THE government’s subsidies to state-owned corporations plunged to P88.374 billion in the first 10 months of the year, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
Latest BTr data showed that January-October subsidies given to government-owned and -controlled corporations were down by 32.62 percent from P117.210 billion in the same period last year.
The government provides subsidies to GOCCs to cover their operations that are not supported by corporate revenues or to fund specific pro -
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto @reine_alberto
FOREIGN
investors’ increased exposure to Philippine debt securities pushed the country’s external debt to $149.09 billion as of the end of September 2025, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
BSP data showed the country’s external debt, composed of bor
See “Debt,” A2
By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
Special to the BusinessMirror
T
HE Philippines is becoming a strong contender as a source market for tourists within the Asia-Pacific region, and specifically, Southeast Asia. In a recent webinar on Travel Insights 2025 and Travel Trends 2026 on Asia Pacific presented by Amadeus and UN Tourism, ForwardKeys Director for Intelligence and Marketing of Olivier Ponti said, the region “attracts a mix of long-haul interest and solid intra-Asia demand,”
with top source markets coming from India, South Korea, Australia, the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, and China.
Specific to travel to Southeast Asia, the Philippines ranked second as a source market after South Korea, with Thailand in third place, then Malaysia, the US, India, Indonesia, Taiwan, and mainland China. “The Philippines…[is] rising in the rankings [for actual travel in Southeast Asia] showing stronger regional travel flows,” he added.
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grams or projects.
Broken down, major nonfinancial government corporations cornered 59.29 percent of the total or P52.398 billion, while other government corporations received 40.13 percent or P52.398 billion.
Among these firms, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) was allocated the highest subsidy with P34.031 billion.
Receiving the next biggest subsidy during the 10-month period is the National Food Authority (NFA) with P12.904 billion, followed by the National Electrification Administration
with P1.453 billion.
In October alone, the government’s subsidies to GOCCs also dropped by 25.46 percent to P8.920 billion from P11.968 billion in the same month a year ago.
Having the biggest share of subsidies for October was still the NIA with P6.274 billion, trailed by the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority with P843 million and NFA with P790 million.
Of the total subsidies for the month, major non-financial government corporations hauled 80.17 percent or P7.152 billion. Other government cor -
porations took 19.82 percent or P1.768 billion. The government has yet to disburse the remaining P39.053 billion in subsidies to GOCCs, as part of its budgetary support allocation for this year. Next year, state-run corporations are proposed to receive higher subsidies worth P149.654 billion. The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) will be given the biggest subsidy amounting to P53.262 billion to fund the annual insurance premiums of indigent beneficiaries.
By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan
THE Philippines’s garments exporters are pinning their hopes on the government to haggle for a lower reciprocal tariff with Washington so that the local wearables sector will attain its 2 to 5 percent growth target for its outbound shipments next year.
This, Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines (Fobap) President Robert Young said as 2025 turned out to be “surprisingly good” due to advance deliveries which intended to cushion the tariff impact, with revenues expected to hit $1 billion this year from around $900 million in 2024.
“We are again looking forward to 2026 that this [growth] will continue and we are hoping against hope that maybe with our govern-
ment intervention, as they say, they are still asking for some adjustments and they are trying to talk to Washington about decreasing the 19-percent [tariff] like what President [Donald] Trump did with other three countries that he lowered it down and some even like went down to zero,” he said.
Young, who is also trustee for the textile, yarn and fabric sector of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport), is hoping “we can also have that kind of treatment,” adding that if the lower tariff will materialize, “that will be the best thing for us.”
Meanwhile, he said industry players are continuing to look for other markets including the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Canada and Australia.
In a phone interview of the Busi-
nessMirror with Young in July of this year, the industry leader described the 19 percent Washington-imposed tariff on Philippine exports a “hard climb” for the garments sector as the local industry would find it difficult to compete with other shippers of garments to the United States.
Young said the garments industry was hoping for Manila to negotiate with Washington for a 10-percent reciprocal tariff, given that its toughest competitors such as Vietnam brought down their tariff to 20 percent from 46 percent after negotiating with Washington.
“Like we said, we can still have elbow room with the 10 percent. And of course, taking into consideration all these neighboring countries, which are also our competitors, having more or less the same rate as ours now, right? Yes. Like
Vietnam is 20, we are 19,” the Fobap president told this paper. As such, he underscored that “we are almost the same,” adding: “So it will not be easy. It’s a hard climb to compete.” (See: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2025/07/23/ seipi-us-philippines-tradetalks-yield-favorable-resultsfor-semiconductor-and-electronics-industry/)
At the National Exporters’ Week held two weeks ago, Trade and Industry Secretary Cristina A. Roque assured other local industries that the Philippine negotiating team is still working on securing favorable deals for industries slapped with the 19-percent reciprocal tariff on US-bound goods. She made this pronouncement after US President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order exempting
key agricultural exports from reciprocal tariff. (See: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2025/11/29/dti-relies-ontariff-exemptions-to-sustain-agriexports-to-us/)
“For those that are anxious about the tariff rate that will be given to the US, it is zero percent tariff. But for those that are in the other industries, rest assured that we are still negotiating and we are still fighting for the different industries of the Philippines,” the Philippines’ Trade chief said in her speech during the National Exporters’ Week on Tuesday.
ERC weighs stakeholders’ interest in power bill deposits
By Lenie Lectura
THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is seeking a harmonious balance between consumer welfare and private sector interest, amid recent political controversies.
China.
However, ING cautioned that if inflation were to undershoot expectations, real interest rates could rise again, creating a more challenging environment for both business investment and consumer demand.
“The key is to focus on markets where reforms, productivity gains and supply- c hain shifts are improving the quality of growth, not just the headline rate. In our view, the biggest macro risk for Asia is not high inflation but a mix of deflation pressures and high real policy rates that could stall the recovery,” Bhargava said.
A pending issue that both parties are likely to argue about is the power bill deposits. ERC chairman Francis Saturnino Juan said consultations are ongoing among affected parties on the possible removal of bill deposit collection. This, after the anti-bill deposit act was filed by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who believes that the collection, albeit authorized under the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers (MCRERC), “has long imposed an unnecessary financial burden on consumers.”
Remarking via Viber, Juan said: “We recognize that the bill deposit is a long-established practice with a legally validated purpose. Therefore, any decision to stop the practice must carefully balance the interests of both consumers and utilities,” Juan said via Viber.
Abruptly discontinuing the consultations, “without a viable alternative, could jeopardize the financial stability of the DUs [distribution utilities] which, in turn, affects the costs and reliability of their electricity supply to
the consumers whose interests we aim to protect by initially proposing the discontinuation of bill deposits,” the ERC chief added.
Other ERC commissioners on Friday backed the proposed measure but agreed this must be carefully evaluated. “I fully support that move. I am also for lessening the burden of consumers,” ERC commissioner Floresinda Digal said. Other commissioners reiterated that the matter must undergo public consultations.
Under the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers, promulgated in 2004, residential consumers are required to pay bill deposits as a guarantee for their electricity consumption payments. It is equivalent to the estimated billing for one month.
Juan lauded a power distribution utility’s (DU) move to return the customers’ bill deposits after it took over the operations from another company. “It can be done, really,” he commented.
Juan added that the collection from bill deposits by the Manila Electric Company has reached P36 billion. Meralco has yet to comment as of press time.
These deposits could be used for overdue bills, earn annual interest credited to customers’ accounts, and are refundable upon service termination.
Under the Magna Carta for Resi-
dential Electric Consumers, the ERC mandates all DUs to refund the bill deposit to consumers after three years of on-time payments with no record of disconnections. However, the ERC’s authority was challenged by Neri J. Colmenares and Carlos Isagani T. Zarate, and other representatives of various party-list groups. Hence, a petition was filed but the Supreme Court denied it.
The SC ruled that the ERC may require consumers to pay bill deposits, deeming it a valid exercise of the agency’s rate-fixing power to ensure the economic viability of DUs like Meralco.
On the other hand, the ERC ruled last week that an additional P0.0371 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) will be collected from consumers, effective January 2026 customer billing.
The amount represents the Green Energy Auction Allowance (GEA-All), which will be charged to all on-grid end-users to fund the differential amount needed to fully pay all GEA eligible plants.
The GEA-All is a separate line item in the bills of customers, to be collected by the DUs from its captive customers; by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines from its directly-connected customers; and by the retail electricity suppliers from its contestable customers. All GEA-All collections shall be remitted to TransCo (National Transmission Corp.).
The approved GEA-All covers projects under GEA 1, 2 and 4 for a total recovery of P5.7 billion.
“It is very much similar to feedin tariff allowance [FIT-All], which is a universal charge per kilowatthour charged to all on-grid customers,” said ERC director for market operations service Sharon Montaner.
Also, the ERC approved TransCo’s application to establish a new FIT-All, and fixed the 2026 FIT All rate at P0.2011 per kWh beginning the January 2026 customer billing period. This represents a P0.0062 per kWh reduction from the current FIT All rate being charged by TransCo.
“For the first time since the FIT implementation began, the ERC has been able to set the FIT-All rate before the year it is meant to be applied. This demonstrates the ERC’s commitment to acting swiftly and with urgency on all filings, thereby fostering a more stable and predictable regulatory environment,” added the ERC chief.
Meanwhile, the ERC revised the secondary price cap (SPC)—a price mitigation measure in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) that caps prices when hit a certain threshold to prevent price spikes.
“An SPC value amounting to P7,423/megawatt hour [or P7.423 per kWh] is hereby imposed in the WESM energy market upon breach of the CPT [cumulative price threshold] amounting to P12,413/ megawatt hour [or P12.413 per kWh] based on the generator weighted average price over a rolling period of 72 hours,” the ERC said.
The travel period covered is between November 2024 and October 2025. In terms of top searchers within that period for travel in Southeast Asia, he said, “The Philippines improved a jump from 10th to ninth suggests growing outbound travel momentum.”
ForwardKeys is a unit of Amadeus, an information technology company providing software and systems for the travel industry worldwide.
6.2-M Pinoys leave for work, leisure DATA from the Department of Tourism (DOT) supports Ponti’s findings—some 6.25 million traveled outside the Philippines from January to October this year, up 11.61 percent from the same period in 2024. This year’s outbound travelers also exceeded the 4.77 million inbound tourists for the period. Of the total outbound travelers for the 10-month period, some 6.16 million were Filipino nationals, while 90,283 were foreign nationals. The data covers travel for work and for leisure.
The top 10 destinations for outbound travel from the Philippines include: Hong Kong at 766,869; Japan 661,296; Singapore 600,723; Taiwan 454,487; Thailand 438,362; United Arab Emirates 414,517; Saudi Arabia 368,017; Vietnam 308,679; United States 298,239; and South Korea 190,435. Other top Southeast Asian destinations of outbound travelers from the Philippines included Malaysia 148,409 and Indonesia 95,305.
long-standing partnerships with communities, local governments, and agencies across
involuntarily. Immigration attorney Michael Wildes criticized the bill as “preposterous,” pointing out that dual nationality has long been recognized in US law.
Implications for Fil-Ams
THE 4.5-million Filipino American community is one of the largest immigrant groups in the US. While exact figures are unavailable, hundreds of thousands are believed to hold dual citizenship
the country. The network’s name itself refers to the global “30x30” target, which aims to protect 30 percent of the world’s land and seas by 2030, and which the Philippines has committed to uphold as a signatory to the CBD, and through its National Biodiversity Strategy.
either by reacquisition under RA 9225 or by birth to Filipino parents in the US. Consulates have reported surges in applications, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic when travel restrictions made Philippine citizenship more valuable. For Filipino Americans, the Embassy’s reassurance is clear: current dual citizenship rights remain intact. Republic Act No. 9225 continues to allow reacquisition of Philippine citizenship for naturalized US citizens, while children born in the US to Filipino parents are recognized as dual citizens at birth.
Meanwhile, Ponti said “moderate and yet sustained growth” have been recorded in the hospitality and air travel sectors in Asia Pacific. “The Asia-Pacific region tends to have higher occupancy than the rest of the world, with occupancy growing to 70 percent, but lower average daily rates. In other words, holiday in Asia is very popular and cheaper than in many parts of the world,” he said. Resilient tourism destination THE higher occupancy in Asia Pacific is supported by the 5.8-percent growth in air traffic from November 2024 to October 2025, Ponti added, “which suggests a significant increase in travel demand across a wide diversity of tourist profiles, whether they stay in hotel or in other forms of accommodation. Unsurprisingly, we can also see a spike towards the end of December to the beginning of January, which suggests that at the end of the year celebrations are going to keep travel professionals very busy.”
valuation adjustments amounting to $442.50 million helped temper the growth in external debt due to the US dollar appreciation during the reference quarter.
“Metrics show that the external obligations remained manageable, supported by solid economic conditions and prudent policies,” the BSP said in a statement.
For instance, the BSP said the country’s short-term external debt based on the remaining maturity concept stood at $27.16 billion as of end-September 2025. STRM or short-term debt is composed of loans with original maturities of one year or less plus amortizations on medium- and long-term accounts falling due within the next 12 months.
“This level remains well-covered by the country’s gross in-
ternational reserves [GIR] of US$109.06 billion, providing 4.01 times cover for short-term obligations,” the BSP said. The GIR-to-STRM debt ratio stood at 3.85 as of end-June 2025, which the BSP said is better than most of the country’s emerging economy peers.
Meanwhile, the debt service ratio improved to 8.5 percent from 11.5 percent a year earlier due to lower principal and interest payments by resident borrowers for the period.
The debt service ratio is another indicator of the capacity to service debt that compares the country’s loan payments with its income from exports and other inflows.
“A lower ratio is desirable as it means a smaller portion of XGSI is used to repay external debt. This allows more resources to be allocated toward economic growth and improves the country’s FX buffers against external shocks,” the central bank explained.
As such “passenger demand to Asia and the Pacific is entering a steady growth phase supported by airlines’ increasing capacity for late 2025 to early 2026. Traffic rises consistently after the summer months and plans scheduled for October to March remain well above current levels, showing strong airline confidence in long-haul recovery.” ADR patterns show mixed pricing, with premium destinations pushing higher rates, while others remain more affordable, supporting broad traveler segments. For instance, Japan shows volatility rising from US$260 per night in November 2024, hitting a peak of $350 in April 2025, and easing to $290 per night in October 2025. In contrast, Thailand, which attracted some 29 million tourists from January to October this year, saw its ADR somewhat stable between $150/night and $200/night.
Ponti underscored the overall resilience of Asia Pacific as a destination with “demand coming from a more diverse set of origin markets, led by strong growth from China, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. In short, I think there are some good reasons to be cautiously optimistic about tourism growth in the region as we enter into 2026.”
Lacson won’t sign budget bicam report if…
By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
ENATE President Pro Tem -
Spore Panfilo Lacson said on Sunday that he will not sign the bicameral conference committee report on the 2026 budget unless the provisions granting the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (Maifip) a huge budget increase and allocating P33 billion for potentially unvetted farm-to-market roads are corrected. Lacson made the statement after the bicameral conference
committee decided to increase the Maifip’s 2026 budget to P51 billion, and provide P33 billion for farm-to-market roads. The bicameral conference committee on the 2026 budget, live-streamed for the first time amid an outcry for transparency because of discovered fiscal loopholes in the 2025 GAA, met for eight hours at the Philippine International Convention Center on Saturday. “Sorry, unless rectified in its final version, I cannot sign to ratify a bicam report with P51 billion for Maifip, with nothing but guaran -
Dole warns employers vs coercing workers to perform in parties
By Justine Xyrah Garcia
THE Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) warned employers against coercing workers to perform in company parties, saying participation becomes unlawful when refusal is met with threats of punishment.
In a recent statement, the department reminded companies to organize “inclusive activities” that respect workers’ “cultural sensitivities, religious practices, and personal preferences.”
The agency made the clarification after several workers asked
See “Dole,” A4
tee letters from politicians, and because it is not compliant with the Universal Health Care Act.”
In addition, Lacson affirmed he will “not associate myself with the P33-billion spending for unplanned and unvetted farm-tomarket roads.”
Lacson, who made it his business to be a one-man watchdog for national budget, continued: “Unless we adequately fund the UHC programs such that they cover all barangays and ensure zero billing, among others, we cannot fully implement the UHC law that we
passed. All health-related funds must be subsumed under the Universal Health Care program of the Department of Health. Guarantee letters from politicians will only guarantee patronage politics but not the health care needs of Filipinos, especially the indigents.”
At the first day of the bicameral conference committee’s deliberations on the 2026 budget bill Saturday, lawmakers increased the Maifip’s 2026 budget to P51 billion—higher than the P42 billion in 2025 and bigger than the House’s initial proposal of P49
billion, which the Senate cut to P29 billion.
The lawmakers at the bicameral conference committee deliberations also decided to provide farm-to-market roads with P33 billion. This is higher than the P32 billion in the House version of the budget bill, and more than double the P16 billion in the National Expenditure Program (NEP).
Earlier, Lacson noted the Maifip has been prone to political patronage, as it allows government officials to issue guarantee letters for indigent patients.
One of his priority bills, Senate Bill 404, seeks to free Maifip from politics by placing it under the framework of the Universal Health Care Act, and penalizing political exploitation and manipulation of the program.
During the Senate deliberations on the budget bill, Lacson asked the sponsors if the list of farmto-market roads that would potentially be funded by the realignment of P255.5 billion in flood control project funds came from the Department of Agriculture or from congressmen.
Timing matters in public acceptance of political dynasties–survey
By Bless Aubrey Ogerio
VOTERS draw a clearer line between political dynasties that run in the same election cycle and those that field candidates in separate terms, a national survey shows.
The latest Philippine Public Opinion Monitor by WR Numero found that families with multiple candidates competing for the same Senate seats faced the highest disapproval.
It has 57 percent of respondents opposing such configurations, while only 24 percent considered
it acceptable. About 20 percent were undecided.
Candidates from the same family seeking mayoral, gubernatorial or district representative positions in a single election drew 55 percent opposition, 28 percent acceptance and 17 percent uncertainty.
Yet, when family members run consecutively, public acceptance rises. More than half of respondents (51 percent) viewed these successive bids as acceptable, while 32 percent disagreed and 16 percent were unsure.
Following a December 9 meeting of the Legislative-Executive
Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), President Marcos urged lawmakers to prioritize the AntiDynasty Bill.
Despite lingering concerns over dynasties, 44 percent of respondents still consider them acceptable during elections, though an equal proportion believes they are more prone to corruption.
These figures have dropped from September 2024, when 56 percent accepted political dynasties and 50 percent considered them susceptible to corrupt practices.
When asked to name political
families perceived as prioritizing self-interest over public service, 42 percent could not identify any.
Among those who did, the Marcos family was most frequently cited at 19 percent, followed by Duterte (10 percent), Villar (3 percent), Aquino (2 percent) and Binay (2 percent).
The survey was conducted nationwide from February 10 to 18 this year, through face-to-face interviews with 1,814 Filipinos aged 18 and older. The margin of error is ±2 percent at the national level and ranges from ±5 to ±6 percent across regions.
Legislators denounce Chinese water cannon attack on Pinoy fishermen
LEGISLATORS on Sunday condemned the water cannon attack by Chinese ships at Sabina Shoal in the West Philippine Sea that resulted in injuries to three Filipino fishermen.
Sen. Anna Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros in a statement said: “I strongly denounce China’s relentless aggression against our fisherfolk. Hindi na nga maayos na makapaghanapbuhay ang ating mangingisda sa sarili nating karagatan, sasaktan pa nila.”
In the same statement, Hontiveros added: “China seems intent on getting what she wants at the cost of not only our territories, but also our people. This escalating violence must compel our government to immediately fast-track defense treaty negotiations with like-minded countries.”
The Coast Guard (PCG) reported that three Filipino fishermen were injured Friday after Chinese coast guard and militia vessels used water cannons and acted aggressively against Filipino fishing boats near Escoda Shoal.
“Our fishermen must not be left defenseless. More Coast Guard personnel and vessels must accompany them to the West Philippine
Sea. Lagyan na ng malinaw na budget at sapat na suporta ang ganitong inisyatibo. Huwag nating hayaang mag-isa at walang proteksyon ang ating mga mangingisda ,” the lawmaker said. “May Navy [sailor] na nawalan ng daliri, mga Coast Guard crew na nagkaroon ng temporary blindness, at ngayon, mga mangingisdang nasugatan. We cannot afford to be unprepared as China continues to endanger Filipino lives,” she added.
Urgent action
CALLING for urgent government action, several members of the House of Representatives strongly condemned what they described as a dangerous and unlawful attack by the Chinese.
Deputy Speakers Paolo Ortega V of La Union and Jefferson Khonghun of Zambales, Reps. Zia Alonto Adiong of Lanao del Sur, Rodge Gutierrez of 1-Rider party-list group, Ernix Dionisio of Manila
57 NBP inmates complete UP short courses–BuCor
THE Bureau of Corrections on Sunday said 57 of its inmates or persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) recently completed short courses under the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), as part of the agency’s Workforce Development Program.
This initiative celebrated the dedication of 30 PDLs who undertook specialized courses in Digital Literacy and Principles of Graphic Design, alongside 27 PDLs who finished the Introduction to Permaculture: The Ethics of Permaculture and Design Principles. Corrections Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr. congratulated the participants, emphasizing the vital role that accessible and inclusive education plays in fostering personal growth and offering new opportunities.
He extended gratitude towards Angelo Jimenez, president of UP System, UPOU led by Chancellor Joanne V. Serrano, for their unwavering commitment to bringing quality education inside the correction
facilities to reach those who need it most, and to the UP Alumni Association headed by its President, Regent Robert Lester Aranton for facilitating this connection.
This is the first time that UP top officials visited BuCor, interact with prisoners and openly showed support for this program for them, Catapang said.
“Your presence here affirms a powerful truth: that education belongs to everyone, and that no one is beyond the reach of learning,” Catapang said.
“This program stands as a testament to the belief that, despite the challenges posed by incarceration, education can serve as a beacon of hope and a pathway to reintegration into society,” Catapang said.
By working collaboratively through a tripartite Memorandum of Agreement, the Bucor, UPOU, and the UP Alumni Association have not only provided courses but have also ignited a sense of inspiration and empowerment among the PDLs, preparing them for a brighter future.
and Leila M. de Lima of Mamamayang Liberal said the use of highpressure water cannons against civilian fishermen and their boats was reckless and in clear violation of international law.
At least three Filipino fishermen were injured, suffering bruises and open wounds, while two indigenous fishing boats sustained serious damage.
The Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Commo. Jay Tarriela, said the water cannons used by the CCG were so powerful that they destroyed wooden structures and parts of the fishing boats.
Lawmakers said this reckless aggression targeted nearly two dozen Filipino fishing boats lawfully operating within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, endangering the lives and livelihoods of ordinary fishermen who are merely providing for their families.
The legislators expressed solidarity with the injured fishermen and praised their courage in continuing to fish in their traditional grounds despite repeated threats and harassment. They also commended the PCG for its swift response, saying coast guard personnel managed to reach the fishermen despite aggressive blocking maneuvers by Chinese vessels, provide medical assistance, and deliver muchneeded supplies.
They said such provocative actions by the China Coast Guard violate international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) and the 2016 Arbitral Award, which unequivocally affirm the Philippines’ sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea.
According to lawmakers, these incidents undermine regional peace and stability and cannot be tolerated.
Also, de Lima, the House deputy minority leader, said that this was the first time water cannons were directly used against Filipino civilian fishermen and not just PCG vessels.
She said the repeated targeting of Filipino fishermen calls for urgent government action.
“It is alarming that the China Coast Guard is now directly targeting the boats of our fishermen with water cannons, and they could possibly do this again. This is something the government cannot allow or simply let pass,” she added.
Emphasizing that Escoda (Sabina) Shoal lies well within the country’s EEZ, De Lima said the incident marked a troubling shift in China’s actions in the area.
“China is now after our civilian fisherfolk. This is all happening within our own EEZ,” she said, calling on the government to step up the defense of innocent Filipino civilians and assert the country’s maritime rights. Butch Fernandez and Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz
PNP intensifies security measures during Simbang Gabi observance
THE National Police (PNP) has placed all units on heightened alert nationwide ahead of the start of Simbang Gabi on December 16.
Millions of Catholic faithful are expected to attend dawn and evening Masses leading up to Christmas.
