WITH 4-5 PROMINENT PRESIDENTIAL BETS, 2022 POLL RESULTS MAY BE AS DIVIDED AS 1992 - PULSE ASIA CHIEF

MANILA - Pulse Asia President Ronald Holmes on Thursday said the results of the 2022 presidential elections may be as divided as the 1992 elections and the next leader of the country may again be elected by a plurality vote.

"The smallest plurality vote that we saw was FVR at 23 percent and that contest basically had candidates getting at least around 1/4 to 1/5 of the voting support," he told ANC's Headstart, referring to former President Fidel V. Ramos, the eventual winner of the 1992 race.

"If you have 4 to 5 prominent candidates in 2022, it might end up to be as divided in terms of voting support as the 1992 elections," he said.

Seven candidates battled for the presidency in 1992, the first elections under a multi-party system which was installed after Marcos was ousted from power.

Ramos, a former defense secretary, faced the following: former Senate President Jovito Salonga, former House Speaker Ramon Mitra Jr., then-Vice President Salvador Laurel, former Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Tarlac Gov. Danding Cojuangco, and former First Lady Imelda Marcos.

According to government data, Ramos clinched 23 percent of the vote, with Defensor-Santiago coming in second with 19 percent, then Cojuangco with 18 percent and Mitra with 14 percent.

The latest Pulse Asia survey showed Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio as the most preferred presidential candidate among Filipinos for next year’s national elections.

Duterte-Carpio led the list of 12 probable presidential candidates with 20 percent, followed by senator Bongbong Marcos--the namesake son of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos--with 15 percent, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso with 13 percent, and Sen. Manny Pacquiao at 12 percent.

The daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte had said on Sept. 9 that she would no longer run for president in the 2022 elections after her father accepted his party’s nomination for vice president.

The latest Pulse Asia poll was conducted from September 6 to 11.

NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: 150 CHINESE SHIPS STILL IN WEST PH SEA

MANILA - The National Security Council (NSC) said Wednesday that there are still around 150 Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea.

This was revealed by the NSC to the House of Representatives during the plenary deliberations on the 2022 budget.

Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon defended the agency’s budget during the interpellation of Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas.

"Kino-confirm po ng NSC na meron pa rin ho umaaligid-aligid na Chinese maritime vessels doing fishing operations, moving from one spot to another. Yun nga po ang mga binabantayan ng counterparts sa Philippine side. Kaya nakikita natin yung challenge na ginagawa ng Philippine vessels against these Chinese," Biazon said.

He added that there are around 150 ships in the maritime area, noting that these are big ships.

"Nag-range from 30 to 60-meter vessels. Mga malalaking bapor din. Ito po yung range ng sizes ng vessels," Biazon said.

"Sa appearance nila mukhang civilian vessels kaya tinatawag na maritime militia. They look civilian vessels but you know they have some strategic mission to do out there. Pero pagtinignan po natin mukhang civilian," Biazon said.

"They are civilian vessels. Wala namang nakikitang armaments na naka-install sa vessels na yan sila naman po ay hindi marked as vessels of Chinese navy. In appearance, they are civilian vessels. But as we mentioned they may be doing some functions that have strategic value to China," he added.

Biazon also told Brosas that the NSC is recommending the deployment of civilian vessels by the Philippines to assert the Philippines’ rights in the area.

Biazon said the Department of Foreign Affairs continues to file diplomatic protests over China's incursions in the West Philippine Sea.

CHINA TRIED TO STOP PHILIPPINES-US DEFENSE TREATY REVIEW — LORENZANA

MANILA — Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Thursday revealed that China attempted to oppose the efforts of the Philippines and the United States to revisit the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.

Speaking at an online forum organized by Stratbase ADR Institute, Lorenzana said the United States welcomed this move but "an outside party does not."

"When I first brought the idea of revisiting the MDT, the former Chinese ambassador (Zhao Jianhua) came to me and said, 'Please do not touch the MDT. Leave it as it is,'" Lorenzana said.

Earlier this month, Lorenzana called for a "comprehensive review" of the decades-long treaty due to evolving "geopolitical realities."

PHILIPPINES UNEMPLOYMENT ACCELERATES TO 8.1 PERCENT IN AUGUST, UNDEREMPLOYMENT IMPROVES

MANILA - Unemployment accelerated in August compared to the previous month, according to the latest Labor Force Survey released Thursday by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Unemployment is at 8.1 percent for the month of August compared to 6.9 percent in July, which means 3.88 million Filipinos were jobless for the month, National Statistician Dennis Mapa said in a virtual press conference.

