Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Friday, December 13, 2024.
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READ: Internet, social media sign-up ends today
ALL political aspirants, party-list groups, political organizations and coalitions have only until today, Dec.13, to register their social media accounts and pages, websites, and other online and internet-based campaign platforms that they will use in the 2025 midterm elections. Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia warned that failure to comply with the social media registration requirement is an election offense and could lead to a candidate's disqualification, and the removal, takedown, or blocking of the contents of the unregistered social media accounts.
READ: Go after illegal POGOs – Marcos
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday ordered the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and other law enforcement bodies to carry out multiple operations against Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) that continue to exist in the country. During a command conference of the national and regional peace and order councils held at police headquarters in Camp Crame, the president told the Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to intensify their operations against POGOs that are still operating despite the ban. He also called on all local chief executives to coordinate with the DILG in going after POGOs in their respective jurisdictions. Marcos' attendance at the peace and order council meeting came a day after he stood firm on his stance to kick out POGOs from the country and announced the cancellation of all POGO and internet gaming licenses (IGLs) nationwide.
READ: Water rates to increase beginning January
THE Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System Regulatory Office (MWSS-RO) announced that the rates for both Maynilad Water Services Inc. (Maynilad) and Manila Water Company Inc. (Manila Water) will increase starting January 2025 due to their various capital expenditures and the effect of the foreign exchange rate on their loans. Maynilad customers who are in the low-Income Lifeline program consuming 10 cubic meters (cu.m.) or less will have an increase of 10 pesos and 56 centavos per month for total charges on their bill starting January, while regular customers consuming 10 cu.m. or less will see a hike of 20 pesos and 8 centavos per month.
READ: Teodoro to appeal Comelec decision to cancel his COC
MARIKINA Mayor Marcy Teodoro said he will file a motion for reconsideration over the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) First Division to cancel his certificate of candidacy (COC) for congressman in the city's first district. Teodoro also said he is still a legitimate candidate as the decision is not final and executory. The Comelec said Teodoro committed material misrepresentation in his COC regarding his residency in Barangay San Roque in the first district. The decision stemmed from separate petitions filed by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, Katrina Mari Faye Marco, Angelu Estanislao, and Ma. Luisa de Guzman, seeking to cancel Teodoro's candidacy for allegedly violating Section 78 of the Omnibus Election Code.
BUSINESS: PH growth seen slowing to 2026
Topping business, Philippine economic growth could fall well below target this year and keep slowing in the next two years, a United Kingdom-based research consultancy said, primarily due to likely constraints to consumption. Pantheon Macroeconomics, in an outlook for emerging Asian economies for the first half of 2025, said the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth was likely to average 5.4 percent in 2024, down from 5.5 percent a year earlier and the lowest since 2020's 9.5-percent plunge. That contraction was due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and Pantheon said that efforts to reduce the debt burden incurred to prop up the economy, along with high interest rates, would weigh on government and private sector spending.
SPORTS: Quiambao saved La Salle from jaws of defeat
THERE were multiple reasons why Kevin Quiambao won back-to-back Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards in the UAAP men's basketball tournament. One is for making clutch plays. Quiambao came through in pressure-packed moments on Wednesday as La Salle escaped with a 76-75 come-from-behind win against University of the Philippines in Game 2 of the best-of-three finals before 17,112 boisterous fans at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. The defending champs thus pushed the Season 87 men's basketball finals to a winner-take-all game 3 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday. Quiambao scored 11 fourth quarter points including back-to-back triples that gave the Green Archers a 74-73 with 1:29 remaining in the game after trailing by nine, 55-64, at the 8:32 mark of the final period. After a Quentin Millora-Brown basket, Quiambao swung the lead back to La Salle for good after setting up Mike Phillips for an inside incursion with 1:12 to go. Quiambao thus redeemed himself from a dismal performance in Game 1 where he made only one point in the second half after scoring 18 in the first two frames. Against multiple UP defenders that took their turns in stopping him including Jacob Bayla who was dubbed 'KQ' stopper after limiting him last Sunday, Quiambao finished with 22 points and nine rebounds on Wednesday.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Rigoberto Tiglao and Francisco Tatad are today's front page columnists, as both of them give their insights over the recent issues in the West Philippine Sea.
Today's editorial talks about a "twin threat" of sea level rise and ground subsidence. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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