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Monday, December 29, 2025 Vol. 21 No. 79
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Q4 INFRASPEND TO STAY LOW FROM DPWH RESET L
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@reine_alberto
OWER infrastructure spending will further pull down government disbursements for the remainder of the fourth quarter, as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) addresses corruption issues and validates projects before construction activities resume.
Latest data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed government expenditures for infrastructure and other capital outlays fell by 13.7 percent to P943 billion from January to October 2025 from P1.092 trillion in the same period in 2024. “Infrastructure spending contracted since the onset of the flood control issues of the DPWH, which resulted in delays in the settlement of progress billings for its completed infrastructure projects,” the DBM said in its latest national government disbursement performance report. Infrastructure disbursements, which include infrastructure components of subsidy and equity to state-run firms and transfers to local government units (LGUs), also declined by 11.5 percent yearon-year to P1.129 trillion during the 10-month period from P1.275 trillion. In October alone, spending on infrastructure and other capital outlays plunged 40.1 percent yearon-year to P65.9 billion from P110 billion. The DBM attributed the slowdown to contractors’ non-submission of billings amid ongoing validation of flood control projects and adverse weather conditions during the period. This was further compounded
by delays in releasing final payments due to contractors’ pending tax clearances from the Bureau of Internal Revenue and holdups in renewing Philippine Contractors Association Board (PCAB) licenses, which disrupted the submission and processing of progress billings. However, the DBM said the decline was partly offset by sizeable releases for the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program (RAFPMP) of the Department of National Defense and provisions for rice farm machinery and equipment under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Program (RCEP) of the Department of Agriculture. Direct payments from development partners for foreign-assisted rail projects of the Department of Transportation, including the Malolos-Clark Railway Project, North-South Commuter Project Extension, and Metro Manila Subway Project Phase 1, also helped in cushion he drop. For the rest of the fourth quarter, the DBM said lower infrastructure spending is expected to continue weighing on overall government disbursements. Despite this, the DPWH is stepping up efforts to address corruption issues, conduct investigations S “DPWH,” A
BICAM BREAKTHROUGH Lawmakers from the House of Representatives and the Senate sign the bicameral conference committee report on the Fiscal Year 2026 General Appropriations Bill (HB 4058) at
the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on Sunday, December 28, 2025, marking the completion of deliberations to reconcile differing provisions between the two chambers. House Appropriations Chair Rep. Mikaela Suansing said the process marked the first open bicameral conference committee in history, aimed at ensuring transparency in the allocation of taxpayers’ money. Senate Finance Chair Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian noted that the 4,300-page budget report was reviewed five times and will be uploaded to the transparency portals of both chambers once ratified. The P6.7-trillion national budget is scheduled for ratification in plenary session on Monday, after which it will be transmitted to the President for signing, expected in early January 2026. Story in A2 News, “HOR, Senate panels sign bicam report on ’26 budget.” ARAM LASCANO/SPPA POOL
LGU SHARE IN NTA GROWS 15% TO P1.19T IN 2026–DBM REPORT
BIR abuses undermine trust, PCCI warns L B B A O @blessogerio
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HE Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) has voiced support for government reforms aimed at curbing alleged misuse of audit powers by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), citing concerns over business trust and compliance. PCCI 2024-2025 president Enunina Mangio said strong tax enforcement is necessary, but it must also be fair. “Any misuse of audit and investigation powers erodes trust, creates uncertainty for businesses, and discourages voluntary compliance,” she said in a statement. The Chamber noted that taxpayers have long flagged issues with certain BIR tools, including Letters of Authority (LOAs) and Mission Orders (MOs). Concerns include audits exceed-
ing their authorized scope or validity, overlapping or repeated notices for the same taxable period and limited transparency in how audit authorities are issued and monitored. “These practices, when left unchecked, expose taxpayers to undue pressure and weaken confidence in the tax system,” PCCI said. The Chamber emphasized that reforms should strike a balance between firm enforcement and taxpayer protection. It recommended properly issued, time-bound and digitally tracked audit authorities to ensure accountability and maintain a level playing field. Moreover, PCCI also highlighted its collaboration with the BIR through the Private Multisectoral Group, a coalition of business organizations working with the agency to address tax issues
OCAL government units (LGUs) will share a P1.190trillion national tax allotment (NTA) for next year, up by 15 percent year-on-year, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). The DBM issued Local Budget Memorandum No. 92B to finalize the NTA shares of all LGUs for 2026, considering the adoption of the 2024 Census of Population (Popcen) and inclusion of newly created barangays approved in 2025. The P1.190-trillion allocation will be divided among municipalities, which will receive the largest share at P404.486 billion, followed by cities with P274.103 billion, provinces with P273.817 billion and barangays with P238.101 billion. Next year’s NTA share is higher by 15.07 percent from the P1.034 trillion allotted in 2025. The NTA is computed based on the actual national tax collections from 2023, which reached P3.824 trillion. Of the amount, P868.654 billion was sourced from the Bureau of In-
ternal Revenue, while P321.788 billion and P66.208 million came from the Bureau of Customs and other agencies. The DBM said the 2026 NTA will be distributed to 83 provinces, 149 cities, 1,491 municipalities and 41,913 barangays, in accordance with the formula prescribed under the Local Government Code of 1991. Among the regions, Region IV-A or Calabarzon will receive the largest budget worth P142.277 billion, trailed by Region III or Central Luzon with P116.840 billion and the National Capital Region (P71.687 billion). Meanwhile, the lowest allocations will go to the Cordillera Administrative Region with P35.373 billion, Region XII or Caraga with P45.961 billion and Region XII or Soccsksargen with P49.722 billion Two newly-created barangays were also included in the final allocation: Barangay Friendship Village Resources in Norzagaray, Bulacan, S “LGU,” A
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PESO EXCHANGE RATES US 58.7520 ■ JAPAN 0.3771 ■ UK 79.4562 ■ HK 7.5566 ■ SINGAPORE 45.8177 ■ AUSTRALIA 39.3756 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 15.6651 ■ EU 69.2099 ■ KOREA 0.0407 ■ CHINA 8.3862 Source: BSP (December 26, 2025)
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of findings and given time to address deficiencies. DOLE said 79 percent of establishments initially found with violations were able to correct them, bringing overall compliance to about 90.06 percent after correction. “They are issued a notice of findings. These are then discussed and go through a process. We always observe due process,” Serrano said, stressing that employers are given the opportunity to explain and comply before enforcement measures are considered. Alongside regular inspections, DOLE expanded its technical and advisory visits (TAVs) to assist micro and small enterprises, which account for the bulk of establishments nationwide. In 2025, the agency conducted TAVs in around 168,100 establishments, covering about 315,560 workers. Serrano said microestablishments are usually the ones found non-compliant, more a result of lack of awareness rather than deliberate violations. “Usually, they are unaware that this is how compliance should be, because they are small establishments. These are startups. Naturally, they are not fully aware of what needs to be done. Sometimes, they also lack the financial capacity,” he noted. The assistant secretary reiterated that employers should not fear DOLE workplace visits, stressing that labor inspections are standard procedures. Serrano said the agency provides assistance to establishments, especially when non-compliance stems from lack of awareness, and encouraged employers to embrace a culture of voluntary compliance. “This means they should comply with what the law, rules, and regulations require. It would also be better if, instead of waiting for DOLE, they themselves come forward and say that they are compliant,” he said.
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HOR, Senate panels sign bicam report on ’26 budget
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HE bicameral conference committee that was convened to reconcile conflicting votes on House Bill (HB) 4058, or the General Appropriations Bill (GAB), formally completed its task with the signing of the Committee Report Sunday afternoon.
The reconciled, enrolled bill earmarks P6.7 trillion for government operations for 2026. House Appropriations Committee Chairperson and Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Suansing, who led the House contingent to the event, said the
signing of the report “marks the culmination of the conference committee deliberations and reflects the shared commitment of both houses for a responsive and accountable national budget.” She was joined by her fellow House Members Reps. Jose
Alvarez, Javier Miguel Benitez, Albert Garcia, Marcelino Libanan, Jurdin Jesus Romualdo, and Allan Ty. Senate Finance Committee Chair Sherwin Gatchalian described the rigorous process that the reconciled bill went through. “This [document] is about 4,300 pages na binasa po ng limang beses [that was read five times],” Gatchalian said, adding that the document, including its annexes, will be uploaded in the respective transparency portals of both chambers once it is ratified. The House of Representatives and the Senate are scheduled to ratify the report in plenary session Monday afternoon, before the enrolled bill for the 2026 GAA
is formally transmitted to the President for his approval. The President is expected to sign the bill on the first week of January 2026, which means the country will operate on a reenacted budget for a few days in the new year. Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo M. Lacson had earlier stressed that having a reenacted bill for a few days is far better than risking a bill that was rushed and may be fraught with errors or does not respond to people’s needs or worse, corruptionprone, especially with so-called “insertions” that are at the root of public uproar over budget-related anomalies.
Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz, Butch Fernandez
BIEN urges DOLE action after fire at BPO workplace B J X G @jxrgarcia
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HE BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN) on Friday called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to intervene following a fire at a business process outsourcing (BPO) workplace, citing safety concerns
raised by workers days after the incident. In a statement on Saturday, BIEN said employees of the concerned company were ordered to return to work on December 22, or a day after the incident, despite the absence of any official fi re safety clearance presented to workers.
“We are sounding the alarm. It has been five days since the fire, and the safety of thousands of workers remains in question. Despite the risks, [the management] has failed to present any official fire safety clearance to its employees,” BIEN said. The group said workers have reported dizziness as well as ear and nose pain due to what it described as the lingering smell of burnt rubber inside the office. BIEN added that no companyhired medical professionals were present during the evacuation to assess affected employees. According to BIEN, some workers were instructed to continue working while wearing face masks, while others who reported health concerns were dismissed by supervisors and told they were “nag-iinarte,” and were required to secure their own medical abstracts “just to prove they are unwell,” without assurances that expenses would be covered. BIEN also raised concerns over what it described as operational disruptions following the fire, including limited elevator availability that forced workers to spend additional unpaid time entering and leaving the building. It added that some employees were directed to report to alternative sites, increasing their daily commute and transportation costs, which the group said were not shouldered by management. The labor group said it emailed DOLE, but has yet to receive a response as of the fifth day after the incident. “BIEN e-mailed the [DOLE] on December 23 and posted publicly on December 24. As of today, there has been NO response,” it added.
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and validations and resume construction activities. To further enhance transparency and accountability, the DPWH has launched several initiatives, including the DPWH transparency portal, which provides detailed information on infrastructure projects, procurement processes, project costs, and locations, and features a feedback facility for reporting anomalous projects. The DPWH has also discontinued poorly planned flood control projects and intends to adopt a science- and nature-based approach in future projects using data from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Water Resources Management Office and other relevant agencies and orga-
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established under Republic Act No. 12279, and Barangay Pulung Bulu in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga, created under Republic Act No. 12280. LGUs were earlier issued as indicative and adjusted NTA figures under Local Budget Memorandum Nos. 92 and 92A to guide the preparation of their 2026 annual budgets, pending the finalization of population-based and legal adjustments. With the release of the final figures, the DBM directed LGUs to adopt appropriate measures to reflect the updated NTA shares in their approved 2026 budgets, in accordance with the Local Government Code and existing budgeting rules. “It is understood that the effect of the final FY 2026 NTA shares of LGUs will necessitate prioritization in the implementation of items of appropriations by the LGUs,” the DBM said. The NTA is the constitutionally guaranteed share of national taxes automatically released to LGUs by the DBM. Under the Local Government Code, LGUs are entitled to 40 percent of national tax collections, which are released directly to their treasurers without interference. Following the 2019 MandanasGarcia Supreme Court ruling, all national taxes, not just internal revenue, are included in computing LGU shares, leading to the replacement of the term Internal Revenue Allotment with NTA, starting fiscal year 2022. Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
BIR ABUSES UNDERMINE TRUST, PCCI WARNS C
and ensure consistent implementation of policies. For his part, new PCCI president Ferdinand Ferrer noted that the reforms introduced by Finance Secretary Frederick Go signal the government’s commitment to safeguarding investor trust. “Protecting taxpayers from abuse is not anti-enforcement— it is progood governance,” Ferrer said. “The reforms [Secretary] Go [is] introducing are another important [step] in protecting foreign investors from the abusive audit practices and in sending a clear signal that the Philippines values fairness, predictability, and investor confidence,” he added.
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investment promotion agency for the tourism sector, sources at Tieza also didn’t know why they received additional funds as they didn’t ask for a subsidy. In the past, some congressmen would give a subsidy to Tieza so the extra funds could fund their pet projects. (See, “Tieza sinks controversial WPS tourism project for lack of DND clearance,” in the BM, Oct. 6, 2025.)
‘We don’t know why we got extra funds’
He said the estimated cost for the development of 17 ports in the country is P40.5 billion. The 10 of which were estimated at P3 billion each, with seven “smaller ones” at P1.5 billion. Tiu Laurel said the government would release a proposal to the public for the available sites, with prospective areas of the ports set to be built in Mindoro, Negros, Iloilo, Southern Albay, and Batangas, among others.
FOR her part, TPB Chief Operating Officer Margarita Montemayor-Nograles said: “We did not ask for extra budget from the GAA [General Appropriations Act for next] year. But they keep telling us they want to support us.” TPB is the marketing arm of the DOT. TPB is automatically allocated some P1.4 billion every year for its marketing and promotions sourced from at least 25 percent of the national government’s share from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and from at least 25 percent of the NG share from the international airports and seaports, which are constituted into the Tourism Promotions Fund. The GOCC is targeting to attract 6.96 million foreign tourists from its 13 priority markets: South Korea, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia. Meanwhile, also included in DOT’s promotions work program is mainland China, said Frasco, to which the Philippines will be pitching more, especially now that Manila has resumed issuing electronic visas there. Prior to the pandemic, China was the second top source market for tourists, sending some 1.7 million in visitors; but it slipped to being the fifth top source market from January to November this year with 248,339 visitors.
nizations. In addition, duplicate projects were removed from the DPWH’s proposed FY 2026 budget in both the National Expenditure Program and the House version of the General Appropriations Bill. Overall government spending increased by 3.9 percent to P4.914 trillion from January to October 2025 from P4.729 trillion in the same period last year. Broken down, personnel services (PS) expenditures grew by 7 percent year-on-year to P1.228 trillion, while maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) went up by 7.9 percent year-on-year to P918.7 billion. Allotment to LGUs also rose by 17.9 percent to P751.5 billion from a year ago, as well as interest payments by 13.2 percent to P723.2 billion. The DBM said PS expenditures, MOOE, as well as transfers to LGUs, will drive govern-
ment spending for the remaining months of the year. “Releases for government bonuses and other benefits and incentives, as well as various social assistance programs and subsidies to vulnerable population will hopefully help propel household consumption, while financial assistance to LGUs can help accelerate disaster recovery and rehabilitation in areas affected by recent calamities,” the DBM said. As of end-October, the program balance from the P6.326.3 trillion obligation program for the year amounted to P119.7 billion or just 1.9 percent. This was composed of unreleased agency-specific budgets and Special Purpose Funds (SPFs), which are subject to the submission of special budget requests and pertinent documentary requirements by the concerned agencies, the DBM said.
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Climate change could slash 2% off GDP By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto @reine_alberto
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LIMATE change could cut off up to 2 percent of the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) annually in the long term without stronger adaptation measures, the International Monetary Fund warned. Based on the IMF’s climate models, the intensity of typhoons and the effects of sea level rise are expected to increase. Without climate adaptation measures, these shocks could result in economic losses of up to 2 percent of GDP annually over the long term, the IMF said in its latest country report for the Philippines. “Typhoons are the most frequent natural disasters in the
Philippines, causing recurring economic losses—about 0.2-0.3 percent of GDP annually, mainly impacting agriculture—and contributing to higher inflation,” the IMF noted. Moreover, climate shocks also drive inflation through supply disruptions, increased demand pressures from rebuilding efforts and rising inflation expectations. These effects can raise inf lation by as much as 0.6 percentage point per year, with food prices disproportionately affected owing to the vulnerability of agriculture. A llowing some inf lation after climate shocks could suppor t econom ic recover y, t he IMF said, but too much accommod at ion r isk s u na nc hor i ng
inf lation expectations. Conversely, tightening monetary policy to keep inflation at target would raise the cost of capital, which can delay reconstruction and worsen output losses. “Faced with these tradeoffs, the BSP should accommodate a temporary spike in inf lation while containing any increase in inf lation expectations,” the IMF said. A coordinated policy response, such as lowering tariffs on food imports, can help alleviate some of these tradeoffs, it added. The IMF has recommended a balanced and data-dependent monetary policy response and creating fiscal space to fund climateresilient infrastructure to protect the economy from severe weather
events. (See: https://businessmirror.com.ph /2025/12/24/ imf-data-backed-monetar yp o l i c y - v i t a l- a m i d- c l i m a t e risks/) “Policymakers therefore need to carefully balance inflation and output tradeoffs, recognizing that excessive tolerance for inflation would risk eroding credibility and de-anchoring of inflation expectations,” the IMF said. On the fiscal side, the IMF said that relying solely on borrowings to finance climate resilience could raise public debt and complicate fiscal consolidation, and suggested revenue mobilization, expenditure rationalization or private sector participation as alternative ways to finance resilient infrastructure.
Firecracker injuries hit 112, but still lower than in 2024 By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco
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@claudethmc3
HE Department of Health (DOH) reported on Sunday a total of 112 fireworkrelated injuries (FWRIs), mostly males aged 5 to 14, from December 21-28, 2025. Health Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo said that the total number of FWRIs recorded is lower by 26 percent in the same period last year, reaching 152. The National Capital Region (NCR) logged the most number of cases with 52, followed by Ilocos Region (12), Central Luzon (9), and Western Visayas (9).
Domingo said that the top causes of injuries are 5-Star, Unknown (patient cannot recall, likely because he/she was a passive victim), Boga, Kwitis, Piccolo, PlaPla, and Whistle Bomb. Ahead of the New Year celebrations, the DOH official also reiterated to the public to avoid firecracker—related accidents to be safe this holiday season. Mea nwh i le, t he DOH sa id it monitored 331 cases of road crashes affecting 20 - to 24 -year-old males during the same period, mostly in Cagayan Valley (Region II), Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) or Region IV-
A, and Bicol (Region V ). Of the total number, 73 percent involved motorcycles, 83 percent had no safety accessories, and 12 percent were intoxicated. The DOH said it also tracked 105 cases of acute stroke or brain attack, 42 cases of acute coronary syndrome or heart attack, and 21 cases of bronchial asthma throughout the week. Brain attack and heart attack are more common in males, while bronchial asthma is more common in females, the health agency said. In addition, 543 mental healthrelated calls were made at the National Center for Mental Health,
Court sets photo contest to mark 125th anniversary
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HE Supreme Court (SC) invites professional photog r aphe r s, hobb y i st s,
and enthusiasts to be part of its 125th Anniversar y Photo Contest with the theme “Accessible
and Inclusive Justice.” Capture stor ies of hope, struggle, and resilience—moments that show what justice looks like in ever yday Filipino life. Submit entries in Digital or Film categor ies and get a chance to be featured in the special SC Photo Exhibit, win cash prizes of up to P125,000, and be recognized at the SC awards ceremony. Photos must be taken from January 1, 2026 onward. The deadline for submission is March 31, 2026, with the full contest mechanics to be announced soon. Let your lens tell the story of justice. The SC will commemorate its 125th anniversary in 2026—a historic milestone in our nation’s enduring commitment to justice and the rule of law.
Intl scouting delegates give Zambales ‘excellent’ rating By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga
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A R T I C I PAT I N G i n t e r n a t i o n a l scouting leaders and heads gave the 33rd Asia-Pacific Regional Scout Jamboree held in Zambales an excellent rating. The National Scout Organizations of the Asia-Pacific Regional (APR) Scout Committee conveyed the message to Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., the designated Camp Chief of the 33rd APR Scout Jamboree, which was held in Scout Camp Kainomayan in Botolan, Zambales. Unit leaders and contingent heads of the international delegations mentioned that among the “excellent jobs” notable during the duration of the jamboree were the security, cleanliness, availability of emergency response units in each of six sub-camps, continuous water and power supplies, and well-coordinated activities
for each day. In a statement: Bharat Scouts and Guides unit leader Sathyajit Chatterji of India said, “Security is very visible and friendly. Security vehicles are always ready to give free rides to scout leaders in going to their destinations.” He also noted that security officers were escorting the scout leaders when they go out of the camp. Sri Lanka Scout Association contingent head Sanjaikumar Riyath expressed appreciation to the Central Luzon polic commander, Brig. Gen. Ponce Rogelio Peñones Jr., for providing police escorts since their arrival in Manila and in going to their designated Sub-Camp Daza, in Scout Camp Kainomayan, Botolan, Zamabales. M e a nw h i l e, M u s l i m d e l e g at i o n s expressed their gratitude to Ebdane and co-leaders from Boy Scout of the Philippines for providing Muslims with Halal foods. “The camp served Halal foods for our Muslim brothers and sisters, and there is
also the religious village where everyone can spent time to pray and for reflection. An excellent jamboree camp,” said Tamara Al Ihsan, contingent head of the Gerakan Pramuka of Indonesia. For Pathfinder Scouts of Vietnam head Hoang Lam, he appreciated the security provided to all the delegates. “They secure the main gate of the Scout Camp site, and there are also security details at the gates of the sub-camps. Very secured, the delegates can relax outdoors or leave their things in the tent without fear,” he added. The Scout Association of Mongolia contingent head Narangarav Jambaltseren told the Scout Committee that he saw all delegates are so happy, especially his members. “They are so happy to be scouts and joined the 33rd APR Jamboree here in Zambales. A really best experience as a scout,” he said. See “Jamboree,” A5
which peaked on Dec. 23. The DOH said young adults aged 18 to 30 are the most frequent callers, followed by those aged 31 to 43. The majority of the callers are females, while the reasons behind the call are anxiety or depressive symptoms, love or relationship problems, and family problems. With PNA
Davao gov promises transparency in ₧270-M road project By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox
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AVAO DEL NORTE— Gov. Edwin Jubahib has assured the mostly Ata-Manobo tribal farmers and residents of a remote town of a corruptionfree implementation and early completion of the World Bank-funded rehabilitation of farm road which would also include the constructon of a bridge. Jubahid said the Daligdigon–Paiton farm-tomarket Road will connect the production area of Talaingod, populated mostly by AtaManobo tribal families, with the main market in the town of Kapalong. A bridge will also be constructed to also ensure the safety of school children along the entire stretch of
the farm road covering 7.8 kilometers. “Rest assured that this project will be implemented well,” Jubahib said. “This is the best Christmas gift that we can give our indigenous people.” Jubahib signed the Implementation Management Agreement (IMA) for the P270-million project funded by the World Bank-funded Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP). Regional Director Macario Gonzaga of the Department of Agriculture (DA)-XI signed for the PRDP as the Mindanao Project Director of the PRDPPhilippine Support Office. The provincial information office said more than 15,000 Ata-Manobo residents will benefit from See “Road project,” A5
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AAP to govt: Require all vehicles to have dashcams By Lorenz S. Marasigan
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@lorenzmarasigan
HE Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP) is calling on the government to mandate the installation of dashboard cameras in vehicles to improve road safety and help resolve traffic incidents, following a series of viral road rage cases across the country. A AP President Augustus Ferreira said Sunday that requiring dashcams would allow authorities to review footage during road rage incidents, eliminating the need for confrontations on the street.
“In other countries, like Russia, dashcams are mandatory. When there’s a dispute on the road, they just review the dash cam footage instead of having a boxing match in the middle of the street. You can clearly see
who’s at fault,” Ferreira told a radio station. He emphasized that this approach would not require government spending, as motorists would be responsible for installing the devices in their own vehicles. Ferreira noted that Filipino drivers tend to modify their behavior when they know they are being monitored, citing data showing reduced traffic violations when cameras are present. “One behavior we’ve observed among Filipinos is that when they know someone is watching, their attitude changes. We looked at the data—violations decrease because they know there are cameras. Now, when you have a dashcam, it’s like Ncap’s [No Contact Apprehension Policy] camera. You’re afraid because you’ll get caught red-handed if you do something wrong on the road,” he explained. Road rage incidents have drawn
national attention this year following a string of violent and viral altercations on roads, ranging from heated confrontations caught on dashcams to cases involving firearms, serious injuries, and at least one fatality. Several incidents have prompted investigations and administrative action from the Land Transportation Office (LTO), including license suspensions and show-cause orders, while others have escalated into criminal cases handled by the police. On Christmas Eve, an incident at Marikina City Riverbanks went viral after passengers from two vehicles brawled in the middle of the road. The LTO has launched an investigation into the case. Beyond dashcams, Ferreira also suggested incorporating psychological training into driving school curricula to address aggressive driving behaviors.
DMW shuts down 32 illegal recruiters in 2025 By Justine Xyrah Garcia
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HE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has ordered the closure of 32 illegal recruitment companies this year, marking its biggest annual crackdown as it ramps up enforcement against unscrupulous recruiters. Migrant Workers Secretar y Hans J. Cacdac said the figure is more than double last year’s total and the highest on record. “We had more closures than any
period in history on a yearly basis… the 32 closures we had clearly tops the previous record…[of] 15. We thought we did well last year with 15,” Cacdac told reporters in a recent briefing. In previous years, he noted that the DMW typically shut down only eight to 10 companies annually. Cacdac said the agency will further intensify its campaign, with the goal of surpassing this year’s record, while ensuring cases are pursued beyond administrative action.
“We will do all our best to continue the effort to close establishments, and once closed, we bring them forward to the [Department of Justice],” Cacdac also said. Earlier this year, the DMW partnered with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) and video-sharing platform TikTok to curb illegal recruitment and human trafficking online. The collaboration led to the takedown of 27,437 TikTok posts and accounts as of November 2025.
An additional 58,101 posts and pages on Facebook were also removed during the same period, the DMW said. Cacdac earlier acknowledged that enforcement has become more challenging as illegal recruitment increasingly shifts online. “Obviously there is a technical challenge if it is online recruitment. So we have partnered with Tiktok and other social media platforms to take down these illegal recruitment sites online,” he added.
Modular shelters widen role beyond disaster sites By Bless Aubrey Ogerio
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HE government has begun using modular shelters not only for disaster response but also for families displaced by fires and those awaiting permanent housing, broadening their role in temporary relocation efforts. The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) said modular shelters have already been occupied by families affected by earthquakes in parts of Cebu and
Davao Oriental, as well as by fire victims in San Juan City. In Cebu, the shelters have been set up in San Remigio, Daantabantayan and Bogo, while installations in Davao Oriental cover Tarragona and Manay. The agency stated that these areas were among those affected by recent earthquakes that rendered homes unsafe or uninhabitable. Aside from emergency use, the DHSUD said some of the units in San Juan City are also being designated as temporary facilities
for beneficiaries of the Expanded Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (4PH) program while permanent housing is being prepared. More units are currently being installed in Bogo and Mandaue City in Cebu, and in Tarragona and Baganga in Davao Oriental. Additional shelters have been allocated for Mandaue City in response to recent typhoons. The agency added that further deployments are being lined up in several provinces, including Camarines Sur, Albay, Catanduanes,
Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, subject to clearance from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau. “Each unit represents families—parents, children, and the elderly—who need immediate shelter after disasters,” Housing Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling said in Filipino. He said the modular shelters are intended to provide safe and orderly temporary housing while communities recover and transition to permanent solutions.