The data reflected Metro Manila's return to enhanced community quarantine in August.

The rise in the unemployment rate was driven by the declines in jobs in education, health, administrative support services, construction and manufacturing, data showed.

The education sector is projected to lose some P11.025 trillion over the next 40 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) earlier said.

Job losses in the sector, as well as the decline in productivity, contributed to the estimate as parents cut working hours to supervise homeschooling, NEDA said.

Job losses in the education sector are seen to decline after President Rodrigo Duterte approved the select implementation of face-to-face classes, economic managers said in a joint statement.

Underemployment, meanwhile, improved to 14.7 percent for the month from 20.9 percent in July. This means about 6.48 million were underemployed or needing more work hours or opportunities.

The improvement in underemployment is proof that the government managed the COVID-19 restrictions better with the implementation of recalibrated lockdown, the economic managers said.

"While the unemployment rate slightly increased, net job creation was significant and the underemployment rate decreased substantially," the statement said.

'MAGKANO INUTANG?' LINCONN ONG MUM ON MICHAEL YANG LOAN TO PHARMALLY - DRILON

Pharmally director Linconn Ong is keeping mum about the loan given by ex-presidential adviser Michael Yang to to finance the Pharmally supply deal worth billions of pesos, Sen. Franklin Drilon said Thursday.

"Isa lang ang tanong ko - magkano ba ang itinulong ni Michael Yang sa Pharmally? Eh ang sagot ay - siya na lang ang tanungin niyo," Drilon told TeleRadyo.

"Inaamin na nanggaling kay Michael Yang. Hindi lang alam kung magkano ang inutang at magkano ang tinubo o interest man kung meron man at kung may commission ba si Michael Yang dun sa mga purchases at pinahiram na pera."

Ong has also issued an open letter claiming that he is receiving death threats to pin President Duterte in the Pharmally deal.

Drilon, however, said he has not even asked Ong about any transaction with Duterte. "If there was nothing wrong with the deal, he should talk," he said.

While a congressman has said that there is nothing wrong with government’s deals with Pharmally, senators have found a number of problems with government’s deals with the firm.

MORE PFIZER, MODERNA COVID-19 JABS ARRIVE IN PHILIPPINES

MANILA — The Philippines received more doses of the vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTecg as the country rushes vaccinations to help fight the surge fueled by the hyper contagious Delta variant.

A total of 1,233,300 Moderna vaccine doses arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport past 9 a.m.

Of the newly-arrived shots, 863,800 doses will be allocated for the Philippine government, while 369,500 shots will go to the International Container Terminals Services Inc., which procured Moderna jabs for its employees.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the Moderna jabs will be deployed to Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Central Visayas, Davao region, Soccsksargen. Areas that reain vulnerable to COVID-19 will also get a share of the additional shots.

The country also received 391,950 government-procured Pfizer vaccine doses on Wednesday evening.

NO LAW, NO MANDATORY VACCINATION – DOJ

MANILA — Although President Duterte can invoke the police power of the state to compel people to have themselves inoculated, he cannot penalize those who refuse to receive the anti-COVID vaccines, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said yesterday.

“The President correctly invoked police power as basis to compel anti-COVID-19 vaccination for everyone except those who have valid reasons. The power rests upon the inherent right of the state and the people to self-protection,” Guevarra said.

“But this power, especially if accompanied by penalties or sanctions to enforce obedience or compliance, must be exercised through the legislature,” he added.

Guevarra said that in order to enforce it with sanctions, it should be backed up by legislation.

“There must be a law making anti-COVID vaccination mandatory. In the absence of such a law, the executive branch may only use moral suasion, including the grant of incentives to encourage widespread voluntary vaccination,” he said.

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339 MORE DELTA CASES RECORDED – DOH

MANILA — The Department of Health (DOH) recorded 339 new cases of the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 in the country yesterday.

At a press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the new cases detected by the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) bring to 3,366 the total Delta variant cases in the country.

Vergeire said the 339 new cases account for 45.3 percent of the 633 additional cases of P.3 and other variants of concern as sequenced by the PGC out of 748 swab samples.

A total of 186 or 24.9 percent of these are Beta variant cases and 98 or 13.1 percent Alpha variant cases; nine or 1.2 percent, P.3 variant cases, and one was a Gamma variant case.

