Faces of the News: August 25, 2024
Eli Remolona Jr.
After the Aug. 15 policy meeting of the Monetary Board (MB), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli Remolona Jr. announced the central bank’s first interest rate cut in nearly four years. It was a move that marked the beginning of the BSP’s “calibrated” shift to an easy monetary policy after jacking up borrowing costs to tame inflation. The size of the initial cut was just the typical 25 basis points (bp), bringing down the key rate to 6.25 percent. But it was nevertheless a bold move as it was done ahead of the US Federal Reserve, which is only expected to start easing in September. The MB made the decision after economic growth hit 6.3 percent in the second quarter, while inflation breached the BSP’s 2- to 4-percent target range in July at 4.4 percent. The question right now is how deep the succeeding rate cuts will go to stimulate economic activity again after being crimped by high interest rates. Remolona already dropped a clear hint: there might be another 25-bp rate reduction either at the October or December meeting of the MB this year. —Ian Nicolas P. Cigaral
Sara Duterte
Her budget proposal for 2025 may no longer contain a hefty request for confidential funds, but Vice President Sara Duterte remained a center of attention over budget matters. This time, it’s about her request for P10 million for the printing of her self-authored children’s book “Isang Kaibigan (A Friend),” a story about an owl and a parrot. She thus reaped a fresh wave of public backlash over her request, especially after it was revealed that the last page of the book, the one about the author, contained her portrait and described her as a “true friend.” Renowned author Ninotchka Rosca later posted on Facebook that Duterte’s fable had striking similarities with the book series “Owly” by US author Andy Runton. Over the same issue, Duterte had a verbal skirmish with Sen. Risa Hontiveros after the latter pressed her about it in a hearing. Instead of giving direct answers, the Vice President said the opposition lawmaker was just “politicizing” the proceedings. Duterte also had to parry accusations of plagiarism, declaring it was “so easy” to write a children’s book. As if taunting critics, she promised to write another—this time about a friend’s “betrayal.” —DEMPSEY REYES
Shiela Guo and Cassandra Ong
The government’s hunt overseas for Alice Guo yielded two persons also being linked to the controversies hounding the dismissed mayor of Bamban, Tarlac—her “sister” Shiela Guo and gaming firm representative Katherine Cassandra Ong. The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said the two women were about to leave Batam Island in Indonesia on Aug. 22 when intercepted by local immigration agents. Indonesia had them deported to the Philippines on the same day.
They were “considered illegal aliens by Indonesian immigration as they are wanted in the Philippines,” the BI said to explain their arrest, especially since they are not facing any criminal case just yet in the country. Shiela Guo was among the persons cited by the Senate in contempt for snubbing its hearings on her sister’s alleged ties to a raided Philippine offshore gaming operator in Bamban. Ong is also wanted by the Senate and faces an arrest warrant issued by the House of Representatives. Both were still in the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation as of this writing. —JANE BAUTISTA
June Mar Fajardo
June Mar Fajardo etched his name deeper into the history of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) on Aug. 18, when he claimed his eighth Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award. The San Miguel center edged out fellow Beerman CJ Perez and a former teammate in Terrafirma’s Christian Standhardinger to reset the league record and further widen his gap from four-time MVPs Ramon Fernandez and Alvin Patrimonio. Fajardo was also named into the Mythical 1st Team and the All-Defensive Team, making him the biggest winner of the Leo Awards, which hails the finest players of the previous PBA season and officially raises the curtain on the next. The University of Cebu alumnus tipped his hat to Fernandez and Patrimonio as he believes they have “set the standard in the PBA” and everyone else is merely “following in their footsteps.” Still dominant at 34, the soft-spoken big man from Pinamungajan has a strong case for winning another MVP trophy. He did not hide his desire for it during his latest coronation, saying in his speech: “Sana next year uli.” —Denison Rey A. Dalupang
Mike Lynch
A celebration turned tragic on Aug. 19 when sudden, violent weather sank a superyacht owned by British tech tycoon Mike Lynch in the waters off Sicily, Italy. The software mogul, once dubbed the “British Bill Gates,” died with his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, and five others when a waterspout violently thrashed their vessel, the Bayesian, as it was anchored 700 meters off the fishing port of Porticello on the north coast of the Italian island. Lynch had invited 10 family and friends to the 56-m-long luxury vessel to celebrate his acquittal of a yearslong, massive fraud case in the United States. The case rose from the sale of Autonomy—a software company founded by Lynch—to Hewlett Packard for $11 billion. The company later sued Lynch for fraud and conspiracy, accusing him of inflating Autonomy’s value, which fell $8 billion after the sale. A US jury acquitted Lynch in June. At 4:30 a.m. on Aug. 19, fishermen saw a waterspout sweep over the Bayesian and quickly send the vessel into the 50-m-deep waters. A member of the 10-man crew—the chef—also went missing.
