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Here are the top stories of The Manila Times on Aug. 11, 2022.
READ: Marcos rejects sugar import
PRESIDENT Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has thumbed down a proposal to import 350,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar amid reports of a looming supply shortage, Malacañang announced on Wednesday.Marcos, who heads the Department of Agriculture (DA), made the decision as the chairman of the Sugar Regulatory Board (SRA), Press Secretary Rose "Beatrix" Cruz-Angeles said. In June, the SRA warned of insufficient sugar supply, which caused prices to surge. In an interview with The Manila Times last week, SRA Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica said Marcos approved the proposed importation of sugar to prevent a shortage in the supply of the sweetener. Serafica said Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia could be possible sources of sugar imports. Serafica said that the 300,000 MT of imported sugar will supply the needs of households, industrial and institutional users.
READ: DSWD launches ProtecTeen
THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Wednesday inaugurated its project ProtecTEEN in Malaybalay, Bukidnon, to offer support to adolescent mothers and their families. The project was created in partnership with the Commission on Population and Development as one of the initiatives of its Social Protection Program for Adolescent Mothers and Their Children. ProtecTEEN's framework strategy involves the empowerment of young mothers by offering them direct social services and help, directing them to other organizations and assembling peer advocates. The program provides a platform that creates an enabling environment by making young parents aware of their parental responsibilities, assisting them in fulfilling developmental tasks, managing the pressures of parenting, and carrying out their social obligations.
READ: DepEd to review 'anomalous' laptop deal
THE Department of Education (DepEd) said on Wednesday that it will conduct a thorough review of the agency's procurement of laptops using Bayanihan 2 funds, which the Commission on Audit (CoA) found questionable. DepEd spokesman Michael Poa said the agency will respond to the CoA's audit observation memorandum (AOM) after reviewing the transaction documents they requested from the Procurement Services of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM). Based on the AOM, the laptops were "outdated and overpriced." Poa said the previous DepEd administration received the AOM in March 2022 and provided an initial documentation of the purchase in May 2022. He added that the DepEd will evaluate the performance of the laptops distributed to public school teachers. In the event that the warranty is needed to be invoked for repair or replacement.
READ: Redefine vaccination status -- DoH
THE Department of Health (DoH) said that it will ask the Office of the President to redefine the vaccine status from two doses to three in a bid to increase the number of Filipinos getting boosted against Covid-19. The country has so far boosted only 16 million Filipinos. The government hopes to vaccinate 23.8 million more in the ongoing "PinasLakas" booster shot campaign that will last until October. In an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel, Health Officer in Charge Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said they first proposed the changing of jab status before the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) in the previous administration. Vergeire said that the department will propose to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to redefine the status of vaccination to include those who received their third shot, whether it is an additional dose or a first booster shot. Studies have shown that a third booster shot improves the immune response against the highly infectious Omicron variant.
In Business,
READ: 2022 PH growth projections slashed
FOLLOWING the slower-than-expected performance in the second quarter, local lender Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and global research company Capital Economics have revised downward their economic growth outlooks for the country this year. Given the waning base effects and the impact of inflation, it said a reduced growth rate is expected for the second half of the year, adding that pent-up demand may still exist but is likely just as strong as before. In July, the headline inflation rate in the Philippines hit a new three-year high of 6.4 percent.
Topping Sports
READ: Kai Sotto to suit up for Gilas Pilipinas
FILIPINO NBA prospect Kai Sotto has agreed to play for the Philippine men's basketball team in the upcoming window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas (SBP) said on Wednesday. According to the SBP statement, the 7-foot-2 Sotto expressed his eagerness to play for Gilas Pilipinas in the qualifiers and is set to arrive in the country on Thursday, August 18. Sotto is in Australia where he plays for the Adelaide 36ers in the National Basketball League. Earlier, Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson confirmed his availability to play for the Philippine team in the fourth window of the qualifiers slated later this month.
READ: 'Countdown' to retirement started – Serena
Serena Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion and iconic tennis superstar for a generation, said Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) that "the countdown has begun" to her retirement from the sport. The 40-year-old American wrote a cover essay for Vogue magazine and an Instagram post in which she set the stage for "evolving away from tennis." After suffering a torn right hamstring at Wimbledon last year, Williams was sidelined until playing doubles at Eastbourne in June and made a return at Wimbledon as a wild card, losing in the first round On Monday, Williams competed in her first hard court match in 18 months, defeating Spain's Nuria Parrizas Diaz to reach the second round of the Women's Tennis Association hard court event in Toronto, a tuneup for the US Open.
The Times, in its Editorial, pushes for the creation of a Department of Water Resources that would streamline the management of the water sector. Read the full version on the Print and Digital editions or Listen to the Voice of the Times. Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta and Danton Remoto are the featured columnists on the front page. Contreras does a film review on 'Katips'; Makabenta on what a climate emergency declaration means; and Remoto on writing residencies.
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This is Eireene Jairee Gomez reporting.