Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Monday, November 15, 2021.
READ: Duterte not happy with Sara's move
AMID reports of a possible faceoff with his daughter in the vice presidential election, President Rodrigo Duterte expressed his displeasure over his daughter's decision to run for a "lower position" when she could have gunned for the presidency. The President said that Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio had consistently topped presidential surveys. Duterte-Carpio filed her certificate of candidacy for vice president on Saturday under the Lakas-CMD party. Hours later, the camp of former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. issued a statement adopting her as vice presidential bet. Duterte admitted that he was kept in the dark regarding his daughter's plans, but somehow had an inkling that she was eyeing a higher post when the mayor purportedly asked for two certificates of candidacy (CoCs) — one for president and one for vice president.
READ: Bongbong, Sara top school survey
FORMER senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. was the top choice for president and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio for vice president in a survey of students from the Pangasinan State University (PSU). Marcos' camp released the results of the "Pulso ni (pulse of) PSU" survey results in a statement on November 12. The PSU poll results "strengthened the pole position" of Marcos and Duterte-Carpio in the 2022 national elections, the statement said. The survey had 16,837 respondents from various campuses of PSU in Eastern, Western and Central Pangasinan, and was conducted for three days beginning on November 4.
READ: Robredo, Marcos create biggest internet buzz
VICE President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo and former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. had the most mentions online among the presidential contenders during a 12-day period in September and October, a media and insight company reported. Isentia Philippines said election-linked content peaked during the filing of certificates of candidacy (CoCs), from 3,573 mentions a week before October 1, to 26,560 mentions, a 643-percent spike. Isentia tracked different social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and YouTube from September 27 to October 8, using its internal proprietary tool. Robredo, who acquired the most mentions across all social media platforms at 1.7 million, reached the peak on October 7, when she announced her plan to run for the presidency and filed her CoC on the same day.
READ: Duterte OKs lifting of face shield policy – Go
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will approve the proposal to lift the policy on the mandatory use of face shields, Sen. Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go said. The senator said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) submitted the proposal to the President. Go earlier appealed to the IATF to reevaluate the mandatory use of face shields, citing the decreasing number of cases in the country and the number of individuals who have been vaccinated against Covid-19.
READ: Hold house-to-house jabs, LGUs told
EVEN with the decline in Covid-19 cases, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Sunday called on local government units (LGUs) nationwide to start the house-to-house vaccination of senior citizens and persons with comorbidities who cannot leave their residences. In a radio interview, Año said the house-to-house campaign is the best way to encourage more people to get jabbed. The government has scheduled "National Covid-19 Vaccination Days" from November 29 to December 1 to further ramp up inoculation efforts. Several regions still have to meet the maximum rate of vaccinations, prompting the Department of the Interior and Local Government and President Rodrigo Duterte to threaten LGUs who fail to meet inoculation targets. The President has yet to decide whether to declare the 3-day vaccination drive as a non-working holiday. Año said the private sector and non-government organizations can assist the government in compelling more people to get a Covid shot during that period.
READ: Comelec to hear BBM's case Nov 26
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has set the hearing for the petition seeking to cancel the certificate of candidacy (CoC) of presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. The second division issued summons with notice of preliminary conference on Nov. 26, 2021 at 10 a.m. via videoconference to take up several matters on the petition. The Comelec, through Clerk of Commission Genesis Gatdula, directed the parties involved to submit a summary of the documents, which includes documentary, real evidence and affidavits of witnesses for comparison via email at least three days before the scheduled conference.
BUSINESS: Govt debt servicing slides in Sept
Over to business, lower amortization expenditures reduced the national government's debt servicing in September compared to payments made a year earlier, according to figures released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr). Debt payments reached P54.45 billion in September, declining 26.48 percent from P74.06 billion a year earlier. Interest payments climbed 10.35 percent to P47.85 billion year on year, representing for 87.89 percent of total servicing.
SPORTS: Saso falls to joint 17th in Pelican
In sports, Filipino-Japanese golf star Yuka Saso dropped from 10th to joint 17th after the third round of the LPGA Pelican Championship on Sunday (Philippine time) at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida. Saso hit four birdies, two bogeys, and a double bogey to card an even-par in the round for an aggregate score of 8-under 202. The 20-year-old Saso had a decent front nine, where she tallied birdies on the second and fifth holes, but negated it with bogeys on the first and ninth.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Rigoberto Tiglao and Fr. Ranhilio Aquino are today's front page columnists. Tiglao discusses a cancelled dinner among opposition candidates, while Fr. Aquino talks about the fear of freedom.
Today's editorial discusses two major changes happening at Land Bank of the Philippines that could be for the better. 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 week ahead.