Low inflation shields poor families from price hikes–Palace
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HE Marcos administration has shielded the country’s poorest families from rising prices by keeping inflation low and sustaining economic growth in 2025, Malacañang said on Sunday. Data show inflation eased to 1.6 percent
from January to November 2025, down from 3.4 percent in 2024, continuing a steady decline from 5.8 percent in 2022 and 6.0 percent in 2023. Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said the sharp slowdown in inflation reflects decisive
government action to stabilize prices, secure food supply, and protect household purchasing power, particularly for rice, which accounts for the largest share of spending among lowincome families. “To put this in perspective, a 6 percent inflation rate means that your P100 can buy only about P94 worth of goods and services. But with inflation down to just 1.6 percent in 2025, that same P100 can now buy about P98.4 worth of goods and services,” Recto said. “Kaya napakahalaga nito para sa bawat pamilyang Pilipino, lalo na ang mga mahihirap. Kapag mababa ang inflation, napapanatili natin na abot-kaya ang mga pangunahing bilihin, lalo na ang pagkain [That’s why it’s so important for every Filipino family, especially the poor. When inflation is low, we can keep basic necessities, especially food, affordable],” he added. Rice prices have continued to improve following President Marcos’s directive for the Department of Agriculture to bring prices down to P20 per kilo, roughly half the average price in 2022. As a result, inflation for the bottom 30 percent income households fell to -0.2
percent in November 2025, marking the sixth consecutive month of contraction, underscoring the direct impact of price stabilization on vulnerable sectors. The Philippines’ low and stable inflation environment was cited by S&P Global Ratings, which recently reaffirmed the country’s ‘BBB+’ high investment-grade rating with a Positive Outlook, signaling confidence in the government’s economic management. Lower prices and a strong labor market are expected to boost domestic consumption, while easing inflation gives the Bangko Sentral more policy space to recalibrate interest rates in support of economic activity. Multilateral institutions remain optimistic, with the Asian Development Bank projecting 5 percent GDP growth, and both the World Bank and International Monetary Fund seeing 5.1 percent growth for 2025. The Philippines’ projected expansion outpaces the 1.6 percent average growth of advanced economies and the 4.2 percent average growth of ASEAN-5 countries this year. By 2026, the IMF projects the Philippines to be the fastest-growing economy in ASEAN, tied with Vietnam at 5.6 percent. PNA
Erwin Tulfo: Review PWD laws, seek truly barrier-free country By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
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EN. Erwin Tulfo has reitrerated his call for genuine inclusivity for persons with disabilities (PWDs) by filing a Senate resolution urging a formal inquiry into the implementation of existing PWD laws. Senate Resolution 186 directs the appropriate committee to conduct an oversight of the implementation of Batas Pambansa 344 or the Accessibility Law and Republic Act 7277 or the Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities. “What is the sense of these laws protecting the rights of PWDs if accessible transportation and building features still fall short? Our PWDs are often forced to rely on others or risk their own safety just to move around,” Tulfo said. He added: “There should be no issuance of building permits or approval of government projects for structural designs that lack mandatory accessibility features.” The chairperson of the Senate
Committee on Social Justice, Welfare, and Rural Development also underscored the prevalence of inaccessibility in public infrastructure. “We see it on the news and social media—footbridges so steep that PWDs using mobility devices cannot navigate them safely. Even in public transportation, most designs are inconsiderate of the needs of the PWD community,” Tulfo lamented. He then asked: “How can we expect our PWDs to reach their full potential if our very systems are rigged against them?” A known ally of the PWD community, Tulfo is also advocating for the lifetime validity of PWD IDs for those with permanent disabilities. This measure aims to remove the burden of renewing IDs every five years, which often incurs unnecessary costs and effort for the beneficiaries. Furthermore, he urged the depoliticization of PWD registration and called for a more efficient, centralized repository of records to ensure that aid reaches the rightful recipients without political interference.
MTFI launches ‘Run for a Million Trees’ for 2026 Earth Day By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga
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HE Million Trees Foundation Inc. (MTFI) has launched the La Mesa Watershed media campaign for Run for a Million Trees: An Earth Day Celebration happening on April 11, 2026 at the Quirino Grandstand, Rizal Park, Manila. Retired Gen. Reynaldo V. Velasco , MTFI chairman emeritus led the launch and underscored the need to reach out to a greater audience to protect critical watersheds that supply water to Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal and Cavite. “This is our first Million Trees Fun Run, and we hope to make this an annual event to raise greater awareness and support for planting a million trees all over the Philippines,” Velasco, a retired police general and founder of the Annual Million Trees Challenge in 2017 while serving as MWSS administrator said. Carrying the rallying call “Run with Purpose. Run for Mother Earth.”, the event aims to bring together thousands of runners, families, corporate teams, and environmental advocates in support of the Million Trees initiative and the restoration of Luzon’s critical watersheds. The fun run will feature 5K, 10K, and 16K race categories, making it inclusive for beginners, fitness enthusiasts, and seasoned runners alike. Registered participants will receive a race bib, official singlet, finisher medal, and finisher shirt, with proceeds directly supporting tree growing, watershed rehabilitation, and environmental education programs. “This fun run is about turning movement into a national agenda for sustainable tree planting to help mitigate flooding made worse by flood control ghost projects,” said Melandrew
T. Velasco, president and executive director of the Million Trees Foundation. “Every kilometer run translates into trees planted, watersheds protected, and a stronger commitment to our shared responsibility to Mother Earth and a strong statement against systemic corruption that has brought untold miseries to Filipinos,” he added. Timed ahead of Earth Day, the April 11 event underscores the growing link between active lifestyles and climate action, encouraging Filipinos to take part in a positive, solution-driven response to environmental challenges. The Run for a Million Trees is being organized in partnership with Green Media Events Company led by Jenny Lumba, with the support of key institutional such as MWSS, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Maynilad, QBE and corporate partners, local government units, and civic organizations. Among the group runners present in the media launch include: MSC Runners, Team Riot, Team Sexy, Team Soleus, APO Runners, Ayala Triads, Accenture Runners, ING Running Club, Barefoot Diva, SAF , Marikina Sport Runner, WGR, Ayala Vertis Nort, Barcena’s Running Warriors BRW, People in Great Shape, PS Bank, SSS Runners, Swift and Fit, Team CholoFlight, Team LPB, Team MegaFiber Runners, TeamBa, UP Night Runners, Titos of Manila, The Running Junkiest PH and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Organizers are targeting 5,000 to 10,000 runners, making it one of the largest environment-themed fun runs in the country. Registration is now open with a link on the Million Trees Facebook account, with more details to be rolled out in the coming weeks through official channels of the organizers.
Monday, December 29, 2025
New biosafety funds to deter smuggling, bird flu, ASF, other ‘food shocks’–senator By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
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HE inclusion of a P1-billion Bio-Safe biosecurity enforcement program in the 2026 Department of Agriculture (DA) budget is a critical step toward preventing smug gling and food crises before they spiral into price shocks and shortages, according to the chairman of the Senate Agriculture committee. “The line item aims to strengthen disease surveillance, border controls, and on-ground enforcement against threats such as ASF and avian influenza. These outbreaks have previously driven up food prices and wiped out livelihoods,” said Sen. Francis Pangilinan, who also recently served as a bicameral panel member on the 2026 budget in his capacity as vice chairman of the Committee on Finance. The DA’s Bio-Safe program includes biosafety, biosecurity, and surveillance (BSS&S) measures across agriculture (crops, livestock, poultry, and fisheries) in farms, laboratories, and facilities. Through its BSS&S system, DA issues containment protocols, updated surveillance, engineering controls in facilities, and standardized procedures for handling biological agents. For livestock, for instance, measures can include perimeter fencing, climate-controlled animal houses, waste management systems, and shower areas. “As they say, ‘Prevention is better than cure.’ Every outbreak we fail to prevent becomes a huge price Filipino families are forced to pay,” Pangilinan said, partly in Filipino.
He noted that past food emergencies have shown that delayed response costs more than early prevention—both in public funds and in hunger. ASF wiped out an estimated 5 million pigs, caused at least P200 billion in losses, and slashed the national hog inventory by more than 20 percent, driving pork inflation to around 20 percent in 2021 and keeping retail prices high and volatile in the years that followed. While pork remained safe to eat, supply shocks and weak market controls left consumers paying more. Many farmers, especially backyard raisers, lost entire herds and breeding stock. Av ian inf luenza outbrea ks also strained food security and farmer livelihoods. Since 2017, authorities have culled hundreds of thousands of poultry and recorded H5N1 cases in scores of farms across multiple regions, causing temporar y shor tages and localized spikes in chicken and egg prices. “We always scramble after the damage is done. This budget seeks to stop the damage from happening at all,” Pangilinan said. Bio-Safe also indirectly but materially impacts food smuggling by raising detection rate and tightening sanitary/phytosanitary biosecurity filters on imports. Its enforcement requires tight coordination between DA and Bureau of Customs, especially in economic sabotage cases. Pangilinan said biosecurity spending must be paired “with strict accountability to ensure funds translate into real protection on farms, ports, and borders.”
DA sets constructions of Cefas
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HE government has allotted around P1.2 billion to build three “first border” control facilities in 2026, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA). Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the agency will start the construction of Cold Examination Facilities for Agriculture (Cefas) next year at the Ports of Manila, Subic, and Davao. The Cefa is aimed at preventing the entry of transboundary animal diseases and curbing the smuggling of farm goods. It would take 16 months to build the first border facility. “We’ll try to limit [the funding] to P313 million each,” Tiu Laurel told reporters in a recent interview. Meanwhile, the DA chief said the Cefa in Angat, Bulacan, would be turned into a facility for rendering and destruction of agricultural products. “The [Cefa in Angat] will be for rendering, and it also has a lab. Technically, if we identify containers with problems, these will be sent there for destruction.” Earlier, the DA chief noted that the agency is more partial to other locations for the Cefa than Angat, Bulacan, owing to cost issues. (See:https://businessmirror.
com.ph/2025/09/01/cost-concerns-shift-das-cold-storageplans-away-from-angat/) “To bring [goods] to Angat and back, the minimum cost is P3 to P5 per kilo, plus all the delays, the traffic it causes,” he told reporters in a previous interview. “It can a lso open the way for kalokohan [irregularities] like the goods being hijacked. So many things can happen along the way,” he added. Instead of Angat Bulacan, Tiu Laurel said the Cefa should be established inside the ports so potentially smuggled farm items would be seized before leaving the facility. If not inside the ports, he noted that the Cefas could be constructed near the ports, so it would be easier to track. He explained that the border inspection facilities in these ports would mainly check potentially smuggled goods based on their risk. “It should only be risk-based […] if we’ve already flagged the country or the shipment is questionable, then only then [we should check it]. Not all the shipments. If we check all of it, the costs will all increase, which isn’t right,” Tiu Laurel said.
Northern Mindanao sees stable fish supply
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AGAYAN DE ORO CITY— Northern Mindanao is expected to maintain an abundant fish supply beyond the holiday season, with up to 50 tons potentially available daily by 2026, an industry leader said Friday. Irene Floro, chairperson of the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the city is a top regional market for marine products. “We are ready to supply around 40 to 50 tons of fish per day this holiday season,” Floro said in an
interview, adding that the Department of Trade and Industry monitors prices to prevent sharp increases. Most tuna and marine products for the region come from Zamboanga and General Santos City, where harvests are abundant, Floro, who is also a fish wholesaler, said. She noted high transportation and logistics costs challenge local traders, creating price competition from suppliers in Cebu and Manila despite Mindanao’s growing supply. PNA
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Price cap on imported rice stays By Ada Pelonia
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@adapelonia
HE Department of Agriculture (DA) said the maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for imported rice will remain at P43 per kilo for now, as the government finalizes procedures for a higher import tariff.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the planned increase in tariffs levied on rice to 20 percent from the current 15 percent is set to be implemented on January 16 to comply with regulatory and procedural requirements. Thus, any adjustment in the MSRP will be considered only after
the higher tariff is implemented, he added. “We have to complete the process before raising the tariff,” Tiu Laurel said, stressing that price changes should follow formal policy action. The DA said this decision comes as the government continues efforts
to stabilize palay prices after years of pressure from huge rice import volumes. Rice imports reached 4.8 million metric tons (MMT) last year, which dragged palay prices down to a low of P8 per kilo in some areas. President Marcos ordered a four-month ban on rice shipments starting in September to prop up farmgate prices during the peak wet season harvest, which began in October. Since the import freeze took effect, the DA said palay prices have recovered, rising to around P17 per kilo for wet palay and about P23 per kilo for dry palay in several producing regions. Meanwhile, the DA and rice industry stakeholders have since agreed on tighter import management, particularly during the summer harvest. Once the import ban expires on December 31, an initial volume of
500,000 metric tons (MT) of rice will be allowed into the country. Of this, 50,000 (MT) will be allocated to Food Terminals Inc. (FTI). Tiu Laurel, who also chairs the Nationa l Food Author it y (NFA) Council, said the grains agency plans to buy wet palay at P17 per kilo and dr y palay at P21 per kilo during the dr y har vest season. He expects private traders to offer higher prices, supported by the higher tariff and more controlled import volumes. Tiu Laurel said the government will carefully time its announcements to prevent speculation, noting that exporters and traders will be formally informed only after the tariff increase is officially issued. The DA noted that coordination with customs is also underway to ensure a smooth transition once the higher duty takes effect.
Pampi welcomes lifting of ban on Russian pork
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EAT processors expect pork supply concerns to ease following the lifting of the seven-year ban on pork shipments from Russia, a leading producer of the commodity. The Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) made the pronouncement after the Department of Agriculture (DA) issued Memorandum Order 80, authorizing the entry of swine products and byproducts from the European nation. The last time Russia was able to export pork shipments to the Philippines was in 2018, before the DA slapped a temporary ban on imports of the commodity in the same year owing o outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF). Under the same MO, Russia also secured a regionalization agreement with the Philippines to sus-
tain the trade of pork shipments amid ASF outbreaks. “This should help resolve any pork supply issues, [since] Russia is one of the biggest producers of pork globally. It rivals Brazil in terms of production,” Pampi Director Jet Ambalada told the BusinessMirror. With this, he noted that Russia could potentially outstrip Brazil as the Philippines’ top supplier of pork products. Under the MO, the Philippines can import swine products and byproducts, including meat from bilaterally recognized free zones from Russia.
Documentary requirements
THIS, after the DA said that the Philippines sought several documentary requirements from the
veterinary authorities of Russia to assess the public health control measures applied and implemented against ASF. The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) conducted a review and evaluation of the application for bilateral recognition of regionalization for ASF of the said country. The BAI then concluded that Russia “ma inta ins suf f icient veterinary oversight and has established necessary control and mitigating measures against ASF.” “This [ensures] that there is low risk of importing swine products, and by-products, including meat from identified proposed zones for recognition.”
Price drop
AMBALADA noted that quotations for imported pork should drop in January, with “more countries” set
to be accredited and granted bilateral recognition for ASF. “[There are] more countries on the way of being accredited by the Philippines. Poland and Germany to be regionalized within the next few weeks [...] So, I expect imported pork prices to go down next month,” he said. Currently, Germany remains banned from exporting pork products into the Philippines, following the temporary ban slapped by the DA in 2020. Latest price monitoring report showed that the prevailing price of pork ham and pork belly in Metro Manila markets stood at P360 per kilo and P400 per kilo, respectively. The prevailing prices of frozen kasim and frozen liempo was P240 per kilo and P300 per kilo, respectively.
Wheat heads for longest rally since April on war, weather risks By Hallie Gu, Harry Black & Ilena Peng Bloomberg News
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HIC AGO wheat futures headed for the longest rally since April as Black Sea supply risks and weather uncertainties support prices. Russian forces launched a missile and drone attack across Ukraine on Tuesday, killing civilians and damaging energy and port facilities in the Odesa region on the Black Sea, according to Ukrainian officials. That adds to a recent streak of attacks that have damaged infrastructure in both countries, which
are major exporters of grains and edible oils. The strikes threaten to disrupt supplies from the region. “Ukraine is reporting that Russian attacks on infrastructure and ports have slowed grain exports during December,” AgResource Co. said in a note. Wheat prices were up as much as 1.5 percent, rising for their fifth straight session in December and touching the highest price in over a week. Meanwhile, dryness is also building in US wheat-growing regions, adding support for prices. The US Department of Agriculture in a report last week said dry
weather is accompanying recordsetting warmth across the central and southern Plains. “Record warm temperatures across the southern Plains could be detrimental if cold air moves back into the area in January as some forecasters are warning,” the Hightower Report said in a note. In other markets, the most active raw sugar contract rose as much as 0.92 percent to 15.34 cents per pound in New York— the highest price in two months. That’s as speculative traders became less bearish in the market in the week ending Dec. 16, according
Palm oil hits two-week high on increased Malaysian exports
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ALM oil continued to climb for a fourth session, reaching its highest level in two weeks on the back of increased demand for Malaysian product. Exports from second-largest grower Malaysia rose 1.6 percent month-on-month during the first 25 days of December, according to Intertek Testing Services. India
Jamboree. . . Continued from A3
For his part, Ebdane congratulated the members of the scouting committee who volunteered to help make the 33rd APRS Jamboree concluded with overwhelming success. “Co n g r a t u l a t i o n s,” E b d a n e s a i d addressing the local and international delegations. “It has been our privilege
was the top buyer with 279,550 tons imported, a 66 percent increase compared to the same period the previous month. “Exports are bound to rise now as the festival season’s demand catches up,” said Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, head of trading and hedging strategies at Kaleesuwari Intercontinental. Demand ahead
of Lunar New Year and Ramadan in February 2026 is expected to push prices up. However, he added that a stronger ringgit might cap gains. The Malaysian ringgit is set for over a four-and-a-half-year high as it strengthened for a third day, making the tropical commodity less attractive for overseas buyers. Bloomberg
to host the 33rd APR Jamboree. We have succeeded to put a show that with our limited resources, we have put up something unbelievable and we did it,” he added. Prior to the opening of the 33rd Asia-Pacific Regional Scout Jamboree, Ebdane, who retired from the uniformed services as Chief, PNP, tasked a composite contingent of some 700 personnel from the PNP, the Bureau of Fire Protection, Coast Guard (PCG), Army (PA) and PNP
Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT ) detachment, in Camp Kainomayan to p e r f o r m s e c u r i t y c h o re s u n d e r t h e supervision of Peñones. The closing ceremony held at the Camp Zambales Grand Arena where the 25,000 scout leaders gathered for the last time, marking the successful week-long activities promoting friendship and camaraderie, teaching skills, enhancing leadership qualities, and understanding cultures and religion.
to data released Tuesday from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, while money managers also boosted net bullish bets in the London white sugar market to the highest in 11 weeks. Speculators appear to be covering positions again by liquidating bullish bets, rather than new selling, further reducing the overall net-short position, said Mike McDougall, an analyst at McDougall Global View. Still, raw sugar futures are down nearly 21 percent this year, on track for the biggest yearly loss since 2018. With assistance from Eko Listiyorini and Erin Ailworth
Road project. . . Continued from A3
the project that will serve the 2,694-hectare road-influence area covering barangays in the towns of Talaingod and Kapalong. The project is expected to increase traffic volume by 4 percent annually, cut travel time by 26 minutes from the production area down to the market, reducing hauling cost by up to 35 percent, and lowering of transport losses from 2.2 percent to 0.1 percent. PRDP-RPCO XI Deputy Project Director Marie Ann Constantino and PRDP-PSO Mindanao Deputy Project Director Carlene Collado, Provincial Administrator and PPMIU Head Atty. Ralph Dela Cruz, Provincial Planning Coordinator Engr. Maria Hazel Zafra and other department head witnessed the signing ceremony.
A6 Monday, December 29, 2025
The World BusinessMirror
Thailand and Cambodia sign new agreement to end border fighting By Wasamon Audjarint & Sopheng Cheang
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The Associated Press
ANGKOK— Thailand and Cambodia signed a ceasefire agreement on Saturday to end weeks of fighting along their border over competing territorial claims.
The agreement took effect at noon and calls for a halt in military movements and airspace violation for military purposes. Only Thailand has carried out airstrikes, hitting sites in Cambodia as recently as Saturday morning, according to the Cambodian Defense Ministry. The deal also calls for Thailand, after the ceasefire has held for 72 hours, to repatriate 18 Cambodian soldiers it has held as prisoners since earlier fighting in July. Their release has been a major demand of the Cambodian side. Within hours of the signing, Thailand’s Foreign Ministry protested to Cambodia that a Thai soldier sustained a permanent disability when he stepped on an anti-personnel land mine it charged had been laid by Cambodian forces.
Defense ministers met at the border to sign the agreement THE agreement was signed by the countries’ defense ministers, Cambodia’s Tea Seiha and Thailand’s Nattaphon Narkphanit, at a border checkpoint. It followed three-day lower-level talks by military officials. It declares that the sides are committed to an earlier ceasefire that ended five days of fighting in July and follow-up agreements. The original July ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from US President Donald Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
IN this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Seiha, left, stands with Thai Defense Minister Nattaphon Narkphanit, right, at the General Border Committee Meeting in Chanthaburi Province, Thailand Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. AKP VIA AP Despite those deals, the countries carried on a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued, escalating in early December to widespread heavy fighting. On Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the ceasefire announcement and urged Cambodia and Thailand to fully honor it and the terms of the peace accord reached earlier in Malaysia. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the ceasefire “a positive step towards alleviating the suffering of civilians, ending current hostilities, and creating an environment conducive to achieving lasting peace,” his spokesman said. The U.N. chief expressed appreciation to Malaysia, China and the United States for their efforts to peacefully resolve the conflict, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “The United Nations stands ready to support efforts aimed at sustaining peace and stability in the region.” China’s Foreign Ministry also hailed the agreement in a statement late Saturday. Beijing is set to host trilateral talks on Sunday and Monday with the Thai and Cambodian foreign ministers in the southwestern province of Yunnan. “China will play a constructive role in its own way for Cambodia and Thailand to consolidate the ceasefire, resume exchanges, rebuild political trust, achieve turnaround in bilateral relations and uphold regional peace,” the Foreign
Ministry statement read.
Civilians bore the brunt of the fighting THAILAND has lost 26 soldiers and one civilian as a direct result of the combat since Dec. 7, according to officials. Thailand has also reported 44 civilian deaths. Cambodia hasn’t issued an official figure on military casualties, but says that 30 civilians have been killed and 90 injured. Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated on both sides of the border. “Today’s ceasefire also paves the way for the displaced people who are living in the border areas to be able to return to their homes, work in the fields, and even allow their children to be able to return to schools and resume their studies,” Cambodia’s Defense Minister Tea Seiha told reporters after the signing. Each side blamed the other for initiating the fighting and claimed to be acting in self-defense. The agreement also calls on both sides to adhere to international agreements against deploying land mines, a major concern of Thailand. Thai soldiers along the border have been wounded in at least 10 incidents this year by what Thailand says were newly planted Cambodian mines. Cambodia says the mines were left over from decades of civil war that ended in the late 1990s. See “Ceasefire,” A8
Editor: Angel R. Calso
Myanmar holds first election in 5 years amid war and repression By Tian Macleod Ji & Grant Peck The Associated Press
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ANGON, Myanmar — Voters went to the polls Sunday for the initial phase of Myanmar ‘s first general election in five years, held under the supervision of its military government while a civil war rages throughout much of the country. Final results will not be known until after two more rounds of voting are completed later in January. It is widely expected that Min Aung Hlaing, the general who has ruled the country with an iron hand since an army takeover in 2021, will then assume the presidency. The military government has presented the vote as a return to electoral democracy, but its bid for legitimacy is marred by bans on formerly popular opposition parties and reports that soldiers have used threats to force voters to participate. While more than 4,800 candidates from 57 parties are competing for seats in national and regional legislatures, only six are competing nationwide with the possibility to gain political clout in Parliament. The well-organized and funded Union Solidarity and Development Party, with its support from the military, is by far the strongest contender. Voting is taking place in three phases, with Sunday’s first round being held in 102 of Myanmar’s 330 townships. The second phase will take place Jan. 11, and the third on Jan. 25. Final results are expected to be announced by February.
Critics call the election a sham to keep the army in power
military rule that began when the military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. It blocked her National League for Democracy party from serving a second term despite winning a landslide victory in the 2020 election. They argue that the results will lack legitimacy due to the exclusion of major parties and limits on freedom of speech and an atmosphere of repression. The expected victory of the militarybacked Union Solidarity and Development Party makes the nominal transition to civilian rule a chimera, say opponents of military rule and independent analysts. “An election organized by a junta that continues to bomb civilians, jail political leaders, and criminalize all forms of dissent is not an election—it is a theater of the absurd performed at gunpoint,” Tom Andrews, the U.N.-appointed human rights expert for Myanmar, posted on X. However, holding the election may provide an excuse for neighbors like China, India and Thailand to continue their support, claiming the election promotes stability. Western nations have maintained sanctions against Myanmar’s ruling generals due to their anti-democratic actions and the brutal war against their opponents. Voters on Saturday expressed mixed feelings. Khin Marlar, 51, who voted at a polling station in Yangon’s Kyauktada township, said she felt she needed to vote because she hoped that peace would follow afterward. She explained that she had fled her village in the town of Thaungta in the central Mandalay region due to the fighting.
CRITICS charge that the election is designed to add a facade of legitimacy to
See “Myanmar,” A9
VOTERS line up to cast their ballots at a polling station in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. AP PHOTO/AUNG SHINE OO
Taiwan’s worst quake in nearly 2 years brings only minor damage By Yian Lee & Debby Wu
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A I WA N reported limited damage from an earthquake powerful enough to shake buildings in the capital late Saturday, with key infrastructure operating normally and no major casualties reported. The epicenter of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that occurred at 11:05 p.m. local time was off Taiwan’s northeastern coast, some 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) east of Yilan County, according to the Central Weather Administration’s preliminary reading based on the Richter scale. This was the strongest earthquake in Taiwan since April 2024, when several buildings collapsed and 20 people were killed. Heavy shaking was felt in the capital city Taipei, with the intensity level of 4 recorded—a moderate reading on a scale from 0 to 7. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Co. said in a statement that staff at some TSMC campuses in the Hsinchu science park in northern Taiwan had returned to the sites after being evacuated as standard procedure for emergency responses. TSMC makes its most cutting-edge chips in southern Taiwan. While it makes less advanced chips in Hsinchu, its research and development center is also there. All power plants continue to operate normally, according to Taipower, though nearly 3,500 households in eastern Taiwan briefly lost power. Taiwanese authorities said major infrastructure including highways and high-speed rail were operating normally after the quake. No major casualties or damage were reported as of 12:45 a.m. local time, according to a statement from the Central Emergency Operations Center, although some sporadic incidents such as gas leaks, water supply outages and minor damage to buildings were reported. Bloomberg
Malaysia army chief placed on leave amid investigation By Ryan Weeks
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ALAYSIA’S army chief, Muhammad Hafizuddeain Jantan, has taken immediate leave pending an investigation into allegations against him, state-owned news agency Bernama reported. The move will allow authorities to investigate these allegations “without any conflict of interest,” Defense Minister Khaled Nordin said in a comment reported by Bernama. He did not explicitly state the nature or the subject of the allegations. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Com-
mission has launched an investigation into alleged irregularities in army procurement projects from 2023 to 2025, the Bernama report stated, citing the commission’s chief, Azam Baki. That probe began on Dec. 23, the report stated. A preliminary review found that several companies had repeatedly secured high-value army contracts, the report said, without identifying the source of this information. The commission had taken statements from three individuals as of Dec. 24, it stated. The ministry’s press department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday. Bloomberg
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Monday, December 29, 2025 A7
Russia strikes Ukraine’s capital and kills at least 1 person a day before Zelenskyy-Trump meeting By Samya Kullab & Vasilisa Stepanenko
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said the airports had resumed operations. It was unclear what caused the alert in Poland when the Russian attacks were focused on Kyiv, which is far from the border. Russia targeted Ukraine with 519 drones and 40 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said. The main target was energy and civilian infrastructure in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said. In some districts of the region there is no electricity or heating because of the attacks, he said.
The Associated Press
YIV, Ukraine—Russia attacked Ukraine’s capital with ballistic missiles and drones on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding 27, a day before talks between the leaders of Ukraine and the United States, authorities said.
Explosions boomed across Kyiv as the attack began in early morning and continued for hours. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared to meet with US President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday for further talks on ending the nearly four-year war. Zelenskyy told reporters that he and Trump plan to discuss several matters including security guarantees and territorial issues in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. “This attack is Russia’s answer on our peace efforts. It really shows that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin doesn’t want peace,” Zelenskyy said after stopping in Canada to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Carney announced $1.8 billion worth of economic assistance to Ukraine that helps unlock financing from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for reconstruction and development. “The barbarism that we saw overnight, the attack of Kyiv, shows just how important that we stand with Ukraine during this difficult time,” Carney said.
Man burns to death
Apartment buildings hit THE Russian Defense Ministry said that it carried out a “massive strike” overnight, using “long-range precision-guided weapons from land, air and sea, including Kinzhal hypersonic aeroballistic missiles” and drones. It said it targeted energy infrastructure facilities used by Ukraine’s forces and military-industrial enterprises. But several residential buildings were struck. The ministry said the strike was in response to Ukraine’s attacks on “civilian objects” in Russia. Earlier on Saturday, the ministry said air defenses shot down seven Ukrainian drones over the Russian regions of Krasnodar and Adygeya overnight. On Saturday afternoon, the ministry said 147 more drones were shot down over a number of Russian regions. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses intercepted more than 20 drones “flying towards” the Russian capital on Saturday. He didn’t report any damage or casualties. It wasn’t immediately clear whether
RESCUE workers clear the rubble at the roof of an apartment building damaged after a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. AP PHOTO/EVGENIY MALOLETKA those were included in the Defense Ministry’s count.
