Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Wednesday, October 23, 2024.
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READ: Let's do a drug test, VP dares lawmakers
VICE President Sara Duterte on Tuesday challenged lawmakers who are running in the 2025 elections to subject themselves to neuropsychiatric and drug tests after she was accused of having an unstable mind during her press conference on Friday. At the same time, she said Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla was ignorant of the law, after he said the Justice Department would look into possible charges to be filed against her for threatening to exhume the remains of former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. During a lengthy interview with reporters on the sidelines of the 50th Philippine Business Conference and Expo on Tuesday, Duterte did not mince words after several lawmakers described her as "unhinged and mentally unstable." She said that she is ready to undergo two tests: a neuropsychiatric examination and a drug test, while also challenging all reelectionist congressmen, including members of the so-called Young Guns, to undergo a hair follicle drug test.
READ: Self-rated poverty, hunger dip – OCTA
THE number of Filipinos who say they are poor and hungry dropped in the third quarter of 2024, according to the latest survey conducted by the independent pollster OCTA Research. In its Tugon ng Masa survey conducted from Aug. 28 to Sept. 2, 2024, 43 percent of Filipinos, equivalent to around 11.3 million families, self-identified as poor in the third quarter of 2024, a decline of five percentage points, or 1.4 million families, from the previous quarter where 48 percent said they are poor. Self-rated poverty decreased by 7 percentage points in Balance Luzon, from 37 percent to 30 percent, as well as in Mindanao by 17 percentage points from 77 percent to 60 percent. However, it increased in the National Capital Region, from 28 percent to 35 percent, and in Visayas from 52 percent to 59 percent.
READ: US says missile deployment in PH 'incredibly important'
THE US Army's recent deployment of a midrange missile system to the northern Philippines was "incredibly important" and allowed American and Filipino forces to jointly train for the potential usage of such heavy weaponry in Asian archipelago conditions, a US general said Monday. The Biden administration has moved to strengthen an arc of military alliances in the Indo-Pacific to better counter China, including in any possible confrontation over Taiwan and other Asian flash points. The Philippines has also worked on shoring up its territorial defenses after its disputes with China started to escalate last year in the increasingly volatile South China Sea.
READ: Espenido retracts Senate testimony vs de Lima
RETIRED police officer Jovie Espenido on Tuesday retracted his Senate testimony against former justice secretary and former senator Leila de Lima, confirming that he had spoken to another witness, a confessed drug lord, to make sure their testimonies were consistent. At a hearing of the House quad committee on Tuesday, Espenido was asked to confirm the testimony of Kerwin Espinosa that former police chief and now Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa had instructed them to make sure their testimonies against de Lima were consistent. De Lima, who was also at the quad committee hearing as a resource person, had said earlier on Tuesday that she wanted to hear from Espenido what Espinosa said during the last hearing, that Dela Rosa had asked them to get their testimonies in line. The Manila Times sought a comment from Dela Rosa, who earlier denied that he had forced Espinosa to link de Lima to the illegal drug trade. De Lima has been cleared of all three drug-related charges filed against her in court.
READ: Duterte to appear before Senate panel
FORMER president Rodrigo Duterte will attend the Senate hearing on his administration's bloody war on drugs on Monday, October 28, Senate President Francis Escudero said Tuesday. In a press conference, Escudero assured the former chief executive that he would be accorded the utmost courtesy as a former president of the country and as a former member of Congress. Escudero did not say, however, if Mr. Duterte could be cited in contempt if he refuses to answer questions from any of the senators, but he said he doesn't want this to happen. On Friday, Escudero declared that the hearings on the drug war would be handled by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee rather than the Senate Committee of the Whole, as proposed by Sen. Risa Hontiveros.
READ: Economic growth seen exceeding target this year
THE economy has the momentum for growth and will continue to be among the best performing in the region, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said during The Manila Times forum on Tuesday. Pangandaman said the country is expected to outperform China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia, with private consumption as the country's main growth engine.
BUSINESS: Capital raising at PSE seen hitting P88.54B
CAPITAL raising activities at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) will likely end 2024 well below last year's level but the bourse is optimistic of a turnaround given planned product offerings and a shift in investor sentiment. Ramon Monzon, PSE president and CEO, told a Manila Times forum on Tuesday that an estimated 88.54 billion pesos was expected to be raised this year, down from the 140.95 billion pesos recorded in 2023.
SPORTS: PBA Finals: Tim Cone vs. Chot Reyes
TIM Cone and Chot Reyes, two of the PBA's most successful head coaches are clashing on opposing sidelines in the Governors' Cup Finals for the first time since the 2012 Commissioner's Cup. The two well-respected PBA coaches have gone a long way back since Reyes served as one of Cone's assistants with Alaska from 1989 to 1992. When Reyes moved on to coach Purefoods starting in 1993, he went on to win two championships with the franchise, including a Finals victory over Cone in the 1994 Commissioner's Cup that kicked off a rivalry with his former mentor. Both coaches' last memorable coaching duel in the Finals happened during the 2012 Commissioner's Cup in an epic seven-game series. That championship duel saw Cone's B-Meg capture the crown, thanks to import Denzel Bowles' late foul shots in regulation that forced the extension period, en route to a 90- 84 win over Reyes' Talk 'N Text. Today, Cone earned another crack at adding up his already PBA record of 25 league championships after steering Ginebra back to the Finals, following Sunday's series-clinching 102-99 win against San Miguel Beer in Game 6.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Rigoberto Tiglao and Francisco Tatad are today's front page columnists, as they weigh in on the Duterte-Marcos word war.
Today's editorial suggests that a "frequent-flyer tax" is a proposal worthy to be studied. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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