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A RESCUED Chinese scam worker identified by the pseudonym Wind poses with a tablet displaying messages he used to defraud victims. Wind said he was lured to the Philippines by a promise of legitimate office work but was forced to carry out online scams, beaten for failing to meet targets and repeatedly sold to other scam companies. He was among more than 400 foreign workers rescued from the Bamban scam compound during a March 2024 police raid. He remains at a former scam compound in Pasay that has been converted into a temporary detention facility, awaiting repatriation. AP/AARON FAVILA
WASHINGTON TAKES ITS SCAM WAR GLOBAL
Washington’s scam strike force has seized more than $1 billion and is taking the fight worldwide. The Philippines, on both ends of the business, has a stake in where it goes next.
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By Troi Santos
eryone ran outside,” he said. “This was our chance to escape.” In April, Myanmar released 78 more Filipinos who had been jailed for illegal entry after being trafficked into scam work. That same month, the American strike force seized a Telegram channel recruiting Filipinos and others into a compound in rural Cambodia near the Thai border. Pirro said the big syndicates know they are being hunted, and they have adjusted. “They are creating smaller scam centers. They’re changing the way that they do business.” She called it “criminals committing old crimes in new ways.”
AUL, as the Inquirer called him, was a 27-year-old IT dropout who collected online bets for an offshore gaming operator in Makati. When President Marcos banned the industry in 2024, the job went with it. On Sept. 15 that year, Paul found a post on Telegram offering good money in Thailand. “The recruiter did not ask for a placement fee,” he told the paper.
He left through the backdoor. Balabac Island in Palawan, a boat to Sabah, an agent who took his passport. By Oct. 11 he was working in KK Park, on the Myanmar side of the Moei River. He paid P270,000 for his release and was sold to another company anyway. Early on the morning of Feb. 6, 2025, he walked out through the farms, asking Burmese villagers for directions and following a Google Maps route sent by Col. Dominador Matalang, the police attaché at the Philippine Embassy in Thailand. Paul’s route, from a shuttered gaming floor in Makati to a compound in Myanmar, is the industry three senior American officials described on Wednesday. The State Department’s Washington Foreign Press Center hosted the briefing. The moderator opened by remarking on a full briefing room. I watched over Zoom. Jeanine Ferris Pirro, the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, sat with Heith Janke, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Division, and Richard Goldberg, director of the Justice Department’s Cyber-Enabled Scam Initiative. The program was billed as American leadership against for-
eign-backed fraud. What the three described was a business, with payrolls, quotas, training and supply lines. All three agreed, in Pirro’s words, that they “cannot and do not do this alone.” For the Philippines, the problem runs in two directions. Filipinos are trafficked out to work the phones. The compounds, chased from one country, keep turning up at home. Pirro’s office created the Scam Center Strike Force in November 2025, the first in the country. In the year since, she said, it has seized more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency and taken down over 500 websites, along with Starlink terminals and Telegram channels the networks used. More than 150 law enforcement agents have worked the Southeast Asian front. Next come Ghana, Nigeria and Madagascar.
Under-reported cyber-enabled fraud
JANKE put the American losses on the table. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center logged $20.8 billion in reported losses last year, more than $17.6 billion of it from cyberenabled fraud. “We know this is very underreported,” he said.
Philippine experience
COMBATING CYBERCRIME AND TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL NETWORKS U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, FBI Assistant Director Heith Janke and Richard Goldberg, director of the Cyber-Enabled Scam Initiative at the Justice Department, brief foreign media on the Administration’s efforts to disrupt criminal networks that target Americans with cybercrime and online fraud, and highlight recent successes through initiatives including the Scam Center Strike Force. October 28, 2026. Leah Knobel moderating for the FPC. STATE DEPT./FPC/SHERRY L BRUKBACHER Pirro said Americans were being “industrially looted.” Then she explained how the factory works. A model sends short videos to a man who believes she loves him. She is courting about 20 other men on the same schedule. Each one is steered to a polished NFT investment site and asked to connect a crypto wallet. “As soon as they do that,” Pirro said, “they don’t need the victim’s permission to access that wallet, and then the funds are drained.” The large compounds, she said, run “like a real factory with quotas and deadlines.” A reporter asked whether the workers trapped inside could get a hotline to reach American investigators. Pirro offered her own number. Janke was more sober. He called it “basically real-life slavery.” Someone applies for a job expecting to earn more than they could at home. They arrive, learn the job
is fraud, and are forced to do it and forced to make quotas. In May, the National Bureau of Investigation arrested an alleged recruiter after 25 Filipinos came home from Myanmar. According to the bureau, they had been recruited on Telegram and WhatsApp with promises of about P50,000 a month and coached to pass as tourists or legitimate overseas workers at the airport. They were routed through several countries to KK Park. There, their passports were taken and their movements restricted. When they missed a quota, they were fined and intimidated. Janke’s word, quota, is in the NBI file too.
One rule
LATER in the briefing, Pirro gave Americans one rule. Never follow someone you met online onto a pri-
vate app like WhatsApp or Signal, and never move money because of a relationship that started on a screen. In the Philippines, those same apps are the hiring hall. Winston Casio, former spokesman of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, told BusinessMirror this week that scamming has become “an employable technical skill,” recruited through WhatsApp and Telegram. The con that ends with an American emptying his retirement account can begin with a Filipino answering a job post. The Department of Migrant Workers repatriated 839 Filipinos from Myanmar in 2025. About 200 Filipinos were among the 1,500 people who fled KK Park into Thailand during raids in late October that year. One of them told AFP he ran with about 30 compatriots as a pro-junta militia arrived. “Ev-
MANILA has spent two years learning that. Marcos banned offshore gaming operators in his State of the Nation Address on July 22, 2024, and ordered them out by year’s end. The Anti-POGO Act was signed on Oct. 23, 2025. A month later, a Pasig court sentenced Alice Guo, the former mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, also known as Guo Hua Ping, to life imprisonment for qualified trafficking. The court ordered her 7.9-hectare Baofu compound forfeited. It was the first conviction under the expanded anti-trafficking law’s provision on organizing and directing others to commit trafficking. Her lawyers said they would appeal. Then the business scattered. On Oct. 2, the Bureau of Immigration, working with the NBI and the armed forces, arrested 244 foreign nationals, most of them Chinese, at two sites in Siay and Alicia, Zamboanga Sibugay. Agents recovered roughly 3,000 mobile phones. The bureau called it the largest POGO bust of the year. Ten days later, immigration agents picked up 76 foreigners at a suspected scam hub in Cubao, Quezon City. On Oct. 22, NBI agents and their partners raided UPower Continued on A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 63.8520 n JAPAN 0.4050 n UK 85.4404 n HK 8.1384 n CHINA 9.5857 n SINGAPORE 49.9038 n AUSTRALIA 44.8752 n EU 71.3865 n KOREA 0.0477 n SAUDI ARABIA 17.0150 Source: BSP (October 30, 2026)
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A2 Sunday, November 1, 2026
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Beyond Undas: Exploring Filipino heritage through Memorial Tourism
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Story and photos by Nicole Paler
OR Filipinos, honoring the dead has always been deeply rooted in culture, though the ways we do so continue to evolve. From annual journeys home during All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day to the distinct funeral rites practiced across the country, remembrance takes many forms. Undas, derived from the Spanish ‘honras fúnebres’, or funeral honors, reflects this enduring tradition of keeping our departed close, even as the ways we remember them change. Across the Philippines, these traditions give a glimpse to how communities keep their connections with the departed alive. In Sagada, Mountain Province, Panag-apoy, which means “to light a fire,” has families light the saeng, or wood from old pine trees, beside their loved ones’ graves in lieu of candles. The practice emerged in the early 1900s, blending Anglican Christian rites with local Igorot customs. Meanwhile, in Cebu, Kalag-Kalag, derived from the Cebuano word kalag, or soul, was a tradition shaped by centuries of Catholic observance and local beliefs about the dead returning to visit the living. With cemetery visits, prayers, flowers, candles, and music, Kalag-Kalag becomes a family gathering that brings loved ones together. Both traditions show how remembrance takes on different forms across the country, opening a conversation about the intersection of cultural heri-
tage and tourism. For travelers, these customs provide an opportunity to understand the culture of Filipino communities, how they express grief and celebrate family ties. From Sagada’s mountain communities to Cebu’s lively gatherings, Undas is more than tradition. It’s a chance to go beyond the usual tourist spots, get to know local stories and traditions, and experience each community with the respect it deserves.
Different kind of heritage experience
CEMETERIES offer a different kind of heritage experience: the opportunity to visit the final resting places of people who have shaped the country’s history, arts, and culture. In Manila, the Manila North Cemetery and Manila South Cemetery hold the graves of notable personalities for example. These places invite visitors to reflect on the lives, legacies, and historical events that continue to influence the nation today. For a different side of Manila, there are available walking tours in Manila Chinese Cemetery that takes
you beyond the usual tourist spots and into a fascinating mix of history, culture, and heritage. Established in the late 19th century, the cemetery is known for its elaborate mausoleums with distinct architectural styles, and stories of notable members of the Chinese-Filipino community. Some mausoleums resemble small houses,
while others reflect a blend of Chinese traditions and Western influences. Walking through it feels like stepping into an open-air archive of history and architecture. These cemeteries also contain memorials connected to the country’s wartime history. With a knowledgeable guide, a walking tour can turn what might initially seem like an unusual destination into a meaningful heritage experience, offering a deeper understanding of Manila’s multicultural past. And visiting these places can also be a more personal heritage tour experience. Especially when a name found in a history book becomes connected to a real, tangible place, which invites one to pause, reflect, and appreciate the stories behind it.
