Good day. Here are the stories of The Manila Times for Thursday, February 6, 2025.
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READ: House impeaches VP Sara Duterte
LAWMAKERS on Wednesday voted to send articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte to the Senate for trial, a day before the current congressional session was set to end. House Speaker Martin Romualdez said a total of 215 lawmakers approved to send the impeachment articles. Duterte's fate now lies in the hands of 24 senators, two-thirds of whom must vote for her impeachment to convict her. The Senate, on its last session day, received the article of impeachment against Duterte. The members of the Senate act as senator-judges if it reconvenes as an impeachment court. The last time the Senate reconvened as an impeachment court was in 2012 when it tackled the House move to unseat then-chief justice Renato Corona. Wednesday's filing comes days before campaigning officially begins for midterm elections, widely expected to set the table for the 2028 presidential race. Duterte is the first vice president to be impeached by the House of Representatives. Although three impeachment complaints had been filed by other parties, the fourth complaint was initiated by House members themselves and was signed first by the president's son, Senior Deputy Majority Leader Sandro Marcos. The fourth complaint accuses Duterte of conspiracy, malversation of confidential funds, betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, high crimes and acts of destabilization.
READ: Move draws cheers, jeers
CRITICS of Vice President Sara Duterte celebrated her impeachment at the House of Representatives, but her allies denounced the move and said it would galvanize support for her. The Akbayan party-list on Wednesday said the vote at the House to send the impeachment complaint on to the Senate for trial was the "beginning of the Duterte dynasty's expiration from power, impunity and plunder." In a statement, Akbayan Rep. Percival Cendaña, who endorsed the first impeachment complaint against Duterte, said this is a "decisive victory for the Filipino people and a clear warning to those who abuse power." On the other hand, former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo on Wednesday said the "expected" move of the House to impeach Duterte would only rally more support for the vice president.
READ: P4B in USAid-funded education projects at risk
SOME $94 million or 4 billion pesos worth of projects under the Department of Education (DepEd) will be affected by US President Donald Trump's move to suspend programs under the United States Agency for International Development (USAid). In a radio interview, Education Assistant Secretary for Strategic Management Roger Masapol said some of the projects that would be affected by the planned USAid shutdown include the ABC+ or Advancing Basic Education Plus program, which would improve literacy, numeracy and social and emotional learning for kindergarten to Grade 3 students. Also affected would be the Opportunity 2.0 program for alternative learning system, the "Improving Learning Outcomes for the Philippines," which would aid the department in developing an assessment framework and policy, as well as the Gabay project for learners with special needs and the Urban Connect program for gender and development. Masapol said these programs were in line with the five-point agenda of Education Secretary Sonny Angara to improve the basic education program. He said while the funding from the USAid is suspended, they would look into using continuing funds to allow these projects to continue. He added that he was hopeful that these projects would continue after the 90-day suspension of USAid is over.
READ: Mercado vows reforms to cure PhilHealth 'ills'
Newly appointed president and chief executive officer of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. Edwin Mercado said he saw the agency being marred by illnesses and it is his job to treat it, as he vowed to expand member benefits and speed up the digitization of processes at the state health insurer. Mercado said his first priority was to review and refine PhilHealth's processes to ensure efficiency and eliminate financial leaks.
READ: WPS joint sail gets underway
THE combined defense forces of the Philippines, Australia, Japan and the United States on Wednesday sailed again in the West Philippine Sea, a day after US bombers and Philippine jet fighters held a one-day fly-by over the country's archipelagic waters. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) provided no details of the progressing Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MMCA) in an unspecified location in the WPS. The MMCA, the sixth since last year and the second in 2025, the participating states say, demonstrates a collective commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific. Naval and air contingents from the four allied nations navigated the Philippines' exclusive economic zone as they operated together to enhance cooperations and interoperability.
READ: Senate approves DFA retirement benefits
THE Senate on Tuesday ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the disagreeing provisions of Senate Bill 2863 and House Bill 10466, otherwise known as the Adjusted Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Retirement Benefits Act. If enacted into law, the measure mandates a monthly pension differential for DFA retirees to make their stipend at par with the salary grade of the rank they held upon retirement. The legislation shall apply to retired officers and employees of the DFA who are Filipino citizens and are receiving a monthly pension from the Government Service Insurance System, as well as those who opted to retire under Republic Act 1616, provided that they reached 65 years of age and served the DFA for at least 15 years at the time of their retirement.
BUSINESS: Inflation unchanged at 2.9%
Over to business, inflation was unchanged last month as declining rice prices offset modest increases in utility and food costs, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday. Consumer price growth steadied at 2.9 percent, the same as in December. It fell within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) 2.5- to 3.3-percent estimate for the month and the full-year goal of 2.0-4.0 percent target, but was slightly higher than the year ago 2.8 percent. Analysts polled by The Manila Times had expected a 2.8-percent result. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy items, slowed to 2.6 percent from 2.8 percent last December and 3.8 percent a year earlier. The inflation figure, along with 2024's lower-than-expected economic growth of 5.6 percent, will be considered by the BSP when it holds its first rate-setting meeting for the year next week. In a statement on Wednesday, the central bank said it would maintain a "measured approach" to policy easing to "ensure price stability conducive to sustainable economic growth and employment."
SPORTS: Eldrew sets sights on Junior Worlds
In sports, Karl Eldrew Yulo braces for the Asian Gymnastics Junior Championships as well as the World Junior Championships this year. Despite its end in 2023, "Coach Mune" and Carlos' partnership ultimately resulted in the latter's historic double gold haul at the Paris Olympics. Yulo is set to defend his title in the vault apparatus of the Asian Junior Championships, which will be held in Jecheon, South Korea, from June 12 to 16. A month later, Eldrew, who completed a 6-gold sweep at the 2023 Palarong Pambansa, will get to perform in front of the home crowd as he competes at the World Juniors from July 12 to 21 here in Manila. Other than his gold in vault at the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan, Eldrew Yulo also made an 8-gold sweep at the Chiu Wai Chung Cup in Hong Kong last December.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras and Danton Remoto are today's front page columnists. Contreras thinks the conundrum on the 2025 national budget may not be all that gloomy, while Remoto looks at Europe at the end of the Second World War.
Today's editorial calls on the world to reject ethnic cleansing in Gaza and aggression of the Trump administration. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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