Under Operation Ligtas Paskuhan 2025, more than 70,000 police personnel will be deployed in churches and other busy areas to ensure the safety of worshippers.
In a statement on Sunday, the acting PNP chief, Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez, said security measures include intensified foot patrols, checkpoints and mobile patrols, as well as close coordination with local governments, barangay officials and Church authorities for crowd control and emergency response.
He also directed police commanders to secure churches and nearby convergence areas, particularly spots frequented by churchgoers after Mass.
“Our goal is for our k ababayan t o feel safe as they attend Simbang Gabi and return home. We are committed to help make the Christmas season meaningful through improved peace and order measures,”
Dole.
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on social media whether they can file complaints if they are forced to dance during Christmas parties.
“The short answer is yes, you can, especially if there is a serious threat of punishment for non-compliance,” Dole said.
The agency explained that under the Labor Code, employees may only be disciplined for specific just causes, namely serious misconduct, gross and
Nartatez said.
He added that police will remain vigilant against theft, pickpocketing, traffic congestion, fire hazards and other emergencies, with officers visibly deployed around churches and surrounding streets. Nartatez also reminded the public to stay alert, secure personal belongings, follow traffic rules and immediately report any suspicious activities.
Meanwhile, the Police Regional Office 3 (PRO3) has activated its own security measures across Central Luzon, deploying nearly 6,000 police personnel in key areas as part of the holiday security operations. Beginning Dec. 16, police personnel will be stationed at police assistance desks, places of worship, transport hubs, commercial centers and tourist destinations, with additional deployments on Dec. 24 and 31 in designated fireworks zones.
Security efforts are supported by more than 500 force multipliers from various units and advocacy groups, alongside intensified anti-criminality campaigns and the establishment of Motorist Assistance Hubs along major roads. These measures will remain in place until January 6, 2026. PNA
habitual neglect of duties, loss of trust and confidence involving fraud or willful breach, commission of a crime against the employer or the co-workers, and analogous causes directly related to work or company policies.
Refusal to perform or participate in company parties was not among the grounds cited by Dole.
“If an employee is forced to participate and threatened with punishment, a complaint may be filed before the National Labor Relations Commission [NLRC],
See “Dole,” A6
Moka conferred on 23 at Pampanga Day celebration
By Ashley J. Manabat
ITY OF SAN FERNAN -
CDO—A total of 23 individuals and institutions were honored at the 2025 Most Outstanding Kapampangan Awards (Moka) on December 11 which marked the culmination of the 454th Aldo Ning Pampanga (Pampanga Day) celebration at the Kingsborough International Convention Center here.
Organized by the Arts, Culture and Tourism Office of Pampanga, the annual awards recognize exemplary contributions to culture, public service and other fields that bring pride to the province.
This year’s honorees represented a wide range of disciplines including public service, entrepreneurship, the creative arts, institutional leadership, and emerging fields of excellence.
Since 1978, MOKA has served as a key platform for elevating the standards of excellence in Kapampangan culture and community leadership.
The awardees’ achievements reflect the passion, skill, and commitment that continue to sustain Kapampangan heritage and advance the province’s reputation both nationally and abroad.
The 23 awardees for 2025 are:
n L t. Col. Aris Gonzales L aw Enforcement
n M arissa Fajardo
Education
n O liver Tumang S ports
n L any Manaloto, RM, BSM G overnment Service
n J oliber Mapiles, PhD Entrepreneurship
n J ose Irwin Nucum Mu sic
n Ja yson Pabalan Performing Arts
n B and 94 Pandacaqui Performing Arts
n R ichard Gabriel Vi sual Arts
n Jose Antonio Miguel Melchor C ulinary Excellence
n Jo el Mallari C ulture and Heritage
n A guman Kalalangan Sulat Kapampangan C ulture and Heritage
n R ichard Torno A griculture
n M udiekeewis Santos, PhD S cience and Technology
n K ara Patria David-Cancio
Ma ss Media
n J ohn Roniel Canimo Youth Service
n A ris Gulapa J udicial Service
n M inalin Development Foundation Inc.
S ocial Services
n M ichael Manio O utstanding Kapampangan O verseas Filipino Worker
n M aria Teresa Sanchez-Tolosa Me dicine
n G erardo Legaspi P ublic Health
n N ormandy Canlas A rchitecture ( Emerging Category)
n S implicio P. Umali Jr. B usiness Leadership ( Emerging Category)
Gov. Lilia Pineda encouraged the honorees to continue serving as examples of dedication and compassion. “I hope you continue being an
inspiration to our people, especially to our fellow Kapampangans, to persevere and help one another. Let us love our beloved province; let us love our fellow Kapampangans,” Pineda said in the local language. National Food Authority Administrator Larry Lacson served as the guest of honor and speaker. He highlighted the enduring resilience of Kapampangans and recalled how the province rose from the devastation of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption to become one of the country’s most progressive provinces. Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian was also recognized as “Adopted Son of Pampanga” through Sangguniang Panlalawigan Resolution 9757 for his commitment to the province. He was cited for advancing programs that strengthened community resilience and improved the welfare of senior citizens, persons with disabilities, children and marginalized groups. His support, Pampanga officials said, has significantly contributed to the province’s continued development and progress.
The awards night capped a yearlong search for role models who inspire the community and uphold Pampanga’s rich heritage.
THE 2025 Most Outstanding Kapampangan Awardees gather together with Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda, Vice Gov. Dennis Pineda and other local
officials for a commemorative photo following the recognition ceremony which capped the 454th Pampanga Day celebration.
Morocco aims to boost legal cannabis farming and tap a global boom
SINCE he started growing cannabis at 14, Mohamed Makhlouf has lived in the shadows, losing sleep while bracing for a knock on his door from authorities that could mean prison or his entire harvest confiscated.
But after decades of operating in secret, Makhlouf finally has gained peace of mind as Morocco expands legal cultivation and works to integrate veteran growers like him into the formal economy.
On his farmland deep in the Rif Mountains, stalks of a governmentapproved cannabis strain rise from the earth in dense clusters. He notices when police pass on a nearby road. But where the crop’s aroma once meant danger, today there is no cause for concern. They know he sells to a local cooperative.
“Legalization is freedom,” Makhlouf said. “If you want your work to be clean, you work with the companies and within the law.”
The 70-year-old Makhlouf’s story mirrors the experience of a small but growing number of farmers who started in Morocco’s vast black market but now sell legally to cooperatives producing cannabis for medicinal and industrial use.
New market begins to sprout
MOROCCO is the world’s biggest producer of cannabis and top supplier of the resin used to make hashish. For years, authorities have oscillated between looking the other way and cracking down, even as the economy directly or indirectly supports hundreds of thousands of people in the Rif Mountains, according to United Nations reports and government data.
Abdelsalam Amraji, another cannabis farmer who joined the legal industry, said the crop is crucial to keeping the community afloat.
“Local farmers have tried cultivating wheat, nuts, apples, and other crops, but none have yielded viable results,” he said.
The region is known as an epicenter of anti-government sentiment and growers have lived for years with arrest warrants hanging over them. They avoided cities and towns. Many saw their fields burned in government campaigns targeting cultivation.
Though cannabis can fetch higher prices on the black market, the decreased risk is worth it, Amraji said.
“Making money in the illegal field brings fear and problems,” he said. “When everything is legal, none of that happens.”
Market remains under tight regulation
THE change began in 2021 when Morocco became the first major illegal cannabis producer, and the first Muslim-majority country, to pass a law legalizing certain forms of cultivation.
Officials heralded the move as a way to lift small-scale farmers like Makhlouf and Amraji out of poverty and integrate cannabis-growing regions into the economy after decades of marginalization.
In 2024, King Mohammed VI pardoned more than 4,800 farmers serving prison sentences to allow longtime growers “to integrate into the new strategy,” the justice ministry said at the time.
Since legalization was enacted in 2022, Morocco has tightly regulated every step of production and sale from seeds and pesticides to farming licenses and distribution. Though certain cultivation is authorized, officials have shown no sign of moving toward legalization or reforms targeting recreational consumers.
“We have two contradictory missions that are really to allow the same project to succeed in the same environment,” said Mohammed El Guerrouj, director-general of Morocco’s cannabis regulatory agency. “Our mission as policemen is to enforce regulations. But our mission is also to support farmers and operators so they succeed in their projects.”
Licensing
THE agency issued licenses last year to more than 3,371 growers across the Rif and recorded nearly 4,200 tons of legal cannabis produced.
Near the town of Bab Berred, the Biocannat cooperative buys cannabis from roughly 200 small farmers during harvest season. The raw plant is transformed into neat vials of CBD oil, jars of lotion and chocolates that have spread across Morocco’s pharmacy shelves.
Some batches are milled into industrial hemp for textiles. For medicinal use and export, some of the product is refined into products with less than 1 percent THC, the psychoactive compound that gives cannabis its high.
Aziz Makhlouf, the cooperative’s director, said legalization created a whole ecosystem that employed more than just farmers.
“There are those who handle packaging, those who handle transport, those who handle irrigation all of it made possible through legalization,” said Makhlouf, a Bab Berred native whose family has long been involved in cannabis farming.
Legalization has brought licenses, formal cooperatives and the hope of steady income without fear of arrest. But the shift also has exposed the limits of reform. The legal market remains too small to absorb the hundreds of thousands who depend on the illicit trade and the new rules have introduced more pressures, farmers and experts say.
Protests erupted in parts of nearby Taounate in August after cooperatives there failed to pay growers for their crop. Farmers waved banners reading “No legalization without rights” and “Enough procrastination,” furious that payments they were promised for working legally at the government’s urging never came, local media reported.
Illegal cultivation persists THE government insists the transformation is only beginning and challenges can be overcome.
But black market demand remains high. Today, cannabis is grown legally on 14,300 acres (5,800 hectares) in the Rif, while more than 67,000 acres (27,100 hectares) are used for illegal growing, according to government data. The number of farmers entering the legal system remains tiny compared with the number thought to be tied to the illicit market.
An April report from the Global Institute Against Transnational Organized Crime characterized the industry as “more one of coexistence of both markets than a decisive transition from one to the other.”
“A substantial proportion of the population continue to rely on illicit cannabis networks for income generation, perpetuating the dynamics that the state is trying to reform,” the report said.
For now, Morocco’s two cannabis economies exist side by side one regulated and one outlawed as the country tries to coax a centuries-old trade out of the shadows without leaving its farmers behind.
“Cannabis is legal now, just like mint,” Amraji said. “I never imagined I’d one day be authorized to grow it. I’m shocked.” AP
Average farmgate price of palay lower in Nov
By Ada Pelonia @adapelonia
DESPITE the ban on imported rice, the average farmgate price of local paddy rice fell by nearly 17 percent year-on-year in November, based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Figures from the PSA showed that the average farmgate price of dry unmilled rice dropped by 16.6 percent to P16.92 per kilo during the period, from P20.28 per kilo last year.
Calabarzon recorded the fastest decline in November, where the average farmgate price slumped by almost 24 percent, according to PSA. Prices in the region averaged P13.25 per kilo during the period compared with last year’s P17.38 per kilo.
This was followed by Western Visayas, where traders bought palay at P16.21 per kilo last month, lower than the P21.25 per kilo recorded in November 2024.
Top rice-producing regions Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley also posted year-on-year declines in farmgate prices. The average price of unmilled rice in these regions stood at P18.14 per kilo from P21.06 per kilo and P16.37 per kilo from P19.76 per kilo, respectively. Despite this, the latest farmgate figure in November inched up
to its highest level since the country imposed the import ban on rice in September, as average monthly growth reach 7.48 percent.
However, it is still lower than the National Food Authority’s (NFA) prices ranging from P23 to P30 per kilo for clean and dry palay and P17 to P23 per kilo for fresh and wet palay.
The government has put in place several initiatives to raise prices of paddy rice, which fell to as low as P8 per kilo in recent months. This includes the decision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to extend the rice import ban until the end of the year.
Marcos initially suspended shipments of rice for 60 days from September 1 until October 31 to arrest the sharp drop in palay prices ahead of the wet harvest season.
He also issued Executive Orders (EO) 100 and EO 101, mandating the setting of a floor price for government procurement of unmilled rice and directed the full imple -
mentation of the Sagip Saka Act, respectively.
The import freeze only covers regular and well-milled rice. Specialty rice varieties, such as Japonica, glutinous, and basmati rice, are exempt from the ban.
Government data indicated that the country’s rice arrivals has already reached 3.34 MMT.
Last October, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said the Philippines would still be able to produce 20.3 MMT of paddy rice by year -
end despite the losses incurred by farmers due to extreme weather events.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa “improvements” in the third quarter harvest would allow the country to end the year with a palay output of more than 20 MMT.
The DA had scaled back its palay output forecast this year to 20.3 MMT due to torrential downpours. The revised figure is lower than its initial projection of 20.45 MMT.
DA: Data hub aims to shield PHL from food price volatility
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is fast-tracking data collection efforts ahead of the launch of its new command center, which seek to safeguard supply and maintain stable prices.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the agency’s modernization plans hinge on the quality and completeness of information fed into the system.
“I encourage everybody to gather and provide data that will populate the Command Center. But we need real data, not fake information, to ensure we make the right decisions and take correct actions.”
The command center would serve as a consolidated data hub
integrating real-time information on commodities. This includes crop production, livestock inventory, weather patterns, import and export flows, price movements, satellite field monitoring, and supply chain conditions.
By centralizing all relevant metrics, the DA said the platform would enable the agency to anticipate shortages, prevent oversupply, deploy interventions faster, and improve coordination across regional units.
To enhance the system’s analytical capabilities, the DA chief said the agency is also exploring artificial intelligence (AI) tools that could process the massive volume of data and help create actionable insights.
“We will use AI to ask the questions and then hopefully help us solve problems or situations,” he said, adding that this will be dubbed the Government Artificial Intelligence for Agriculture (GAIA).
The DA expects the integration of AI to help the agency simulate crop scenarios, optimize planting schedules, detect disease risks early.
It can also monitor farmgate price distortions, and recommend interventions that align with national goals of food security, agricultural modernization, and higher farmer incomes.
The DA had targeted to launch the center in November. Past its initial expected inauguration
date, however, the agency did not disclose when the center will be opened.
Meanwhile, the DA chief said the command center’s success will bank on agency-wide participation, including central offices, regional, and other field units.
“If we want to manage Philippine agriculture well, we must base our decisions on accurate and timely information.”
With digital tools, unified datasets, and AI-driven analysis, the DA wants to introduce “a more responsive, transparent, and forward-looking agricultural management system that will safeguard supply of farm goods, stabilize prices, and lift the livelihoods of Filipino farmers.” Ada Pelonia
Agrilever, Tomorrow.io team up for hyperlocal weather forecasts
LOCAL agritech firm
Agrilever forged a partnership with Tomorrow.io to deliver artificial intelligence-powered weather forecasts that aim to cushion the impact of extreme weather events on farm production.
Agrilever said its integrated farmer platform provides “real-time, hyperlocal insights” powered by Tomorrow.io’s forecasting system.
This consolidates digital crop protocols, weather intelligence, and access to financing tools, giving farmers the information to make timely field decisions.
The firm noted that the partnership would help farmers better manage climate risks and boost farmer productivity amid increasingly variable weatherrelated shocks.
“Our partnership with Tomorrow.io strengthens our commitment to protecting
Filipino farmers, especially when typhoons and sudden weather shifts threaten their livelihoods,” Agrilever President Ruel Amparo said in a statement.
The company noted that the Philippines is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change.
In particular, it cited GermanWatch’s latest Climate Risk Index that ranked the Philippines as the seventh most affected country by climate-related extreme weather events over the past three decades.
Through Tomorrow.io’s technology, Agrilever said it supported government agencies with real-time weather intelligence during recent typhoons, such as tropical cyclones Tino and Uwan, the estimated damage of which stood at P743.8 million in November alone.
It added that Tomorrow.io
developed localized weather intelligence reports for the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), which were also distributed to other affected government agencies.
Those agencies then received early warnings on rainfall, wind speed, and flood risks, allowing for faster responses, better asset protection, and more informed decisions throughout severe weather events.
Integrating Tomorrow.io data into the National Food Authority (NFA) system also enabled the grains agency to monitor 331 warehouses nationwide with insightbased weather tracking, including daily weather risk assessments for 30 strategic warehouses.
“The Bureau of Soils and Water Management [BSWM] now receives 17 automated
reports for priority locations, supporting over 600 active users, which mostly include farmers accessing hyperlocal forecasts through mobile devices.”
With this partnership, the firm expects that more farmers will gain access to real-time, location-specific weather intelligence.
“By integrating advanced, hyperlocal weather intelligence into Agrilever’s platform, we are giving farmers the ability to prepare earlier, make faster and more informed decisions, and safeguard their crops even during extreme conditions,” Amparo said.
“When farmers have timely and reliable information, they are better equipped to withstand disasters and recover faster. That is the kind of progress this collaboration makes possible for our communities.” Ada Pelonia
THIS BusinessMirror file photo shows a farmer in Pangasinan displaying threshed rice.
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Monday, December 15, 2025 www.businessmirror.com.ph
ERC sets initial price ceiling for offshore wind projects
TBy Lenie Lectura @llectura
HE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has set the preliminary offer price cap for the fifth round of the Green Energy Auction (GEA-5).
The green energy auction reserve (GEAR) price for fixed-bottom offshore wind (OSW) projects should not be more than P10.3859 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), the regulator proposed over the weekend.
GEAR price serves as the maximum price in pesos per kWh that will be used as the basis for bid offers during the auction. However, the ERC may still adjust this depending on the outcome of the public consultations which started last December 12. The ERC will deliberate on the final GEAR5 price on January 14, 2026.
Under Department of Energy (DOE) order DC2021-11-0036, the ERC is mandated to set the
Legislator urges PhilHealth to intensify info program
By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie
ALAWMAKER on Sunday called on the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to intensify its information campaign on the financial protection and benefit packages available under the government’s national health insurance program, including the P20,000 worth of medicines every year.
During the first day of the bilateral conference committee meeting on the proposed 2026 national budget on Saturday, Parañaque Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan noted that many Filipinos remain unaware of the benefits they can avail of from PhilHealth, including the fact that all citizens are automatically enrolled as members under the Universal Health Care Law.
“In Parañaque, for instance, many of our kababayan do not know that they can benefit from PhilHealth benefits like Yakap [Yaman ng Kalusugan], where they can get access to free consultations and P20,000 worth of medicines every year,” Yamsuan said.
Sen. Erwin Tulfo supported Yamsuan’s call, joining him in urging PhilHealth to step up its information campaign on its various benefit packages.
A recent independent study analyzing outpatients’ knowledge about Yakap concluded that public awareness of the program’s specific benefits “remains
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including claims for damages,” Dole said. It added that complaints may also be filed even without formal penalties if the employee is subjected to hostility or a work environment so oppressive it amounts to constructive dismissal, which is tantamount to illegal dismissal. Dole further said that violations of Republic Act 11313, or the Safe Spaces
limited and fragmented, with many Filipinos familiar with Philhealth as an institution but not with the precise components or registration procedures of the outpatient package.”
To address this gap, Yamsuan suggested that PhilHealth expand its presence on social media and work closely with local governments to complement online efforts with community-based information drives.
Yakap expanded the previous Konsulta program of PhilHealth to include not only free access to medical consultations and certain laboratory tests, but also cancer screenings and an expanded list of covered medicines worth P20,000 per year.
“This is a laudable initiative of our President [Marcos], which, however, many Filipinos do not know about. Even if they know about Yakap, they are at a loss as to which Yakap-accredited clinic to go to or in which Yakap-accredited pharmacy they can get free medicines,” he said.
Many Filipinos also do not know that they can avail of packages like Z Benefits, which covers life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, heart surgery, and orthopedic implants, along with outpatient support for those with mental health conditions, among other benefits under PhilHealth, Yamsuan said.
“A weak information campaign defeats PhilHealth’s purpose of making quality healthcare accessible and affordable to every Filipino,” Yamsuan said.
Act, may also expose employers to criminal liability. However, the agency noted that participation in company activities remains acceptable when done voluntarily.
“If the encouragement is merely in jest during Christmas parties or presentations, and all activities are respectful, clean fun, and in the spirit of camaraderie, workers may choose to participate to foster stronger camaraderie and make [their] occasions more enjoyable,” the department added.
GEAR prices for each round of auction declared by the DOE, in this case for the GEA-5, upon its release of the Terms of Reference and Notice of Auction (NOA), which covers only fixed-bottom offshore wind for the 2028–2030 delivery period with an installation target of 3,300 megawatts (MW).
In addition, the Commission approved the preliminary formula for the implementation of one-time indexation pursuant to
Section 17 of the DOE DC202506-0009, for comments and public consultation together with the preliminary GEAR price.
“This auction for offshore wind is a milestone in achieving the Philippine Energy Plan set by the DOE,” ERC Chairperson Francis Saturnino Juan said.
“This technology will be first in the country with total potential capacity of more than 68 gigawatts,” he added.
The DOE released last month
the terms of reference (TOR) and the notice of auction (NOA) for GEA5. The TOR outlines the complete requirements, timelines, and evaluation procedures for participating developers.
Among others, the TOR states that there will be a 20-year supply delivery period, with green energy tariff (GET) payments starting at commissioning and WESM (Wholesale Electricity Spot Market) registration. The DOE also declared an updated
bid bond, performance bond, and GET entitlement rules, including adjustments for early or delayed commissioning.
Meanwhile, the provisions for force majeure and infrastructurerelated delays are subject to DOE validation. With the NOA and TOR issued, developers are encouraged to prepare registration requirements, including wind resource assessments, infrastructure plans, and corporate documents.
Typhoon Tino damage to agriculture: ₧2.5 billion
TBy Ada Pelonia @adapelonia
YPOON Tino left nearly P2.5 billion in damage to the country’s fisheries and farm sector, the Department of Agriculture (DA) reported.
In its final bulletin for Typhoon Tino, the DA noted that the losses incurred by 120,361 farmers and fisherfolk stood at P2.49 billion.
At least 37,885 hectares of farmland were affected by the storm. Of these, 23,905 hectares have a chance to recover.
The agency said the volume of production losses across eight regions reached 91,260 metric tons (MT). The regions included were Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas,
Rizal and Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), Western, Eastern and Central Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos), and Caraga.
Rice sustained most of the damage at 41,300 MT. This was followed by high-value crops at 41,077 MT, corn at 7,381 MT, and cassava at 1,483 MT. Around 1,060 hectares of coconut plantation and 40 hectares of fiber crops were also damaged.
According to the DA, the production loss for rice accounted for around 0.56 percent of its fourth quarter output target volume at 7.40 MMT, while that of corn was 0.35 percent of its target for the same period at 2.12 MMT.
Moreover, the DA said 135,475 animals were affected by the typhoon. This included chicken, swine, cattle, carabao, goat, duck, sheep, turkey, horse, quail, and guinea fowl.
Despite this, the lion’s share in the value of production losses was posted in high-value crops at P1.19 billion. This was followed by rice at P712.43 million, fiber crops at P526.5 million, and corn at P173.36 million.
Furthermore, livestock and poultry incurred losses amounting to P282.71 million, cassava at PP29.66 million, fisheries and aquatic resources at P17.93 million, and coconut at P8.14 million.
Damage to farm equipment, agriculture infrastructure, and irrigation systems were valued at P31.3 million, P30.32 million, and
P9.83 million, respectively.
According to the DA, it has issued several interventions to the affected farmers and fisherfolk to address the impact of typhoon Tino. This included agricultural inputs for rice, corn, and high-value crops; bangus, tilapia, and carp fingerlings; and animal feeds and supplements for livestock and poultry. The DA added that 2.57 million bags or 128,500 MT of rice stocks from the National Food
Maynilad spends ₧2.55-B to relocate major pipes in Manila
WEST Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad) is implementing a major pipeline relocation and capacityupgrade project in the City of Manila to enhance service reliability and support its long-term network improvement program.
The P2.55-billion project involves replacing about three kilometers of existing 1,350-millimeter pipes along the Philippine National Railways alignment near Paco–Sta. Mesa Road with a new 2,000-millimeter mainline totaling eight kilometers. The upgraded pipeline will be relocated to G. Tuazon Street, Lacson Avenue, Quirino Avenue, and Osmeña Highway—from V.G. Cruz to San Andres.
