Good day. Here are the top stories of The Manila Times for Monday, July 29, 2024.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Wilcon Depot, the Philippines' leading home improvement and construction supplies retailer -- your trusted building partner.READ: Manila Bay oil slick spreadsAT least nine valves of the fuel tanks on board the oil tanker that sank off Limay, Bataan, have been leaking industrial fuel oil, leaving a trail of 12 to 14 kilometers and threatening Manila Bay with an "environmental catastrophe." On Sunday, divers of Harbor Star Shipping Services worked on sealing the valves in an effort to contain the oil that was seeping out of the tanks on board the MT Terra Nova. The tanker was carrying 1.4 million liters and was headed to Iloilo when it sank off Lamao Point in Limay, Bataan, on July 25, killing one crew member and leaving the country facing the possibility of its worst oil spill ever. In a media briefing, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Rear Adm. Armando Balilo said that after it was determined what valves were spilling oil, divers immediately worked on sealing the leaks. Balilo said Harbor Star divers were able to complete the application of the second layer of the sealants at 10:42 a.m. He said they were currently monitoring the status of the nine valves and the effectiveness of their operations. After Harbor Star Shipping carried out its sealing operations on the nine leaking valves, Balilo announced that the siphoning of the 1.4 million liters of fuel from the sunken motor tanker would be pushed back to Tuesday. The PCG has recommended the suspension of fishing along Manila Bay to ensure people will not consume "contaminated fish." The tanker sank in bad weather off Manila early Thursday.READ: Old challenges await new DepEd leader as schools openTHE same old challenges and problems await some 20 million learners across the country as school year 2024-2025 begins today, July 29, with a new education secretary taking over efforts to make the system more responsive. Former senator Juan Edgardo Angara replaced Vice President Sara Duterte, who ended her tumultuous two-year reign as head of the Department of Education (DepEd) sparked by controversy over her confidential funds while pushing the new Matatag Basic Education Curriculum. The DepEd said as of 9 a.m. Sunday, the number of enrollees for SY 2024-2025 was 19,268,747. The figure included the 16,794,173 enrollees for elementary school, junior high school (JHS) and senior high school (SHS) in public schools as well as the 2,244,867 enrollees for elementary school, JHS and SHS in private schools. For public schools, the breakdown was as follows: 9,775,158 for elementary school; 5,115,248 for JHS; and 1,903,767 for SHS. For private schools, the numbers were: 709,857 for elementary school; 723,500 for JHS; and 811,510 for SHS. The figure also included the 23,875 enrollees for elementary school, JHS and SHS in state universities and colleges and local universities and colleges, and 205,832 for the Alternative Learning System. The Philippine National Police (PNP) assured the public that proper security measures are in place for the school opening.READ: Yulo enters floor, vault, all-around finalsCARLOS Yulo's redemption tour at the Paris Olympics looks really promising so far. The Filipino gymnast entered the final rounds of the floor exercise, vault and all-around events early Sunday, July 28 (Manila time). Yulo performed in subdivision 2 of the men's artistic gymnastics, where he dazzled the crowd at the Bercy Arena in the qualification round, which ended late Saturday night. The 24-year-old placed second in floor exercise qualification with 14.766 points, sixth in vault with 14.683 and eighth in all-around with 83.631 points. The top eight in each apparatus and the top 24 in the all-around event claimed their spots in the medal rounds. When the gymnasts in subdivision 3 finished performing early Sunday, Yulo's scores were more than enough to make the cut in the contests. Yulo remained second in floor exercise and sixth in vault, while he only dropped a notch from eighth in the all-around tiff. That Yulo made it to three medal rounds at the Paris Olympics is already a huge bounce back from his Tokyo Games stint three years ago, when he only made it to one final event, the vault apparatus, where he finished fourth. He didn't even make the final of his pet event floor exercise in Tokyo, as a fall during the qualification round took him out of medal contention. Now, Yulo, a floor exercise world champ in 2019 and a vault world champ in 2021, may take his redemption tour to greater heights as he vies for three medals.READ: A majority of Filipinos back POGO ban – surveyA GOOD majority of adult Filipinos expressed their support for banning Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) in the country, the latest survey of OCTA Research showed. The Tugon ng Masa poll, conducted from June 26 to July 1, showed 83 percent of the 1,200 respondents answered "yes" when asked if they supported the ban, while 12 percent responded "no." The remaining 5 percent was neutral. The non-commissioned survey revealed that 85 percent of those surveyed would support candidates in the 2025 midterm elections who object to the continued operations of offshore gaming in the country. On the other hand, 12 percent said they would not support candidates in favor of the total POGO ban. