Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Saturday, November 13, 2021.
READ: Vaccination required for onsite workers
GOVERNMENT and private employees doing onsite work will be required to be inoculated against Covid-19 starting December 1. Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said on Friday the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has approved the mandatory vaccination of onsite workers in areas where there is an ample supply of vaccines. Under the new IATF directive, employees who refuse to be immunized can not be terminated but must undergo regular RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) testing or antigen tests at their own expense. Roque said mandatory inoculation is meant "to increase demand for Covid-19 vaccination."
READ: 'Vax to the max' rollout proposed
SEVERAL government officials support the proposal of Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Maria "Joey" Concepcion 3rd for a "vax to the max" Covid-19 inoculation campaign outside the National Capital Region (NCR). Speaking during Go Negosyo's virtual forum on Friday, Concepcion also reiterated his call for the creation of more bakuna bubbles outside Metro Manila. Under the bakuna bubble concept, fully vaccinated individuals will be allowed more mobility and enjoy more relaxed health protocols.
READ: Sara to make next move this weekend
SARA Duterte-Carpio is expected to make an announcement over the weekend on the national position she will be vying for in the 2022 elections. In a press briefing Friday, Majority Leader and Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) President Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said the Davao City mayor was still holding consultations before making a decision. Speculation is rife that she will be the party's standard bearer. Duterte-Carpio has to decide by November 15, the last day for substituting candidates. Commission on Elections (Comelec) Education and Information Department Director Elaiza Sabile-David said only a party-mate of the original candidate is allowed as a replacement. Lakas-CMD has listed Anna Capella Velasco as its candidate for president and Lyle Fernando Uy as its vice presidential bet. The two filed their certificates of candidacy (CoCs) on October 8.
READ: DepEd eyes more schools for in-person classes
THE Department of Education (DepEd) on Friday announced that it would increase the number of schools that would participate in the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes. The announcement comes after President Rodrigo Duterte approved of adding more schools to the list prior to the expansion phase of the program, expected to begin by early 2022 after results of the pilot study were analyzed by the DepEd. With the latest report from the DoH, 484 out of the 638 schools identified by the DepEd have passed the DoH's granular risk assessment as minimal to low-risk. The agency is set to announce the additional pilot schools once the schools are validated by their regional offices and once respective local government units (LGUs) have also allowed the conduct of in-person classes in their cities or municipalities. It noted that it has also received several appeals from the LGUs to have their schools in their localities to be selected in the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes.
READ: Comelec summons Bongbong Marcos
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has summoned former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. in connection with the petition for the cancellation of his certificate of candidacy (CoC) for president in next year's national and local elections. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez disclosed on Friday that the order was sent on Thursday as part of the process to resolve the petition for disqualification filed against the former senator by members of cause-oriented groups.
BUSINESS: End-Oct GIR surges to 2-month high
Over to business, the country's gross international reserves (GIR) surged to a two-month high of $107.94 billion at the end of October due to the national government's foreign currency deposits and the higher price of gold, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Preliminary figures issued by the central bank on Friday showed that the total was 1.26 percent wider than the $106.59 billion recorded at the end of September last year, but 3.99 percent bigger than the $103.80 billion reported a year ago. The total at the end of October was the largest since the end of August this year, when it reached $107.96 billion.
SPORTS: PBA returns to Ynares for 3x3 tilt
In sports, it's a go for the PBA's return to the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City. PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial on Friday announced that the games of the PBA 3x3 tournament will begin on November 20, but the opening of the Governors' Cup remains uncertain as the league awaits the arrival of some imports. No less than Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto posted on his Facebook account that the PBA 3x3 games will be held at the Ynares Sports Arena, the same venue used by the league to start its 2021 season. The PBA, however, was forced to bring its games to Bacolor, Pampanga following the spike of Covid-19 cases in the National Capital Region. But with the NCR now downgraded to Alert Level 2, resumption of contact sports and cinema houses are allowed with certain restrictions. A total of 13 teams — 10 coming from the PBA and three non-affiliated squads — are participating in the stand alone tournament. These teams will compete in a six-leg, three-conference calendar. Leg winners will receive P100,000 while the grand finals winner will get P750,000.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras and Yen Makabenta are today's front page columnists. Contreras laments at losing friends because of political views, while Makabenta gives his election forecast.
Today's editorial believes calls for an end to political substitutions. 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.