Once completed by the third quarter of 2027, the project’s upgraded capacity has a designed recovery potential of up to 18 million liters per day (MLD)—equivalent
NEARLY one million families all over the country have benefited from the government’s “Benteng Bigas Meron (BBM) Na” program since its rollout seven months ago, the Department of Agriculture (DA) reported.
Speaking at a news forum in Quezon City on Saturday, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Genevieve Guevarra said the P20-per-kilo rice initiative of President Marcos launched in May has so far reached close to 900,000 beneficiaries.
“Almost a million have benefited since we
to the average daily consumption of about 140,000 Manila residents. It will also help raise water pressure in 29 barangays, from seven pounds per square inch to 16 psi, which can allow water to reach the third floor of a building without a booster pump.
“Through this project, we’re investing in higher-capacity infrastructure intended to enhance water distribution in Manila. By reducing losses from leaks and illegal connections, more clean water can reach households that need it,” said Maynilad President and Chief Executive Officer Ramoncito S. Fernandez.
A LARGE-DIAMETER primary pipeline is being installed by Maynilad as part of an ongoing network upgrade project in the City of Manila. The works form part of efforts to improve service reliability and reduce water losses.
This initiative forms part of Maynilad’s Non-Revenue Water (NRW) Management Program, which includes leak detection and repair, pressure management, meter replacement, and anti-pilferage operations across the West Zone.
Almost one million households benefit from ₧20/kg rice program
launched on May 13, 2025. Politically correct, more than 900,000,” she said.
Guevarra said the DA is now looking to modernize the program’s registration system to ensure that the intended beneficiaries are the ones purchasing the subsidized rice.
The improved system is expected to help monitor where and how often beneficiaries buy the P20 rice.
We are looking to modernize registration system nationwide to be more direct to our target beneficiaries. At the same time, to monitor where they buy and how often,”
Guevarra said. She added that the agency is targeting to reach 15 million households under the program by 2026.
P500 Noche Buena achievable
GUEVARRA, likewise, supported the Department of Trade and Industry’s estimate that P500 would be enough for a family’s Noche Buena, depending on how elaborate the celebration is.
“It’s possible for a household of five, but of course it depends on what they want to
prepare,” she said, citing current market prices of pork at around P330 per kilo and chicken at P180 to P200 per kilo
Guevarra encouraged consumers to shop at Kadiwa stores, where prices are generally 20 to 30 percent lower due to the direct farmto-consumer setup.
While she noted that product selections may be limited, she said the lower prices can help stretch household budgets. There are currently 740 Kadiwa stores and pop-up outlets nationwide, with more than 100 operating regularly. PNA
Editor: Angel R. Calso
Israel says it has killed a top Hamas commander in Gaza
JERUSALEM—Israel on Saturday said it killed a top Hamas commander in Gaza after an explosive device detonated and wounded two soldiers in the territory’s south.
Hamas in a statement did not confirm the death of Raed Saad. It said a civilian vehicle had been struck outside Gaza City and asserted it was a violation of the ceasefire that took effect on Oct. 10. Saad served as the Hamas official in charge of manufacturing and previously led the militant group’s operations division. The Israeli statement described him as one of the architects of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war, and said that he had been “engaged in rebuilding the terrorist organization” in a violation of the ceasefire.
The Israeli strike west of Gaza City killed four people, according to an Associated Press journalist who saw their bodies arrive at Shifa Hospital. Another three were wounded, according to Al-Awda hospital. Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of truce violations.
Jimmy Lai, former HK pro-democracy newspaper founder, to hear verdict in national security case
HBy Kanis Leung The Associated Press
ONG KONG—A Hong Kong court will deliver its verdict on Monday in the trial of former pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai, who’s charged with conspiracies to commit sedition and collusion with foreign forces in a case that marks how much the semi-autonomous Chinese city has changed since Beijing began a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent five years ago.
Lai, 78, was arrested in 2020 under a national security law imposed by Chinese authorities to quell the massive anti-government protests that rocked the city in 2019.
Lai’s 156-day trial is being closely watched by foreign governments and political observers as a test of the judicial independence and media freedom in the former British colony, which was promised it could maintain its Western-style civil liberties for 50 years after returning to Chinese rule in 1997. Here’s what to know about the landmark trial:
Lai was arrested as China tightened its grip on Hong Kong HONG Kong was long known for its vibrant press scene and protest culture in Asia. But following months of anti-government protests that brought hundreds of thousands of people into the streets, Beijing began a sweeping crackdown that has chilled most open dissent in the city.
Lai was one of the first prominent figures charged under the National Security Law, which has also been used to prosecute other leading activists and opposition politicians. Beijing deemed the law crucial for the city’s stability.
Dozens of civil society groups have closed, as tens of thousands of young professionals and middle-class families emigrated to destinations like Britain, Canada, Taiwan, Australia and the United States.
Lai’s newspaper was known for its fierce pro-democracy stand LAI , a rags-to-riches tycoon who formerly owned clothing chain Giordano, entered the media world after the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.
He described himself as driven by the belief that delivering information is equal to delivering freedom. His newspaper drew a strong following with tabloid-style coverage of politics and celebrities, as well as a strong pro-democracy stance. It often urged its readers to join protests.
Lai took to the streets himself, too, including in the 2019 protests.
Lai was arrested under the security law in August 2020 as about 200 police officers raided Apple Daily’s building. He has been in custody since December 2020.
Within a year, authorities used the same law to arrest senior executives of Apple Daily, raided its offices again and froze $2.3 million of its assets, effectively forcing the newspaper to shut down. The paper’s final edition sold out in hours, with readers scooping up all 1 million copies.
Authorities accused Lai of seeking to get sanctions imposed on China
THE most serious accusation against Lai was that he and other people had invited the US and other foreign powers to act against China with sanctions or other measures “under the guise of fighting for freedom and democracy.”
One major issue was whether Lai made such calls after the security law went into effect. Lai did not deny that he’d called for sanctions earlier, but insisted that he stopped once the law came in.
Prosecutors argued that even though Lai didn’t make direct requests for sanctions after the law took effect, he had tried to “create a false impression” of China to justify foreign countries to impose punishment, pointing to
articles and his comments in online broadcasts critical of Hong Kong and China.
Lai’s lawyer Robert Pang said his remarks were just armchair punditry, akin to chatter “over the dim sum table.”
Lai said he wrote “without any sense of hostility or intention to be seditious.” Pang also pressed the court to consider freedom of expression and accused the prosecution of treating human rights as a foreign concept, leading to testy exchanges.
“It’s not wrong to support freedom of expression. It’s not wrong to support human rights,” he said. “Nor is it wrong not to love a particular administration or even the country.”
Judge Esther Toh responded that “It’s not wrong not to love the government, but if you do that by certain nefarious means, then it’s wrong.”
Lai’s foreign contacts came under attack PROSECUTORS also dwelled on Lai’s foreign contacts, including meetings he had with former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and then-Vice President Mike Pence at the height of the 2019 protests.
Prosecutor Anthony Chau said Lai’s foreign connections showed his “unwavering intent to solicit” sanctions, blockades or other hostile activities against China and Hong Kong.
The prosecution also alleged Lai had conspired with fellow Apple Daily senior executives, members of an advocacy group called “Fight for Freedom Stand with Hong Kong” and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China to call for foreign actions.
Six Apple Daily senior executives involved in the case pleaded guilty in 2022 and some of them served as prosecution witnesses.
Two other alleged co-conspirators linked to “Stand with Hong Kong” group also testified against Lai, but legal team called one of them “a serial liar” and argued that even if accepted his testimony didn’t show that Lai
had agreed to work with them as alleged.
Outside the courtroom, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international political group critical of China, said in a statement that it rejected “false claims” regarding Lai’s involvement with its network.
Foreign governments are watching the case LAI, a British citizen, has drawn concerns from foreign governments, including the US and the UK—both have called for his release. US President Donald Trump said he has raised the case with China, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said his government has made it a priority to secure the release of Lai.
But Beijing has called Lai “an agent and pawn of anti-China foreign forces,” describing him as the main planner behind disruptive activities in the city.
Controversy arose even before his trial started. Lai’s trial, originally scheduled to start in December 2022, was postponed to 2023 as authorities barred a British lawyer from representing Lai, citing that it would likely pose national security risks.
Lai says his health is deteriorating, but he could face life in prison IN August, Pang said Lai had experienced heart palpitations and was given a heart monitor. His children raised concerns over his deteriorating health. The government said a medical examination of Lai found no abnormalities following his heart problems and that the medical care he received in custody was adequate.
The security law authorizes a range of sentences depending on the seriousness of the offense and the defendant’s role in it, from three years for the less serious to 10 years to life for people convicted of “grave” offenses.
If Lai is convicted, sentencing is expected on a later day. He can appeal the outcome.
Russia and Ukraine trade attacks as US and European officials prepare for peace talks
By The Associated Press
MOSCOW pounded Ukrainian power infrastructure with drone and missile strikes on Saturday and Kyiv launched a deadly strike of its own on southwestern Russia, a day before talks involving senior European and US officials aimed at ending the war were set to resume.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian, US and European officials will hold a series of meetings in Berlin in the coming days, adding that he will personally meet with US President Donald Trump’s envoys.
“Most importantly, I will be meeting with envoys of President Trump, and there will also be meetings with our European partners, with many leaders, concerning the foundation of peace—a political agreement to end the war,” Zelenskyy said in an address to the nation late Saturday.
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are traveling to Berlin for the talks, according to a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
American officials have tried for months to navigate the demands of each side as Trump presses for a swift end to Russia’s war and grows increasingly exasperated by delays. The search for possible compromises has run into major obstacles, including which combatant will get control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, which is mostly occupied by Russian forces.
“The chance is considerable at this moment, and it matters for our every city, for our every Ukrainian community,” Zelenskyy said. “We are working to ensure that peace for Ukraine is dignified, and to secure a guara ntee—a guarantee, above all—that Russia will not return to Ukraine for a third invasion.”
As diplomats push for peace, the war grinds on.
Russia attacked five Ukrainian regions overnight, targeting the country’s energy and port infrastructure. Zelenskyy said the attacks involved more than 450 drones and 30 missiles. And with temperatures hovering around freezing, Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said more than a million people were without electricity. An attack on Odesa caused grain silos to
catch fire at the coastal city’s port, Ukrainian deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister Oleksiy Kuleba said. Two people were wounded in attacks on the wider Odesa region, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.
Kyiv and its allies say Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call “weaponizing” the cold.
The drone attack in Russia’s Saratov region damaged a residential building and killed two people, said the regional governor, Roman Busargin, who didn’t offer further details. Busragin said the attack also shattered windows at a kindergarten and clinic. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 41 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight.
On the front lines, Ukrainian forces said Saturday that the northern part of Pokrovsk was under Ukrainian control, despite Russia’s claims this month that it had taken full control of the critical city. The Associated Press was not able to independently verify the claims.
The latest attacks came after Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov reaffirmed
Israeli airstrikes and shootings in Gaza have killed at least 386 Palestinians since the ceasefire took hold, according to Palestinian health officials. Israel has said recent strikes are in retaliation for militant attacks against its soldiers, and that troops have fired on Palestinians who approached the “Yellow Line” between the Israeli-controlled majority of Gaza and the rest of the territory.
Israel has demanded that Palestinian militants return the remains of the final hostage, Ran Gvili, from Gaza and called it a condition of moving to the second and more complicated phase of the ceasefire. That lays out a vision for ending Hamas’ rule and seeing the rebuilding of a demilitarized Gaza under international supervision.
The initial Hamas-led 2023 attack on southern Israel killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Almost
all hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel’s two-year campaign in Gaza has killed more than 70,650 Palestinians, roughly half of them women and children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count. The ministry, which operates under the Hamasrun government, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community. Much of Gaza has been destroyed and most of the population of over 2 million has been displaced. Humanitarian aid entry into the territory continues to be below the level set by ceasefire terms, and Palestinians who lost limbs in the war face a shortage of prosthetic limbs and long delays in medical evacuations.
Thai villagers stay behind amid border fighting, form volunteer teams to protect communities
By Jintamas Saksornchai
SThe Associated Press
URIN, Thailand—Fighting that has flared along the Thai-Cambodian border has sent hundreds of thousands of Thai villagers fleeing from their homes close to the frontier since Monday. Their oncebustling communities have fallen largely silent except for the distant rumble of firing across the fields.
Yet in several of these villages, where normally a few hundred people live, a few dozen residents have chosen to stay behind despite the constant sounds of danger.
In a village in Buriram province, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the border, Somjai Kraiprakon and roughly 20 of her neighbors gathered around a roadside house, keeping watch over nearby homes. Appointed by the local administration as Village Security Volunteers, they guarded the empty homes after many residents were forced to flee and with fewer security officials stationed nearby than usual.
Friday that Moscow will give its blessing to a ceasefire only after Ukraine’s forces have withdrawn from parts of the Donetsk region that they still control.
Ukraine has consistently refused to cede the remaining part of the region to Russia.
Ushakov told the business daily Kommersant that Russian police and national guard troops would stay in parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas even if they become a demilitarized zone under a prospective peace plan—a demand likely to be rejected by Ukraine as US-led negotiations drag on.
Ushakov warned that a search for compromise could take a long time, noting that the US proposals that took into account Russian demands had been “worsened” by alterations proposed by Ukraine and its European allies.
“We don’t know what changes they are making, but clearly they aren’t for the better,” Ushakov said, adding: “We will strongly insist on our considerations.”
Associated Press reporter Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.
The latest large-scale fighting derailed a ceasefire pushed by US President Donald Trump, which halted five days of clashes in July triggered by longstanding territorial disputes. As of Saturday, around two dozen people had been reported killed in the renewed violence.
At a house on the village’s main intersection, now a meeting point, kitchen and sleeping area, explosions were a regular backdrop, with the constant risk of stray ammunition landing nearby. Somjai rarely flinched, but when the blasts came too close, she would sprint to a makeshift bunker beside the house, built on an empty plot from large precast concrete drainage pipes reinforced with dirt, sandbags and car tires.
She volunteered shortly after the July fighting. The 52-year-old completed a three-day training course with the district administration that included gun training and patrol techniques before she was appointed in November. The volunteer village guards are permitted to carry firearms provided by relevant authorities.
The army has emphasized the importance of volunteers like Somjai in this new phase of fighting, saying
they help “provide the highest possible confidence and safety for the public.”
According to the army, volunteers “conduct patrols, establish checkpoints, stand guard inside villages, protect the property of local people, and monitor suspicious individuals who may attempt to infiltrate the area to gather intelligence.”
Somjai said the volunteer team performs all these duties, keeping close watch on strangers and patrolling at night to discourage thieves from entering abandoned homes. Her main responsibility, however, is not monitoring threats but caring for about 70 dogs left behind in the community.
“This is my priority. The other things I let the men take care of them. I’m not good at going out patrolling at night. Fortunately, I’m good with dogs,” she said, adding that she first fed a few using her own money, but as donations began coming in, she was able to expand her feeding efforts. In a nearby village, chief Praden Prajuabsook sat with about a dozen members of his village security team along a roadside in front of a local school. Around there, most shops were already closed and few cars could be seen passing once in a while.
Wearing navy blue uniforms and striped purple and blue scarves, the men and women chatted casually while keeping shotguns close and watching strangers carefully. Praden said the team stationed at different spots during the day, then started patrolling when night fell. He noted that their guard duty is around the clock, and it comes with no compensation and relies entirely on volunteers. “We do it with our own will, for the brothers and sisters in our village,” he said.
Beyond guarding empty homes, Praden’s team, like Somjai, also ensures pets, cattle and other animals are fed. During the day, some members ride motorbikes from house to house to feed pigs, chickens and dogs left behind by their owners. Although his village is close to the battlegrounds, Praden said he is not afraid of the sounds of fighting.
“We want our people to be safe… we are willing to safeguard the village for the people who have evacuated,” he said.
PALESTINIANS survey a destroyed car after an Israeli strike in Gaza City, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. AP PHOTO/JEHAD ALSHRAFI
Trump pledges retaliation after 3 Americans killed in Syria attack that US blames on IS
By Samar Kassabali, Bassem Mroue & Seung Min Kim The Associated Press
DAMASCUS, Syria—President Donald Trump said Saturday that “there will be very serious retaliation” after two US service members and one American civilian were killed in an attack in Syria that the United States blames on the Islamic State group.
“This was an ISIS attack against the US, and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them,” he said in a social media post.
The American president told reporters at the White House that Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was “devastated by what happened” and stressed that Syria was fighting alongside US troops. Trump, in his post, said al-Sharaa was “extremely angry and disturbed by this attack.”
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa said the soldiers were members of the Iowa National Guard -- where she, too, once served. “Our Iowa National Guard family is hurting as we mourn the loss of two of our own and pray for the recovery of the three soldiers wounded,” she said.
US Central Command said three service members were also wounded in the ambush Saturday by a lone IS member in central Syria. Trump said the three “seem to be doing pretty well.” The US military said the gunman was killed in the attack. Syrian officials said the attack wounded members of Syria’s security
forces as well.
The attack on US troops in Syria was the first with fatalities since the fall of President Bashar Assad a year ago.
“There will be very serious retaliation,”
Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
The Pentagon’s chief spokesman, Sean Parnell, said the civilian killed was a US interpreter. Parnell said the attack targeted soldiers involved in the ongoing counter-terrorism operations in the region and is under active investigation.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a statement that the names of the deceased soldiers are being withheld until 24 hours after nextof-kin notifications are complete. “Our hearts are heavy today, and our prayers and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of our soldiers killed in action,” she said.
The shooting took place near historic Palmyra, according to the state-run SANA news agency, which earlier said two members of Syria’s security force and several US service members had been wounded. The casualties
were taken by helicopter to the al-Tanf garrison near the border with Iraq and Jordan.
Syria’s Interior Ministry spokesman Nour al-Din al-Baba said a gunman linked to IS opened fire at the gate of a military post. He added that Syrian authorities are looking into whether the gunman was an IS member or only carried its extreme ideology.
Later al-Baba said that the attacker was a member of the Internal Security force in the desert adding that he “did not have any command post” within the forces nor was he a bodyguard for the force commander.
Al-Baba added in an interview with state TV that some 5,000 members have joined Internal Security forces in the desert and they get evaluated on weekly basis. He added that three days ago, an evaluation was made for the attacker that concluded he might have
extreme ideology and a decision was expected to be issued regarding his case on Sunday but “the attack occurred on a Saturday which is a day off for state institutions.”
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X: “Let it be known, if you target Americans—anywhere in the world—you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you.”
US officials made no reference in their statements to the gunman being a member of the Syrian security forces. When asked about the matter, a Pentagon official did not directly respond to the question but said, “This attack took place in an area where the Syrian President does not have control.”
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military issues.
Chile holds an election that could deliver its most right-wing president since dictatorship
By Isabel Debre | The Associated Press
SANTIAGO, Chile—As Chileans head to vote on Sunday, even detractors of ul -
tra-conservative former lawmaker José Antonio Kast say the candidate whose radical ideas lost him the past two elections is now almost certain to become Chile’s next leader.
Kast’s meaningful lead in the polls over his rival in the presidential runoff, communist Jeannette Jara, shows how the hard-liner agitating for mass deportations of immigrants has seized the mantle of the traditional right in a country that once defined its post-dictatorship democratic revival with a vow to contain such political forces.
Many voters are frustrated with the options BUT much is also up for grabs about Chile’s political direction.
Kast’s claim to a popular mandate depends on his margin of victory on Sunday over Jara, the center-left governing party candidate who narrowly beat him in the first round of elections last month.
Although various right-wing parties won around 70 percent of the vote in that election, substantial support for a populist center-right candidate who described himself as an alternative to Kast’s “fascism” revealed that, between the contrasting ideologies of the front-runners, sit hundreds of thousands of centrist voters with no real representation.
“Both are too extreme for me,” said Juan Carlos Pileo, 44, who plans to cast a blank ballot Sunday, as voting is now mandatory in Chile’s elections. “I can’t trust someone who says she’s a communist to be moderate. And I can’t trust someone who exaggerates the amount of crime we have in this country and blames immigrants to be fair and respectful.”
Kast raises expectations but reality is a different story
IT remains a question whether Kast, an admirer of US President Donald Trump, can implement his more grandiose promises.
They include slashing $6 billion in public spending over just 18 months without eliminating social benefits, deporting over 300,000 immigrants in Chile with no legal status and
expanding the powers of the army to fight organized crime in a country still haunted by Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s bloody military dictatorship from 1973 to 1990.
For one, Kast’s far-right Republican Party lacks a majority in Congress, meaning that he’ll need to negotiate with moderate right-wing forces that could bristle at those proposals, significantly shaping policy and his own legacy.
Political compromises could temper Kast’s radicalism, but also jeopardize his position with voters who expect him to deliver quickly on his law-and-order campaign promises.
At each campaign event, Kast has taken to ticking off the number of days remaining until Chile’s March 11 presidential inauguration, warning they should get out before they’ll “have to leave with just the clothes on their backs.”
Jorge Rubio, 63, a Chilean banker in downtown Santiago, the capital, said he’s “also counting down the days.”
“That’s why we’re voting for Kast,” he said.
Boric’s left-wing government is under fire
AS the pandemic shuttered borders, transnational criminal organizations like Tren de Aragua seized illegal migration routes to gain a
foothold in Chile, long considered among Latin America’s safest countries. Homicides hit a record high in 2022, the first year of President Gabriel Boric’s tenure.
Kast insists that Boric’s government is too soft on immigration and crime, which the farright leader argues are connected although the data does not necessarily support his narrative. Boric’s approval rating has plummeted, standing now at just 30 percent.
Yet many say the firebrand former student protester who came to power in 2021 pledging to transform Chile’s market-led economy, has risen to the occasion. Boric went from criticizing the use of police force on the campaign trial to pouring money into the security forces. He sent the military to reinforce Chile’s northern border, stiffened penalties for organized crime and created the country’s first public security ministry.
Chile’s homicide rate is now falling, about on par with the rate in the United States. That has done nothing to change Chileans’ feelings of profound insecurity.
In Libya, where fractious militias jostle for political power, over 70% of people feel safe walking alone at night, according to a recent
Gallup survey of 144 countries.
In Chile, just 39 percent of people do, around the same as in Ecuador, which is now in the midst of a violent, drug-driven crime wave.
Crime and migration overshadow all other concerns
AS Boric’s former minister of labor, Jara became popular for passing some of the administration’s most important welfare measures.
That matters little now. Voters’ concerns have forced her to switch gears. She has vowed to toughen border security, register undocumented migrants, tackle money laundering and step up police raids.
But promises to restore law and order are more persuasive coming from an insurgent outsider who has made security a key part of his agenda for years.
“Kast has been smart and strategic in focusing on migration and security,” said Lucía Dammert, a sociologist and Boric’s first chief of staff. “It has been very difficult for the Jara campaign to move him away from those issues.”
Learning from his previous two failed presidential runs, Kast has avoided topics that fire up his critics—such as his German-born father’s Nazi past, his nostalgia for Pinochet’s dictatorship and his opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion.
When asked, Kast says only that his values remain the same. His supporters, including voters who previously spurned him over his social conservatism, now say that abstract human rights concerns come after their need for safety on the streets.
“It’s not very nice to hear that he’s going to separate immigrant children from their parents, it’s sad, that’s going to be a problem for me,” said Natacha Feliz, a 27-year-old immigrant from the Dominican Republic referring to a recent interview in which Kast said immigrant parents without legal status who didn’t self-deport would be obliged to hand their kids over to the state.
“But this is happening everywhere, not just in Chile. Let’s just hope that our security situation improves.”
Associated Press writer Nayara Batschke in Santiago, Chile, contributed to this report.
The US has hundreds of troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting IS.
The US had no diplomatic relations with Syria under Assad, but ties have warmed since the fall of the five-decade Assad family rule. Al-Sharaa, made a historic visit to Washington last month where he held talks with Trump. It was the first White House visit by a Syrian head of state since the Middle Eastern country gained independence from France in 1946 and came after the US lifted sanctions imposed on Syria during the Assads’ rule.
Al-Sharaa led the rebel forces that toppled Bashar Assad in December 2024 and was named the country’s interim leader in January. AlSharaa once had ties to al-Qaida and had a $10 million US bounty on his head.
