Good day. Here are the top stories of The Manila Times for June 16, 2021.

READ: Cost of fighting Covid: P660B

THE government had so far released over P660.51 billion to address the pandemic, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said on Tuesday. The amount includes funds used to roll out the vaccination program, Avisado informed senators who reconvened the Senate Committee of the Whole (CoW) to review the national vaccination program against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). He said P387.17 billion was sourced from funds under the Bayanihan 1 law while over P200.12 billion came from the Bayanihan 2 law. The rest, P73.21 billion, was taken from regular government funds. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd said an additional P25 billion is needed to buy vaccines for children aged 12 years old and above and possible "booster shots" for adults. Dominguez 3rd assured the public that the government had the funds to implement its vaccination program this year.

READ: Vaccines deployed to high-risk areas – Go

SEN. Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go reported that President Rodrigo Duterte had instructed the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to immediately deploy vaccines to high-risk areas amid reports of rising Covid-19 cases. On Tuesday, Malacañang denied neglecting the Visayas and Mindanao in the distribution of vaccines amid the spike in positive cases in these areas. Go cited the current situation in Metro Manila as an example of the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines.
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READ: 10,000 people dying everyday – WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) that Covid-19 was moving faster than the vaccines, with more than 10,000 people dying everyday. It said the Group of Seven's (G7) vow to share a billion doses with poorer nations was simply not enough. Global health leaders also warned the pledge was too little, too late, with more than 11 billion shots needed.

READ: LGUs tax share up by P263B

THE national tax allotment share of local government units (LGU) will increase to more than P959 billion next year, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said. Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said the entire NTA share of local governments will be P959.04 billion, higher by P263.54 billion or 37.89 percent than this year's allocation. He said 43,649 local governments will receive funding from the NTA.


READ: PH blocks ICC prosecutor's probe request

THE Philippines deplored the move of the outgoing prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to seek permission to proceed with the investigation of the government's war on drugs. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) objected to the request of the Office of the ICC to open an investigation on the alleged bloody campaign against illegal drugs in the Philippines. The Philippine government "has taken concrete and progressive steps to address concerns in the conduct of the anti-illegal drugs campaign and has recently finalized with the UN a joint program on human rights," the DFA said in a statement.

READ: SC orders Disini estate to pay govt P1.1B in damages

THE Supreme Court ordered the estate of the late businessman Herminio Disini to pay the government P1.1 billion in damages in connection with his role in the awarding of the US$2.2-billion Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) project to Westinghouse Electrical Corporation. In a unanimous decision, the court held Disini liable for exerting undue influence in the awarding of the BNPP deal by taking advantage of his close association with former president Ferdinand Marcos. The high tribunal awarded ₱1 billion in temperate damages and ₱1 million in exemplary damages to the government.


READ: Chua expects better PH economy in Q2

TOPPING Business, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua said during the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines mid-year economic forum on Tuesday that the Philippine economy is unlikely to contract in the second quarter given the change in the government's risk management strategy. The Philippine economy contracted for the fifth consecutive month in the first quarter of the year, with the gross domestic product (GDP) declining by 4.2 percent. Chua said the gradual lifting of quarantine restrictions and continuous vaccination rollout will help the Philippine economy grow by 6 to 7 percent this year and return to pre-pandemic levels next year.

READ: April OFW remittances smallest in 11 months


MONEY sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) fell to its lowest level in 11 months last April, although it boosted the year-to-date sum. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data released on Tuesday showed that personal remittances - personal transfers in cash or kind and capital transfers between households - totaled $2.57 billion in the fourth month of 2021. The figure was the lowest since $2.34 billion in May last year.

READ: Tallest ever Gilas team faces South Korea

IN Sports, the Philippines fields its tallest assembled national basketball team against South Korea in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers on Wednesday at the Angeles University Foundation in Angeles City, Pampanga. Seven-foot-three Kai Sotto, 6-foot-10 naturalized player Angelo Kouame and a few more players who stand at least 6-foot-7 beef up the front court of Gilas Pilipinas.They will face an old nemesis, South Korea, spearheaded by Ra Gun-ah, formerly known as Ricardo Ratliffe, who played as an import for the old Purefoods franchise in the PBA.

READ: Hawks rally past Sixers with Embiid hurting

THE Atlanta Hawks rallied to beat the Philadephia 76ers, 103-100, on Mon- day (Tuesday in Manila), tying the Eastern Conference semifinal at 2-2. Trae Young led the Hawks with 25 points. Big man Joel Embiid of the 76ers finished with 17 points and 21 rebounds but spent time in the locker room in the second quarter nursing a knee injury.

READ: Opinion and Editorial

Rigoberto Tiglao and Fr. Ranhilio Aquino are today's front page columnists. Tiglao calls former Supreme Court associate justice Antonio Carpio the 'newest clown in town'. Aquino talks about teaching ethics in schools.

In its Editorial today, The Manila Times chides Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi for attempting to regulate the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines through a public media blitz which, the paper says, is the wrong approach to solving whatever problems may exist. Read the full version in the Opinion Section on print or listen to the Voice of the Times.

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For The Manila Times, this is Christian Crow Maghanoy reporting.