Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Friday, June 11, 2021.
READ: GCQ looms for NCR Plus
Metro Manila and four nearby provinces could shift to an "ordinary" general community quarantine (GCQ) by next week as the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) situation in the area improves further. Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. on Thursday cited improving Covid-19 figures in the NCR Plus as justification to further ease quarantine restrictions. NCR Plus, which consists of the National Capital Region (Metro Manila) and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, is in general community quarantine (GCQ) "with restrictions" until June 15.
READ: Robredo's wealth triples to P11.9M
The net worth of Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo jumped to P11.9 million in 2020 from P3.5 million in 2019, the biggest increase in her wealth since she was elected to office in 2016. A copy of Robredo's latest statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) acquired by The Manila Times from her office showed her net worth was P11,904,280. The amount is P8.4 million more than her wealth in 2019. It showed that her assets grew from P15.4 million to P23.8 million last year. Her cash on hand nearly doubled, from P8.6 million to P16.9 million in 2020. Her prepaid insurance also rose from P655,000 to P705,000.
READ: New shipments replenish PH vaccine stocks
More than 3 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines arrived in the Philippines on Thursday, the biggest single-day vaccine delivery since the start of the pandemic. More than 1 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine arrived in the morning, and 2,279,160 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were due later in the day, according to Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. Roque said the 3.2 million doses are part of the more than 10 million doses the government is expecting this June. He assured local government units that have run out of vaccines that they will get new stocks soon. The country now has a stockpile of 10,329,050 doses. Over 6 million doses have been administered since mass inoculation started on March 1.
READ: Yuka Saso to be honored in stamps
Newly crowned US Open golf champ Yuka Saso will be featured in stamps, Postmaster General Norman Fulgencio announced on Thursday. Saso was the first Filipino to capture the crown in the US Women's Open championship. With her feat, she bagged a $1-million prize. She won the gold medal in the 2016 World Junior Girls Championship as well as two gold medals at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. Fulgencio said the Philippine Postal Corp. will constantly honor living Filipinos who brought inspiration, joy, pride and glory to the Filipino community.
READ: Case spikes should not be blamed on vaccines – expert
Rising infections in countries where Chinese vaccines for Covid-19 are being used cannot be blamed solely on the vaccines, a top official of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) said. DoST-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development Executive Director Jaime Montoya made the observation in reaction to an article in The New York Times that cited the experience of Mongolia, which used the BBIBP-CorV vaccine developed by Chinese drug manufacturer Sinopharm (China National Pharmaceutical Ltd.) for its inoculation program. The article noted that the country saw a surge in Covid-19 cases despite more than half of its population being fully vaccinated.
READ: 'Absalons death united nation vs NPA'
THE death of Keith Absalon and his cousin at the hands of the New People's Army united the country in condemning the crimes and atrocities perpetrated by the communist terrorist group, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) said on Thursday. Loraine Badoy, task force spokesman, said people from all walks of life and various groups have strongly denounced the killing of Keith and Nolven Absalon and the wounding of their relative.
READ: PH to launch bigger satellite in 2023
THE Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) announced on Thursday it would launch a bigger Earth observation satellite in 2023 that could be used for disaster management, land use and land cover change mapping, crop monitoring, and forestry management. The 130-kilogram multispectral unit for land assessment (MULA) commercial-grade satellite can capture operational-quality images of approximately 100,000 square kilometers of land area daily, using a true-color camera capable of capturing 5-meter resolution images with a wide swath width of 120 kilometers.
BUSINESS: Favorable developments expand FDI
Topping business, favorable local developments enabled net inflows of foreign direct investments (FDI) achieve a two-month high in March, enough to raise the year-to-date amount, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Inflows in the third month of 2021 increased by 139.5 percent to $808 million, up from $337 million a year ago, central bank figures showed on Thursday. The sum is the highest since $961 million in January.
SPORTS: Didal officially qualifies for Tokyo Olympics
In sports, Filipino skateboarder Margielyn Didal has officially qualified for the Tokyo Olympics slated from July 23 to August 8. On Wednesday, World Skate announced the list of skateboarders that will compete in the Tokyo Games, including the 22-year-old Didal. Didal actually dropped to No. 17 with 31,250 points in the Olympic women's street skateboarding rankings after a 17th place finish in the Street Skateboarding World Championships on June 4 (Philippine time) in Rome, Italy.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Rigoberto Tiglao and Ruben Torres are today's front page columnists. Tiglao claims communists continue to infiltrate the media while Torres gives his viewpoint on President Rodrigo Duterte's advice to his daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio over her presidential run for next year.
Today's editorial talks about the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Read the full version on the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
For more news and information, get a copy of The Manila Times on print, subscribe to its digital edition or log on to www.manilatimes.net. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and Keep Up With The Times.
On behalf of The Manila Times, this is Aric John Sy Cua reporting. May you have a safe Friday ahead.
