Good day. Here are the articles from the Manila Times of Friday, October 29, 2021.

READ: Businesses push alert level 2

As Covid-19 cases continue to decline, Presidential Entrepreneurship Advisor Jose Maria “Joey” Concepcion 3rd and business owners have called on the government to bring the National Capital Region (NCR) below the standard alert 2 to help businesses recover. Metro Manila is currently under Alert Level 3, allowing 50 percent capacity for outdoor operations and 30 percent for indoor operations at some locations. Concepcion, who is also the founder of Go Negosyo, said the lines of business were eagerly awaiting a further drop in alert level as it would allow them to expand their operations.

READ: BBM again leads another investigation

FORMER Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has conducted yet another uncommitted presidential investigation showing the public view him as their preferred presidential candidate in the 2022 national election. Marcos is running for president under the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas banner (PFP). His camp said Thursday that the former lawmaker was leading the investigation by the Issues and Advocacy Center or The Center from September 27 to October 8. Based on the national survey of 2,400 respondents, Marcos led the presidential race after obtaining 23.5% of the vote. .

READ: Michael Yang a foreign spy – Gordon

SEN. Richard “Dick” Gordon raised suspicions Thursday that former economic adviser to President Rodrigo Duterte, Chinese businessman Michael Yang, is a “spy” for Beijing. Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, wondered why President Duterte continued to defend the Pharmally executives and “someone by the name of Michael Yang”. The senators questioned the decision of the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) to award contracts worth more than 9 billion pesos to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. despite a paid-in capital of only 625,000 pesos.

READ: Pharmally executives can’t escape Senate inquiry

Meanwhile, Gordon said executives of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. linked to alleged overpriced medical supplies cannot invoke data protection law by refusing to cooperate with the Senate, as the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee resumed its investigation into the alleged anomaly. He said leaders of Pharmally Linconn Ong, Mohit Dargani, Twinkle Dargani and former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang could not hide behind Republic Act (RA) 10173 to escape questioning and refuse to submit documents requested by the Senate.

READ: DENR considers temporary closure of dolomite beach

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is planning to temporarily close the Manila Bay dolomite beach for expansion, a Department of Home and Local Government (DILG) official said. Home Secretary Jonathan Malaya said in a TV interview that it is possible that the controversial beach will be closed from All Saints’ Day “until” the DENR has completed the expansion.

BUSINESS: Financial inclusion to stimulate growth

Leading the way, financial inclusion will lift vulnerable people out of poverty, reduce inequalities and boost economic growth, said a Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) official. According to Land Bank senior vice president Randolph Monteza at the Manila Times anniversary forum, Let the Future Begin: Moving Forward Despite Covid-19, recent empirical evidence and a growing body of literature indicate that the Access to basic financial services like savings, credit, and insurance have a substantial positive impact on people’s lives.

SPORTS: Tapales to face Japanese champion on November 27

In the sport, former World Boxing Organization bantamweight champion Marlon “Nightmare” Tapales of Lanao del Norte will face off against Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) super bantamweight champion Hiroaki Teshigawara of Japan on November 27 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Nevada, United States. The fight will be an International Boxing Federation (IBF) super bantamweight world title eliminator, Tapales being ranked No.4 and Teshigawara is ranked No.3. Tapales, 29, trained at the Brick House Gym and at the Wildcard Gym in Los Angeles, California since July under the direction of coaches Ernil Fontanillia and Lucas Sugar. Tapales said he currently performs six rounds of fighting a day against different opponents in the two gyms.

READ: Opinion and editorial

Rigoberto Tiglao and Ruben Torres are today’s top columnists. Tiglao believes this is the worst time for an election for the opposition, while Torres discusses the workers’ agenda for the next administration.

Today’s editorial talks about the challenges facing the COP26 climate summit. Read a full version in the newspaper’s opinion section or listen to Voice of the Times.

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On behalf of the Manila Times, here is the report by Aric John Sy Cua. Have a good Friday coming.