Russia claims territorial gains IN what could be viewed as an effort to further ramp up pressure on Ukraine before the Zelenskyy-Trump talks, the Kremlin on Saturday night released a video of Putin in military fatigues receiving reports from top military officials in an unidentified military command post. Russia’s General Staff chief, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, reported to Putin that the Russian troops have taken full control of Myrnohrad in the Donetsk region—Russia uses the old Soviet name of the city, Dimitrov—the city of Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region, and a few other settlements. Putin said that “if Kyiv authorities are not willing to end the matter peacefully, we will achieve all the goals we have in the special military
operation by military means.” Ukraine’s General Staff rejected these claims as “not supported by facts.” It said that the situation in Huliaipole is “difficult, but the defensive operation in the city is ongoing.” In Myrnohrad, the situation remains “challenging.” “The senior political leadership of the aggressor state has once again resorted to spreading false claims about significant ‘successes’ by the Russian army on the battlefield,” the General Staff said in an online statement.
Poland on alert POLAND scrambled fighter jets and closed airports in Lublin and Rzeszow near the border with Ukraine for several hours during the Russian attacks, the country’s armed forces command said on social media. There was no violation of Polish airspace, it said. Civil aviation authority Pansa later
MORE than 10 residential buildings were damaged, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on social media. Olena Karpenko, 52, said she heard a man as he burned to death. “His scream is still in my ears. I can’t believe it,” she said, weeping. Karpenko said they heard an explosion at the nearby thermal power plant, followed by a stronger blast that shook the windows of her home. Then came the strike on her building. Two children were among those wounded in the attack, which hit seven locations across the capital, the head of the Kyiv Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said on social media. A body was found under t he rubble of one damaged building, he said. It wasn’t immediately clear if that person was the man who burned to death. A fire broke out in an 18-story residential building in the Dnipro district, and emergency crews rushed to contain the flames. A 24-story residential building in the Darnytsia district was also hit, Tkachenko said, and more
fires broke out in the Obolonskyi and Holosiivsky districts. In the wider Kyiv region, the strikes hit industrial and residential buildings, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service. In the Vyshhorod area, emergency crews rescued one person found under the rubble of a destroyed house. Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, said on X on Saturday evening that the Russian attack caused “extensive power outages” in Kyiv, saying that hundreds of thousands of customers remained without power.
Security guarantees prioritized ZELENSKYY told reporters he would aim to ensure there were “ as few unresolved issues as possible “ in talks with Trump, while respecting Ukraine’s red lines. Speaking by audio note in a Whatsapp chat with journalists, Zelenskyy said he would prioritize discussing security guarantees for Ukraine. He has said that in the draft peace plan, the US has committed to providing guarantees that mirror the NATO alliance’s Article 5, which means an attack on Ukraine would trigger a collective military response from the US and its allies. But key details must be worked out in a bilateral agreement. Territorial concessions are the most sensitive of issues the two leaders will discuss. Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, Rob Gillies in Toronto and Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv contributed to this report.
Chilly Gaza braces for more winter rain More countries reject Israel’s recognition of Somaliland and word of progress in ceasefire talks
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By Wafaa Shurafa The Associated Press
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EIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip— Barefoot children played on chilly sand as Gaza ‘s thousands of displaced people prepared threadbare tents on Saturday for another round of winter rain. Some families in the central town of Deir al-Balah said they had been living in tents for about two years, or for most of the war between Israel and Hamas that has devastated the territory. Fathers braced fraying tents with old pieces of wood or inspected the ragged edges of holes torn in tarps. Inside the dim homes, daylight through tiny holes shone like stars. Mothers battled the damp, slinging clothing over poles or cord to dry in the wind between the downpours that turn paths into puddles. One mother pulled a tiny child away from a mildewing patch of carpet. “We have been living in this tent for two years. Every time it rains and the tent collapses over our heads, we try to put up new pieces of wood,” said Shaima Wadi, a mother of four children who was displaced from Jabaliya in the north. “With how expensive everything has become, and without any income, we can barely afford clothes for our children or mattresses for them to sleep on.” Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, has said dozens of people, including a two-week-old infant, have died from hypothermia or after weather-related collapses of war-damaged homes. Aid organizations have called for more shelters and other humanitarian aid to be allowed into the territory. Emergency workers have warned people not to stay in damaged buildings. But with so much of the territory reduced to rubble, there are few places to escape the rain.
SIRAJ OBEID, 27, looks at her daughter as they stand in their tent in a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. AP PHOTO/ABDEL KAREEM HANA “I collect nylon, cardboard and plastic from the streets to keep them warm,” said Ahmad Wadi, who burns the materials or uses them as a kind of blanket for loved ones. “They don’t have proper covers. It is freezing, the humidity is high, and water seeps in from everywhere. I don’t know what to do.”
Ceasefire talks ISRAEL Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to visit Washington in the coming days as negotiators and others discuss the second stage of the ceasefire that took effect on Oct. 10. Though the agreement has mostly held, its progress has slowed. The remains of the final hostage taken during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war are still in Gaza. Challenges in the next phase of the ceasefire include the deployment of an international stabilization force, a technocratic governing body for Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and further Israeli troop withdrawals from the territory. Both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of truce violations. Gaza’s Health Ministry said that since the ceasefire went into effect, 414 Palestinians have been killed
and 1,142 wounded. It said the bodies of 679 people were pulled from the rubble during the same period as the truce makes it safer to search for the remains of people killed earlier. The ministry on Saturday said 29 bodies, including 25 that were recovered from under the rubble, had been brought to local hospitals over the past 48 hours. The overall Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war has risen to at least 71,266, the ministry said, and another 171,219 have been wounded. The ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.
West Bank operation ISR AEL’S defense minister, Israel Katz, said in a statement Saturday that a military operation continued in a town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank a day after police said a Palestinian attacker rammed his car into a man and then stabbed a young woman in northern Israel on Friday afternoon, killing both. See “Gaza,” A9
A IROBI, Kenya—A growing number of countries on Saturday rejected Israel ’s recognition of Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland as an independent nation a day earlier, the first by any country in more than 30 years. It wasn’t known why Israel made the declaration Friday or whether the country was expecting something in return. Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 during a descent into conflict that continues to leave the east African country fragile. Despite having its own government and currency, Somaliland had never been recognized by any nation until Friday. A joint statement by more than 20 mostly Middle Eastern or African countries and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Saturday rejected Israel’s recognition “given the serious repercussions of such unprecedented measure on peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea and its serious effects on international peace and security as a whole.” Somaliland, which is arid, lies on the Gulf of Aden across from Yemen and next to small Djibouti, which hosts military bases for the US, China, France and several other countries. The joint statement also noted “the full rejection of any potential link between such measure and any attempts to forcibly expel the Palestinian people out of their land.” Syria in a separate statement also rejected Israel’s recognition. Earlier this year, US and Israeli officials told The Associated Press that Israel had approached Somaliland about taking in Palestinians from Gaza as part of US President Donald Trump’s plan at the time to resettle the territory’s population. The United States has since abandoned that plan. The US State Department on Saturday said that it continued to recognize the territorial integrity of Somalia, “which includes the territory of Somaliland.” Netanyahu’s office said Friday that
he, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and Somaliland ’s president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, signed a joint declaration “in the spirit of the Abraham Accords.” That initiative, which started in 2020, established commercial and diplomatic ties between Israel and several Arab and Muslim-majority countries. Trump sees it as key to his plan for bringing long-term stability to the Middle East. Somalia’s federal government on Friday strongly rejected what it described as an unlawful move by Israel, and reaffirmed that Somaliland
remains an integral part of Somalia’s sovereign territory. African regional bodies also rejected Israel’s recognition. African Union Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said that any attempt to undermine Somalia’s sovereignty risks peace and stability on the continent. East African governing body IGAD said in a statement that Somalia’s sovereignty was recognized under international law and any unilateral recognition “runs contrary to the charter of the United Nations” and agreements establishing the bloc and the African Union. AP
A8 Monday, December 29, 2025
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Nigerian villagers rattled by US airstrikes that Hundreds mourn in Syria’s Homs made their homes shake and the sky glow red after deadly mosque bombing By Ope Adetayo & Tunde Omolehin The Associated Press
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ABO, Nigeria—Sanusi Madabo, a 40-year-old farmer in the Nigerian village of Jabo, was preparing for bed on Thursday night when he heard a loud noise that sounded like a plane crashing. He rushed outside his mud house with his wife to see the sky glowing a bright red. The light burned bright for hours, Madabo said: “It was almost like daytime.” He did not learn until later that he had witnessed a US attack on an alleged camp of the militant Islamic State group. US President Donald Trump announced late Thursday that the United States had launched a “powerful and deadly strike” against IS militants in Nigeria. The Nigerian government has since confirmed that it cooperated with the US government in its strike.
A panicked village NIGERIAN government spokesperson Mohammed Idris said Friday that the strikes were launched from the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after midnight and involved “16 GPSguided precision” missiles and also MQ-9 Reaper drones. Idris said the strikes targeted areas used as “staging grounds by foreign” IS fighters who had sneaked into Nigeria from the Sahel, the southern fringe of Africa’s vast Sahara Desert. The government did not release any casualty figures among the militants. Residents of Jabo, a village in the northwestern Nigerian state of Sokoto, spoke to The Associated Press on Friday about panic and confusion among the villagers following the
ANTI-BOMB Squad of Nigeria’s police secure the scene of a US airstrike in Northwest, Jabo, Nigeria, Friday, Dec. 26, 2025. AP PHOTO/ TUNDE OMOLEHIN strikes, which they said hit not far from Jabo’s outskirts. There were no casualties among the villagers. They said that Jabo has never been attacked as part of the violence the US says is widespread—though such attacks regularly occur in neighboring villages. Abubakar Sani, who lives on the edge of the village, recalled the “intense heat” as the strikes hit. “Our rooms began to shake, and then fire broke out,” he told the AP. “The Nigerian government should take appropriate measures to protect us as citizens,” he added. “We have never experienced anything like this before.”
It’s a ‘new phase of an old conflict’ THE strikes are the outcome of a monthslong tense diplomatic clash between the West African nation and the US. The Trump administration has said Nigeria is experiencing a genocide of Christians, a claim the Nigerian government has rejected. However, Nigeria’s Ministry of
Foreign Affairs now said the strikes resulted from intelligence sharing and strategic coordination between the two governments. Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria’s foreign minister, called the airstrikes a “new phase of an old conflict” and said he expected more strikes to follow. “For us, it is something that has been ongoing,” Tuggar added, referring to attacks that have targeted Christians and Muslims in Nigeria for years. Bulama Bukarti, a security analyst on sub-Saharan Africa, said the residents’ fear is compounded by a lack of information. Nigerian security forces have since cordoned off the area of the strikes and access was not allowed. Bukarti said transparency would go a long way to calm the local residents. “The more opaque the governments are, the more panic there will be on the ground, and that is what will escalate tensions.”
Foreign fighters operate in Nigeria ANALYSTS say the strikes might have
been intended for the Lakurawa group, a relatively new entrant to Nigeria’s complex security crisis. The group’s first attack was recorded around 2018 in the northwestern region before the Nigerian government officially announced its presence last year. The composition of the group has been documented by security researchers as primarily consisting of foreigners from the Sahel. However, experts say ties between the Lakurawa group and the IS are unproven. The Islamic State West African Province—an IS affiliate in Nigeria—has its strongholds in the northeastern part of the country, where it is currently involved in a power struggle with its parent organization, Boko Haram. “What might have happened is that, working with the American government, Nigeria identified Lakurawa as a threat and identified camps that belong to the group,” Bukarti said. Still, some local people feel vulnerable. Aliyu Garba, a Jabo village leader, told the AP that debris left after the strikes was scattered, and that residents had rushed to the scene. Some picked up pieces of the debris, hoping for valuable metal to trade, and Garba said he fears they could get hurt. The strikes rattled 17-year-old Balira Sa’idu, who has been preparing for her upcoming marriage. “I am supposed to be thinking about my wedding, but right now I am panicking,” she said. “The strike has changed everything. My family is afraid, and I don’t even know if it is safe to continue with the wedding plan in Jabo.” Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria.
Millions of Afghan families face hunger as aid cuts deepen crisis By Abdul Kahar Afghan
find it for oil, we can’t pay the rent. And then there is the extra electricity bill,” Rahimullah said.
The Associated Press
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ABUL, Afghanistan—For 10 hours a day, Rahimullah sells socks from his cart in eastern Kabul, earning about $4.5 to $6 per day. It’s a pittance, but it’s all he has to feed his family of five. Rahimullah, who like many Afghans goes by only one name, is one of millions of Afghans who rely on humanitarian aid, both from the Afghan authorities and from international charity organizations, for survival. An estimated 22.9 million people— nearly half the population—required aid in 2025, the International Committee for the Red Cross said in an article on its website Monday. But severe cuts in international aid—including the halting of US aid to programs such as food distribution run by the United Nations’ World Food Program—have severed this lifeline. More than 17 million people in Afghanistan now face crisis levels of hunger in the winter, the World Food Program warned last week, 3 million more than were at risk more than a year ago. The slashing in aid has come as Afghanistan is battered by a struggling economy, recurrent droughts, two deadly earthquakes and the mass influx of Afghan refugees expelled from countries such as Iran and Pakistan. The resulting multiple shocks have severely pressured resources, including of housing and food.
UN appeals for help TOM FLETCHER, the UN humanitarian chief, told the Security Council in mid-December that the situation was compounded by “overlapping shocks,” including the recent earthquakes and increasing restrictions on humanitarian aid access and staff. While Fletcher said nearly 22 million Afghans will need UN assistance in 2026, his organization will focus on 3.9 million facing the most urgent need of lifesaving help due to reduced
Harsh winters compound the misery
AFGHAN refugee families heading back to their homeland gather next to trucks loaded with their belongings as they wait for documentation at the UNHCR Voluntary Repatriation Center in Azakhel, Nowshera a district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. AP PHOTO/MUHAMMAD SAJJAD donor contributions. Fletcher said this winter was “the first in years with almost no international food distribution.” “As a result, only about 1 million of the most vulnerable people have received food assistance during the lean season in 2025,” compared to 5.6 million last year, he said. The year has been devastating for U.N. humanitarian organizations, which have had to cut thousands of jobs and spending in the wake of aid cuts. “We are grateful to all of you who have continued to support Afghanistan. But as we look towards 2026, we risk a further contraction of lifesaving help—at a time when food insecurity, health needs, strain on basic services, and protection risks are all rising,” Fletcher said.
Returning refugees THE return of millions of refugees has added pressure on an already teetering system. Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Affairs Abdul Kabir said Sunday that 7.1 million Afghan refugees had returned to the country over the last four years, according to a statement on the ministry website. Rahimullah, 29, was one of them. The former Afghan Army soldier fled to neighboring Pakistan after the Tali-
ban seized power in 2021. He was deported back to Afghanistan two years later, and initially received aid in the form of cash as well as food. “The assistance was helping me a lot,” he said. But without it, “now I don’t have enough money to live on. God forbid, if I were to face a serious illness or any other problem, it would be very difficult for me to handle because I don’t have any extra money for expenses.” The massive influx of former refugees has also sent rents skyrocketing. Rahimullah’s landlord has nearly doubled the rent of his tiny two-room home, with walls made half of concrete and half of mud and a homemade mud stove for cooking. Instead of 4,500 afghanis (about $67), he now wants 8,000 afghanis (about $120)— a sum Rahimullah cannot afford. So he, his wife, daughter and two young sons will have to move next month. They don’t know where to. Before the Taliban takeover, Rahimullah had a decent salary and his wife worked as a teacher. But the new government’s draconian restrictions on women and girls mean women are barred from nearly all jobs, and his wife is unemployed. “Now the situation is such that even if we find money for flour, we don’t have it for oil, and even if we
IN Afghanistan’s northern province of Badakhshan, Sherin Gul is desperate. In 2023, her family of 12 got supplies of flour, oil, rice, beans, pulses, salt and biscuits. It was a lifesaver. But it only lasted six months. Now, there is nothing. Her husband is old and weak and cannot work, she said. With 10 children, seven girls and three boys between the ages of 7 and 27, the burden of providing for the family has fallen on her 23-year-old son – the only one old enough to work. But even he only finds occasional jobs. “There are 12 of us … and one person working cannot cover the expenses,” she said. “We are in great trouble.” Sometimes neighbors take pity on them and give them food. Often, they all go hungry. “There have been times when we have nothing to eat at night, and my little children have fallen asleep without food,” Gul said. “I have only given them green tea and they have fallen asleep crying.” Before the Taliban takeover, Gul worked as a cleaner, earning just about enough to feed her family. But the ban on women working has left her unemployed, and she said she developed a nervous disorder and is often sick. Compounding their misery is the harsh cold of the northern Afghan winter, when snow halts construction work where her son can sometimes find jobs. And there is the added expense of firewood and charcoal. “If this situation continues like this, we may face severe hunger,” Gul said. “And then it will be very difficult for us to survive in this cold weather.” Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations, Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Elena Becatoros in Athens contributed to this report.
A MAN holds an imaginary depiction of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad who is revered by Syria’s Alawite community, during the funeral of victims of an attack a day earlier at the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the predominantly Alawite Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood of Homs, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. AP PHOTO/OMAR SANADIKI
By Omar Sanadiki The Associated Press
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OMS, Syria—Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday in the rain and cold outside of a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs for the funeral of eight people killed in a bombing, as an imam warned that the attack could spark more sectarian violence. The crowd assembled next to the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque, the target of Friday’s attack that also wounded 18 others. The population of the Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood, where the mosque is located, is predominantly from the Alawite minority. They later drove in convoys to bury the victims. Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect. A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel, in which it indicated that the attack intended to target members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam whom hardline Islamists consider to be apostates. The same group had previously claimed a suicide attack in June in which a gunman opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in Dweil’a, on the outskirts of Damascus, killing 25 people as worshippers prayed on a Sunday. A neighbor of the mosque, who asked to be identified only by the honorific Abu Ahmad (“father of Ahmad”) out of security concerns, said he was at home when he heard the sound of a “very strong explosion.” He and other neighbors went to the mosque and saw terrified people running out, he said. They entered and began trying to help the wounded. Sheikh Mohieddin Salloum, the
Ceasefire...
Continued from A6
Following the latest injury on Saturday, Thailand’s Foreign Ministry noted that the new agreement “includes key provisions on joint humanitarian demining operations to ensure the safety of military personnel and civilians in the border areas as soon as possible.” Another clause says the two sides “agree to refrain from disseminating false information or fake news.” The agreement calls for a resumption of previous measures to demarcate the border. The sides also agreed to cooperate in suppressing transnational crimes. That’s primarily a reference to online scams perpetrated by organized crime that have bilked victims around the world of billions of dollars each year. Cambodia is a center for such criminal enterprises.
Malaysia’s leader hails the agreement
MALAYSIA’S Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who was instrumental in putting together the original ceasefire, said the new agreement “reflects a shared recognition that restraint is required, above all in the
imam of the mosque, who was slightly injured in the explosion, said the mosque was Alawite but was open to Muslims of other sects to come and pray, and they often did so. “This is God’s house—our Sunni neighbors come and pray here with us, but in small numbers. They might be five or 10” out of 300 attendees during Friday prayer, he said. Salloum said he believes the attack was intended to set off a new round of sectarian strife as the country struggles to heal after a nearly 14-year civil war that ended with the ouster of former President Bashar Assad in December 2024. Anger was palpable among Alawite residents who gathered for the funeral, but the imam called for calm. “They set an explosion in an Alawite mosque to create emotions of hate and anger among the Alawites, and maybe a few days later someone will set off an explosion in a Sunni mosque and say that the Alawites took revenge,” Salloum said. “Then the idiots from both sides will come and start fighting, and we’ll all be dragged behind them if we don’t keep level heads.” The country has experienced several waves of sectarian clashes since Assad’s fall. Assad, an Alawite, fled the country to Russia. In March, an ambush carried out by Assad’s supporters against security forces triggered days of violence that left hundreds of people dead, most of them Alawites. Since then, although the situation has calmed, Alawites have been targeted sporadically in sectarian attacks. Syrian government officials condemned Friday’s attack and pledged to hold the perpetrators accountable. Mourners prayed outside because they were unable to enter the mosque as the crime scene remained cordoned off. Some marched through the streets chanting “Ya Ali,” a reference to the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and sonin-law whom Shiite Muslims consider to be his rightful successor.
interest of civilians.” Many clauses similar to those in Saturday’s agreement were included in October’s ceasefire document, and were open to various interpretations and generally honored only in part. These included provisions concerning land mines and the Cambodian prisoners. The fragility of the new agreement was underlined by Thailand’s Defense Ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri in a news briefing after Saturday’s signing. He said that the safe return of civilians to their homes would indicate the situation had stabilized enough to allow the repatriation of the captured Cambodian soldiers. “However, if the ceasefire does not materialize, this would indicate a lack of sincerity on the Cambodian side to create sure peace,” he said. “Therefore, the 72- hour ceasefire beginning today is not an act of trust nor unconditional acceptance but a time frame to tangibly prove whether Cambodia can truly cease the use of weapons, provocations and threats in the area.” Sopheng Cheang repor ted f rom Phnom Penh, Cambodia. AP reporter Simina Mistreanu in Beijing contributed to this report.
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Monday, December 29, 2025 A9
The world’s plastic glut set to get much worse by 2040, study finds
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By Leslie Kaufman
men would once deliver bottles of milk while carting away the used ones for cleaning and refilling.) In Pew’s ideal scenario, subsidies for plastic production would be eliminated and waste collection would be greatly expanded. If that happened, nearly 100% of consumer packaging could be collected and recycling rates could double, the authors write. But even under perfect conditions, they concede, microplastics would be much harder to control. The main sources of microplastics are vehicle tire dust, paint and agriculture-related products — for example, fertilizer sold in plastic pods that dissolve into soil and plastic sheeting that is used for mulch. There are few straightforward substitutes for these materials. Among Pew’s recommendations are decreasing overall plastic production, using safer chemicals and taking targeted actions to reduce the shedding of microplastics. One anti-plastics group welcomed the report. “We need laws that require fewer toxic chemicals in plastic and less plastic production, and we applaud Pew for prioritizing those measures,” said Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics and a former Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator. However, Enck said the authors were overly optimistic in projecting that plastic recycling would grow substantially with different policies in place. “There’s a good reason why the plastics recycling rate has never reached double digits,” she said. “It’s because its chemical and polymer complexity makes large-scale recycling technically and economically infeasible. We’re wasting valuable time by relying on a system that has not worked for decades.”
ESPITE clear evidence that plastic is clogging oceans and beaches and breaking down into microplastics that enter our bodies, humans are continuing to produce the material at accelerating rates. The result: Global plastic pollution will hit 280 million metric tons per year by 2040, or a dump truck’s worth every second. That is one of the alarming statistics from Breaking the Plastic Wave 2025, a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts with ICF International. It offers a comprehensive assessment of plastic pollution and its effect on human health and the environment. In August, talks to forge an international treaty to rein in plastic pollution collapsed as countries that produce the majority of the material blocked proposals to limit the amount of new plastic created. Meanwhile, recycling rates have remained low. The new report is a bit of a hybrid. It compiles data from recent research and then runs it through a model to predict outcomes under different policy scenarios. Winnie Lau, director of Pew’s Preventing Ocean Plastics project and one of the authors, said the team “wanted to pull it all together in one integrated analysis to look at impacts across the board.” Pew published a similar report in 2020, but it limited the scope then to pollution from consumer-facing plastics like packaging that end up in
solid waste systems. This report looks far beyond that to include “hidden” plastics, including those used in the construction, agriculture and transportation sectors. If the world continues on the current trajectory, the outlook for 2040 is bleak, the report warns. Global production of new plastic is set to increase by 52 percent, twice as much as waste-management systems. Plasticrelated greenhouse gas emissions are expected to surge by 58 percent, to 4.2 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year—enough that, if plastic production were a country, it would be the current third-largest emitter. At the root of the problem is the fact that plastics are mostly derived from fossil fuels. There are some 16,000 different chemicals in plastics and scientists have identified more than one fourth of those as possibly harmful to human health. In the five years since the last Pew report, a wave of research has attempted to understand in particular how a class of chemicals known as endocrine disruptors, widely used in makeup and cookware, may affect digestive, reproductive and cognitive function.
A PERSON walks across a bridge spanning a drainage channel congested with plastic waste in Accra, Ghana. PHOTOGRAPHER: NIPAH DENNIS/BLOOMBERG
Pew also modeled the global health impacts associated with the making and disposal of plastic (excluding microplastics) and related pollution. The authors estimate the world’s population will lose 5.6 million total years of healthy life in 2025 and 9.8 million years in 2040. Primary plastic production accounts for the majority
of this via links to cancers and respiratory diseases. Countries and communities already have tools at their disposal to reduce the manufacture and use of plastics drastically. They could mandate better product and packaging design and invest in infrastructure to support reuse. (Think of how milk-
Too young to help? Parents find creative ways to involve children in volunteering AP Wellness Writer
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EW YORK—When Cami Teacoach’s son turned three she set out to find volunteer opportunities they could do together. He made Valentine cards for senior citizens. They hiked and picked up trash. He helped harvest produce at community gardens and made seed balls out of mud, throwing them into the forest to promote wildflower growth. Teacoach had reached out to many organizations looking for volunteer projects that she could do with her young child, but most places said no, so she came up with her own. “Everyone was like, ‘A 3-year-old can’t do that,’” Teacoach said. “And I was like, ‘No, I swear, he really can if you would just give him a chance.’” Volunteering with children can instill confidence in youngsters, teach social and problem-solving skills and provide unique ways for families to bond. During the holiday season, many people seek such opportunities, looking for ways to give back. But often nonprofit organizations seek helpers who are at least 18 years old. Finding volunteer work to do as a family with young children can be challenging, but there are opportunities, if you persist. “There’s a million different ways to help people and volunteer. So many families want to do this and literally just don’t know where to start,” said Polly Lagana, executive director of Volunteer New York!, which connects people with service opportunities. “In a turbulent time in our world, families—and parents in particular—are very interested in showing their kids how they can help out and how they can give back.” Children excel at activities such as sorting coats, packing groceries and following through on tasks, said Sapreet Saluja, executive director of New York Cares, which works with organizations to develop volunteer programs in New York City. “I’ve been very impressed with the de-
tail-orientation and the precision and the following of directions and the care that some kids I’ve seen, as young as six, take to the tasks that they’re doing,” Saluja said. “It’s been explained to them that this is to benefit someone, and it’s important, and they’re following the directions and they want to get it just right. And in many cases, they’re more detail-oriented than the adults, which I think is very inspiring.” To get started, look for organizations in your community that match volunteers with family-friendly projects and reach out to ask if there’s a minimum age requirement. Here are some other ways to involve little ones in projects that help the community.
AP ILLUSTRATION / PETER HAMLIN
By Cathy Bussewitz
Provide choices
Children PREFER TO HAVE AGENCY AND INformation to make a decision, so include them when you’re choosing an activity, Lagana said. “Let them know what problem you’re trying to fix in your community, and maybe one or two options of how that problem can be fixed,” Lagana said. For example, you can explain there are people who don’t have enough food, and children in the hospital who might not have blankets, and then ask, ‘Which one do you think you want to help out with?’ she suggested. Consider volunteering for a mission that you can explain to your child, such as cleaning up litter at a park. “Kids are unbelievably curious. They ask questions about what they’re doing, what they’re seeing, what they’re feeling, what they’re hearing, and it opens up a dialogue,” Saluja said. “It helps you see even at a young age some of the challenges that society is facing and it gives you agency to know that you can be a part of the solution.”
