Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Thursday, December 5, 2024.
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READ: Chinese fire water cannon at PH ship
A CHINA Coast Guard (CCG) ship fired a water cannon and "sideswiped" a Philippine vessel during a maritime patrol near Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal), the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said. Video released by the PCG showed a Chinese coast guard ship firing a torrent of water at the BFAR vessel BRP Datu Pagbuaya. Other footage apparently taken from the Philippine ship showed its crew shouting "Collision! Collision!" as the much larger Chinese vessel approached its right-hand side before crashing into it. The water cannon was aimed "directly at the vessel's navigational antennas," the PCG and BFAR said in a joint statement. The Chinese vessel "intentionally sideswiped" the ship before launching a second water cannon attack, the statement said. China's coast guard said in an initial statement that Philippine ships "came dangerously close" and that its crew's actions had been "in accordance with the law." But in a later statement, it accused Manila of making "bogus accusations in an attempt to mislead international understanding."
READ: Koreans eye impeachment after failed martial law bid
South Korea's opposition moved to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday after his extraordinary but short-lived imposition of martial law that brought thousands of protesters to the streets. Yoon's shock bid to suspend civilian rule for the first time in over four decades — before being overturned by lawmakers in a night of drama — plunged South Korea into deep turmoil and alarmed its close allies. The future of Yoon, a conservative politician and former star public prosecutor who was elected president in 2022, is now highly uncertain. South Korea's opposition parties — whose lawmakers jumped fences and tussled with security forces to vote down the law — on Wednesday filed a motion to impeach Yoon.
READ: In Seoul, Filipinos told to stay calm
AMID the brief declaration of martial law in South Korea, the Philippine Embassy in Seoul urged Filipinos in the country to remain calm amid what they called "important events." In an advisory on its Facebook page on Wednesday morning, the embassy urged Filipinos to follow advisories released by Korean authorities.
READ: AFP cites foreign security threats
THE chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Intelligence Command, Lt. Gen. Ferdinand Barandon, on Wednesday raised the need to address the prevailing threats to national security, such as reported foreign interference. Meanwhile, Philippine Navy chief Vice Adm. Ezpeleta said the Philippines should support the actions of the "white" ships or the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG). Ezpeleta and Barandon made the remarks during their confirmation hearings before the Commission on Appointments' Committee on National Defense. The CA confirmed their ad interim appointments and nominations with 13 other AFP senior officers.
BUSINESS: 'Choppier seas' ahead for PH
Topping business, external and domestic risks such as a territorial row with China and the feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte could limit Philippine economic growth, Nomura said, with the country seen "navigating choppier seas" in the near term. The global financial services firm, in its Asia Macro Outlook 2025 report released on Wednesday, expects the country to grow by just 5.6 percent this year, just a notch higher than 2023's 5.5 percent and below the recently revised 6.0- to 6.5-percent target for the year. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth will likely improve to 6.0 percent in 2025, Nomura said, and then edge up to 6.1 percent the following year. Both forecasts would have also fallen below the government's previous targets of 6.5-7.5 percent and 6.5-8.0 percent, respectively, but now are at the lower end of the downwardly revised 6.0-8.0 percent adopted just this Monday.
SPORTS: World champions banner NAC Siklab Youth Awards
In sports, Tachiana Mangin of taekwondo, and weightlifters Angeline Colonia and Lovely Inan will banner the heavy cast of awardees in the Nickel Asia Corp. Siklab Youth Sports Awards 2024 on Thursday at the Market! Market! Activity Center Ayala Malls BGC after making the country proud on the world stage. Mangin ruled the women's -49-kilogram class of the World Taekwondo Junior Championships in Chuncheon, South Korea, the first time a Filipino did so on the global scene in nearly three decades or since Alex Borromeo won the men's -47-kg division during the 1996 worlds in Barcelona, Spain. Colonia and Inan, meanwhile, topped the women's 45 kg and 49 kg categories, respectively, accounting for the two gold medals that ranked the Philippines third overall out of 28 countries in the 2024 International Weightlifting Federation World Junior Championships in Leon, Spain.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta, and Danton Remoto are today's front page columnists. Contreras wants to let Vice President Sara Duterte meet the courts, Makabent thinks a presidential succession by special election is an imperative change, while Remoto looks into the South Korean political crisis.
Today's editorial says the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA)'s ban on mall-wide sales should be stopped. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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