Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Friday, October 11, 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: Marcos challenges China over clashes
President Ferdinand Marcos challenged Chinese Premier Li Qiang over recent clashes in the South China Sea at regional summit talks on Thursday, as fears grow that conflict could erupt in the disputed waterway. Li met the leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) at their gathering in Laos after a day of discussions dominated by the Myanmar civil war. Recent months have seen a spate of violent clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels in waters around disputed reefs and islands in the South China Sea.
READ: 35 party-lists unaccredited but still filed their CoCs
THIRTY-FIVE of the 190 party-list groups that filed their certificates of candidacy (CoCs) and certificates of nomination and acceptance (CoNAs) have not been accredited, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Thursday. Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said the 35 groups had petitions that were dismissed or rejected, or their motions for reconsideration were not approved, but they decided to file anyway. Garcia surmised that this could be part of their strategy for bringing their case to the Supreme Court. Garcia said that the 155 accredited party-lists were comprised of 113 groups that were previously accredited in past elections while the 42 others were newly accredited groups. He pointed out that the number of partylist groups for the 2025 elections is lower compared to the 177 filers in the last 2022 polls. He added that the commission expected that all 155 accredited partylists would file their CoCs and CoNAs but only 150 did. Under the law, party-list groups receiving at least 2 percent of the total votes for the party-list system shall be entitled to one guaranteed seat each. If an organization gets more than 2 percent, it may be entitled to additional seats, provided that no party-list organization can hold more than three seats, regardless of the total number of votes.
READ: KoJC exec enters plea deal in US
MARISSA Duenas, the human resources manager for the California branch of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KoJC), has entered into a plea bargaining agreement with the US Attorney’s Office. The 15-page agreement was signed by Assistant US Attorney Gregory Staples on Tuesday, October 8. Duenas and her lawyer John Littrell signed it a day earlier. Duenas agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges for defrauding the US in exchange for a reduced sentence. As part of the agreement, federal prosecutors will drop the remaining charges against Duenas, which were tied to her role in a larger investigation into KoJC’s alleged labor trafficking activities. This case is part of an ongoing investigation involving KoJC leader Pastor Quiboloy, who is on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most wanted list. The KoJC founder and several of his associates were indicted by a US federal grand jury in 2021. They are accused of orchestrating a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members into the US using fraudulently obtained visas. These individuals were allegedly forced to solicit donations for a fake charity, with the funds reportedly used to finance the extravagant lifestyles of Quiboloy and other church leaders. Quiboloy is also accused of sexually exploiting women and underage girls, under the pretense of religious duty.
BUSINESS: Trade deficit widens to $4.38B in August
Topping business, the country’s trade deficit expanded in August from a year earlier as imports edged up and exports barely moved, Philippine Statistics Authority data showed on Wednesday. The $4.37-billion shortfall — up from $4.10 billion in August last year — came as imports rose 2.7 percent to $11.12 billion and exports grew by just 0.3 percent to $6.75 billion, respectively, from $10.83 billion and $6.73 billion. It narrowed from the $4.87-billion trade deficit posted in July when exports hit $6.25 billion and imports $11.13 billion. Total external merchandise trade rebounded by 1.8 percent to $17.87 billion after the year-earlier 7.2-percent drop to $17.56 billion and also improved from July’s $17.38 billion. Year to date, exports grew 2.3 percent to $49.4 billion from $48.3 billion in the comparable 2023 period, while exports were 0.5 percent lower at $83.7 billion from $84.17 billion a year earlier. Electronics remained the country’s top export, accounting for $3.57 billion or 52.9 percent of total exports in August. Manufactured goods and mineral products followed at $578.16 million and $272.16 million, respectively. The United States was the biggest buyer of Philippine-made goods during the month, having purchased $1.22 billion or 18.1 percent of total exports. Rounding out the top five were Hong Kong ($942.56 million or 14.0 percent), Japan ($953.33 million or 13.9 percent), China ($849.38 million or 12.6 percent) and South Korea ($332.64 million or 4.9 percent).
SPORTS: Cone still not a fan of 4-point shot
Over to sports, Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone has maintained his stance that he is not a fan of the four-point shot. Ironically, Barangay Ginebra used the four-point shot as a key weapon in beating San Miguel Beer in Game 1 of their PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup semifinal series. The American mentor, however, insisted the game is more than just shooting four-point shots. Ginebra’s resident import Justin Brownlee stood at the forefront of the Gin Kings’ torrid shooting display as he made five of his six attempts from the four-point zone to lead his team to the easy Game 1 victory.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Rigoberto Tiglao and Francisco Tatad are today’s front page columnists. Tiglao says the race of the so-called “Lucky Sperm Club” is on, while Tatad has a list of questions for senatorial aspirants in next year’s elections.
Today’s editorial calls for a global action against the “outsourcing” of babies. Read the full version in the paper’s opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
READ: Times celebrates 126th year with launch of streaming channel
FOR more than a century, The Manila Times has been a witness to major events and dramatic shifts in the country’s history and reported these to Filipinos and the rest of the world. One of those shifts — the rapid development of digital media — has also changed the way The Manila Times goes about its business of keeping people informed. Today, aside from its flagship daily print edition The Times also publishes a digital edition available to users online and on their devices, as well as its website and its social media handles. The Times also launched its first streaming channel, developed by Castify Ltd., where viewers can watch the paper’s exclusive content and receive daily updates through their devices. In addition, an app was launched on October 6, and can be downloadable on Google Play or on the Apple App Store.
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