Sharing food
CHILDREN understand hunger, and they can help alleviate the problem. They can sort grocery boxes at a food pantry or help deliver sustenance to home-bound individuals. Aviva Davis was about eight years old
Volunteering with children can instill confidence in youngsters, teach social and problem-solving skills and provide unique ways for families to bond. During the holiday season, many people seek such opportunities, looking for ways to give back. when she and her brother Brendan began helping her parents deliver Meals on Wheels to senior citizens and medically frail individuals in Denver. Initially, they rode in the car with their parents and helped bring food to the door. When they were older, they took turns driving. “It definitely opened my eyes to what the world is like outside of our bubble. We saw all sorts of different things and I saw not everyone lives the same way,” said Davis, now 17. “But even at such a young age I could realize it’s amazing what we’re doing that we could help people that aren’t as lucky as we were.” Davis became a resource at school for fellow students looking to volunteer. She still does monthly meal deliveries with her parents. “It’s a great chance for us to catch up as a family,” said her father, Seth Davis. “When
we’re not all on our phones, you get some pretty cool quality time.” Her brother is now in college, but when he’s home, they do deliveries altogether. “The older they get, the harder it is to get that time together,” said their mother, Bonnie Davis, who found the Meals on Wheels opportunity after extensive research.
Create your own opportunities
WHEN Teacoach couldn’t find organizations willing to accept her toddler, she started a group in Pittsburgh called VolunTOTs, which creates service opportunities for children as young as 3. The children and their parents pack 500 boxes of groceries to distribute to families in need, play bingo with seniors in nursing homes and make dog treats for an animal rescue center, among other projects. Parents have told Teacoach their children’s
conduct improves after volunteering. “They feel so good about themselves, they were a helper, and that translates into better behavior,” she said. Stephanie Bernaba’s family started “Tough Cookies,” a project where they bake and deliver cookies to veterans, when her son Matthew was in eighth grade and had to complete a service project for school. “Going up to the houses, it was very nice, because they’re mostly living alone. A lot of their family or friends died,” said Michael Bernaba, 14, now a freshman at The Prout School in Wakefield, Rhode Island. “It’s just nice to be there and bring it to them ... They were very happy, especially for someone to bring them treats like that.” The project also helped the teens learn social skills and meet people in various stages of life and health conditions, Stephanie Bernaba said. “We went to the first couple of places and I was really scared, because I’m more of a shy person,” Matthew Bernaba, now 15, said. “For the first couple of deliveries I was more to myself, and as we kept going, we talked more with the veterans and got to hear great stories from them.”
Friends make it fun
CHILDREN can be more willing to try new activities with a buddy, so consider signing up with people you know. You can also connect with a nonprofit in need of a service and invite other families over to do a project together, as Lagana’s friends have done, organizing clothing donations or assembling snack packs in living rooms. Bonnie Davis organized a drive for menstrual supplies, and families gathered in her backyard to assemble the baskets. She also turned half of her son’s graduation party into a volunteer project assembling kits of bean soup. “It’s a win for everybody. You get quality time, you’re raising your children with what feels like good values, and people benefit,” she said.
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“I am voting with the feeling that I will go back to my village when it is peaceful,” she told The Associated Press.
Some voters feel pressured by the army A RESIDENT of southern Mon state, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Khin, for fear of arrest by the military, told The Associated Press she felt compelled to go to a polling station because of pressure from local authorities. “I have to go and vote even though I don’t want to, because soldiers showed up with guns to our village to pressure us yesterday,” Khin said. There were reports ahead of the voting from independent media and rights groups that officials and the military used such threats to compel people to vote. Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s 80-yearold former leader, and her party are not participating in the polls. She is serving a 27-year prison term on charges widely viewed as spurious and politically motivated. Her party, the National League for Democracy, was dissolved in 2023 after refusing to register under new military rules. Other parties also refused to register or declined to run under conditions they deem unfair, and opposition groups have called for a voter boycott. Amael Vier, an analyst for the Asian Network for Free Elections, noted a lack of genuine choice, pointing out that 73 percent of voters in 2020 cast ballots for parties that no longer exist.
War and repression shape the vote MOBILIZING opposition is difficult under the military’s repression. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 22,000 people are currently detained for political offenses, and over 7,600 civilians have been killed by security forces since they seized power in 2021. Armed resistance arose after the army used lethal force to crush nonviolent protests against its 2021 takeover. The ensuing civil war has left more than 3.6 million people displaced, according to the U.N. A new Election Protection Law imposes harsh penalties and restrictions for virtually all public criticism of the polls. In these circumstances, both the military and its opponents believe power is likely to remain with Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who led the 2021 seizure of power. Associated Press writer Peck reported from Bangkok.
Gaza...
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The statement said the army had surrounded the town of Qabatiya, where Katz said the attacker was from, and was operating “forcefully” there. Authorities on Friday said the attacker was shot and injured in Afula. He was taken to a hospital. It’s common practice for Israel to launch raids in the West Bank towns that attackers come from or demolish homes belonging to the assailants’ families. Israel says that it helps to locate militant infrastructure and prevents future attacks. Rights watchdogs describe such actions as collective punishment. AP video on Saturday showed Israeli bulldozers entering the town and soldiers patrolling. “They announced a strict curfew,” resident Bilal Hanash said, as he and others described main roads being closed with dirt barriers, a practice that has grown during the war in Gaza. “So basically, they’re punishing 30,000 people.” Associated Press writer Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed.
A10 Monday, December 29, 2025 • Editor: Angel R. Calso
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Walang Gutom Kitchen: A ray of hope amidst the scourge of hunger and systemic corruption
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HE sad reality that billions of pesos vanish into the black hole of systemic graft and corruption each year is a national shame, particularly when juxtaposed against the persistent specter of involuntary hunger haunting countless Filipinos. As the Department of Social Welfare and Development aptly demonstrates with its Walang Gutom Kitchen (WGK), the solution to hunger is not a mystery—it is a matter of honest priorities and collective action. (Read the BusinessMirror story: “DSWD to expand ‘Walang Gutom Kitchen’ by 2026; seeks volunteers, partners for holiday ops,” December 23, 2025).
The WGK stands as a powerful rebuttal to the culture of plunder. This government-run soup kitchen, serving roughly 700 meals daily in Pasay City, proves that targeted, compassionate intervention can make a tangible difference. Its very existence is a testament to what becomes possible when resources are directed towards their rightful purpose: alleviating human suffering. WGK Officer-in-Charge and Chief Administrative Officer Atty. Dwight Cruz’s message—“we do not discriminate”—underscores the program’s fundamental humanity, welcoming anyone experiencing hunger, especially the most vulnerable on our streets. However, the WGK’s current scale, while commendable, is a mere drop in the ocean of need. Secretary Rex Gatchalian’s announcement of planned expansion to more regions in 2026 is welcome news, reflecting a recognition that this model must grow. Crucially, the emphasis on strengthening the model first is wise; scalability requires efficiency and proven effectiveness. Yet, the ambition must match the urgency of the crisis. The expansion cannot come soon enough, and its success hinges on sustained, honest funding—funding that should rightfully be reclaimed from the clutches of corruption. The call for stronger private sector partnerships and public participation is central to the WGK’s mission and its future. The existing collaborations with the Philippine Hotel Owners Association, Scholars of Sustenance, McDonald’s, and Jollibee, leveraging surplus food, are exemplary. Cruz’s appeal for more food donations from hotels and restaurants highlights a practical, sustainable approach to resource utilization that benefits both businesses and the hungry. Furthermore, Gatchalian’s poignant holiday invitation for volunteers—emphasizing that time is “the best gift of all”—is a powerful reminder that ending hunger is a shared societal responsibility. The open doors during the holidays (except December 25 and January 1) symbolize unwavering commitment. The Walang Gutom Kitchen is more than just a soup kitchen; it is a symbol of what is achievable with integrity and compassion. It stands as living proof that the funds lost to corruption could indeed eradicate hunger if channeled honestly into such effective programs. Its planned expansion offers hope. Yet, this hope must be underpinned by a relentless national crusade against graft. Every peso stolen is a meal denied, a hungry child overlooked. The DSWD, through the WGK, is showing the way forward with partnership and service. It is now incumbent upon the entire government machinery to ensure such programs receive the untainted resources they deserve, and upon every Filipino who can, to donate, volunteer, and demand accountability. Only then can the vision of a truly “Walang Gutom” Philippines move from a kitchen in Pasay to a reality across the nation. May this beacon of hope, as Gatchalian envisions, indeed light the path to ending hunger for good.
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2026 demands Pinoy leaders to cultivate inner energy Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II
RISING SUN
I
N the Philippines’s volatile economy—grappling with inflation, AI job disruptions, and political instability—true success demands ditching endless hustle for cultivating inner qi. Cultivate it through micro-habits, mindful pauses, and gratitude rituals. These ancient practices, rooted in China’s ancient martial and wellness practices, promise macro gains: sustained productivity without collapse.
Qi, often spelled “chi,” is the vital life force or energy flowing through all living things in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Daoist philosophy. It originates from the interplay of breath (air), food (the essence of the earth), and nature’s rhythms, circulating through the meridians to sustain health and balance yin and yang. Known also as prana in Ayurveda or ki in Japanese traditions, qi demands nurturing—blockages cause illness, while harmony yields resilience.
Qigong’s subtle breaths become “micro-habits.” You can just skip the morning e-mail flood and try a 2-minute ritual instead: Inhale slowly amid Edsa traffic, exhale chaos. Harvard data shows 20 percent to 30 percent focus gains, creating strategic executives from scattered souls. These tiny acts sharpen intuition and decisionmaking. Build on this with tai chi’s lunchhour flows—simple arm circles and weight shifts in the office pantry.
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No gym needed; just five minutes to realign posture and breath. Postpandemic, Philippine BPOs and tech firms have been rolling out similar programs, slashing absenteeism as employees recharge qi instead of crashing. Burnout’s hidden ROI? More innovation, higher productivity, and less turnover. DOLE data confirms that wellness programs cut BPO turnover by 25 percent. Mindful pauses flip the old script, channeling stress into stamina for the long game. Now, when you layer in a gratitude practice, you can counter stressors like AI overload. Log three small wins each night, from closing a deal to a team’s breakthrough idea. This reprograms scarcity mindsets into abundance, fostering resilient
Beyond good intentions: Why interest rate caps might fuel the debt trap
✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Publisher
As 2026 unfolds, leaders who cultivate inner energy will pivot faster, negotiate bolder, and innovate sustainably. Global data confirms this—Qi-focused firms spark creativity that outpaces rivals that remain glued to grind culture.
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HE Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposal to impose a 10-percent monthly interest rate cap on unsecured loans of up to P20,000 has revived a debate that global regulators, multilateral institutions, and central banks have wrestled with for decades: do interest rate ceilings genuinely protect borrowers—or do they quietly exclude them from the formal financial system? The draft circular, published on October 29 and expected to take effect this month, expands a 2022 policy that applied only to loans of P10,000 or less. SEC Chair Francis Lim has said the move is intended to reflect current socioeconomic conditions, particularly the growing number of Filipinos burdened by excessive interest rates and abusive online lending practices. The objective is legitimate. The concern is the mechanism. At the center of the debate is a concept often absent from public discourse but fundamental to credit markets: the market-clearing rate. This is the interest level at which
lenders are willing to supply credit and borrowers are willing—and able—to take it. When regulation forces rates below this level, the market does not adjust by becoming kinder. It adjusts by becoming narrower. This matters most in the segment the SEC seeks to regulate: small, unsecured loans. These loans are inherently high-risk and high-cost to administer. They come with no collateral, short tenors, elevated default probabilities, and significant collection and compliance costs. For lenders, pricing is not merely about profit—it is about survival. When a cap is set below what
At the center of the debate is a concept often absent from public discourse but fundamental to credit markets: the marketclearing rate. This is the interest level at which lenders are willing to supply credit and borrowers are willing—and able—to take it. When regulation forces rates below this level, the market does not adjust by becoming kinder. It adjusts by becoming narrower.
compensates for these risks, lenders do not lend at a loss. Instead, they respond predictably. They tighten requirements—asking for more documents, higher credit scores, longer employment histories—or they exit the segment entirely. The result is not cheaper credit. It is less credit. This is the core of the warning raised by CitizenWatch Philippines. Their position is not ideological. It is grounded in how lenders actually behave when price controls are imposed. Global evidence bears this out. An IMF working paper examining the effects of interest rate caps in Cambodia found that ceilings sharply reduced access to formal credit for small borrowers. Instead of lowering
leadership that thrives in uncertainty. It would be good to choose a theme for the coming year and to align every deal, hire, and business decision to this one theme so that, at the end of the year, you are transformed and are closer to your dreams. As 2026 unfolds, leaders who cultivate inner energy will pivot faster, negotiate bolder, and innovate sustainably. Global data confirms this— Qi-focused firms spark creativity that outpaces rivals that remain glued to grind culture. Pinoy leaders, the call is clear: 2026 isn’t a race to outwork others—it’s about outlasting them through flow. Starting tomorrow, claim one micro-habit: a dawn breath, a midday sit, a grateful note to close the workday. In a world of disruption, your inner qi is the ultimate asset. So cultivate your flow today. To all readers—executives, entrepreneurs, and everyday hustlers— here’s to a fresh year filled with flowing qi, resilient strength, and nurtured dreams. May 2026 bring you harmony amid the chaos.
borrowing costs, the policy resulted in credit rationing. Borrowers who were denied loans by regulated institutions turned to informal lenders charging far higher effective rates. The study concluded that caps disproportionately harmed low-income borrowers with thin or nonexistent credit histories. The International Monetary Fund has repeatedly cautioned that interest rate caps distort credit markets when they fail to reflect risk, administrative costs, and default probabilities—factors that are most pronounced in small, short-term, unsecured lending. The World Bank has reached similar conclusions. Across multiple country studies, it has found that interest rate ceilings often undermine financial inclusion, particularly for informal workers and micro-entrepreneurs. By shrinking the supply of regulated credit, caps expand the reach of unregulated lenders—the very actors regulation seeks to curb. This is what CitizenWatch convenor Orlando Oxales warned in a recent Monday Circle forum arguing that well-intentioned policies can produce unintended outcomes if they do not align with market dySee “Gagni,” A11
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From ports to BIR On trust ratings administration: What Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq. Mendoza and Baquiran THE PATRIOT must learn (and unlearn) Joel L. Tan-Torres
DEBIT CREDIT Part one
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HE appointment of Commissioner Charlito “Charlie” Mendoza and Deputy Commissioner Vener Baquiran has triggered fresh hopes—and some quiet worries—about the future of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). Both officials bring substantial experience from Customs administration and collection, but the world they are now entering is very different. If they are to succeed, they will have to treat their first months at the BIR as a serious learning and re-orientation period, not a mere change of office signage. In Customs, the focus is on border control, shipment-based enforcement, and real-time engagement at a limited number of ports. Decisions revolve around containers, declarations, valuation, and physical inspection. In the BIR, the task is to administer a mass tax system—millions of individual and corporate taxpayers, complex income and business taxes, sustained audit processes, and dayto-day taxpayer service, from registration to refund. The unit of analysis is not just a shipment; it is an entire business model and business cycle of a taxpayer. For Commissioner Mendoza and Deputy Commissioner Baquiran, this means internalizing the intricacies of the Tax Code and its implementing issuances, and more importantly, understanding how these play out in the BIR’s audit and protest procedures— NOD, PAN, FAN, FDDA—where due process, documentation and timelines are critical. They must immerse themselves in the Bureau’s evolving digital backbone: eTIS, EIS, EFPS, ORUS, RELIEF, and eInvoicing, and how these systems can be harnessed for risk-based audit and service, not just for compliance statistics. They also have to absorb the taxpayer rights framework, including the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and the growing expectation of transparent, respectful audit engagements. Equally important, they must learn the institutional culture and ecosystem surrounding the BIR. Tax administration is a continuous and often delicate conversation with tax practitioners, accountants, lawyers, professional organizations, and corporate boards. The way a BIR Commissioner talks to PICPA, TMAP, IBP, PCCI, other groups, and the taxpayer community can either build cooperative compliance or harden a climate
Gagni. . .
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namics. Riders needing emergency motorcycle repairs, market vendors facing sudden cash shortfalls—these borrowers rarely meet the stricter documentation and credit-scoring thresholds that lenders impose once pricing flexibility is removed. When formal doors close, informal ones open. International experience reinforces the point. Japan was cited during the forum as a cautionary case. When lending rate restrictions were tightened alongside aggressive enforcement, credit availability for higher-risk borrowers contracted, and borrowing activity migrated toward informal channels. Subsequent reforms shifted away from rigid price controls toward disclosure, transparency, and borrower protection—regulating conduct rather than fixing prices. Online loan sharking has flourished in this space. Industry estimates place the digital lending and online credit market at around P56
Equally important, they must learn the institutional culture and ecosystem surrounding the BIR. Tax administration is a continuous and often delicate conversation with tax practitioners, accountants, lawyers, professional organizations, and corporate boards. The way a BIR Commissioner talks to PICPA, TMAP, IBP, PCCI, other groups, and the taxpayer community can either build cooperative compliance or harden a climate of fear and hostility. of fear and hostility. Their enforcement mindset from Customs can be a strength—if properly redirected. The BIR badly needs stronger risk management, disciplined follow-through on big cases on the Run-After-Fake transactions and the flood control investigations, and the courage to confront entrenched rackets. But tax administration cannot be run as a chain of “raids.” The challenge is to temper enforcement with systems thinking and a deep understanding of risk-based tax administration, cooperative compliance, and principled engagement with taxpayers. To be continued 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 various corporate boards. He is a Certified Public Accountant who ranked No. 1 in the CPA Board Examination of May 1979. He has his own tax and consultancy practice in JL2T Consulting and can be contacted at joeltantorres@yahoo.com.
billion, much of it operating at the edges—or entirely outside—regulatory oversight. Predatory lenders thrive not because credit is expensive, but because legal alternatives are scarce. It is also important to distinguish between predatory lending and traditional “5-6” arrangements. Predatory lending relies on opaque terms, excessive fees, harassment, and illegal data practices. The classic 5-6 model, costly as it is, remains transparent and immediate—often the last accessible option for borrowers excluded from formal finance. None of this argues against regulation. It argues for better regulation. Global evidence suggests that risk-based pricing bands, strict enforcement against abusive collection practices, mandatory transparency in loan terms, and swift sanctions against illegal lenders are more effective than blunt interest rate ceilings. In credit markets, protection that ignores economics does not eliminate risk. It merely relocates it. And too often, it relocates it to the shadows.
A
ND the verdict is out. A negative trust rating is not only indicative of poor performance but of lack of confidence from those who participated in the survey. In private companies, the moment management loses its trust in key officers, they are unceremoniously replaced or transferred to another less relevant position. Same thing goes with Board members. They are replaced once the shareholders lose confidence in their abilities to lead the company.
I have witnessed these kinds of forced resignations, lateral transfers, and unexpected reassignments. They can be messy. Since it does not work that way in public service, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) gets to stay and finish his term until 2028 unless he steps down or gets impeached, negative trust rating or otherwise. PBBM will not likely resign, although pressures are mounting. Of course, some government officials can resign anytime, even the Chief Executive as in the case of former president Erap Estrada who stepped down amid negative public opinion in 2001. For those lower in rank, they can resign as well, subject to the acceptance of the appointing authority. Take the case of Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) members/advisors, Benjamin Magalong, Rogelio Singson, and Rossana Fajardo. All resigned prior to the end of the ICI under different circumstances. There might be public pressure or personal reasons behind their decisions. Yet the fact remains they opted not to finish the jobs they were expected to do. No one can please everyone. Doing something acceptable to most is not necessarily the right thing to do. Doing something right but unpopular may lead to negative publicity. This catch 22 situation will ultimately lead to dissatisfaction from one sector or another. From my experience in the pri-
vate and public sectors, leading organizations is and should never be a popularity contest. I remember my predecessor in the Bureau—Commissioner Ricardo David Jr., who led with much tenacity to get rid of corruption in the agency. Being a former Chief of Staff of the AFP, he adopted military-style policies to remove those with derogatory information from sensitive positions. Within days of the revamp, he received various complaints from the Ombudsman. From David’s point of view, why allow these people he didn’t trust to stay any day longer in positions that would be filled with opportunities for corruption. Even those who were given second chances were not spared once they participate in anomalous behavior, something that was prevalent in graft-ridden agencies like the Bureau. Trust not earned can easily be lost. I always place my trust in the goodness of men. I think it’s the system that makes people fail. The culture of impunity in the halls of power makes it easier for others to succumb to temptation. A few good men and women remain, hopefully enough to make meaningful changes in the long run. I had high expectations when President Noynoy Aquino came to power in 2010. But, in my eyes, he tried but failed to really extract the roots of the systemic problem given his inability to withstand the pres-
Monday, December 29, 2025 A11
I always place my trust in the goodness of men. I think it’s the system that makes people fail. The culture of impunity in the halls of power makes it easier for others to succumb to temptation. A few good men and women remain, hopefully enough to make meaningful changes in the long run. sures from his political party and family. I voted for President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016 hoping he would have the political will and stubbornness to combat corruption. But, alas, he too was not bull-strong enough to fight the system as he allowed some of those around him to just continue the evil practices in government. When PBBM came to power in 2022, I had little expectations given his political background and dynastic inclinations. As he publicly pronounced the importance of having an anti-political dynasty law passed during his administration, I remain hopeful. I go back and trust in the goodness of men even though the initial version of the bill does not prohibit but merely regulates and, in fact, legitimizes the family business of politics. Most of my friends do not share my new outlook. My old self will have that mindset of trying to control things that I cannot. Fortunately, my new self goes to that doctrine found in my favorite Bible verse, portions of which are embedded in the Preamble of the 1987 Constitution. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6). If I rely on my own understanding in how things are panning out for my motherland, I will surely be discouraged. Some of my friends have become frustrated, annoyed, and even to the point of being apathetic. Some have migrated to other countries; some have opted to stay in the sidelines and just watch with pity how some political dynasties
Rizal disturbs: Elias, Salome, and the lost moral spine of the Noli By Dr. Pablo S. Trillana III
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VERY December 30, we offer Rizal flowers and fine words, then go home relieved. Rizal will not permit that comfort. He disturbs. He refuses to become a harmless statue, convenient to the very habits he exposed: the worship of rank, the trade of conscience for comfort, the preference for safety over truth.
If you want his disturbance made human, return to the unprinted chapter of Elias and Salome—the “love chapter” he wrote and then withheld from the final text of Noli Me Tangere. There are no speeches. There is only a hut by the lake, a young woman sewing, watching the water the way one watches a promise. Then footsteps. Elias appears, not by banca but by the shadows of the trees, because the lake is being patrolled. He brings what a hunted man can bring: a bundle of firewood, a bunch of bananas, and a wriggling dalag—tenderness carried in the plainest of offerings. Salome asks about the picnic by the lake. Elias answers briefly: laughter, pretty girls, and among them Maria Clara, loved by a rich young man newly returned from Europe. Two Philippines share one landscape: one with leisure, one with fear. Then the turn, quick and merciless. Elias says goodbye, because the sun is setting and it will not do for people to say that the night overtook him there. Salome has been crying. She is leaving too—for Mindoro, to live with relatives, to pay a debt her mother left, because it is not right for her to live alone, and because typhoon and flood can take everything into the lake. To leave the house where one was born and grew up, she says, is to give up more than a roof;
it is to give up a part of one’s being. Elias hears departure and mistakes it for rejection. He reaches for the defense the hunted learn early: cut the thread before it strangles the beloved hand. “Forget me,” he tells her—the cruel mercy of trying to save her by erasing himself. Salome answers with the clean dignity of the poor: there is no complaint in her words, only the fear of being left alone when the pursuers finally catch him. And she offers the remedy Rizal keeps demanding of us: keep the house; keep the memory. This is not decorative romance. It is the missing moral spine of the Noli: the tender interior of the nation —home, memory, conscience, love – briefly meeting the heated exterior history, danger, struggle, structures. The two are forced apart. The novel moves on. We are left with the ache of something essential cut away. Rizal then drives the blade into the graveyard. At a tomb in the woods—an ancestor’s mausoleum under a balete —Elias points Basilio toward what has been buried: money, papers, and a name. Don Pedro Eibarramendia. Ibarra’s forebear whose false accusation ruined Elias’s family and set his suffering in motion. Suddenly, bloodline is not pedigree but debt. Before that tomb, the nation itself is compelled to look at the grave
Let Rizal disturb you—not to paralyze you with guilt, but to wake you into discipline. Let the unprinted “love chapter” of Elias and Salome remind you what is at stake: a Republic that can finally reunite courage and tenderness, competence and conscience, structure and soul. beneath its wealth and power, and at the moral accounting beneath its social order. Elias is the nation’s moral courage under pressure. Salome is the nation’s interior strength. When those two are separated, we fall into two traps. Courage without tenderness becomes cruelty. Tenderness without courage becomes helplessness. In the printed Noli, the separation becomes final. Elias dies near that same tomb and, with his last breath, instructed Basilio: gather firewood, burn what must be burned, dig what must be dug, and, if no one comes, use what is recovered for education. From a grave, a future. So, who comes back for the reunion? Not Elias and Salome as characters, in some cheap resurrection. The one who returns is Basilio— and after Basilio, every generation that chooses to return to the moral center of the story. Elias returns as duty. Salome returns as conscience. The reunion happens in the living: when an educated new generation learns to carry both tenderness and courage, and to bring them together by the lake of our ancestors. Rizal foresaw this task. In Las Filipinas Dentro de Cien Anos, he
have pillaged the country to dry! In my case, I will still continue to do what I can to help this country get rid of corruption despite being in the private sector. Much as I did not tolerate nor condone unholy transactions when I was in the public service, I will not allow others around me to tempt the corruptible people in government. Some of my colleagues may file complaints and publicly and actively air grievances or castigate and openly criticize the few rotten eggs in the government bureaucracy or keep on praying for our government leaders especially the misguided ones. I will do a combination of what they do, particularly the praying part. After all, my pastor-mentor has been constantly reminding me and the rest of his disciple group members to keep on encouraging others around us to spread the Word of God. As a law professor, I know that all Filipinos are encouraged if not supposed to implore the aid of Almighty God “in order to build a just and humane society and establish a Government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations”. Only God can help us and in God we should place our trust. Let go and let God. Over time, as a Filipino and a believer, I developed that trust in His promises. He never fails us although things may appear gloomy and hopeless. His trust rating never dips. Amid all the troubles that this country face today, let us focus our eyes on The One who is relentlessly faithful to those who call on Him. 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 the Philippines, Malcolm Law Offices, a US based software development company called Infogix Inc., University of the East, Bureau of Immigration, Philippine Airlines and SM Prime Holdings. His professional degrees came from the United States Military Academy at West Point in New York, Ateneo Law School, and University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA. He has delivered leadership and management talks in government agencies. Siegfred is a former soldier and a lawyer by profession, a teacher by passion, and a writer with a mission.
speaks of Filipinos—with recollection of the past—entering the wide road of progress and strengthening the Mother Country both internally and externally, at home and abroad. That “wide road” is not speed. It is wholeness: outer ability rejoined to inner strength. This is the “habiting” we must learn: disciplined love. Disciplined love is not a mood. It is practice: the official who will not be bribed, the contractor who will not cut corners, the teacher who will not surrender the mind of a child, the voter who refuses to be bought. It is also the quieter work of keeping the house—keeping decency, reverence, and shame from being surrendered to cynicism. A people without an interior life of dignity will always need strongmen. This is where the darkness of Luna’s Spoliarium meets the coming dawn of van Gogh’s Starry Night. Spoliarium is power without mercy. Starry Night is light that refuses to die. One is what we become when conscience is silenced. The other is what we can become if we recover it. Let Rizal disturb you—not to paralyze you with guilt, but to wake you into discipline. Let the unprinted “love chapter” of Elias and Salome remind you what is at stake: a Republic that can finally reunite courage and tenderness, competence and conscience, structure and soul. When that reunion begins—in small, stubborn, daily acts—we will still honor Rizal on December 30. But the honor will no longer be mere ceremony. It will be participation, until the disturbance becomes song in our hands.
A12 Monday, December 29, 2025
Wage issues abound in ’25 labor inspection findings—DOLE B J X G @jxrgarcia
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AGE-RELATED concerns, including the improper payment and non-remittance of wages and mandated benefits, were among the most prevalent issues flagged during labor inspections in 2025, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said over the weekend. DOLE Assistant Secretary Lennard C. Serrano said inspectors frequently encountered establishments that failed to fully comply with minimum wage requirements or provide wage-related benefits. “There are cases of improper payment of the minimum wage or wage-related benefits,” Serrano said when asked about the usual findings during inspections. These issues were identified from inspections conducted in more than 33,007 private establishments nationwide, covering over 3 million workers during the year. Initial inspection results showed that around 63.42 percent of establishments were compliant at the time of inspection. Compliance rates improved after employers were issued notices S “DOLE,” A
2nd Front Page BusinessMirror
DOT revs up tourism drive in Australia amid terrorism fears B M. S F. A
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@akosistellaBM Special to the BM
HE Department of Tourism (DOT) will step up its efforts to promote the Philippines to Australia, especially in the light of the recent portrayals by foreign media of the country being a “hotbed of terrorism.” In a Viber message after the DOT’s budget was approved by the Bicameral Conference Committee, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco told the BM that, while Australia has already been included in its promotions work program, “efforts will be made to ensure an increase in [the Philippines’s] visibility.” The DOT was allocated P1 billion branding funds for 2026. (See, “Congress OKs P3.65 billion DOT budget, doubles branding funds,” in the BM, Dec. 23, 2025.)