“This batch is included in the retrospective samples from the months of April to June 2021 to help in our epidemiologic and phylogenetic analysis and mapping that DOH is doing with PGC,” Vergeire said.

P9,000 MONTHLY RISK ALLOWANCE SOUGHT FOR HEALTHCARE WORKERS

MANILA — A monthly special risk allowance (SRA) of P9,000 was pushed by the Department of Health (DOH) for all health care workers (HCWs) directly handling COVID-19 patients at House plenary deliberations on its proposed P242.22-billion budget for next year.

Late Tuesday night, deliberations tackled the additional P49 billion sought by the DOH to fund the allowance scheme for HCWs, who would be categorized as low-risk, medium-risk or high-risk.

The DOH explained that P9,000 in SRA would be given to high-risk HCWs who are in direct contact with COVID-19 patients; P6,000 for medium-risk workers and P3,000 for low-risk workers.

Through its sponsor Cebu fifth district Rep. Vince Franco Frasco, the department said the proposed appropriation would cover a total of 526,727 medical frontliners nationwide.

“This covers several hospitals, employees, health care workers and several hospitals, health employees in LGUs and health workers in private hospitals and even in military hospitals,” the lawmaker bared.

At present, HCWs are given a maximum of P5,000 per month in SRA and P3,000 for active hazard duty. But medical frontliners have complained of receiving measly amounts that were even delayed for months.

PHILIPPINES RANKS LAST IN COVID-19 RESILIENCE REPORT

MANILA — The Philippines fell to last place in a study that measures the resilience and response of countries to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With a score of 40.2, the Philippines ranked last among 53 countries included in Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking, which shows “where the virus is being handled the most effectively with the least social and economic upheaval.”

This was one place down from its 52nd ranking in the previous report.

“The Philippines faces a perfect storm in that it’s grappling with the more ferocious Delta variant at the same time as it works with an inadequate testing regime and sees disruptions to its economy and people’s livelihoods as the pandemic continues to rage,” Bloomberg said in a piece explaining the country’s drop to the 53rd place.

The country scored low on all four of Bloomberg’s metrics related to opening: vaccination coverage rate, lockdown severity, flight capacity, and vaccinated travel routes.

The Philippines also had the second worst positivity test rate in the list at 27%.

Southeast Asian nations occupied the bottom rungs of the ranking: Indonesia (49th), Thailand (50th), Malaysia (51st) and Vietnam (52nd).

“While the region’s outbreak may have peaked, their export-reliant economies are still struggling from the hit,” Bloomberg said.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

VICE GANDA NAIISIP NA ANG PAGPAPAKASAL, PAGKAKAROON NG SARILING ANAK

Tila handa na ang komedyante at host na si Vice Ganda na bumuo ng kaniyang sariling pamilya at ikasal matapos aminin sa podcast nina Jugs Jugueta at Teddy Corpuz na naiisip na na ang ganitong posibilidad.

Sa kaniyang panayam sa “Soundtrip with Jugs & Teddy”, ikinuwento ni Vice ang mga nangyari sa kaniyang buhay pag-ibig noon na halos magpaniwala sa kaniya na wala nang magmamahal sa kaniya ng tunay at buo.

Lalo pa itong nakaramdam ng lungkot nang unti-unti nang magpakasal ang mga kasamahan sa “It’s Showtime.”

“Unti-unti nang nagsi-sink in sa'kin na impossible yata. Pero mayroon pang manipis na manipis na hibla ng pag-asa na di ko talaga binibitawan, 'Te, meron to.' Antayin ko,” bulas ni Vice.

Aniya, gusto rin niya mabago ang tawag sa kaniyang komedyante ng lover, partner, at parent.

Ikinagulat ito nina Jugueta at Corpuz at tinanong si Vice kung seryoso na ito sa ideya ng pagiging magulang.

“Kino-consider ko na talaga siya. Gusto ko na maging parent. Kasi dati, 'no, not my thing.' Hindi ko kayang mag-alaga ng bata. Tapos eventually nag-grow sakin yung pagkagusto ko sa bata dahil sa 'Showtime', sa mga Star Cinema na ginagawa kong pelikula,” pag-amin nito.

Dagdag pa ng komedyante, pakiramdam niya ay kaya na niya bumuhay ng bata at mukhang magiging mabuting magulang din umano siya.

SPORTS

UNVACCINATED NBA PLAYERS TO FACE EXTENSIVE COVID-19 CURBS

NBA players who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 will have to comply with a long list of restrictions to take part in the upcoming season, according to a memo obtained by Reuters.

