Good day. Here are the top stories of The Manila Times for Monday, April 22, 2024.

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16K US, PH troops start Balikatan drills

WARSHIPS from the United States, Australia, France and the Philippines will sail in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) in maritime exercises coinciding with the Balikatan 2024, which begins today, April 22, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said Sunday.Balikatan 2024 aims to bolster collaboration and readiness across a range of critical areas, said Col. Michael Logico, Balikatan 2024 spokesman, including external defense, cyber defense, counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance, disaster assistance and capacity-building. France will join the group sail but will only navigate on the edge of the Philippine exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in WPS. The Japan Defense Force was supposed to join the maritime sail but did not respond to the AFP's invitation on time. At least 16,000 troops (11,000 on the US side and 5,000 from the Philippines) will take part in the Balikatan exercise with the participation of 14 countries as observers. Logico said the objective of Balikatan exercises is to demonstrate the strength of the alliance and its willingness to defend territory. Lt. Gen. William Jurney, commander of US Marine Corps Forces, Pacific and US exercise director for Balikatan 2024, expressed confidence in the strengthened capabilities achieved through joint endeavors. On the US side, Logico said the Americans will have at least two ships, F-22 Raptor fighter jets, Apache attack helicopters, Black Hawk helicopters, and medium-range capability weapon systems. Logico said the Philippines will use FA-50 fighter jets, Super Tucano light attack aircraft, Black Hawk combat utility helicopters and the Spyder ground-based air defense system of the Philippine Air Force. Also participating are the frigate BRP Antonio Luna, patrol vessel BRP Ramon Alcaraz, and landing dock BRP Davao Del Sur of the Philippine Navy, said Logico.

Yulo captures gold in World Cup

CARLOS Yulo captured a gold medal in the Doha leg of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup men's parallel bars final on Saturday night, April 20 (Manila time). The Paris Olympics-bound Yulo unleashed a nifty performance and accumulated 15.200 points to finish on top of the championship round. Hung Yuan-Hsi of Taiwan finished second to Yulo and grabbed the silver medal with 14.966 points, while Caio Souza of Brazil bagged the bronze with 14.566. Yulo, who placed second in the qualification, made it a double medal haul after winning a silver medal in the vault competition about an hour earlier. The 24-year-old accumulated an average of 15.066 points in the championship round to finish behind Artur Davtyan of Armenia. Davtyan logged 15.166 points for the gold medal, while Yahor Sharamkou of Belarus clinched the bronze with 14.749 points. Yulo is one of the three Filipino gymnasts who will compete in the Paris Olympics this July alongside Filipino Americans Aleah Finnegan and Levi Ruivivar on the women's side. Yulo and Finnegan claimed their Olympic berths through the World Championships last year, while Ruivivar gathered enough qualifying points through four World Cup legs, including this Doha tournament, to get hers. The 17-year-old finished with 30 points on a silver medal finish at the uneven bars in this Doha leg early Saturday (Manila time) to raise her total to 62 Olympic qualifying points, good for second place behind Georgia-Rose Brown of New Zealand, who totaled 70.

Delgaco first PH female rower to join Olympics

FILIPINO rower Joanie Delgaco qualified for the Paris Olympics on Sunday, April 21, as she made history as the first female rower from the Philippines to compete in the Games. Delgaco made her way to the Olympics by finishing fourth in the women's single sculls final in the Asian and Oceanian Rowing Olympic Qualification Regatta in Chungju, South Korea. The 25-year-old clocked seven minutes and 49.39 seconds in the six-rower race final, where the top five finishers were rewarded with Olympic berths. Delgaco thus became the fourth overall Filipino rower to have qualified for the Olympics after Edgardo Maerina (1988 Seoul Games), Benjamin Tolentino Jr. (2000 Sydney Games) and Cris Nievarez (2021 Tokyo Games). Nievarez could not make back-to-back Olympic appearances, as he failed to make the final in the men's single sculls. Delgaco admitted that she doubted making it to the Games, given the stiff competition. Delgaco finished behind champion Anna Prakaten of Uzbekistan (7:31.28), runner-up Shiho Yonekawa of Japan (7:35.93) and third placer Fatemeh Mojallal of Iran (7:37.07), and ahead of the last Olympic qualifier Pham Thi Hue of Vietnam (7:53.08). Delgaco is officially the 11th Filipino Olympic qualifier in Paris as she joined pole vaulter EJ Obiena; boxers Eumir Marcial, Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas; weightlifters John Ceniza, Elreen Ando and Vanessa Sarno; and gymnasts Carlos Yulo, Aleah Finnegan and Levi Ruivivar.

Study finds microplastics in brain cells

ANKARA: A study by Turkish scientists, which found the existence of microplastics in brain cells, will shed light on whether these products, used daily, are a factor in Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis (MS), stroke and cerebral hemorrhage in the future. The study conducted by Emrah Celtikci at Turkey's Gazi University Medical School Neurosurgery Department and Sedat Gundogdu from Cukurova University's Fisheries Faculty was featured in a documentary in Canada and published as an article in The New York Times.

Topping Business

PSE keeping target of six IPOs this year

DESPITE geopolitical concerns and macroeconomic headwinds, the Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) chief remains hopeful of an initial public offering (IPO) rebound following last year's poor showing. The bourse still expects six companies to go public in 2024, PSE President and CEO Ramon Monzon said last week. The PSE recorded just three IPOs last year, down from nine in 2022, amid challenges such as high inflation and interest rates and subdued economic growth. More companies also left the bourse than joined: six companies were delisted — four voluntarily — in 2023. At the start of this year, the bourse cleared the P13-billion IPO of Saavedra-led Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC), which has since adjusted the indicative date of the offer from March 2024 to the second quarter of the year. The bourse earlier this month also approved the P7.9-billion listing of OceanaGold (Philippines) Inc., the Philippine unit of Toronto-listed OceanaGold Corp., which plans to debut on May 13. The bellwether PSE index (PSEi), which at the start of this month seemed poised to rise back to the 7,000 level, has now dropped for three straight weeks. It closed 3.25 percent lower week-on-week at 6,443 last Friday, snapping a two-day recovery, and is currently lower than the 6,554.04 posted at the start of 2024. Initial market optimism was fueled by prospects of interest rate cuts, which have now dimmed due to rising inflation and mounting tensions in the Middle East have served to further dampen sentiment.

In Sports

Jokic leads Nuggets past Lakers

LOS ANGELES: The defending champion Denver Nuggets, powered by 32 points from Nikola Jokic, shook off a slow start to beat LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers 114-103 in Game 1 of their NBA playoffs first-round series on Saturday (Sunday in Manila). The Nuggets, who swept the Lakers in four games in the Western Conference finals on the way to their first title last season, continued their dominance of star-studded Los Angeles, who had dropped all three regular-season meetings. The game was the finale of the first day of the playoffs, which saw the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Phoenix Suns 120-95, the New York Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers 111-104 and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic 97-83.

Opinion and editorial

The Times, in today's editorial, warns that the next pandemic lurks and says that we must be ready for it. Read the full version on print or digital or listen to the Voice of the Times. Featured columnists on the front page are Rigoberto Tiglao, Fr. Ranhilio Aquino and Francisco Tatad. Learn to live in peace with China is Tiglao's advice to the government; Aquino on a troubled institution and Tatad on whether the "war" between the First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte can be avoided.

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