Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Wednesday, January 11, 2023.
READ: Marcos approves onion importation
PRESIDENT Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has approved the importation of 21,060 metric tons of onions, 940 MT less than the recommendation of the Department of Agriculture (DA) of 22,000 MT. In a radio interview, DA deputy spokesman Rex Estoperez said the President wants the imported bulbs to arrive on or before Jan. 27, 2023. He said the volume of the importation was reduced because of concerns from farmers that the imported onions will flood the market. The Chief Executive agreed on the allocation of the imported bulbs — 50 percent or 10,530 MT will go to Luzon and 25 percent or 5,265 MT each will be allocated to the Visayas and Mindanao.
READ: PNP identifies destabilization rumormongers
THE Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday said it had identified sources of a supposed memorandum that circulated in social media stating that the PNP is being placed on high alert because of rumors of a destabilization plot at the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). In a television interview on "Unang Hirit," PNP spokesman Col. Jean Fajardo said they had identified the sources of the memorandum based on a report of the Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) of the PNP's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.
READ: DepEd eyes new K-12 curriculum
THE Department of Education (DepEd) is considering revising the Kinder to Grade 12 (K to 12) curriculum to improve the state of basic education in the country, Malacañang said on Tuesday. Palace press briefer Daphne Oseña Paez said Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, during Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, told President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that her department will present the Basic Education Report 2023 (BER), which will include updates on the ongoing review of the K to 12 curriculum.
READ: Centino reappointment prompted Faustino to quit
GEN. Jose Faustino Jr. on Tuesday admitted that he resigned as officer in charge of the Defense department because of the reappointment of Gen. Andres Centino as chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Centino replaced Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro. Centino served as the chief of staff from Nov. 12, 2021 to Aug. 8, 2022, when he was replaced by Bacarro. Faustino said that he is leaving his post as he does not want to see the AFP's reputation to be "tarnished, maligned or politicized."
READ: Cheloy Garafil named PCO head
AFTER months of being the officer in charge of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Cheloy Velicaria Garafil was officially appointed by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. as its permanent head. The announcement was made by Malacañang on Tuesday. Garafil was first appointed to the PCO, then known as the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS), last October, taking over from Rose Beatrix "Trixie" Cruz-Angeles.
READ: Voter registration falls below target
BARELY three weeks before the end of the voter registration period, registration centers around the country remain almost empty as there have been very few applicants since the Commission on Elections (Comelec) opened the registration period on Dec. 12, 2022. Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia on Tuesday disclosed that only 400,000 have so far applied for registration which, he said, was below the poll body's expectation of 1.5 million to 2 million new registrants at the end of the registration period on January 31. Garcia appealed to qualified voters to register.
BUSINESS: 'Blockbuster' bond sale raises $3B
Topping business, the Marcos government raised a total of $3 billion from its second foray into the global bond market, the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) announced on Tuesday. The offering of at least $500 million in dollar-denominated bonds with tenors of 5.5, 10.5 and 25 years received a "blockbuster reception and tight pricing," the Treasury said in a statement. It reaffirmed "the distinction of Philippine credit as a favored proposition even in times of uncertainties in the market landscape," National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said, despite "curtain-raisers done by other big-name sovereigns."
SPORTS: Tolentino eyes tough campaign in SEAG
In sports, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino said the Philippines' campaign in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) scheduled on May 5-17, 2023 in Cambodia will not be a walk in the park. With four months to go, Tolentino said host Cambodia has included events that are basically unknown to the other countries and opted to exclude disciplines where the host country has little or no chance of winning. As host of the biennial meet, Cambodia has approved 608 events in 49 sports, far bigger than the 2019 Games when the Philippines hosted 530 events in 56 sports as well as the 526 events in 40 sports in Hanoi, Vietnam last year. Despite the concerns, Tolentino said he is confident that the Philippine delegation will not disappoint. He said the Philippines will be represented in as many events as it can in Cambodia in an effort to match or improve on its fourth-place finish in Hanoi last May.
Rigoberto Tiglao, Fr. Ranhilio Aquino and Francisco Tatad are today's front page columnists. Tiglao believes courtesy resignations are baseless, Fr. Aquino shares the lumina pandit rite, while Tatad laments the glitch in governance.
Today's editorial discusses the discontent among workers in the country's business process outsourcing industry. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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On behalf of The Manila Times, this is Aric John Sy Cua reporting.