From January to November this year, Australians were the fourth largest tourism market for the Philippines, with 258,233 having visited the country, or 15.5 percent higher than the same period in 2024.
The DOT’s record of visitors per nationality includes Australian passport holders arriving from other parts of the globe. President Marcos Jr. recently disputed the terrorism hotspot tag on the Philippines after a mass shooting of Jewish celebrants at Bondi Beach occurred on December 14. The two perpetrators were found to have visited Davao in November 2025, a city in Southern Philippines accessible to other areas in Mindanao, where Islamist militants may continue to operate. A travel advisory by the Australian government posted on December 2, but reinforced on December 21, tells its citizens to “exercise a high degree of caution in the Philippines overall due to the threat
of terrorism and violent crime.” https://tinyurl.com/3vsuv4rt
Mysterious subsidies by senators
AS this developed, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza) and the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), were mysteriously allocated some P248 million and P28 million, respectively, by the Bicam Committee on December 17. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of Senate’s Finance Committee, did not explain why the Senators had to allocate more funds to Tieza and TPB, considering that House Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Mikaela Suansing (Nueva Ecija) pointed out that both were government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) and had their own funding sources, so House lawmakers didn’t allot these subsidies for 2026. Tieza’s corporate budget is funded from the collection of travel taxes, which as of July 2025, reached P3.9 billion. It projects travel taxes collections to reach P7.26 billion next year. The Bicam’s P248-million allocation was for Tieza’s General Management and Supervision operations. The GOCC is the primary S “DOT,” A
www.businessmirror.com.ph
P2-B DEEPWATER PORTS TO CUT FARM INPUT TRANSPORT COSTS B A P @adapelonia
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HE Department of Agriculture (DA) has earmarked over P2 billion in the 2026 budget for the development of deepwater ports in 2026 to reduce the cost of transporting key farm inputs like fertilizers. Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the DA’s 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) will bankroll the deepwater ports set to be built in Abra de Ilog, Mindoro and Dipolog, Zamboanga del Norte. He noted that Mindoro requires around 100,000 metric tons (MT) of fertilizer annually, but these would need to hurdle various transfer points before they reach farmers, thus racking up costs. “Just at the logistics level, it’s already expensive,” Tiu Laurel told reporters in a recent interview. “If the fertilizer imported from its origin—let’s say China or Vietnam—goes directly to Mindoro, then the production cost will be significantly lower if you produce corn, onions, or rice,” he added. The DA chief explained that deepwater ports could also pull down retail prices of agricultural commodities due to their larger
capacity. “In deepwater ports, each ship can accommodate 1,000 MT, so it’s economies of scale. Then you can bring down the prices,” Tiu Laurel said. Furthermore, he noted that P400 million has been allotted to expand the Pantao Port in Albay as a deepwater port to cater to Southern Luzon, pending further studies. “Hopefully, [the construction for these deepwater ports] can start before June 2026 and be operational at the end of 2027,” Tiu Laurel said. “But the one in Albay can be operational mid-2027, since there’s already a port and we just have to extend it,” he added. Overall, however, Tiu Laurel said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “wishes” to develop 10 ports in the country. Of these, 5 will be main ports, while the remaining will be auxiliary ports to support hub-and-spoke models. In 2024, the DA chief disclosed that the agency plans to auction off the construction of ports that will primarily serve vessels carrying agricultural products. (See: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2024/09/19/da-eyes-auctionof-ports-for-ships-bearing-farmgoods/)
S “D,” A
Companies BusinessMirror
Editor: Jennifer A. Ng
Monday, December 29, 2025
B1
Terra Solar project to begin Globe’s network coverage widens commercial ops in Q1 2026
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By Lorenz S. Marasigan
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@lorenzmarasigan
HE Department of Energy (DOE) announced last Sunday the advancement in the grid interconnection under the first stage of the Terra Solar Project with the energization and “cut-in” of the project’s 500-kilovolt substation earlier this month. The first phase of the 364-megawatt (MW) hub operated by Terra Solar Philippines Inc. is expected to begin commercial operations in the first quarter of 2026. The first phase forms part of the project’s planned 2,500-MW solar capacity with a battery energy storage systems (BESS). The substation was energized along the Nagsaag-San Jose 500-kV Line 2, marking progress in the project’s interconnection with the facility operated by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP). According to the agency, these developments are part of the 200 power-generation projects that
were tagged as priority for the next three years. As of November 2025, approximately 956 MW of new generation capacity has been added across the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao grids, supplemented by 160 MW of new energy storage capacity in Luzon and Visayas. The new generation capacity comes from 14 power plants: 12 renewable energy facilities, one oilbased plant, and one natural gasfired plant. Most entered commissioning in the second half of 2025. “To help ensure that committed capacity is delivered as scheduled, the DOE is implementing active project
monitoring across generation and energy storage developments,” the DOE said. Monitoring efforts include tracking construction and commissioning milestones, addressing permitting constraints, right-of-way issues, equipment delivery risks, and site-
US firm open to expand biz in PHL Bless Aubrey Ogerio @blessogerio
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VIRGINIA-based defense logistics firm is continuing discussions with the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (Apeco) as it weighs possible expansion options in the Philippines. According to Apeco President and CEO Gil G. Taway IV, this was one of the items discussed during a meeting with executives of Anglicotech LLC, a company specializing in supply chain and logistics modernization for defense clients. Taway said the meeting on December 19 in Pasay City also reviewed the firm’s current operations in the country and assessed potential locations for future activities. The meeting touched on Anglicotech’s interest in a phased approach to investment, building on its existing presence while allowing flexibility depending on regulatory and operational conditions, read a statement from Apeco.
Anglicotech has operated in Subic since 2024, providing logistics, command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, sur veillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR) services. They also provide foreign military sales support to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States Department of Defense. Taway said discussions with the firm underscored the need for stability and policy clarity for defense-related investments, which typically require long planning horizons. “Our engagement with Anglicotech reflects a shared understanding that defense-related investments require stability,
clarity of policy, a long-term view, and good governance,” said the Apeco chief, also citing ongoing reforms within Apeco. The ecozone authority said it is positioning itself to support investments aligned with national priorities, including defense-related services, while emphasizing compliance, transparency and coordination with government agencies. Earlier, Anglicotech CEO David Cooper and Philippine country manager Edmund Rustia conducted a site visit to the Apeco area in Casiguran, Aurora on August 16 as part of the company’s evaluation process. No investment amounts or timelines were disclosed.
level implementation challenges. “Through these efforts, the DOE aims to strengthen accountability, address issues before they escalate into delays, and ensure that new capacity additions can reliably support the grid when they are needed most,” according to the DOE.
LOBE Telecom Inc. announced last Sunday the expansion of its mobile network coverage to 96.33 percent of the Philippine population as of November, though around 4 million Filipinos remain in areas with little to no mobile signal. The telecommunications provider said the expansion reflects sustained infrastructure investments and collaboration with government agencies, as it works to support the administration’s connectivity agenda. “Connectivity has become a basic need. For those still waiting to be reached, it’s a lifeline that opens doors to work, learning, financial access, and public services,” Globe President and CEO Carl Raymond R. Cruz said. “We’re committed to supporting the government’s ‘Konektadong Pinoy’ agenda and are actively working to close the last remaining coverage gaps.” The remaining 3.67 percent of the population without coverage are mostly located in geographically isolated and far-flung communities, including island municipalities and remote mountain regions. Globe has identified towns where less than 50 percent of residents have mobile coverage
and is prioritizing these areas for expansion based on feasibility, projected impact, and coordination with relevant agencies. Cruz said Globe will continue activating new sites and upgrading existing infrastructure to close remaining gaps. “We believe that by coming together, we can make universal digital access a reality,” Cruz said. The network expansion supports Globe’s growing mobile data business, which posted record revenues of P25.2 billion in the third quarter of 2025. The telco now serves 63.1 million mobile subscribers nationwide, with mobile data accounting for 86 percent of total mobile service revenues. Globe’s ongoing investments include deployment of over a thousand new cell sites and extensive 5G network upgrades to meet increasing digital demands from households, schools, and businesses. Lorenz S. Marasigan
B2
Companies BusinessMirror
Monday, December 29, 2025
PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS
December 26, 2025
Net Foreign Stocks Bid Ask Open High Low Close Volume Value Trade (Peso) Buy (Sell) FINANCIALS
ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK COMMERCE BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PB BANK PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK PHILTRUST RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK COL FINANCIAL DOMINION HLDG FERRONOUX HLDG MEDCO HLDG MANULIFE NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE
39.2 135 8.96 119 57 11.42 67.85 7.7 16.66 52.9 53.95 99.95 25.5 65.95 26.9 1.4 1.36 4.46 0.09 1,880 0.74 200 3,360
39.25 135.1 9.15 119.6 57.2 11.5 67.9 7.83 16.78 52.95 57.9 105 25.55 66.2 27 1.42 1.38 4.87 0.101 2,000 0.76 203 3,440
39.1 134 9.01 119.8 57.1 11.46 67.9 7.83 16.72 51.95 55.75 99.95 25.45 64.3 27 1.42 1.34 4.53 0.091 1,880 0.75 206 3,350
39.35 135.1 9.15 120 58.2 11.5 68.25 7.83 16.78 52.9 57.95 100 25.9 66.7 27 1.42 1.38 4.55 0.101 1,880 0.76 206 3,360
39.1 133.6 8.96 118.9 56.6 11.36 67.45 7.83 16.72 51.95 53.8 99.95 25.45 64.3 26.9 1.4 1.3 4.5 0.089 1,880 0.74 203 3,350
39.25 135 9.15 119.6 57 11.42 67.9 7.83 16.78 52.9 57.95 100 25.5 65.95 27 1.4 1.38 4.5 0.101 1,880 0.75 203 3,360
6,600 3,562,660 14,200 328,170 162,060 1,217,900 378,810 400 3,500 546,660 1,580 30 3,800 78,320 5,800 3,000 15,000 48,000 320,000 5 960,000 5,650 55
258,825 479,761,009 128,207 39,259,196 9,256,351.50 13,841,758 25,742,630.50 3,132 58,702 28,728,491.50 85,805 2,999.50 97,635 5,171,600.50 156,575 4,240 20,140 216,140 29,310 9,400 719,930 1,153,120 184,500
23,550 -50,686,076 3,797,642 -7,257,712 13,760 -3,691,515.50 2,461,011.50 48,465 976,896 -2,680 4,530 3,510 -128,184 100,750
INDUSTRIAL ACEN CORP 2.74 2.75 2.74 2.79 2.72 2.74 3,958,000 10,882,200 -815,370 ALTERNERGY HLDG 0.8 0.83 0.83 0.85 0.8 0.8 77,000 62,000 -850 ABOITIZ POWER 43 43.2 43.4 43.5 42.8 43 88,700 3,828,690 553,085 RASLAG 0.84 0.8 0.81 0.83 0.8 0.81 171,000 138,710 81,000 0.115 0.116 0.116 0.118 0.113 0.116 430,000 49,480 -23,000 BASIC ENERGY 4.13 4.24 4.12 4.24 29,000 121,140 32,860 CITICORE RE 4.24 4.24 17.26 17.34 17.5 17.22 17.26 105,200 1,823,130 -98,538 FIRST GEN 17.3 73 74.5 73 74.5 72.25 74.5 24,810 1,818,952.50 FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO 582.5 575 576 586 570 575 49,390 28,451,205 -9,368,040 MANILA WATER 39.8 40 40 40.5 39.7 39.8 612,100 24,482,520 175,765 MAYNILAD 16.78 16.66 16.7 16.46 16.46 16.7 2,925,500 48,840,624 20,229,568 2.48 2.49 2.52 2.44 2.49 176,000 436,670 -154,000 PETRON 2.52 3.21 3.3 3.48 3.22 3.44 13,000 42,450 6,240 PETROENERGY 3.44 27.95 28 28.1 28.2 27.8 27.95 690,900 19,336,665 1,946,565 SEMIRARA MINING 16.56 16.66 16.9 17 16.5 16.56 1,433,000 23,844,216 -10,054,952 SYNERGY GRID SHELL PILIPINAS 6.31 6.32 6.11 6.34 6.01 6.32 764,100 4,732,636 22,222 SPC POWER 9.41 9.42 9.45 9.45 9.35 9.42 255,900 2,414,118 847,800 SP NEW ENERGY 1.12 1.15 1.11 1.15 1.11 1.15 3,417,000 3,854,340 84,390 1.56 1.57 1.54 1.59 1.46 1.57 5,351,000 8,058,920 1,878,610 TOP LINE 0.52 0.53 0.52 0.53 118,000 61,490 AGRINURTURE 0.53 0.53 AXELUM 2.28 2.34 2.3 2.35 2.3 2.35 35,000 81,750 CENTURY FOOD 38.9 38.95 39.35 39.5 38.8 38.9 406,600 16,017,050 -3,020,895.00 DEL MONTE 4.51 4.72 4.51 4.56 4.51 4.51 85,000 384,800 DNL INDUS 3.71 3.74 3.63 3.78 3.61 3.71 6,269,000 23,258,800 6,814,900 EMPERADOR 15.88 15.88 15.86 15.6 15.34 15.88 240,400 3,759,532 1,110,978 54.9 55.4 55.75 56 54.9 55.4 18,300 1,017,945.50 -222,879 SMC FOODANDBEV 0.58 0.59 0.58 0.6 0.58 0.58 326,000 190,010 -82,880 FIGARO GROUP 0.62 0.63 0.63 0.63 252,000 158,760 FRUITAS HLDG 0.63 0.63 GINEBRA 290 293 294 290.2 293 4,050 1,182,170 -628,810 291.6 JOLLIBEE 179.9 179 181 183 179 179 382,460 68,774,548 -24,914,021 KEEPERS HLDG 2.41 2.41 2.39 2.38 2.38 2.41 847,000 2,026,700 -248,680 LIBERTY FLOUR 33.8 33.8 33 32.6 32.6 33.8 5,600 188,820 MACAY HLDG 6.5 6.6 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 100 650 2.42 2.49 2.45 2.5 2.33 2.49 122,000 300,440 -24,090 MAXS GROUP 0.06 0.061 0.062 0.062 0.061 0.061 370,000 22,600 MG HLDG MONDE NISSIN 5.86 5.88 5.81 5.94 5.81 5.86 452,400 2,658,270 -615,197 SHAKEYS PIZZA 6.63 6.86 6.7 6.82 6.61 6.82 15,600 103,488 ROXAS AND CO 2.76 2.83 2.75 2.88 2.73 2.77 28,000 77,440 RFM CORP 4.73 4.8 4.68 4.8 4.68 4.8 768,000 3,664,210 -2,544,450 SWIFT FOODS 0.051 0.053 0.051 0.051 0.051 0.051 50,000 2,550 66.5 66.65 67.5 67.5 66.5 66.5 453,270 30,342,216.50 -17,670,776.50 UNIV ROBINA 0.54 0.55 0.55 0.55 24,000 13,200 VITARICH 0.55 0.55 CONCRETE B 37.45 51.3 52.9 52.9 52.9 52.9 10 529 CONCREAT HLDG 1.1 1.1 1.05 1.05 1.05 1.1 693,000 729,970 -19,620 EEI CORP 2.64 2.67 2.65 2.65 2.65 2.65 7,000 18,550 -2,650 MEGAWIDE 3.05 2.95 3 3 2.96 3 84,000 252,040 -36,000 SUPERCITY 6.07 6.07 6.07 6.07 6.07 3,000 18,210 1.65 1.68 1.65 1.69 1.65 1.65 74,000 123,830 52,080 CROWN ASIA 0.98 1.05 1.06 1.05 1.05 4,000 4,230 -3,180 EUROMED 1.06 0.25 0.27 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 150,000 37,500 LMG CORP MABUHAY VINYL 5.1 5.15 5.09 5.15 5.09 5.15 12,400 63,233 PRYCE CORP 13.1 13.1 13 13.1 13.1 13.1 3,700 48,470 13.54 13.54 CONCEPCION 13.48 13.52 13.5 13.54 7,900 106,786 5,416 GREENERGY 0.179 0.167 0.171 0.178 0.167 0.171 3,910,000 680,070 -22,030 3.42 3.45 3.42 3.65 3.42 3.45 738,000 2,598,560 421,040 INTEGRATED MICR 1.01 1 1 1.01 165,000 166,750 IONICS 1.02 1.02 PANASONIC 10.4 10.6 10.6 10.5 10.5 3,600 37,980 10.5 CIRTEK HLDG 0.63 0.63 0.63 0.63 891,000 571,900 -29,600 0.66 0.66 STENIEL 2.18 2.18 2.16 2.1 2.1 2.18 271,000 576,920 -44,520
HOLDING & FRIMS
ABACORE CAPITAL 0.275 0.28 0.31 0.32 0.27 0.275 54,390,000 15,226,500 -9,611,600 ASIABEST GROUP 18.56 18.9 19 22.95 18.9 18.9 109,600 2,077,366 1,918 AYALA CORP 455 457.6 460 460 452.4 455 206,000 93,800,254 5,054,138 ABOITIZ EQUITY 27.5 27.5 27.25 26.55 26.55 27.5 374,000 10,184,350 5,203,705 7.69 7.7 7.56 8.09 7.54 7.7 9,229,500 72,212,985 -25,100,512 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 13.72 14.2 14.1 14.2 14 14.2 4,300 60,640 -42,220 ANSCOR 0.7 0.71 0.65 0.7 0.64 0.7 3,103,000 2,122,650 ANGLO PHIL HLDG COSCO CAPITAL 6.99 6.98 6.98 6.99 1,574,200 10,989,442 -2,443,427 7 7 DMCI HLDG 10.36 10.38 10.42 10.42 10.32 10.38 889,300 9,238,984 737,320 FILINVEST DEV 4.56 4.77 4.8 4.8 4.77 4.77 7,000 33,450 GT CAPITAL 583 584 585 587 581 583 11,950 6,975,130 1,669,800 4.51 4.6 4.51 4.6 4.51 4.6 177,000 814,020 HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT 23.35 23.5 23.4 23.75 23.35 23.35 581,900 13,644,955 3,611,815 14.48 14.5 14.4 14.5 783,700 11,332,008 -3,458,376 LT GROUP 14.5 14.5 1.11 1.16 1.12 1.15 1.11 1.11 31,000 34,640 PRIME MEDIA SOLID GROUP 1.27 1.22 1.26 1.26 1.26 1.26 5,000 6,300 SM INVESTMENTS 699.5 700 704.5 705.5 698 700 87,550 61,219,035 -25,256,420 SAN MIGUEL CORP 81.8 81.95 84 84.3 81.95 81.95 76,330 6,327,076.50 -1,651,680 1.91 2.36 1.91 1.91 1.91 1.91 1,878,000 3,586,980 SEAFRONT RES TOP FRONTIER 60 61 61 61 1,710 104,310 -104,310 61 61 0.069 0.074 0.067 0.067 0.067 0.067 20,000 1,340 ZEUS HLDG PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.415 0.425 0.415 0.42 0.415 0.42 140,000 58,200 AYALA LAND 22.45 22.45 22.4 22.1 22.05 22.45 3,435,200 76,800,135 22,500,665 AYALA LAND LOG 1.3 1.31 1.3 1.3 1.29 1.3 106,000 137,600 ALTUS PROP 8.4 8.5 8.4 8.4 8.4 8.4 20,100 168,840 0.41 0.42 0.415 0.415 0.415 0.415 120,000 49,800 ARANETA PROP AREIT RT 43.3 43.45 44 44 43.2 43.45 228,300 9,937,835 -5,847,655 0.93 0.95 0.98 0.98 0.91 0.93 298,000 274,380 A BROWN CITYLAND DEVT 0.58 0.6 0.6 0.61 0.6 0.6 16,000 9,640 CROWN EQUITIES 0.074 0.074 0.073 0.074 0.074 0.074 510,000 37,740 CEB LANDMASTERS 2.34 2.35 2.34 2.36 2.34 2.35 289,000 679,420 -4,720 CENTURY PROP 0.66 0.67 0.67 0.67 0.66 0.67 540,000 358,780 106,920 3.57 3.58 3.58 3.6 3.57 3.57 656,000 2,348,840 -136,200 CITICORE RT 9.12 9.2 9.11 9.05 9.2 34,000 310,579 2,715 DOUBLEDRAGON 9.21 1.01 1.02 1.02 1.03 1.01 1.02 2,667,000 2,720,290 -75,480 DDMP RT 4.7 4.81 4.6 4.84 85,000 392,650 36,800 DM WENCESLAO 4.84 4.84 EMPIRE EAST 0.105 0.105 0.104 0.105 0.104 0.104 110,000 11,530 3.02 3.02 FILINVEST RT 3.01 3.01 3 3.01 788,000 2,368,090 -1,105,340 FILINVEST LAND 0.77 0.77 0.76 0.76 0.75 0.76 2,142,000 1,616,240 -79,800 0.68 0.69 0.65 0.69 0.65 0.68 1,467,000 990,700 29,480 GLOBAL ESTATE 951 933 933 1,000 90 87,840 GOLDEN MV 1,000 1,000 PHIL INFRADEV 0.32 0.33 0.33 0.335 0.32 0.32 1,150,000 372,050 CITY AND LAND 0.51 0.53 0.51 0.51 0.51 0.51 1,000 510 MEGAWORLD 2.08 2.08 2.07 2.08 2.04 2.07 1,914,000 3,955,700 -416,990 MRC ALLIED 0.84 0.85 0.84 0.86 0.84 0.85 20,284,000 17,401,860 -116,450 MREIT RT 13.98 14 14 14.04 13.98 14 605,500 8,480,278 2,267,466 PREMIERE RT 1.01 1.02 1.02 1.03 1.01 1.02 324,000 329,490 1.14 1.29 1.17 1.17 1.17 1.17 1,000 1,170 PRIMEX CORP RL COMM RT 7.89 7.9 7.98 8.02 7.89 7.9 12,058,600 95,796,774 55,016,235 16.16 16.2 16.2 16.24 16.16 16.16 66,500 1,076,170 620,008.00 ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL 1.76 1.89 1.9 2 1.76 1.89 1,018,000 1,931,210 -149,120 SHANG PROP 3.42 3.42 3.41 3.41 3.4 3.42 334,000 1,140,120 347,760 STA LUCIA LAND 2.57 2.58 2.58 2.58 2.5 2.58 54,000 136,820 SM PRIME HLDG 23.5 23.6 23 23.6 22.7 23.6 6,191,700 144,948,460 -21,807,600 0.74 0.76 0.78 0.8 0.74 0.76 1,409,000 1,076,430 -24,380 SUNTRUST RESORT 0.93 0.94 0.93 0.95 0.92 0.93 2,288,000 2,130,760 130,500 VISTA LAND 1.33 1.34 1.32 1.37 1.32 1.34 354,000 476,570 -1,340 VISTAREIT RT SERVICES ABS CBN 4.21 4.28 4.1 4.38 4.1 4.28 492,000 2,074,730 GMA NETWORK 5.36 5.38 5.33 5.38 5.32 5.38 167,500 898,650 MANILA BULLETIN 0.165 0.172 0.165 0.165 0.164 0.164 40,000 6,590 GLOBE TELECOM 1,585 1,594 1,590 1,603 1,585 1,585 18,505 29,451,010 -3,726,850 1,260 1,260 1,276 1,259 1,260 14,230 18,012,675 -2,024,975 PLDT 1,275 0.0049 0.005 0.0049 0.0051 0.0047 0.0049 535,000,000 2,598,200 APOLLO GLOBAL CONVERGE 14.96 14.98 14.64 15.06 14.64 14.96 478,000 7,132,498 791,504 0.79 0.8 0.83 0.83 0.79 0.8 141,000 113,130 -91,200 DFNN INC DITO CME HLDG 0.64 0.65 0.62 0.66 0.62 0.65 6,818,000 4,378,950 2,229,460 IMPERIAL 0.83 0.73 0.72 0.72 0.72 0.72 5,000 3,600 ISLAND INFO 0.124 0.126 0.124 0.127 0.124 0.126 1,700,000 212,320 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.68 974,000 650,200 -3,620 0.68 0.68 NOW CORP 0.132 0.136 0.135 0.137 0.131 0.136 1,570,000 212,980 TRANSPACIFIC BR ASIAN TERMINALS 34.45 34.5 34.45 34.5 818,600 28,239,020 -3,141,845 34.5 34.5 0.9 0.92 0.94 0.9 0.9 2,228,000 2,021,170 13,950 CHELSEA 0.95 CEBU AIR 33.45 33.95 33 34 33 33.95 139,400 4,716,065 -149,040 INTL CONTAINER 570 570.5 570 574 563 570 677,350 384,378,200 11,982,110 LBC EXPRESS 8.1 8.87 8.87 8.87 8.87 8.87 900 7,983 4.31 4.3 4.28 4.31 113,000 486,340 -64,650.00 4.35 4.35 MACROASIA 3.77 3.8 3.8 3.8 3,000 11,400 -11,400 PAL HLDG 3.8 3.8 0.485 0.59 0.52 0.61 0.52 0.61 40,000 22,000 -10,500 HARBOR STAR 0.04 0.042 0.045 0.045 0.041 0.041 6,700,000 276,100 28,700 BOULEVARD HLDG DISCOVERY WORLD 1.13 1.13 1.08 1.08 1.08 1.13 6,000 6,580 6,580 WATERFRONT 0.42 0.42 0.405 0.42 0.41 0.41 170,000 70,200 CENTRO ESCOLAR 15.3 15.32 15.32 15.32 15.32 15.32 3,100 47,492 6.26 IPEOPLE 5.99 6.27 5.96 5.96 6.26 8,800 52,478 8,344 1.39 1.4 1.39 1.42 1.39 1.4 473,000 659,340 -350,280.00 STI HLDG 1.32 1.35 1.35 1.37 1.32 1.32 203,000 269,520 BELLE CORP BLOOMBERRY 2.54 2.55 2.52 2.52 2.54 1,496,000 3,809,290 437,110.00 2.57 PH RESORTS GRP 0.136 0.141 0.14 0.144 0.14 0.144 180,000 25,600 DIGIPLUS 15.6 16 16.34 17.02 15.52 15.6 8,098,900 130,054,446 1,973,832 PHILWEB 11,043,040 6.19 6.2 6.3 6.43 6.15 6.2 1,770,000 3,182,378 ALLDAY 0.034 0.031 0.032 0.033 0.032 0.032 11,200,000 362,200 -57,600 8 8.3 8 8.3 8 8.3 110,600 885,430 BERJAYA ALLHOME 0.24 0.247 0.248 0.24 0.24 500,000 120,880 0.248 METRO RETAIL 1.13 1.13 1.13 1.15 2,153,000 2,433,530 1.15 1.15 PUREGOLD 37.45 37.3 38.2 38.2 37.2 37.3 845,800 31,672,155 1,214,735 ROBINSONS RTL 32.8 33.1 32.45 33.45 32.4 32.8 518,900 17,011,710 -691,150.00 PHIL SEVEN CORP 36.4 37.7 36.1 37.7 36.1 37.7 13,900 510,160 81,210 SSI GROUP 2.48 2.55 2.49 2.55 2.48 2.55 100,000 249,900 -42,620 0.69 0.71 0.72 0.72 0.71 0.72 1,076,000 764,210 708,560 UPSON INTL CORP 6.96 6.97 6.95 6.96 6.92 6.96 2,113,900 14,654,705 -733,360 WILCON DEPOT 2.6 3.14 3.14 3.14 1,000 3,140 EASYCALL 3.18 3.14 IPM HLDG 1.46 1.58 1.46 1.57 1.45 1.57 2,378,000 3,471,810 -1,570 MEDILINES 0.26 0.26 0.24 0.25 0.25 0.26 20,000 5,100 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.234 0.239 0.238 0.24 0.234 0.234 150,000 35,340 -4,760 MINING & OIL 2.05 ATOK 2 2.07 2.07 2.06 2.07 6,000 12,410 APEX MINING 12.9 12.94 12.44 12.98 12.44 12.94 6,684,400 85,708,840 29,300,008 ATLAS MINING 5.76 5.8 5.7 5.89 5.7 5.8 859,500 4,957,102 61,480 4.6 4.7 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.6 14,000 64,400 BENGUET A CENTURY PEAK 2.27 2.35 2.35 2.35 5,000 11,750 11,750 2.35 2.35 5.05 5.14 5 5.29 5 5.14 88,000 449,070 -239,560 DIZON MINES 1.3 1.31 1.1 1.34 1.1 1.31 19,016,000 2,352,120 FERRONICKEL 23,042,240 GEOGRACE 0.087 0.087 0.085 0.085 0.085 0.087 30,000 2,570 -850 LEPANTO A 0.188 0.188 0.187 0.185 0.181 0.187 47,190,000 8,730,810 0.185 0.185 LEPANTO B 0.181 0.18 0.18 0.185 6,650,000 1,205,750 72,000 0.0071 0.0073 0.0071 0.0073 0.0071 0.0072 31,000,000 223,400 MANILA MINING A MANILA MINING B 0.0071 0.0076 0.0074 0.0077 0.0072 0.0072 16,000,000 118,000 35,500 0.69 0.7 0.7 0.68 0.7 629,000 438,500 MARCVENTURES 0.71 NIHAO 0.335 0.325 0.335 0.325 0.335 40,000 13,300 -3,250 0.365 NICKEL ASIA 3.9 3.93 3.65 3.95 3.65 3.9 19,381,000 74,595,650 -3,131,270 OCEANAGOLD 32.25 31.95 32 33.3 31.8 31.95 1,709,400 55,397,165 5,006,690 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.37 0.385 0.39 0.39 0.365 0.365 50,000 19,100 10.16 10.2 10.3 10.36 10.1 10.2 3,049,800 31,123,514 1,781,082 PX MINING 0.0055 0.0058 0.006 0.006 0.0056 0.0057 14,000,000 80,300 -11,600 UNITED PARAGON 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 17,500,000 192,900 ORNTL PETROL A ORNTL PETROL B 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 11,800,000 129,800 PHILODRILL 0.009 0.009 0.0085 0.0086 0.0086 0.009 64,000,000 551,200 PXP ENERGY 2.38 2.39 2.34 2.39 2.34 2.38 183,000 432,510 PREFFERED AC PREF AR 2,490 2,540 2,540 2,540 2,540 2,540 5 12,700 AC PREF B4R 1,991 2,050 2,048 2,050 2,048 2,050 150 307,300 204,800 BRN PREF A 97 99.5 99.5 99.5 99.5 99.5 90 8,955 BRN PREF B 100.4 103.5 103.5 103.5 103.5 103.5 40 4,140 102.7 105.5 105.5 105.5 105.5 105.5 70 7,385 BRN PREF C CLI PREF A2 1,050 1,070 1,075 1,075 1,050 1,050 275 293,350 CPG PREF B 100.1 103 100.2 103 100.2 103 20 2,032 DD PREF 96.5 96.6 96.5 96.5 22,730 2,197,759 3,864 97 97 EEI PREF B 97 98.4 98.2 98.2 98.2 98.2 2,990 293,618 GTCAP PREF B 974 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 10 10,000 JFC PREF B 975.5 992 994 994 994 994 10 9,940 100.5 102 102 102 102 102 10 1,020 MWIDE PREF 5 MWIDE PREF 6A 98.5 102.4 98.85 98.85 98.5 98.5 400 39,425 MWIDE PREF 6B 100.2 102.9 100.2 100.2 100.2 100.2 20 2,004 MWIDE PREF 6C 102.6 103.8 103.8 103.8 102.5 102.5 680 69,960 MWIDE PREF 7B 100.3 105 105 105 105 105 50 5,250 PCOR PREF 3B 1,000 1,010 1,004 1,004 1,004 1,004 150 150,600 PCOR PREF 4D 999 1,300 998 998 998 998 100 99,800 1,000 1,015 1,015 1,015 1,015 1,015 120 121,800 PCOR PREF 4E SMC PREF 2N 80 80.5 80 80 80 80 730 58,400 SMC PREF 2O 80 81.55 81.55 81.55 79 81.55 7,120 567,064 SMC PREF 2S 76 77.8 75.05 77.8 75.05 77.8 2,010 156,350.50 -93,360 SMC PREF 2U 76.4 77.4 76.2 77.4 76.2 77.4 720 54,924 -51,054 TECH PREF B2C 12.8 13 13 13 13 13 1,200 15,600 TECH PREF B2D 8.2 8.25 8.2 8.25 8.2 8.25 800 6,585 VLL PREF 2A 84.75 90.6 84.5 90.6 84.5 90.6 30 2,657 86.2 91.75 91.75 91.75 91.75 91.75 10 917.5 VLL PREF 2B
PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS
ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR
WARRANTS
AGI WARRANT
3.76 4.1 3.99 4.1 3.99 4.1 72,000 294,740 5.06 5.29 5.29 5.29 5.29 5.29 1,000 5,290 1.14
SMALL, MEDIUM & EMERGING
BALAI FRUITAS CTS GLOBAL HAUS TALK ITALPINAS LFM PROP MERRYMART XURPAS NEXGEN ENERGY
0.33 0.37 1.03 0.84 0.04 0.39 0.242 3.06
1.15
1.1
1.2
1.1
1.15
2,992,000
3,466,490
-
0.36 0.39 1.06 0.85 0.043 0.405 0.249 3.17
0.325 0.39 1.08 0.85 0.041 0.39 0.243 3.17
0.37 0.39 1.08 0.85 0.041 0.39 0.243 3.17
0.325 0.39 1.03 0.84 0.041 0.39 0.24 3.17
0.36 0.39 1.06 0.84 0.041 0.39 0.242 3.17
2,030,000 10,000 200,000 9,000 400,000 130,000 620,000 2,000
673,500 3,900 210,800 7,580 16,400 50,700 149,310 6,340
-6,340
EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF
98.8
-5,290
99
99.4 99.5 99 99 11,970 1,187,335 2,974
www.businessmirror.com.ph
SEC adopts PRFS guidelines on sustainability disclosures
T
By VG Cabuag
@villygc
HE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted the Philippine Financial Reporting Standards on sustainability disclosures.