The National Basketball Association's tentative protocols released to teams on Tuesday showed vaccinated players will only be tested if they show coronavirus symptoms or are a close contact of a positive case.

However, unvaccinated players will have to undergo daily testing prior to entering a team facility, participating in team activities or interacting with players and coaches.

The protocols outlined in the memo are pending agreement between the league and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA).

The NBPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The 2021-2022 season is set to begin on Oct. 19 amid continuing concerns over the highly contagious delta variant of the novel coronavirus that has hit those who are unvaccinated particularly hard.

A handful of high-profile players, including Brooklyn Nets' Kyrie Irving and Washington Wizards Bradley Beal, have publicly refused to receive the shots, while some have repeated claims about the vaccine shown to be false by medical professionals.

"It’s untrue," the nation's top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci told the Hugh Hewitt syndicated radio show on Wednesday referring to claims that the COVID-19 vaccine is dangerous or could hurt those who receive it.

"Although I do respect people’s individual rights... when you’re dealing with a deadly pandemic, you’ve got to also understand your responsibility to the society within which you live."

Among U.S. adults, 11% - or roughly 23 million people - have said they do not want the vaccine, do not plan to get it and that there was nothing that would encourage them to do so, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in August.

Meanwhile, four-time NBA champion LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers said he decided to get the vaccine after initially being sceptical but stopped short of widely encouraging the jabs.

"I don't talk about other people and what they should do," James said. "I don't think I personally should get involved in what other people do for their bodies and livelihoods ... I felt like it was best suited for me and my family and my friends."

NLEX DEF. MERALCO, 81-80, FORCES DO-OR-DIE

Rookie Calvin Oftana nailed the game-winning layup as NLEX Road Warriors beat No. 2 seed Meralco Bolts, 81-80 to force a do-or-die game in the quarterfinals of the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday at the Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU) Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.

Anthony Semerad led the Road Warriors with game-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting including 5 three-pointers, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal. Calvin Oftana finished the game with 12 points (5/14 FG, 2/8 3PT), 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 1 block in 32 minutes of play. Don Trollano with a solid game of 12 points (6/12 FG), 8 rebounds and 3 assists.

The rubber match will take place on Friday, October 1.

The Scores:

NLEX 81 - Semerad 23, Oftana 12, Trollano 12, Cruz 10, Alas 9, Miranda 5, Soyud 4, Quinahan 4, Paniamogan 2, Ighalo 0.

MERALCO 80 - Maliksi 16, Belo 12, Quinto 11, Hugnatan 11, Caram 9, Newsome 7, Almazan 6, Hodge 6, Pasaol 2, Pinto 0, Baclao 0.

Quarters: 20-26, 44-42, 63-64, 81-80.

TNT ELIMINATES GINEBRA, 84-71

No. 1 seed TNT Tropang GIGA eliminates the defending champion Barangay Ginebra, 84-71 in the quarterfinals of the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday at the Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU) Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.

RR Pogoy led the Tropang GIGA in scoring with 16 points (6/15 FG, 2/7 3PT), 4 steals, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block. Troy Rosario with a solid game of 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists while rookie Mikey Williams added 11 points on 5-of-14 shooting, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in 36 minutes of play.

The Tropang GIGA spoiled Christian Standhardinger's huge double-double performance of 17 points (5/12 FG, 7/12 FT), 19 rebounds and 1 assist. TNT shot 33/78 or 42% from the field (Ginebra - 22/72 FG, 6/20 3PT) including a 8-of-38 shooting from downtown and went 10-of-14 from the free throw line and committed 16 turnovers (Ginebra - 20TO) in the contest.

TNT advances to the semifinal against the winner of San Miguel-NorthPort quarterfinal series.

The Scores:

TNT 84 - Pogoy 16, Rosario 15, M. Williams 11, Montalbo 10, Erram 9, Castro 7, Khobuntin 5, K. Williams 4, Heruela 3, Reyes 2, Marcelo 2, Exciminiano 0, Alejandro 0, Javir 0, Mendoza 0.

GINEBRA 71 - Standhardinger 17, Pringle 15, Tenorio 9, Ayaay 9, Chan 5, Devance 5, Dillinger 4, Caperal 4, Mariano 3, Salado 0.

Quarters: 17-21, 39-33, 66-49, 84-71.

INDICATORS

FOREX $1 = P 50.86

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

What we don't understand we don't possess. - JW von Goethe