Soulful times, remembrance with a twist
WHILE traditions like Kalag-Kalag con-
tinue to evolve, their heart remains the same: keeping loved ones close. Eternal Gardens for example is redefining what a memorial park can be, offering families a place not just to remember loved ones but more as Eternal Gardens celebrates its Golden Anniversary this year. From enjoying the outdoors through a morning jog or a quiet walk, and even having families have more choices for fun activities like bazaars and food concessionaires. At Eternal Gardens Lipa, families can enjoy Acoustic Soul Serenade, an acoustic session at the bazaar around 8 p.m. on November 1. It’s a reminder that even in places of remembrance, there’s room for music, shared moments, and the simple joy of being together. Recently, Forest Lake Memorial Park gave this tradition a fresh spin through Undasko, a blend of Undas and Pasko that lets families celebrate Christmas early with their dearly departed,
adding a more meaningful stop for their Undas travels. “But of course, families can still come together to pray and observe Undas in a solemn and meaningful way,” Carlos Locsin, National Sales and Marketing Manager of Forest Lake Memorial Park, told BusinessMirror and other media. Across its memorial parks, Undasko adds a family-friendly twist to remembrance, with activities like inflatables, food concessionaires, and live entertainment alongside dedicated spaces and schedules for quiet prayer, mass, and grave blessings. It is a new perspective on what a cemetery can be. Rather than being places that families visit only during solemn occasions, memorial parks are creating more welcoming spaces where remembrance and recreation can coexist. Also, these activities in memorials like Undasko even introduce the little ones to these traditions in a setting that feels warm and welcoming, not at all creepy and scary. It also encourages conversations between generations, allowing children to learn about their family history while parents and grandparents share memories of those who came before them. This transformation also invites a broader conversation about the future of tourism. When we think of destinations, we often picture beaches, mountains, heritage houses, or food districts. Yet, cultural tourism can also be found in the everyday practices that connect people to their roots. Of course, the tourism potential of cemeteries rests on maintaining a thoughtful balance. Festive activities should never overshadow the solemn purpose of these spaces, and visitors must be mindful of families who come to grieve and pray. It’s a reminder that meaningful places we travel to are not always those with the grandest views. They are the ones that attract us because they remind us where we came from, who we love, and why we keep coming home.
Washington takes its scam war global Continued from A1
Building 2 in Subic Gateway Park. NBI Director Melvin Matibag said roughly 230 people were detained, nearly all of them Vietnamese, and the bureau was screening each one for signs of trafficking. According to the NBI, the hub ran like a business. It had round-the-clock shifts, a dedicated payments desk and staff schedules assigning teams to targets in the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates and Bangladesh. Some news reports said that the hub’s victims also included people in the United States. “We are following the money from this facility to every account that carried it,” Matibag said. “Anyone who lends an account to these operations will answer for it under the law.” Six days before Pirro described smaller scam centers in Washington, Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty described them in Manila. He called the recent targets mom-and-pop operations, some running out of a single room. “No doubt that it has gotten smaller,” he said. “But clearly it’s still there, we’re not denying that the problem still exists.” Pirro also had a complaint about Beijing. China, she said, often steps in on immigration and quickly repatriates the Chinese nationals who build the scam centers, “because they just evolve into another scam center.” The Philippine answer has been deportation, plus a Bureau of Immigration blacklist that keeps them from coming back. Whether removal ends a career in fraud or only moves it is the question her remark leaves for Manila. “I have been in Manila, in the Philippines,” Pirro said, listing her stops: Qatar, India and London behind her, Singapore and Bangkok ahead. The Justice Department keeps an attaché in Manila who works on arrests, extraditions and evidence across Southeast Asia, according to Goldberg’s congressional testimony. But on Wednesday, Pirro offered no Philippine case,
figure or name. The briefing ran on Burma, Madagascar’s 13 facilities and about 3,200 devices pulled in a West Africa sweep.
The others’ experience
ON the call, I listened to the questions. Reporters from Pakistan, India, Qatar, Colombia and Korea asked from the room. Two more came from reporters on the call, as I was, one from Romania and one about Senegal. None was about the Philippines. Manila was not Wednesday’s subject. It is already part of the work. In February 2025, Thailand cut electricity, internet and fuel at five border points serving Myawaddy and two other Myanmar towns. The compounds ran generators. According to an AFP investigation, they also put Starlink receivers on their roofs in large numbers. That October, SpaceX said it had disabled more than 2,500 terminals near suspected scam centers in Myanmar. The Associated Press later reported, citing regional internet registry data, that Starlink lost nearly half its users in the country after SpaceX’s cutoff and was again Myanmar’s top internet provider by February of this year. International Justice Mission, an anti-trafficking group that tracked devices through advertising data, found at least seven that had been used at KK Park operating from a new compound about 30 kilometers away.
Philippine telcos
PHILIPPINE telcos fight the same war one text at a time. Globe said it kept 967 million spam messages from reaching customers in 2025 and blocked 272,746 SIMs linked to them. Smart said it blocked more than 955 million scam and phishing texts in the first quarter of this year alone, and it has blacklisted nearly 200,000 numbers linked to fraud. The day before the briefing, the National The National Telecommunications Commission gave
carriers 15 days to verify anyone holding more than 100 SIMs in one name and to permanently deactivate the numbers that fail. But carriers cannot see inside WhatsApp or Telegram. Scammers now carry portable fake cell towers that push texts straight to nearby phones without passing through a carrier’s network. “How can we block something that doesn’t really pass through our own network?” Roy Ibay, Smart’s head of regulatory affairs, told the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism in June. The officials were candid about how far they could reach. Where no extradition treaty exists, Pirro said, prosecutors may try to route a case through the United Nations. Janke said the FBI has 250 people spread across 180 countries, and that “the people we’re going after are not in the United States.” Goldberg went further. “We cannot prosecute our way out of this problem.” He was asking the foreign press to carry the warnings home. In the Philippines, the most exposed households are not holding crypto wallets. They have a son or daughter scrolling Facebook for a customer service job overseas that promises P50,000 a month, or a cousin coached to say “tourist” at the NAIA counter. Pirro’s advice to Americans was short: “You can’t hit the ‘send’ button.” The Philippine version is a job offer that pays too well and leaves through the wrong door. "There is no substitute for legal and documented employment abroad," Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said in March. Paul paid P270,000 and walked out through Burmese farmland. The syndicates are betting on two people: the Filipino who needs the work and the American who wants to believe. Washington has gone after the money, the websites and the satellite dishes. Reaching the people who answer will take Manila too.
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A3
US cruise ship suspends a global voyage in Asia due to fuel costs, stranding 200 passengers By Sopheng Cheang
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The Associated Press
IHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia—A US cruise ship on an aroundthe-world voyage that touted its cabins as floating homes suspended its three-year journey in Cambodia due to fuel costs, forcing hundreds of passengers to disembark.
The MV Odyssey set sail two years ago on a voyage to the seven continents marketed as combining long-term living at sea with global travel. Its operator had offered to “make the Odyssey your permanent home,” with the purchase price of a suite for the lifetime of the vessel starting around $230,000. For now, it is docked at the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville on the Gulf of Thailand, with no certain departure date. The ship has been carrying 203 passengers, mostly Americans, along with 156 crew members, according to Cambodian officials. It has a 650-passenger capacity. Its Florida-based operator, Villa Vie Residences, said monthly fuel expenses per cabin that historically averaged $1,800 have reached an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 in parts of Asia due to the war in Iran. The company said it sought to reduce fuel consumption by slowing the itinerary and spending more time in port, but was unable to offset the surging costs. Traffic has been curtailed in the Strait of Hormuz since the war in Iran began, squeezing supplies of all kinds of petroleum-based fuels,
especially in Southeast Asia, and sharply increasing prices. “We have been unable to continue carrying the resulting operating losses,” Villa Vie Residences said in a statement issued Tuesday. “Passing the full increase on to residents is not a realistic solution. Our focus now is on supporting residents, crew, and employees” while it tries to restructure. “The company is working with residents to coordinate disembarkation and identify temporary living arrangements,” it said.
Those on the ship had hoped to sail for years to come
PASSENGERS, however, said they received no support and had to make their own arrangements after being given seven hours’ notice on Tuesday to disembark. Some were devastated and expressed hope a new company could rescue the venture so life at sea can continue. Paul and Lynn Montoya, a retired couple from Wyoming, said they bought a window cabin and had expected to sail for years. They boarded the ship 17 months ago in Panama. Paul praised the concept of
residential cruising but said the shipowner lacked the expertise to make the business financially sustainable. W hile rising fuel costs had been cited publicly as the reason for the suspension, he said the company had already been struggling. Changes to itineraries, unreliable internet access and declining food quality had pushed many residents to leave the ship in recent months, he said. Lynn said residents were repeatedly asked to contribute additional money for fuel and other expenses, including a fresh call to raise funds for fuel to get out of Cambodia. She said the crew members were also not paid. “We were tired of every two to four weeks being asked for money for fuel, money for everything,” she said. “We had hopes but they just kept sinking further and further into the hole through mismanagement.” The company could not immediately be contacted for comment.
For some, the venture was a risk worth taking
YET for some, even the financial and logistical turmoil couldn’t outweigh the extraordinary experience of traveling the world and living at sea. Carol Larson, 69, and her sister Crystal Lavering, 72, occupied separate cabins aboard the ship for 18 months. The siblings, from California, described the suspension as heartbreaking, and hoped the cruise would be resuscitated. “I hope there is a movement for the residents to buy the ship and I am hoping that goes through because it’s a dream to live on the ship and I don’t want it to end,” Larson said. Lavering said her health improved during her time on the ship,
and that she didn’t need to use a cane to walk anymore. “You come to this ship to live … it’s just sad that it’s all over.” Larson bought her cabin for $120,000, paid in installments, in addition to monthly maintenance fees, under a plan that had promised the possibilit y of living aboard for up to 15 years. She said she blamed US President Dona ld Tr u mp for the ship’s woes as fuel costs spiked due to the Iran war, in addition to poor management. But she said she didn’t regret her investment. “Because it was a startup company, I believe that it was a risk. From the very first day, I said to myself that if it lasts a year, I can walk away and feel like I got my money’s worth … I still feel that way,” she said.
The cruise began in Northern Ireland in ‘24
THE ship arrived in Sihanoukville last Friday and was scheduled to depart Wednesday, according to a statement from Long Dimanche, the deputy governor of Preah Sihanouk province. He said it was now expected to refuel and depart Cambodia on Saturday, but the ship’s operator has not yet publicly confirmed any date. Built in 1993 and operated under different names by several cruise lines over the years before being becalmed by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the Odyssey was bought by Villa Vie Residences in 2023. Its current cruise, originally intended to last 3 1/2 years, began in October 2024 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where the ship had been refitted. A second cruise had been tentatively scheduled to end in August 2030.
