Good day. Here are the stories of The Manila Times for Thursday, July 14, 2022.

READ: Govt rightsizing may affect 2M workers

THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has proposed to rightsize government agencies, which could affect up to 2 million workers. Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said in a radio interview on Wednesday that the plan to downsize the bureaucracy is being polished for submission to Congress before President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s State of the Nation Address (SONA). The proposal will decide which of the 187 government agencies and government-owned and -controlled businesses with more or less 2 million employees may be streamlined through merger, restructuring or abolition. She said the government will be able to save money with the planned rightsizing, which can then be utilized to fund important projects like the construction of much-needed infrastructure, social services, health-related programs and agriculture, among other things.

READ: BBM studying Rice Tariffication Law

Get the latest news
delivered to your inbox
Sign up for The Manila Times newsletters
By signing up with an email address, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

PRESIDENT Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is looking at his economic team's recommendation to retain the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) amid calls for the repeal or suspension of the measure. Marcos, who is also the concurrent Agriculture secretary, discussed the review of the law during his virtual meeting with the key officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Malacañang on Tuesday. This came days after Marcos led his first executive meeting as Agriculture secretary where he asked his DA subordinates to reassess the RTL under Republic Act (RA) 11203, which took effect in 2019. Over three years into the RTL's implementation, many farmers are still calling for the reassessment, suspension and eventual repeal of the law.

READ: NCR to reach 11K cases per day by end-July – DoH

CASES of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the National Capital Region (NCR or Metro Manila) may reach around 11,000 cases per day by the end of July due to waning vaccine immunity, continuous mobility and noncompliance with minimum health standards, according to the Department of Health (DoH). Based on projections made by the Feasibility Analysis of Syndromic Surveillance Using Spatio-Temporal Epidemiological Modeler for Early Detection of Diseases or Fassster application, the NCR may experience an upsurge in cases by around 4,651 to 6,037 cases per day if health standards compliance remain strict but there is waning immunity of vaccines, Fassster also projects that the NCR daily cases would reach as high as 11,186 per day if there is continued waning immunity coupled with decreasing compliance of public health standards. Nationwide, cases may reach 17,105 average daily cases by July 31 if the current minimum health standards are maintained, but could go as high as 22,187 cases per day if health standards are decreased coupled with low vaccine coverage and high mobility. With these projections the DoH stressed the importance of getting vaccinated and receiving their first booster dose, as it not only is safe, but also effective in preventing hospitalizations for Covid-19. Based on data from November 5 last year to July 2 of this year and from 121,673 Covid-19 patients, those who are unvaccinated are nearly one and a half times more likely to get severe and critical Covid-19 disease and also nearly two times more likely to die from the disease. It also said that six out of 10 Covid-19 patients admitted in hospitals are not fully vaccinated, while the rest are vaccinated or boosted. These four out of 10 individuals who got Covid are either asymptomatic, mild, or even moderate cases.

READ: PH, Japan to 'collaborate more'

THE Philippines and Japan have agreed to further deepen coordination on defense and security as well as "collaborate more" on global and regional issues, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said on Tuesday. Manalo added that he and Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa talked over the phone and discussed how to strengthen ties between their governments. On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines as it declared the so-called China's nine-dash line national boundary has no legal basis to claim historic rights to almost all resources in the South China Sea (SCS) or West Philippine Sea.

READ: BBM vows cheaper internet access

PRESIDENT Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (BBM) has promised to make access to the internet cheaper for Filipinos. The 64-year-old leader made the assurance on Tuesday as he committed to strengthen digital infrastructure across the country as part of his administration's priorities. During his meeting with his Cabinet via teleconferencing as he was still on mandatory isolation after contracting the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) last week, he said he wants to have strong internet connections around the Philippines and will push for the government to procure the latest technologies to be able to catch up with other countries. Marcos said boosting the connections will ensure the people's access to reliable internet service since cyberspace "has become a big part of our lives." An online check of the Internet Poverty Index — measured by how many people can or cannot afford a minimum package of mobile internet-provided by Austria-based firm World Data Lab showed that the Philippines is one of the "internet-poor" countries in Asia. Based on the metrics of affordability, quantity and quality, the Philippines ranked 4th with more than half of the population, or 58,013,282, unable to afford a one gigabyte-per month internet package. Despite being sidelined by Covid-19, the President noted in an online post that the internet has allowed him tto perform his duties and responsibilities.

BUSINESS: PH growth strong amid challenges

Topping business, the economy will likely grow by 6 to 7 percent this year despite global and domestic challenges, the investment banking arm of the Metrobank Group said on Wednesday. FMIC's forecast is slightly lower than the government's 6.5- to 7.5-percent target for 2022 — recently reduced from 7 to 8 percent — and is higher than last year's actual gross domestic product growth of 5.7 percent. The primary engine of economic development is expected to be continuous domestic demand. This includes consumer spending, government spending and investment spending, all of which rose by 11 percent in the first quarter of the year.

SPORTS: Desiderio accused of abuse by ex-fiancé

Over to sports, Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) player Paul Desiderio has been accused of domestic abuse by his former fiancé, former courtside reporter Agatha Uvero, over a month after breaking up. In a tweet on Wednesday, Uvero explained what had happened in her relationship with the Blackwater Bossing player. The 25-year-old Uvero said that Desiderio strangled her until she "almost threw up," threw her onto a table, bed and wall while being pregnant with their child.In addition, she said the former University of the Philippines Fighting Maroon "gripped" her face so hard that it bruised her, punched her with her own hands by grabbing them, took her phone and refusing to return it to her, biting her, hitting her face into a car window, kicked her twice while on the floor, and locked her inside a room, telling her that she would not leave that room alive. She said while she was Desiderio's "number one fan" during their relationship, she said she could not keep silent on this issue any longer.

READ: Opinion and editorial

Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta, and Danton Remoto are today's front page columnists. Contreras tackles when media and academia fail in their vocations and peddle disinformation, Makabenta weighs in on the issues in Sri Lanka, and Remoto asks on libel.

Today's editorial discusses on greening the country's economic recovery. Read a full version on the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.

For more news and information, get a copy of The Manila Times on print, subscribe to its digital edition or log on to www.manilatimes.net. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and Keep Up With The Times.

On behalf of The Manila Times, this is Christian Crow Maghanoy reporting.