Last month, Syria joined the international coalition fighting against the IS as Damascus improves its relations with Western countries following the ouster of Assad when insurgents captured his seat of power in Damascus. IS was defeated on the battlefield in Syria in 2019 but the group’s sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks in the country. The United Nations says the group still has between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq. US troops have maintained a presence in different parts of Syria—including Al-Tanf garrison in the southeast—to train other forces as part of a broad campaign against IS, and have been targeted in the past. One of the deadliest attacks occurred in 2019 in the northern town of Manbij when a blast killed two US service members and two American civilians as well as others from Syria while conducting a patrol.
Mroue reported from Beirut and Seung Min Kim from Washington. Associated Press writer Ben Finley in Washington contributed.
UN chief says 6 peacekeepers killed in drone strike on UN facility in Sudan
By Samy Magdy | The Associated Press
CAIRO—A drone strike hit a United Nations facility in war-torn Sudan on Saturday, killing six peacekeepers, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. The strike hit the peacekeeping logistics base in the city of Kadugli, in the central region of Kordofan, Guterres said in a statement.
Eight other peacekeepers were wounded in the strike. All the victims are Bangladeshi nationals, serving in the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei, UNISFA.
“Attacks targeting United Nations peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law,” said Guterres, who called for those responsible for the “unjustifiable” attack to be held accountable.
The Sudanese military blamed the attack on the Rapid Support Forces, RSF, a notorious paramilitary group at war with the army for the control of the country for more than two years. There was no immediate comment from the RSF.
The attack “clearly reveals the subversive approach of the rebel militia and those behind it,” the military said in a statement. The military posted a video on social media showing plumes of dense black smoke over what it said was the UN facility.
The oil-rich Abyei is a disputed region between Sudan and South Sudan, and the U.N. mission has been deployed there since 2011 when South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan.
Guterres also called for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan to allow “a comprehensive, inclusive and Sudanese-owned political process” to settle the conflict in the northeast African country.
Sudan was plunged into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country. The conflict has killed over 40,000 people—a figure rights groups consider a significant undercount.
The fighting has recently centered on Kodrofan, particuly since the RSF took control of el-Fasher, the military’s last stronghold in the western region of Darfur.
The war has wrecked urban areas and has been marked by atrocities, including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings which the UN and rights groups have said amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in the western region of Darfur.
The war has also created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and pushed parts of the country into famine.
PRESIDENTIAL candidates Jose Antonio Kast of the Republican Party and Jeannette Jara of the Unity for Chile coalition shake hands during a debate ahead of runoff elections in Santiago, Chile, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. AP PHOTO/ESTEBAN FELIX
PRESIDENT Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs from the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Washington, en route to Baltimore to attend the Army-Navy football game. AP PHOTO/JOSE LUIS MAGANA
Russian Africa Corps fighters accused of raping teen in Mali amid widespread sexual violence
By Monika Pronczuk & Caitlin Kelly The Associated Press
DOUANKARA, Mauritania—The girl lay in a makeshift health clinic, her eyes glazed over and her mouth open, flies resting on her lips. Her chest barely moved. Drops of fevered sweat trickled down her forehead as medical workers hurried around her, attaching an IV drip.
It was the last moment to save her life, said Bethsabee Djoman Elidje, the women’s health manager, who led the clinic’s effort as the heart monitor beeped rapidly. The girl had an infection after a sexual assault, Elidje said, and had been in shock, untreated, for days.
Her family said the 14-year-old had been raped by Russian fighters who burst into their tent in Mali two weeks earlier. The Russians were members of Africa Corps, a new military unit under Russia’s defense ministry that replaced the Wagner mercenary group six months ago.
Men, women and children have been sexually assaulted by all sides during Mali’s decadelong conflict, the UN and aid workers say, with reports of gang rape and sexual slavery. But the real toll is hidden by a veil of shame that makes it difficult for women from conservative, patriarchal societies to seek help.
The silence that nearly killed the 14-yearold also hurts efforts to hold perpetrators accountable.
The AP learned of the alleged rape and four other alleged cases of sexual violence blamed on Africa Corps fighters, commonly described by Malians as the “white men,” while interviewing dozens of refugees at the border about other abuses such as beheadings and abductions.
Other combatants in Mali have been blamed for sexual assaults. The head of a women’s health clinic in the Mopti area told the AP it had treated 28 women in the last six months who said they had been assaulted by militants with the al-Qaida affiliated JNIM, the most powerful armed group in Mali.
The silence among Malian refugees has been striking.
In eastern Congo, which for decades has faced violence from dozens of armed groups, “we didn’t have to look for people,” said Mirjam Molenaar, the medical team leader in the border area for Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, who was stationed there last year. The women “came in huge numbers.”
It’s different here, she said: “People undergo these things and they live with it, and it shows in post-traumatic stress.”
Speechless after an assault THE aunt of the 14-year-old girl said the Africa Corps fighters marched everyone outside at gunpoint. The family couldn’t understand what they wanted. The men made them watch as they tied up the girl’s uncle and cut off his head.
Then two of the men took the 14-year-old into the tent as she tried to defend herself, and raped her. The family waited outside, unable to move.
“We were so scared that we were not even able to scream anymore,” the aunt recalled, as her mother sobbed quietly next to her. She, like other women, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, and the AP does not name victims of rape unless they agree to be named.
The girl emerged over a half-hour later, looking terrified. Then she saw her uncle’s body and screamed. She fainted. When she woke up, she had the eyes of someone “who was no longer there,” the aunt said.
The next morning, JNIM militants came and ordered the family to leave. They piled onto a donkey cart and set off toward the border. At any sound, they hid in the bushes, holding their breath.
The girl’s condition deteriorated during
the three-day journey. When they arrived in Mauritania, she collapsed.
The AP came across her lying on the ground in the courtyard of a local family. Her family said they had not taken her to a clinic because they had no money.
“If you have nothing, how can you bring someone to a doctor?” the girl’s grandmother said between sobs. The AP took the family to a free clinic run by MSF. A doctor said the girl had signs of being raped.
The clinic had been functioning for barely a month and had seen three survivors of sexual violence, manager Elidje said.
“We are convinced that there are many cases like this,” she said. “But so far, very few patients come forward to seek treatment because it’s still a taboo subject here. It really takes time and patience for these women to open up and confide in someone so they can receive care. They only come when things have already become complicated, like the case we saw today.”
As Elidje tried to save the girl’s life, she asked the family to describe the incident. She did not speak Arabic and asked the local nurse to find out how many men carried out the assault. But the nurse was too ashamed to ask.
Scratch marks are part of story she could not tell THOUSANDS of new refugees from Mali, mostly women and children, have settled just
KELLY
inside Mauritania in recent weeks, in shelters made of fabric and branches. The nearest refugee camp is full, complicating efforts to treat and report sexual assaults.
Two recently arrived women discreetly pulled AP journalists aside, adjusting scarves over their faces. They said they had arrived a week ago after armed white men came to their village.
“They took everything from us. They burned our houses. They killed our husbands,” one said. “But that’s not all they did. They tried to rape us.”
The men entered the house where she was by herself and undressed her, she said, adding that she defended herself “by the grace of Allah.”
As she spoke, the second woman started crying and trembling. She had scratch marks on her neck. She was not capable of telling her story.
“We are still terrified by what we went through,” she said.
Separately, a third woman said that what the white men did to her in Mali last month when she was alone at home “stays between God and me.”
A fourth said she watched several armed white men drag her 18-year-old daughter into their house. She fled and has not seen her daughter again.
The women declined the suggestion to speak with aid workers, some of whom are locals. They said they were not ready to talk about it
with anyone else.
Russia’s Defense Ministry did not respond to questions, but an information agency that the US State Department has called part of the “Kremlin’s disinformation campaign” called the AP’s investigation into Africa Corps fake news.
Wagner has a legacy of sexual abuse ALLEGATIONS of rapes and other sexual assaults were already occurring before Wagner transformed into Africa Corps.
One refugee told the AP she witnessed a mass rape in her village in March 2024.
“The Wagner group burned seven men alive in front of us with gasoline.” she said. Then they gathered the women and raped them, she said, including her 70-year-old mother.
“After my mother was raped, she couldn’t bear to live,” she said. Her mother died a month later.
In the worst-known case of sexual assault involving Russian fighters in Africa, the U.N. in a 2023 report said at least 58 women and girls had been raped or sexually assaulted in an attack on Moura village by Malian troops and others that witnesses described as “armed white men.”
In response, Mali’s government expelled the U.N. peacekeeping mission. Since then, gathering accurate data on the ground about conflict-related sexual violence has become nearly impossible.
The AP interviewed five of the women from Moura, who now stay in a displacement camp. They said they had been blindfolded and raped for hours by several men.
Three of the women said they hadn’t spoken about it to anyone apart from aid workers. The other two dared to tell their husbands, months later.
“I kept silent with my family for fear of being rejected or looked at differently. It’s shameful,” one said.
The 14-year-old whose family fled to Mauritania is recovering. She said she cannot remember anything since the attack. Her family and MSF said she is speaking to a psychiatrist—one of just six working in the country. Aid workers are worried about others who never say a thing.
“It seems that conflict over the years gets worse and worse and worse. There is less regard for human life, whether it’s men, women or children,” said MSF’s Molenaar, and broke into tears. “It’s a battle.”
Anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies intensify across Europe as migration takes center stage
By Jill Lawless The Associated Press
L
ONDON—In the past year, tens of thousands hostile to immigrants marched through London chanting “send them home!” A British lawmaker complained of seeing too many non-white faces on TV. And senior politicians advocated the deportation of longtime U.K. residents born abroad.
The overt demonization of immigrants and those with immigrant roots is intensifying in the UK—and across Europe—as migration shoots up the political agenda and right-wing parties gain popularity.
In several European countries, political parties that favor mass deportations and depict immigration as a threat to national identity come at or near the top of opinion polls: Reform U.K., the Alliance for Germany and France’s National Rally.
President Donald Trump, who recently called Somali immigrants in the US “garbage” and whose national security strategy depicts European countries as threatened by immigration, appears to be endorsing and emboldening Europe’s coarse, anti-immigrant sentiments.
Amid the rising tensions, Europe’s mainstream parties are taking a harder line on migration and at times using divisive language about race.
“What were once dismissed as being at the far extreme end of far-right politics has now become a central part of the political debate,” said Kieran Connell, a lecturer in British history at Queen’s University Belfast.
Europe experiencing a growing sense of division IMMIGRATION has risen dramatically over the past decade in some European countries, driven by millions of asylum-seekers who have come to Europe fleeing conflicts in Africa, the Middle East and Ukraine. Asylum-seekers account for a small percentage of total immigration, however, and experts say antipathy toward diversity and migration stems from a mix of factors. Economic stagnation in the years since the
2008 global financial crisis, the rise of charismatic nationalist politicians and the polarizing influence of social media all play a role, experts say.
In Britain, there is “a frightening increase in the sense of national division and decline” and that tends to push people toward political extremes, said Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Unit at King’s College London. It took root after the financial crisis, was reinforced by Britain’s debate about Brexit and deepened during the Covid-19 pandemic, Duffy said.
Social media has exacerbated the mood, notably on X, whose algorithm promotes divisive content and whose owner, Elon Musk, approvingly retweets far-right posts.
Across Europe, ethnonationalism has been promoted by right-wing parties such as Alliance for Germany, France’s National Rally and the Fidesz party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Now it appears to have the stamp of approval from the Trump administration, whose new national security strategy depicts Europe as a collection of countries facing “economic decline” and “civilizational erasure” because of immigration and loss of national identities.
The hostile language alarmed many European politicians, but also echoed what they hear from their countries’ far-right parties.
National Rally leader Jordan Bardella told the BBC he largely agreed with the Trump administration’s concern that mass immigration was “shaking the balance of European countries.”
Racist rhetoric and hate crimes on the rise
POLICIES once considered extreme are now firmly on the political agenda. Reform UK, the hard-right party that consistently leads opinion polls, says if it wins power, it will strip immigrants of permanent-resident status even if they have lived in the UK for decades.
The center-right opposition Conservatives say they will deport British citizens with dual nationality who commit crimes.
A Reform UK lawmaker complained in October that advertisements were “full of Black people, full of
Asian people.” Conservative justice spokesman Robert Jenrick remarked with concern that he “didn’t see another white face” in an area of Birmingham, Britain’s second-largest city Neither politician had to resign.
Many proponents of reduced immigration say they are concerned about integration and community cohesion, not race. But that’s not how it feels to those on the receiving end of racial abuse.
“There is no doubt it has worsened,” said Dawn Butler, a Black British lawmaker who says the vitriol she receives on social media “is increasing drastically, and has escalated into death threats.”
U.K. government statistics show police in England and Wales recorded more than 115,000 hate crimes in the year to March 2025, a 2 percent increase over the previous 12 months.
In July 2024, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim violence erupted on Britain’s streets after three girls were stabbed to death at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. Authorities said online misinformation wrongly identifying the U.K.-born teenage attacker as a Muslim migrant played a part.
In Ireland and in the Netherlands, protesters often demonstrate outside municipal meetings in communities where a new asylum center is proposed. Some protests have turned violent, with opponents
PROTESTERS wave
a Union Flag during a demonstration in Orpington near London, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, as the dilemma of how to house asylum-seekers in Britain got more challenging for the government after a landmark court ruling this week motivated opponents to fight hotels used as accommodation. AP PHOTO/ALBERTO PEZZALI
of asylum-seekers throwing fireworks at riot police. Across Europe, the main focus of protests has been hotels and other housing for asylum-seekers, which some say become magnets for crime and bad behavior. But the agenda of protest organizers is often much wider.
In September, more than 100,000 people chanting “We want our country back” marched through London in a protest organized by a far-right activist and convicted fraudster Tommy Robinson. Among the speakers was French far-right politician Eric Zemmour, who told the crowd that France and the UK both faced “the great replacement of our European people by peoples coming from the south and of Muslim culture.”
Outflanking the right
MAINSTREAM European politicians condemn the “great replacement” conspiracy theory. Britain’s center-left Labour Party government has denounced racism and says migration is an important part of Britain’s national story.
At the same time, it is taking a tougher line on immigration, announcing policies to make it harder for migrants to settle permanently. The government says it is inspired by Denmark, which has seen asylum applications plummet since it started giving refugees
only short-term residence.
Denmark and Britain are among a group of European countries pushing to weaken legal protections for migrants and make deportations easier.
Human rights advocates argue that attempts to appease the right just lead to ever-more-extreme policies. “For every inch yielded, there’s going to be another inch demanded,” Council of Europe human rights commissioner Michael O’Flaherty told The Guardian. “Where does it stop? For example, the focus right now is on migrants, in large part. But who is it going to be about next time around?”
Calls for calmer rhetoric
POLITICIANS of the political center also have been criticized for adopting the language of the far right. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in May that Britain risked becoming an “island of strangers,” a phrase that echoed a notorious 1968 anti-immigration speech by the politician Enoch Powell. Starmer later said he had been unaware of the echo and regretted using the phrase.
Germany’s center-right Chancellor Friedrich Merz has hardened his language on migrants as the Alternative for Germany has grown more powerful. Merz caused an uproar in October by saying Germany had a problem with its “Stadtbild,” a word that translates as “city image” or cityscape. Critics felt Merz was implying that people who don’t look German don’t truly belong. Merz later stressed that “we need immigration,” without which certain sectors of the economy, including health care, would cease to function. Duffy said politicians should be responsible and consider how their rhetoric shapes public attitudes— though he added that’s “quite a forlorn hope.” “The perception that this divisiveness works has taken hold,” he said.
Associated Press writers Mike Corder in The
and
en
The $26 wake-up call: Corruption is crippling the country’s Future
THE numbers tell a story of agonizing proximity: $26. A mere P1,531 per Filipino. That’s the heartbreakingly narrow margin by which the Philippines missed achieving Upper Middle-Income Country (UMIC) status in 2025, according to the World Bank threshold. This isn’t just a statistical near-miss; it’s a damning indictment of how governance failures and entrenched corruption are actively sabotaging the country’s economic destiny. (Read the BusinessMirror story: “As PHL misses UMIC by P1,531, experts flag range of issues,” December 9, 2025).
On paper, the fundamentals appeared sound enough. Inflation was tamed. Macroeconomic indicators held steady. Yet, beneath the surface, a cancer of distrust was metastasizing. As the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) report starkly reveals, the true culprit behind this costly stumble isn’t weak economic fundamentals, but the “deep erosion of trust in governance, policy credibility, and the rule of law.” This erosion manifested in a plummeting peso, capital flight triggered by corruption scandals, and a sharp decline in business confidence. Investor sentiment, the lifeblood of sustained growth, hemorrhaged.
The tragic irony is laid bare: while the country possessed the potential to cross the threshold, self-inflicted wounds held it back. The flood control scandal, exposing 252 ghost projects, stands as a grotesque monument to this selfsabotage. What was touted as a flagship initiative crumbled under the weight of “irregular procurement and substandard implementation.” The consequences are immediate and severe: stalled infrastructure, weakened public spending, compromised disaster resilience, and a chilling effect on investment. This isn’t merely wasted money; it’s stolen opportunity, stolen progress, and stolen security for millions of Filipinos.
The $26 shortfall is not a measure of economic weakness, but a price tag on institutional decay. It quantifies the cost of impunity. It measures the gap between our potential and our reality—a reality distorted by recurring scandals and a perceived lack of decisive accountability. The peso’s plunge and the stock market’s slump weren’t reactions to global headwinds alone; they were direct responses to the spectacle of corruption and the uncertainty it breeds.
The PIDS report offers a clear, albeit uncomfortable, prescription: the path forward hinges on restoring trust. This demands more than lip service to reform. It requires “credible enforcement of the law and uncompromising integrity in public service.” The message must be unequivocal: corruption is an existential threat to national progress. The people’s call is clear: “Penalize corrupt officials and their accomplices swiftly, visibly, and without exception.”
Projections of 5 percent or 5.3 percent GDP growth offer cold comfort when the economy operates below its potential, constrained by institutional bottlenecks. Without tackling the root cause—the erosion of trust and the rule of law—we risk not just missing the UMIC goal again, but becoming trapped in the dreaded middle-income trap, where growth stagnates without productivity gains driven by confidence and good governance.
The $26 gap is a wake-up call that cannot be ignored. It is a powerful reminder that economic progress is not built on statistics alone, but on the bedrock of integrity, accountability, and the unwavering rule of law. The UMIC status remains tantalizingly close, but achieving it demands a fundamental shift. The government must move beyond pronouncements and demonstrate, through concrete, visible, and sustained action, that corruption will no longer be tolerated. Justice must be seen to be done. Only then can investor confidence be restored, capital flight reversed, and the Philippines finally unlock the investment and momentum needed to secure its rightful place among the world’s Upper Middle-Income Countries. The price of failure is not just $26 per capita; it’s the future prosperity of an entire nation.
Why business should care about Philippine AI regulation
DRISING SUN
Conclusion
ESPITE everything that has been done, important gaps remain. Unlike the European Union’s AI Act or Brazil’s proposed AI law, our local AI bills do not offer a clear system that classifies AI uses by risk level and matches each classification with concrete obligations.
Some experts also point out that certain legislative drafts define “AI systems” in broad or vague terms and contain overlaps among regulators—data protection, consumer and financial watchdogs—without a clear coordination mechanism.
Principles like “transparency” and “human oversight” are often cited, but detailed rules on explainability, bias testing, redress for individuals, and public registries of high-r isk systems are still missing.
The Philippines also lacks innovation - f riendly tools, relative
to other nations. Many advanced and emerging countries now rely on regulatory sandboxes that allow companies to trial sensitive AI applications under close guidance. Philippine proposals mention support for research and skills, but are unclear about how firms can safely experiment with high-i mpact use cases—for example, in credit scoring or health diagnostics—without facing regulatory issues or outright prohibition. UNESCO’s assessment further notes that while ethical provisions are present, there is still
work to do as far as operationalizing values such as dignity, community, and fairness.
By contrast, the EU’s AI Act has become the reference model precisely because it draws a bright line between “unacceptable” practices, such as certain manipulative or rights-v iolating systems, and “high - r isk” applications that must meet tough requirements on documentation, testing, human oversight, and ongoing monitoring.
For 2026, a practical agenda would focus on consolidation and clarity.
First, Congress could work toward a single, risk-based AI framework that harmonizes definitions with OECD - style language and clearly distinguishes between prohibited, high-r isk, and low-r isk uses, with proportionate rules for each category.
Second, the proposed Philippine Council on AI—or an equivalent body—needs a sharper mandate: coordinating regulators, issuing technically grounded rules, running sandboxes with industry and universities, and serving as a central point for public complaints and redress.
Third, ethics should move from preambles to practice by translat-
ing UNESCO’s recommendations into concrete obligations for sectors where AI decisions can change someone’s life chances, such as hiring, lending, healthcare, social protection, and law enforcement. There is room to position “Filipino AI ethics” as a strength, not merely a compliance box to tick. The existing UNESCO readiness work and regional analyses already point to a distinctive perspective that weaves together human rights and strongly community- oriented values. The task now is to translate that emerging voice into concrete sectoral guidelines, capacity-bu ilding programs, and clear enforcement priorities. Done well, this could differentiate the Philippines in a crowded regional field: not simply as another generic tech hub, but as a jurisdiction where businesses have predictable rules, citizens understand their rights, and AI development is channeled toward genuinely shared benefits. If lawmakers can show that a well-designed AI law will both shield people from abuse and give local companies a clearer path to experiment, invest, and compete, public support is likely to follow.
Powering progress: How Laguna’s renewable energy boom secures PHL’s industrial future
IGerard S. Ramos
Lyn B. Resurreccion, Dennis D. Estopace Angel R. Calso, Dionisio L. Pelayo
Ruben M. Cruz Jr.
Eduardo A. Davad Nonilon G. Reyes
D. Edgard A. Cabangon
V. Ramos Aldwin Maralit Tolosa Rolando M. Manangan
N the towns of Laguna—Cabuyao, Santa Rosa, Calamba, Victoria, Pakil, Caliraya and Bay—something consequential is unfolding: quietly, methodically, and with national implications. The government, in partnership with private developers such as Blueleaf Energy Philippines, is setting aside nearly 2,000 hectares of land for renewable energy (RE) installations designed to generate at least 2.5 gigawatts of power for the Luzon grid.
An Asia-based renewable energy developer backed by long-term institutional capital Blueleaf is helping anchor the country’s largest push into utility-scale floating solar, developing projects across Cabuyao, Santa Rosa, Calamba, Bay, and Victoria on Laguna de Bay, alongside a separate 250-megawatt floating solar facility on Caliraya and Lumot lakes.
These projects, approved by the Department of Energy and recognized as Energy Projects of National Significance, are designed to feed clean power directly into the Luzon grid beginning 2025–2026, placing generation close to the country’s most energy-hungry industrial corridor.
There is also the upcoming Pakil pumped storage facility that will
contribute, together with the Caliraya project, 2,000 megawatts of RE energy to the grid that will take over, eventually, the coal-fired power plants that are now being allowed to operate due to lack of baseload power plants.
Thus, the Laguna RE narrative is not merely an infrastructure story. It is an economic one.
Laguna is part of Calabarzon, the country’s undisputed industrial engine. The region consistently contributes around 17 percent of Philippine GDP, making it the largest regional contributor to national output. Laguna alone hosts hundreds of export-oriented manufacturing firms, industrial parks, and logistics hubs that power value chains stretching from electronics and
automotive parts to food processing and pharmaceuticals.
Energy security, therefore, is not optional here. It is existential. That is why the renewable pivot in Laguna carries weight beyond megawatts.
On Caliraya Lake, a 250-megawatt floating solar farm is taking shape, complementing ongoing hydroelectric improvements in the area. Construction began in late 2024, with commercial operations expected by early 2026. When completed, Caliraya will stand as a hybrid model of water-based clean energy —proof that legacy assets can be repurposed for a decarbonized future.
Meanwhile, ACEN is advancing several flagship projects, including a 140-MW floating solar facility in Sta. Cruz, Laguna, and the Giga Wind 1 project, a 280-MW wind development spanning Kalayaan and Paete. These are not pilot experiments; they are utility-scale commitments designed to displace fossil fuel dependence permanently.
