Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Saturday, August 6, 2022.
BANNER: 6.4-percent inflation rate highest in 4 years
THE country's inflation rate jumped to 6.4 percent in July, the fastest in four years, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday. During a briefing, National Statistician Dennis Mapa said last month's inflation rate was the highest since the 6.9 percent rate in September and October 2018. The rate stayed within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' forecast of 5.6 to 6.4 percent but is higher than the 6.1 percent in June this year and the 3.7 percent in July last year. Mapa said the surge was driven by rising food and transport prices.
READ: Taiwan Strait tension up at Marcos-Blinken meet
PRESIDENT Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and United States (US) Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet in Malacañang today, August 6, and the growing tension between the US and China over Taiwan is expected to be one of the major topics they will discuss. Press Secretary Rose Beatrix "Trixie" Cruz-Angeles said on Friday there was no "published agenda" yet for the meeting, but the US embassy in Manila said Blinken's meeting with Marcos will cover "bilateral efforts" to strengthen the two nations' alliance. Cruz-Angeles told reporters that the simmering tension between the US and China was not taken up during Friday's Cabinet meeting led by Marcos. She said the government was being "careful" when it comes to commenting on international issues.
READ: P90/kilo SRP for sugar eyed
THE government will set a benchmark price for sugar after refined sugar retailed at P100 per kilo. In an interview with The Manila Times, Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica said setting a Suggested Retail Price or SRP for sugar was the consensus reached when he met with Agriculture Undersecretary Kristine Evangelista on Thursday night. Based on the monitoring of the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Friday, a kilo of refined sugar is still being sold for as high as P100 at the Malabon Central Market in Malabon City, the Mega Q Mart in Quezon City and the Pasay City Market in Pasay City.
READ: BBM wants disaster response strategy improved
PRESIDENT Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Friday called for a unified and better-coordinated government disaster response strategy. The President made the call in the wake of the magnitude 7 earthquake that rocked northern Luzon on July 27. Marcos said the government should pre-position satellite phones, generators, water and other emergency resources, once a disaster alert is raised.
READ: Palace to review PEZA leadership dispute
MALACAÑANG on Friday said it will first carefully study the legalities and circumstances surrounding the leadership row with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) before it issues an official statement regarding the matter. In a briefing, Press Secretary Rose Beatrix "Trixie" Cruz-Angeles said since the opinion of the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES) has already been sought, the matter has been referred to the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal for review. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) the other day affirmed its earlier decision naming Deputy Director General Tereso Panga as officer in charge (OIC). Panga's appointment, however, was disputed by former PEZA chief Charito Plaza, who sought clarification from the OES. Plaza, an appointee of former president Rodrigo Duterte, has also been adamant in saying that she will not acknowledge Panga's appointment, arguing that PEZA is not a government-owned or -controlled corporation (GOCC) and therefore not covered by Memorandum Circular (MC) 1 and 3. Cruz-Angeles insisted that the Palace will still implement MC 1 and 3.
READ: Ex-Aboitiz lawyer new ERC chief
PRESIDENT Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has appointed lawyer Monalisa Dimalanta as the new chairman of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), Malacañang announced on Friday. The appointment letter signed by the President on August 1 gave Dimalanta a term of up to July 10, 2029 as head of the power industry regulator. Dimalanta replaced Agnes Devanadera, who was appointed by then-president Rodrigo Duterte to the post on Nov. 22, 2017.
BUSINESS: Medalla hints at 50-bps hike
Topping business, following the headline inflation rate last month, reaching a fresh three-year high of 6.4 percent, Governor Felipe Medalla hinted on Friday that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) might increase interest rates aggressively once more. He announced during a forum organized by the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. that the most recent inflation reading clearly "raises the probability" of a central bank rate hike of 50 basis points (bps) "rather than 25 [bps]." Medalla, however, said if external development suddenly improves, he could not rule out the possibility of a considerably smaller rate increase of 25 bps.
SPORTS: Alegarbes caps swimming campaign with 3rd gold
Over to sports, the Filipino swimmers sustained their winning drive Friday by adding three more golds, with rookie Ariel Joseph Alegarbes completing a sweep of his three events in another meet record in the 11th Asean Para Games at the Jatidiri Sports Complex in Semarang, Indonesia. Alegarbes took off like a torpedo in ruling the men's 50-meter freestyle S14 race in 25.74 seconds in securing his third straight gold medal, duplicating the feat of female teammate Angel Otom last Thursday, in the stint supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.
Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta, and Danton Remoto are today's front page columnists. Contreras believes the Reserve Officers Training Corps should not just be merely about military training, Makabenta discusses what a climate emergency is, and Remoto talks about the novel Interior Chinatown.
Today's editorial believes utilizing and not posturing is the key to avoid wasting vaccines. Read a full version on the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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This is EJ Gomez reporting.