Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Tuesday, January 10, 2023.

READ: 'Onion import won't stop price increase'

A FARMERS organization has opposed the decision of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to import 22,000 metric tons of onions, saying it will not solve the steep increase in the prices of the bulbs. In an interview Monday with The Manila Times, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) President Rosendo So also blamed the DA for the price spike. So said Sinag and other farmers' groups will voice out their opposition to the onion importation during their meeting with the DA on Tuesday. He backed the proposal of Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian to order the National Bureau of Investigation to go after hoarders and manipulators. So said farm gate prices of onions in Nueva Ecija and Pangasinan now range between P200 and P250 a kilo.

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READ: Egg prices up amid tight supply

THE retail prices of eggs rose to between P9 and P10 per piece, from P6.90 and P8.50 last December, and a farmers' group attributed the spike to the culling of at least 1.8 million chickens in Central Luzon affected with bird flu. In an interview with The Manila Times, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura President Rosendo So said Metro Manila used to get its egg supply mainly from Central Luzon. Now suppliers are tapping other sources in Southern and Northern Luzon.

READ: Former Leyte lawmaker convicted in PDAF case

THE Sandiganbayan on Monday convicted a former congressman and a former Technology Resource Center (TRC) official in connection with the P24.2-million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) anomaly. The court's First Division convicted former Leyte third district representative Eduardo Veloso and former TRC official Ma. Rosalinda Lacsamana. In a 52-page decision, the court sentenced Veloso and Lacsamana to six to 10 years in prison for graft, and banned them for life from holding public office.

READ: Defense OIC quits, replaced by Galvez

SENIOR Undersecretary Jose Faustino Jr. has stepped down as officer in charge (OIC) of the Department of National Defense (DND), Malacañang confirmed on Monday. In a statement, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) OIC Cheloy Garafil said President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has accepted Faustino's resignation "with deep regret." Garafil said Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. has accepted the President's offer to take over the Defense portfolio. She did not say when Faustino handed over his resignation to Marcos or his reason for stepping down.

READ: 600 PNP officials submit courtesy resignation

PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said on Monday that 500 to 600 ranking officials from the police force have already tendered their courtesy resignation as part of the internal cleansing and appeal of Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. He reiterated that the process is being done to ensure that the next-in-line officers, or those presently holding key positions, are clean from any type of involvement with illegal drugs.

READ: Marcos vows more big infra projects

PRESIDENT Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Monday pledged to further improve the country's transport system as he led the launch of the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) tunnel boring machine in Valenzuela City. The President said there are "better days ahead," as his administration will continue to implement big-ticket infrastructure projects to spur economic development and create employment opportunities. He gave assurances that projects planned and started by the previous administration will be continued and finished.

READ: Theft, rape prevalent crimes in 2022

PHILIPPINE National Police chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. on Monday said that theft, rape and physical injury were the top crimes from July 2022 to January 2023. Azurin said that data showed 6,682 theft cases, an increase from the 6,304 theft cases recorded from July 2021 to January 2022. Rape cases, meanwhile, decreased to 3,762 in the past six months from the 5,192 cases recorded during the same period in 2021 and 2022.

READ: More than 200k devotees attend Nazarene feast

EVEN without the traditional Traslacion, the celebration of the Feast of the Black Nazarene this year was successful, according to the parish priest of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, also known as Quiapo Church. mage of the Black Nazarene was again canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, the Quiapo Church held the Walk of Faith on Sunday. More than 88,000 devotees took part in the procession. On Monday, hourly Masses were held at the Quiapo Church starting at 3 a.m. As of 2 p.m. Monday, more than 246,000 devotees had flocked to Quiapo Church, while 122,000 others gathered at the Quirino Grandstand. Meanwhile, 461 devotees were given medical help, according to the Philippine Red Cross (PRC).

BUSINESS: Govt to borrow anew from abroad

Topping business, the Marcos government on Monday announced a return to the international debt market via a multiyear benchmark dollar bond offering, the proceeds of which will be used to finance its budget. The bonds will come in 5.5-, 10.5- and 25-year tenors, the last comprising green or sustainability bonds, with respective maturities of July 17, 2028, July 17, 2033 and Jan. 17, 2048. The initial price guidance for the 5.5-year bond was 155 basis points (bps) over US Treasuries while that for the 10.5-year was 195 bps higher. Pricing for the 25-year bond was set at around 5.950 percent. B-of-A Securities, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered Bank, and UBS were named as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners. Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings, respectively, assigned "Baa2" and "BBB" ratings to the proposed offering, in line with the country's sovereign scores.

SPORTS: Eala bows out in Australian Open

Over to sports, Filipino tennis ace Alexandra "Alex" Eala got a rude welcome in her first bid to make the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. The 17-year-old Eala yielded to 31-year-old Japanese Misaki Doi, 6-4, 6-7 (1), 3-6, in the first round of the Australian Open women's qualifiers at Melbourne Park's Court 8 on Monday. It proved to be a frustrating loss for the Filipino netter as she took the first set and led the Japanese in the second, 5-2, only for her to relinquish it and ultimately crack under pressure.

READ: Opinion and editorial

Antonio Contreras and Yen Makabenta are today's front page columnists. Contreras said the least Sugar Regulatory Administration officials could have done in missing out on Senate hearings on the approval of the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar was to apologize, while Makabenta believes President Marcos is struggling to take control of the government and even his own agenda.

Today's editorial honors the nomination of Filipino actress Dolly de Leon at the upcoming Golden Globe awards. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.

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For The Manila Times, this is Kim Isabelle Dignadice.