Adding to this momentum, Blue Circle and ACCIONA Energía are preparing to bring 100.8 MW of wind power online by 2026, marking the first phase of the broader 350-MW Kalayaan Wind Project. Taken together, these investments are reshaping Southern Luzon’s energy map —anchoring power generation closer to demand centers while insulating industries from volatile global fuel prices. The urgency is not abstract. The Philippines is already paying the price of climate inaction. Harsher typhoons, prolonged heat waves, erratic rainfall, and flooding—all linked to rising carbon emissions— are exacting a measurable economic toll. Agriculture losses run into tens of billions of pesos annually. Heat stress reduces labor productivity. Floods disrupt logistics corridors and shut down factories. Power outages cascade into missed export deadlines and higher operating costs.
For a region like Calabarzon— where factories run on tight margins and just-in-time supply chains—climate volatility is a direct threat to GDP. Renewable energy, therefore, is no longer just an environmental preference. It is economic risk management. Yet despite this momentum, renewable energy continues to face a chorus of misplaced skepticism. Naysayers often argue that solar and wind are “unreliable,” that they cannot power an industrial economy, or that the Philippines should cling to coal and imported fuel for “baseload stability.” Others dismiss RE as fashionable but impractical—too weather-dependent, too land-intensive, too costly to matter at scale. These arguments persist largely because they are anchored in yesterday’s grid
See “Gagni,”
Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua
Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II
A culture under scrutiny: Inside the BIR’s first Blue Ribbon test
FJoel L. Tan-Torres
OR decades, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) has been the venue for unmasking large-scale anomalies in government—from flood control anomalies to fertilizer scams, from PhilHealth controversies to irregular pandemic procurements. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), despite its immense power over the country’s tax administration, has rarely been the centerpiece of such investigations. It has been mentioned peripherally, in relation to the BRC hearings, such as the Pharmally investigation, but never has the Blue Ribbon Committee mounted a full-blown inquiry aimed directly at the BIR’s internal tax administration system.
That changed in December 2025.
For the first time in Philippine legislative history, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee convened hearings focused squarely on the alleged “weaponization” of the Letter of Authority (LOA)—the document that empowers BIR revenue officers to investigate taxpayers. Triggered by Senate Resolution No. 180 of Senator Erwin Tulfo and anchored on mounting complaints from businesses and professionals, the inquiry has placed the BIR’s audit culture and enforcement practices under unprecedented national scrutiny.
LOA procedures pertain to specialized aspects of tax administration, far from the public limelight. Yet allegations that some officers were wielding LOAs as tools for intimidation, harassment, or extortion have brought the issue into the realm of public accountability. Stakeholders reported irregular LOAs, repeated audits for similar periods, bloated assessments, and instances where supposed tax liabilities could be drastically reduced if the taxpayer “cooperated.”
The December 12, 2025 hearing became the setting for confronting these claims head-on. Present were Finance Secretary Frederick Go, BIR Commissioner Charlito Mendoza, and former Commissioners Kim Henares and Romeo Lumagui Jr.— a rare gathering of fiscal stewards across administrations, all of whom were called to shed light on the audit machinery of the BIR.
Senator Tulfo opened the inquiry with forceful clarity. He framed the issue as one of taxpayer rights, alleging a “75 percent to 25 percent scheme” wherein only 25 percent of supposed assessments reached government coffers while the remainder allegedly vanished through illicit channels. Tulfo highlighted stories from small entrepreneurs and foreign investors alike, portraying LOAs not as instruments of lawful examination but as pressure points in a system vulnerable to abuse.
Senator JV Ejercito pursued a complementary angle, probing the phenomenon of multiple LOAs issued to the same taxpayer. He spotlighted bloated assessments and negotiated settlements, the kind that erode confidence among businesses.
Senator Bam Aquino took a more technical path, focusing on the potential circulation of fake or irregular LOAs, some of which, he suggested, may have originated from tax officials within the BIR itself. His push for a public, digital LOA verification system aligned well with modernization efforts that had been long discussed but never fully implemented. Aquino’s questioning underscored that the issue is not merely one of integrity but also of system design, where digital safeguards could prevent irregularities before they begin.
Senators Tito Sotto and Panfilo Lacson raised broader governance issues, including the sufficiency of audit manpower, the need for riskbased audit selection, and the BIR’s internal controls in monitoring audit progression and closing out cases.
Commissioner Mendoza struck a constructive tone, acknowledging the gravity of the complaints while also contextualizing them. He
Party party
Adisclosed that the BIR issued over 62,000, 75,000, and 82,000 LOAs in 2022 to 2024, respectively, with reports of abuse representing only a small fraction of total audits. Still, the BIR had already taken decisive action: the issuance of RMC 107-2025, suspending all field audits pending a thorough review, and the creation of a Technical Working Group (TWG) on LOA tasked with reforming the audit protocols, plugging procedural vulnerabilities, and introducing digital validation mechanisms. I hope that the TWG will dialogue with the stakeholders in the tax community to gather insights and suggestions.
Commissioner Mendoza disclosed that he issued a public advisory encouraging the submission of complaints and information to tellthecommissioner@bir.gov.ph. He also agreed to the suggestion of the senators to centralize in his office the approval of all LOAs. As a former BIR Commissioner, I view the centralization of these transactional activities as a tedious process that will not be too effective in solving the LOA issues and will tie up the Commissioner’s attention to mundane tasks.
Former Commissioner Kim Henares emphasized due process and the statutory foundations of LOA issuance, reminding the committee that strict adherence to rules is indispensable for maintaining fairness in assessments. Former Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr., meanwhile, focused on operational realities: the pressure points in enforcement, the limits of manpower, and the need to protect honest examiners while rooting out bad actors.
Despite the contentious subject matter, the hearings have yielded constructive outcomes. First, these have forced a national conversation about transparency in tax enforcement—long overdue in a system that relies heavily on trust and voluntary compliance. Second, the hearings will hopefully accelerate digital reform, particularly the push for online LOA selection and monitoring, better riskbased audit selection, and improved audit and deficiency assessment guidelines. Third, they have created a rare moment of convergence between the Senate, DOF, and BIR leadership, all aligned toward strengthening institutional integrity.
Most importantly, the hearings reaffirm a simple truth: a credible tax administration is a cornerstone of a credible state. When LOAs are used properly, they uphold the rule of law; when used improperly, they corrode taxpayer trust. The Blue Ribbon inquiry, unprecedented as it is, gives the country an opportunity to fix long-standing weaknesses and restore confidence in the very institution tasked with collecting the lifeblood of government.
Joel L. Tan-Torres was a former Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. He has also held various positions, including Dean of the University of the Philippines School of Business, Chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy, Tax partner of Reyes Tacandong & Co., and SyCipGorres and Velayo & Co., and director of
Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.
THE PATRIOT
S a significant majority of Filipinos anticipate the birthday of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, parties abound any which way they can celebrate! Of course, parties are always filled with food and gifts, which can often feel overflowing and overwhelming during this season of giving.
Incidentally, the birth of Christ was pegged at December 25 both by the Roman rulers and papal authorities, but scholars believe that such day should have been sometime in April. But the date is not as important as the day itself.
I have attended quite a few Christmas festivities thus far. Office celebrations are not without the usual program where employees participate in games galore and vie for prizes. Almost all parties will include raffle prizes. I admire how some parties always make it a point to have meaningful prayer to remind everyone that the celebration is not just about winning games and raffle prizes; it is more about living life of helping, sharing, caring, and, most
of all, loving others, the way Jesus taught His believers while here on earth.
The generous giving of time, talent, and energy—from the hosts to the participants and benefactors— reflects the true spirit of Christmas. I also admire how some parties end with a community singing of Christmas carols (Joy to the World and Ang Pasko at Sumapit, usually). These collective voices of not-so-drunk merry makers try to dampen the somber mood of a happy event, just concluded.
Of course, there’s “Sharon” fans everywhere as partygoers get their takeouts of leftover food. But one party, however, stood out. Aside from the breaking of bread (i.e. pan-
sit and kare kare), the “partygoers” took time to share their Christmas wishes over dessert. Of course, the aspirational values of peace, joy, gratitude, and love were mentioned. But, giving appears to be the action word needed for all these wishes to fall into place.
Incidentally, the word “give” (didomi in Greek) appears more than 2,162 times in the Bible, far more than the words Faith, Hope, and Love, combined. As such, as a central theme of Jesus Christ who was known for being generous of His time and offering Himself as a sacrifice for our sake, we should be reminded that Christmas celebrations are more about the spirit of giving. After all, the Bible tells us that “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7 )
I have witnessed many gifts given “cheerfully,” always with a happy heart. For instance, the management of a manufacturing company still managed to give half month bonuses despite being in financial distress for more than five years. One other company allowed for an extended Christmas break to allow its employees to go home to their families and spend more quality time
Smart spending today: The Philippines’ path to growth or debt
By Henry Go
AS 2025 draws to a close, the Philippines faces a critical fiscal juncture. Government debt reached P16.68 trillion by March 2025, with domestic obligations accounting for roughly 68 percent and external debt the remaining 32 percent. Most of the debt carries fixed interest rates and long maturities, reducing vulnerability to sudden global interest rate fluctuations or currency volatility.
While the debt-to-GDP ratio in 2024 stood at 60.7 percent, slightly above the commonly cited threshold, the country’s debt remains generally manageable given its structure. Most obligations are domestic, carry fixed rates, and have long maturities—a deliberate strategy by the government, in consultation with the BSP, to shield fiscal operations from global shocks. This approach provides stability and predictability in debt servicing, reflecting prudent, forwardlooking fiscal management. Investor confidence, shown by strong demand for government bonds, further supports fiscal stability.
However, this manageability depends on disciplined execution, steady revenue collection, and transparent governance. Without these, debt could become a heavier burden, as resources may be diverted or wasted, limiting funding for essential investments in education, healthcare, infrastructure, and social services. Corruption or inefficiency, not debt itself, amplifies fiscal pressure.
Investor confidence and foreign investment
INVESTOR confidence in government securities does not automatically translate into higher foreign direct investment (FDI). Bond demand reflects trust in the government’s ability to service debt, while FDI depends on regulatory frameworks, political stability, and market opportunities. The BSP’s monetary policy continues to stabilize interest rates and the peso, providing an additional buffer against external shocks.
Debt service and fiscal space DEBT servicing remains a significant fiscal consideration. In 2024, total debt service—principal and
Gagni. . . Continued from A10
interest—reached P2.02 trillion, a 26 percent increase from 2023, with P763 billion devoted to interest alone. While principal repayments return borrowed capital, interest payments reduce resources available for critical programs. Every peso that is not efficiently deployed today risks constraining growth tomorrow.
Execution, governance, and transparency
THE 2026 budget represents more than an accounting exercise; it is a strategic tool to reset fiscal priorities and project economic credibility. Much of the allocation will cover essential services, salaries, and defense. Yet its true impact depends on execution, governance, and strategic focus.
Transparency, conditional disbursement tied to measurable outcomes, and digital procurement systems with clear audit trails reinforce accountability and public trust. These mechanisms, while not a cure-all, enhance governance and ensure public resources align with development goals.
Even the best-designed budget may fail if projects are delayed, funds underutilized, or agencies lack clear performance metrics. Incentives should align with timely, high-quality delivery, and bureaucratic procedures simplified to reduce bottlenecks. In this way, the government can achieve more without increasing borrowing.
Priority investments for growth SPENDING should focus on sectors that strengthen productivity and create jobs rapidly. Investments in quality education, early childhood development, public health, and nutrition build human capital. Mod-
longer
As the holidays approach, we are reminded that responsible stewardship of public resources is not only a technical duty but a moral obligation to future generations. The Philippines possesses talent, resilience, and potential. What it needs now is clarity, commitment, and disciplined execution. With prudent budgeting, transparent governance, and strategic investment, debt can be transformed from a constraint into a tool for growth, enabling a stronger and more prosperous decade.
ernized agriculture, value-chain development, strategic infrastructure, digital and logistics networks, and climate-resilient systems underpin competitiveness and resilience.
Defense spending must protect sovereignty but be executed efficiently to preserve fiscal space. Immediate economic momentum can come from construction, tourism recovery, manufacturing revival, and the careful phased adoption of automation and AI, which can enhance productivity while complementing labor-intensive sectors.
External factors and international signaling GLOBAL interest rate trends, inflationary pressures, and commodity price fluctuations are beyond government control but highlight the need for fiscal prudence. A wellmanaged budget provides resilience, allowing essential investments to continue even under adverse conditions. The Philippines’ Asean chairmanship in 2026 adds an international dimension. The budget offers a signal to the global community: efficiently implemented initiatives, from infrastructure completion to public health upgrades, demonstrate competence, discipline, and credibility. By strategically allocating funds and ensuring measurable results, the country reinforces confidence among Asean partners and international investors.
termittency
speeds
approaches,
nition that sustaining
with their loved ones. I know of one business owner who always gives extra to his employees not for any purpose except to please our Almighty God. While we believers give tithes to the church or support charitable causes, we feel great every time we share or give resources to others.
Let’s continue to party and party with a genuine sense of fulfillment in giving whatever we can. Let’s keep sharing our time in merriment and fellowship with a heart of joy. Let’s continue giving gifts of money, food, and other blessings. Let’s all be reminded that we do these acts of giving to please God and serve each other. Party heartily and give joyfully!
Siegfred has a diversified set of education and experiences which has made him a game changer and a servant leader in organizations such as the Philippine Army, Integrated Bar of
Fiscal discipline and sustainable growth
FISCAL discipline does not necessarily require broad-based tax increases. With strict monitoring, conditional disbursement, and strategic allocation, existing resources can be used more efficiently. Targeted support for small businesses and private sector activity can stimulate production and employment, create positive momentum while gradually expand the tax base. Balancing ambition with prudence ensures debt remains sustainable and public investments generate tangible returns. The stakes are clear: without disciplined budgeting and transparent governance, debt obligations may crowd out essential services, slow growth, and limit opportunities. With strong leadership, efficient execution, and strategic prioritization, the 2026 budget can restore confidence, stabilize borrowing, improve competitiveness, and support sustainable growth. More importantly, it signals that the Philippines is back in business— disciplined, capable, and ready to lead Asean with credibility and foresight.
A season for reflection and renewal
AS the holidays approach, we are reminded that responsible stewardship of public resources is not only a technical duty but a moral obligation to future generations. The Philippines possesses talent, resilience, and potential. What it needs now is clarity, commitment, and disciplined execution. With prudent budgeting, transparent governance, and strategic investment, debt can be transformed from a constraint into a tool for growth, enabling a stronger and more prosperous decade.
Sa darating na Kapaskuhan at Bagong Taon, nawa’y magdala ito ng liwanag, pag-asa, at panibagong sigla sa bawat Pilipino. Patuloy nating pagyamanin ang malasakit, disiplina, at pananagutan sa ating bayan. Maligayang Pasko 2025 at Manigong Bagong Taon 2026!
GDP requires cleaner, cheaper, and more resilient power. In an era of climate disruption, energy foresight is economic foresight. And right now, Laguna is showing what that looks
Monday, December 15, 2025
2nd Front Page
BusinessMirror
DICT CREDITS ENFORCEMENT IN 38% CYBERCRIME CASE DECLINE
By Lorenz S. Marasigan
THE Philippines recorded a 38-percent decline in cybercrime cases this year as government enforcement efforts intensified, according to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
In a statement at the weekend, the agency said the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) logged 8,987 cybercrime cases so far this year, down from 14,529 cases during the same period last year.
“These figures show that our anti-cybercrime measures are effective because people see that the government is serious about curbing cybercrime in the country,” DICT Secretary Henry Aguda said.
Since March 2013, the agency has recorded a total of 87,595 cybercrime incidents nationwide.
Authorities have filed 2,933 cases, secured convictions against 252 individuals,
and served 1,068 cyber warrants between November 2024 and October 2025.
Online libel remained the most prevalent cybercrime in the Philippines, followed by illegal access and computer-related identity theft. The top 10 list includes computer-related fraud, data interference, system interference/hacking, computer-related forgery, misuse of devices, illegal interception, and aiding or abetting in the commission of cybercrime.
Aguda credited the decline to coordinated efforts among CICC member agencies, including the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Police.
He said the country’s cybersecurity initiatives are “heading in the right direction.”
Aguda noted the need to further strengthen enforcement measures, particularly with the “Christmas season approaching, when online activity and cyber threats typically increase.”
THErecent United States tariff rollbacks on select food products may offer short-term relief to Philippine exporters, but broader tariffs on most goods and domestic challenges could keep economic growth uneven in 2026, according to Dutch multinational bank ING.
In its Asia Outlook 2026 report, ING said the adjustment of tariffs on around 200 food items would benefit Philippine agricultural exporters.
However, the broader US tariffs—levied at around 19 percent for a large share of Philippine goods—are likely to weigh on trade performance next year.
On the domestic front, ING said business sentiment has been affected by governance-related investigations, while public infrastructure spending slowed in the third quarter, adding pressure to growth mo -
mentum.
These short-term headwinds, ING said, contributed to the country’s structural challenges, such as the country’s heavy reliance on voice-based services in the software and business process outsourcing industry, a sector increasingly exposed to AI-led automation risks.
The country has also lagged peers in attracting manufacturing foreign direct investment, even as regional supply-chain diversification spreads across the region, ING added.
ING said that the Philippines,
Fil-Ams advised: Don’t renounce PHL citizenship
By Malou Talosig-Bartolome
“PLEASE be reminded that dual citizens who voluntarily renounce their Philippine citizenship will no longer be able to reacquire it through RA 9225. Voluntary renunciation of Philippine citizenship is an irreversible legal action.” This is the strongly worded advisory issued by the Philippine Embassy in Washington, as it sought to calm fears over a proposed US Senate bill that would end dual citizenship.
The Embassy emphasized that the measure remains only a proposal and has not become law.
along with other domestically driven economies such as India, underperformed growth expectations despite relatively subdued inflation.
“Household consumption across the Philippines remained weak, reflected in softening retail sales growth and moderating wage increases amid rising labor force participation,” ING said.
Nonetheless, the administration’s strong anti-corruption stance is a longer-term positive, according to ING, since improved governance typically supports investor confidence and strengthens the environment for capital spending.
“As long as confidence returns and public investment picks up later, these efforts should ultimately support a more sustainable growth path,” Deepali Bhargava, ING’s chief economist and regional head of Research for Asia-Pacific, said.
ING also pointed out that while recent US tariff negotiations may have narrowed the tariff gap between China and the rest of Asia, reducing simple “tariff arbitrage” advantages, but not reversed deeper supply- c hain shifts.
Asia and Europe are moving closer through potential new trade agreements with India and Indone -
sia, with plans to extend arrangements to the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia by 2027, supporting cooperation in manufacturing, green infrastructure and digital connectivity, ING added.
“Tariff truces do not mean business as usual,” Bhargava said. “Supply- c hain security, sector-specific tariffs and Europe -A sia trade agreements are reshaping where production and capital go and that will be critical for investors looking beyond headline growth.”
ING noted that the Asean region handles over 20 percent of global semiconductor assembly, testing and packaging and around 22 percent of global auto parts exports, backed by around $12 billion a year of greenfield semiconductor investment and rising electric vehicle -related inflows.
However, sectors less exposed to agriculture, pharma or high- end tech are expected to see fewer direct tariff gains and continue to face weaker global demand, ING noted. As for inflation, ING said this will remain within central bank targets in 2026, giving room for rate cuts to continue in the Philippines, as well as in India, Indonesia, Taiwan and
CIVIL society organizations, Indigenous Peoples advocates, local communities, academic institutions, and long-standing conservation projects that support the government and frontline stewards in safeguarding nature and people are calling for urgent, rights-centered action to protect the country’s already fragile ecosystems.
The group, the Philippines 30x30 Network, issued the call in time for Human Rights Day, commemorated every December 10.
The group said that as 2025 closes, the Philippines suffered another year of extreme heat, torrential rains and flooding, landslides, crop failures, coral bleaching, and coastal and inland water degradation—positioning the country among the highest-risk nations in the world for climate impacts.
These catastrophes continue to impact many Filipinos adversely: lives lost to flooding, homes destroyed, farms and crops inundated, fisheries collapsing due to warming seas, and communities cut off from food and clean water supplies after extreme rainfall events. Public concerns over gaps in flood control, ridge-to-reef protection, and governance in land and coastal development have further underscored the need for transparent, science-based environmental action.
“In a year marked by devastating floods, crop losses, continued fisheries decline, and ongoing degradation of our lands and seas, conservation is no longer optional; it is a matter of national survival,” Dr. Hazel Arceo of the MPA Support Network (MSN) Secretariat said in a statement. This was supported by Rare’s Policy and Government Engagement Manager, Jam Tabing, who said that the urgency for rights-based, community-led action cannot be overstated.
Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), these guidelines are critical for recognizing conservation efforts beyond formal protected areas. At the same time, Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas and Territories (ICCAs) are being advanced as a separate national policy by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), ensuring that their governance and stewardship of customary territories are rightfully acknowledged.
The urgency is amplified as countries prepare their 7th National Reports to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and as global climate negotiations continue to demand stronger commitments on climate justice and biodiversity finance.
Ahead of the Philippines’ 7th National Report to the CBD, the Network called on the government to:
n Ensure that community-led and nonstate actor contributions are fully captured in national biodiversity reporting; n Secure the timely rollout of the PBSAP and uphold voluntary, rights-based pathways for OECM and ICCA recognition; n Strengthen coordination, monitoring, and data transparency across national agencies; n Address systemic drivers of vulnerability, including unsustainable extractive industries (such as mining, oil and gas, and other resource-intensive energy projects), land conversion and development, declining fisheries, greenwashing, corruption, and gaps in watershed and flood-risk governance; and, n Align national reporting with the global push for equitable climate finance, just transitions, and community rights.
“The proposal is currently just a bill and has not become law. Similar proposals have been introduced in the past, but none have materialized. Moreover, the US Supreme Court has recognized the validity of dual citizenship,” the statement noted.
Officials reassured Filipinos that existing policies remain unchanged. “Filipinos who lost their Philippine citizenship by becoming US naturalized citizens may still apply for dual citizenship through Republic Act No. 9225,” the Embassy explained. It added that “those who were born in the United States to at least one Filipino parent are dual Filipino American citizens at birth and should report their birth to the Philippine Embassy or Consulate.” Amid growing concern, the Em-
bassy urged restraint. “The Embassy urges all Filipino Americans to remain calm and refrain from taking unnecessary actions or circulating unverified information,” it said, promising that “should any significant development occur, the Embassy will promptly issue an official notification.”
Background on the US bill
THE proposed Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025, introduced by Senator Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), would require Americans with dual nationality to renounce either their US or foreign citizenship within a year of enactment. Moreno argued that US citizens should pledge “sole and exclusive
allegiance” to the United States. The bill has raised alarm not only among immigrant communities but also at the highest levels of American society. According to Newsweek, First Lady Melania Trump and her son Barron could be directly impacted, as both hold US-Slovenian citizenship. Melania became a US citizen in 2006 but retained her Slovenian nationality, while Barron also holds a Slovenian passport. Legal experts note that the proposal faces constitutional hurdles. Past Supreme Court rulings, including Afroyim v. Rusk (1967), have affirmed that US citizens cannot be stripped of their citizenship
“Global negotiations are clear: the countries most at risk need stronger climate finance, robust biodiversity reporting, and full recognition of Indigenous and local leadership. The Philippines must translate this into concrete national plans and urgent actions on the ground,” she added.
For Haribon Foundation’s representative Thessa De la Cruz, “a holistic approach that recognizes land and sea as a vital network of ecosystems not only shields us from climate change and protects biodiversity, but also helps secure food systems for generations to come.”
The Network commended the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for advancing the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP 2024-2040) and the drafting of national guidelines on Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECM).
Aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global
“As the world looks to countries that contribute the least to global emissions but suffer the most, like the Philippines, the 7th National Report is more than a technical submission. It is an opportunity to demonstrate leadership on climate justice and biodiversity stewardship,” explained Dave de Vera, the Philippine Association for Intercultural Development (PAFID). Meanwhile, Kate Lim, country director of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), shared that communities and conservation partners are already taking action on the ground, but with increasingly unpredictable weather patterns compounded by harmful human activities, they are stretching our capacity to respond. “This makes it even more urgent for accountability and shared responsibility across government and society, protecting nature, upholding human
BEYOND
Editor: Jennifer A. Ng
B1 Monday, December 15, 2025
‘Car sales to hit new record’
By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan
THE volume of vehicles plying Philippine roads could touch record highs by yearend and in 2026 due to the increase in supply and the entry of new car models, according to the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi).