Who pays for a $1B riot? Europe looks past rioters to their parents and the apps in their pockets By Thomas Adamson The Associated Press
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ARIS—In France, the bill for a riot could soon be paid from a family’s housing aid. Some people in a violent crowd could be made to pay for windows they never broke. France’s Senate approved the measure 229-105 this week, less than two weeks after cost-ofliving protests spiraled into the country’s worst unrest in years, leading to estimated damage of over 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion). In one weekend, police arrested nearly 2,400 people; authorities say thousands of shops were looted or damaged. Fire gutted Limoges’ 19th-century city hall. France is not alone: Across Western Europe, governments are reaching past the rioters—to their parents, and to the apps that carry the call to the streets. And it may not be over. Spanish fact-checker Maldita.es has found calls for Halloween protests in 46 cities in at least nine European countries. Some urge looting. Officials say the aim is to prevent the next riot and pay for the last. Critics warn that widening responsibility could punish people who committed no violence and make others afraid to protest.
10,000 euros ($11,200) for what others destroy. So could anyone who knowingly stays after police order a violent crowd to disperse, for damage done afterward. Collecting is the hard part, a Senate report says: Offenders often have little money, or income the law protects from seizure. The bill would open another source: money the state pays to help families live. French law already generally holds parents liable for damage caused by their children under 18. Under the bill, once a court
ruling is final, the money could be deducted from family allowances and housing aid. Senators added the RSA, France’s minimum-income benef it, wor t h up to about 650 euros ($730) a month for a single person, and even the back-to-school allowance families get for supplies. A minimum amount would remain protected for living expenses. Communist Sen. Fabien Gay cited monthly deductions of 57 euros ($63) from a household receiving RSA. At that rate, repaying 10,000 euros would take nearly 15 years.
A French word travels the border
‘Rioters pay’
IN France, anyone who knowingly joins a group preparing violence could be made to pay up to
Supporters say victims deserve compensation and taxpayers shouldn’t carry the cost. One large shop window can cost tens of thousands of euros to replace. After riots in 2023, insurers paid 793 million euros ($888 million) on 16,400 claims, according to France Assureurs, the insurers’ federation. Human rights groups urged lawmakers to reject the bill, warning it could discourage peaceful protest and hurt families who depend on benefits. Seizing those payments “could have disastrous consequences for the poorest,” Nathalie Godard of Amnesty International France said in a statement. The far right backed the bill in the conservative-led Senate. Next comes the National Assembly, where no bloc has a majority. Seizing rioters’ benefits was long an idea of Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally party. Now the government has made it its own, and she leads the polls for next spring’s presidential election.
PEOPLE clean up debris in a street next to burned bicycles the day after a demonstration against rising living costs and in solidarity with students’ grievances, in Paris, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. AP/EMMA DA SILVA
FRENCH students call a protest that shuts their school a “blocus,” or blockade. In Barcelona, it became a hashtag. TikTok posts under the tag called people to Catalonia Square See “Riot,” A4
CAMBODIAN Tourism Minister Hout Hak, right, presents a gift to a passenger from the US cruise ship MV Odyssey, docked at the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, during a visit with passengers at the Independence Hotel in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. AP/HENG SINITH
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Sunday, November 1, 2026
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In Afghanistan, musicians defy music ban to keep traditions alive Underground performances have become too dangerous
By Elena Becatoros
K
The Associated Press
WHEN the music ban was first imposed, a few underground performances continued. Both the singer and the rubab player performed at some. But now, it’s just too dangerous. “The situation was becoming increasingly difficult day by day, and government agents were actively searching for individuals like me to arrest them,” the singer said. He hasn’t performed at a secret gathering for four years now. “The risk is simply too high, and I do not want to end up in prison. I have young children.” The rubab player said a gathering he had performed at was raided by the vice and virtue police after one of those attending took photos and sent them to the authorities. Many participants were arrested, but he managed to slip away. He hasn’t performed at a secret gathering since.
ABUL, Afghanistan—There was a time when music would fill many of Kabul’s streets, wafting out of cafes and restaurants, seeping out of homes in the warren of alleys that make up the Afghan capital’s music district. Those days are long gone. Since 2022, playing or listening to music has been officially banned throughout Afghanistan. The Taliban who seized power in 2021 have prohibited anything but religious music—unaccompanied voca l chanting—w ith the ban enforced by the feared morality police of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. “Music is forbidden in Islam,” said ministry spokesperson Saif ul Islam K hyber, adding that it “ser ves as a means of joy to Satan,” and that it “often leads to various other vices.” No one, he said, “ is permitted to listen to music or to record songs and musical compositions.” Many musicians and performers f led the country after the takeover. Those who remained sent their instruments abroad or hid them to save them from being smashed by authorities. The music shops in Kucha-eKharabat, the neighborhood in Kabul’s old city where many musicians lived, now sell other wares, from food and groceries to clothes and household goods. Anything except musical instruments.
Riot. . . Continued from A3
on Saturday, Oct. 24, and QR codes sent them to WhatsApp or Telegram channels, Catalonia’s interior chief, Núria Parlon, told Cadena SER radio. On paper, it was a protest over education. There was no route, Parlon said. No banners. No manifesto. Just groups of 10 to 15 young men looting stores, burning trash containers and smashing bus stops. When police arrived, the looters scattered, said an AP journalist who was at the scene. Police reported 130 arrests, including 76 minors, according to Spanish news agency EFE. Some TikTok accounts promoting the gatherings disappeared, while others advertised new Halloween protests, Maldita.es reported. In one Telegram group,
Across Afghanistan, musicians lost their livelihoods overnight. Yet for many, music is in their blood. It has flowed through their families for generations, and the thought of never playing again is unbearable. Every so often, some pull out their instruments and play in secret. A knock at the door could mean danger. Still, they play.
Musicians vow to keep traditions alive
A MUSICIAN who now works as a manual laborer after closing his family’s instrument shop following the Taliban takeover in 2021 holds a rubab, a traditional stringed instrument, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. AP/NAVA JAMSHIDI
IN a small home tucked down a narrow street, a musician pulls out three hand-carved wooden rubabs, a traditional plucked lute-like instrument that is an integral part of Afghan musical culture. Picking one up, he cradles it in his lap for a moment before beginning to play. The resonant, warm sound of the rubab fills the tiny room. “As long as I am alive, I will continue to play,” he says. “Perhaps I will do so in secret, but I will not allow (the rubab) to be silent. This is our culture, the traditions of Afghanistan which must not be silent; they must be revived and I will fight for that.” In another part of Kabul, a singer echoes the rubab player’s
determination. “For now, music may not be performed openly, but no one can ever erase it from our hearts,” the singer said. “Whether in secret or in our dreams, we will continue to sing and play our music.” Both spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of arrest. B e f o r e t h e t a k e o v e r, t h e singer had performed at concerts and celebrations. He, too, has hidden his instruments: a rubab, a harmonium, a f lute, a tabla—traditional Afghan hand drums—and a keyboard. “The day I brought my musical instruments home and covered them with a tarp felt as if I had been buried alive beneath that very covering, as if I were dead,”
messages urged people to wear masks and gloves and wait to be told of a shop “without police.”
are unlikely to deter teenagers driven by peer pressure or a desire for group recognition.” Organizing protest violence, even online, now carries four to 12 years in prison.
‘You break it, you pay’
IN Italy, the argument starts with another family. “Behind that shop window there is a family that has invested a lifetime of sacrifices,” Premier Giorgia Meloni said Oct. 20, announcing a security decree after looting in Milan. Her principle fits in three Italian words: “Chi rompe paga”—you break it, you pay. “And if the one who breaks it is a minor,” she said, “their parents pay.” Parents now face fines of up to 1,000 euros ($1,120), doubled for a repeat offense, unless they prove they couldn’t have stopped their child. They can be made to pay for damage. Holding parents accountable may help, said Claudio Bertolotti, director of START InSight, a security research firm, but “fines alone
Before the window breaks
TELEGRAM and WhatsApp “must shut down such channels when they incite violence,” Parlon said. Telegram spokesperson Remi Vaughn told The Associated Press the company supports peaceful speech and protest, but “calls for violence, vandalism and theft are explicitly forbidden and are removed whenever discovered.” He said Telegram had removed such calls linked to protests in Madrid. TikTok and Meta, which owns WhatsApp, did not respond to requests for comment. Telegram closed a Barcelona group promoting Halloween looting, but a replacement drew more
he said. “Music gave me life; it brought me fame and recognition. Without music, an artist is like a soulless corpse.” Sometimes, he stands before his hidden instruments and weeps. “I beg my instruments for forgiveness, explaining that I can no longer play them.”
Musicians descend into poverty
THE rubab player taught music at a school and also owned a traditional musical instrument shop. The son and grandson of musicians, the shop and music were his family business. But after the takeover, he packed up as many of the instruments as he could and sent them abroad. Others, he hid. The music than 2,000 members, Spanish media reported. The French bill would let authorities demand removal of certain illegal calls to violence or looting without prior court approval. If they stay up 24 hours, they could order the web addresses blocked. Those decisions could be challenged in court. The United States is going the other way. Its law generally shields platforms from civil liability for users’ posts, and the Trump administration calls Europe’s rules censorship. Britain shows the limits of takedowns. After three girls were killed in Southport in 2024, false claims spread online and riots followed. A parliamentary committee found that algorithms amplified harmful material, much of it legal. Under France’s bill, money meant to house and raise children could help pay for a looted shop.
shop shut down. Losing the business was a heavy blow. Not just financially, but also emotionally, especially for his father. A short while later, his father died of a heart attack. The musician believes the loss of the shop was something he never recovered from. Between teaching and the shop, the musician made a very comfortable living, earning about 10,000 afghanis ($150) a day, he said. Now, he barely makes 100 afghanis ($1.50) as a manual laborer. With a wife and children to feed, he’s now desperately poor. For his part, the singer spent two years unemployed before friends helped him start a small business.
