Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Monday, February 8, 2021.
READ: Probe, arrest sellers of fake vaccines – Go
SEN. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go has called on concerned government agencies to conduct an investigation and crackdown on groups selling or distributing fake coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines. The senator assured Filipinos that the government would provide sufficient and safe vaccines approved by legitimate manufacturers, health experts and the Food and Drug Administration. Go ordered the FDA to after those groups. He also asked the Bureau of Customs, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police to probe the report and run after those who distribute the fake vaccines.
READ: Group warns vs big-time fuel smuggling in Bataan
A group identifying itself simply as “concerned citizens” has alerted President Rodrigo Duterte to what it claimed is the large-scale smuggling of fuel in Mariveles, Bataan. According to the documents from the group obtained by The Manila Times, automotive diesel fuel is brought in by barges to piers and unloaded directly to fuel trucks. The operation had been going on since the fourth quarter of 2010, the group said. Its members did not reveal themselves because an investigation has been launched by the Bureau of Customs. It said that because there was no proper documentation for the shipments such as a sales invoice and a Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Withdrawal Certificate, “it is strongly suspected that the product being transferred to the fuel trucks is smuggled.”
READ: Pope breaks tradition, names woman to senior synod post
Pope Francis has broken with Catholic tradition to appoint a woman as an undersecretary of the synod of bishops, the first to hold the post with voting rights in a body that studies major questions of doctrine. Frenchwoman Nathalie Becquart is one of the two new undersecretaries named on Saturday to the synod, where she has been a consultant since 2019. The appointment signals the pontiff's desire "for a greater participation of women in the process of discernment and decision-making in the church," said Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary-general of the synod.
READ: New Zealand defends 8 offloaded Filipino nurses
THE New Zealand Embassy in Manila has vouched for eight Filipino nurses who were barred by Philippine immigration officers from leaving. In a letter dated February 5 to Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente, Embassy Charge D'affaires Tim Stewardson explained that anyone with a Critical Purpose Visitor Visa can enter New Zealand. The nurses were going to New Zealand for the Competency Assessment Program, a short course that is part of the process for acquiring an international nursing certificate. Immigration spokesman Dana Sandoval told The Manila Times the eight nurses were offloaded because they were carrying visitor visas to study in New Zealand. She said the same group had in the past sponsored nurses for the 12-week assessment program and those nurses have not returned to the Philippines as the group had guaranteed.
READ: All medical frontliners inoculated in a month
The vaccination of over a million medical frontliners in the country will not take one month. Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. gave the assurance in a radio interview on Sunday, a week after the government announced that the first shipments of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines from Pfizer and AstraZeneca would be arriving this February. The government’s vaccine czar, Carlito Galvez Jr., earlier announced that the country would receive 117,000 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine and that the doses were expected to arrive mid-February. The Philippines will also receive up to 9.2 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine within the first and second quarter of this year, he said. The initial delivery of AstraZeneca vaccines is expected by mid- or late-February. Galvez did not disclose how many AstraZeneca doses are due this month, saying it would depend on the global supply. Roque was more specific, saying over 5 million doses from AstraZeneca would arrive this month.
READ: 3 Metro mayors vs child car seat law
THREE mayors in Metro Manila are opposed to the implementation of the child car seat law because of the inconsistencies in its implementing rules and regulations, which they said could burden local government executives in the long term. Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian, Quezon City Mayor Josefina Belmonte and Navotas City Mayor Tobias Tiangco said in separate interviews that they would only approve the full implementation of Republic Act 11229, or the “Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act,” if the government could come up with the proper guidelines. Gatchalian and Belmonte called for a thorough review of the measure. They said the Land Transportation Office (LTO) should have taken into consideration the different body sizes of children.
READ: Create bill to lower cost of cancer treatment
SEN. Emmanuel Joel Villanueva said the proposed Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (Create) law would be a boon to cancer patients because it would exempt cancer medication from value added tax (VAT). The senator on Sunday said once enacted into law, Create would make cancer treatment more affordable. He added that the Create bill could serve as a milestone not only in the country’s fight against the pandemic, but also in the campaign to prevent cancer and other diseases. The proposed law will "help our economy bounce back from the raging effects of the pandemic," Villanueva said in a statement.
WORLD: Thousands rally vs Myanmar coup
Tens of thousands of anti-coup protesters in Myanmar poured back onto the streets on Sunday, as an internet blackout failed to stifle growing outrage at the military's ouster of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The fresh rally followed large protests on Saturday across the country condemning the coup that brought a 10-year experiment with democracy to a crashing halt. Backed by a din of car horns, tens of thousands of protesters in Yangon held up banners on Sun- day saying "Justice for Myanmar" and "We do not want military dictatorship," while others waved the signature red flags of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
BUSINESS: DoF eyes $23B in external financing
Topping business, the Department of Finance (DoF) said it is looking to generate over $23 billion financing from external sources this year to bridge the government’s budget gap and provide funds for priority projects. In a statement, the Finance department Undersecretary Mark Dennis Joven reported that of the total of $23.71 billion (about P1.13 trillion) $8.06 billion (34 percent) will be contracted for budget support purposes, while $15.65 billion (66 percent) will be for project financing.
SPORTS: Strong start for Catantan at Penn State
In sports, Filipina fencing sensation Samantha Catantan made a winning debut for the Penn State University Nittany Lions on Sunday (Philippine time) at the Ohio State Invitational in Columbus, Ohio. Catantan went undefeated, 3-0, against fencers from Duke University and the University of North Carolina as she posted a 7-2 record in the women’s foil on day one of the competition. The Penn State women’s team registered an overall 2-1 record on day one, beating Duke, 15-12, and North Carolina, 19-8, and falling to the University of Notre Dame, 7-1, in the first round.
READ: Opinion
Rigoberto Tiglao and Fr. Ranhilio Aquino are today’s front page columnists. Tiglao claims the Philippines has no exclusive economic zone or territorial seas, while Fr. Aquino asks if revising the 1987 Constitution matters today, amid talks of charter change in the Lower House.
Today’s editorial talks about the Philippines signing a landmark treaty banning nuclear weapons. Read the full version on the paper's Opinion Section or listen to the Voice of The Times.
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With Dafort Villaseran, this is Aric John Sy Cua reporting. May you have a safe week ahead.