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his third State of the Nation Address, ordered the total ban of POGOs, saying that their "grave abuse and disrespect to our system of laws must stop." He ordered the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. to "wind down and cease the operations" of POGOs by year's end. The Tugon ng Masa survey has a ±3 percent margin of error at a 95 percent confidence level. Subnational estimates for the geographic areas covered in the survey have the following margins of error at a 95 percent confidence level: ±6 percent for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.BUSINESS: Metrobank: PH to miss 2024, 2025 growth goalsMetrobank Research trimmed its 2024 and 2025 growth forecasts for the country to 5.7 percent and 6.0 percent, respectively, from 6.0 percent and 6.0-7.0 percent. Both fall short of the 6.0- to 7.0-percent target for this year and the 6.5-7.5 percent for 2025 — goals that economic managers had lowered in March, from 6.5-7.5 percent and 6.5-8.9 percent in December, and affirmed last month. Metrobank: PH to miss 2024, 2025 growth goals High interest rates are making it more difficult for businesses to invest and expand, it noted, adding that Filipinos are not spending as much as before and that some households have also incurred more debt. Growth was a below-target 5.5 percent in 2023 — the target was 6.0-7.0 percent — and government underspending was said to be a major factor. The expansion picked up to 5.7 percent in the first quarter of 2024, also below target and lower than the 6.4 percent posted a year earlier. Preliminary second-quarter data will be released Thursday next week. Economic managers have expressed optimism about an improvement and further gains that will allow for at least 6.0 percent growth for 2024.SPORTS: Villegas kickstarts PH boxing campaign in ParisAIRA Villegas will kickstart the Philippine boxing team's campaign at the Paris Olympics, making her first Olympic appearance, Villegas will be the first to see action among the Philippine quintet which also includes her fellow first-timer Hergie Bacyadan and the returning Olympians Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam and Eumir Marcial on July 29 at 3:20 a.m. (Manila time), three days before she turns 29, Villegas will take on Moroccan Yasmine Moutaqui in the women's 50kg round of 32kg at the North Paris Arena. Petecio, the first Filipino female boxing Olympic medalist after bagging a silver in Tokyo three years ago, will be the next to fight on July 30. She will clash against Indian Jasmine Lamboria in the women's 57 kg round of 32. The next day, Marcial, Bacyadan and Paalam, in that order, will finally see action. Marcial, who snared a bronze medal in Tokyo, will lock horns with Uzbek Turabek Khabibullaev in the men's 80 kg round of 16 at 3:04 a.m. Both Marcial and Khabibullaev earned a bye each in the round of 32. Bacyadan will make her Olympic debut in the women's 75kg round of 16 against Chinese Li Qian at 6:04 p.m.SPORTS: Dressel spearheads US to first Olympic gold in ParisA formidable United States spearheaded by an emotional Caeleb Dressel stormed to the men's 4x100 m Olympic freestyle relay title on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) for the country's first gold in Paris. The quartet of Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong and Dressel came home in 3 min 09.28 sec with Australia taking silver in 3:10.35 and Italy bronze in 3:10.70. The Americans, who were reigning champions, had their work cut out after the opening leg with Chinese 100 m world record holder Pan Zhanle putting in a scorching two laps. •But the US hauled themselves back into contention with Dressel powering them to the finish line. Kyle Chalmers put in a cracking final leg to hand Australia silver, with his 46.59 the fastest split of any swimmer. China, who are competing under a doping cloud, finished out of the medals in fourth.OpinionIn its editorial, the Times says the new PH-China agreement sparks hope for an end to the sea row. Read the full version on print or digital or listen to the Voice of the Times. Rigoberto Tiglao, Fr. Ranhilio Aquino and Francisco Tatad are the featured columnists on the front page. Tiglao brands the West Philippine Sea as fiction and warns it is a dangerous one; Aquino on Bachanalla or sacrilegious parody; Tatad on the battle for Southeast Asia.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 Linked In; and be part of our communities on Viber, Telegram, and Mastodon.