Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Sunday, September 19, 2021.
Gordon offers to 'explain' donations
SEN. Richard Gordon, concurrent chairman and chief executive officer of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), on Saturday, expressed willingness to cooperate with the Commission on Audit (CoA) in so far as explaining where the funds that were donated to the PRC went. He maintained, however, that the CoA cannot audit the PRC since it is not under its jurisdiction. President Rodrigo Duterte had ordered CoA to look into the records of PRC after Gordon, who is also chairman of the Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations (blue ribbon), launched an investigation into the alleged P42-billion transfer of funds from the Department of Health (DoH) to the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM), which was cited by CoA in its 2020 report. Of the amount, P8.6 billion in medical supplies and equipment for use against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) was purchased by the DoH, through the PS-DBM, from Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp., which was reported to have a capital of P625,000. The transaction between the government and Pharmally was brokered by Duterte's former economic adviser Michael Yang who appeared before the Senate inquiry last week to deny any wrongdoing.
FORMER senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Saturday defended embattled celebrity Toni Gonzaga against her online bashers following the publication of his one-on-one interview with the actress-turned-vlogger this week. On Monday, September 13, Gonzaga published an interview with her wedding godfather on her YouTube Channel, "Toni Gonzaga Studio," in time for Marcos' birthday. Titled "The Greatest Lesson Bongbong Marcos Learned from His Father," the episode has earned 3.9 million views as of this writing. A few days after the premiere of the video, The Ateneo Martial Law Museum on its Facebook account released an open letter to Gonzaga. The celebrity remained silent on the issue.
OCTA: Covid spike may have peaked; decline seen
A senior fellow of the independent OCTA Research team believes that the spike in the number of Covid-19 in the country might have already reached its peak and a slow decline is imminent. In a phone interview with The Manila Times, Dr. Guido David explained that the number of new cases might rise again due to backlogs in data reporting, but with the average of 20,000 to 21,000 in the past few days, a gradual tapering down is expected. The country posted its highest single-day number of cases at 24,695 on September 11. A week later, on September 18, the number of new cases was still high at 23,134. David said the average daily cases in the National Capital Region (NCR/Metro Manila) might have also reached its peak after registering an average of 6,000 cases in the previous week, with the current daily average at 5,827. David added that the current reproduction number in the country is at 1.2 and 1.22 in the NCR with the majority of cities in the capital experiencing less than 10 percent growth and some even a negative growth rate. David attributed the decline in the number of cases in the NCR to increased vaccination rate, with the capital now reaching the 50 percent mark for full vaccination and nearly 80 percent for partial vaccination. He said that he is not seeing the NCR posting 16,000 to 43,000 new cases daily by the end of September as predicted by the Department of Health (DoH).
Pacquiao-led PDP-Laban forges alliances for 2022
THE Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), led by Sen. Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao, has forged an alliance with the People's Champ Movement (PCM) and the Progressive Movement for the Devolution of Initiatives (Promdi) ahead of the 2022 national elections, the faction's executive director Ron Munsayac said in a statement on Saturday. Pacquiao has yet to announce his political plans for next year as he faces the infighting within the PDP-Laban, which has nominated Sen. Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go and President Rodrigo Duterte as their presidential and vice president presidential candidates. The infighting within PDP-Laban has resulted in two factions - one headed by Pacquiao and another by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi. The Cusi faction, which supports the Go-Duterte tandem, urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to declare Pacquiao and his allies as "illegitimate officers" of the ruling party.
PhilPost rolls out Tokyo Olympics heroes stamps
THE Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost) on Sunday officially rolled out commemorative stamps immortalizing the heroism of the country's Tokyo Olympic medalists. PhilPost launched a postage stamp depicting the victory of weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, who won the country's first Olympic gold medal after 97 years. Another stamp for Team Pilipinas was also launched in recognition of the victory of Diaz, boxing silver medalists Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Peticio, and boxing bronze medalist Eumir Marcial. Postmaster General Norman Fulgencio, in his opening remarks, said the glory given by the four Filipino athletes was priceless, prompting PhilPost to give them the proper recognition through postage stamps depicting their victory.
Senator bats for more 'alternative learners'
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian has called for the increased enrollment in the Alternative Learning System (ALS) where registration has increased by 33.27 percent. As of September 15, there are 199,422 enrolled in ALS for School Year 2021-2022. Last school year, there were 599,365 students enrolled in ALS. For public and private basic education institutions as well as state and local universities and colleges (SUCs and LUCs), enrollment already breached the 26.3 million mark or 100.3 percent higher than the 26.2 million recorded in the previous school year. If enrollment at the formal school system this school year has exceeded last year's, Gatchalian said that enrollment in ALS should at the very least match the 2020 figures. He said DepEd should proactively look for these ALS learners so they can continue with their studies. The ALS is a parallel learning system that provides a viable alternative to the existing formal instruction, which includes non-formal sources of knowledge and skills. Under Republic Act 11510, ALS was institutionalized to provide increased opportunities for out-of-school children in special cases and adult learners, including indigenous peoples, to develop basic and functional literacy and life skills.
PH banking industry shows stability in Q2 – BSP
Over to business, the Philippine banking system displayed resilience and stability in the second quarter of the year as the country's economic operations and financial transactions continued to recover from the interruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and quarantine measures, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The central bank said the banking system's total resources were P20.4 trillion at the end of June this year, up 1.8 percent and 6.9 percent from end-March 2021 and end-June 2020, respectively.
Meralco boosts bid for No. 2 spot
Topping sports, Meralco weathered a late uprising by Blackwater before preserving a 104-97 win in the PBA Philippine Cup on Saturday at the Don Honorio Ventura State University in Bacolor, Pampanga. The win, Meralco's seventh in nine games, kept its hopes alive for a top two berth that will have a twice- to-beat advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Playing without three key players, the Bolts drew solid games from birthday boy Allein Maliksi, who had a double-double performance of 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Marlen Ronquillo is our front page columnist. He believes procurement laws have crashed and burned.
Today's editorial believes new North Korean have tests cast cloud over economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Read a full version on the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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For The Manila Times, this is Paulo Dimaapi.