San Emilio, Lidlidda, Banayoyo, Santiago, Santa Maria, Burgos, San Esteban, Nagbukel, Narvacan, Santa, Caoayan, Bantay, Santo Domingo, San Juan, San Vicente, San Ildefonso, Magsingal, Santa Catalina and City of Vigan). Meanwhile, Signal No. 1 was up over the rest of Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Benguet, the rest of mainland Cagayan (Peñablanca, Tuguegarao City and Enrile), Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, the northern portion of Aurora (Dilasag, Casiguran and Dinalungan) and the northern portion of Nueva Ecija (Carranglan, Lupao and Pantabangan) also in Luzon. Estimated some 95 kilometers west-southwest of Itbayat, Batanes, the typhoon was moving westnorthwestward at 15 kilometers per hour (kph) while packing maximum sustained winds of 175 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 215 kph, the state weather bureau said. Weather specialist Aldczar Aurelio of Pagasa said Julian, the sixth storm to hit the country in September and the 10th this year, would likely exit PAR by Thursday. Pagasa said "violent winds" would be likely over Batanes, which could cause "very heavy" damage to high-risk structures.
READ: CoC filing starts
IT'S all systems go for today's start of the weeklong filing of certificate of candidacy (CoC), which signals the "unofficial" start of the campaign season leading to the May 12, 2025 synchronized national and local polls, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections. Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia, however, clarified that those who will file their CoCs from October 1 to 8 are not yet candidates but just aspirants, adding that "they will only be considered candidates at the start of the campaign season." The poll chief also pointed out that whether one's name would be included on the list of candidates is another story, saying that Comelec can "motu proprio (on its own)" cancel the names of nuisance or unqualified candidates. He added that for the first time in election history, the Comelec will publish the names of all who filed a CoC to help the poll body cleanse the list of candidates whose names would be included in the official ballot.
READ: Erwin Tulfo, Lacson, Sotto lead survey
A MIX of current and former elected officials and other known personalities emerged as the favorites among voters in the latest senatorial preference survey results released by political consultancy firm PUBLiCUS Asia on Monday. ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo came out on top in the poll conducted from September 15 to 19. It showed 42 percent of the respondents would vote for the former broadcaster if the elections were held during the survey period. Following closely were former senators Panfilo Lacson and Vicente Sotto III with 38 percent and 37 percent, respectively. Taking fourth place was former president Rodrigo Duterte with 36 percent, while Sen. Bong Go secured fifth place with 33 percent. Former senator Francis Pangilinan landed in sixth spot with 30 percent voter preference. Meanwhile, sitting senators Francis Tolentino and Imee Marcos were statistically tied with former senator Manny Pacquiao with 29 percent voting preference. Taking 10th place was human rights lawyer Chel Diokno, ranked with 28 percent, while Sen. Pia Cayetano placed 11th with 27 percent.
READ: Alice Guo arraignment reset anew
THE arraignment of Alice Guo before a Valenzuela City court for a graft case was rescheduled for the second time. A lawyer from Regional Trial Court Branch 282, who spoke on condition that she would not be named, told The Manila Times on Monday the arraignment has been reset for October 28 at 1:30 p.m. The lawyer said Judge Elena Amigo-Amano postponed the arraignment after the court received a motion to amend information from the Office of the Ombudsman last Friday. Amigo-Amano had allowed Guo to post a bail of 540,000 pesos, which was tripled after the prosecution filed a motion citing her as a high-profile respondent. The judge gave the prosecution time to submit its reply to a motion by Guo's lawyers to quash information when the case of two counts of graft was filed in Capas, Tarlac. Guo allegedly used her position as mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, to issue permits for the illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in her town. The Supreme Court has ordered the case transferred from Capas to Valenzuela. Guo, who is detained at the Pasig City jail, was charged with qualified trafficking, a non-bailable offense, in connection with the Bamban POGO hub.
READ: Biado wins 9-Ball Open in Vietnam
FILIPINO cue artist Carlo Biado ruled the inaugural Ho Chi Minh City 9-Ball Open after defeating Austrian Mario He, 13-8, in the final at the Ho Xuan Huong Gymnasium in Vietnam on Sunday. The 40-year-old Biado bagged prize money of $35,000 or more than 1.9 million pesos for ruling the 9-ball game. Biado added this Open title to a boatload of trophies including the 9-ball championship in 2017, World Games title and three Southeast Asian Games gold medals. After getting through stage 1, Biado topped Taiwanese Wang Hu-Hsian, 11-7, in the round of 32. He then knocked off compatriot Valeriano Pajuay in the round of 16, 11-3, and another Filipino shot maker Anton Raga in the quarterfinals. Biado then outlasted Bosnian Sanjin Pehlivanovic in a semifinal hill-hill battle, 11-10, before taking down He in the championship round.
SPORTS: Painters, Giga gun for Govs' Cup semis seats
RAIN or Shine and TNT are expected to go for the kill when they clash with Magnolia and NLEX in Game 4 of the PBA Season 49 Governors' Cup best-of-five quarterfinal series on Tuesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. Import Aaron Fuller, played through a torn left cornea and lifted the Elasto Painters past the Magnolia Hotshots, 111-106, in overtime on Sunday to grab a 2-1 series lead. The RoS side of coach Yeng Guiao will try to finish off the Hotshots in their 5 p.m. encounter. Meanwhile, TNT, which routed NLEX, 109-91 in Game 3, will also try to finish the job in their 7:30 p.m. encounter. Guiao was elated with the fact that his younger crew managed to engage the playoff-tested Hotshots to a neck-and-neck battle and more importantly, come out as the victors.
BUSINESS: 50-bps cut possible but 25 will be norm
Over to business, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has scope to do a 50-basis-point rate cut in one policy meeting, but such a big reduction would only happen if there are worries about a hard landing, its governor said on Monday. A 25-basis-point rate cut will be the norm if there is no risk of a hard landing, BSP Governor Eli Remolona told reporters at a banking event. He said the BSP had moved its rate-setting meeting to October 16 from October 17 because of a scheduling issue. The final meeting for 2024 will be on December 19.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras and Orlando Mercado are today's front page columnists. Contreras weighs in on the defense agreement between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the University of the Philippines, while Mercado talks about the recent visit of Foreign Sec. Enrique Manalo to the United Nations.
Today's editorial looks into the newly-signed Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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