Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Monday, June 7, 2021.
READ: Robredo: Opposition must have one bet
Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo said Sunday groups that are opposed to the Duterte administration must agree on one presidential candidate they will support in 2022. She hinted she has not made up her mind if she will agree to be the opposition candidate. The 1Sambayan coalition headed by retired Supreme Court associate justice Antonio Carpio has Robredo as its top choice for presidential candidate for next year's election.
READ: A 2-way fight in the May 2022 presidential election
Manila Times chairman emeritus Dr. Dante Arevalo Ang discusses on who will run in next year's presidential elections and makes his forecast on how it will play out. Read the full version on the front page of the Times, on its print and digital edition.
READ: APEC vows fast flow of vaccines
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade ministers have committed to speed up the cross-border flow of vaccines and related goods to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. The pledge came following the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting chaired by New Zealand Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O'Connor on Saturday.
READ: CA junks Now Telecom's radio frequency petition
THE Court of Appeals (CA) has dismissed the petition of a telecommunications company whose application for a radio frequency was denied by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). In a 38-page decision penned by Associate Justice Alfredo Ampuan, the CA's First Division rejected the petition of Now Telecom Company Inc. to overturn the decision of a Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) in 2018 affirming the denial of its application. Presiding Justice Remedios Salazar-Fernando and Justice Pedro Corales concurred with Ampuan's ruling. In its petition, Now Telecom said it joined the bidding for a radio frequency as a new major player or NMP.
READ: 1M more Sinovac doses arrive in PH
Another one million doses of Sinovac vaccine arrived in the Philippines on Sunday. According to the National Task Force (NTF) against Covid-19, the shipment arrived on a Cebu Pacific flight at 7:36 a.m. at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Vaccine czar and NTF against Covid-19 Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. and Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd welcomed the vaccine shipment.
READ: Cocopea seeks Duterte's help on new tax rule
THE Coordinating Council for Private Educational Associations (Cocopea) appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to intervene in the implementation of the new regulation of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) increasing the tax rate of private educational institutions. In an interview with The Manila Times, Cocopea managing director lawyer Joseph Noel Estrada said it is "a legal impossibility to be a proprietary educational institution and be non-profit at the same time." Estrada added that with the new rule, private schools will have to pay the 25 percent regular corporate tax rate mandated by the Create Law, instead of the one percent tax rate for proprietary educational institutions.
BUSINESS: Banks' bad loans bigger at end-April
In business, the Philippine banking system's soured loans totaled more than P463 billion as of April this year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Preliminary central bank data showed over the weekend showed that lenders' gross nonperforming loans (NPL) increased by 84 percent to P463.65 billion at the end of April, up from P251.98 billion a year earlier. The entire loan portfolio of banks decreased by 2.47 percent to P10.64 trillion at the end of April from P10.91 trillion a year ago, according also to the data. This translates to a gross NPL ratio of 4.35 percent, up from 4.21 percent at the end of March and 2.31 percent a year ago.
SPORTS: Saso drops to second at US Women's Open
In sports, Lexi Thompson shot a bogey-free 5-under 66 on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) to take the lead into the final round of the US Women's Open for the first time in her career with a one-shot edge over Filipino teenager Yuka Saso. Thompson played a nearly flawless round in search of her first US Women's Open title in her 15th try after first competing as a 12-year-old amateur in 2007. She made three birdies on the front nine and two more on the back nine to overcome a four-shot deficit heading into the day and take the lead at 7 under. She was the first player all week to make par or better on every hole in the round.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Rigoberto Tiglao and Fr. Ranhilio Aquino are today's front page columnists. Tiglao believes Sen. Manny Pacquiao could have used P50 million for vaccines, while Fr. Aquino discusses why the incumbent president mulling a run for vice presidency is impossible.
Today's editorial focuses on cyberattacks in the Philippines. Read a full version on the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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On behalf of The Manila Times, this is Aric John Sy Cua reporting. May you have a safe week ahead.