“On the average, (our growth trajectory) is 5 percent. I think 5 percent would be a conservative figure still. We will maintain (it). But it’s differ-
ent now because supply is improving and we have many models coming in,” Campi President Rommel Gutierrez told reporters on the sidelines
of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between CAMPI and the Intellectual Property of the Philippines (IPOPHL) last Friday held in Makati City.
Gutierrez expressed optimism that the Philippine auto industry will be able to sell 500,000 units by yearend, by far the largest sold by carmakers, based on historical data.
In 2024, the joint report of Campi and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) showed that vehicle sales hit a record high of 467,252 units, 8.7 percent higher than the 429,807 units sold in 2023.
“It appears from all indications that we will be able to meet 500,000 units (this year),” Gutierrez said.
Meanwhile, Gutierrez said electric vehicles (EV) could account for
12 percent of the car sales pie next year due to strong demand.
“It’s possible because even Vios has a hybrid, right? So, we’re moving towards that. And we see that consumers are already embracing and accepting electrified vehicles.”
Data from Campi-TMA showed that 383,424 units of vehicles powered by fuel were sold in January to October, slightly lower than the 384,310 units recorded in the 10-month period a year ago.
Meanwhile, there were 24,265 units of electric vehicles sold in the 10-month period this year. This represents 6.33 percent of car sales in January to October.
Campi attributed the slight decline in vehicles powered by fuel to “evolving market dynamics.”
ERC amends transaction fees for Iemop
THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has modified the 2025-2028 market transaction fees for Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (Iemop) to reflect the cost for operating the Electricity Market Management System (IEMMS) for the four-year period.
STOCK-MARKET OUTLOOK
LAST WEEK
SHARE prices posted gains, with the main index returning to the 6,000-point level, as investors were elated by the monetary policy easing of central banks in the Philippines and in the United States.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index rose 87.50 points to close at 6,036.72 points.
The main index fell just once during the week, after the US Federal Reserve reduced its interest rate by 25 basis points (bps), its third for the year, on inflation persistence and labor market softening.
At home, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) delivered its fifth rate cut for the year at 25 bps to stimulate the economy, which was battered by typhoons and corruption scandals.
Average daily trading for the four-day trading week was higher, valued at P6.31 billion, with foreign investors, who cornered 54 percent of the trades, as net sellers at P4.48 billion.
index climbed 22.26 to 4,673.30, the Property index went up by 47.67 to 2,250.16, the Services index grew 35.51 to 2,511.85 and the Mining and Oil index dropped by 5.94 to 14,166.17.
For the week, losers managed to edge gainers 130 to 99 and 34 shares were unchanged.
Top gainers were Uniholdings Inc., Philcomsat Holdings Corp., Metro Alliance Holdings and Equities Corp. A shares, East Coast Vulcan Mining Corp., Greenergy Holdings Inc., AgriNurture
THIS WEEK
Under Section 30 of Republic Act 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (Epira), the cost of administering and operating the
Iemop is the operator of the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM), the country’s trading platform for electricity where power generators sell and distributors or large users buy, with prices set by real-time supply and demand. Market fees, meanwhile, represent the cost of administering and operating the WESM.
WESM is recoverable through the market fee to be approved by the ERC and collected from the power generators transacting in the WESM.
The fees are being collected from all market participants, such as power generation companies (gencos), Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), distribution utilities (DUs), and bulk enduser. The regulator authorized Iemop
to charge an additional market transaction fee to all gencos registered in the WESM, beginning with a recoverable rate of P0.00265 per kilowatthour (kWh) for 2025, to be collected over 12 months starting January 2026. The same order also sets the additional market fees for 2026, 2027, and 2028 at P0.00123/kWh, P0.00106/kWh, and P0.00081/kWh, respectively. Lenie Lectura
ATHE main index may still rise this week, but some analysts said sustaining its position above the 6,000-point level remains questionable amid lingering concerns over the country’s economic growth outlook.
Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, senior research analyst at Philstocks Financials Inc., said investors are still expected to assess developments in the economic front.
“While the latest monetary policy easing provides additional support, tempered consumer and investor confidence amid lingering corruption concerns may continue to weigh on economic activities. Investors are also expected to watch out for fresh leads for clues.” Continued on B2
The Filipino Family: Study reveals priorities, fears, and factors that affect decisions
By Francine Medina
recent study shows that multiple family members are involved in making everyday choices—from groceries to investments. The same study also identified six primary structures in the Philippines, each with distinct financial patterns and decision-making dynamics.
Freshly Brewed
The study, titled “The Filipino Family,” was conducted by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Besides identifying the six structures, the study also found that the top three priorities are financial security for health emergencies, building a large savings fund, and improvement of nutrition and food quality.
In the latest “Freshly Brewed” episode, BusinessMirror’s Labor reporter Justine Xyrah Garcia strikes a discussion with Lance Katigbak, principal at the Boston Consulting Group.
A global management consulting firm, BCG has offices in over 90 countries and specializes in the field of corporate strategy. Its purpose is to unlock the potential of those who advance the world.
“And also, to contribute to the national conversation through data and insights from a reputable thirdparty provider,” he added.
“The Filipino Family” is the third in a series of studies that the group has accomplished. Last year, BCG released “The Filipino Dream,” which tackled how far Filipinos are from achieving their dreams. Another study, in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) titled, “Heart of Hustle,” took a look at SMEs, and “The Filipino Family” that studies what matters to them.
“What binds the three is that they try to understand various stakeholders and we try to understand what their aspirations are, what their dreams are. and what
“For us, it means working hand in hand with our many clients, whether these are private or public sector organizations, to help them answer some of the most difficult questions that they have to face,” explained Katigbak. Understanding the market ACOORDING to him, the recent study that BCG conducted is one of the ways that would help clients better understandthe market.
we can do as a nation to help unlock their full potential,” Katigbak noted.
In “The Filipino Dream”. study, 1,500 individuals were asked what their dream was for the next 10 years. Two distinct matters came up: financial security for health care and to be able to put up a business. But the study also showed that majority of Filipinos don’t just dream for themselves but also for their extended families.
Priorities
FOR
“The Filipino Family,” BCG surveyed 1,500 families and asked them, what are their priorities and how close are they to achieving these.
“So we found out that the top three priorities are: financial security for health care; to have a large savings fund; and to have good nutrition and better food quality,” he stated.
The study also showed that only nine percent of households have one individual, compared to Western countries where about 32 to 45 percent have single individuals in the household.
“When you think about it, Filipinos generally have four
members in a household, not to mention about seven to eight family members who visit the household often,” he added.
Six family structures
THE survey also identified the six types of family structures that are based on how many earners there are in the family.
Among these are:
(1) The single earner consists of the nuclear family, which includes two parents and two kids, with one breadwinner.
(2) The solo parent household consists of a single parent usually with two kids.
(3) The dual earner family consists of both parents as breadwinners.
(4) Another structure is the double income family with no kids. Multil-earning families are either (5) Sandwich families where there are usually three generations earning, from the grandparents, parents, to the kids, and (6) the Extended family consisting of the nuclear family, with relatives also living in the same household.
“The decision-making process varies in each of these structures. In the case of the nuclear family, for instance, the parents make the decisions. But as time progresses and as the children get older, they play a bigger role in the process while the parents step back.
“For the Sandwich family, the grandparents own the place and make the decisions. But over time, they pass the reins to their children, sort of like a changing of the guards,” Katigbak explained.
The study also revealed that there are no prevailing structures.
“That’s the beauty of the Filipino family. You cannot just think of the nuclear family anymore.
“There’s a survey that showed extended family households are increasing perhaps because it’s more economical to live together rather than alone, or that it’s fun to have more people at home. But in any case, the structures are changing compared to 20 years ago,” Katigbak observed.
Insights
ACCORDING to Katigbak, among the takeaways of the study is that
64 percent can’ only afford to pay hospital bills that are less than P10,000. This shows that many families are hard-pressed when it comes to paying for hospitalization, doctors’ fees, among others.
When asked what families fears, the top three matters that emerged were illness, job loss, and inflation.
“So you can see that families are afraid of any kind of disruptive emergency that can easily destabilize the family situation. So you can see that all these families are fragile, explained Katigbak.
“Families fear disruptions and are managing risks so they feel more protected,” he continued. “When a family member becomes ill, it will have an immediate and compound effect.” The immediate effect would be the expenses while the compound effect could be the duration of the illness and pitching in to take care of the family member.
“So in this regard, the family has become a sort of insurance plan in case of emergencies,” he noted.
Spark a conversation
“THE Filipino Family” was conducted by BCG for business leaders and policy makers. “We put the study out to spark a conversation and let leaders think how they approach their businesses and policies’” Katigbak continued.
Based on the study, Filipinos don’t decide for themselves but take into consideration their families. They are always in constant conversation about what should be prioritized and what should be put off.
“The important thing is that businesses should cater to family living especially since it’s uniquely Filipino. We can’t just take policies that are from a different context such as those in the US or other Western countries. We have to localize and consider the nuances of families here,” Katigbak concluded.
* Watch the full episode on BusinessMirror’s You Tube channel. Catch fresh episodes every Monday at 10 am. On BusinessMirror’s social pagesandwebsite.
Lance Katigbak, Principal at Boston Consulting Group Brewed
Lance Katigbak, Principal at Boston Consulting Group, talks about the findings of "The Filipino Family" study with Justine Xyrah Garcia, BusinessMirror's labor reporter
Banking&Finance
Headwinds seen to usher prudent spending in ’26
By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio
FILIPINO consumers will be entering 2026 with a mindset of prudent spending and heightened preparedness, reflecting a cautious optimism shaped by a mixed economic landscape.
While a recovery is expected, Global Payments Inc. Senior Vice President for South and Southeast Asia Krishnaraj Tantri told the BusinessMirror that key headwinds will keep households focused on value, convenience and security.
Tantri said he sees the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expecting the economy to recover in 2026, “which is a positive tailwind for overall demand.”
“However, several headwinds remain in 2026, prompting consumers to stay cautious: inflation may hover near the upper band early in the year, remittance growth could moderate, global trade uncertainty may weigh on sentiment, and cybersecurity a growing area of focus,” he further explained.
They expect a ‘modest but meaningful increase’ in consumer spending this month, supported by seasonal factors and remittance inflows.
Tantri said December is traditionally the biggest spending month for Filipino households, and 2025 should be no different. Further, he said the holiday season highlights a surge in shopping for gifts, clothes, and gadgets, as well as family gatherings and celebrations.
Moreover, he said many families plan trips during the holidays, so spending on department stores/ boutiques, airline tickets, hotels, and entertainment usually jumps.
“Our data from previous years shows these categories consistently outperform in the fourth quarter, and to capture this trend, we provide flexible installment options that make big-ticket purchases— such as electronics, travel, and jewelry—affordable and accessible for consumers during the holiday season,” he said.
Remittances from overseas Filipino workers, which historically peak in December, is another major factor in consumer spending. Citing BSP data, Tantri said remittances usually
hit their highest level at year-end, giving households extra cash for holiday shopping and travel.
Combined with 13th-month bonuses, Tantri said the influx of funds creates a perfect storm for increased spending.
“While inflation is under control and interest rates have eased, some travel-related costs may remain high, but overall, the holiday spirit and stronger liquidity should lead to a noticeable uplift in December spending,” Tantri said.
In response to the expected challenging business environment in 2026, he said the company will be expanding flexible installment options across high-demand categories— such as electronics, travel, and lifestyle—to make big-ticket purchases more accessible, especially during the long “ber-month” cycle and holiday peaks throughout the year.
As more Filipinos shop online, he said the multinational financial technology firm’s local office will provide assistance to small, medium enterprises (SMEs).
With QRPH and alternative payment methods, Tantri said merchants can offer quick, convenient QR-based payments for everyday purchases. He added that the firm’s technology turns a smartphone into a secure payment terminal for major brands.
“These innovations, combined with value-added services through our banking partnerships, empower SMEs to serve tech-savvy consumers in a marketplace where speed, convenience, and digital readiness define their behavior,” he added. With digital shopping at its peak during the holidays and continuing to grow in 2026, Tantri said they expect the acceleration of digital payments while consumers expect seamless and secure transactions. As a response to this trend, he said his firm will be integrating advanced measures like artificial intelligence (AI)-driven fraud detection, tokenization, and biometrics, ensuring every payment is protected across channels.
“By embedding these technologies, we create a safer, more trusted payment ecosystem for all users, giving shoppers and merchants confidence as commerce becomes increasingly omnichannel,” Tantri said.
Union Digital Bank expects to break even next year
By VG Cabuag @villygc
THE digital bank unit of Union Bank of the Philippines expects to start to break even by the end of next year after the lender was able to fix its high bad loan ratio and is now being slowly recognized by consumers, according to its executive.
UnionDigital Bank Inc. (UDI) President and CEO Danilo J. Mojica II said the bank is now poised for growth, as it has fixed the two main drags to the bank.
“We fix, we stabilize, and then we grow. So now we’re in the growth stage. Now, are we making money? Not yet. But, you know, some of the digital banks have made declarations on when they’re going to make money, when they’re going to be. I can tell you with confidence, but not certainty, that we will break even next year. 2026. Sometime in 2026, the bank will break it,” Mojica said. He added that the digital lender may still book a loss this year to about hundreds of millions of pesos. But it would “significantly less” than the previous year’s losses of about P3 billion, Mojica said.
He said the bank non-performing loan (NPL) ratio may end at 6 percent by the end of the year. UDI’s NPL (loans in which the borrower stops paying interest or principal for 90 days) have reached a high of around 40 percent.
The NPL figure last year was at 22.86 percent, but it has now dropped to 7 percent level as of December as
Icier demand, weak labor market prompt rate cuts
By Reine Juvierre Alberto @reine_alberto
DESPITE the recent hawkishness of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the policy rate could still be brought down to 4.25 percent, as cooling domestic demand and a weaker labor market provide room for easing.
In a note, Citi Research said it maintains its expectations of one final 25-basis point rate cut in the Monetary Board’s next meeting in February 2026, regardless of less dovish signals from BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. Remolona said that the BSP’s easing cycle is nearing the end, while further easing would be limited and data-dependent.
However, Citi said that the cooling job market could possibly drag down consumption and inflation, noting that the unemployment rate climbed to a post-pandemic high of 5 percent in October from 8.3 percent in September, as employment levels declined in both months.
The increase in joblessness was sharper than what seasonal patterns would normally imply and may sig-
nal early spillovers from the ongoing governance issues into hiring sentiment, which could further weigh on consumer demand, according to Citi.
“While the rise in October unemployment was undoubtedly already factored into BSP’s latest policy statement, we think that [the data], together with continued delays in public investment, could lead to further growth and thus inflation undershoots vs BSP’s current expectations in coming months,” it added. Citi’s 2026 inflation forecast is lower at 2.5 percent, compared to the BSP’s 3.2 percent. “Real policy rates could be significantly higher than BSP’s current expectation should nominal policy rates not be cut further,” Citi noted.
Remolona has also hinted that the December rate cut might have been
the last, adding that future decisions remain data dependent. As for the likelihood of a further rate cut in April, Citi said this remains a “risk scenario” rather than a base-case, as at least some signs of a spending recovery may have emerged by then.
UOB sees cut in Q2
MEANWHILE, in its macro note, the United Overseas Bank (UOB) said it maintains its view of one final 25-basis points cut in the second quarter of 2026 rather than in the first quarter.
UOB said that the reasons for this cut is the anticipated dovishness of the US Federal Reserve under new leadership as it swears in a new chair in late May 2026, as well as the subsequent Federal Open Market Committee decision on June 17, 2026.
The BSP’s rate-setting meeting in June 2026 will also follow the Fed’s schedule and the release of the Philippines’ first quarter of 2026 gross domestic product data in early May 2026. UOB noted that these will be crucial for policy assessment.
“The RRP (reverse repurchase rate) will then reach our projected terminal level of 4.25% by mid-2026, where it is likely to remain for the rest of 2026,” UOB said.
Further, UOB said that future adjustments will likely be limited and data-dependent, ensuring that policy settings remain aligned with price stability and sustainable eco -
nomic growth.
“This pivot reflects heightened caution amid weakening growth prospects, governance concerns, and lingering global trade uncertainties,” UOB said, noting that it tempers expectations for further aggressive cuts in 2026.
Remolona recently told reporters that the BSP could still deliver one more 25-basis-point rate cut next year, adding that the Monetary Board will not consider an off-cycle move or a larger 50-basis-point cut, as it could undermine confidence.
Asked if the central bank may reduce the key policy rate in its next rate-setting meeting in February 2026, Remolona said any cut could happen during a regular meeting and not off-cycle.
The central bank governor also said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Stephen Engle and Annabelle Droulers that the BSP is “pretty much on the fence” about the need to cut rates even further.
“I think we may cut one more time or we may not. That’s where we are,” Remolona said.
The impact of the corruption scandal will continue into the early part of 2026, with the BSP projecting a 5.4-percent growth in 2026 and 6 percent in 2027.
‘Zero-balance billing only if Philhealth fully funded’
By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
THE highly-publicized “zerobalance billing” (ZBB) policy might just work as intended should the billions in legally-earmarked PhilHealth funds be properly allocated to the agency, Senator Pilar Juliana “Pia” S. Cayetano stressed over the weekend.
the bank has shrunk its loan book to just P7 billion from the previous P9 billion to P11 billion.
Mojica said it has to get rid of those who do not pay their debts.
“When you have your credit losses going down, you know, a bank has to cover, has to cover risk. So, before our coverage was at about the 60 percent to 70 percent of potential losses. Now, we’re actually able to cover more than 100 percent,” he added.
“So many good things have happened. But I do not want all the news in my life are good. Because we’re not yet there yet,” Mojica said. He added that they need to get back to the P9 billion loan book level in the succeeding years, but only getting the good borrowers. Mojica said they also have to fix its image, as before it was called as “ube” by consumers, as there were not a lot of story on the digital bank.
“What the marketing team did was they put more meaning into what [UDI] really is. They made sure that the consumer remembers us from a more meaningful standpoint. Believe it or not, but from almost zero recognition of the brand, now, over 8 percent of the consumer will play back to you yung the right positioning of UDI,” he said. UDI, which was among the six digital banks to operate in the country, commenced operations on July 18, 2022, after receiving its authority to operate from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
“If PhilHealth were given every peso intended for it, the promise of zero-balance billing would not be limited to a few hospitals. It could be a real, functioning guarantee for every Filipino patient,” Cayetano said on Saturday, just before the bicameral conference committee on the 2026 budget opened an unprecedented live-streamed meeting amid concerns of lack of transparency and fiscal abuse in the 2025 general appropriations act.
The Supreme Court last week ruled on the transfer of P60 billion in PhilHealth funds to the National Treasury as the Department of Fi -
nance (DOF) ordered (DOF Circular 003-2024). Cayetano said the decision highlighted the fact there’s still the unexplained matter of billions in supposedly earmarked health funds from the proceeds of the sin tax law.
Explaining her reservations during the third reading of the 2026 GAA, Cayetano said “This is not a matter of an unfunded law; this is earmarked.”
“So saan napunta ‘yun [where did it go]? What is clear is that the Sin Tax Reform Act of 2019 (Republic Act 11346) earmarks the proceeds of the sin tax for Philhealth. If this is not delivered to Philhealth, I do not want this body to be complicit in this act,” the senator added.
Later on Saturday, she reiterated during the bicam meeting her serious concern about the lack of accountability on the whereabouts of the funds mandated for earmarking under the sin tax law.
Cayetano said that while the rul-
ing of the High Tribunal is a welcome correction, it also highlights a deeper problem: even with the ruling, much remains to be fixed both in the budget and in the way the budget is put together.
During the 2026 budget deliberations, she presented the deficits in sin tax allocations earmarked for PhilHealth from 2023 to 2026, amounting to P129.96 billion: n 2023: P83.9B was earmarked, only P79B appeared in the General Appropriations Act (GAA), resulting to a P4.9B deficit
n 2024: P79.01B was earmarked, only P40.28B made it to the GAA (P38.73B deficit)
n 2025: P69.81B was earmarked, but the bicameral conference committee removed the allocation entirely (P69.81B deficit)
n 2026: P69.78B is earmarked, but only P53.26B is in the National Expenditure Program (P16.52B potential deficit)
Cayetano also pointed out that
P106.95 billion in Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. revenues were legally intended for PhilHealth between 2019 and 2025, on top of the P60 billion covered by the Supreme Court ruling.
“These gaps are not technicalities,” she said. “They are the reason [that the] ZBB has not become fully operational.”
PhilHealth has estimated that it needs at least P147 billion more to subsidize indirect contributors and achieve ZBB coverage across DOHrun hospitals, specialty institutions and facilities of local government units.
“We cannot celebrate the Supreme Court ruling and then continue underfunding PhilHealth in the very same budget cycle,” she said. “If we want [the ZBB] to work, we must restore every peso legally intended for the health of our people—and fix the process that keeps taking those pesos away.”
Rich world’s rate-cut momentum is fading away
THE final flurry of global monetary policy decisions for 2025 is likely to showcase how the easing cycle in advanced economies either lacks fresh impetus or is effectively over.
A year that dawned with the prospect of successive, if limited, rate cuts across the rich world is set to end with that momentum losing steam. Instead, central bankers are stepping back to assess how their progress so far is impacting growth and inflation.
The Federal Reserve’s cloudy outlook for any further reductions following Wednesday’s quarter-point cut is one part of that backdrop. Another is that the global economy has apparently weathered US President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught better than expected.
Among multiple decisions due on Thursday and Friday, the Bank of England’s probable reduction in borrowing costs may draw the most scrutiny. It’s an outcome that investors will look to for clues on whether it could be one of the BOE’s final
moves of the cycle.
The European Central Bank, meanwhile, is set to present higher growth forecasts that may cement the tentative rate hold officials have enforced since May, with questions to President Christine Lagarde likely to focus on how soon a pivot to tightening could transpire.
Policymakers in four other European countries are expected to keep borrowing costs steady. The Bank of Japan, meanwhile, is widely expected to hike.
In comparison to the advancedeconomy narrative of a potentially shifting tide for policy, the direction of travel elsewhere is less clear. Several other central banks, from Mexico to Thailand, are set to extend easing cycles in the coming week.
Elsewhere, multiple data releases in China, inflation figures from the UK to Canada, jobs numbers in the US, and growth figures in Brazil will be among the highlights.
US and Canada
A DELUGE of delayed data will offer
traders and policymakers a muchanticipated snapshot of the US labor market and broader economy.
Following the Fed’s latest decision to lower interest rates, the November jobs report—due on Tuesday—will begin to shape the 2026 outlook for borrowing costs.
Economists project a 50,000 increase in payrolls and a 4.5 percent unemployment rate, consistent with a sluggish, but not rapidly deteriorating, labor market.
The report will also include an estimate of October payrolls—figures that were delayed by the federal government shutdown. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said it was unable to conduct its survey of households for the month, and as a result won’t publish an October unemployment rate.
The fallout from the longest-ever government shutdown extended to another high-profile economic indicator: the consumer price index. The November CPI report on Thursday will have no monthly changes for most of the price cat -
egories, including the overall CPI and core measure that excludes food and energy. That’s because the BLS said it was unable to collect much of the October price information. November data collection was also delayed by the government shutdown, adding another caveat to the widely-watched figures.
The US will also issue figures on October retail sales. Excluding autos and gasoline, economists forecast an acceleration in outlays that would suggest solid consumer demand at the start of the fourth quarter. Looking north, Canadian inflation likely remained close to the 2 percent target in November, with the Bank of Canada anticipating that core metrics will point to about 2.5 percent growth in underlying price pressures. The central bank has signaled it’s comfortable holding rates steady unless the outlook for inflation and growth changes materially. Governor Tiff Macklem will give his final speech of 2025 on Tuesday. Bloomberg
COUP CULTURE:
Why some African countries are prone to military takeovers
By Mark Banchereau The Associated Press
DAKAR, Senegal—It had become a familiar scene in West Africa. A group of soldiers appeared on state television in Benin last week to claim they had seized power. A few hours later, the president announced the coup had been foiled.
Just two weeks earlier, soldiers seized power in another West African country, Guinea-Bissau, after a closely contested presidential e lection.
Since 2020, nine countries in Africa have experienced coups. Here is w hat to know about why some nations on the continent are prone to mi litary takeovers.