Afghanistan’s musical tradition is in danger of dying out
THE rubab player learned how to play from his father—an art form handed down through the generations. Despite the dangers, he says he will start teaching his eldest son. “It’s a legacy from my father, and I want this heritage to continue,” he said. “From my grandfather to my father, from my father to me, and from me to my son, and so on. This tradition must continue.” For the singer, music is so enmeshed in Afghan culture and identity that he believes it can never truly be silenced. “No one can ever truly separate music from Afghan society,” he said. “ They are as inseparable as the fingernail from the f lesh.”
Venezuela’s Rodríguez vows to hold election; Machado asks when By Andreina Itriago, Fabiola Zerpa & Mie Dahl Bloomberg News
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ENEZUELA’S acting president pledged to hold elections once the agency that oversees voting is overhauled, offering her most specific vision yet for restoring democracy even as the nation’s leading opposition figure pressed her to commit to a date next year. The back-and-forth between the interim head of state Delcy Rodríguez and her challenger María Corina Machado in consecutive events was the closest thing to a direct confrontation the two have had since Machado returned from exile on Oct. 25. Both are expected to vie for the presidency in a future election. “There will be elections, all those mandated by our constitution, organized by a renewed electoral authority and with the world as witness,” Rodríguez said in a rare televised address, shortly before Machado was due to make her first public remarks since her return. Rodríguez stopped short of setting an election date and said the vote shouldn’t become a source of renewed political confrontation. It’s “very good” that Rodríguez said there will be elections, Machado said later from a packed auditorium at a university in Caracas, adding her return was already having an impact. Machado’s comeback has added urgency to the question of when Venezuelans will return to the polls nearly 11 months after the US removed Nicolás Maduro and threw its support behind Rodríguez, his former vice president. Rodríguez’s electoral pledge comes days after Washington laid out its clearest roadmap yet for a new presidential vote. The US plan calls for a new Supreme Court to be installed by mid-December, followed by a revamped National Electoral Council. A vacancy in the presidency would then be declared, triggering a six-month period for holding an election, according to a senior State Department official. While backing the US plan, Machado said the three steps could be carried out
simultaneously rather than sequentially, providing greater certainty to Venezuelans, foreign investors and regional partners. Her movement isn’t taking part in the US-backed negotiations between Rodríguez’s government and an opposition delegation, she said, but wants the talks to succeed in appointing a new Supreme Court, naming a new electoral council and setting a presidential election date. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that negotiations remain the only viable path to a peaceful transition and that credible elections require candidates to be able to campaign and travel freely without fear of retaliation. Machado’s ability to organize publicly after her return is an early test of that political opening.
‘Playing ball’
THE opposition leader’s remarks amounted to her clearest endorsement yet of a transition process that has largely advanced without her, even as she sought to accelerate it. “Essentially Machado is saying that she plans on playing ball,” said Geoff Ramsey, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank. She is effectively endorsing the Washington-backed negotiations despite not having a seat at the table, he said, while seeking to use her popularity to ensure the process ultimately leads to an election. Machado also said she returned to organize supporters and prepare for elections, including by updating the voter registry so every eligible Venezuelan can participate. “It’s clear that these two women are campaigning,” said Laura Cristina Dib, Venezuela Program Director at the Washington Office on Latin America, a rights group. “The difference is that Machado has enormous popular support and legitimacy, whereas Rodríguez doesn’t have any clear source of legitimacy for her mandate.” Machado remains Venezuela’s most popular political figure. She had a 61% positive rating in the latest AtlasIntel survey for Bloomberg News, the highest of any political leader. In a hypothetical presidential election, 52% of respondents said they would vote for Machado, compared with 19% for Rodríguez.
The World
www.businessmirror.com.ph
Sunday, November 1, 2026
A5
Spain’s latest deadly train crash puts human error and systemic failure under scrutiny By Joseph Wilson
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The Associated Press
ARCELONA, Spain—Was Spain’s second major train collision this year caused by human error or failures in its once touted high-speed rail network?
It depends on whom you ask. Spain’s transport minister was quick to lay most of the blame a traffic controller’s poor judgment for Wednesday’s collision in Toledo province, which killed 69 people. But railway unions are pushing back. They point instead to what they describe as deteriorated working conditions—fewer traffic controllers with more work than ever—that have made it increasingly difficult to ensure the safety of 45 million passengers annually. A judge and a special government commission are conducting separate investigations into the deadly crash, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has pledged to get to the bottom of it. “This investigation must determine how and why this catastrophe happened,” Spain’s King Felipe VI said on Thursday after visiting injured passengers in a Toledo hospital. “We will have to take measures so this never happens again.”
The timeline of the catastrophe given by the government
THE chain of events that ended in disaster started at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, when the communication system key to the functioning of the line’s security
system went down. The system, called LZB, monitors the position of trains and can even trigger the automatic braking of a train to prevent a collision. That malfunction meant that human controllers based at a control post in Madrid took over full responsibility for monitoring the positions and safety of the trains on a stretch of 63 kilometers (39 miles) between Madrid and Seville. At that time authorities believe there were six trains on the affected stretch of track. At 8:36, a controller told one train, belonging to the stateowned RENFE company, that it could start running again at normal speed. The other train, operated by privately owned IRYO, located 15.5 miles (25 kilometers) down the line, also tried to restart, but the engineer was unable to override the automatic stop and informed the controller. At 8:53 the collision occurred, derailing carriages and shredding parts of the trains to bits. It was the second major crash on the Madrid-Seville line this year. In January, over two hours further south, one train jumped the track and hit another train going the other direction, killing 46 people. See “Train,” A8
A8
Sunday, November 1, 2026
The World
www.businessmirror.com.ph
French economy unexpectedly shrinks as headwinds strengthen By William Horobin Bloomberg News
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RANCE unexpectedly contracted in the third quarter, putting the economy on a weak footing as it faces headwinds from surging borrowing costs, violent protests and political and budgetary uncertainty.
Gross domestic product fell 0.1% from the previous three months as investment continued to decline and exports dropped, statistics agency Insee said. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated expansion of 0.1%. The weak performance is a worrying sign for the euro area’s second-largest economy on a day
when Germany, Italy and Spain are all expected to report growth. A reading for the 21-nation bloc as a whole is set to show an 0.2% increase in GDP. That outcome would highlight Europe’s broader sturdiness, not just to the Iran war’s inflationary impact but to the heat waves and droughts that marred much of the summer. Still, the European Central Bank sees downside risks and could yet hike interest rates for a third time in December after standing pat this week. Separate data from France showed energy costs drove inf lation to 3.8% in October, the highest level in almost three years. Analysts had expected it to quicken to 3.6%. T he ju mp i n g lob a l b ond yields is another headache, with France’s shaky fiscal and political position making it the region’s focal point. Its economy was already the euro area’s major laggard, only narrowly avoiding a
Train. . . Continued from A5
What the minister says
T R A NSPORT Minister Ósca r Puente, who is under pressure to resign, called the controller’s decision to let one train restart at full speed while the other remained still “inexplicable” and “erroneous.” Puente said that the RENFE train should never have been told to start moving again since there was still a stop signal active on that line. “An order is given for the train to restart, an erroneous decision,” Puente told reporters. The decision “was taken in inexplicable circumstances given that a train was stopped and with a red light,” he said.
What the unions say
UNIONS, however, argue that the
recession in the first half amid soft domestic demand, falling investment and as hot weather hurt agriculture. The near-term outlook offers little reassurance. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s minority government is in the midst of another parliamentary showdown over austerity measures, against a backdrop of social and political upheaval before presidential elections next year where the far right lead polls. “In 2026, France’s economy is at a standstill due to a unprecedented convergence of external and domestic shocks,” Finance Minister Roland Lescure told Franceinfo on Friday. “It needs to pick up. We need to restore confidence and for that having a budget is essential as that is what will allow us to bring down interest rates.” Officials from Insee said that a 0.9% expansion in the final quarter would be needed to reach the government’s 0.5% annual
context matters. Raquel Ayllón, spokesperson for SCF, Spain’s railway traffic controllers union, told The Associated Press that the workload is regularly too much for the current staff to safely handle. She said that traffic controllers have been asking for more personnel for years, while the safety systems keep failing. “We believe (the minister) is blaming a mere worker who was working under increasingly poor conditions,” she said. “Human error isn’t incomprehensible. What is incomprehensible is that the safety system is regularly failing.” Spain’s union for train engineers, SEMAF, said that this was not the first time the threedecade-old LZB secur it y system, which is still in use on the Madrid-Seville line while being phased out, has gone off line and left human operators to fend for themselves.
growth forecast. To meet the statistics agency’s own 2026 forecast of 0.4%, a 0.5% expansion would be required in the fourth quarter.
What Bloomberg Economics Says... “France is heading into the final quarter with little momentum and risks firmly tilted to the downside. Its economy unexpectedly contracted 0.1% in the third quarter against expectations for a 0.1% gain. Trade volatility explains most of the miss. More worrying is another steep drop in investment—the third in a row—even before the recent tightening in financing conditions had much time to bite.” —Jean Dalbard, economist
Protests over education funding and the rising costs of living boiled over into street violence on Oct. 17, with widespread looting and thousands of arrests. Surveys have shown businesses are taking a wait-and-see approach, while “The LZB system should have been replaced some time ago,” said Diego Martín, spokesperson of the SEMAF union of Spain’s train engineers. “It failed us yesterday (Wednesday) and it has gone offline on repeated occasions in the past.” Train workers went on strike Thursday in a previously planned action to demand the government fulfill its commitments to improve safety conditions after the January crash. Representatives from several unions also criticized what they called the “irresponsible” leak of audio clips of conversations between the control room and the train engineers to Spanish media.
Could privatization have overloaded the rail system?
