Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Thursday, April 4, 2024.

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9 dead, hundreds hurt in Taiwan quake

AT least nine people were killed and more than 800 injured on Wednesday by a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Taiwan that damaged dozens of buildings and prompted tsunami warnings that extended to Japan and the Philippines before being lifted. Officials said the quake was the strongest to shake the island in decades and warned of more tremors in the days ahead. Strict building regulations and widespread public disaster awareness appear to have staved off a major catastrophe for the earthquake-prone island, which lies near the junction of two tectonic plates.

'Happy days over for Quiboloy'

SEN. Ana Theresia "Risa" Hontiveros said Pastor Apollo Quiboloy's "happy days" are numbered after a Davao court issued a warrant of arrest against him for sexual abuse. The Davao Regional Trial Court ordered the arrest of Quiboloy and five others for violating Republic Act 7610 or the Anti-Child Abuse Law, specifically the provision on sexual abuse of minors and maltreatment. The Senate on March 19 ordered the arrest of Quiboloy, Kingdom of Jesus Christ leader, for unduly refusing to appear, despite due notice, before the hearings of the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality on Jan. 23, Feb. 19 and March 5, 2024.

El Niño damage reaches P1.2B

AGRICULTURAL damage due to El Niño surged to 1.236 billion pesos, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Wednesday. As of April 3, 2024, the dry phenomenon has affected 29,409 farmers and fishermen and 26,731 hectares of crops, with a corresponding production loss of 44,845 metric tons. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a whole-of-government approach to ensure public safety and assist farmers affected by the El Niño and the La Niña phenomena, Malacañang said Wednesday. In a statement, Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said the President issued the directives during the 4th Task Force El Niño meeting in Malacañang.

Extend local officials' terms – Gadon

PRESIDENTIAL Adviser for Poverty Alleviation Larry Gadon submitted to Congress a letter suggesting amendments to some political provisions of the 1987 Constitution, including the extension of terms of local officials. The letter was addressed to Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. He suggested extending the term of local officials to six years, including House members, governors, vice governors, board members, mayors, vice mayors and councilors, while maintaining the term limit for the president, vice president and senators. He said this would result in huge savings as elections would be held every six years instead of three.

NG debt balloons to record P5.18T

Topping business, the national government's outstanding debt hit a new high of 15.18 trillion pesos in February and is now 1.43 trillion pesos more than it was a year earlier, the Bureau of the Treasury reported on Wednesday. A total of 388.51 billion pesos was added from January, the Treasury said in a statement, primarily due to domestic debt issuances that were partially tempered by the effect of the stronger peso on the valuation of foreign debt. As of the first two months of 2024, the government's outstanding debt was 562.43 billion pesos higher from the start of the year. In percentage terms, the debt rose by 2.63 percent from January, 3.85 percent from end-December 2023, and 10.37 percent from a year earlier.

Paalam, Ladon can qualify for Olympics – Petecio

Over to sports, Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Nesthy Petecio expressed confidence that fellow Filipino boxers Carlo Paalam and Rogen Ladon can still qualify for the Paris Olympics. Unlike Petecio who made her Olympic return after reaching the women's 57-kilogram class finals in the 1st World Qualification Tournament last month in Italy, Paalam and Ladon bowed out early in the competition. Petecio believes that Paalam and Ladon are capable of making the Paris Games through the final qualifier which is the 2nd World Qualification Tournament in Thailand this May.

Opinion and editorial

Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta, and Danton Remoto are today's front page columnists. Contereras discusses the recent squabble among the two former spokesmen of former president Rodrigo Duterte, Makabenta says without the arbitral ruling, the Philippines would have no case in the dispute in the South China Sea, while Remoto discusses his relationship with the Tulfo brothers.

Today's editorial tackles the issues on heat. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.

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