Marcos Jr. swears in PCG chief, othersMANILA, Philippines — President Marcos yesterday swore in new officials of various government agencies, led by Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commander Vice Admiral Roy Echeverria. At a ceremony held at Malacañang, Marcos urged the new officials to continue to demonstrate excellence and integrity while performing their respective duties. Big patrol shipIn a related development, the PCG will get a big patrol ship and an additional budget in 2024, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said yesterday. “Part of the … amendment that we are working on for the 2024 budget is the purchase of equipment like patrol ships, large patrol ships, offshore patrol ships, not just those 100-footer, 70-footer ones that you see. The larger patrol ships can be used in far-reaching ocean areas ... We commit to get that in this budget,” Zubiri said.

Marcos lifts rice price capRice dealers display rice and their prices at New York Street, Cubao, Quezon City on April 16, 2023. MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has announced the immediate removal of the price ceiling on rice after about a month since its imposition. 39 had imposed a P41 per kilogram cap on regular-milled rice and P45 per kilogram on well-milled rice. Rice retailers have heavily opposed the price ceiling due to the larger overhead costs that come with trading the household staple. The “contradictory” government policies on rice regulation had even prompted Sen. Risa Hontiveros to file a Senate resolution seeking a probe into it, particularly the setting of a price ceiling and removal of tariffs on rice.

NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s court appearances are no longer distractions from his campaign to return to the White House. ADVERTISEMENTNonetheless, Trump’s presence demonstrated how deftly he has used his legal woes to benefit his campaign. But by the end of the day, Trump’s mood had changed. The week has also shown how Trump’s campaign intends to balance court appearances with traditional campaigning. His trial in Georgia over his efforts to subvert the results of the state’s 2020 election hasn’t yet been scheduled.

The Japanese always liked to build in wood for its warm, human qualities, but due to fire danger it was replaced by steel and concrete. New technologies are now bringing it back. We'll see wood fireproofed with a liquefied glass coating, and pillars made from layers of wood and gypsum board as fire-resistant as steel or concrete that allow the construction of large all-wooden structures. These new Japanese technologies could safely bring back the comfort and human touch of wood to buildings worldwide. VIDEO BY MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF JAPAN

A bus driver was suspended from duty following a crash involving two double-decker buses in Sau Mau Ping on Monday night, where he needed a passenger’s help to reverse the bus. Responding to media inquiries, KMB confirmed the incident occurred when the route 214 bus was traveling along New Clear Water Bay Road and reached On Sau Road around 9.30 pm. The passenger shot the video on the upper deck and was walking down to the lower deck when the rolling bus crashed into the bus behind it for a second time. The passenger cursed at the first bus driver in the front and also told the driver of the bus he was in that he had shot a video, to which the driver said thank you. After the incident, the front of the route 88 bus was damaged, and the windscreen cracked.

Government ready to lift rice price capsA vendor shows well-milled rice sold for P41 per kilo and premium rice for P56 per kilo sold at a store in Commonwealth Market, Quezon City on September 6, 2023. “From our parameters, it seems that we are ready (to lift the price ceilings). The EO set the price cap on regular milled rice at P41 per kilogram and that of the well-milled rice at P45 per kilogram. These include providing logistics support to rice traders, financial assistance to Filipino farmers and unconditional rice price subsidies to poor consumers. In a statement, the Presidential Communications Office said rice prices have also gone down close to the price ceiling, with the average price of regular milled rice at about P41.91 per kilo and for well-milled rice at P45.95.

Public trust was also down by 14 points for Marcos, at 71 percent, and by 12 points for Duterte, at 75 percent. Duterte saw a smaller though still double-digit fall of 11 to 13 percent across all socioeconomic classes. Both the President and VP saw the biggest fall in trust ratings in Luzon, at 20 and 18 points, respectively. They still enjoy majority approval and trust ratings. Because BBM and Inday Sara suffered significant drops, speculation revolves around the issues that might have negatively affected them.

Photo from PCOAt a Palace press briefing, DA-Bureau of Plant Industry Director Gerald Glenn Panganiban said there were several indicators for lifting the price cap, including the decreasing rice prices in local markets during the implementation of the price ceiling in the country. Under the EO, the mandated price cap for regular milled rice is P41 per kilogram, while the mandated price ceiling for well-milled rice is P45.00 per kilogram. Panganiban said around "80 to 90 percent" of rice retailers have complied with the implementation of the mandated price ceilings. Records would show that the supply of rice in the market is equivalent to 52 days by end of September. When asked if there were other conditions the government needed to achieve before Marcos could lift the mandatory price ceilings on rice, Panganiban said, "There are other indicators that may be considered.