SPAIN’S railways only serviced s t at e - o w ne d t r a i n s u nt i l it opened its high-speed rail to private operators in 2021.
a gauge of consumer confidence slumped to a 13-year low. The French economy’s weakness will exacerbate the challenge of reining in the budget deficit. The government has already abandoned its objective to slightly narrow this year’s gap after cutting its GDP-growth forecast to 0.5%. Insee’s data showed that stagnation in the fourth quarter would see output rise by just 0.2% in 2026. According to Friday’s report, household spending recovered slightly in the third quarter, gaining 0.2%. But investment fell and a 1.7% decline in exports resulted in a negative 0.6 percentage point contribution to GDP from trade. Business investment has dropped every quarter this year. A separate monthly measure of consumer spending for September alone revealed an unexpected 0.5% fall after the same contraction in August. Economists had forecast 0.1% growth. Both of this year’s collisions involved a train operated by RENFE and one operated by IRYO. R ail traffic increased after the market was opened to competition. Between Madrid and Barcelona, for instance, the average number of daily trips increased from 56 to 89 between 2019 and 2024, according to the SCF union. A spokesperson for Spain’s train workers’ union, Joan Rodríguez, said increased traffic brought by privatization has put extra strain on railways. “ We a re not conv inced t hat t he l ibera l i zat ion of t he h ighspeed pa ssenger ra i l ser v ice wa s m atc hed by t he necessa r y upkeep of the lines,” Rodríguez told T V E on Wed nesd ay. “I a m not say ing it wa s a deter m ining factor (in t he cra shes), but yes, t he increa se in use of t he net work is a factor to keep in m ind.”
www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion
Sunday, November 1, 2026 A9
Japanese capital plugs into Filipino EV charging tech
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By Bless Aubrey Ogerio
APANESE investors have committed funding to Philippine startup CHRG Electric Vehicle Technologies Inc. to support solarpowered electric vehicle (EV) charging projects in Luzon and Mindanao, as the company seeks to expand local manufacturing and charging infrastructure. The investment involves Japanbased Leave a Nest Capital and IGNYSIA Co. Ltd., formerly Yamada Shokai, which formalized their strategic partnership with CHRG in September. CHRG’s technology traces its roots to CharM, or Charging in Minutes, a rapid-charging research project supported by the Department of Science and Technology and developed at the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute of the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman. Its tec hnolog y ca n reduce charging time from the conventional four to six hours to less
than an hour, the company told the BusinessMirror. The investment amount, however, was not disclosed. CHRG said the funds would support solar-powered charging stations in Luzon and Mindanao, while the partnership is expected to strengthen the startup’s manufacturing, installation and maintenance capabilities. At the same time, the Japan‑founded sci-tech company Leave a Nest saw an opportunity to support a Philippine deeptech company by combining its research and local implementation capabilities with Japanese
industrial expertise. IGNYSIA, meanwhile, cited the potential to apply its infrastructure construction and maintenance experience to the country’s developing EV charging network. CHRG was incorporated in 2019 as a UP Diliman spin-off after its rapid-charging prototype was developed around 2014. The technology underwent further research and development and market validation before commercialization. It s i nt e l l e c t u a l p ro p e r t y, which includes utility model, industrial design and trademark registrations assigned to UP, was licensed to CHRG through a technology licensing agreement. By 2024, the technology had received international recognition in Singapore and Thailand, according to information provided by the company. T he sta r t up now prov ides charging systems alongside engineering, manufacturing, installation and maintenance services. It aims to deploy thousands of charging systems within the next four years and has discussed developing an EV charging network spanning the Philippines.
Going abroad
CHRG has also begun exploring overseas markets, citing an ongoing project in India involving electric
REPRESENTATIVES of Leave a Nest, CHRG, and IGNYSIA at the Strategic Investment and Partnership Ceremony at the University of the Philippines Diliman in September. PHOTO CREDIT TO LEAVE A NEST
mobility for agriculture and said it remained open to bringing its technology to other countries. Scaling up, however, requires more than financing. CHRG told the BusinessMirror that one of its biggest early challenges was establishing the manufacturing, assembly and testing processes needed to move from a laboratory prototype to small-volume production. Hardware manufacturing requires substantial capital, labor and resources, while quality assurance involves third-party testing to check whether chargers meet technical standards, perform as
Most Americans nix data centers in their communities By Neha Gour, John Kotcher, & Teresa Myers George Mason University/ The Conversation via AP
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EGARDLESS of their views on pol it ic s or c l i m ate change, most Americans oppose the development of data centers in their communities. These large buildings filled with computers that store and process digital information, increasingly to support various applications of artificial intelligence, are being built rapidly across the United States. They can bring economic investment and jobs, but the pollut ion created by generat ing the electricity they need can also harm public health, pollute air, use up water, create noise and raise energy costs. As more data centers are proposed, some local communities are pushing back against new and prospective projects. These debates are already influencing local zoning and permitting decisions, and increasingly reaching state lawmakers. In early September, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey issued an executive order that no state agency will issue permits for data center development unless the project already has local approval from the municipality where it will be located. In Vermont, where Gov. Phil Scott vetoed a bill that would have imposed strict regulations on data centers, local governments are taking matters into their own hands by banning data centers in their towns. Public opinion is playing an important role in shaping how data center expansion unfolds across the country. We are researchers studying science communication, climate change and public health. To better understand what Americans think about these issues, we examined data from the Spring 2026 Climate Change in the American Mind survey. It is a nationally representative survey of adults in the US conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. Our findings align with other recent polling on the topic.
THE Amazon Web Services Data Center in the US. It is part of AWS’s US West-2 availability zone, showing three data centers with a fourth under construction. WIKIPEDIA CC BY-SA 4.0
Most Americans oppose a data center in their area
IN an April 2026 survey of 1,068 adults, 930 of whom are registered voters, we and our research colleagues Jennifer Carman, Seth Rosenthal, Anthony Leiserowitz and Edward Maibach asked respondents the degree to which they would support or oppose building a data center in their local area. Just over half—56 percent— said they would oppose it, while only 15 percent said they would support it. The opposition is not limited to one political group. A majority of Americans in most groups across the political continuum said they oppose the development of data centers in their communities, although the extent of that opposition varies somewhat between groups. Among registered voters, about three-quarters of liberal Democrats and about half of conservative Republicans said they oppose having a data center built in their local area.
People’s perspectives on climate change
FOR a closer look at how people view data centers, we built on our past work about Americans’ views about global warming and actions to reduce climate change and its effects. That research has identified six distinct groups of views on those issues, which we call “the Six Americas.” Opposition to local data centers is highest among those in the Alarmed category, those most worried about climate change—71 percent of whom opposed data centers being built in their community. But opposition is also very strong among those in the Dismissive category, who reject the idea that global warming is happening and human-caused.
These findings show that Americans with widely different beliefs about global warming can nonetheless hold similar views about local data center development.
Most Americans expect data centers to increase their electricity bills
ELECTRICITY costs are a major concer n A mer ic a ns h ave about data centers, particularly amid broader concerns about the increasing cost of living. Agreements between power companies and data center owners aren’t always clear about who will pay to generate the massive amounts of electricity involved—and it may be functionally impossible to tell if the costs are shared fairly. A majority of Americans—59 percent—expect their electricity bills to increase if a data center opens in their local area. Just 5 percent think their bills would decrease; 25 percent said they don’t know. The remaining 12 percent said they don’t expect their bills to be affected. Concern about higher electricity bills is bipartisan. Among registered voters, majorities of every political group expect their bills to increase. Electricity cost worries also span all views on climate change. The only group where a majority didn’t expect a data center to raise their power bills was the Disengaged, who don’t pay much attention to or hear about climate change very often, of whom 43 percent reported that expectation. But about as many of that group, 42 percent, said they didn’t know what might happen to their electric bills.
Most Americans support requiring data centers to offset their electricity use
WE also asked Americans about one
idea to address the large amount of electricity used by data centers: Instead of building new power plants to provide additional electricity, an advocacy group called Rewiring America has proposed that data center developers could be required to install rooftop solar, and help weatherize and insulate nearby homes whose owners want these improvements. Those changes could generate new electricity and save additional energy to help provide the power the data center needs. Respondents strongly supported making this idea a state or local requirement. This proposal has considerable public support, from across the political spectrum and among the various Six Americas groups of views on climate change. Only the Dismissive group— those who dismiss the idea that climate change is happening—saw less than half of its members support these policies, even though majorities of that group oppose having a data center nearby and expect a local data center to increase their electricity bills. This is consistent with their tendency to oppose renewable energy development more generally.
What this means
THE companies leading the AI boom are seeking not only computer servers, electricity and land, but also public support. As data centers continue to expand across the country, understanding Americans’ views on them, and what people expect from developers, is becoming increasingly important. Our research shows that Americans with very different political views and opinions about global warming can share similar views about data center development. Some state regulators and utility companies are already considering structuring electricity rates to prevent data center costs from being passed on to other customers. At the same time, the differences matter, especially in terms of specific policies that may or may not be broadly popular. For policymakers, data center developers and community leaders, understanding where different groups agree and disagree can help them better serve the public interest.
specified and withstand the demands of commercial use over their expected service life. The investment comes as the government seeks to build up the country’s EV industry through the Electric Vehicle Incentive Strategy (Evis), established under Executive Order 121 in July. The program provides up to P60 billion in fiscal support for qualified investments in the domestic manufacture of EVs and their parts and components. W hile Evis focuses on vehicle manufacturing rather than c h a rg i ng i n f r a st r uc t u re, it s
rollout ref lects a parallel push to develop the local EV industry and supply chain. On the other hand, the Japanese partners are expected to contribute industry expertise alongside capital. IGNYSIA will bring infrastructure construction and maintenance knowledge developed over its 120-year history, as well as experience from ventures in its investment network, including Singapore-based Blue Whale Energy and Japan-based Naturenix. Leave a Nest will provide access to its Knowledge Manufacturing Platform, which connects startups with researchers, companies and business ecosystems in Japan and Southeast Asia. The collaboration is intended to cover more than charger production, potentially extending across installation, operation and maintenance as the company expands its network. CHRG’s near-term priorities include strengthening manufacturing and servicing capabilities, further testing and deploying charging systems, and expanding infrastructure for electric tricycles and jeepneys. The company is also continuing to explore international opportunities while pursuing its longer-term deployment target.
