Good day. Here are the stories of The Manila Times for Tuesday, April 1, 2025.
Today's episode is brought to you by Wilcon Depot, The Philippines' leading home improvement and construction supplies retailer — your Trusted Building Partner.
READ: EJK families target of socmed attacks
SUPPORTERS of detained former president Rodrigo Duterte have intensified their social media attacks on the families of drug war victims, labeling them as "fake" and posting their photos online, exposing them to potential harm, a lawyer working with the International Criminal Court (ICC) said Monday. Kristina Conti, assistant to counsel at the ICC, said some online posts manipulated images of those killed in the drug war and falsely portray them as fabrications to discredit the complaints filed before the tribunal, which is trying Duterte for crimes against humanity. Conti said the online harassment has intensified since Duterte's arrest on March 11, with some posts even targeting surviving family members, exposing them to potential harm.
READ: Duterte lawyer sees case being thrown out
Rodrigo Duterte's lead lawyer said Sunday there was a "compelling" argument to throw out the International Criminal Court (ICC) case against his client before it even comes to trial. Nicholas Kaufman told Agence France-Presse (AFP) in an interview in The Hague he hoped to stop the case before the ICC confirms the charges against Duterte by arguing the court cannot exercise its jurisdiction. He said the Philippines' withdrawal from the court had become effective well before an investigation was authorized. Duterte, 80, faces a charge of crimes against humanity for murder over his "war on drugs" that claimed the lives of thousands of mostly poor men, often without proof they were linked to drugs.
READ: Myanmar declares week of mourning
Myanmar's ruling junta declared a week of national mourning on Monday for the country's devastating earthquake, which has killed more than 1,700 people, as hopes faded of finding more survivors in the rubble of ruined buildings. National flags will fly at half-mast until April 6 "in sympathy for the loss of life and damage" from Friday's massive 7.7-magnitude quake, the junta said in a statement. The announcement came as the tempo and urgency of rescue efforts wound down in Mandalay, one of the worst-affected cities and the country's second-largest, with more than 1.7 million inhabitants.
READ: Anti-govt sentiment spikes, survey shows
ANTI-ADMINISTRATION sentiments among adult Filipinos saw a significant spike for the first three months of the year, the latest Pahayag First Quarter Survey showed. Results released by Publicus Asia on Monday showed that citizens had a significant shift in political leanings and a growing pessimism about the country's state, leadership direction, and economic and financial outlook, with pro-administration sentiment dropping steeply from 28 percent in the last quarter of 2024 to 15 percent in 2025.
READ: Pag-IBIG vows to keep housing loan rates low
LOW interest rates on housing loans would be maintained at least until June this year despite an uptrend in market lending rates, the Pag-IBIG Fund said on Monday. This would mark the second consecutive year of offering affordable home financing and defying the rising market trends, top officials of the government-managed savings and housing finance agency said. The agency said in a statement that it continues to offer significantly lower rates as it has held its three-year repricing period steady at 6.25 percent per annum, and maintains an even lower rate of 5.75 percent per annum for its one-year repricing period.
READ: The Manila Times sets photojournalism Masterclass
THE Manila Times School of Journalism will hold its second Masterclass this year titled "Photojournalism: What Editors Want." It will be a one-day class that will help not only campus journalists but also employees elevate their skills and enhance their knowledge of photojournalism. The class will be held on April 25, 2025, and will be led by veteran and skilled photojournalist Fernando Garcia Sepe Jr. Sepe, a deputy editor at ABS-CBN news, headed its multimedia unit. Before starting his career at ABS-CBN he also worked as a photographer for Business- World and later as part of BusinessWorld Online, where he was a photographer, video journalist, and producer for the Associated Press.
BUSINESS: Inflation could have hit 1.7-2.5% in March – BSP
In Business, Inflation could have fallen to a near five-year low in March, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Monday, following lower prices of key food items, particularly rice, as well as a stronger peso. Ahead of the Philippine Statistics Authority's release of data for the month this Friday, the BSP said that consumer price growth would likely be in the 1.7- to 2.5-percent range — an even spread from February's 2.1-percent result. The bottom end of the forecast is lower than the 1.9 percent seen in September last year, which was the lowest since May 2020's 1.6 percent and also the last time that the rate fell below the central bank's 2.0- to 4.0-percent target.
SPORTS: Gazz Angels, Chargers gun for finals berths ON shockers and stunners, the first day of the round-robin semifinals of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) 2024-25 All- Filipino Conference witnessed massive upsets as Petro Gazz and Akari took down heavily favored teams Creamline and Choco Mucho. With one win away to book a Finals ticket, Akari (1-0) needs to overcome Creamline (0-1) at 4 p.m., while Petro Gazz (1-0) has to down Choco Mucho (0-1) at 6:30 p.m. at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City to arrange their championship championship showdown. Akari outlasted Choco Mucho in a five-set duel, 20-25, 25-19, 25-23, 22-25, 16-14, on March 29, banking on Eli Soyud's career-high performance of 34 points.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta and Orlando Mercado are today's front page columnists. Contreras' column is about the Masungi Georeserve controversy. Makabenta talks about the effect of US President Donald Trump's policies on the battle against climate change. Meanwhile, Mercado's column is about land conversion and conflict of interest.
Today's editorial is about cleaning cobwebs at the Department of Education months after former senator Juan Edgardo Angara took over as the secretary of education.
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