Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Tuesday, April 4, 2023.

READ: DoJ: Teves aide among Degamo masterminds

A LONG-TIME security aide of Negros Oriental Third District Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. has been identified by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla as one of the masterminds in the assassination of the province’s governor Roel Degamo. Remulla told reporters on Monday that the aide, Marvin Halaman Miranda, hired the members of the assassination squad and provided them with firearms. Stressing the key role of Miranda in the case, Remulla said that if the killing of Degamo on February 4 were a movie production, Teves would be the “executive producer” and his aide would be the “casting director [or] director.”

READ: Filipinos 3rd top socmed users in the world

FILIPINOS spend an average of 554 minutes or 9 hours and 14 minutes every day browsing the internet, placing them third behind South Africans and Brazilians, according to a virtual private network app provider. Atlas VPN reported that based on data it gathered in 2022, the global daily average for internet usage was 397 minutes (6 hours and 37 minutes). That translates to around 2,415 hours yearly, or nearly 30 percent of an average person’s time, Atlas VPN said. Ranked number one were South Africans, described by the report as the “most internet-addicted,” averaging 578 minutes (9 hours and 38 minutes) spent online each day, or three hours more than the global average. Brazilians came in second with 572 minutes (9 hours and 32 minutes). Ranking right below Filipinos are Argentinians and Colombians, both with 541 minutes (9 hours and 1 minute).

READ: Azerbaijan seeks closer ties with PH

AZERBAIJAN wants to “reinvigorate” bilateral relations with the Philippines as it aims to explore possible deeper cooperation in various fields such as culture, tourism, trade and energy. Visiting Azerbaijan Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov on Monday shared Baku’s goal to elevate relations with Manila during a roundtable interview with The Manila Times Chairman Dante “Klink” Ang 2nd and columnist Ben Kritz. Mammadov was accompanied by Jalal Sabiroglu Mirzayev, Azerbaijan ambassador to the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and Timor Leste.

READ: Holy Tuesday: Jesus performs a miracle

TODAY, Holy Tuesday, Jesus cleanses the temple of the money changers, curses the fig tree, and weeps over Jerusalem. It was on Holy Tuesday in Jerusalem when Jesus performed a miracle which was witnessed by his disciples Matthew and Mark. In the gospel of Matthew and Mark, they separately related about Jesus’ cursing of a fig tree and its relation to one’s faith. According to Matthew (21:19- 22), while walking from Bethany to Jerusalem, Jesus saw a fig tree with no fruit. He cursed the fig tree, which immediately withered. In Mark’s version of the story (11;20-25), Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” In Jerusalem, Jesus “overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.” He admonished the vendors by saying, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.'”

READ: Oil prices soar as producers cut output

Oil prices soared Monday after top producers unveiled a shock output cut of more than a million barrels per day, while equities mostly rose after data showed US and European inflation eased further last month. However, the decision by the OPEC+ cartel fanned concerns about a fresh spike in prices that could put pressure on central banks to push interest rates higher. Both main crude contracts jumped around 8 percent at one point following the cut by Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Algeria and Oman, which was the biggest since the group slashed 2 million barrels per day in October. It came on top of a Russian decision to extend a cut of 500,000 barrels per day, and in spite of US calls to increase production.

BUSINESS: Govt budget balance swings to deficit in Feb

In business, the government’s budget balance swung to a deficit of P106.4 billion in February, slightly higher than the P105.8-billion shortfall posted a year earlier, as revenue collections fell during the month. The result erased January’s P45.75-billion surplus and led to a year-to-date shortfall of P60.6 billion, which the Treasury said was still an improvement from the P129.2-billion deficit recorded in the same period last year. For February alone, revenue collections amounted to P211.9 billion as the tax take slipped by 3.01 percent. The resulting cumulative collection for January to February still improved by 14.18 percent to P560.0 billion, of which 88.87 percent or P497.7 billion was composed of taxes.

SPORTS: Eya Laure glad UST rising as one

Over to sports, Eya Laure might have been doing the heavy-lifting for the UST Golden Tigresses this UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament, but that doesn’t mean she’s not getting significant help from her teammates. Case in point was UST’s game against La Salle on April 2 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Laure unleashed a season-high 29 points on 45 percent efficiency as the Golden Tigresses (7-3) dealt the Lady Spikers (9-1) their first loss of the season 25-19, 14-25, 25-18, 25-12. Laure’s teammates also stepped up as Milena Alessandrini fired 20 points, Regina Jurado notched 12 points and 12 excellent digs, Cassie Carballo tossed 18 excellent sets, and Detdet Pepito tallied 25 digs and 11 excellent receptions.

READ: Opinion and editorial

Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta, and Orlando Mercado are today’s front page columnists. Contreras weighs in on the latest issues surrounding immigration officers at the airports, Makabenta wants readers to choose an apocalypse, while Mercado discusses a sea change in the Philippine Army.

Today’s editorial looks into loose cannons at the Bureau of Immigration. Read the full version in the paper’s opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.

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 LinkedIn; and be part of our communities on Viber, Telegram, and Mastodon.

For The Manila Times, this is Kim Luden Salinas reporting.