Raising a healthy child: Family life, surroundings provide holistic care
DR. Lourdes Sumpaico-Tanchanco, Ateneo de Manila University School of Medicine and Public Health professor and Ateneo Center for Research and Innovation director, underscored the interrelated importance of familial, social, cultural, and genetic factors in children’s upbringing in her Ateneo Breakthroughs Lecture. PHOTO CREDIT TO ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY
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HAT are the factors that make a child healthy? A child’s health is shaped by more than inherited genes or the food on the table. Family routines, relationships, cultural practices, and everyday conditions—from early school schedules to long commutes—also influence how children grow and thrive, according to an Ateneo de Manila University medical professor and clinician. Dr. Lourdes Sumpaico-Tanchanco said families, schools, and communities should consider these interconnected influences during her Ateneo Breakthroughs lecture, “Raising a Healthy Child: A Functional Medicine Lens on the Family as an Ecosystem of Health,” on October 21. Sumpaico-Tanchanco is a professor at the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health and director of its Center for Research and Innovation. She is a developmental-behavioral pediatrician by training and holds a master’s degree in clinical epidemiology. She is certified in functional medicine by the Institute of Functional Medicine. “Our genes do not determine everything about our health,” she said. But the conditions and experiences at the very earliest stages of life can influence gene activity without changing the underlying DNA sequence. Nutrition, stress, and other circumstances during pregnancy and childhood may help shape health risks later in life, but these early influences do not dictate a child’s future. As children grow up, they acquire habits around food, sleep, physical activity, coping, and seeking help. Cultural expectations and upbringing shape these patterns, while household resources affect what caregivers can realistically provide. Children learn from what adults do, she noted. Encouraging kids to eat their vegetables is harder when parents avoid them too; setting screen limits becomes more complicated when adults remain absorbed in their own devices.
In Filipino households, grandparents, relatives, and other caregivers also help shape these routines—including those supporting children of overseas workers. She pointed out that the wider environment matters just as much. Sumpaico-Tanchanco questioned school schedules that require children to wake up at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. and noted that bedrooms are not dark enough for good sleep. Screen use can further crowd out rest, active play, and family interaction. The interconnections of multiple factors matter when assessing a child’s attention or behavior difficulties. Clinicians should consider sleep, nutrition, physical discomfort, development, and stress alongside the child’s family and school experiences. “The benefit of seeing the whole child is that a valid diagnosis becomes the beginning of an individualized plan and not just the end of our curiosity,” she said. She described functional medicine as a framework for organizing these influences, emphasizing that it complements appropriate diagnosis and treatment. Suspected connections require assessment and do not justify broad testing or restrictive diets without a clinical basis. Her practical advice is to begin with one or two achievable changes, such as a consistent bedtime, gradual introduction of unfamiliar foods, or intentional activities to foster play with other children in a condominium setting. Families cannot carry the responsibility alone. Affordable food, accessible healthcare, safe neighborhoods, and supportive school and work arrangements help make healthier routines possible. “A healthier future begins in the everyday life of a child nurtured by a family and supported by a community,” she said. View Dr. Sumpaico-Tanchanco’s full Ateneo Breakthroughs Lecture on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=asq5UL-QTbk
Faith
Sunday
A10 Sunday, November 1, 2026
Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph
Tagle: Catholic homilies must come from faith, not AI
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By CBCP News
ARDINAL Luis Antonio Tagle on Wednesday cautioned against relying on artificial intelligence (AI) to prepare Catholic homilies and spiritual reflections, saying preaching must flow from personal faith and an encounter with Jesus. During Mass for the 75th anniversary of the Diocese of Legazpi, he described AI-generated preaching as only a reorganization of existing information rather than a personal testimony of faith. “If it does not come from the heart, that is not a homily,” Tagle, dean of the College of Cardinals, said before a congregation of more than 6,000 people gathered in and outside the St. Gregory the Great Cathedral in Legazpi City. He descr ibed A I-generated preaching as only a reorganization of existing information rather
than a personal testimony of faith, stressing that evangelization requires people to share their own experience of Christ. “That is just a restructuring of data put into a database. And that’s not faith,” said Tagle, who is also the pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization. His remarks echo Pope Leo XIV, who has urged priests to resist using AI to write homilies, saying it cannot replace the personal sharing of faith. During a dialogue with the clergy of Rome on February 19, Leo warned priests against relying
CARDINAL Luis Antonio Tagle delivers his homily during Mass for the 75th anniversary of the Diocese of Legazpi at St. Gregory the Great Cathedral Parish in Legazpi City on October 28. SCREENSHOT/DIOCESE OF LEGAZPI VIDEO
on AI to prepare their preaching. “Like all the muscles in the body, if we do not use them, if we do not move them, they die,” the pope said, stressing that priests must exercise their own intelligence rather than allow technology to do the work for them. “To give a true homily is to share faith,” Leo said, adding that artificial intelligence “will never be able to share faith.”
Put human witness at heart of evangelization
AT the same time, Tagle urged Catholics, especially young people,
to prioritize personal relationships over technology in sharing their faith, saying evangelization requires human witnesses who have encountered Jesus. “Gadgets will not come to faith,” Tagle also said in his homily. “Only flesh and blood persons can be missionaries,” emphasizing that technology and social media can support but never replace personal testimony. “What you have seen, what you have heard, what you have touched personally and communally of Jesus, that’s what you share,” he said.
Abp. Villegas urges firm but peaceful defense of WPS By CBCP News
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CATHOLIC archbishop has urged the Philippine government to defend the country’s maritime rights firmly but peacefully. Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan said the dispute was not only about sovereignty and international law but also about the welfare of families who depend on the sea. “In the name of God, I ask the government to be firm and unyielding about what is lawfully ours and rightfully our people’s without provoking hostilities,” Villegas said in a pastoral statement issued on
October 25. He said many families in Pangasinan and nearby coastal communities rely on the waters for food, income and their children’s future. Villegas said Filipino fishermen in small boats, known as bancas, face harassment from Chinese vessels that make it difficult or sometimes impossible to work. “While the People’s Republic of China can send armed vessels and powerful ships through the West Philippine Sea, our humble fishermen can only ride the waves on small and flimsy bancas,” he said. The archbishop described the dispute as a moral issue involving justice, the
ABP. Socrates Villegas of LingayenDagupan. SCREEN GRAB FROM FATHER SOC/YOUTUBE
protection of poor communities and care for the environment. “The West Philippine Sea is God’s gift to His people,” Villegas said. “Defending it is taking the side of the people whom God has favored by the gift of the sea.” He said the waters have sustained communities in Pangasinan and the provinces served by the dioceses of Iba and Alaminos for decades. Villegas backed efforts to uphold the Philippines’ sovereignty and sovereign rights in maritime areas recognized under international law, urging leaders to consider the impact of tensions on vulnerable families.
Pope Leo XIV: ‘There is no such thing as holy war’ By Nicole Winfield The Associated Press
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OME—Pope Leo XIV denounced any religious justification for wars raging around the world, saying “there is no such thing as a holy war.” “Only peace is holy,” Leo said in a videomessage to a gathering of religious leaders in the Italian hilltop town of Assisi. The American pope was supposed to have presided over the gathering in person, but had to cancel his participation as he recovers from October 13 lung cancer surgery. Instead, Leo sent a videotaped message that was broadcast to the delegates, who included the Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally, spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as Muslim, Buddhist and other Christian leaders. They were in Assisi, the bir thplace of the peace-loving St. Francis, to mark the 40th anniversar y of a landmark inter faith peace meeting called by St. John Paul II. That encounter—controversial at the time because it featured leaders of different faiths praying together—spawned a movement of interreligious peace appeals and gatherings. In his message, the American pope denounced the “troubling revival of war as an instrument of international politics” and its religious justifications by leaders. “Precisely in these times marked by a culture of power, there is a need to cultivate the spirit of Assisi,” he said. “War can never be waged in the name of God,” he said. “We must rebuild peace everywhere, not prepare for more wars.”
Leaders use religion to justify war
RUSSIA’S Orthodox Church has justified Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “holy war” against a Western world it considers has fallen into evil. Leaders on all sides of the Iran war have used religion to justify their actions. US officials, especially Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, have invoked their Christian faith to cast the war as a Christian nation trying to vanquish its foes with military might. Leo has consistently rejected such justifications as a perversion of religion itself, most stridently in his first encyclical “Magnificent Humanity” in which he said fighting in the name of religion “means attacking religion itself.”
Vatican brings new aid to Ukraine
THE Assisi gathering came as the Vatican is accelerating its humanitarian efforts for Ukraine following the entry into effect of a localized cease-fire in the devastated southern Ukrainian city of Oleshky. The pope’s chief almsgiver, Monsignor Luis Marín de San Martín, on Tuesday began a three-day visit to Ukraine and was bringing several trucks worth of winter clothes, blankets and food to Kyiv for distribution. Marín de San Martín was planning to visit Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro and Fastiv, Vatican News said. Leo had called for a cease-fire and the delivery of food and medicine in Oleshky, and the safe and voluntary evacuation of
POPE Leo XIV blesses faithful during an audience with participants of the Jesus Youth International Conference in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, on October 24. AP/ALESSANDRA TARANTINO
its people during an October 16 phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which the pontiff initiated from the hospital where he was recovering from surgery. Leo followed up three days later, back at the Vatican, with a call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to the Vatican, Leo noted his appeal for a cease-fire to Putin and “expressed the hope that cooperation between both parties will allow for the delivery of food and medical aid, and for the voluntary and safe evacuation of the civilian population.” The White House said the cease-fire in Oleshky was secured by first lady Melania Trump. Asked Tuesday, the Vatican foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, said the Vatican wasn’t aware of the first lady’s role but also dismissed any polemics over who was ultimately responsible. “I think it’s one of those situations in which it doesn’t matter who actually brought it about or who takes the credit, it’s the fact that hopefully it is real, it will last, it will allow for evacuation and it will allow the arrival of humanitarian aid to help the people who are left behind,” Gallagher said. The Vatican initiatives took place after Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the papal envoy for the Ukraine-Russia war, finished his third mission to Moscow on September 30 and the first under Leo’s pontificate. Zuppi has focused his initiatives on humanitarian issues, especially reuniting Ukrainian children taken by Russia with their families. Gallagher said for now neither Russia nor Ukraine wants the Holy See to take on a greater mediation or facilitation role.
