Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Friday, February 18, 2022, brought to you by Wilcon Depot, the country's leading home improvement and construction supplies retailer. Shop conveniently 24/7 with the Wilcon online store, just go to shop.wilcon.com.ph.
READ: Mask lifting should be studied – Duque
HEALTH Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd said the lifting of the mandate on wearing face masks should be gradual to prevent another surge of Covid-19 cases. Duque was reacting to the comment of vaccine czar and National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. that the mask requirement may be removed by the fourth quarter of this year. Speaking to reporters after the ceremonial vaccination of the children of Department of Health (DoH) personnel on Thursday, Duque said Galvez's proposal must be studied first by the DoH Technical Advisory Group before it can be proposed to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
READ: More Pinoys accept living together without marrying, poll finds
A NEW study by the Church-run Radio Veritas showed that more Filipino Catholics see nothing wrong with couples living together without getting married. The nationwide survey revealed that 45 percent of the 1,200 respondents believe that being married is not necessary before living together, while 40 percent agree that couples should get married first before living together. The remaining 15 percent were undecided over the question: "Should couples get married first before living together; and not engage in a common-law partnership arrangement?"
READ: Pedia jab drive illegal despite DoH's altered memo – PAO
PUBLIC Attorney's Office (PAO) chief Persida Rueda-Acosta said on Thursday that the government's pediatric vaccination program against Covid-19 remains illegal despite the removal of the portion of a Department of Health (DoH) memorandum, allowing the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to give consent despite objection from parents to get their children inoculated. The mass vaccination of children ages 5 to 11 years old started on February 7.
READ: Comelec denies petition to disqualify Tulfo
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has dismissed a petition to disqualify broadcaster Raffy Tulfo as a candidate for senator in the May elections. The resolution to dismiss was issued by the Second Division headed by Commissioner Socorro Inting. The petition was filed by Tulfo's former wife, Julieta Pearson, who claims that Tulfo misrepresented in his certificate of candidacy (CoC) the identity of his legal wife, the period of his residency in the Philippines and the pendency of criminal complaints against him. The resolution stated that combining grounds of cancellation of CoC and a ground for disqualification is against the Comelec rules of procedure amended by Resolution 9253.
READ: Roque favors same-sex marriage, divorce
SENATE candidate and former Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. on Thursday said that he was in favor of same-sex marriage and would push for its legalization if elected. If elected, he said he intends to file a bill legalizing same-sex marriage for members of the LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and agender) community. Roque said he was also in favor of divorce so that children would not suffer the ill effects of a bad marriage.
BUSINESS: Key rates kept at record lows
Over to business, key interest rates were kept at historic lows on Thursday, with monetary authorities citing manageable inflation and uncertainty about domestic and global economic growth. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) overnight borrowing, lending and deposit rates were maintained at 2.00 percent, 1.50 percent and 2.50 percent, respectively, during the Monetary Board's first rate-setting meeting for 2023.
SPORTS: PH athletics team to train at PhilSports
In sports, the Philippine athletics team is planning to transfer its bubble training to the Philippine Institute of Sports (PhilSports) Complex in Pasig City. Thirty members of the athletics team have been training at the Baguio Athletic Bowl, a sports complex within the grounds of Burnham Park, since October last year. The jumping and sprinting teams, however, are at the Ayala Vermosa Sports Hub, a state-ofthe-art facility in Imus, Cavite. The Philippine Sports Commission has given its go-signal for athletes to train at the PhilSports Complex and at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Malate, Manila.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Rigoberto Tiglao and Van Ybiernas are today's front page columnists. Tiglao ends his series on what the next president should do in managing maritime disputes, while Ybiernas discusses the weaknesses of political parties.
Today's editorial discusses the recent doping fiasco surrounding a 15-year-old Russian figure skater at the ongoing Winter Olympic Games in China. 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 Friday ahead.