Is the 'Artista' bloc behind Zubiri’s ouster due to injury dispute?
MANILA, Philippines — The ouster plot against Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri that cost him his Senate presidency has taken an unexpected twist – all due to an action star’s foot.
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Philippines says it will forge security alliances and stage combat drills despite China's opposition
MANILA: The Philippines will continue to build security alliances and stage joint combat drills in disputed waters to defend its territorial interests, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said Friday, dismissing China's criticisms of such moves as paranoia. Teodoro bluntly criticized Beijing's increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea, without citing China by name, in a speech before the military's top brass at a ceremony marking the anniversary of the Philippine navy's founding in Manila.The Philippines, he said, would not tolerate aggression and provocative moves. Since territorial hostilities with China surged last year in the South China Sea, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s administration has taken steps to forge new security alliances with a number of Asian and Western countries and allowed a US military presence in more Philippine bases under a 2014 defense pact. In April and May, the Philippine military staged annual live-fire combat exercises with US forces in and near the disputed waters.
Gin Kings, Bolts on even ground
MANILA, Philippines — In a situation like this where another misstep would lead to a 1-3 hole, it’s time for Barangay Ginebra to unravel “Playoff L.A.”
Philippines says it will forge security alliances and stage combat drills despite China's opposition
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines will continue to build security alliances and stage joint combat drills in disputed waters to defend its territorial interests, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said Friday, dismissing China’s criticisms of such moves as paranoia.
Team Secret remains all-Filipino with addition of 2GE, Wild0reoo
MANILA, Philippines – After two days of roster changes, Team Secret has ended speculations about its upcoming VCT Pacific Stage 2 campaign with the acquisition of James “2GE” Goopio and Brheyanne "Wild0reoo" Christ Reyes, along with the promotion of assistant coach Tim "dummy" Olson to head coach.
The Fed's meeting notes: 'Lack of further progress' on inflation
The US Federal Reserve (the Fed) [link] released the minutes of the meetings held by the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC), the body charged with making the decision on interest rates, and a reading of the minutes revealed concern by officials that “recent monthly data had showed significant increases in components of both goods and services price inflation”, and that “in recent months there had been a lack of further progress toward the Committee’s 2 percent objective.” The notes also revealed that “various” meeting participants were willing to raise rates further “should risks to inflation materialize in a way that such an action became appropriate.” Some participants “noted signs that the finances of low- and moderate-income households were increasingly coming under pressure”, which the FOMC considered to be a “downside risk to the outlook for consumption”. The FOMC noted the rise in the use of “credit cards and buy-now-pay-later services” and “increased delinquency rates for some types of consumer loans” as evidence of this trend.MB BOTTOM-LINE: The US situation is not exactly like ours, so I hesitate to draw direct comparisons, but how the FOMC thinks and acts do tend to lead the global narrative on the high-level approach to fighting this inflationary problem. It’s interesting to me to hear the FOMC participants mention the worsening situation of low/middle-income households and point to the use of credit cards and predatory lending services as signals to be used to monitor this problem. This stood out to me because that’s what I’ve been noticing here. The low/middle-income families that I know are all stretched way too thin (and have been for years now), and are juggling multiple forms of informal and predatory debt to make ends meet. We’ve been seeing credit card use statistics skyrocket, and I’ve noted (when I can) the language that sometimes accompanies those reports cheering credit growth which mentions, in a throw-away kind of way, that the use of credit card debt to finance the purchase of groceries and other household essentials is both significant and on the rise. Is this just a continuation of the “k-shaped” recovery from the pandemic? How
DOJ sees violation of wiretapping law by Chinese Embassy
THE Department of Justice yesterday said the Chinese Embassy can be held liable for violating the Philippines’ anti-wiretapping law for recording a phone conversation between one of its officials and a Filipino military general, without the latter’s consent.
Taiwan condemns China's military drills as 'irrational provocations'
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan condemned China on Thursday for launching two days of military drills around the self-ruled island, which Beijing called a "strong punishment" for "separatist acts".