Tagle said every baptized Catholic has a role in the Church’s mission, urging the faithful to use their gifts to serve others and strengthen their communities. “ The second reading tells us that each one has been given a gift by the Holy Spirit,” he said, warning that jealousy and competition can prevent people from using their talents for the common good. He cited singing, reading and cooking as ordinary gifts that can become instruments of evangelization, particularly when used to serve orphans, older people and persons deprived of liberty. Tagle traced the diocese’s missionary roots to Franciscan evangelization in Albay in 1587, saying its history reflects the contributions of generations of clergy, religious and laypeople. Parents, teachers, catechists, farmers and fishermen all helped pass on the faith, he said, urging Catholics to continue that mission through their words and actions. He expressed hope that the period following the jubilee would bring an “eruption” of the Holy Spir it’s g ifts, inspir ing more Catholics to serve the Church and people in need.
During the liturgy, the cardinal also led the pontifical coronation of the image of Nuestra Señora de Salvación, the fourth pont if ica l ly crow ned Mar ian image in the Bicol region. Bishop Joel Baylon, the sixth bishop of Legazpi, said about 6,000 faithful gathered for the anniversary, which the diocese sought to make more meaningful through a series of pastoral priorities leading to its jubilee year. The diocese designated 2022 as the Year of Communion, followed by Formation in 2023, Participation in 2024, Stewardship in 2025 and Mission in 2026. Baylon called on Catholics to renew their commitment to building a Church that listens, serves and walks alongside its people, especially children, the poor, disadvantaged communities and those pushed to society’s margins. He also urged the diocese to bui ld communities rooted in prayer and Scripture and committed to sharing the Gospel. “Let synodality not remain just a theme, but become a way of life where discernment, dialogue and shared mission guide each and every decision that we make as a people of God,” Baylon said.
Holy See: Nuclear weapons one of gravest threats to humanity
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HE elimination of nuclear weapons needs to be a priority in order to strengthen international security and peace, Archbishop Christophe El Kassis, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, said in a recent statement. “The deterioration of the international security environment cannot justify deeper reliance on nuclear weapons. On the contrary, it makes the pursuit of their elimination all the more urgent,” Kassis highlighted at the Thematic Discussion on Nuclear Weapons, in the First Committee of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. “As Pope Leo XIV recently recalled, ‘Peace is not a balance of power; rather, it is built day by day through dialogue and justice.’” “The continued existence of nuclear weapons remains one of the gravest threats to humanity,” he added.
The contradiction of deterrence
IN his statement, Archbishop El Kassis noted how “at a time of profound instability, nuclear arsenals are being modernized and expanded, nuclear rhetoric is becoming more pronounced, and deterrence continues to occupy a central place in security doctrines.” This, he explained, is exacerbating instability, rather than strengthening international security, and is perpetuating a situation “in which peace hinges on the threat of catastrophic destruction.” The Permanent Observer warned that a “security architecture that relies on the credible threat of nuclear weapons use,” as is the case with deterrence, “leaves humanity in a permanent
ARCHBISHOP Christophe El Kassis, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations VATICAN NEWS
state of vulnerability” and is a “profound contradiction.” He also pointed out that the integration of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies into nuclear systems creates new risks. In this regard, he called for keeping “effective, selfaware and responsible human control and judgement.”
Eliminating nuclear weapons “THE only lasting response to the dangers posed by nuclear weapons is their total elimination. While measures to reduce nuclear risks are necessary, they cannot substitute for disarmament,” Archbishop El Kassis insisted. In this respect, he emphasized that the Holy See calls all nuclear-armed states to fulfil their obligations to the Treaty on the NonProliferation of Nuclear Weapons, such as pursuing progress towards nuclear disarmament. He also reiterated the Holy See’s support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, encouraging States who have not yet participated to do so. He underlined how the Holy See also appeals for the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-TestBan Treaty. Vatican News
Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror
Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014
Sunday, November 1, 2026 A11
Editor: Lyn Resurreccion
Regreening the NGP budget: Will it work this time around?
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By Jonathan L. Mayuga
sectors involved. Algo said Congress must strongly set a higher funding not just for a properly implemented E-NGP, but for nature-based solutions in general. He said that in the ongoing budget deliberations, the lawmakers must consider setting dedicated funding to support nature-based solutions across each of the 18 regions in the Philippines. “Doing so not only enables the implementation of DENR’s recent administrative order related to naturebased solutions. It also must account for transboundary risks that must be addressed within the regions to enhance long-term climate and biodiversity resilience, water retention, ecosystem services, and livelihoods provided for communities,” he said.
HE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has submitted a “greener” National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2027, seeking to triple the budget for the National Greening Program (NGP) to P1.62 billion in 2027. The move aims to support the massive reforestation, maintenance, and protection of 18,645 hectares of forests and other suitable lands nationwide.
Greening 2027 budget THE proposed allocation represents a 186.32-percent increase from the P565 million provided under the FY 2026 General Appropriations Act, reflecting the administration’s continued commitment to forest rehabilitation, environmental protection, and climate resilience. The proposed P1.62-billion allocation forms part of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)’s P29.47-billion proposed budget for 2027, an increase of 4.24 percent from its P28.27-billion budget in 2026. The supposed Expanded NGP (ENGP) goes beyond planting trees. It also supports the continued maintenance and protection of rehabilitated areas to help ensure that reforestation efforts deliver lasting environmental benefits. The program likewise provides livelihood opportunities for upland and lowland communities, including indigenous peoples, while encouraging their active participation in protecting and sustainably managing the country’s forests. Led by the DENR, in coordination with the Departments of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, the E-NGP brings together government agencies, local communities, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders in advancing sustainable forest management.
Natural wealth management THE DENR’s proposed budget will also support other key environmental priorities—including biodiversity conservation, pollution reduction, ecosystem rehabilitation, and the sustainable management of the country’s natural resources. Under Acting Secretary Kim Rob-
ert C. de Leon, the DBM continues to support the Marcos administration’s environmental and climate resilience agenda through budget allocations that prioritize long-term protection, community welfare, and sustainable development. For the DBM, the proposed investment underscores an important principle in public spending: the value of environmental programs must be measured not only by the number of trees planted, but also by the forests that survive, the ecosystems that recover, and the communities that benefit.
NGP budget trajectory in 2011 to 2027 STARTED in 2011, during the administration of President Benigno Aquino III (2010-2016), the NGP aims to plant 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares of open, denuded, and degraded forests from 2011 to 2016. During the last two years of the Aquino administration, the budget peaked at P8 billion. It was the biggest environmental project of the government, with budget from 2011 to 2019 alone reaching P47.22 billion. However, forest cover increased only by 177,441 hectares from 6.8 million ha in 2010 to 7.01 million ha in 2015—or only 11.8 percent of the target, prompting the policymakers to reassess the strategy, as lawmakers resort to drastic budget cuts. Since then, the budget has slowly dropped and has reached an all-time low of P565 million this year, apparently because of the program’s failure to meet the target despite the huge budget allocation.
Encouraging move ACCORDING to biodiversity expert Theresa Mundita S. Lim, the proposed P1.62-billion allocation for the E-NGP in 2027 was “encouraging,” particularly noting its additional emphasis on maintenance, forest protection, biodiversity con-
A welcome move
THE afternoon sun rays paint a portion of Cagayan’s Peñablanca Protected Landscape and Seascape in vivid hues of amber jade after a rain shower. PHOTO CREDIT TO GREGG YAN servation, ecosystem rehabilitation, and climate resilience. “I particularly welcome the recognition in the DBM announcement that the value of environmental programs should be measured not simply by the number of trees planted, but by the forests that survive, the ecosystems that recover, and the communities that benefit,” Lim, executive director of the Environmental Studies Institute at Miriam College, told the BusinessMirror via Messenger on October 26. “This is an important shift in emphasis that hopefully reflects lessons learned from previous large-scale greening initiatives,” she added. She said, the previous experience with the NGP “provides valuable lessons on the challenges of sustaining reforestation investments.” “Even today, some areas previously covered by the program continue to require replanting and rehabilitation. This is evident in Miriam College’s ECF 2.0 project, which includes former NGP sites where continued restoration interventions remain necessary,” she pointed out. In preparing for another substantial investment, “perhaps, we should first conduct a transparent stocktaking of what has already been accomplished, what has succeeded, what has not, and why,” she said. Lim, a former director of DENR Biodiversity Management Bureau,
explained that a science-based inventory of previous NGP sites, including their present ecological condition, tree survival, natural regeneration, biodiversity recovery, and continuing management needs, would provide a sound basis for prioritizing future investments. “It would also help us avoid repeating unsuccessful approaches while building on the gains of the previous programs,” she said. She pointed out that amid a super El Niño and increasingly severe climate extremes, climate resilience must also be built strongly into the implementation and financing of forest rehabilitation. “This includes appropriate species selection, water security, soil and moisture conservation, fire prevention, and, where necessary, siteappropriate engineering interventions developed in partnership with local governments, communities, and technical experts,” she said.
Resilience in healthy forest REFORESTATION in the Philippines is acknowledged as vital for disaster mitigation, ecological recovery, and sustaining local livelihoods. A healthy forest strengthens the country’s resilience to natural calamities, which translates into key ecological benefits and equally important economic, and community impacts. For his part, climate advocate
John Leo Algo, national coordinator of Aksyon Klima Pilipinas, said the proposed tripling of funding for the E-NGP is “more than welcome in this era of the climate crisis—as long as it is properly implemented this time around.” “A h igher budget a l loc at ion does not automatically translate to higher positive impacts, especially on the ground,” A lgo told the BusinessMirror via Messenger on October 22. He agreed that lessons must have been learned by the DENR from previous issues that have plagued the program’s implementation to ensure that each peso spent would translate to more forests protected or restored. According to Algo, the economic and non-economic value of forests keeps growing, not just in the impacts of rising global temperatures or the coming Super El Niño. “Their survival and growth are also undermined by human-induced errors—from destructive development and aggression projects, to improper tree-planting techniques, to failing to sustain the growth of seedlings,” he said. He added that such mistakes should not be allowed again by the government and its implementing partners through the enforcement o f e nv i ro n me nt a l , s o c i a l s a f e g uards and capacit y-bui ld ing of
“IN 1900, nearly 70 percent of the Philippines was covered in pristine forest—a stag gering contrast to the 23 percent remaining today. Best Alternatives strongly welcomes President Marcos’ planned budget increase, because effective on-theground conservation requires serious financial backing from both the public and private sectors,” environmentalist Gregg Yan, founder of Best Alternatives, an environmental nonprofit organization, told the BusinessMirror via Messenger on October 26. Yan joined the call for vigilance in ensuring that 100 percent of the budget is spent on genuine forest restoration, rather than short-lived planting events that often leave black plastic grow bags and dried husks of forgotten saplings. “To truly revive forest biodiversity, we must prioritize native Philippine trees and deeply empower our Indigenous peoples and local communities as the primary guardians—and beneficiaries—of these forests,” he pointed out. He added that healthy forests provide communities with tons of livelihood opportunities. “Deep in the Sierra Madre mountains, we bought wild honey gathered by Agta and Dumagat people. In Catanduanes, local communities grow abaca plants for rope, paper, and cloth. In Panay, we visited forest communities that regularly harvest rattan vines and bamboo stalks for baskets and other woven products. Then there’s the vast array of fruits freely provided by our native trees— kamansi, tibig, bignay, sapinit—you name it. Properly protected, the Philippines’ forests provide life for all,” Yan said.
