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•• SECTIONS PAGES •VOL. 120 NO. 146 5 28
The ËœManila Times
FRIDAY, MARCH H 88, 2019
Bong Go surges to 3rd place in SWS survey WITH a little over two months remaining before the May 2019 elections, Christopher Lawrence “Bong� Go broke into the top three in the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey for the race to the Senate. The SWS survey, conducted from Feb. 25 to 28, 2019, showed Go receiving the approval of 47 percent of respondents to claim solo third place. This reflected a continuous improvement from his 5th to 6th place
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Trusted since 1898
China will not launch any attack – envoy BY CATHERINE S. VALENTE
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HINESE Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua has given assurances that Beijing will not launch any attack in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) because China is committed to maintain peace and stability in the region.
“We are worried about possible attacks from the other side. We don’t worry about China attacking anybody because it is not our policy,� he told reporters on the sidelines of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission’s first an-
niversary celebration in MalacaĂąang on Wednesday night. Asked to identify the other side, the ambassador said: “Use your imagination.â€? US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo
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Panelo flip-flops on foreign spying claim
Communists here have always relied on foreign funds A personal account
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T long last, the state has moved to stop the communists’ foreign funding, which in different forms and from different countries since 1969 has been the most important reason for its growth.
PALACE spokesman Salvador Panelo on Thursday said he did not know if foreign countries were indeed spying on Filipinos, a virtual turnaround from his statement two days ago. On Tuesday, Panelo said the socalled narcolist that the Palace would release next week was validated based on the wiretapped information provided by other countries. On Thursday, Panelo said he
RRIGOBERTO IGG DD. TIGLAO
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EDITORIAL
ALLIES FOR PEACE Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad shakes hands with President Rodrigo Duterte at MalacaĂąan Palace in Manila on Thursday. PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA
What’s inside
graves of my parents that no such thing ever happened. Neither the President nor any of his ERSTWHILE columnist Mr. Francisco close advisers called me to terminate 3 4ATAD LIED WHEN HE SAID HE WAS kRED Mr. Tatad’s services with the Times. from The Manila Times upon instruc- The fact is, in the few times that I’ve tions from President Rodrigo met with the President, not once had Roa Duterte. I swear on the he bothered mentioning to me Mr. BY DR. DANTE A. ANG CHAIRMAN EMERITUS
CHINA - A CRITICAL GLOBAL GROWTH ENGINE, DESPITE DECELERATION
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B8 LEBRON JAMES PASSES JORDAN FOR FOURTH IN NBA CAREER POINTS
BUOYED BY BAGUIO CITY’S ‘DISCIPLINE, TEAMWORK AND OWNERSHIP’
LifestyleD1
THE TIMES’ PREROGATIVE TO END TATAD’S FAKE STORYTELLING
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Tatad’s name or referred to any of his excoriating articles at all. I will not prolong the argument. Let’s settle the issue. I challenge Mr. Tatad that we both undergo a lie detector test anywhere, anytime as he pleases to determine once and for all who between
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PH WON’T FALL INTO DEBT TRAP – ANALYST A SINGAPORE-based political analyst on Thursday said the Philippines, with its strong economy, would not fall into a debt trap if it avails of investment packages under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Ernesto Braam, Regional Strategic Advisor for Southeast Asia of The Netherlands’ Embassy in Singapore, made the statement when asked about the concern Q Ernesto Braam, counselor and regional strategic aired by some cause-oriented adviser for Southeast Asia, Embassy of the Kingdom of groups that the BRI would put The Netherlands in Singapore, visits The Manila Times. the Philippines in “deep debt.� PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN “I think many other countries
are maybe not so vulnerable to that. It depends on the state of your own economy. Countries like Thailand are strong enough they can get money from their capital market,� Braam said in a roundtable discussion organized by The Manila Times television. “Probably the same goes to the Philippines. Maybe smaller countries or countries that are really leaning more towards China are more open to that,� he said. “But if you invest in it, it should be done in a consultative way. It’s not just, if you talk about Belt and Road, that plans
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