Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Tuesday, October 22, 2024.
Today’s episode is brought to you by Wilcon Depot, The Philippines’ leading home improvement and construction supplies retailer—your Trusted Building Partner.
READ: DoJ studies legal action vs VP Sara
THE Department of Justice (DoJ) is exploring potential legal action against Vice President Sara Duterte, following her recent threat to exhume the remains of President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. and her admission that she daydreams of beheading his son, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. In a two-hour press briefing on October 18, Vice President Duterte indicated her willingness to exhume the remains of the President’s father and dump them in the West Philippine Sea should the political attacks against her persist. Her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, facilitated Marcos Sr.’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in 2016, an act that had sparked significant controversy and protests from human rights advocates and victims of Martial Law.
READ: Go leads Senate preference survey
SEN. Bong Go led a recent Senate preference baseline survey conducted by Publicus Asia Inc. with 5 percent of the votes. In a statement, Publicus said while certain candidates have gained early support, a significant portion of voters remain undecided and open to change. It said the “unaided test was part of the survey where respondents were asked to name their top-of-mind senatorial candidate.” The survey was conducted from October 16 to 17 with 1,500 respondents randomly drawn from the market research panel of over 200,000 registered Filipino voters. The survey firm said Sen. Risa Hontiveros “emerged as the most prominent name in the survey due to her leadership in the Senate investigation into illegal Philippine offshore gaming operations.” However, she is not running for reelection in 2025 since her term ends in 2028.
READ: 17 Abu Sayyaf members get life for kidnapping
A TAGUIG court has found 17 Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) leaders and members guilty of their direct involvement in the 2000 kidnapping of 21 people in Malaysia and for keeping them hostage for months in Sulu. In a 157-page decision dated October 16, Taguig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 153 Judge Mariam Bien found the 17 accused guilty of 21 counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention with ransom and sentenced them to suffer reclusion perpetua for each count. Based on court records, in April 2000, ASG members abducted at gunpoint 21 individuals of different nationalities from a resort in Sipadan Island, Malaysia.
READ: Quadcomm wants OSG to look into alleged land acquisition by Chinese
THE House of Representatives’ quad committee handed documents to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) on Monday for an investigation into alleged land acquisition by Chinese through fraudulent Filipino citizenship. The evidence was gathered during the committee’s investigation of Philippine offshore gaming operators. Among those present at the turnover were quad committee leaders Robert Ace Barbers, Dan Fernandez, and Joseph Stephen Paduano as well as Assistant Solicitors General Hermes Ocampo and Gilbert Medrano. Barbers said the committee had recommended that the documents be given to the OSG so that it could conduct its own investigation for possible forfeiture proceedings for these properties. Ocampo said they would look into the status of the pieces of land.
BUSINESS: Competition watchdog clears Sangley airport JV
Topping business, the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) on Monday said that it had approved a joint venture between the Cavite provincial government and a consortium led by Cavitex Holdings Inc. and listed House of Investments Inc. to develop the $11-billion Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA). The decision was actually reached back in early 2023 and House of Investments had told the Philippine Stock Exchange back in July 23 of this year that it had received a copy of the PCC resolution. It was not immediately known why the PCC only announced the ruling on Monday. In Decision 012-M-009/2023 dated May 30, 2023, the commission said the public-private partnership (PPP) project “will not likely result in a substantial prevention, restriction, or prevention of competition in the relevant market.” It approved the creation of the Sangley Point International Airport Development Consortium, which will develop, own, operate, manage and maintain the SPIA — envisioned as helping alleviate congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
SPORTS: PH grabs 15 medals at Asian Pencak Silat
In sports, the Philippine national pencak silat team grabbed 15 medals at the Asian Pencak Silat Championships held recently in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Angielyn Viriña led the charge for the Philippines as she bagged the country’s only gold medal in the tourney, ruling the Tanding Female Class (Under 45 kgs) Category.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta and Orlando Mercado are today’s front page columnists. Contreras and Makabenta analyze the controversial presser of Vice President Sara Duterte, while Mercado weighs in on Republic Act 12027 or the Act Discontinuing the Use of the Mother Tongue as Medium of Instruction, which lapsed into law.
Today’s editorial looks at the other developments at the Department of Education, particularly the Presidential signing of Republic Act 12028, or the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program. Read the full version in the paper’s opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
For more news and information, read The Manila Times on print, subscribe to its digital edition or log on to www.manilatimes.net. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and LinkedIn; and be part of our communities on Viber, Telegram, and Mastodon.