The new rule has set clear guidelines aimed at helping covered companies prepare and submit sustainability reports in line with international standards. In a memorandum circular issued before Christmas, the agency adopts the PFRS S1 on the “General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information” and the PFRS S2 on “Climate-related Disclosures.” The circular effectively repeals SEC MC 4 (Series of 2019), which only required publicly-listed companies to submit sustainability reports. The PFRS on Sustainability Disclosures is aligned with the International Financial Reporting Standards issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board, which have been adopted by other
ASEAN capital markets such as Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. “The adoption of the PFRS on Sustainability Disclosures underscore our commitment to high-quality, comparable, and globally aligned sustainability reporting,” SEC chairman Francis E. Lim said. “By elevating the standards of sustainability reporting in the Philippines, we hope to enable more companies and stakeholders to better understand the financial impacts of sustainability-related risks and opportunities, supporting long-term value creation and improved capital allocation decisions,” he said. Under the memorandum circular, listed firms and large non-listed firms are required to submit their sustainability reports reviewed and
STOCK-MARKET OUTLOOK LAST WEEK SHARE prices moved higher during a shortened trading week, as volume was limited due to the Christmas holidays. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 144.77 points to close at 6,065.64 points. Most of the gains were made at the start of the week on Monday as the holiday mood blanketed investor sentiments. The average daily trading value only reached P4.04 billion, with foreign investors, who cornered half of the trades, remaining net sellers at P901.73 million. All of the sub-indices ended on the green, led by the broader All Shares index that closed 66.94 points higher to 3,464.66. The Financials index rose 67.56 to 2,066.68, the Industrial index was up 39.77 to 8,582.98 and the Holding Firms index gained 46.70 to 4,736.04. The Property index increased 79.38 to 2,301, the Services index climbed 58.99 to 2,381.72 and the Mining and Oil index soared 1,186.63 to 15,237.63. For the week, gainers led losers 131 to 88, and 30 shares were unchanged. The top gainers were Supercity Realty Development Corp., Suntrust Resort Holdings Inc., Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc., Easycall Communications Philippines Inc., Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc., ABS-CBN Corp. and Victorias Milling Co. Inc. The top losers, meanwhile, were AbaCore Capital Holdings Inc., Asiabest Group International Inc., NiHAO Mineral Resources International Inc., SPC Power Corp., Ferronoux Holdings Inc., Apollo Global Capital Inc. and Greenergy Holdings Inc.
THIS WEEK SHARE prices may continue to rise this week, partly as a result of window-dressing by companies during the last trading of the year and also to start fresh for a new year. There will be only two trading sessions for the week: on Monday, the last for 2025, and on Friday, the first for 2026. “Limited volume and cautious positioning likely suggest investors are waiting for clearer catalysts before making more decisive moves ahead of the yearend,” Luis A/ Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp., said. Broker 2TradeAsia said the main index is likely to close the year on a whimper, despite technicals and valuations pointing to a gradual rebound in the first half of 2026. “Easing inflation, further BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) rate cuts, and improving governance support a base-case rebound, aided by resilient consumption and potential foreign inflows on peso stability,” the broker said. However, the delayed signing of the 2026 budget, now expected in early January, risks a brief reenacted regime, potentially delaying infrastructure spending and triggering short-term liquidity squeezes into the first quarter, according to 2TradeAsia. “Persistent low-rate BSP regime and commodity strength favor Philippine risk assets longer-term, though holiday-thinned volumes warrant caution. Year-end window dressing may provide uplift but monitor budget resolution and global commodity movements for momentum confirmation,” added the broker. “Confidence without caution is recklessness, caution without confidence is paralysis; position for the year ahead, understanding that the cost of ‘beating the market’ is disciplined conviction,” 2TradeAsia said. Immediate support for the main index is seen at 5,800 points, and resistance level at 6,000, secondary at 6,100.
STOCK PICKS REGINA Capital gave a “buy” rating on Philippine Seven Corp. (PSE: SEVN), but with a trimmed target price of P58 per share, implying an upside of 60 percent. The broker said the downward revision in valuation was primarily driven by softerthan-expected performance in the third quarter, as weather disruptions and slower consumer spending weighed on its net income. “Despite these near-term headwinds, the medium-term outlook remains positive, supported by strong holiday-season consumption, ongoing store expansion, and continued market penetration across high-growth regions,” it said. SEVN closed last week at P37.70 apiece. Meanwhile, the broker also gave a “buy” rating on the stock of Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (PSE: AEV), with a target price of P43 per share. “Despite pressures on power and banking earnings, improving momentum across food, real estate, and infrastructure segments supports a constructive outlook,” the broker said. Diversification across businesses provides resilience amid cyclical headwinds, it added. “We maintain a positive long-term view,” the broker said. AEV closed last week at P27.50 apiece. VG Cabuag
approved by the board of directors, as an attachment to their annual report. Those large firms that are not covered by the provision shall submit sustainability reports together with their audited financial statements. The mandatory adoption of PFRS S1 and PFRS S2 will be implemented in a tiered approach, beginning in 2026. Tier 1 covers listed firms with a market capitalization of over P50 billion as of December 31, 2025, or at the date of their listing after the same date, with reporting starting in 2027, covering fiscal year 2026. Tier 2 involves listed firms with a market capitalization of over P3 billion up to P50 billion as of December 31, 2025, or upon their listing after the same period. The covered companies are required to adopt the PFRS for their sustainability reports for the fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2027, with reporting due in 2028. Adoption of the PFRS will begin in 2028 for Tier 3, covering the fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2028. This applies to those listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange, with market capitalization of P3 billion or less as of December 31, 2025, or at the date of its listing after the same
MUTUAL FUNDS
date, as well as publicly listed firms with debt securities listed solely on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. and with no equity securities listed in the PSE. Tier 3 also covers large non listed firms with annual revenue of more than P15 billion for the immediately preceding fiscal year, with revenue generated from their ordinary activities, as defined by the applicable PFRS Accounting Standards. For parent firms, the threshold shall be based on the consolidated or grouplevel revenues, otherwise, it shall be based on the company-level. The rules also allow covered companies to adopt other international frameworks, as an addition to PFRS S1 and S2, provided they do not conflict with PFRS S1 and S2, obscure material information, and are properly disclosed. They also need to implement a mandatory limited assurance on Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by an independent assurance practitioner two years after the implementation of PFRS S1 and S2 for each tier, in line with the International Standard on Sustainability Assurance 5000, to ensure a consistent and high-quality sustainability assurance engagement.
December 26, 2025
NAV ONE YEARTHREE YEAR FIVE YEAR Y-T-D PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES (SHARES) ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC. -A213.79 -2.68% 0.79% -1.38% -1.42% -2.54% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 2.1285 18.05% 17.1% 10.06% 6.37% 17.27% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 2.8487 -4.83% -0.78% -2.09% -2.46%-4.52% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP. -A 0.752 1.91% 3.1% -1.49% N.A5.4% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND, INC. -A 0.5527 -12.6% -5.19% -5.9% N.A -13.32% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND, INC. -A 4.3662 -6.31% -2.06% -2.63% -1.85% -5.97% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A 0.641 -7.5% -3.03% -3.55% N.A-7.57% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. -A 88.07 24.18% 5.58% -2.79% N.A 23.84% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC. -A 41.295 -5.67% -1.55% -2.67% -1.23% -5.55% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 448.98 -3.02% 0.27% -1.86% -1.18% -2.87% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC. -A 1.5514 12.23% 10.49% 5.72% 2.82% 11.27% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC. -A34.3564 -2.19% 1.05% -0.34% 0.15% -1.95% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A 0.8881 -0.48% 1.52% -0.71% N.A 0.21% PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND, INC. -A 4.4608 -3.82% -0.32% -1.6% -0.35% -3.72% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 733.77 -4.78% -0.74% -1.93% -0.57% -4.71% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 0.6999 -2.17% 1.32% -0.77% -1.99% -1.8% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC. -A 3.2075 -8.65% -1.67% -2.61% -1.77%-8.23% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC. -A 0.8227 -5.75% -1.22% -2.34% -0.83%-5.68% UNITED FUND, INC. -A3.2433.7%1.56% -0.63% 0.3% 2.52% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES (UNITS) COL EQUITY INDEX UNITIZED MUTUAL FUND, INC. -A 1.0313 -4.81% -0.85% N.A N.A -4.68% COL STRATEGIC GROWTH EQUITY UNITIZED MUTUAL FUND, INC. -A 1.039 -1.48% N.A N.A N.A -1.52% PHILEQUITY ALPHA ONE FUND, INC. -A 0.9385 -8.97% -3.28% -2.9% N.A -9.49% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 885.08 -5.46% -0.97% N.A N.A -5.39% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (SHARES) FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC. -A,C 99.8383 -5.2% -0.48% -1.65% -0.06%-5.14% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES (SHARES) ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC. -B $1.0094 20.83% 5.62% -3.14% 1.34% 21.57% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC. -A $2.2065 14.46% 15.57% 5.87% N.A 14.58% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES (SHARES) 0.78% -1.41% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.1368 -0.22% 0.03% 0.23% ATRAM UNICAPITAL DIVERSIFIED GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 1.6338 3.87% 3.71% -0.43% -0.62%4.72% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.4585 -2.55% -0.63% -1.42% -0.88%-2.27% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN F.O.C.C.U.S. DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 0.2308 6.26% 6.51% 2.95% N.A6.36% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC. -A,1 1.9997 0.48% 0.86% 0.28% 1.11% -0.61% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC. -A3.7857 2.37% 3.09% -0.11% 0.64% 2.59% PHILAM FUND, INC. -A15.9927-1.05% 1.62% -1.23% 0.02% -0.91% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC. -A2.1022 -0.33% 1.83% -0.02% 0.48% -0.03% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 3.4374 -1.98% 1% -0.88% -0.42%-1.61% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 0.9115 -2.01% 1.19% 0.35% -0.18% -1.69% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES (UNITS) SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2028, INC. -A 0.9779 1.51% 2.22% -0.95% N.A 1.49% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2038, INC. -A 0.8405 -2.4% 0.16% -2.56% N.A -2.35% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2048, INC. -A 0.809 -4.02% -0.56% -2.98% N.A -3.93% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES (SHARES) COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC. -A $0.03423 6.14% 1.8% -2.66% -0.33% 6.64% 24.44% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC. -B $1.2001 10.31% 0.97% 3.15% 23.72% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC. -A $5.3012 11.67% 11.06% 3.43% 5.58%11.82% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC. -A $1.1771 8.27% 6.32% 0.28% N.A8.39% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES (SHARES) ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A419.57 4.07% 3.59% 2.49% 2.66% 4.09% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC. -A 1.9576 2.74% 1.46% 0.6% 0.32% 2.69% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 3.5811 3.21% 3.55% 2.19% 3.5% 3.27% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND, INC. -A 2.4541 3.65% 4.05% 1.33% 1.89% 3.93% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 2.5705 3.04% 2.38% 0.95% 1.55%3.18% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC. -A4.612 3.5% 3.32% -0.09% 1.53% 3.87% PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 1.5213 4.88% 4.79% 2.88% 2.76% 4.92% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 4.316 3.69% 3.65% 1.6% 2.35% 3.77% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. -A1.1213 4.04% 3.3% 1.53% 2.03% 4.13% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.5551 3.7% 4.04% 2.14% 2.92% 3.95% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC. -A 1.8873 3.58% 3.58% 1.53% 2.36% 3.82% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES (SHARES) ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.64% 3.27% 1.8% 2.37% $528.68 3.56% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. -AЄ223.54 2.04% 2.13% 0.4% 0.81% 2.06% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.0751 3.69% 2% -3.42% -0.17% 3.61% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $0.0265 6% 3.65% -0.08% 0.87%6% PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.0594 22.77% 6.89% -0.62% 0.04% 23.19% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $2.4783 6.62% 4.34% -0.45% 1.61% 6.82% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND, INC. -A $0.0644097 3.49% 2.4% 0.64% 1.51% 3.52% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC. -A $2.9275 6.57% 2.14% -1.92% 0.32%6.53% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES (SHARES) AIB MONEY MARKET MUTUAL FUND, INC. -A 1.1657 3.09% N.A N.A N.A 3.03% ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 148.55 4.38% 3.72% 2.74% 2.65% 4.26% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.1968 3.9% 3.71% 2.7% N.A 3.69% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PESO STARTER FUND, INC. -A 1.4805 3.92% 3.44% 2.7% 2.66% 3.84% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES (UNITS) ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 113.83 4.35% 4.28% N.A N.A 4.23% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES (SHARES) SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC. -A $1.1758 3.09% 3.21% 2.25% N.A 3% FEEDER FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES (UNITS) ALFM GLOBAL MULTI-ASSET INCOME FUND, INC. -A 46.2199 2.76% 2.74% N.A N.A 4.09% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD EQUITY INDEX FEEDER FUND, INC. -A 2.157 20.52% 20.61% 14.27% N.A22.54% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD INCOME FUND, INC. -A 1.1081 4.56% N.A N.A N.A 5.43% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES (UNITS) ALFM GLOBAL MULTI-ASSET INCOME FUND, INC. -A $0.8159 2.41% 0.78% -3.6% N.A 3.28% A - NAVPS AS OF THE PREVIOUS BANKING DAY. B - NAVPS AS OF TWO BANKING DAYS AGO. C - LISTED IN THE PSE. 1 - EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 1, 2025, ITS FUND MANAGEMENT IS WITH BPI WEALTH. * THE FIRST TRANCHE (CORPORATE DEBT FUND 1) OF THE ATRAM UNITIZED CORPORATE DEBT VEHICLE, INC. MATURED ON MAY 25, 2025.
“While we endeavor to keep the information accurate, the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) and its members make no warranties as to the correctness of the newspaper’s publication and assume no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions. You may visit http://www.pifa.com.ph to see the latest NAVPS/NAVPU.”
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Banking&Finance BusinessMirror
Real reason couples fight about money
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HEN couples argue about money, the fight rarely starts with something dramatic. It often begins with a small purchase someone didn’t expect, a bill that wasn’t paid on time or a budget plan that quietly fell apart. The disagreement might sound like it’s about spending, savings, or who should cover what, but the real conflict often lies somewhere deeper. Money is one of the most common sources of tension in relationships, yet very few arguments are truly about pesos and cents. They are about what money represents: security, control, fear, trust, identity and fairness. When couples fight about money, they are usually fighting about something they haven’t been able to name. Understanding this changes everything.
Your money story follows you into every relationship
EVERY person grows up with a unique “money story.” You might have grown up in a home where money was scarce, or one where it was never discussed. You may have seen financial generosity, financial anxiety, or financial secrecy. These early experiences shape how you think, feel, and react to money as an adult. When two people with different histories come together, those histories collide. One partner may be cautious and savings-focused because they grew up fearing instability. The other may value comfort or experiences because money once felt restrictive or unpredictable. Neither approach is wrong, but without awareness, these differences create friction. You may think you’re arguing about a purchase. What you’re actually reacting to is everything that purchase represents in your own internal story.
Fear, Security, Control, Identity: The real triggers
MONEY often acts as a doorway to deeper emotional reactions. When you feel yourself getting upset during a financial discussion, it’s worth asking what’s underneath the surface. Fear is one of the biggest drivers. Fear of not having enough. Fear of repeating past struggles. Fear of losing stability. When fear is triggered, even small financial issues feel large. Security is another core issue. One partner may need structure and predictability, while the other values flexibility and freedom. These differences can feel personal even when they’re not. Control can also appear in unexpected ways. Someone who grew up without financial autonomy may be sensitive to any situation that feels restrictive. Someone who had to be responsible at a young age may feel anxious when a partner’s habits seem unpredictable. Identity plays a role too. For some, being able to provide is tied to pride. For others, spending is connected to self-worth or the desire to feel competent. When money touches identity, even small issues sting. And then there are expectations, the unspoken rules about who should pay for what, how family support should be handled, and what financial roles each partner should play. When expectations clash, arguments follow. When you look closely, you’ll see that couples do not fight about expenses. They fight about emotion.
How communication styles make money feel bigger than it is
EVEN when two people want the same outcome, their communication styles can push them into conflict.
One person may prefer detailed discussions; the other may feel overwhelmed and avoid the topic. One may bring up concerns directly; the other may shut down to avoid tension. One may view a conversation as planning; the other experiences it as criticism. These differences escalate small financial issues into emotional battles. What could have been a simple discussion becomes loaded with assumptions and stress. The irony is that many couples have compatible goals; they just struggle to align on the path to get there.
Why small money issues feel symbolic
IN many relationships, a small purchase or a late payment becomes symbolic. It represents something bigger: responsibility, respect, appreciation, or stability. A forgotten bill may be interpreted as “You don’t care enough.” An unplanned purchase may sound like “You don’t value our goals.” A debate about savings may feel like “You don’t understand what matters to me.” Money turns symbolic because it touches daily life. It affects comfort, stability, and long-term plans. A minor problem feels major because it represents the weight of those larger concerns. Once you recognize this, conversations shift from blaming the behavior to understanding the meaning behind it.
What actually helps couples stop fighting
IMPROVING your financial life as a couple is not about learning complicated strategies. It starts with understanding. Shift from blame to curiosity. Instead of “Why did you spend this?” ask, “What were you feeling or thinking when you made this decision?” Share your money stories. Understanding each other’s background softens reactions and makes conversations less emotional. Define shared goals. When you are aiming in the same direction, disagreements lose their intensity. Create structure. Budgets, contribution systems, and regular check-ins reduce emotional pressure because they turn unpredictable conversations into predictable routines. Protect individual autonomy. A joint budget should never eliminate personal freedom. Having personal spending money keeps independence intact and prevents resentment. These are not just financial strategies; they are relationship strategies.
Money isn’t the problem, understanding is
WHEN couples fight about money, they are rarely arguing about the actual transaction. They are reacting to what the transaction symbolizes and what it awakens inside them. Once you understand this, you can approach money conversations with clarity rather than tension, and with empathy rather than frustration. The numbers matter, but the meaning matters more. Financial harmony does not begin with a budget. It begins with understanding the person sitting across the table. Janice Sabitsana is a Registered Financial Planner of RFP Philippines. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the BusinessMirror. To learn more about personal financial planning, attend the 114th RFP program this January 2026. E-mail info@rfp.ph or visit rfp.ph to learn more about the program.
Editor: Dennis D. Estopace • Monday, December 29, 2025
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Corruption loophole in ’26 budget removed—senator
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By Butch Fernandez
@butchfBM
CORRUPTION loophole previously lodged under “unprogrammed appropriations” (UA) has been eliminated in the proposed 2026 national budget, as recently approved by the Bicameral Conference Committee, the chairman of the bicameral panel said at the weekend.
Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who as chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance that sponsored the historic 2026 money bill, was referring to the “Strengthening As-
sistance for Government Infrastructure and Social Programs,” or “Sagip.” Sagip previously housed lump-sum funds for government infrastructure projects and social services.
“The unprogrammed appropriations has many parts; and one of them is ‘Sagip.’ This is where they used to put lump-sum funds, such as for flood control projects, but which became the root of corruption now under investigation. This is what we had vowed to take out, and which we in fact did in the 2026 budget,” Gatchalian said, partly in Filipino. Thus, in the new form of the unprogrammed appropriations, “there is no longer any avenue for corruption,” he guaranteed, while clarifying that the UA component of the budget is not illegal. The Sagip was funded with more than P50 billion in 2023, P225 billion in 2024, and P160 billion this year. It was only in 2024 that funds for flood control were included under Sagip, amounting to P86.93 billion.
Gatchalian also pointed out that under UA, there are still other components such as foreign-assisted projects requiring counterpart funding from the Government of the Philippines (GOP) that, he said, are indispensable. “These are really placed under ‘unprogrammed appropriations’ because there are projects where negotiations are still ongoing, while others still have no signed contracts covering them,” Gatchalian explained. “These projects are not certain to push through, and it is not fiscally prudent to put them under ‘programmed funds’ because they are tentative obligations of the government,” he added. Other items in the unprogrammed appropriations include additional funding for the “AFP Modernization” program.
BOC portal seen to enhance digital payment process By Reine Juvierre Alberto @reine_alberto
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HE Bureau of Customs (BOC) announced the implementation of the bureau’s “Electronic Payment Portal,” or “ePay,” system to enhance digital payment processing. A statement issued by the BOC last Sunday read that the ePay system will facilitate the collection of miscellaneous payments, customs duties and taxes for non-E2M transactions and other authorized charges. The system specifically includes payments from manually processed “Goods Declarations” under the informal entry procedure, which is a segment of transactions not yet covered by automated customs systems.
The ePay system is integrated with the “Link.BizPortal” of the Land Bank of the Philippines, according to the BOC. The move is expected to provide a centralized payment gateway that allows electronic settlement through authorized payment channels. The integration also lessens reliance on physical payment processes, minimizes face-to-face transactions and supports inter-agency system interoperability. By digitalizing the payment process for these transactions, revenue collection is strengthened, audit trails are improved and manual intervention is reduced, all of which promote transparency, accuracy and accountability in customs collections, according to the BOC.
Independent directors sworn in to PDIC Board
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WO independent directors were sworn in as private sector representatives to the governing board of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) in simple ceremonies on December 19, a statement by the PDIC read. PDIC Chairman and Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Eli M. Remolona Jr. administered the oath of office of Justice Lady P. Soriano and Imelda C. Tiongson to the PDIC Board of Directors. “Soriano and Tiongson bring with them a wealth of experience and expertise in the fields of investment banking and financial management; and governance, risk management, and financial technology, respectively,” read the statement issued by the PDIC on December 26. “Their strong banking and financial backgrounds are seen to further strengthen the PDIC organization in the discharge of its mandate to safeguard the interest of the depositing public and promote financial stability.” As independent directors, Soriano and Tiongson will play an important role in ensuring impartiality to policies governing deposit insurance and in promoting the integrity and soundness of the country’s deposit insurance system, according to the PDIC. Soriano is the Chief Finance Officer of Synergy Grid and Development Philippines Inc. She oversees financial management and planning and ensures financial compliance and reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Stock Exchange. Soriano also previously worked as a consultant for Calaca High Power Corp. and as assistant vice president of the Development Bank of the Philippines. She was also the former manager of the PDIC Financial Assistance Man-
agement Center from 1996 to 2006. Soriano holds an Economics degree from Ateneo de Manila University and a Masters in Finance from De La Salle University. Meanwhile, the professional career of Tiongson spans more than three decades of banking and finance, audit and risk management, corporate governance, and information technology. She is the current vice chairman and trustee of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD), a trustee of the Fintech Alliance PH and Womenbiz PH, and chairman of the Governance Committee of the Management Association of the Philippines. Tiongson is presently a president/ consultant of OPAL SPV in charge of turning around distressed companies/assets. She also serves as lecturer in various institutions including the Institute of Corporation Directors. She previously held senior executive positions in the Philippine National Bank and the National Australia Bank. She was also involved in the drafting of various business laws such as the “Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer Corporation,” the “Financial Rehabilitation and Insolvency Act” and the “Revised Corporation Code.” She was also a committee member of the BSP Open Finance technical group. Tiongson holds an Accountancy degree from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia. She also completed Accounting for Bankers (Perfect Score) from the National Australia Bank and a Certified Kaplan and Norton Strategy Master. Soriano and Tiongson complete the four-member private sector representation in the PDIC Board together with John Mark S. Frondoso and Luis Rey I. Velasco.
