Good day. Here are the top stories of The Manila Times for Monday, Jan. 1 2024.
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READ: World rings in 2024 amid global tumult
JUBILANT crowds bid farewell to the hottest year on record Sunday, closing a turbulent 12 months marked by clever chatbots, climate crises and wrenching wars in Gaza and Ukraine. However, wars in Ukraine and Gaza cast a pall over celebrations. The world’s population — now over 8 billion — saw out the old and ushered in the new, with many hoping to shake the weight of high living costs and global tumult. In Sydney, the self-proclaimed “New Year’s capital of the world,” more than a million partygoers packed the city’s foreshore. Even before nightfall, tens of thousands of people gathered at vantage points around the city’s iconic Harbor Bridge, defying uncharacteristically dank weather. At midnight, 8 tons of fireworks light the fuse in 2024, a year that will bring elections concerning half the world’s population and a summer Olympiad celebrated in Paris. In New York’s Times Square, crowds of revelers filled the heart of midtown Manhattan. The celebrity-filled event included live performances from Flo Rida, Megan Thee Stallion and LL Cool J, as well as televised appearances from Cardi B and others. However in Muslim-majority Pakistan, the government has banned all New Year’s Eve celebrations as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians.
READ: Asean ministers raise concern over rising SCS tensions
THE foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) expressed concern over recent developments in the South China Sea (SCS) that may undermine peace, security and stability in the region. They reiterated the need to “restore and enhance mutual trust and confidence, as well as exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability, avoid actions that may further complicate the situation, and pursue peaceful resolution of disputes” in accordance with international law. The Asean leaders, in a joint statement shared by the Department of Foreign Affairs on Saturday night, said they “closely follow with concern” the recent developments in the SCS. They did not specify these developments, but in recent months, officials have accused the China Coast Guard of harassing Philippine vessels on a regular supply mission to Filipino fishermen in the Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal and troops in Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea. China insists that these maritime features are part of their territory.
READ: War on drugs relentless – Palace
THE government remains relentless in combating illegal drugs, insurgency, and various forms of criminality, Malacañang said on Sunday. Citing the Department of the Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) year-end report, Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said the government’s multi-sectoral engagements in promoting and ensuring the safety of communities continue. The DILG said one of the agency’s key programs is the Buhay Ingatan, Droga’y Iwasan (BIDA),’ which stresses the government and private sector’s shared responsibility in eradicating illegal drugs. The agency partnered with companies to encourage the imposition of stricter measures and the conduct of random drug testing. It also formed partnerships with major sports leagues and celebrities to feature public service announcements on combating drug abuse. The Philippine National Police (PNP) reported an improvement in the crime-related statistics, with a 0.14 percent drop in overall crime incidences and a 1.38 percent rise in Crime Solution Efficiency from January to December this year compared to the same period in 2022.
READ: Charter change, economic reforms should be addressed in 2024
MARIKINA CITY 2nd District Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo said lawmakers should address the issue of economic reforms in 2024, including the possibility of amending the Constitution to make the country investment-friendly. Quimbo named inflation as one of the major challenges the Philippines faced in 2023. Despite the effort, the Philippines’ 4.3 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter was lower than expected. She added that in 2023, overall gross capital formation saw a year-on-year decrease of 1.6 percent, a decline somewhat mitigated by the upsurge in public spending during the third quarter, noting there was “a significant downturn in foreign direct investments from January to September 2023.” She said the decline was 15.9 percent compared to the same period in 2022.
In Business
READ: Analysis: Inflation moderated in Dec
INFLATION likely moderated for a third straight month in December due to the decline in global crude oil prices, analysts said. The median forecast in a survey of nine economists by •The Manila Times •was 4.0 percent, within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) 3.6-percent to 4.4-percent projection for the month, also in the range of November’s 4.0 percent, but down from the year-earlier 7.8 to 8.0 percent. A 4.4-percent inflation figure would be a rise from 4.1-percent recorded in November. Meanwhile, 3.6 percent would mean that interest rate hikes had finally dampened inflation back to the 2.0- to 4.0-percent target. Almost all analysts polled see inflation easing in December, with one predicting an uptick due to tight rice supplies that continues to drive upward the consumer price index. Inflation data for December will be released by the Philippine Statistics Authority on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024.
Topping Sports
READ: Year of redemption, reemergence for PH basketball
2023 will forever be marked in the minds of basketball-loving Filipinos as the year the Philippines regained the basketball championships in Asia and Southeast Asia. The busy international basketball calendar year saw Gilas Pilipinas embark on its first mission of trying to regain the Southeast Asian Games men’s basketball gold in Cambodia in May. The Philippines, and its version of the “Redeem Team” led by naturalized player Justin Brownlee, opened the SEA Games campaign by bamboozling Malaysia, 94-49. But the first game ended that quickly as an import-dominated Cambodia, a small Southeast Asian country, not known for excelling in the sport, sent Gilas down at the canvas with its 79-68 triumph. The resilient Filipinos, despite drawing the flak and doubters criticizing them on various social media platforms for the loss to the Cambodians, immediately picked themselves up by flattening the Singaporeans, 105-45. Gilas followed that up with a vengeful 84-76 win over Indonesia in a rematch the team was looking forward to in the regional games. After over six decades of heartaches in many Asian Games men’s basketball tournaments, the Philippines joined the 2023 edition in Hangzhou, China overcoming great odds. The national team, this time, was guided by Tim Cone, the PBA’s all-time winningest head coach. Gilas Pilipinas went on to pocket the Asian Games men’s basketball gold after subduing Jordan, 70-60, in the final match in Hangzhou, China on October 6.
READ: Opinion/Editorial
THE urgency in ramping up Marawi is today’s editorial. Read the full version in print or digital or listen to the Voice of the Times. Featured columnists on the front page are Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, Francisco Tatad and Marit Stinus-Cabugon. Aquino writes about the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God; Tatad on navigating the US-China Strait and Cabugon on Zero Waste Month: Starting 2024 right.
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