Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Sunday, March 13, 2022.
READ: Robredo satisfaction rating down – SWS
VICE President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo recorded the biggest drop in net satisfaction rating while two other government officials registered increases in the latter part of 2021, according to a Social Weather Station survey. Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto 3rd and Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo had increased ratings in the survey that was taken from Dec. 12-16, 2021 on 1,440 respondents nationwide. Speaker Lord Allan Velasco also recorded a drop in satisfaction rating. The SWS survey said Robredo had a satisfaction rating of 41 percent and dissatisfaction rating of 40 percent for +1 or "neutral" net rating. Nineteen percent of the respondents said they were undecided. The results were a significant drop from her September net satisfaction rating of +24, with decreases reported nationwide.
READ: Marcoses ask Duterte help on BBM bid for president
Sen. Maria Imelda Josefa "Imee" Marcos on Saturday disclosed that her family has been sending messages to President Rodrigo Duterte seeking his help and endorsement for her brother, former Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s presidential bid. During a DWIZ radio interview, Imee, elder sister, said they need all the endorsements they could get as the May 9, 2022 national election approaches. She said they were praying that the President "will help us" as President Duterte, chairman of the Partido Demokratikong Pilipino (PDP)-Laban party (Cusi wing), still has not decided whom to endorse. She added that they have been sending messages to President Duterte, asking for an appointment, probably hoping that a meeting would produce a clearing up of misunderstandings between the Marcos and Dutere families. But the Chief Executive is busy with other appointments, Senator Marcos said.
READ: Namfrel seeks urgent Comelec response to poll concerns
ELECTION watchdog National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) has raised more concerns which, it said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should address immediately to earn public confidence and to boost the integrity of the upcoming May 9 electoral exercises. Namfrel said over the week that these concerns were among the issues also raised by election stakeholders during a hearing held early this month by the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People's Participation. It cited the still unresolved issue of the reported hacking of Comelec's servers that could compromise the integrity of the coming May 9 elections. Namfrel stressed that Comelec needs to speedily resolve the issue, which "may impact on the credibility of the election results, and which has the potential of inviting questions on the ability of the poll body to secure the elections. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez had said that the poll body has conducted an internal investigation and tapped the expertise of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) despite doubts on the veracity of the alleged hacking. Asked if it was meant to undermine the coming polls, Jimenez said that it was one possible scenario which is being looked into by authorities. But Namfrel, in a statement, said that Comelec needed to vet the information carefully as the issue raises questions on the integrity of the automated election system (AES) and cast doubt on the Commission's capability to secure the elections.
READ: Belgica to push for death penalty if elected
SENATE candidate Greco Antonious Belgica will push for the reimposition of the death penalty for all heinous crimes, including corruption, if he wins a Senate seat in the May national elections. Guesting at The Manila Times TV talk show "Diretsong Pananaw," Belgica said he would bring a stronger anti-corruption campaign in the Senate and make sure all those being investigated will be imprisoned and held accountable. The former Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) chief said there was a need to change the law since existing measures restrict what authorities can do to hold people involved in illegal drugs and corruption accountable. He said the process of prosecution is not within the power of the PACC but that it can be "cured" by law. If he gets elected, Belgica said he wants to legislate laws that will establish a government structure that will address corruption from the national to the local level. He said this would require additional personnel in the judiciary, infrastructure for courts, and the establishment of an anti-corruption police force.
READ: Concepcion backs 'Alert Level Zero'
PRESIDENTIAL Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Maria "Joey" Concepcion 3rd backed a proposal to place the entire country under Alert Level 0 as cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) continue to drop. The Philippines currently has five alert levels, and Metro Manila and 39 other areas are under Alert Level 1, which is the least restrictive and is called the "new normal" by the Department of Health (DoH). In a statement, Concepcion put forward his suggestions on what would constitute mandates for the private sector under the new proposed category of the Philippines' Alert Level System.
READ: Lacson to plant 'spies' to catch corrupt govt men
PRESIDENTIAL candidate Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson said that should he be elected in the May 9 national elections, his administration would adopt drastic measures against corruption such as the deployment of undercover agents posing as applicants to catch extorting government employees. Lacson said that such drastic measures will keep even hardheaded members of the bureaucracy on their toes, for fear they would be caught and punished.
READ: Sara rejects team-up with other presidential bets
Vice presidential candidate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, has reiterated her loyalty to running mate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and rejected calls for her to pair up with another presidential bet. This, after Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso's network of volunteers joined other groups in forming a coalition backing him and Duterte-Carpio in the May elections. During a chance interview after the UniTeam's grand rally at the Santa Rosa Sports Complex here, Duterte-Carpio said she was thankful to those who prefer to vote for her as vice president, but stressed that she was sticking to her partner, Marcos. On Wednesday, the Ikaw Muna Pilipinas, one of the largest volunteer networks for Domagoso, officially launched "ISAng PILIPINAS" which describes the Manila mayor and Duterte-Carpio as "best fit to lead the Philippines towards recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic."
READ: BBM camp hits Isko party for 'hateful campaign'
T HE camp of presidential candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. accused Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso's party of engaging in "negative and hateful campaigning" as it sounded off on the unsettled estate taxes of the former senator's family. Lawyer Victor Rodriguez, spokesman for Marcos, made the statement after Aksyon Demokratiko Chairman Ernest Ramel Jr. wrote a letter to Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) Chairman John Agbayani inquiring if the PCGG and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) had entered into an agreement regarding the P203-billion unpaid estate taxes.
READ: Pag-IBIG posts P31.79-B dividends
In business, the Board of Trustees of the state-run Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) approved a record-high payout for members' savings for 2021, announcing a record high value of over P31 billion to be credited straight to members' savings accounts. Human Settlements and Urban Development Secretary Eduardo del Rosario, who also heads the Pag-IBIG Fund's 11-member Board of Trustees, also announced that the final dividend rates for PagIBIG Regular Savings and Modified Pag-IBIG 2 (MP2) Savings have been raised to 5.5 percent and 6 percent, respectively.
READ: Phoenix, NorthPort clash for last playoffs spot
Topping sports, the eighth and last PBA Governors' Cup quarterfinals berth will be at stake in Sunday's do-or-die encounter between Phoenix and NorthPort at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Game time is 6:30 p.m. as the Fuel Masters and the Batang Pier duke it out to earn the right to face top seed Magnolia Hotshots, who has a twice-to-beat in in their quarterfinals duel. This is the second time this season for the Fuel Masters to figure in a rubber match. In the Philippine Cup, Phoenix faced Barangay Ginebra in a similar do-or-die game for the last playoff berth and the Gin Kings went on to advance to the quarterfinals
READ: Opinion and editorial
Our front page columnist is Marlen Ronquillo. He tackles on "Fortress Russia" not being lost on opposition to a candidate.
Today's editorial believes the images of the war in Ukraine should humble hawks across the world. 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.