Growing grievances
THE recent coups in Africa reflect deepening socioeconomic grievances, weakened institutions and f rustrations with civilian governments’ handling of security crises, a ccording to Beverly Ochieng, an analyst with the Control Risks Group consulting firm.
“In many West African countries, where militaries remain deeply involved in daily politics, crises such a s insurgencies and sustained socioeconomic grievances often push s oldiers to step in when they believe civilian leaders are failing to respond effectively,” Ochieng said.
It’s not just in West Africa. In October, military leaders took power on t he southern African island of Madagascar following youth-led protests d emanding President Andry Rajoelina’s resignation. He later fled the c ountry while the parliament voted
for his impeachment.
In 2023, soldiers in the oil-rich central African country of Gabon toppled longtime President Ali Bongo shortly after he was declared the e lection winner. Coup leader Brice Oligui Nguema, a cousin of Bongo, took power and was announced the winner of a presidential election in April.
In Chad, following his father’s death in April 2021, army general Mahamat Idris Deby seized power, extending his family’s three-decade rule of the central African nation.
In September 2021, a group of soldiers in Guinea led by Mamady Doumbouya removed President Alpha Conde, who had changed the constitution to stand for a third term. D oumbouya is running in the presidential election in December, after a r eferendum this year allowed junta members to participate.
In Sudan, the military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, staged a coup in October 2021, deposing Omar alBashir, who had ruled for 26 years.
Military leaders have also taken power by force in Mali in 2020 and 2021, in Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger in 2023. The three countries in the arid Sahel region have been plagued by extremist attacks, while pledging to provide more security to citizens.
Widespread perceptions of corruption among political elites and t heir inability to rein in insurgencies has led many young Africans to g row disillusioned with democratic governance in their country.
A survey by the Ghana-based Afrobarometer research network last y ear found that while young people in Africa prefer democracy to any kind of authoritarian alternative, they are more likely than their elders to be dissatisfied with the way d emocracy works in their countries.
Former French colonies more prone to coups WITH the exception of Sudan, a former British colony, and GuineaBissau, a former Portuguese one, the coups in Africa in recent years have taken place in former French colonies.
Bakary Sambe, who heads the Senegal-based Timbuktu Institute, said the prevalence of coups i n Francophone Africa largely can be explained by countries’ political systems—heavily influenced
b y France, with strong presidential powers—and economic dependence on France after independence.
“Add to this weak governance marked by corruption and the inability to address jihadist threats i n the Sahel, and you have fertile ground for militaries positioning themselves as ‘saviors’,” Sambe said.
“Postcolonial Anglophone institutions, on the other hand, influenced by a more decentralized B ritish model, have fostered more stable democratic transitions, with
diversified economies and less external monetary control,” he added. O chieng said the role of the military in politics also differs between m any former French colonies and former British ones.
“In many Anglophone African countries, the military, executive and judiciary are more clearly separated, and that separation of powers means that they coexist rather t han overlapping in ways that blur authority or create confusion about who is in charge,” she said.
Two of Trump’s peace deals at risk as fighting surges in Congo and at Cambodia-Thailand border
By Matthew Lee The Associated Press
WASHINGTON—At least two of several agreements aimed at ending global conflicts that President Donald Trump has hailed as evidence of his negotiating prowess are in trouble and at risk of collapsing.
Less than a week after Congo and Rwanda signed a deal in Trump’s presence in Washington that was meant to halt fighting in eastern Congo, and less than two months after he witnessed Cambodia and Thailand sign a ceasefire pact in Malaysia to end their border conflict, fighting has surged in both places.
The developments have caused international alarm, which on Tuesday resulted in urgent calls to halt the renewed violence from countries involved in the African Great Lakes region and from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In each case, the statements urged the combatants to live up to their commitments in the deals that Trump has touted in part as the rationale for casting himself as the “president of peace.”
Trump late Tuesday expressed confidence that once again he could end the fighting between Cambodia and Thailand.
“Tomorrow I’ll have to make a
phone call,” Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania. “Who else could say, ‘I’m going to make a phone call and stop a war of two very powerful countries, Thailand and Cambodia?’”
Several countries express concern about violence flaring in Congo
A JOINT statement released by the International Contact Group for the Great Lakes expressed “profound concern” over the situation in Congo’s South Kivu region, where new deadly violence blamed on the Rwandanbacked M23 militia group has exploded in recent days.
“The ICG urges the M23 and the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) to immediately halt their offensive operations in eastern DRC, in particular in South Kivu, and calls on the RDF to withdraw from eastern DRC and on M23 to return to its positions” as stipulated in multiple agreements that culminated in the signing of a deal in Washington on Thursday with Presidents Felix Tshisekedi of Congo and Paul Kagame of Rwanda.
The White House had touted it as a “historic” agreement brokered by Trump following monthslong peace efforts by the US and its partners,
including the African Union and Qatar, finalizing an earlier deal signed in June.
“It’s a great day for Africa, a great day for the world,” Trump said then. He added, “Today, we’re succeeding where so many others have failed.”
The Great Lakes contact group— which includes Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and the European Union—urged all sides “to uphold their commitments” under the deal signed last week and “immediately de-escalate the situation.”
The State Department, using an acronym for the Democratic Republic of Congo, said the U.S. “is deeply concerned by the ongoing violence in eastern DRC, driving displacement and inflicting suffering on countless families.”
“The Trump administration continues to advance its diplomatic engagement on this important issue, working to ensure the full implementation of the recently signed agreements and restore stability on the ground,” it said. “We are working closely with regional partners to uphold the commitments made and reinforce the ceasefire.”
Trump administration calls for halt to violence on Thai-Cambodian border IN a separate statement, Rubio said the US is concerned by an uptick in fighting between Cambodia and Thailand along their contested border, just over a month after the two countries signed an agreement in Malaysia that was pushed for by Trump.
“We strongly urge the immediate cessation of hostilities, the protection of civilians, and for both sides to return to the deescalatory measures outlined in the Oct. 26 Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords,” Rubio said in a statement.
The Cambodia-Thailand deal has been faltering for weeks, but it took
a big hit when fighting broke out following a weekend skirmish in which two Thai soldiers were injured. Five days of fighting since has left dozens dead on both sides and forced the evacuation of over 100,000 civilians.
A senior Trump administration official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the president expected Thailand and Cambodia, as well as Rwanda and Congo, to “honor their commitments” to halt the violence. The official says the administration is monitoring the situation in Congo closely and that Trump has told both sides he is expecting “immediate results.”
Trump has repeatedly cited seven or eight agreements, including these two, as proof of his success in ending conflicts, although another one—an internationally endorsed plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza—is still not finalized and in limbo, with sporadic fighting continuing while a critical second phase remains a work in progress.
His efforts to halt the fighting between Russia and Ukraine have so far proven unsuccessful. Other deals Trump has been involved with and claimed as successes include those between India and Pakistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Israel and Iran, Kosovo and Serbia, and Egypt and Ethiopia.
It’s Christmastime in the city
Lee Dong Wook lights up the holidays with fan meet at Theatre at Solaire
THE holidays just got a whole lot sweeter. This Christmas, Filipino fans are in for a true festive treat as Korean superstar, K-drama icon, and beloved heartthrob Lee Dong Wook brings his much-anticipated fan meet tour, My Sweet Home, to Manila.
Happening this December 20, the Manila leg of My Sweet Home promises an unforgettable night filled with charming interactions, heartwarming moments, and up-close engagements, which makes it a perfect early Christmas gift for every Lee Dong Wook fan.
The one-night-only fan meet will take place at The Theatre at Solaire Resort Entertainment City, the luxury destination’s premier venue for world-class concerts, intimate fan meets, and exceptional live entertainment. The luxury and comfort of Solaire leave a lasting impression, from the thoughtful service to the stunning views and beautifully appointed rooms.
This special visit is all about connection and a reminder that “home” isn’t just a place, but a feeling shared between Lee Dong Wook and the fans who adore him.
Adding to the excitement, Lee Dong Wook shared a warm and heartfelt message for his Filipino fans through Solaire’s official social media pages, expressing his eagerness to reunite with them this December.
Known for unforgettable roles such as the enigmatic Grim Reaper in Goblin and the captivating gumiho in Tale of the Nine Tailed, he continues to win hearts around the world with his charisma and charm.
Tickets to the event is now available via TicketWorld, the Solaire Box Office (Level 2), or any authorized outlet.
HOLIDAY wonders in the Philippines never fail to amaze, however dire our financial situations may be. This holiday season may be particularly challenging, with noche buena being limited to P500 per family of four and malls being discouraged from holding weekend sales.
Even so, the Filipino holiday spirit of enjoyment and entertainment can never be dampened.
SM SUPERMALLS ACROSS THE ARCHIPELAGO
BUT before the holiday season fully set in, it was Skate, Rattle and Roll as SM Sports & Leisure Centers hosted the first Halloween Cup at the SM Skating Megamall, featuring skaters—mostly kids of all skill levels— who showcased imaginative costumes and earnest performances.
SM Skating Megamall was transformed into a Halloween wonderland as 170 homegrown skaters showcased their talent and artistry in a spooktacular display of skill, creativity and sportsmanship complete with outrageous costumes set to pop music.
“Through this event, SM Sports & Leisure Centers continue to encourage sports development and nurture young talents in ice skating,” said Joseph V. Silva, senior assistant vice president of SM Sports & Leisure Centers. “We aim to provide families a place where they can bond, stay active, and enjoy activities like ice skating in the same place they shop, dine and spend time together.”
The SM Halloween Cup ushered the holiday spirit of camaraderie, resilience and entertainment that Filipinos are famous for, as SM Supermalls across the country unveiled a timeless SM Christmas experience to the delight of children and families everywhere.
In Mindanao, SM Lanang in Davao debuted Unwrap a Joyful Season, inspired by the holiday atmosphere of New York City while SM CDO Downtown Premier presented Christmas in Bloom, blending Christmas splendor with the fantastical world of Oz, perfectly timed with the release of Wicked: For Good.
In the Visayas, must visits are SM J Mall in Mandaue City and SM Seaside City Cebu, which unveiled The Grand Gift of Christmas, part of the Unwrapping Magical Christmas Tales installation. SM City Bacolod, meanwhile, has its Unwrapping Sweet Surprises, a pastel dreamscape of confectioneryinspired décor.
In Northern Luzon, SM City Baguio introduced The Magic of Giving, inspired by the charm of the City of Pines. In Central Luzon, Pampanga has SM City Telabastagan in San Fernando and SM City Clark, which unveiled Holiday Surprises, featuring a 45-foot Christmas tree, two Interactive Gift Boxes, and the event’s highlight—the Ames Room Illusion. In the Bicol Region are SM City Legazpi and SM City Naga, with its Tinsel, Treats and Twisted Trees, inspired by the whimsical world of Willy Wonka.
MITSUKOSHI BGC WELCOMES THE HOLIDAYS WITH DORAEMON AND FRIENDS
MITSUKOSHI BGC, the massive Japanese mall, ushers festive cheer to a whole new level with Doraemon: A Sparkling Adventure, running until January 12, 2026. Japanese-inspired decorations, heartwarming
Your favorite celebrities get their holiday glow
YEARS ago, I accompanied a friend to Belo Medical Group’s operating room because she was getting a tummy tuck and there, I saw that many of their patients were overseas contract workers who saved their money to get a rhinoplasty or liposuction. Why? Because their favorite celebrities had these procedures done. Such is the influence of Belo Medical Group and the Belo Babies.
But not all treatments at Belo Medical Group are invasive and for the holidays, Belo has offers that will make sure you can put your best face and
skin forward. They also have special packages for balikbayans, which is one of Belo’s strongest markets.
NeuroBright Eyes is Belo’s 20-minute eye rejuvenation treatment which calms nerve activity that causes skin fatigue, making the eyes less puffy, less tired, more awake and more refreshed. This treatment was recently sampled by former Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach-Jauncey and young stars
Alexa Ilacad and KD Estrada.
“The first step to the NeuroBright Eyes procedure is smoothening via lactobiome, a microbiome that helps to balance the skin. Next is hydrating and firming through hyaluronic acid, to promote hydration and lessen wrinkles. The last step is brightening with the use of tranexamic acid. You really have to make sure that the purity of the tranexamic is better and less irritating,” said Dr. Vicki Belo.
NeuroGlow, a Belo signature facial, uses neurocosmetic science to help the skin behave more efficiently—softening congestion, smoothing uneven texture, and restoring luminosity after long hours. This is a favorite of BINI’s Aiah, actress Kaila Estrada,
activities, and delightful surprises await families, friends and fans of all ages of the beloved Doraemon. Mitsuko, the mall’s iconic Kokeshi doll dressed in her new Christmas outfit, welcomes guests who wish to see the playful Doraemon touches sprinkled throughout the mall. They can also meet Santa Claus on December 20 from 11 am to 1:30 pm, and on December 21 and 25 at 6 pm.
Opening in mid-December is ABC-Mart, the Japanese footwear and lifestyle store , as well as several pop-up shops, including Phiten, Kizik, Splingle Move, Gingersnaps, and Theo & Philo, offering festive surprises for shoppers throughout the mall.
MAKATI IN COLOR
THE country’s financial capital expands its holiday celebrations farther than ever before. The Christmas lights are not only illuminating Ayala Avenue and Ayala Triangle Gardens, but now extends to Paseo de Roxas and Makati Avenue to create a more connected and immersive holiday experience.
With Makati in Color: Where Christmas Tradition Meets Imagination, Ayala Land and Make It Makati proudly display Filipino symbols expressed through unexpected colors, patterns, and forms inspired by the sarimanok (a symbol of prosperity) and anahaw (a
symbol of resilience).
Leading the ceremonial lighting at the Ayala Triangle were Ayala Corp. chief sustainability and risk officer Jaime Zobel Urquijo; Bea Zobel Jr.; Ayala Corp. chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala; Makati Mayor Nancy Binay; Ayala Land president and CEO Meean Dy; Ayala Land creative director Paloma Urquijo Zobel de Ayala; MACEA board of governors chairman Emilio Tumbocon; and Ayala Land Estates Group head Chris Maglanoc. This holiday season also marks another first: Makati’s flagship malls— starting with Greenbelt—also join the celebration by lighting up their own spaces. From the Makati Central Business District to Circuit Makati, the colorful theme travels across the city, unifying Makati under one contemporary Christmas story.
On December 20-21, the Makati Street Meet is also hosting the third installment of Marche de Noel in collaboration with the French Embassy, an annual Christmas market featuring French and Filipino gastronomy; while the Simbang Gabi will be from December 15 to 23 at Ayala Triangle, bringing the community together in reflection, gratitude and hope.
“This year’s theme reflects that spirit of creativity and renewal,” said Ayala Land’s Meean Dy. “These designs celebrate Filipino heritage expressed in a modern, contemporary way, much like Makati itself.”
and GMA star Charlie Fleming.
Liftera uses thermal diffusion technology to contour, lift and define facial angles with no downtime. Content creator Jaz Reyes and Raymond Gutierrez, Georgina Wilson, and Liz Uy like Liftera. Belo’s Vertical Axis Lift is a multi-technology approach designed to enhance lift, contour, and make skin supple by working with the skin’s natural direction of aging.
A collection of treatments combined by Dr. Vicki Belo, Vertical Axis Lift is for those who want to make the most of Belo’s world-class machine procedures, comprised of Belo’s greatest hits. “2025 is all about combining procedures. After analyzing all the machines we have at Belo, we realized that it’s really better to combine. Not one machine can do all the things you have to accomplish,” said Belo.
Actress Anne Curtis-Smith is a fan of the Vertical
“Dr. Belo knows that I’m very scared of invasive treatments, but Belo is always the first in the country to develop non-invasive treatments that can help you achieve these looks you want to have,” she said.
Malabon City administrator hailed for outstanding professional performance
Malabon City Administrator
Dr. Alexander T. Rosete has been honored with the Exemplary Business Educator Award by the Executive Council of Deans and Educators in Business (ECODEB) during the ECODEB Awards 2025 at the Manila Peninsula Hotel for his outstanding professional performance, dedication to continuous development through business education and academic collaboration, and consistently high performance ratings from stakeholders that contribute to the advancement of both the business sector and society.
ECODEB, an esteemed national organization composed of deans, program heads, and educators from leading business schools across the Philippines, is dedicated to raising academic standards, strengthening industry–academe partnerships, and promoting excellence in business education.
Every year, the ECODEB Awards recognize outstanding individuals and institutions whose contributions advance professional development, academic integrity, and innovative teaching practices in the field of business education.
“In bridging the worlds of public service and education, we equip the next generation of business leaders with practical integrity and unwavering focus. These knowledgeable and values-driven leaders are the very people who fuel transparent governance and sustainable community development. The highest form of education goes beyond theory; it involves sharing real-world wisdom that
builds resilient communities. I am deeply honored by this recognition, which reinforces our mission of connecting academic excellence with genuine public impact,” Dr. Rosete said.
The Exemplary Business Educator Award is presented to individuals who demonstrate remarkable performance as business educators, strong commitment to professional growth, and a collaborative spirit in serving students and academic institutions.
Dr. Rosete exemplifies these standards through his exceptional ability to link public administration, humanitarian work, and business education. His career highlights his mastery of management principles anchored in excellence, integrity, and service to the community.
He holds key professional credentials such as Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management from Asian Institute of Management and Ph.D. in Management from De La Salle Araneta University, among others, underscoring his leadership in the business education sector. His expertise is further reinforced by advanced certifications in Six Sigma Black Belt, project management, management consulting, and life coaching, allowing him to provide both strong academic instruction and practical, real-world insights.
His founding of Pitch & Reach Pro, a firm
specializing in public and media relations, further showcases his strength in strategic communication and networking—skills he imparts to his students and applies in public governance.
As Malabon City Administrator, Dr. Rosete leads the development and implementation of key administrative strategies focused on organizational development and reform. Guided by the leadership of Mayor Jeannie Sandoval, he applies business and management principles to enhance efficiency, accountability, and service delivery within local governance.
“Good governance is ultimately good business. Every system we improve, every reform we pursue, and every process we refine brings the discipline of business into the heart of public service. When we apply strategic thinking, innovation, and responsible management to government, we create a city where progress is sustainable, opportunities are inclusive, and public trust becomes our greatest capital,” Dr. Rosete said.
Dr. Rosete’s recognition as an Exemplary Business Educator further strengthens the Malabon City Government’s commitment to professionalism, innovation, and excellence— setting a high standard for both public service leadership and academic contribution.
Puregold Hakot Relay Run sparks frenzy among running communities
THE Puregold Hakot Relay Run recently became the event du jour among both seasoned and amateur runners when it sparked the adrenaline rush of a competitive race combined with the exciting giveaways of the classic “hakot” experience. Held at Burnham Green Park on November 22, 2025, in Manila, the Puregold Hakot Relay Run had attendees gushing over the exhilarating experience of grabbing grocery items while competing in the three-kilometer run. For one, avid runner Sheila Obregon, who joined the event with her husband and 10-year-old child, has been singing the event’s praises online since she completed the three-kilometer run. “Of all the runs, this is the happiest one that I have joined!” she wrote on Facebook. “This is how it feels to do STRESS-FREE GROCERY.”
In a photo she shared with the UP Running Community, Sheila displayed an array of groceries that included bottled water, soft drinks, biscuits, potato chips, detergent, bath soap, and more. “We nearly could not extend any help,” she jestingly declared. Meantime, in the comments to her post, other runners shared photos of their own grocery hauls from the event. Even more comments, however, expressed eagerness for the chance
to participate in future runs.
“It was really memorable…the adrenaline of being able to grab it and hopefully not run out,” said Sheila. “We grabbed a lot of freebies and groceries…so we saved a lot on the budget this year. My son said, ‘Mi, we’ll have our stocks until New Year!’”
Puregold Hakot Relay Run participants competed in teams of three that tagged each other at predetermined points in the race, triggering the “hakot” segment wherein runners could seize grocery items to fill up their sling bags with before tagging their next teammate. To participate, attendees only had to meet a minimum purchase requirement at select Puregold branches, then pay a P500 registration fee.
The prospect of joining a challenging three-kilometer run plus the chance to snatch free groceries drew up to 8,000 quickfooted participants at Burnham Green Park, turning the Puregold Hakot Relay Run into a can’t-miss activity for both individuals and families who had frenzied fun with friends and family.
On his Facebook page, seasoned runner Mac Crisostomo laid out the unforgettable experience he had at the event as he listed the freebies that were up for grabs. “In terms of loots, medal, singlet, and program…hands down, Puregold wins,” he wrote. “Puregold just changed the game in grocery-run events—and raised the bar for years ahead.”
Participant Jericha Llaneta affirmed the same sentiments in a Facebook post that displayed her bountiful haul. “The most fun run/relay run my family has ever participated in,” she wrote. “There’s still 25kg of rice left...thank goodness!”
With her 25kg sack of rice and other grocery items she received at the event, Jericha believes that her family brought home two months’ worth of household supplies. “It’s a big help to us po talaga!”
Like Sheila, Lheo Dominguez was another Puregold Hakot Relay Run attendee that competed with his family,
Meralco teams up with PEZA to power Greenfield Ecozones
MANUEL V. Pangilinan-led Manila Electric Company (Meralco) has strengthened its commitment to driving sustainable industrial growth through a partnership with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) aimed at accelerating the development and energization of greenfield ecozones.
The agreement, formalized through a memorandum of understanding, establishes collaboration between Meralco and PEZA to develop and energize PEZA-owned greenfield ecozones, including the Pantao Ecozone in Albay and the Palawan Mega Ecozone in Puerto Princesa. Currently, Meralco delivers power to 244 of the 433 ecozones in the country, including the Cavite Economic Zone and First Philippine Industrial Park in Batangas. The signing was led by Meralco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan, Meralco Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Ronnie L. Aperocho, Meralco Senior Vice President and Chief External and Government Affairs Officer Arnel D. Casanova, PEZA Director General Tereso O. Panga, and PEZA Deputy Director General for Policy and Planning
Anidelle Joy M. Alguso. Meralco and PEZA will work together to ensure delivery of reliable, affordable, and stable power to support operations of ecozones. PEZA will identify ecozones for assessment and handle coordination for access and permits, while Meralco will focus on providing innovative energy solutions tailored to the needs of these emerging economic hubs.
“This partnership is a significant step toward building greenfield ecozones that will serve as engines of growth for our country. These projects, developed from the ground up, demand modern and reliable infrastructure, with power distribution systems at their core,” Aperocho said.
As an active partner of the government in nationbuilding, Meralco continues to advance reliable energy solutions to help strengthen the Philippines’ position as a prime investment destination.
“By combining PEZA’s commitment to creating globally competitive investment destinations with Meralco’s expertise in delivering world-class utility services, we will ensure that dependable power becomes the backbone of sustainable development,” Aperocho concluded.
Hotel Okura Manila’s Okurimono 2025: Yamazato Festive Offers
YAMAZATO, the signature Japanese restaurant of Hotel Okura Manila and one of only three Yamazatos worldwide included in the MICHELIN Guide 2026, welcomes the holiday season with Okurimono, a collection of curated festive offerings rooted in the quiet elegance of Japanese tradition.
Drawing from the spirit of omotenashi, the season’s menus are shaped by gratitude, seasonality, and the art of sharing. The restaurant’s three culinary masters, Chef Keiichiro Fujino (Kaiseki), Chef Katsuji Kato (Teppan), and Chef Ikuma Sato (Sushi), present experiences that highlight precision, restraint, and craftsmanship, each expressed through Japan’s most celebrated winter rituals.
though the Dominguez clan came out in full force. “We were three teams, three of us siblings so each of our families was represented,” Leo said. “In addition, we also had our eightmonth-old baby who was carried by my wife.”
In Leo’s own Facebook post, eight-month-old Marielle is shown—front and center—surrounded by her family’s grocery haul: assorted canned goods, toiletries, and snacks.
Apart from providing a backdrop for Marielle’s adorable photo on Facebook, Lheo’s “loot” from the Puregold Hakot Relay Run is actually a timely aid for a family in difficult economic times. “What we got is very important due to inflation nowadays. Right now, your P500 is worth just a few groceries, the basket isn’t even full. But here at Puregold Hakot Relay, your P500 is almost three pushcarts.”
The prizes so overflowed that some runners were spurred to be generous themselves. Netizen Otp Mar Man chose not to keep much of the haul he picked up. “Most, if not all, of my hakot items, I sent to the province to my inlaws,” he said. “They saw my post that and I promised that I will give all the prizes. My prizes are Bicol-bound.”
