Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Sunday, September 12, 2021.

Duterte to Gordon: Open PRC books

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to stop all government transactions with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) if Sen. Richard Gordon, its current chairman, would not open the organization's financial records for auditing. In a prerecorded public address aired on Saturday, Duterte said the Commission on Audit (CoA) can audit the finances of the PRC, saying it is "not totally independent" since it is receiving financial aid from the government. Reacting to Duterte's latest tirades, Gordon, in a radio interview, said these were attempts by the President to distract the attention of the public from the ongoing investigation by the Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations or the blue ribbon committee on the alleged overpriced contracts for medical supplies for the prevention of the Covid-19. Speaking in Filipino, Gordon, who also heads the committee, said it was up to the President if he decides, among others, to stop payment of the P600-million debt that the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) owed the Red Cross, which had shouldered the cost of the Covid vaccines and tests. Gordon said the President was in "self-destruct" mode by distracting the public from the "real issue" and warned him that "everything has an end." Gordon's committee is investigating the findings of a 2020 CoA report on the DoH use of its budget, especially in relation to its response to the Covid crisis.

Drilon told: Explain ties with Napoles

Meanwhile, the President on Saturday dared Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon to explain his alleged ties with alleged pork barrel mastermind Janet Lim Napoles and two former government officials he had linked to the illegal drugs trade in the country. In his recorded public address, Duterte again lashed out at his critics, particularly Drilon and Sen. Richard Gordon, as the Senate blue ribbon committee continues to investigate the procurement of alleged overpriced medical supplies from a favored supplier that purportedly has links to the President. In a statement, Drilon denied the allegation and branded the President's "expose" as "fake news intended to harass the opposition."

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'Covid-19 ratio is somewhat low in PH'

In the same public address, Duterte downplayed the rate of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infection in the Philippines, saying the "ratio is somewhat low" in relation to the country's population, after Friday's figures that added 17,964 new cases. On Saturday, the Philippines logged a record 26,303 new cases, pushing the overall total to 2.206 million. The country posted a positivity rate of 27.6 percent, meaning, out of 75,688 cases, 20,889 have returned positive. Active cases are at 185,706, while total recoveries are at 1.985 million, including 16,013 recoveries, while deaths are at 34,978, including 79 new fatalities.

Comelec rolls out voter registration in malls

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) rolled out on Saturday a national synchronized registration of voters using the facilities of shopping malls to accommodate more voter applicants before September 30. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the reason for using the malls as registration sites is because malls are ideal places where people congregate and "people want to register and it's a perfect match." He also pointed out that malls have the resources that Comelec offices don't have such as the presence of marshals to remind people to observe health protocols, and they are "spacious" for maintaining social distancing to prevent the spread Covid-19. Among the participating malls are Robinson's, SM, Ayala, Tutuban, Greenhills, UP Town Center and Bonifacio High Street. Registration is from 8 a.m. Monday to Sunday.

BFP modernization law enactment lauded

Sen. Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go lauded President Duterte for signing into law Republic Act (RA) 11589 which mandates the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to develop and implement a fire protection modernization program. Go, a long-time aide of the President before getting elected as senator, is the principal author and co-sponsor of Senate Bill 1832 on which the law was based.

5.3M unbanked open LandBank accounts

Over to business, after signing up for the National Identification (ID) system, more than 5 million unbanked Filipinos have opened transaction accounts with Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank). LandBank said in a statement over the weekend that as of September 2, it had onboarded a total of 5.3 million unbanked National ID registrants for transaction accounts. The registrants have already spent P31.8 million using LandBank prepaid cards for various transactions. The cards are part of the lender's ongoing partnership with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to participate in the nationwide rollout of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) and provide unbanked registrants with their own transaction accounts, which were provided free of charge and with no initial deposit requirement.

Eala loses semis match in US Open girls doubles

In sports, Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala and Belgian partner Hanne Vanderwinkel failed to make the US Open girls doubles finals as they fell to Americans Reese Brantmeier and Elvina Kalieva, 7-5, 2-6 and 7-10, in the semifinal round on Saturday (Philippine time) at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York. The 16-year-old Eala and 17-year-old Vanderwinkel came out from a 3-5 hole to win the first set as they broke their opponents' serve in the 10th and 12th games to complete the 4-0 windup.

Opinion and editorial

Marlen Ronquillo is the columnist on the front page today. He hits out a red carpet treatment of "dregs".

Today's editorial talks about the global trade shifts to digital economy. Read a 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.

For The Manila Times, this is Paulo Dimaapi.