Previous NextA police sergeant drew his service revolver in Cheung Sha Wan in a failed attempt to stop a black vehicle suspected of carrying drugs. The pedestrian, 41, sustained head injuries and felt dizzy, while one of the taxi drivers, 65, sustained neck injuries. The other taxi driver, 60, sustained minor neck injuries but refused to be taken to hospital. A traffic officer immediately rushed out of the police car and tried to open the door of the black car but failed. "An officer ordered the driver to leave his vehicle, but the black vehicle suddenly started an escape attempt after stopping for around 30 seconds.

‘Pass-through fee removal to result in faster delivery’Executive Order 41 prohibits local government units from collecting pass-through fees on national roads and suspends the collection of any form of fees for all types of vehicles transporting goods. MANILA, Philippines — The suspension of pass-through fees will not only bring down logistics costs but also ensure faster delivery of products, according to the Department of Trade and Industry. Executive Order 41 prohibits local government units from collecting pass-through fees on national roads and suspends the collection of any form of fees for all types of vehicles transporting goods. In a news forum over the weekend, Trade Undersecretary Kim Lokin said EO 41 addresses the ease of doing business. This comes after President Marcos issued a rice price cap, which prompted them to issue a P15,000 subsidy to rice retailers who will be affected by the price cut, along with the sari-sari store owners.

Nobel prize for medicine goes to COVID-19 vaccine researchersHealthcare workers get vaccinated against COVID-19 during the launch of the bivalent Pfizer vaccine at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan on June 22, 2023. STOCKHOLM – Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman won the Nobel Medicine Prize on Monday for work on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology that paved the way for the groundbreaking COVID-19 vaccines. The World Health Organization declared COVID a pandemic in March 2020 and the mRNA vaccines were approved for use in December that year. Both these innovations were key to the Covid-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. The pair will receive their Nobel prize, consisting of a diploma, a gold medal and a $1-million check, in Stockholm on Dec. 10.

Paalam climbs the ring against the 23-year-old Uzbek at 7:30 p.m. at the Hangzhou gymnasium. The Tokyo silver medal winner needed to dispatch Uulu Munarbek Seiitbek of Kyrgyzstan in the Round-of-16 by the score of 4-1 to reach the quarterfinals. Seiitbek, 27, was bronze medalist in the last World Championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Carlo Paalam (blue) battles Uulu Munarbek Seiitbek of Kyrgyzstan during the 19th Asian Games boxing competitions at the Hangzhou gymnasium on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. CONTRIBUTED PHOTONow, Paalam will have to go through no less than the gold medal winner himself in a bid to join Marcial in the semis.

PROPERTY developer Phinma Properties recently recognized the housing proposals of nine teams from the Architecture Program of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in a competition. The entries were screened based on their compliance with the innovation, buildability, ecological and sustainability impact, functionality aesthetics, and class requirements. Project Mayumi, crafted by Thea Florez, Yvonne Paez, Louise Pitoy and James Tan, clinched the first prize for the 125-square-meter category. It installed rotating bamboo windows and solar roof shingles to absorb the sun's rays and convert them into electricity. Learn more about Phinma Properties at http://phinmaproperties.com/.

Two people were injured after a car chase in Cheung Sha Wan on Monday morning, in which a police officer pulled a gun on a driver before he escaped pursuit in a sedan. The chase continued until they reached the junction of Castle Peak Road and Tai Nan West Street, where the driver had to stop due to the traffic. Officers got out of the police vehicle, with one pointing his gun at the sedan driver to warn and order the man to surrender. The driver instead chose to take a U-turn, ramming into two taxis, one sedan and a passerby before fleeing the scene. After a preliminary investigation, the police believed the driver was a drug dealer and are currently tracking him down.

Worldwide, new technologies are being developed to conserve global resources, and Japan's latest contribution is innovative methods for reducing the environmental burden of papermaking. We'll see a system already in use in offices, which - in a world first - turns used paper into new, erasing all the printing, and best of all requiring virtually no water. Another revolutionary paper technology uses limestone, a very common rock, as raw material. This gives a paper that's highly liquid- and tear-resistant, and can also replace plastic in many products. VIDEO BY MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF JAPANGet the latest newsdelivered to your inbox Sign up for The Manila Times newsletters By signing up with an email address, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy