KUWTT: 'Give workers second booster' | June 23, 2022

Good day. Here are the top stories of The Manila Times for Thursday, June 23, 2022.

READ: 'Give workers second booster'

PRESIDENTIAL Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Maria "Joey" Concepcion 3rd on Wednesday urged the government to approve second booster shots for employees "who are now keeping our economy afloat." The Go Negosyo founder made the appeal following the decision of the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) to allow the recommendation of Covid-19 booster shots for immunocompromised minors ages 12 to 17. Concepcion said vaccinations have a high acceptance rate among employees and that the private sector already has its own supply of vaccines. Moreover, he said that the majority have already taken their first booster shots and may already be in need of second boosters. Allowing second boosters for this segment will bring many benefits, Concepcion said.

READ: Immunocompromised teens get booster shots

THE Philippines has started the administration of Covid-19 vaccine booster to immunocompromised adolescents ages 12 to 17. Members of the group are eligible to receive their first booster shot 28 days after they got their primary doses. The government initiated the campaign as 32 additional BA.5 Omicron subvariant cases were reported in the country on Wednesday, the highest number of subvariant detections in a sequencing run. The Western Visayas region recorded 21 cases of BA.5 while four each were detected in the National Capital Region and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon). Central Luzon recorded three cases. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said nine of the 21 cases from Western Visayas were detected in a workplace cluster and three in a household cluster. All but two of the cases were fully vaccinated, one was partially vaccinated while the remaining one was unverified. A total of 22 displayed mild symptoms, five were asymptomatic and five are yet to be verified for manifestation of the disease. Vergeire said that while there is a sustained increase in the number of infections, the number of severe and critical cases remain stable and will not translate to more hospitalizations.

READ: 1,000 dead in Afghanistan quake

A powerful earthquake struck a rural, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, killing 1,000 people and injuring 1,500 more in one of the deadliest temblors in decades, the state-run news agency reported. Officials warned that the already grim toll may still rise. Information remained scarce on the magnitude 6.1 temblor near the Pakistani border, but quakes of that strength can cause severe damage in an area where homes and other buildings are poorly constructed and landslides are common. Experts put the depth at just 10 kilometers (6 miles) — another factor that could lead to severe destruction. The disaster posed a major test for the Taliban-led government, which seized power last year as the US planned to pull out from the country and end its longest war, two decades after toppling the same insurgents in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Neighboring Pakistan's Meteorological Department said the quake's epicenter was in Afghanistan's Paktika province, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of the city of Khost. Buildings were also damaged in Khost province, and tremors were felt some 375 kilometers (230 miles) away in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

READ: TMT Forum tackles manufacturing in the PH

TITLED "Repurposing Industry for Retooling the Economy," The Manila Times forum today will highlight growth prospects in the manufacturing sector. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez is optimistic that the Philippine manufacturing industry, one of the biggest drivers of the country's economic growth, would return to its robust pre-pandemic state. Today's forum speakers include Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry President George Barcelon and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Dr. Rafaelita Aldaba. Moderated by The Manila Times editors Conrad Cariño and Dafort Villaseran, the forum will be available for public viewing from 10 a.m. to 12 noon via The Manila Times Facebook page, as well as its YouTube and Dailymotion channels. In Business

READ: PH budget deficit seen shrinking

THE Philippine national government's budget deficit is expected to shrink this year and the next, Fitch Solutions said, which bodes well for debt sustainability. The research company said in a report released on Wednesday that it now anticipates the Philippines' fiscal shortfall as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) to be 7.5 percent in 2022 and 6.2 percent in 2023, down from 8.6 percent in 2021. The Fitch Group unit said the forecasts have been revised down from its previous estimate of 8.1 percent in 2022 and 6.7 percent in 2023 after the release of the National Budget Memorandum (NBM) last June 9, detailing the fiscal aggregates which are approved by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) on May 24. The Philippines will begin prioritizing fiscal consolidation in 2022, according to the NBM, with an aim of reducing the fiscal deficit to 4.1 percent by 2025.

Topping Sports

READ: Tim Cone joins PH team coaching staff

JUST like old times, TNT coach Chot Reyes and Ginebra coach Tim Cone will be working together to steer the Philippine men's basketball team in the 2023 World Cup, where the country is co-hosting the event with Japan and Indonesia. Reyes, head coach of the Gilas Pilipinas program, bared this after he received his sixth Coach of the Year award from the PBA Press Corps on Tuesday night. Reyes, who owns a PBA record six Coach of the Year awards, has reached out to his old friend, Cone, the winningest coach in PBA history with 24 championships and the only mentor to win two grand slams.

READ: Serena makes winning return

Serena Williams made a winning comeback after a year on the sidelines as the American legend teamed with Ons Jabeur to beat Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova 2-6, 6-3, 13-11 in the Eastbourne International doubles on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila). Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, was back in action for the first time since she made a tearful exit from Wimbledon last year. The 40-year-old suffered a leg injury during her Wimbledon first round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich and had not been seen on court since. Before Williams made the surprise announcement of her return last week, rumours of retirement had swirled around her for several months. But, with Wimbledon starting on June 27, Williams finally resumed her career, playing with Jabeur at the Wimbledon warm-up event by the Sussex seaside.

READ: Op/Ed

The Times, in its Editorial, lauds the Asian Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency for their willingness to take a substantial risk in the Philippines in helping to completely transform the country's underdeveloped public transportation infrastructure. Read the full version in the Opinion Section of the paper's print and digital editions or listen to the Voice Of The Times. Featured columnists in the front page are Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta and Danton Remoto. Contreras writes about the real victims of political turmoil, citing martial law under the regime the late Ferdinand Marcos Sr.; Makabenta on between campaigning and governing; and Danton Remoto on Jal Laylo, the Filipino who was shot by a gunman in Philadelphia on June 20, and who was his friend and colleague.

For more news and information, get a copy of The Manila Times on print, subscribe to its digital edition or log on to www.manilatimes.net. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and Keep Up With The Times.

This is Christian Crow Maghanoy reporting.

Source: TheManila Times