On top of the groceries and the heart-pumping exercise of the Puregold Hakot Relay Run, participants also got to enjoy a memorable concert experience at no additional cost. PPop icons KAIA, G22, Press Hit Play, and the duo of Brent Manalo and Mika Salamanca sang their hearts out for all the attendees, adding an additional rush of excitement to the proceedings.
Puregold Price Club Inc. President Vincent Co, who sprinted alongside his loyal customers and members at the event, spoke on the overwhelmingly positive feedback.
“It’s humbling to see how much our local running clubs and communities came out in force to support our first running initiative. Our Puregold employees really strived to put together an exciting, competitive day where everyone could share the panalo spirit.”
Osechi Ryōri by Chef Keiichiro Fujino
In Japan, families welcome the New Year with Osechi Ryōri, an assortment of beautifully prepared dishes, each symbolizing wishes for the year ahead — health, long life, prosperity, resilience. The dishes are arranged in multi-tiered jubako boxes, with each layer representing the “stacking” of good fortune.
A two-tier set is typically shared by a family of three to four, while a three-tier set is enjoyed by larger households, a tradition passed down for generations and often prepared only once a year.
Yamazato offers a limited number of these handcrafted sets, created with reverence for the season and the meaning behind every ingredient.
Kaiseki by Chef Keiichiro Fujino
Chef Fujino presents refined seasonal kaiseki sequences inspired by winter’s purity and balance. Each course is composed with intention, honoring traditional flavors through elegant restraint.
Teppan by Chef Katsuji Kato
At the teppan counter, Chef Kato prepares premium
A5 Wagyu and seasonal seafood flown in from Japan, cooked with precision and a quiet artistry that reflects Yamazato’s teppan heritage.
Sushi Omakase by Chef Ikuma Sato
Served at an intimate six-seater sushi counter, Chef Sato’s 10-course Edomae-style omakase highlights the clean flavors of seafood flown in twice weekly from Japan. Each piece is prepared in front of guests, emphasizing simplicity, technique, and purity.
Toshikoshi Happo Soba
A warm, comforting nod to the Japanese custom of welcoming the new year with soba — symbolizing resilience and a smooth transition into the year ahead.
ACMobility, Landers Partner to Launch First EV Charging Hub in Vermosa
ACMOBILITY, Ayala Corporation’s mobility arm and leader of electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions and infrastructure in the Philippines, together with Landers Superstore, has successfully launched the first electric vehicle (EV) charging hub at Landers Vermosa Estate in Imus, Cavite. The Vermosa site is the first of 11 Landers charging hubs to be developed under a multiyear partnership, reinforcing ACMobility’s push in building the country’s EV network.
“The launch of our first Landers hub in Vermosa is a milestone in building an EV ecosystem that is practical, convenient, and future-ready,” said Carla Buencamino, Head of Mobility Infrastructure at
ACMobility. “Through this partnership, we are able to integrate charging into the everyday lives of more Filipinos, making sustainable mobility more accessible to communities across the country.” Following Vermosa, Landers also opened its charging hub in Arca South starting December 5, 2025. Meanwhile, nine more hubs are scheduled to open in Arcovia, Nuvali, Alabang, Balintawak, Fairview, Naga, Bacolod, Cebu, and Davao, completing the planned network of 11 Landers locations nationwide. As one of the country’s fastest-growing membership superstores, Landers has become a go-to
One of the attendees post a photo of their haul of groceries and giveaways from Puregold. In
DEDICATED TO PR PARENTS
Parenting tips in digital times
AS the world of technology turns, the role of parents (and guardians) has remained undiminished, and has become even more essential and crucial as a cornerstone of a child’s development, stability, and holistic growth.
Communicators and PR professionals, like other parents (and guardians), balance caring for and raising a family (with its joys and challenges) with meeting the demands of the job. This may mean 24/7 moments especially in times of intense crisis and unrelenting issue management.
Managing digital tools and platforms is part of communication and PR practice. It means respecting diverse points of view and bringing them together for common understanding to achieve a desired purpose; and sustaining positive relationships based on trust and truth. With these amid the specters of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news, and the deluge of information 24/7, just how should parents manage?
While technology morphs and disrupts, something remains unchanged: the timeless, fulfilling calling of parenting. This comes with raising and caring for the well-being and holistic development of our children, creating a safe space of a home, embedding values to mold a child’s character, being a role model for what we teach them to be, and guiding our children to have skillsets, attitudes, and motivations for wellness and a purposive life ahead.
A mentee
IT was a pleasure to mentor Dr. Victoria Ang-Nolasco, a developmental and behavioral pediatrician, author, and podcast host in the Mentorship Program of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), for the communication component of her capstone project Mentors in the AIM Program, “guide and inspire future leaders, fostering leadership development, and advancing both academic and professional growth...contributing to a culture of learning, collaboration, and civic responsibility.”
For 10 years, Victoria has been working with children and families advocating tirelessly for family life in today’s digital world. A graduate of AIM’s Master in Innovation and Business program, she has collaborated with diverse stakeholders, including startups and public sector partners for ethical and socially responsible innovation.
She taps into communication platforms to offer evidence-based guidance for parents who, she says, may be overwhelmed by conflicting advice. She helps families navigate a rapidly changing world, where traditional parenting wisdom now intersects with the realities of screens, social media, and AI. She has coauthored a book on parenting in today’s digital era, and has the Discerning Parenting online platform and podcast. BooksDiscerning Parenting
A happy synergy IN the course of the Mentoring Program, we found ourselves engaged and aligned in warm and animated conversations on the synergy of com -
munication, parenting, and holistic well-being.
Victoria describes her work as being “at the intersection of child development, family well-being, and responsible technology use, helping parents navigate childhood today in a way that is both science-based and doable.”
These resonated with me, the product of a village that raised me as a child (my parents and family members), the wife of a Baby Boomer, a parent of digital natives (spanning Gen Xs, a Millennial, and a Gen Z) and a grandparent of two AI natives (Gen Alpha).
We asked Dr. Victoria on parenting, communication and digital and here are her replies.
1. What has changed in parenting today?
DR. VICTORIA: “There has been a massive shift in the speed and saturation of information, from screens to social media to AI-driven content. Children now grow up in a world where infinitely engaging content is available anytime, anywhere.”
2. What should PR parents watch out for?
DR. VICTORIA: “Some specific changes to watch for are:
n 24/7 content availability: Infinite shows, videos, and games are always there, not just during “children’s hour.” This threatens to undermine the necessities for brain development such as interacting with other people face-to-face, movement, physical activity, and sleep.
n Overstimulation: Fast-paced media can affect attention, behavior, and emotional regulation.
n Algorithm-driven feeds: Recommendations may lead kids to content for which they are not developmentally ready.
n AI-powered content: AI tools, chatbots, and AI generated content (including deepfakes) are designed to sound convincing. Children often trust these interactions, not realizing the content isn’t real.
n Early exposure to misinformation: Kids need guidance in evaluating what’s real and what’s not.”
3. What mindset can we then have?
DR. VICTORIA: “Three key themes can guide our mindset:
n Discernment. With the fast pace of AI adoption, we need to be even more discerning as parents in the PR space. Our relationship with our kids will be even more vital in the face of many threats to real-world relationships and guide them as they develop their critical thinking skills.
n Tech Discussions. Parents and child welfare advocates must be involved in discussions about technology. Parents in the PR space hold a unique privilege of having access to these discussions. That opportunity can help advocate for innovation and technology that considers our kids’ welfare and their future.
n Future-ready. We can raise future-ready children by protecting their brains through real life experiences and the discerning use of technology.”
4. What advice can you share with PR parents (especially for dual-income households with commuting, gadgets, and online exposure)?
DR. VICTORIA: “PR parents can:
n Create moments of connection: Bonding with our kids isn’t about the complicated activities we often see on the internet and social media. (Much of this content is marketing rather than science-backed, and unfortunately, many parents feel inadequate compared to what they are “told” to do by online sources.)
Instead, create small, pressurefree moments of connection built into everyday routines. Ideally, set specific parts of the daily routine as screenfree (such as mealtimes and bedtime) to enhance the family bonding during these times.
n Don’t try to keep up with everything online. Parents often feel pressured to follow trends, from the latest parenting buzzwords to enrichment programs. But trying to keep up takes away time from us truly connecting with our kids and may also erode the mental health of parents. Instead, trust that you as a parent will have what your child needs most.
n Prioritize your own wellness. As parents, we often feel the need to prioritize everyone else - from work to our kids to extended family to a number of other commitments over our own needs. But our kids need us to be physically and mentally well. This helps us be more mindful and
connect with our kids, and to respond in positive ways that model emotional regulation for our kids. We don’t need to do it all on our own. The world may put pressure on us to be “super parents” who get everything done, from a sparkling clean house to complicated holiday activities while doing it all with a smile. But especially this holiday season, what our kids need most is our presence. Stopping amid all the busywork and really listening to them. Getting the screen-free rest your mind and body need.”
5. “It takes a village to raise a child.” What does this mean today?
DR. VICTORIA: “The Filipino concept of bayanihan remains true. Children thrive when multiple caring adults are involved. At the same time, we need to discern who is truly in our “village” and aligned with the values we want to promote in our families.
The village includes not just the traditional village such as extended family and househelp, but also other parent-friends, friends from work, school, and community; and others we may connect with through technology.
Many of us are navigating changes not just in technology but in a mindset shift around parenting as a result of recent research. For example, research consistently shows that spanking is overwhelmingly associated with mental health problems, like depression and anxiety and worsening behavior problems, and have outcomes similar to that of physical abuse.
However, we are surrounded, on one hand, by people who may tell us that ‘your kids will be spoiled unless you spank them,’ and on the other hand, by social media posts saying things like ‘you should never say no to your child.’
We are also starting to recognize behaviors that used to be common but are hurtful (such as shaming a child), and as parents, we are navigating how to set boundaries and take a stand. We are in the process of clarifying our values, priorities, and boundaries.”
6. What is your advice on gadget time for children especially for busy, tired parents?
“I’ve been there and I feel for all the parents in this situation!
The first step is to be kind to ourselves. Know that we’re not being bad parents, but parents who are working hard to do and be the best for our kids. Parents who are juggling multiple roles all at the same time, and who may be burdened by multiple expectations pushed at us from various sources, such as social media.
If possible, take a breather from the outside influences (such as taking a social media break- even a short one!). Discern what are priorities, what we feel are working and what is
not, what we’re hoping will change, what help and resources and options we may have, and go forward from there.
There’s no one size that fits all. Actions moving forward may be different for everyone. A parent whose twoyear-old has eight hours gadget time/ day would need to take different steps moving forward, compared to a parent who needs to catch up on work so while that happens, their eight-yearold spends an hour or so researching a hobby online. (Assuming safeguards are in place, the latter situation may be a feasible solution.)
We need to avoid framing it as “good” or “bad” parenting and instead explore solutions that protect the mental wellness of everyone in the family- both parents and kids.”
7. In conclusion, would you have nuggets for us to remember?
From the parenting book coauthored by Dr. Victoria with Dr. Paul Lawrence-Filomeno:
n “This is the first generation to grow up surrounded by endless content, powerful computing, constant tracking, and advanced AI in devices that even tiny hands can hold.”
n “Everyday, we face countless choices, big and small, that shape how our kids grow up in this digital world. We may not realize how many of those choices are being quietly influenced for us—by what’s convenient, what’s trending, or what everyone else seems to be doing. Trying to be intentional about all this can feel exhausting, like there’s always one more thing to monitor or get right.”
n “Technology is changing at lightning speed, while biologically, the process of brain development remains the same. Our children’s brains still grow through movement, play, and real human connection—the same way they always have. Yet today’s digital world is so engaging that it threatens to pull kids away from these essential experiences.”
n “There’s no rewinding this digital age as it moves faster every day. But right now, the way it’s designed often works against the needs of a developing child. As parents, we face a choice. We can let technology control us and our children, or we can set firm boundaries that will let in only what will truly help our families. We can let the digital world shape our kids and hope things somehow turn out okay, or we can stack the odds in our favor by guiding our kids with discernment.”
n “In our zeal to give our kids the best of everything, including what we didn’t have when we were kids, let us not lose the best of what we did have—whether it is running and playing outside, or listening to a story simply told by someone sitting beside you.”
A reprise from Dr. Victoria: “We raise future-ready children not by immersing them in the digital world as early and as much as possible, but by protecting their brains through real life experiences and being discerning about the use of technology.”
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of IPRA Philippines, the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association, the world’s premier association for senior communication professionals around the world. Ritzi Villarico-Ronquillo, APR, IABC Fellow is a seasoned Communication and PR leader, Consultant, Coach, Professional Lecturer, and Adjunct Faculty for Business Communication, Strategic PR and Leadership, with 45 years of award-winning experience across corporate, community, associations, advocacy, and academic sectors.
DR. VICTORIA ANG-NOLASCO a developmental and behavioral pediatrician, author, and podcast host
remains outside
CBy Josef Ramos
HONBURI, Thailand—Hidilyn
Diaz-Naranjo will be going home without a medal around her neck from the 33rd Southeast Asian Games weightlifting competitions.
D iaz-Naranjo could only land fourth in the women’s -58 kgs category, a performance that’s not exactly expected from the country’s first Olympic gold medalist in Tokyo 2020. She apologized for missing the target.
“ First, I want to say sorry, I did my best and this is my best for now,” said Diaz-Naranjo, now 34, and competing in a major competition for the first time in 20 months. “I really love our country that’s why I’m continuing to represent our country.”
S he won gold in -55 kgs in Tokyo but has since been doing the heavier weight class since she tried to qualify for Paris last year.
She’s not mulling retirement though and still has the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics in her calendar. I still need to evaluate things
for Olympic champ Diaz-Naranjo Gilas frolics on a Thai weekend
BANGKOK—The men’s 5xr basketball team didn’t disappoint with an 83-58 rout of Malaysia in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games at the Nimibutr Stadium Sunday.
R ay Parks had 18 points with six rebounds and two assists and Robert Bolick added 17 points and six boards as the Gilas Pilipinas players played like rock stars anew before a big Filipino
BANGKOK—Filipino boxers aren’t happy with the results and so is thrower William Morrison III in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games that’s on its final week.
“ The sport really has to be better in terms of integrity. Otherwise, the sport doesn’t really deserve to be in the Olympics beyond 2028,” Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines (ABAP) secretary-general Marcus Manalo said on Sunday.
The ABAP, according to Manalo, is disappointed over the officiating and judging of the bouts that saw twice Olympic medalist Nesthy Petecio and Hergie Bacyadan exit early with bronze medals. We cannot show the whole world that we have the integrity when it comes to officiating and the referees,” he said. He deemed unfair judging and scoring cost Petecio a controversial 3-2 split decision loss to Hasanah Huswatan of Indonesia in the women’s
When
before making any decisions, but that is the hardest part of being an athlete—to retire when you still want to compete for your country,” she said. “At the same time, the weight categories are changing fast.”
S he also revealed that a knee injury she sustained two years ago resurfaced on the platform at the Chonburi Sports School.
I had difficulty making my third lift because of that,” she said.
D iaz-Naranjo lifted 88 kgs and 90 kgs in the snatch but couldn’t carry 92 kgs above her head and managed 110 kgs only once in the clean and jerk and failed at 115kgs and 116 kgs.
Her 200 kgs total was good for fourth place behind Thailand’s Suratwadee Yodsarn, who got the gold medal with 224 kgs (96 kgs snatch and 128 kgs clean and jerk), Indonesia’s Natasya Beteyobwho (98-120-218) and Vietnam’s Thi Tam Quang (96-119-215).
D iaz-Naranjo last competed in April last year in the sixth Olympic qualifier—the International World Federation World Cup—in Phuket.
T hirdy Ravena also had a doubledouble of 13 points and 10 rebounds for a possible Gilas Pilipinas sweep of Pool A and a semifinals spot if the team beats Vietnam Monday at the same venue.
Head coach Norman Black, however, admitted need to get better especially on defense.
We have to get better as the tournament goes on. This was our first game in the group so when I say first game, it’s a first game,” he said.
Defensively, we played well in the second and third quarters—weren’t that good in the first and fourth quarters—so, we just have to work and improve, watch the tapes and figure out how we can get better while we’re here,” he added.
“ Hopefully, we’ll get another victory against Vietnam in our next game,” he added.
W ith Parks getting hot in offense, the Philippines’s leech-like defense also spelled the difference as theFilipinos turned a 16-22 deficit into a 42-26 spread at the half. Gilas still held a 62-51 edge going into the fourth quarter, with two free throws by Dalph Panopio giving the Pinoy cagers their biggest lead that also stood as the final count in the last one and a half minutes. Jun Lomibao
ROBERT BOLICK brings his sleek act to Bangkok. POC MEDIA POOL
63-kilogram semifinals.
“ That was very surprising, the last round was clearly Nesthy’s,” he said.
Boxing stood the risk of being scrapped for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics because of controversies under the then International Boxing Association, but a new world body, World Boxing, saved the sport from being banished.
Controversies still prevail however because of the presence of remnant referees from the IBA.
Morrison, meanwhile, slammed the quality and consistency of officiating in the athletics’ competitions saying the games are the “worst he’s ever been to.”
Morrison expressed disappointment over what he described as questionable decisions that, in his view, affected the fairness and flow of competition. Man, lots of issues, man. They’re saying that my shot put didn’t weigh in. This is the only place my shot put hasn’t weighed in,” he said. Josef Ramos
Hidilyn off form, Agatha in sync
By Jun Lomibao
BANGKOK—Hidilyn DiazNaranjo didn’t see a happy ending to her comeback on the weightlifting platform while Agatha Wong was her usual comely self in calmly clinching a gold medal in wushu on Sunday in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.
Norman Black and Gilas Pilipinas went on a picnic and made Malaysia their main course in their men’s 5x5 basketball debut but the Alas Pilipinas Women had to pack up under a storm cooked up by Vietnam in women’s volleyball.
This is my best for now,” Diaz-Naranjo, now 34 and competing for the first time in 20 months, said after finishing fourth in the women’s -58 kgs class in the weightlifting events in Chonburi.
“ First, I want to say sorry, I did my best, but I really love our country that’s why I’m continuing to represent our country,” added Diaz-Naranjo whose last competition before the SEA Games was the Asian qualifier for the Paris Olympics in April last year in Phuket.
D iaz-Naranjo lifted 88 kgs and 90 kgs in the snatch and managed 110 kgs in the clean and jerk for a 200-kg total—good for fourth place behind Thailand’s Asian champion Suratwadee Yodsarn, who got the gold medal with 224 kgs (96 kgs
snatch and 128 kgs clean and jerk), Indonesia’s Natasya Beteyobwho (98-120-218) and Vietnam’s Thi Tam Quang (96-119-215).
Wong, meanwhile, started the day with a gold medal for Team Philippines in the women’s taijijian and taijiquan at the Ratthaprasasanphakdi Building Government Complex Sunday here. Wong reigned with 9.783 points to add another gold to her impressive haul in the biennial meet.
Lachkar Basma of Brunei registered 9.780 points for the silver while Singapore’s Law Zeanne Zhi Ning wound up with 9.766 points for the bronze.
It was Wong’s sixth SEA Games gold, counting her taijiquan triumphs in the 2017 (Malaysia), 2019 (Manila) and 2021
(Vietnam) joust and taijijian in 2019 and 2021. The charismatic, sword-wielding Wong, 27, dedicated her victory to the country and her family. Sixth SEA Games gold medal of my career. For God and my country,” she said.
B all sports for Team Philippines had contrasting results.
R ay Parks had 18 points with six rebounds and two assists and Robert Bolick added 17 points and six boards as Gilas Pilipinas players were treated like rock stars by a big Filipino crowd before, during and after their 83-58 rout of at the Nimibutr Stadium Sunday.
Thirdy Ravena also had a doubledouble of 13 points and 10 rebounds for a possible Gilas Pilipinas sweep of Pool
A and a semifinals spot if the team beats Vietnam Monday at the same venue.
The women’s volleyball team, on the other hand, were shown the exit after yielding to Vietnam, 17-25, 14-25, 17-25, at the Indoor Stadium Huamark here.
The Filipinas played full strength as Eya Laure finally saw action after missing the team’s first two games, but Alas’ firepower wasn’t enough to match the arsenal that the Vietnamese packed.
A las, which drew a sizable and loud Filipino crowd, kept the game close in the early going of each set, only to lose steam midway. Vietnam capitalized each time to pull away for good with blistering runs aided by Alas’ miscues.
Not about the result, but the consistency that we want is not yet there. But they did good. Our team did good but they [Vietnam] did better than us,” Alas head coach Jorge Souza De Brito said.
“ It’s a competition, always. If they did better than us, even if we played really good, they beat us and we have to accept it and learn from this one.”
The Philippines missed the finals for the 28th straight year since a runnerup finish in the 1997 Jakarta edition.
Alas still has a chance to salvage some measure of pride by aiming to end a 20-year medal drought in the battle for bronze today, Monday, at 4 p.m. (Manila time) against the loser of the Thailand-Indonesia semifinal, which is still being played at press time.
A lyssa Solomon scored 10 points to lead Alas. Angel Canino had 10 markers while Laure, who skipped the pool play to recover from a minor abdominal strain, chipped in with seven points for Alas, which threw away 18 points from errors compared to only seven by Vietnam.
the manager kept him in the squad for the first 10-plus games in spite of his spotty performances.
There’s a saying that what happens inside of a team, stays within. If one chooses to speak, then one must deal with the consequences. Even if the athlete is right this has a way of boomeranging back.
W hat he should have done is speak with his coach and club leadership.
Remember when Lionel Messi fell out with his longtime club, Barcelona? That was far worse than what happened with Salah. The incidents that led to Messi leaving Barcelona was a slow and agonizing burn; a period of several years until things denigrated from poor performances, an inability to build a team that would win more Champions League titles, losing key teammates, going through a revolving door of coaches, and an inability to pay a larger contract that ultimately ended with sniping across social media platforms. What made things worse as opposed to Salah’s outburst were the flirtations between Messi and Manchester City. A nd Messi eventually left. However, I could not sympathize with Messi’s situation
‘Bambol’ keeps trust, confidence in PHL athletes
ANGKOK—Philippine Olympic
BCommittee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino expressed confidence that the morale remains high and blazing for Team Philippines despite the gold medals coming in trickles in each of the first four days of competitions in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games. We’ll get there, I’m confident and I trust our athletes to go all out in the next six days and get to our modest target,” said Tolentino, who, ahead of the games, looked at matching or surpassing at the very least the country’s 58 golds won in Cambodia in 2023. The Philippines had 15 gold medals—with 23 silvers and an abundance of 52 bronze medals—on Sunday morning for sixth place on the medal tally board which host Thailand is dominating by ruling 96 of the 208 events completed so far in the games that end Saturday.
There are still 366 gold medals—out of the 574 total—that are to be won starting Sunday.
On target? Yes, we are,” added Tolentino in a hoarse voice caused by his incessant cheering for Filipino athletes especially in the finals that are held in the chilly Thai evenings.
Indonesia stood at second place behind Thailand—which also had 60 and 39 silvers and bronzes respectively, on the medals board with 43-37 (silver-bronze) after Saturday night’s hostilities.
V ietnam, who ruled Cambodia 2023, ran fourth with 30-30-54, followed by Singapore with 19-19and Malaysia with 2516-15-48, while Myanmar and Laos each has two golds while Brunei and Timor Leste have yet to win an event.
Tolentino said there were gold medals that got away and expressed hope officiating in subjective sports will be more objective until the end of the games. We had losses that shouldn’t have been,” said Tolentino, hinting that the hosts are getting the better end in certain events tailor-fit for them.
Jun Lomibao
because a lot of it stemmed from Barcelona’s financial issues that persist to this day. And pardon me, I cannot relate to players asking for stratospheric sums of money.
Unhappiness with coaching goes up and down a squad whether you are a star, a key off the bench player, or one who does not get off the bench.
I myself have coaches on an amateur level and the
ABRAHAM “BAMBOL” TOLENTINO: Morale remains high, POC MEDIA POOL
TOKYO Olympics gold medalist Hidilyn DiazNaranjo apologizes for her failure to medal in Thailand. POC MEDIA POOL
