Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Saturday, July 20, 2024.
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READ: PhilHealth funds 'diversion' slammed
MORE than 60 health care worker groups on Friday urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to order the return of the 89.9 billion pesos in unused funds to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth). The groups stressed in a press conference that the fund should be used to meet the health care needs of the underprivileged. The Department of Health (DoH) said on Thursday that 27.5 billion pesos of the unused funds will be used to pay the health emergency allowance (HEA) of government medical workers. Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman released the HEA funds on July 5 in compliance with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s directive to clear all pending hazard pay enhancement allowances for health care workers. The allocation covers payments for 5,039,926 unpaid HEA claims and 4,283 Covid-19 sickness and death compensation claims for eligible workers.
READ: Demolition job on Comelec 'well-oiled'
COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Friday that the bribery allegations against him are part of a well-financed campaign to discredit the entire Comelec. He said "troll farms" are involved, another indication that the smear campaign is "well-oiled and well-financed."
READ: Guo questions why senators 'seem fixated on me'
ALICE Guo has questioned why several senators seem "fixated" on her and dared them to present evidence against her at "a proper forum." The suspended mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, faces arrest after refusing to attend Senate hearings probing her connections to Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) sites where criminal activities have been reported. In her official Facebook on Thursday night, Guo said she was ready to be questioned by Sens. Sherwin Gatchalian and Risa Hontiveros, chairman of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, in a "fair trial" and at a "proper forum." In her first statement after she was issued with an arrest order by the Senate, Guo said she failed to attend the last two hearings of Hontiveros' committee because of "severe exhaustion and trauma."
READ: Group presents draft of PH 'Readers' Agenda'
AN alliance of reading advocates has presented its provisional draft of the "Readers' Agenda" amid the country's lukewarm state of reading culture, as shown in the State of the Reading Nation (Sorna) for the second quarter of 2024, according to the National Book Development Board (NBDB). Readers' Agenda is a guidebook that will contain the National Alliance of Reading Advocates' (NARA) concrete vision for readership in the Philippines based on its analysis of the Sorna. NARA is composed of reading enthusiasts in the country, which the NBDB supports.
READ: House eyes illegal kidney trade probe
A HOUSE lawmaker has filed a resolution seeking to investigate the illegal sale of kidneys and other internal organs in the Philippines and the involvement of some nurses and doctors in the illegal trade, calling it "deal with the devil." AGRI Partylist Rep. Wilbert Lee's House Resolution 1803, filed last July 18, states that the illegal practice of selling kidneys and other internal organs — which he described as "Human Bopis for Sale" — targets poor Filipinos and goes against existing laws, specifically the Organ Donation Act of 1991 and the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012. According to the World Health Organization, the Philippines is one of the global hotspots for organ trafficking aside from India, Pakistan, China, Egypt and Colombia.
READ: Trump accepts Republican nomination
Donald Trump predicted an "incredible victory" Thursday in accepting the Republican presidential nomination from a party euphoric over his escape from assassination and buoyed by the apparent implosion of Joe Biden's reelection campaign. It was his first speech since a 20-year-old man shot at him, causing a slight injury to one ear, but killing a bystander, during a rally last weekend.
BUSINESS: Anti-scam measure to be signed into law
Topping business, a measure aimed at curbing financial crimes will soon be signed into law, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Chuchi Foncier told reporters on Friday. The proposed Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act is currently up for approval by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The bill hurdled Congress in May after the House of Representatives adopted the version approved by the Senate.
SPORTS: Ilocos Norte boasts of new stadium for 2025 Palaro
Over to sports, Laoag City Mayor Michael Marcos Keon promises to give Palarong Pambansa participants and delegates a memorable experience when Ilocos Norte hosts the annual games for elementary secondary students athletes next year. Leaving no stone unturned, Keon said the main hub of the games next year is the brand new Ferdinand E. Marcos Memorial Stadium in Laoag City that also features a standard size track and field oval and swimming pool.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta, and Danton Remoto are today's front page columnists. Contreras talks about the structural policy impediments on productivity and innovation in universities and colleges, Makabenta looks into a new post-UniTeam era of the Marcos administration, and Remoto talks about the road less traveled.
Today's editorial discusses a Department of Science and Technology research that could boost the development of renewable energy in the country. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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