Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Saturday, October 23, 2021.
READ: Covid jabs for minors in NCR in full swing
LOCAL governments in the National Capital Region (NCR) on Friday shifted to high gear in vaccinating adolescents against Covid-19. The pediatric vaccination program covers individuals aged 12 to 17. Given priority were minors with pre-existing conditions such as genetic and neurologic disorders, metabolic/endocrine diseases, cardiovascular and kidney diseases, obesity, and tuberculosis. All local governments except Valenzuela City launched rollouts. The cities of Taguig, Makati, Pasig and Muntinlupa, and the town of Pateros had been pilot-testing the inoculation of minors since the last week of September. The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has approved pediatric inoculations using the Comirnaty vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech and the Spikevax vaccine from Moderna, which were approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
READ: Mandatory vaccination for economic frontliners urged
PRESIDENTIAL Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Maria "Joey" Concepcion 3rd is proposing mandatory vaccination against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) for private employees who directly interact with customers regularly and workers who engage in labor-extensive practices. Concepcion's proposal covers those who work in hospitality, tourism, restaurants, retail and personal care services, and those in construction, automotive, wearables and manufacturing, electronic semiconductors, and business process outsourcing (BPO). In a letter to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd, Concepcion said the initiative is meant to complement the efforts of government in saving lives and safely reviving the economy, which was battered by the pandemic.
READ: Bongbong posts big lead in presidential poll
A SURVEY on preferred presidential candidates in next year's elections released Friday has former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. posting a comfortable lead. In Publicus Asia's survey conducted from October 11 to 18, Marcos was the preferred candidate of 49.3 percent of respondents. It was a 31.5 percent increase for Marcos from the results of the Publicus survey last July. The pollster postponed its September survey to wait for the final list of people who filed certificates of candidacy (CoCs) for president. Trailing Marcos were Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo with 21 percent, Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso (9 percent), Senators Panfilo "Ping" Lacson and Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao (3 percent each), and Sen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa (1.9 percent). The preference for Robredo rose by 7.8 percent from 13.3 percent in July, while that for Domagoso dropped by 2.5 percent from 11.3 percent. Sen. Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go topped the vice presidential survey with 23.6 percent, followed by Dr. Willie Ong (19 percent), Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto 3rd (17.3 percent), and Sen. Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan (12.3 percent).
READ: PH needs to step anti-money launder drive
THE Philippines, which remains on the "gray list" of countries regarded to be a risk to the international financial system, has nevertheless made progress in countering money laundering and terrorism financing despite the obstacles posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The international policymaking body said in a report released on Friday that a gray-listed country is still under increased monitoring, but the government has pledged to resolve strategic inadequacies within specified timelines. The FATF praised these nations for their accomplishments in combatting money laundering and terrorism financing.
READ: Sotto firm: Arrest order for Pharmally officials stays
SENATE President Vicente "Tito" Sotto 3rd on Friday, October 22, said an arrest order for Mohit Dargani, corporate secretary of Pharmallly Pharmaceutical Corp., and his sister, Twinkle Dargani, Pharmally president, stays, adding that the arrest warrant is constitutional. Sotto indicated that the Senate blue ribbon committee might recall its order placing the Dargani siblings in contempt only when they have submitted corporate documents as asked by the committee. The Senate chief made the statement after Mohit Dargani issued a press statement complaining that the committee had failed to treat them fairly.
READ: Extra effort to jab elderly pushed
SEN. Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara on Friday urged health and local government authorities to step up efforts to vaccinate the elderly as a significant number of the senior members of society remain unvaccinated to this day. Citing data from the World Health Organization (WHO), Angara said that even though authorities have included senior citizens in its priority list when it rolled out its vaccination program early this year, some 3.4 million of the 8.5 million of the elderly have yet to receive their first dose of the anti-coronavirus disease vaccines.
BUSINESS: Govt tax revenues surpass P2T
Over to business, the national government's tax revenues have already surpassed the P2 trillion mark in the first nine months of this year, according to the Department of Finance (DoF). In a speech, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd said through the first three quarters of this year, our tax collections were already 9 percent above last year's level. He told reporters in a separate message that the Bureau of Internal Income (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BoC) collected P2.03 trillion in tax revenue from January to September 2021. Only P1.84 trillion was collected by bureaus a year ago.
SPORTS: Yulo aims for gold at World Championships
Topping sports, Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo eyes a successful defense of his floor exercise title on Saturday in the 50th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at the Kitakyushu General Gymnasium in Japan. Yulo, who ruled the same event in 2019 that keyed his qualification for the Tokyo Olympics, takes the floor at 3:10 p.m. The 21-year-old Yulo made the final in floor exercise after topping the qualification phase with a dazzling performance that netted him 15.166 points on Wednesday. It was a far cry from Yulo's performance at the Tokyo Olympics where he finished at 44th place in the event which he was expected to rule.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras and Yen Makabenta are today's front page columnists. Contreras says presidential candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos must apologize for his father's actions, while Makabenta continues to lament on the state of Philippine journalism.
Today's editorial believes the country must review import restrictions on environmental goods. 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. Have a safe weekend ahead.