Good day. Here are the stories of The Manila Times for Tuesday, February 11, 2025.
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READ: Graft case filed vs House leaders
ALLIES of former president Rodrigo Duterte on Monday filed graft complaints against Speaker Martin Romualdez and other lawmakers before the Office of the Ombudsman over alleged insertions in the 2025 national budget. The complainants, led by staunch Duterte ally and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, accused Romualdez, House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co and Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo of falsifying legislative documents. Alvarez was joined by lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, PDP-Laban senatorial bet Jimmy Bondoc, Citizens Crime Watch (CCW) president Diego Magpantay, and Virgilio Garcia in filing the complaint. Administration lawmakers dismissed the case as an attempt to divert attention from the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte. House Deputy Majority Leader and La Union 1st District Rep. Paolo Ortega said the complaint was “baseless,” while House Assistant Majority Leader and Zambales 1st District Rep. Jay Khonghun said it was “nothing more than a desperate move to discredit the impeachment process.”
READ: Prosecutors seek VP’s bank records
The House of Representatives’ prosecutors are preparing to request subpoenas for Vice President Sara Duterte’s bank records to strengthen the impeachment case against her once the Senate gathers to try it as a court. Last week, the House impeached Duterte and transmitted the articles of impeachment to the Senate. Over 200 House lawmakers supported the impeachment complaint. Among the allegations was that she committed culpable violation of the Constitution and/or betrayal of public trust “In Amassing Unexplained Wealth And Failing To Disclose All Her Properties And Interests In Properties In Her” Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.
READ: DA chief defends onion imports against criticism
AGRICULTURE Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on Monday justified importing onions amid criticism that doing so would hurt farmers. Tiu Laurel said he understands the sentiments of onion producers but said his decision merely sought to address the dwindling supply. The official said data from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) showed a 7,000-ton deficit in onion supply for this month, and importation as a means to fill the gap is a “tactical move.”
READ: Big Chinese research vessel monitored in PH waters
ONE of China’s biggest fisheries research vessels has been spotted passing through the Philippines’ archipelagic waters, SeaLight, a transparency initiative tracking developments in the South China Sea said Monday. Retired US Air Force colonel Ray Powell, director of SeaLight, reported on Monday that the vessel, the Lan Hai 101, appears to be en route to the Philippine Sea. Meanwhile, its companion ship, Lan Hai 201, remains in the Arabian Sea, continuing its purported fisheries research operations. Powell said that the Lan Hai 101 took an unusual route, traveling north through the Philippines’ internal waters after coming up from the Celebes Sea. The more direct route would have been west of Palawan, raising questions about the ship’s actual purpose in the region. The presence of the Lan Hai 101 in Philippine waters adds to mounting concerns about China’s expanding maritime footprint. While Beijing claims these ships are conducting fisheries research, analysts and security experts fear they may also be gathering critical maritime intelligence.
READ: Marcos appoints 2 new election commissioners
THE seven-man Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc is now complete after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. named two career officials as new commissioners following the mandatory retirement early this month of Commissioners Socorro Inteng and Marlon Casquejo. The new commissioners are Comelec legal department chief Maria Norina Tangaro-Casingal and Comelec Region 1 Director Noli Pipo. They will assume their respective posts in ad interim capacity. Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia confirmed Casingal and Pipo’s appointments. Following the Comelec’s receipt of a transmittal letter from Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Casingal immediately took her oath of office before the Comelec chief. Garcia said Pipo will take his oath on Wednesday.
BUSINESS: Net FDI plunges in Nov
Headlining business, net foreign direct investments (FDIs) remained positive in November but were markedly lower compared to the previous month and a year earlier, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Monday. At $901 million, the net inflow fell by 19.8 percent from $1.1 billion a year ago and was also down 11.8 percent compared to last October’s $1.02 billion. Year to date, however, net FDI was 4.4 percent higher at $8.6 billion from the $8.2 billion seen in January-November 2023. The BSP attributed the November decline to a 17.9-percent contraction in nonresidents’ net investments in debt instruments, which fell to $791 million from $964 million a year ago. Net investments in equity capital also plunged, by 58.9 percent to $35 million from $85 million, but reinvestments of earnings edged up by 1.1 percent to $74 million.
SPORTS: Obiena fails to defend Istaf Indoor crown
In sports, fatigue might have factored in Filipino pole vault ace Ernest John “EJ” Obiena’s first miss of the podium this year. Less than 24 hours after ruling the Meeting Metz Moselle Athlelor men’s pole vault in France, Obiena placed seventh only and thus lost his title at the Istaf Indoor at the PSD Bank Dome in Dusseldorf, Germany on Sunday evening (Manila time). Winning last year’s edition with a 5.93-meter clearance, an Asian indoor record, Obiena cleared 5.55m only this time to finish seventh in the 8-man field. Home bet Torblen Blech claimed the gold medal as he surpassed 5.80m, while Paris Games silver medalist Sam Kendricks of the United States snared a silver with a 5.70m clearance in just one try. Kendricks defeated Ersu Sasma of Turkey via countback as the latter likewise cleared the same height as the former but did so in two attempts. Obiena skipped 5.35 m and 5.45 before acing 5.55 in just one attempt but that turned out to be the last clearance he could make.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta, and Orlando Mercado are today’s front page columnists. Contreras talks about the issues of the impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, Makabenta wants the Constitution to be “stripped of cant, false hopes, and judgments”, and Mercado discusses importing Vietnamese-made vaccines.
Today’s editorial tackles the issues of the rising prices of food items. Read the full version in the paper’s opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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