The BOC is encouraging importers, exporters, licensed customs brokers and other stakeholders involved in applicable transactions to utilize the system. Comprehensive user guidelines and step-by-step instructions are available on the official BOC website to ensure proper adoption. “This initiative reflects our commitment to make customs services simpler and more convenient for our stakeholders,” Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomuceno was quoted in the statement as saying. “By expanding digital payment options through the ePay System, we are reducing unnecessary delays, limiting manual processes, and ensuring that every transaction is handled with greater trans-
parency and accountability. This is about making the system work better for the public while safeguarding government revenue,” Nepomuceno added. The BOC has been ramping up its targeted digital reforms to improve operational efficiency while ensuring the integrity of customs processes. Among the key measures is the development of the Origin Management System (OMS) to ensure secure and efficient verification of product origin. The BOC is also reviewing its “electronic-to-mobile” system to enhance its performance and support the “super green lane” program, which aims to fast-track clearance for certain trade shipments.
Dollar caps worst week as traders await data
THE dollar capped its worst week since June. Bloomberg’s greenback gauge fell some 0.8 percent since Monday. CREDIT: BLOOMBERG
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BLOOMBERG gauge of the dollar posted its worst week since June as traders looked to data due early next month to confirm expectations for further Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts in 2026. With trading subdued because of holidays this week and markets in the UK closed Friday, investors’ attention has largely turned to major economic reports out of the US expected in the first few weeks of January. The December jobs report and consumer inflation readings, in particular, will help chart the Fed’s next steps after officials reduced borrowing costs this month for the third straight meeting to support growth. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was steady on Friday and fell some 0.8 percent this week. It has declined around 8 percent this year, which would be its steepest annual drop since 2017. Risk-sensitive currencies including the Australian dollar and Norway’s krone led gains against the greenback on the week among major peers. “Liquidity was thin this week, and that didn’t help the dollar, which
was already in a relatively weak position,” said Andrew Hazlett, a foreign-exchange trader at Monex Inc. “Looking ahead, our focus is going to be on inflation numbers as guidance for the Fed’s next cut.” The greenback’s decline has coincided with a dip in Treasury yields, with US 10-year yields falling about two basis points this week to 4.13 percent, within the range of the past couple of weeks. Traders see about a 90 percent probability that the Fed will stay put next month. But they’re betting on another quarter-point cut by mid-year, and one more several months later. US unemployment data released this month showed the jobless rate rising to its highest since 2021, while figures on consumer inflation showed lower-than-expected readings. Traders have bolstered expectations for a weaker US currency for five days in a row, with a key options gauge now at the most bearish on the greenback in more than three months. Bloomberg
B4 Monday, December 29, 2025
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NO SAFE HARBOR Why sharks and rays are swimming toward extinction—and what the world is doing about it By Gareth J. Fraser, Associate Professor of Evolutionary Developmental Biology, University of Florida
Another shark joining the Appendix I list is the oceanic whitetip shark, an elegant, long-finned ocean roamer that has been fished to near extinction. Populations of this once common oceanic shark are down 80% to 95% in the Pacific since the mid1990s, mostly due to the increase in commercial fishing. Previously the only sharks or rays listed on Appendix I were sawfish, a group of rays with a long, sawlike projection surrounded by daggerlike teeth. They were already listed as critically endangered by the IUCN’s Red List, which assesses the status of threatened and endangered species, but it was up to governments to propose protections through CITES. Other sharks gaining partial protections for the first time include deep-sea gulper sharks, which have been prized for their liver oil used for cosmetics. Gulper shark populations have been decimated by unsustainable fishing practices. They will now be protected under Appendix II. Appendix II listings, while not as strong as Appendix I, can help populations recover. Great white shark populations, for example, have recovered since the 1990s around the U.S. after being added to the Appendix II list in 2005, though other populations in the northwest Atlantic and South Pacific are still considered locally endangered. Tope and smooth-hound sharks were also added to the Appendix II list in 2025 for protection from the trade of their meat and fins. Several species of guitarfishes and wedgefishes, odd-shaped rays that look like they have a mix of shark and ray features and have been harmed by local and commercial fishing, finning and trade, were assigned a CITES “zero-quota” designation to temporarily curtail all trade in their species until their populations recover. These global protections raise awareness of species, prevent trade and overexploitation and can help prevent species from going extinct.
The Conversation
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HE world’s oceans are home to an exquisite variety of sharks and rays, from the largest fishes in the sea—the majestic whale shark and manta rays—to the luminescent but rarely seen deepwater lantern shark and guitarfishes. The oceans were once teeming with these extraordinary and ancient species, which evolved close to half a billion years ago. However, the past half-century has posed one of the greatest tests yet to their survival. Overfishing, habitat loss and international trade have cut their numbers, putting many species on a path toward extinction within our lifetimes. Scientists estimate that 100 million (yes, million) sharks and rays are killed each year for food, liver oil and other trade. The volume of loss is devastatingly unsustainable. Overfishing has sent oceanic shark and ray populations plummeting by about 70% globally since the 1970s. That’s why countries around the world agreed in December 2025 to add more than 70 shark and ray species to an international wildlife trade treaty’s list for full or partial protection. It’s an important move that, as a biologist who studies sharks and rays, I believe is long overdue.
Drawing attention to rarely seen species
Humans put shark species at risk of extinction SHARKS have had a rough ride since the 1970s, when overfishing, habitat loss and international trade in fins, oil and other body parts of these enigmatic sea dwellers began to affect their sensitive populations. The 1975 movie “Jaws” and its portrayal of a great white shark as a mindless killing machine didn’t help people’s perceptions. One reason shark populations are so vulnerable to overfishing, and less capable of recovering, is the late timing of their sexual maturity and their low numbers of offspring. If sharks and rays don’t survive long enough, the species can’t reproduce enough new members to remain stable. Losing these species is a global problem because they are vital for a healthy ocean, in large part because they help keep their prey in check. Endangered and threatened species listings, such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, can help draw attention to sharks and rays that are at risk. But because their populations span international borders, with migratory routes around the globe, sharks and rays need international protection, not just local efforts. That’s why the international trade
TOURISTS observe whale sharks in Oslob, Cebu. Once abundant across the world’s oceans, whale shark populations have declined sharply in recent decades. Scientists say global trade limits and responsible tourism practices are critical to preventing further losses of the species. TATIANA KORNYLYEVA VIA DREAMSTIME.COM agreements set out by the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, are vital. The convention attempts to create global restrictions that prevent trade of protected species to give them a chance to survive.
New protections for sharks and rays IN early December 2025, the CITES Conference of the Parties, made up of representatives from 184 countries, voted to initiate or expand protection against trade for many species. The votes included adding more than 70 shark and ray species to the CITES lists for full or restricted protection. The newly listed or upgraded species include some of the most charismatic shark and ray species. The whale shark, one of only three filter-feeding sharks and the largest fish in the ocean, and the manta and devil rays have joined the list that offers the strictest restrictions on trade, called Appendix I. Whale sharks are at
BABY manta ray sold in Tagbilaran City, Bohol. The sale of juvenile manta rays highlights the pressure facing sharks and rays from fishing and trade, even as more than 70 species gained new or expanded protections under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 2025. MICHAEL O. LIGALIG VIA DREAMSTIME.COM
risk from overfishing as well as being struck by ships. Because they feed at the surface, chasing zooplankton blooms, these ocean giants can be hit by ships, especially now that these animals are considered a tourism must-see. Whale sharks now join this most restrictive list with more well-known, cuddlier mammals such as the giant
panda and the blue whale, and they will receive the same international trade protections. The member countries of CITES agree to the terms of the treaty, so they are legally bound to implement its directives to suspend trade. For the tightest restrictions, under Appendix I, import and export permits
are required and allowed only in exceptional circumstances. Appendix II species, which aren’t yet threatened but could become threatened without protections, require export permits. However, the treaty terms are essentially a framework for each member government to then implement legislation under national laws.
GLOBALLY, there are about 550 species of shark today and around 600 species of rays (or batoids), the flatbodied shark relatives. Many of these species suffer from their anonymity: Most people are unfamiliar with them, and efforts to protect these more obscure, less cuddly ocean inhabitants struggle to draw attention. So, how do we convince people to care enough to help protect animals they do not know exist? And can we implement global protections when most shark-human interactions are geographically limited and often support livelihoods of local communities? Increasing people’s awareness of ocean species at risk, including sharing knowledge about why their numbers are falling and the vital roles they play in their ecosystem, can help. The new protections for sharks and rays under CITES also offer hope that more global regulations protecting these and other shark and rays species will follow. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/ why-70-plus-species-of-sharks-andrays-needed-new-international-tradelimit-protections-271386.
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BusinessMirror
Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • Monday, December 29, 2025
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Marjorie Kobayashi’s ‘Modern Shogun’ COOL Kimono Crafts by Marjorie Kobayashi at Manila International Fashion Week Season 6 PHOTOGRAPHED BY EZEL JOHN
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N emerging designer worthy of notice is Marjorie Kobayashi, a Filipina designer based in Japan. Her brand, called Cool Kimono Crafts, reimagines vintage kimonos by transforming them into modern, wearable pieces that honor tradition while aligning with contemporary values of sustainability and cultural fusion between Japan and the Philippines.
ACADEMIC ORIGINS KOREAN star Choi Bomin shines as the newest face of Ever Bilena’s Pillow Pop Multi Pot, a fun and blendable multi-use color pot for Gen Z beauty enthusiasts
CHOI BOMIN STARS IN EVER BILENA’S NEW PILLOW POP MULTI POT CAMPAIGN
EVER Bilena, the country’s leading local cosmetics brand, unveils its newest campaign featuring Choi Bomin, the Korean rising star beloved for his youthful charm and versatile appeal. Known for his bright energy and approachable charisma, Bomin is the perfect ambassador to represent the Pillow Pop Multi Pot, a fun, lightweight and effortlessly blendable multi-use color pot designed for Gen Z beauty lovers. The campaign captures Bomin’s playful side, with visuals of him jumping in a bouncy castle, symbolizing the airy, bouncy and exciting experience to be had the Pillow Pop Multi Pot. Just like Bomin’s natural charm, the product delivers a touch of color that feels soft and seamless, elevating everyday makeup with ease. The Pillow Pop Multi Pot is formulated with an ultra-lightweight, airy texture that glides smoothly on the skin and blends without effort. Perfect for eyes, lips and cheeks, it gives users the freedom to create versatile looks with a natural finish. The collection features nine universally flattering shades, each thoughtfully designed to complement a wide range of skin tones and moods. The lineup includes Glitzy Gold, a funky shimmery gold; Glitzy Champagne, a subtle frosted champagne; Dreamy Sakura, a shimmery nudish pink; Dreamy Dahlia, a milky rosy almond; Dreamy Coral, a toasted coral; Dreamy Punch, a deep berry; Dreamy Rose, a pure reddish pink; Toasted Pecan, a perfect cool brown; and Toasted Oak, a neutral deep brown. The Ever Bilena Pillow Pop Multi Pot featuring Choi Bomin is now available online through Ever Bilena’s flagship stores on TikTok Shop, Shopee, Lazada, and in physical stores such as Watsons, SM Beauty Department Stores, and Robinsons Department Stores, among other leading retail hubs nationwide.
THE special-edition FENDI Peekaboo bag
FENDI LAUNCHES ‘EMILY IN PARIS’ SPECIAL CAPSULE COLLECTION
GLOBAL Italian fashion brand Fendi launches a special capsule collection to celebrate the highly anticipated season 5 of the Netflix series Emily in Paris. Available in a limited release in selected Fendi boutiques worldwide and at www.fendi.com, the exclusive collection puts the spotlight on Fendi’s icons, with two Baguette bags and one Peekaboo bag designed to capture the joyful and sophisticated spirit of the show (produced by Paramount Television Studios and creator Darren Star) reinterpreted with the brand’s codes. Each piece features a dedicated tag and is crafted with an exquisite tapestry-effect fabric with Fendi Dots motif—a distinctive blend of the iconic FF logo and Art Deco-inspired polka dots—and offered in color-block combinations of brown and pink, or dove and mint green. The capsule highlights Fendi’s relationship with Emily in Paris, enhanced by a presence of the brand in season 5 where viewers witness Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) embark on Roman adventures with the iconic Baguette bag at the Fendi Headquarters at Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana and Palazzo Fendi flagship store. Emily in Paris season 5 is now streaming on Netflix.
“I AM a teacher by profession, and a large part of my work involves teaching students the importance of taking action toward the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs]. In the process of fulfilling my responsibility as an educator, I was also challenged to reflect on my own role—asking myself what I could do, even in small and practical ways, to contribute to these global goals,” said Kobayashi, who was born in Calamba City, Laguna, but is now based in Nagoya, Japan. “That reflection became a powerful turning point. Cool Kimono Crafts was born from that very question. My sustainable fashion journey began in June 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, when maskwearing became a global necessity. While masks were essential for public health, I became increasingly concerned about the unintended environmental cost, particularly the surge in disposable mask waste polluting landfills and oceans,” Kobayashi shared via a Facebook Messenger interview. This moment sparked her fashion awakening. “I realized that protecting people should never come at the expense of protecting the planet. I saw a clear gap where sustainability, function, and design could intersect, and I decided to act,” the educatorturned creative said. “Not everyone has the privilege to travel to Japan, so I wanted people in the Philippines to experience the Japanese culture of kimono in a tangible way. Through Kimono Masks, I aimed to communicate that Japan is more than anime, appliances, or cars, that it is a country deeply rooted in tradition, artistry, and cultural depth.” Before marrying a Japanese and relocating to Nagoya, Kobayashi worked at the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Settlement and Development Academy of the Philippines. She is a BS Development Communication and Master in Development Management and Governance graduate at University of the Philippines Los Baños, and studied PhD in International Development at the Graduate School of International Development at Nagoya University, Japan. Highly intellectual, Kobayashi worked as a researcher at Ritsumeikan University in Osaka, about the impacts of climate change and natural disasters to local economic development and local governments in the Philippines. She currently works as a lecturer at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies, teaching English, SDGs and local governance. She grew up in a family of tailors. Her grandparents, aunts, and uncles ran a tailor shop, and her mother learned to sew to support their big family. Her mother-in-law, meanwhile, has a deep love for kimono and her father would often buy kimono for her, while she in turn also bought kimono for special occasions for her children.
‘MODERN SHOGUN’
AS a fashion practitioner, Kobayashi has showcased her work at the Hollywood Prestige Fashion Week in May 2025, followed by New York Fashion Week and London Fashion Week in September 2025. “My experience at London Fashion Week, produced by Savita Kaye of House of Ikons, was particularly surreal. One of my designs was selected for publication in Harper’s Bazaar UK,” Kobayashi beamed. She presented a collection on November 30, marking her second appearance this year at Okada Manila, at the Manila International Fashion Week Season 6, which was produced by Bench M. Bello. Called “Modern Shogun,” Cool Kimono Crafts’ collection is a bold new chapter where upcycled Japanese kimonos are fused with contemporary denim. Inspired by the shogun as a symbol of leadership and discipline, it channels the commanding presence of the modern warrior within us all, transforming cultural heritage into an assertive, modern expression. “As we welcome the New Year, ‘Modern Shogun’ reflects renewed strength drawn from the lessons of the years behind us. It celebrates the courage to rise again, to continue fighting the good fight of faith, and to move forward with the quiet strength rooted in discipline, purpose and hope,” explained Kobayashi. “Stepping into the world of ‘Modern Shogun’ embraces sustainability as strength and fashion as a force for every modern warrior.” This runway marked a defining milestone for the brand. For the first time, the collection was presented as a complete design ecosystem from clothing to accessories. The upcycled kimono clothing were
made in close collaboration with Kobayashi’s mother and their growing community of local tailors in the Philippines who sew her designs. The upcycled kimono and obi bags, belts, shoes, and heels for both men and women are meticulously designed and crafted in collaboration with local artisans in the Philippines.
BECOMING A BRIDGE
LIVING and working in a highly developed society allowed Kobayashi to witness best practices in craftsmanship, sustainability, and cultural preservation. These experiences strengthened her long-term vision: to become a bridge between the Philippines and Japan. “Filipinos are among the top foreign workers supporting key industries in Japan, just as Japanese companies and locators significantly contribute to economic growth in the Philippines,” she said. “Our creations embody this shared ecosystem—serving as wearable narratives that promote cross-cultural collaboration, mutual respect, and shared heritage.” In essence, Kobayashi’s fashion journey is not just about design—it is about impact, sustainability, and cultural exchange. What started as a response to a global crisis has evolved into a purpose-driven platform that aligns with promoting shared heritage, craftsmanship, social responsibility, and diplomatic relations. Cool Kimono Crafts pieces are sold through curated bazaars, pop-ups, select exhibitions, and direct orders from its website (www.coolkimonocrafts. com) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/coolkimonocrafts) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/coolkimonocrafts).
GRWM Cosmetics opens pop-up store in Festival Mall IN December 2024, GRWM Cosmetics surprised the beauty community with the launch of its massive Face Card collection, which included palettes and product inserts for face, eyes, brows, lips, and cheeks. As 2025 is about to end, the brand has sprung another surprise for beauty enthusiasts: the opening of a pop-up store in Festival Mall, Alabang. The Festival Mall pop-up serves as a celebratory homecoming, bringing the brand’s full range of products directly to its community. The first thing I noticed about the pop-up is its size. It is huge with several counters so you can test and play to your heart’s content. “This grand pop-up store is our way of celebrating our roots in the south and sharing our passion for inclusive beauty with our southie Goal Getters,” said Mae Layug-Madriñan, CEO and founder of GRWM Cosmetics. “We’ve designed this space to be more than just a store; it’s a hub where our community can experience our full range of products, participate in fun activities, and be part of our sustainable initiatives. We want everyone to feel seen and represented.”
In line with the brand’s commitment to responsible beauty, the pop-up will also feature a dedicated GRWM x Envirocycle Bin for customers to drop off their GRWM empties for proper recycling and better waste management. This initiative is anchored to GRWM’s ongoing efforts toward sustainability within the beauty industry. In exchange, Goal Getters will receive a limited-edition LipBooze in the shade of Hope. So here are our beauty picks from GRWM Cosmetics pop-up:
n Lip Maxx, a liquid lip balm, is my most favorite product from the brand because it really moisturizes the lips. n The All About That Base Volume II Collection with the hero product, the Daily Skin Tint, is available in three sizes: Regular, mini, and shade samplers. This is a demi-matte skin tint that’s great for everyday wear. n The Limited Edition Face Card Holiday Collection has a 6-pan customizable palette and new packaging design. This collection includes the Halo Veil Highlighter, Baked Bronzing Powder, Shadowplay Velvet Matte Eyeshadow, Royal Flush Powder Blush in Cherub, and Face & Body Glow Highlighter (this one is definitely a must-have). There are also three limited-edition Lip Maxx shades. Get Aurora, it’s the best. Another must-have is the Ultra Matte Fixing Spray, which sets your makeup in place. I also love GRWM’s SPF BFF 50+ PA+++ Sunscreen, which is both a sunscreen and a primer. The pop-up store will remain open until March 31, 2026.
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MSD’s ‘Di Mo DeCERV!’ Bags Bronze at 2025 ICE Awards for Advocacy Excellence
AXA Philippines sweeps seven M major award programs in 2025
SD in the Philippines’ ‘Di Mo DeCERV!’ campaign has been awarded Bronze in the Advocacy category at this year’s ICE Awards, a distinguished program led by the Media Specialists Association of the Philippines (MSAP). The recognition celebrates the campaign’s breakthrough approach in shifting public perception on HPV and cervical cancer prevention, further strengthening MSD’s position as a leading voice in protecting the health and well-being of all people at risk of HPV-related diseases. The ICE (Innovation, Creativity, and Effectiveness) Awards, now on its fifth run, honors outstanding media thinking and communication across seven categories: Single Medium, Multimedia, Activation, Advocacy, Data, Branded Content, and Regional. Judging is evenly weighted across innovation, creativity, and effectiveness, with this year marking its most competitive cycle yet: 268 entries, and 165 campaigns emerging as finalists and winners across industries including FMCG, real estate, communications, and technology.
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XA Philippines, one of the country’s largest and fastest-growing insurance providers, capped 2025 with multiple wins across global and local awardgiving bodies, including the Global Insurance Innovation Awards 2025, Golden Arrow Awards 2025, 16th Asia CEO Awards 2025, Tripzilla Excellence Awards 2025, Marketech APAC’s NEXT Awards 2025, Great Place to Work® Certification, and the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Statista’s Best Employers in the Philippines. These recognitions highlight AXA’s leadership in digital innovation, customer experience, corporate governance, employee engagement, and social responsibility.
At the Global Insurance Innovation Awards 2025, AXA Philippines received honors for Excellence in Digital Innovation and Best Mobile Insurance App for its breakthrough platforms SWITCH and EMMA by AXA PH. SWITCH streamlines the distributor journey with real-time updates and automated workflows, while EMMA by AXA PH empowers customers with easier policy access, secure payments, and digital support. The company was also recognized with a One Golden Arrow at the Golden Arrow Awards by the Institute of Corporate
From Awareness to Action Directors (ICD), as one of the companies that meet high standards of corporate governance, as assessed through the Annual Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS). “This distinction reflects our shared vision as One AXA and underscores the strength of our governance journey — from Board oversight to risk management, ethics, and stakeholder value creation. For decades, we have stood at the forefront of the insurance and financial services industry, guided by our purpose of acting for human progress by protecting what matters,” said Ayman Kandil, AXA Philippines CEO. AXA Philippines was also recognized among the Circle of Excellence finalists at the 16th Asia CEO Awards 2025 for Wellness Company of the Year for its Awesome AXA program and for CSR Company of the Year for the AXA Hearts in Action initiative. Launched in 2024, The Awesome AXA Program unites employee engagement and holistic wellness, ensuring employees feel supported in all aspects of their lives, while its AXA Hearts in Action global volunteering initiative includes key programs like the AXA Forest in Laguna, AXA Clean Water Project, AXA Week for Good, and Financial Literacy workshops. In travel insurance, AXA’s commitment to empowering Filipino travelers earned multiple recognitions. The
#GoBigWithAXASmartTraveller campaign won the Silver Award for Most Innovative Public Relations Campaign at Marketech APAC’s NEXT Awards 2025, encouraging Filipinos to pursue their travel plans with confidence through stronger protection. Complementing this achievement, AXA Smart Traveller was once again named Best Travel Insurance (Single Trip) at the Tripzilla Excellence Awards 2025, marking the second consecutive year of recognition. Together, these honors underscore AXA’s dedication to providing comprehensive travel protection that enables Filipinos to enjoy their dream vacations with confidence. Reflecting AXA’s culture of care and commitment to empowering employees to thrive, AXA Philippines has also been certified as a Great Place to Work® for the fifth consecutive year and made an exceptional leap as one of the Best Employers in the Philippines, moving from rank 203 to rank 26 among 300 companies recognized by the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Statista. “These awards remind us that when we take care of our people, they are empowered to take even better care of our customers. As we close the year, we remain focused on what matters—enabling our customers to feel protected, supported, and confident with AXA by their side,” Ayman concludes.
BYD Cars Philippines strengthens nationwide presence as it advances toward 2025 expansion target
The province of Zamboanga Del Norte opens BYD Dipolog, the first of its kind in the region.
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YD Cars Philippines, a subsidiary of ACMobility, caps off a milestone year with the inauguration of multiple new dealerships across the country, bringing its nationwide total to 64 operational dealerships, firmly positioning the brand on track toward its new 79-dealership target by year-end. The expansion covers key locations in Luzon and Mindanao, reflecting BYD’s commitment to make electric vehicles more accessible to more Filipinos. “Reaching this stage of our expansion reflects the growing trust of more Filipinos in BYD and in electric mobility,” said Bob Palanca, Managing Director of BYD Cars Philippines. “Every new dealership strengthens our ability to serve more communities and brings us closer to a future where electric mobility is a natural choice for Filipinos.” Marking a significant milestone for electrified
mobility in South Luzon, BYD Lipa opened its doors as the brand’s first dealership in the province under long-time partner Solar Transport. This state-of-the-art facility offers a full EV lineup, featuring an 8-car showroom, a dedicated customer lounge, and a certified six-bay service center. Equipped with robust infrastructure that includes five AC chargers and one fast DC charger. BYD Lipa is poised to accelerate the shift toward cleaner transport and drive Batangas’ environmental roadmap forward. Strengthening the brand’s foothold in the region, BYD Carmona also launched as a landmark site, becoming the first EV dealership in its city. It houses an eight-car showroom, six service bays, and strategically sits near major highways to better serve residents across Cavite’s rapidly developing communities. In Central Luzon, BYD Baliwag rose as Bulacan’s first 3S (sales, service, spare parts) dealership, supporting the province’s fast-growing transport network and future-ready infrastructure. With an eight-car showroom, 10 work bays, with both AC and DC chargers, and a 2,600 sqm facility, the dealership supports Bulacan’s identity as the “Lupang Bayani” for northern Greater Metro Manila. Beyond the Luzon mainland, BYD Palawan also established its first presence in Puerto Princesa, bringing sustainable mobility to one of the country’s most environmentally significant regions. The dealership offers a four to six car showroom, body-and-paint facility, and charging points, supporting residents, businesses, and the province’s thriving tourism industry in transitioning to cleaner
transport alternatives. Apart from Luzon, BYD also made strides in expanding its reach into Mindanao. It made a historic entry into Zamboanga del Norte with BYD Dipolog, the first EV dealership in the entire province and the flagship outlet of Eco Motion Auto Group. Located in the region’s “gateway city,” the new dealership positions Dipolog as an emerging hub for sustainable mobility in northwestern Mindanao. The facility features an eight-car showroom, five service bays, AC and DC charging points, and capacity to stock up to 50 units, with its body-andpaint center underway. In Metro Manila, BYD also marked the groundbreaking of BYD Greenhills, the 6th Ayalaowned BYD dealership in the Philippines. Positioned in one of the capital’s highest-value commercial districts, the dealership is set to bring convenient access to BYD’s full EV lineup, test drives, and aftersales services to urban motorists. With dealerships rising across Luzon and Mindanao, BYD continues building a robust EV ecosystem – supported by charging infrastructure, customer education, and world-class aftersales services. “Each new dealership lays another foundation for long-term EV growth in the Philippines,” shared Adam Hu, Country Head, BYD Philippines. “We are steadily expanding toward a nationwide network that makes sustainable mobility accessible to all.” For more information on BYD’s latest electric vehicles and nationwide dealership network, visit bydcarsphilippines.com.
‘DI MO DECERV!’ distinguished itself through a powerful, culturally tuned approach that helped elevate cervical cancer conversations among Filipino families. Through an extensive out-of-home (OOH) presence, spanning indoor LEDs, lamp post banners, lightboxes, and bus wraps, the campaign turned HPV awareness and its call to action into a constant reminder woven into the day-to-day commute. Beyond visibility, the campaign resonated where it mattered most: in the choices people make. It sparked thousands of conversations, inspired organic sharing within communities, and encouraged more Filipinos to seek credible information about HPV and cervical cancer. This shift in curiosity and behavior translated into higher awareness and a more proactive mindset toward vaccination and screening. Ultimately, ‘Di Mo DeCERV!’ proved that when advocacy speaks the language of the people, it can create real momentum, moving Filipinos from passive awareness to meaningful action in safeguarding their health.
MSD in the Philippines President and Managing Director Andreas Riedel, Vaccines Business Unit Director Ethel Calma, and the team behind the ‘Di Mo DeCERV!’ campaign celebrate its Bronze win at the 2025 ICE Awards, recognizing MSD’s continued commitment to advancing HPV awareness and prevention in the Philippines.
