HEADLINES: Summit to spur investments | Apr. 12, 2024

HEADLINES: Summit to spur investments | Apr. 12, 2024

Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Friday, April 12, 2024.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Wilcon Depot, The Philippines’ leading home improvement and construction supplies retailer—your Trusted Building Partner.

READ: Summit to spur investments

The Philippine government hopes to generate about $100 billion in investments across various sectors in the next five to 10 years as a result of the historic three-way summit here with US President

Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez bared this target as he noted that Marcos and his economic managers have been meeting with major players from different sectors such as energy, digital infrastructure, and semiconductor manufacturing.

READ: 2 Navy pilots die in chopper crash

TWO pilots died when a Philippine Navy trainer helicopter crashed near the Cavite City public market Thursday. Navy spokesman Commander John Percie Alcos said the Navy’s Robinson R22 trainer chopper, which took off from the Sangley Airport in Cavite City for a training flight, developed engine trouble and crashed at 6:45 a.m. The chopper made an “emergency landing” near the city market, and the pilots were taken to nearby hospitals but they did not survive.

READ: Manila drops in list of smart cities

MANILA ranked 121st among 142 smart cities in the world, sliding six places from last year, based on the latest Smart City Index. According to the study initiated

by the Institute for Management and Development World Competitiveness Center’s Smart City Observatory, this marked the third consecutive year that the ranking of the Philippine capital declined. The findings showed that Manila did well in specific areas, such as providing online access to employment opportunities as well as easier online purchasing of tickets to shows and museums. The 2024 SCI showed that respondents were most concerned about health services (53.9 percent), corruption and transparency (50.6 percent), unemployment (45.9 percent) and public transport.

READ: Metro traffic woes worsened – Abalos

INTERIOR and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said traffic congestion in Metro Manila has increased by 17.68 percent from 2019 to 2023 due to a larger volume of vehicles, accidents, and a lack of discipline among motorists. Abalos added that road configurations and conditions, as well as policies and penalty systems, exacerbated the problem even more. He said local government units up to the barangay level should be involved in solving the problem.

BUSINESS: Jobless rate drops to 3.5% in February

Headlining business, the labor market improved in February from a month earlier as the number of jobless Filipinos fell, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Thursday. At 3.5 percent, the unemployment rate was markedly lower than January’s 4.5 percent and the year-earlier 4.8 percent. This was equivalent to 1.80 million unemployed Filipinos, 350,000 less than January’s 2.15 million. It was likewise lower than the 2.47 million in February last year.

SPORTS: Ginebra aims to end 2-game slide

Over to sports, Barangay Ginebra hopes to end its two-game slide when it faces Blackwater in the main game of the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup today, April 12, at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City. The league’s top crowd drawer has lost back-to-back games after succumbing to defending champion San Miguel, 95-92, on April 5 and Terrafirma, 91-85, on April 7. The Gin Kings will have the chance to put an end to their losing streak when they collide with the Bossing at 7:30 p.m. Both squads, along with idle TNT Tropang Giga, are tied for the fifth spot in the team standings with identical 3-3 records. Like Ginebra, Blackwater is also on a losing spell, having lost its last three outings since opening the all-Filipino conference with a three straight victories. Ginebra’s struggle’s this conference has been compounded by the continued absence of injured ace playmaker and former Most Valuable Player Scottie Thompson who is still out with a back injury.

READ: Opinion and editorial

Rigoberto Tiglao, Francisco Tatad, and Carl Balita are today’s front page columnists. Tiglao claims that Marcos already “fell from his horse”, Tatad looks into the trilateral summit in Washington, and Balita says franchising is the best Filipino business model.

Today’s editorial analyzes a defense triangle in the Indo-Pacific region. Read the full version in 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.