Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Tuesday, February 4, 2025.
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READ: Govt declares food emergency on rice
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on Monday declared a food security emergency on rice. The declaration was based on the recommendations of the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC), prompted by its observation of persistently high prices of rice despite lower global market costs and the reduction of rice tariffs from 35 percent to 15 percent in July last year. The NPCC cited data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showing a 17.9 percent rice inflation in September 2023, way higher than the 4 percent food inflation target of the government. Regular and well-milled rice also remained high, rising by 19 percent and 20 percent, respectively, from the previous year.
READ: Budget face-off before SC today
THE Supreme Court is set to tackle a high-stakes legal showdown over a controversial provision in the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA) that allows the government to tap surplus funds from stateowned corporations. The Court has scheduled oral arguments on Tuesday, Feb. 4, for two petitions challenging what critics call an unconstitutional maneuver that grants the executive branch unchecked spending power. The legal battle raises concerns over constitutional budgetary processes, separation of powers, and fiscal transparency.
READ: Southeast Asia looks to nuclear power
Southeast Asia's only nuclear power plant, completed four decades ago in Bataan, about 40 miles from Manila, was built in the 1970s but left idle due to safety concerns and corruption. It has never produced a single watt of energy. Now the Philippines and other countries in fast-growing Southeast Asia are looking to develop nuclear energy in their quest for cleaner and more reliable energy. Nuclear energy is viewed by its proponents as a climate solution since reactors don't emit the plant-warming greenhouse gases released by burning coal, gas or oil. Advances in technology have helped reduce the risks from radiation, making nuclear plants safer, cheaper to build and smaller.
READ: Beyonce finally wins top album at Grammys
Beyonce on Sunday (Monday in Manila) finally won the Grammy for the year's best album for her culture-shaking "Cowboy Carter," as rapper Kendrick Lamar posted a clean sweep on a night that served as a love letter to fire-ravaged Los Angeles. Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, Doechii and Sabrina Carpenter emerged as big winners at the performance-heavy gala, while heavyweights Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish went home empty-handed. Beyonce's win for "Cowboy Carter" now makes her the most nominated, most decorated artist at the awards show ever — as well as the first Black woman to claim the top prize in this century.
READ: 'Meteor Garden' star Barbie Hsu dies at 48
Taiwanese star Barbie Hsu, who was hugely popular across Asia for her leading role in the 2001 television drama "Meteor Garden," has died from a respiratory illness, local media reported Monday. She was 48. Hsu passed away after developing pneumonia during a family trip to Japan over the Lunar New Year holiday, the younger of her two sisters was quoted as saying.
BUSINESS: Manufacturing PMI dips as output growth slows
THE country's manufacturing sector started 2025 with strong demand growth although output expansion moderated from the highs recorded in December, S&P Global said in its latest Philippines Manufacturing PMI report. The purchasing managers' index (PMI) stood at 52.3 in January, down from December's 32-month high of 54.3. The latest reading was a five-month low, but remained above the 50.0 threshold separating an expansion from a contraction.
SPORTS: Cavs crush Mavs in aftermath of shock Doncic trade
The Dallas Mavericks, rocked by the sudden trade of superstar Luka Doncic and wracked by injuries, were blown out 144-101 by the NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday (Monday in Manila). The Cavaliers remained five and a half games ahead of the Boston Celtics atop the Eastern Conference after the reigning champion Celtics matched the biggest comeback of the season, erasing a 26-point deficit late in the third quarter to beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 118-110. In an inauspicious start to the post- Doncic era, the Mavs came stumbling out of the gate, hindered not only by the emotional aftermath of the deal announced on Saturday but also by the injury absences of a string of regular starters, including Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras, Orlando Mercado and Yen Makabenta are today's front page columnists. Contreras' column talks about challenges to the constitutionality of the 2025 budget while Makabenta says that arrested Chinese spies and cohorts are just the tip of the iceberg. Mercado's column is about the decline of aviation safety.
Today's editorial is about helping solo parents survive.
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