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LOYZAGA FINALLY ENTERS BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME SPORTS / C1
VOL. XXXVII • NO. 191• 4 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 • FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 2023 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Gilas in World Cup spotlight PBBM to lead Pinoys in cheering on home team vs. Dominicans
By Jimbo Gulle and Vince Lopez
FIBA survey: PH ‘positive surprise’ seen
F
ILIPINOS will show the world just how hoops-mad the country is when they troop to the Philippine Arena in Bulacan today to support the Gilas men’s national team that makes its debut against a formidable Dominican Republic side to kick off the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
THE Philippine men’s basketball team is seen making the “biggest positive surprise” in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, according to a poll of the accredited media covering the tournament co-hosted by Manila, Jakarta in Indonesia, and Okinawa in Japan. Before the once-every-four-years event tips off at the Philippine Arena, Okinawa Arena and Indonesia Arena today, the media covering the premier basketball event were invited to tackle the tournament's burning questions in the official Media Projections Survey. The poll showed that 22.2 percent of the FIBA media think Gilas Pilipinas will make the biggest splash in the event on its home soil, followed by Canada at 9.9 percent. Germany and South Sudan were tied for third at 7.4 percent. The survey also indicates that Gilas (11.2 percent) is just behind the United States (61.5 percent) as the team with the most pressure to win in the event. FIBA said the survey takes a deep dive into the
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is expected to be among 52,000 Pinoys and tourists from across the globe who are seen attending the opening ceremonies and filling the massive stadium on Friday. Next page
INSIDE A 4-PAGE SPORTS SUPPLEMENT
A BASKETBALL WORLD CUP TO REMEMBER Section D
LET THE GAMES BEGIN. The renowned Naismith Trophy of the FIBA World Cup stands tall in Ilocos Norte as part of a nationwide tour before becoming the sought-after prize among 32 teams competing in the tournament starting today at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan (inset).
WEATHER
P505m in smuggled rice seized at Bulacan depots
‘Goring’ poised to intensify into typhoon TROPICAL Depression “Goring” could strengthen to become a typhoon or even super typhoon by Saturday, the state weather bureau said Thursday. In its 11 a.m. bulletin, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Goring may steadily intensify throughout the forecast period and could reach the tropical storm category by Thursday night or early Friday. "While the current intensity forecast indicates the progression towards typhoon category, the inherent volatility of attaining super typhoon category remains a possibility,” PAGASA said. No tropical cyclone wind signal has been hoisted over any part of the country, but PAGASA expects this to change beginning Thursday night. PAGASA said Goring could also enhance the southwest monsoon, which could cause occasional rains over the western portions of Central and Southern Luzon beginning Sunday. The tropical depression is less likely to bring heavy rains for the next three days, but the weather bureau said that any westward shift in the forecast track may result in heavy rainfall over Cagayan Valley. Goring was last tracked 355 km. east northeast of Calayan, Cagayan, or 300 km. east of Basco, Batanes, moving north-northwestward at 15 kph. It packs maximum sustained winds of 55 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 70 kph. Rio N. Araja
By Joel E. Zurbano and Maricel V. Cruz
SMUGGLED RICE UNCOVERED. Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez (center), along with other lawmakers, joins the fact-finding mission of the Bureau of Customs in inspecting several rice warehouses in Bulacan as part of the exercise of the oversight powers of Congress. The inspection was conducted amid allegations that hoarding of rice supply is driving up the price of the staple grain. Ver Noveno
GOVERNMENT agents seized smuggled rice worth P505 million on Thursday in an operation joined by lawmakers led by House Speaker Martin Romualdez and Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio at three warehouses in Bulacan. The warehouses, owned and operated by Great Harvest Rice Mill Warehouse, San Pedro Warehouse, and FS Rice Mill Warehouse are located inside the Intercity Industrial
Complex in San Juan, Balagtas in Bulacan, were found to contain about 202,000 sacks of imported rice from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. "I have ordered the owners of these warehouses to present the necessary documents that will support its rice importation, as well as the amount of rice they have been keeping in these warehouses," Rubio said. Rubio thanked Romualdez and Reps. Erwin Tulfo, Wilfrido Mark Enverga, and Ambrosion Cruz Jr. for joining the inspection at the establishments.
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Prigozhin, Wagner boss who defied Putin, presumed dead in private jet crash KUZHENKINO, Russia—An investigation was underway in Russia on Thursday into a plane crash that left Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin presumed dead—two months after his rebellion against the country's military leaders—fuelling speculation about a possible assassination. A day after a private jet on which Prigozhin was registered crashed between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia had still not confirmed the warlord's death. Moscow said all ten people onboard were likely killed and opened a criminal case into violations of air traffic rules. Russia's aviation authority published a list of Next page
IN MEMORIAM. Portraits of Yevgeny Prigozhin (left) and Dmitry Utkin (right), a shadowy figure who managed Wagner's operations and allegedly served in Russian military intelligence, are seen at the makeshift memorial in front of the PMC Wagner office in Novosibirsk, on August 24. Both were on the list of passengers of a plane that crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver region (left photo). AFP