READ: GCQ looms for NCR Plus
Metro Manila and four nearby provinces could shift to an "ordinary" general community quarantine (GCQ) by next week as the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) situation in the area improves further. Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. on Thursday cited improving Covid-19 figures in the NCR Plus as justification to further ease quarantine restrictions. NCR Plus, which consists of the National Capital Region (Metro Manila) and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, is in general community quarantine (GCQ) "with restrictions" until June 15.
READ: Robredo's wealth triples to P11.9M
The net worth of Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo jumped to P11.9 million in 2020 from P3.5 million in 2019, the biggest increase in her wealth since she was elected to office in 2016. A copy of Robredo's latest statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) acquired by The Manila Times from her office showed her net worth was P11,904,280. The amount is P8.4 million more than her wealth in 2019. It showed that her assets grew from P15.4 million to P23.8 million last year. Her cash on hand nearly doubled, from P8.6 million to P16.9 million in 2020. Her prepaid insurance also rose from P655,000 to P705,000.
READ: New shipments replenish PH vaccine stocks
More than 3 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines arrived in the Philippines on Thursday, the biggest single-day vaccine delivery since the start of the pandemic. More than 1 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine arrived in the morning, and 2,279,160 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were due later in the day, according to Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. Roque said the 3.2 million doses are part of the more than 10 million doses the government is expecting this June. He assured local government units that have run out of vaccines that they will get new stocks soon. The country now has a stockpile of 10,329,050 doses. Over 6 million doses have been administered since mass inoculation started on March 1.
READ: Yuka Saso to be honored in stamps
Newly crowned US Open golf champ Yuka Saso will be featured in stamps, Postmaster General Norman Fulgencio announced on Thursday. Saso was the first Filipino to capture the crown in the US Women's Open championship. With her feat, she bagged a $1-million prize. She won the gold medal in the 2016 World Junior Girls Championship as well as two gold medals at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. Fulgencio said the Philippine Postal Corp. will constantly honor living Filipinos who brought inspiration, joy, pride and glory to the Filipino community.
READ: Case spikes should not be blamed on vaccines – expert
Rising infections in countries where Chinese vaccines for Covid-19 are being used cannot be blamed solely on the vaccines, a top official of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) said. DoST-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development Executive Director Jaime Montoya made the observation in reaction to an article in The New York Times that cited the experience of Mongolia, which used the BBIBP-CorV vaccine developed by Chinese drug manufacturer Sinopharm (China National Pharmaceutical Ltd.) for its inoculation program. The article noted that the country saw a surge in Covid-19 cases despite more than half of its population being fully vaccinated.
READ: 'Absalons death united nation vs NPA'
THE death of Keith Absalon and his cousin at the hands of the New People's Army united the country in condemning the crimes and atrocities perpetrated by the communist terrorist group, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) said on Thursday. Loraine Badoy, task force spokesman, said people from all walks of life and various groups have strongly denounced the killing of Keith and Nolven Absalon and the wounding of their relative.
READ: PH to launch bigger satellite in 2023
THE Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) announced on Thursday it would launch a bigger Earth observation satellite in 2023 that could be used for disaster management, land use and land cover change mapping, crop monitoring, and forestry management. The 130-kilogram multispectral unit for land assessment (MULA) commercial-grade satellite can capture operational-quality images of approximately 100,000 square kilometers of land area daily, using a true-color camera capable of capturing 5-meter resolution images with a wide swath width of 120 kilometers.
BUSINESS: Favorable developments expand FDI
Topping business, favorable local developments enabled net inflows of foreign direct investments (FDI) achieve a two-month high in March, enough to raise the year-to-date amount, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Inflows in the third month of 2021 increased by 139.5 percent to $808 million, up from $337 million a year ago, central bank figures showed on Thursday. The sum is the highest since $961 million in January.
SPORTS: Didal officially qualifies for Tokyo Olympics
In sports, Filipino skateboarder Margielyn Didal has officially qualified for the Tokyo Olympics slated from July 23 to August 8. On Wednesday, World Skate announced the list of skateboarders that will compete in the Tokyo Games, including the 22-year-old Didal. Didal actually dropped to No. 17 with 31,250 points in the Olympic women's street skateboarding rankings after a 17th place finish in the Street Skateboarding World Championships on June 4 (Philippine time) in Rome, Italy.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Rigoberto Tiglao and Ruben Torres are today's front page columnists. Tiglao claims communists continue to infiltrate the media while Torres gives his viewpoint on President Rodrigo Duterte's advice to his daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio over her presidential run for next year.
Today's editorial talks about the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Read the full version on the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
For more news and information, get a copy of The Manila Times on print, subscribe to its digital edition or log on to www.manilatimes.net. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and Keep Up With The Times.
On behalf of The Manila Times, this is Aric John Sy Cua reporting. May you have a safe Friday ahead.