NewZ NewZ with a Zeal
Good day. Here are the stories of The Manila Times for Saturday, March 8, 2025.Today’s episode is brought to you by Wilcon Depot, The Philippines’ leading home improvement and construction supplies retailer—your Trusted Building Partner.READ: DENR takes over Rizal georeserveTHE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has ordered a government housing contractor to vacate the 300-hectare site in Rizal — home to the Masungi Georeserve — following the cancellation of its 2002 Supplemental Agreement. The agency announced the agreement’s cancellation in a letter to Ben Dumaliang, owner of the Blue Star Construction Development Corp. In the letter, the DENR listed three reasons for the voiding the agreement: the absence of a presidential proclamation declaring the subject matter of the contract for housing purposes, the lack of a document to prove that the proposed construction went through a procurement or bidding process, and the failure to deliver the 5,000-unit Garden Cottages housing project within five years from the signing of the agreement on Nov. 15, 2002. The project was supposed to offer housing for the employees of the DENR, Department of Education (then known as the Department of Education, Culture and Sports), Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of National Defense, Department of Transportation (then Department of Transportation and Communications), Office of the President and the Presidential Management Staff. The additional housing units under the 2002 supplemental agreement were supposed to be located in Lot 10, where the Dumaliang family built structures and currently operates the Masungi Georeserve, which is an ecotourism site with caves, limestone formations, trails and rope bridges.READ: 77% of Filipinos favor joint patrols with alliesAT least 77 out of 100 Filipinos favor the Philippines holding joint exercises and patrols with its allies to help assert the country’s rights over the West Philippine Sea, according to a survey by the Social Weather Stations. The Stratbase ADRi-commissioned poll, conducted from Feb. 15 to 19, showed that the 77 percent of the 1,800 respondents agreed that the “Philippine government must further strengthen its alliance with other countries” through joint patrols, joint sails and joint military exercises to assert and defend the country’s territorial and economic rights in the West Philippine Sea. Respondents from the National Capital Region gave the highest support at 84 percent, followed by the rest of Luzon at 82 percent, Visayas at 77 percent and Mindanao at 64 percent. At a forum in Makati City on Friday, Stratbase ADRi President Dindo Manhit said the survey result signals the need for the country to further reinforce its defense posture and work more closely with allies.READ: Govt steps up drive to fight malnutritionPRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday assured the public the government was taking “urgent, decisive and multi-sectoral” actions to address child malnutrition and stunting among Filipino children. Addressing the 2024 National Nutrition Awarding Ceremony in Quezon City, Marcos said malnutrition “exists at alarming levels” across different stages of life throughout the country. He cited a recent study by the Second Congressional Commission on Education, which found that most students were already two to three years behind curriculum expectations by Grade 3.READ: POGO hub in Makati high-rise raidedWHAT is believed to be a major Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub in Makati City was raided on Thursday by a team led by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission. The POGO occupied 21 floors of the PBCom Tower along Ayala Avenue. The hub had been hastily abandoned by the workers shortly before the team arrived. The air conditioners on three of the floors were still running. Although the power breakers had been turned off, a kettle of tea was still warm, and the rooms were still chilly.The hub appeared to have been in operation based on a security logbook entry made just two hours prior to the raid around 4 or 5 p.m. Witnesses claimed to have seen employees in a hurry to leave the premises. The team found computers, cell phones, SIM cards, hard drives, OTP generators and scripts believed to be used in Bitcoin fraud and other investment scams were strewn on the desks. Authorities said about 600 people, mostly foreigners, were employed by the POGO.BUSINESS: ‘Too early to change’ growth goal – BalisacanOver to business, more data is needed before any revisions are made to growth and other macroeconomic assumptions, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan told reporters on Friday. After gross domestic product (GDP) growth came in at a below-target 5.6 percent last year, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman — the DBCC chairman — last month said that a review would be made in March. The interagency body met three times last year: in April, June and December. The DBCC in December narrowed the 2024 goal to 6.0-6.5 percent from 6.0-7.0 percent. The target for 2025, meanwhile, was expanded to 6.0-8.0 percent from 6.0-7.5 percent and that for 2026-2026 also widened to 6.0-8.0 percent from 6.5-8.0 percent.SPORTS: Savi wants a PVL championshipIn sports, PLDT’s hitter Savi Davison is hungry for a championship in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL). And she is manifesting her intentions inside the playing court. On Tuesday, Davison put up another monstrous performance of 34 points to give PLDT a quarterfinals ticket with a 20-25, 25-20, 25-20, 26-24 victory over ZUS Coffee in the ongoing PVL All-Filipino Conference at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City. Her monster game was built on 32 attacks and two aces and her leadership is off the charts. With her consistent showing, it is not a surprise that she ranked first in scoring with a total of 296 hits in the tournament. The scoring title, however, is not enough as the Filipino-Canadian hitter wants to take her team all the way to the promised land. READ: Opinion and editorialAntonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta, and Danton Remoto are today’s front page columnists. Contreras looks at the issue regarding the funds of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Makabenta calls on the administration to rethink its communications organization, while Remoto recalls some wartime stories from Cebu.Today’s editorial celebrates the progress and analyzes the challenges for women on International Women’s Day. Read more on 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.
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