Strengthening Fight Against HPV, Cervical Cancer
THIS achievement underscores MSD’s unwavering commitment to HPV prevention and the global mission of cervical cancer elimination. Through long-running initiatives such as Guard Against HPV, nationwide education efforts, and partnerships with healthcare experts and institutions, MSD continues to empower families with timely, science-based information. The company remains aligned with the World Health Organization (WHO) targets for 90-70-90, advocating for early protection, accessible screening, and equitable care for all. As MSD continues its work to protect more communities, Filipinos are encouraged to learn more about HPV, prevention options, and cervical cancer through Guard Against HPV (https://guardagainsthpv.ph/), a dedicated resource hub offering tools, stories, and guidance to help families make informed decisions. The ICE Award win stands as a testament to what purposeful communication can achieve: a nation one step closer to a future where HPV is no longer a threat to people of all genders, and where cervical cancer becomes a preventable disease rather than a life-limiting reality for Filipino families.
Radenta, Vantiq bring healthcare solutions to the Philippines
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ADENTA Technologies, one of the country’s leading solutions integrators and Vantiq, an awardwinning global leader in real-time AI orchestration, joined the recent Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines (PHAPi) 46th National Convention and Exhibition at the Manila Hotel. In a talk titled “Hospital Philippine Operations in the Age of AI: Real-Time, Patient-Centered Care,” Vantiq Chief Health Officer Dr. Ryan Vega showed the audience how to drive smarter, faster, and more connected healthcare operations with real-time, context-aware AI. This leads to greater efficiency in updating the Electronic Health Records or EHR of patients, improving clinical workflows, and accelerating patient care decisions. Less time management systems equate to more time with patients. Vantiq orchestrates healthcare in real-time. The company combines IoT, AI, and real-time data processing to empower the healthcare ecosystem in developing new, integrated models of care and enhanced patient experiences. Vega presented Vantiq Bio Surveillance Philippines, which highlights a privacy-preserving, real-time disease intelligence network that centralizes participating hospitals without exposing patient data. Each site runs its own VANTIQ runtime—integrating ADT feeds or parsing clinicians’ notes with a private AI model—to emit only coded signals (e.g., ICD-10) to a central view. Decision-makers see live trend charts and geo-clusters (e.g., dengue A90) alongside operational readiness— beds, ICU capacity, medications, and equipment—so they can anticipate surges and pre-position resources. Threshold rules trigger instant alerts across channels, while “Emma,” the Epidemic Monitoring & Mitigation Assistant, answers naturallanguage questions (e.g., cases by hospital, which facilities can handle a spike) to speed coordinated action. The above leads to faster detection, smarter allocation, and resilient operations built on distributed, event-driven AI. Vega also explained how AI orchestration streamlines hospital discharge. First is Automatic Plan Creation. When a patient is admitted, the system automatically creates a comprehensive discharge plan tailored to the patient’s condition and expected treatment path. Second is Continuous Monitoring wherein AI continuously monitors all tasks like laboratory results, medication reconciliation, PhilHealth claim completeness,
AI Software Engineer Paulo Mendoza, Vantiq Chief Health Officer Dr. Ryan Vega and AI Solutions Orchestrator Louise Angelica Loque. billing clearance, nursing summaries, and pharmacy fulfillment. Third is Intelligent Escalation. Vantiq steps in when a task is delayed and automatically alerts the responsible department, escalates based on predefined rules, adjusts downstream steps, and notifies the family and nursing unit. Last is Automated Approval. Once all conditions are met and verified, the system approves discharge automatically that triggers final notifications and documentation. AI orchestration leads to faster discharge, fewer missed revenue opportunities, smoother bed turnover, improved patient satisfaction, and reduced staff frustration. On https://vantiq.com/healthcare/ Vantiq shares a Virtual Hospital Whitepaper to show how health systems are building scalable care models using real-time data AI and automation. The approach improves outcomes and efficiency without overhauling existing infrastructure. Dr. Vega is a former Chief Innovation Officer for the Veterans Health Administration, where he led enterprise-wide innovation across the largest U.S. integrated health system. His work spans digital modernization, innovative care and payment models, and healthcare software development. He is a Physician in Residence at the Digital Medicine Society and holds academic roles at Georgetown and George Washington University. An award-winning innovator, he has published extensively on healthcare transformation. Ask Radenta how you can equip your organization to deliver exceptional care and stay future-ready in an evolving digital health landscape. Call 0961-596-7198, email ai.nexus@ radenta.com or log on to www.radenta.com.
Elevating feline care: Boehringer Ingelheim launches first Catvocacy forum nationwide
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OEHRINGER Ingelheim launched the first-ever Catvocacy Forum for the company, uniting veterinarians to elevate cat care nationwide. The forum aims to raise the standards of feline care in the Philippines, empowering vets to provide compassionate, quality care. 48.3 percent of Filipino households own cats with a population of over 2.74 million, highlighting the growing need for veterinarians trained in feline care. Cats often conceal pain, hide illness, and react strongly to stress, making specialized veterinary care essential for early detection, treatment, and prevention. “Veterinarians play a crucial role in ensuring animal health, food security, and public safety,” said Dr. Michael Banawa, Head of Animal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Philippines, Inc. “The Catvocacy Forum brings the Going Beyond campaign to life, showcasing veterinarians’ dedication and advancing the broader goal of elevating veterinary standards and safeguarding
animals and communities.” The forum also introduced the Going Beyond campaign, a global initiative launched during World Veterinary Day 2024, celebrating veterinarians’ vital yet often unseen role in providing expert care, safeguarding animal welfare, and supporting communities. “Caring for cats goes beyond treating illness; it’s about understanding their behavior and ensuring their well-being,” said Dr. Vincent Casimero, Head of Companion Animals, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Philippines, Inc. “Through the Catvocacy Forum, we aim to support veterinarians in providing expert feline care, promoting preventive health, and strengthening the bond between pets and their families.” The event, titled “The First Catvocacy Forum: Veterinarians Going Beyond for Feline Healthcare,” featured CPD-accredited lectures, providing practical knowledge, skills development, and collaborative discussions that foster
innovation and elevate standards of feline care. Key speakers included Dr. Chantal Davina Celindano, Director of Paws-Fire Mobile Vet and Feline Veterinarian at Monier Veterinary Clinic; Dr. Linda Jane Tong, Senior Medicine Registrar at Western Australian Veterinary Emergency and Specialty; and Dr. Banawa. Dr. Celindano is accredited by the International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM), a global organization that advances cat health and welfare through education and best practices. The forum equips veterinarians to deliver tailored care using feline-friendly handling techniques, stress-reduction strategies, and specialized medical protocols. It strengthens understanding of feline behavior, improves clinical outcomes, trains professionals in early disease detection, and emphasizes preventive care using quality vaccines and dependable parasiticides. Speakers highlighted the five pillars of a healthy feline environment: a safe
space, separate areas for food, water, litter, and rest, opportunities for play and hunting, positive interactions, and a clean, cat-friendly environment. They emphasized that veterinarians must treat cats differently from dogs, especially when diagnosing illnesses and managing their care. The speakers covered common conditions such as feline idiopathic cystitis, hypertension, inflammatory bowel disease, hyperthyroidism, and cognitive decline, providing veterinarians with practical strategies for early detection, treatment, and prevention. Through the Catvocacy Forum, Boehringer Ingelheim underscores the critical need for specialized veterinary care and encourages pet owners to recognize and support veterinarians in delivering the highest standards of care for cats. Give your cat the care they deserve. Schedule regular visits with veterinarians advancing feline health.
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Monday, December 29, 2025 B7
The media person’s Christmas wish list, 2025 edition
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T is now a few days after Christmas, but because this has become something of a tradition for PR Matters, let me hold on to that Christmas spirit a bit longer—long enough to share some of my former colleagues’ (horror) stories about PR practitioners, as well as the things they wish we would do more of or stop doing. This being the fourth year that I am doing this column, I did not expect to get the same answers I have gotten in the past. But, here we are, three years since that first column, and some of the same responses still came up: knowing the basics, like a media person’s current position or publication; building real relationships, not just transactional ones; and writing good press releases. I did get some new gems that I hope we could all learn from, as well as some juicy anecdotes that we could add to our how-not-todo-PR list.
The basics, yet again A LARGE part of a PR practitioner’s job is monitoring—not just story pick-ups, but also industry movements. I remember my own experience almost 14 years ago when I left the Philippine Daily Inquirer: I continued to receive press releases and coverage invitations several months after my departure. Philippine Star Lifestyle columnist Cheche Moral had a similar experience: “It has been six months since I left my last job, and I am still receiving event invitations, press releases, and other PR correspondence as though I never moved on. Before that, for the entirety of my tenure, I continued to receive emails addressed to my predecessor—who retired five years earlier. This may sound like a minor administrative lapse, but to editors, it signals something far more troubling: a fundamental
A NEW WAY TO SHOW LOVE: INSIDE VIBER AND NIDO 3+ STANDOUT MOTHER’S DAY CAMPAIGN WITH BRANDED GEMS MANILA, PHILIPPINES—Earlier this year, NIDO 3+ and Viber completed the second run of their Mother’s Day campaign with Viber Gems, which delivered high engagement similar to their first run. Branded Viber Gems are special animations that are triggered by specific keywords in user conversations, and can be customized by brands. And with brands already mapping out 2026 holiday strategies, the campaign proves to be a useful blueprint for driving visibility during key
moments. In an exclusive exchange with Rakuten Viber Sales Director for Advertising—APAC Karla Banua, we learn how this campaign came to be, and what this means for both NIDO 3+ and Viber. Looking back at the genesis of the Mother’s Day Branded Viber Gems campaign, Karla shared that NIDO 3+ was the first brand who piloted the Branded Gem campaign not just in the Philippines, but in the entire Asia Pacific region. “[We were] in the process of creating and launching a new creative execution, which was the branded holiday Gem for Viber, and Mother’s Day was the nearest holiday leading to the launch. So, when we were trying to see the beauty of the execution along with Mother’s Day, we thought of NIDO 3+ as the perfect fit to do the very first Branded Gem campaign for APAC,” she divulged. The first step to creating the campaign was obtaining the NIDO 3+ brand assets and mandatory ele-
breakdown in one of the most basic responsibilities of public relations. Monitoring is not limited to tracking coverage once a story appears in print or online. It also means keeping track of who is actually in the role you’re pitching, who has left, who has changed beats, and who no longer exists in that professional capacity at all. When PR practitioners fail to update media lists, fail to notice staff changes that are publicly announced, or fail to do even minimal verification before hitting ‘send,’ it tells editors they are not being seen as professionals—but as names on a spreadsheet. That lack of care carries over into everything else: irrelevant pitches, missed angles, and stories that clearly haven’t been tailored to the publication or its audience.”
CHECHE MORAL (PhilStar)
ALLAN POLICARPIO (PDI)
KENNETH DEL ROSARIO (radar.ph)
ANNELLE TAYAO-JUEGO (CoverStory)
Do your own monitoring ONE of my peeves when I was reporter was being asked when a story would come out. For Inquirer Lifestyle reporter Allan Policarpio, this was not as annoying, as he understood where some PR people were coming from. But being asked to provide a copy of his article is another story. “I know a lot of journalists dislike being asked when a particular story is coming out, but I’ve gotten used to it over the years. I don’t really mind it, especially since the entertainment beat is less formal, if you will, than other beats. We often work with solo publicists or showbiz columnists and talent managers who occasionally moonlight as publicists. And I understand that they don’t really have access to media monitoring services the way PR agencies usually do. “What does annoy me, though—and this has happened a few times—is when I’m asked to provide a physical copy of the newspaper. Asking when a story is coming out is one thing, but expecting me to go out of my way to buy a copy and send it is another. Should I laminate the tearsheet while I'm at it?,” he related.
Be proactive, responsive, and true to your word
dar.ph Business editor Kenneth del Rosario. These information would guide reporters and editors in deciding whether to attend your event or just ask for a copy of the press release. If a journalist asks for an interview with specific executives in your event and you agree to the request, make sure to deliver on that promise, he added. CoverStory.ph writer Annelle Tayao-Juego said a “no” response to an interview request was also acceptable, and was definitely better than radio silence. Whether or not you grant an interview with your client or principal, she said she “appreciated PR professionals who provided their complete [media] kits, whether it be hard copy or via Google Drive, right after the event, without me having to make repeated follow-ups.”
whether or not we engage.” “I remember a press release for a clothing brand that would be launching in three months. The email suggested: ‘Here’s the press release. If you use it, you might just guarantee yourself a spot at the store opening.’ That phrasing really annoyed me. The release itself was genuinely good, so I published it. But the implication that I had to ‘earn’ a chance to attend was infuriating. As it turned out, I was never invited to the actual opening,” he related. “A press release should stand on its own merit. Invitations should be professional and let the media decide whether the event fits their section. We don’t work to ‘guarantee’ access.”
Provide well-written press releases
WHEN you invite journalists to cover your events, provide complete details, including the purpose of the event, who would be attending, and who would be available for interviews, said ra-
WHEN communicating with journalists, be mindful of your tone, reminded del Rosario, as he said “tone can make or break things. The way you invite or present content influences
THIS is one of the most commonly given responses by journalists I have interviewed for this wish list since I started writing it in 2022. There are many reasons for this, which Moral very eloquently related. “This is where training—or
ments that had to be present in the campaign. And from there, Viber’s creative team came up with animations that would convey the message that both brands want for their Mother’s Day Branded Gems. Karla noted that a lot of people, including the campaign’s target audience—moms—were already using Viber for their everyday communications. “We want to go a step further,” Karla began to explain the timing of the collaboration. “With Gems, the brands are given the opportunity to be part of the celebration. It’s becoming part of the conversation during the season, making it more meaningful and more celebrated.” Viber first worked with NIDO 3+ on a Mother’s Day Branded Viber Gems campaign in 2024, and made a new, enhanced campaign in 2025. “During the first campaign, we just used ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ as a keyword. But [for] the second year, we added more keywords — this
time, local languages. We added [keywords] like ‘Nanay,’ which we all know is a Filipino word for mom or mother. We also added words of love, like, ‘I love you, Mom,’ ‘I love you, Nanay.’ So, I guess those additions of keywords actually contributed to more users being reached or [getting] exposed to the NIDO 3+ Mother’s Day Branded Gem, and at the same time, creating more heartfelt experiences to the users whenever they’re typing the keyword,” Karla explained. To make this campaign happen, Viber worked with both NIDO 3+ and the brand’s media agency Openmind by WPP Media. Karla revealed that since the first Mother’s Day Branded Gems campaign was a success, NIDO 3+ was expecting that the second time would be able to surpass that. “Which, we did,” Karla pointed out. She shared that the second campaign’s success was made possible by adding more keywords such as “I love you, Mom”
and “I love you, Nanay.” “Aside from that, we also introduced a more sophisticated animation that is totally different from last year’s Gems,” she added. “We tried to go a step further by actually highlighting the different acts of love being shown by our moms, and how we are grateful for those.” More than being a roaring success for NIDO 3+, Karla proclaimed that the Mother’s Day Branded Viber Gems was also beneficial for Viber. “It was a huge partnership. And it was a very fruitful partnership for Viber, Openmind, and NIDO 3+ because we [at Viber] were able to get a respectable brand such as NIDO to actually pilot this execution for us. That association is, I guess, a testament [for] Viber as a partner in terms of having a campaign come to life and having a message be relayed to the right audiences.” Karla highlighted that since the partnership was also done for a pilot
Mind your tone
the lack of it—becomes impossible to ignore. New PR practitioners must be taught the proper way to write a press release. A greater word count does not increase the chances of pickup. In fact, the opposite is often true. Press releases that get to the point, provide the necessary facts, and are written in a way that minimizes the work an editor has to do are consistently preferred. Editors are not looking for hyperventilation over a brand, nor do they need paragraphs of self-congratulation masquerading as news. A well-written release respects the editor’s time, foregrounds the news value, and lets the facts do the work. Releases that exist solely to flatter a brand or ‘sell’ its importance waste time and guarantee disengagement. Editors are already stretched thin. They are inundated with information and under constant pressure to deliver meaningful, credible content to readers. When PR outreach is sloppy, outdated, or overly indulgent, it doesn’t just create friction—it erodes trust. And once trust is gone, so is attention,” she explained. As we enter a new year, may we accept that we still have a lot to learn and that there is always room for growth. As with every time I write this type of article, I still learn new things, and get refreshed on others that I may have forgotten. Let us understand our media friends better so we can build better, stronger relationships with them. Maybe we can even craft some of our new year’s resolutions around these insights—who knows? PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier organization for PR professionals around the world. Abigail L. Ho-Torres is the Chief Marketing Officer of Ikigai Philippines and an independent consultant and trainer, with more than two decades of experience in media, public relations, marketing, and customer experience. We are devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@ gmail.com.
campaign, it gave a spotlight to the Viber Gems in terms of how powerful it can be, and showcased its different capabilities. The NIDO 3+ team has also shared their thoughts on this campaign and partnership with Viber: “For over five decades, NIDO has been the trusted ally of Filipino moms, supporting them in acts of love and care. Mother’s Day is one of the most meaningful celebrations in the Philippines, and partnering with Rakuten Viber and Openmind allowed us to celebrate moms in a heartfelt and modern way. Through Branded Viber Gems, we became part of real conversations where families express love and appreciation. This year’s activation delivered over 4.5 million impressions in just five days and tripled engagement from last year. It showed how mobile-first, emotionally resonant storytelling can deepen our bond with moms and families nationwide.”
Sports BusinessMirror
B8 Monday, December 29, 2025
Tolentino: Great strides by PHL athletes in 2025
PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino makes sure the program is focused on yielding amazing results. POC PHOTO
By Josef Ramos
W
ONDERFUL stories woven from various international competitions in 2025 were a fitting followup to the success at the Paris Olympics last year. This according to Philippine Olympic Committee (POC)
mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph | Editor: Jun Lomibao
president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino who’s even more confident that the windfall will cascade into the coming year. There are the Milano Cortina XXV Winter Olympics from February 6 to 22 in Italy, the Sanya Asian Beach Games from April 22 to 30 in China and the Aichi-Nagoya 20th Asian Games in Japan from September 19 to October 4.
The Asian Games, Tolentino said, are a target for Team Philippines in its bid to match or surpass the four gold medals won in the Hangzhou edition in 2023. “There will be more competitions overseas and more historic achievements to come for Team Philippines especially now that we are working together with the PSC [Philippine Sports Commission] in a harmonious way,” Tolentino said. “It will be challenging this time as we will be competing in three Asian multi-
sports events and we have also the Milano Winter Games and then the Youth Olympic Games,” he said. “Our athletes and national sports associations are improving every year and I’m so happy to see that.” The Philippines will participate in Dakar Youth Olympic Games from October 31 to November 13—the first Olympic games in the African continent—and in Riyadh for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. Another surprising achievement? In those international competitions, Tolentino said that the POC family is expect a thrilling result just like in 2025 when Team Philippines made surprising milestones in three of four global tournaments. The men’s curling team of Marc Pfister, Enrico Pfister, Alan Frei, Christian Haller and Benjo Delarmente did not only give the country of its first winter games gold medal but also the whole of Southeast Asia in the Ninth Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China, last February. “It was a great start to 2025
when we, Southeast Asians, won our first winter games gold in Harbin,” he said. “Our curling team made history and we are eyeing to repeat this year in other events.” The Philippines beat South Korea, 5-3, to bag the historic gold medal at the Pinfang Curling Arena in Harbin. A few months after settling for just two silvers and two bronzes in the 2025 World Games in Chengdu, the Philippines rebounded with a strong finish at the Asian Youth Games last October in Manama with seven gold, seven silver and 10 bronze medals. Kram Airam Carpio of pencak silat; Charlie Ratcliff of mixed martial arts; Lyre Anie Ngina, Zeth Gabriel Bueno, Jan Brix Ramiscal and Tyron Jamborillo of muay Thai; Po Durden Wangkay of athletics; and Isabella Butler of jiu-jitsu were responsible for the gold medals in Bahrain. Naomi Cesar, a silver medalist at the AYG in the 800 meters, spearheaded the Philippine campaign in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in
Meralco tries to ride momentum in KO game against Rain or Shine
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T’S about completing the job for Meralco’s Luigi Trillo and fixing what went wrong for Rain or Shine’s Yeng Guiao as the two coaches’ teams figure in a knockout battle for the last semifinals seat in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup on Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. “We’re just halfway through and we still need a win to make it to the semifinals,” said Trillo, after the Bolts ditched the Elasto Painters’ twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals, 96-79, on Sunday at the Big Dome. “We cannot afford to have an anemic performance especially in the second half,” added Trillo, whose wards had to survive Rain or Shine’s comeback attempts—29-20 in the third quarter and 19-18 in the fourth period. Trillo said he’s bracing for a major comeback by their opponents. “Coach Yeng [Guiao] and Rain or Shine are known for their adjustments especially in defense so we must be ready,” he said. “We must look at Jhonard Clarito and Adrian Nocum, and others. I am sure they will fight back.” Nocum, the combo guard from Tondo, made 16 of his 17 points in the second half but the Elasto Painters were simply way behind to reverse the outcome. Guiao? “There’s a reason why we got the twice-to-beat advantage,” he said. “I feel surprisingly good that we can figure it out and fix our problems in the first game.” “We just need to lean back on our accomplishments,” he added. One of Guiao’s challenges
National jr tennis championships on
were his wards’ atrocious 4 of 33 shooting on three-pointers and 26 of 77 overall. Guard Chris Newsome piled up nine of his 14 points in the first quarter while Cliff Hodge added 10 of his 14 points also in that opening quarter to give Meralco a 35-15 lead entering the second period in Sunday’s game. CJ Cansino scattered 14 points and hauled down eight rebounds while Aaron Black and Jensen Rios contributed 12 points each also for the Bolts, who outsmarted the Elasto Painters in assists, 19-8. The notomorrow game is set at 7:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to the best-of-seven semifinals against TNT Tropang 5G starting on Wednesday. TNT took advantage of its twiceto-beat advantage and crushed Magnolia, 118-109, last Saturday. Josef Ramos
That Giddey-Buzelis Punch WHEN I watch the Chicago Bulls this season, they sure are fun, deep and talented. But really—do they have what it takes to compete for a National Basketball Association (NBA) title? I have always thought that a team needed at least one
Bangkok early this month. For Tolentino, Cesar is just only one of the 50 Filipino gold medalists in the Thailand Southeast Asian Games who stood tall for the country and what made it sweeter was the country winning gold in women’s football, beating host Thailand at their own game, and dethroned Vietnam for the crown. “It was a proud moment for the Philippine delegation to win a historic SEA Games women’s football title,” said Tolentino, adding the triumph of tennis sensation Alex Eala and the men and women 5x5 basketball teams made the achievement even greater. “We beat them in their favorite sports and we kept our title in our favorite sports,” he said. “Next year, 2026? I am sure Filipino athletes will strive for more gold medals and record-breaking feats.” There was no holiday break for the POC and even during the last weekend of 2025, it was another day at the office for Tolentino. “The task doesn’t cease, the responsibility and obligation to the Filipino athletes is always an A-1 priority,” he said.
T
MERALCO’S Chris Newsome and TNT Tropang 5G’s Jordan Heading plays well on Sunday night as the Bolts stay alive for a semifinals berth while the Tropang 5G go deeper into the playoffs. PBA IMAGES all-world or superstar surrounded by key role players to really compete. But that all-world player makes the magic happen. That kind of player gives his team a chance to win day in and out. The Boston Celtics had their icons from Bill Russell and Larry Bird to name but a very few. The Los Angeles Lakers had the great Ervin “Magic” Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and later Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. Bryant later paired with Pau Gasol, one of the all-time best to win a pair of titles. The Chicago Bulls had the incomparable Michael Jordan. Miami and Cleveland had LeBron James who is in the GOAT conversation. Golden State has Stephen Curry who redefined the game with his incredible lights out shooting. We saw Milwaukee win it with Giannis Antetokounmpo. Oklahoma is making it happen with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Does it stand to reason that the current Lakers have two in James and Luka Doncic? So where does that lead the Bulls? Josh Giddey is proving to be a triple double machine, but as much as he makes it happen, I wonder…can he continue
HE country’s leading junior players and rising stars resumed their chase for titles and ranking points in the MAC’s Crank It National Junior Championships which got under way Friday at the Olivarez Sports Center in Parañaque City. Jan Cadee Dagoon tries to sustain the momentum of her 16-and-under triumph at home at the recent Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala (PPS-PEPP) Olongapo City leg in the Group 2 tournament sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association and organized by the MAC’s Crank It Foundation. Challenging Dagoon are top seed Ayl Gonzaga, Astrid Cablitas, Natasha Gabriel, Leanne Barrido, Talitha Lopez, Jasmine Solis and Amelia Santos. Dagoon is also entered in the 18-and-under class alongside Cablitas, Avegail Ansay and Mikaela Ngu. Siblings Frank and France Dilao banner the premier boys’ 18-and-
to take it to a higher notch? He has shown glimpses with his defense, passing and shooting. This is his first season with a lot of focus on his game. But when I look across the Bulls’ roster, I feel that the other player who can really become that all-world player is Matas Buzelis, the 6-foot-8 forward born in Chicago, but who has chosen to wear his parent’s ethnic colors with Lithuania. In his second year with his hometown Bulls, the 21-year-old Matas hiked his rookie totals of 8.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists to (as of this writing 14.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Remember, during his first year in the league, he started Chicago’s final 30 matches and his scoring went up to 13 points. Buzelis, like Giddey, can handle the ball and can shoot. Buzelis though is explosive to the basket and plays better defense. He just needs to be more consistent. Imagine what he will be like in his third year in the league. So if Chicago head coach Billy Donovan can keep Giddey and Buzelis playing sweet music, who knows how far they can go because they could be those all-worlders that the Bulls could sorely use.
under cast bolstered by Antonio Ng Jr., Julio Naredo, Rafa Monte De Ramos, Anirudh Palanisamy, Karl Almiron and Jaime Reyes. Lexious Cruz headlines the boys’ 16-and-under division with Monte De Ramos, Krelz Gecosala, Naredo, Anthony Castigador, Palanisamy, Almiron and Nicholas Andal. Equally compelling action is expected in the girls’ 14-and-under category that features Ella Paglalunan, Gonzaga, Cablitas, Barrido, Donarose Olavides, Abby Castigador and Solis. Anthony Castigador, Gecosala, Tyronne Caro, Jfsky Berille, Kenji Kue, Dean Palaroan, Yuan Torrente and Juan Antonio Cablitas anchor the boys’ 14-and-under division of the tournament held under the PPS-PEPP program initiated by Palawan Pawnshop president and CEO Bobby Castro. Entered in the girls’ 12-and-under brackets are Olavides and Kyla Caguioa, Abby Castigador, Anica Palacio, Gabrielle Co, Eilythia Comia, Celestine Salvador and Mira Plaza. In the boys’ 14-and-under, Torrente is tipped to contend alongside Liam Harrow, Noel Zoleta, Angelo Alegria, Terrence Batallones, Rafael Cablitas, Azl Gonzaga and Yuan Ringor. Focus will likewise be on the youngest competitors in the 10-andunder unisex division where Arjun Puthraya, Francis Angeles, Batallones, Matias Aguilera, Rafael Cablitas, Azl Gonzaga, Francis Abacan and Brielle Loyola are competing. Also at stake are doubles titles in the 12-, 14-, 16- and 18-and-under (boys’) divisions, as well as the 14- and 18-and-under (girls’) and 10-andunder unisex categories.
They could be like McLaren Formula 1’s version of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri—the current F1 Driver of the Year and his teammate who helped McLaren win a successive Constructors’ Championship. Piastri finished third in the driver’s rankings, 13 points behind Norris and three points behind second placer Max Verstappen. In basketball, a star really needs the ball to be the most effective, unlike football where all 10 other teammates are just as crucial and important. But that ball can be shared. And the Bulls know that all too well because Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen won them six NBA crowns. I also look forward to seeing both Giddey and Buzelis (for Australia and Lithuania respectively) take the world stage once more when the FIBA World Cup unfolds in 2027 in Qatar. In the meantime, I have no idea how far the Chicago Bulls will go this NBA season. I enjoy watching that team as much as when they fielded DeRozan-LaVine-Ball-Caruso. And I would like to see them field an all-white team with Zach Collins, Nikola Vucevic, Matas Buzelis, Kevin Huerter, and Giddey. They can sure ball.