Study: Almost all coral reef ecosystems face risk of collapse in 50 years By Michael Casey The Associated Press
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HE world’s coral reef ecosystems almost all face a high risk of collapse in the next 50 years mostly due to warming oceans and heat waves, according to a global assessment released on October 22. The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN’s) assessment, announced on the sidelines of a UN biodiversity conference in Albania, found that 96 percent of shallowwater reef systems are already critically endangered and could disappear by 2075. Most of the world’s famous reef systems—including the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Coral Triangle in the Western Pacific Ocean and Southeast Asia, the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System and the Red Sea coral reefs—are all critically endangered, the highest level of threat. “The risk of coral reef collapse is escalating, but this must be a wake-up call rather than a cause for despair,” said Mishal Gudka, the scientific lead
of the global IUCN Red List of Coral Reef Ecosystems assessment, the first of its kind. “Coral reefs have shown a remarkable ability to bounce back from devastating bleaching events,” he said. “Pockets of surviving, resilient coral reefs can still remain in the future, so we must do everything within our reach to set them up for success.” The assessment is the latest dose of bad news for coral reefs, which are critical sources for seafood and tourism, and often serve as buffers from coastal erosion and storms. Sometimes dubbed “rainforests of the sea,” they have some of the world’s richest biodiversity. They support a quarter of marine species as well as coastal communities and businesses. When a reef collapses, hard corals disappear and are replaced by algae, rubble and sponges. As a result, the reef no longer supports a diverse ecosystem that can include everything from tiny invertebrates to reef fish like grouper. “Coral reefs are one of the clearest vital signs of the ocean’s health,”
A DIVERSE coral assemblage is seen after a 2024 bleaching event at Pompey Reef in the northern Great Barrier Reef, far North Queensland, Australia, on January 1, 2025. AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE VIA AP Grethel Aguilar, the IUCN director general, said in a statement. The assessment, spanning 127
tropical and subtropical ecoregions, and encompassing 72,726 square miles (188,362 square kilometers)
of coral reefs globally, called climate change the “single most consistent threat driving coral reef decline
worldwide.” A week ago, another study in the journal Nature by the IUCN found that nearly 44 percent of reef-building coral species face an elevated risk of extinction due to climate change. A year ago, a survey found that harmful bleaching of the world’s coral has grown to include 84 percent of the ocean’s reefs—the most intense of its kind in recorded history. The year 2024 was Earth’s hottest on record, and much of that is going into oceans. The average annual sea surface temperature of oceans away from the poles was a record 20.87 degrees Celsius (69.57 degrees Fahrenheit). Beyond combatting rising global emissions, experts said efforts to reduce pollution, overfishing and coastal development can help reefs survive. “We know what is needed: ambitious emissions reductions, stronger protection and restoration efforts, and sustained investment in resilient coastal ecosystems and the communities that depend on them,” Aguilar said.
Sports BusinessMirror
A12 Sunday, November 1, 2026
mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph | Editor: Jun Lomibao
LIV shakeup: What it means for the PGA, European Tours By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press
BACOLOD SET FOR RECORD BATANG PINOY TURNOUT YOUNG Filipino athletes battle for national glory. PHOTO VIA FACEBOOK.COM/BACOLODCITYCOMMUNICATIONSOFFICEPIO/
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ACOLOD City will host the biggest edition of the Batang Pinoy National Championships from December 12 to 18, with 35,894 participants registered from more than 200 local government units. The Philippine Sports Commission
the main competition hub. Security arrangements were also discussed during a coordination meeting between PSC personnel and city officials, with the Philippine National Police assuring organizers of security measures throughout the event. Taekwondo has the most registered
(PSC) said the participants include 27,763 athletes, 6,144 coaches, and 1,987 officials competing in 30 sports. To accommodate the delegations, the city has prepared 43 schools with a combined capacity of 30,996 bed spaces for billeting. The Panaad Stadium will serve as
PSC Chairman Patrick Gregorio and Bacolod City Mayor Greg Gasataya gear up for a memorable 2026 Batang Pinoy. PSC PHOTO participants with 3,327, followed by aquatics (3,042), futsal (2,009), athletics (1,803), chess (1,582), arnis (1,435), and badminton (1,300). PSC Chairman Patrick Gregorio is pleased to see a stronger a grassroots development and talent-identification program for Filipino athletes aged eight to 15. “These championships help identify future members of our national teams and provide a pathway for young Filipinos to pursue excellence in sports,” Gregorio said. Mayor Greg Gasataya said he is proud Bacolod is helping provide local young athletes an opportunity to experience national-level competition. Gregorio also expects the influx of athletes and their families to benefit local businesses, particularly hotels, restaurants, and transportation providers. City Councilor Jason Villarosa has been designated head of Bacolod’s delegation, while City Administrator Mark Steven Mayo is also helping lead preparations. PSC Commissioner Olivia “Bong” Coo is the Games’ project director. The opening ceremony is scheduled for December 12. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will be invited to attend. Bacolod previously hosted the national youth games, making this its return as host after several decades.
Garcia happy to be ‘home’ again, seeks Ryder Cup return after LIV exit
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SERGIO GARCIA eyes his 11th stint with the European Ryder Cup team. AP
ERGIO GARCIA is returning to the European tour for the 2027 season and is openminded about getting back on the PGA Tour, too. The 46-yearold Spaniard revealed his future plans in a statement on his social media accounts on Thursday. His departure from LIV Golf was already known after four years on the breakaway circuit. “Next season, I’ll be playing on the DP World Tour,” Garcia wrote. “This tour has been a
huge part of my career from the very beginning, and I’m proud to call it home again. “I’m also keeping my options open for a return to the PGA Tour. And probably the most exciting part for me is strengthening my personal relationships, both new and old.” Garcia, who said he was “putting a big focus on a strong mindset and my mental health,” also expressed his ambition to get on the European team for the Ryder Cup being held at Adare Manor in Ireland in September. He has played on the team 10 times, but not since 2021.
DP World and the Future of LIV players THE season-ending DP World Tour playoffs is underway, culminating at the DP World Tour Championships in mid-November. Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai will again be the setting of the European (DP World) Tour’s Race to Dubai where Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra leads, with the closest pursuer being former LIV star and major winner Patrick Reed. The DP World Tour, formerly the European Tour, stands as the world’s second most prestigious pro tour, second only to the PGA Tour. With all the disruption that LIV has brought to professional golf in the last four years, and with the PGA Tour putting its foot down when it comes to would-be returnees, Europe is one of the clearest pathways to players who got tempted to jump ship. Traditionally, Europe and its professional tour has produced topnotch players who would become major champions and some of the game’s legends. Seve Ballesteros and his memory has done wonders for Europe and has broken the US dominance in golf when he barged into the scene in the late 70s. Today, while the usual career path for elite amateurs from all over the world is to get US college scholarships and join the PGA Tour via Q-school or exemptions for stellar amateur play, a
He is Europe’s all-time leading scorer with 28 1/2 points. Garcia’s statement made reference to an incident at this year’s Masters, where he broke his driver on No. 2 at Augusta National after an outburst on the tee box and was issued a code-ofconduct warning—a first at the tournament. “I can’t wait to get back to the Masters,” added Garcia, who claimed the green jacket in 2017. “I left Augusta last [time] disappointed with myself and my actions, and I’m ready to show what I’ve learned and where I am mentally.
gain from big names playing in events that usually would just feature a handful of top talent. Imagine a tournament in Europe or Asia that would usually have 3-5 top level players suddenly have major winners like Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and the like joining the field. It would surely spike ticket sales and sponsorships. While Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra tries to cap off a stellar year by winning the DP World Championships this November, eyes will also be watching who will be joining DP World tournaments in the hopes of earning exemptions back to the PGA Tour.
Philippine Open lot of aspiring pros still target Europe to test their mettle and see if they can slug it out there before trying for the biggest stage. Aside from the usual aspiring professional and elite amateur, the DP World Tour is now the top choice for some pros who joined LIV and would like to qualify their way back to the PGA Tour. Unlike their American counterpart tour that can set strict rules for returning LIV players, the DP World Tour can use its unique position to attract former PGA Tour stars who have at the moment nowhere to play. With LIV Golf’s bankruptcy, the players they were able to poach now need to scramble to find a tour that would let them play their way in. And being the stars that they are, DP World would also
HERE at home, mid-November will be huge too as the 108th Philippine Open is set to played at The Manila Southwoods from November 12 to 15. The Masters course in Silang, Cavite will host top Asian and international players, alongside the Philippines’s best professionals and amateurs all in search of hoisting the trophy at Asia’s oldest national golf open. The Philippine Open has come a long way from its beginnings at the old Manila Golf Club in Caloocan where the first Philippine Open was held in 1913. That old course has since become a subdivision (University Hills), but the tournament it hosted has grown tremendously, both in stature and in prize money which now offers a $1 million purse. This year’s Philippine Open went through
“Augusta has given me some of the greatest moments of my life, and I’d love nothing more than to chase another green jacket at such a special place.” The Spaniard was a highprofile departure to LIV Golf in 2022. The circuit is emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with BC Partners Credit and its $300 million pledge, and without Saudi money, and Garcia had already sought— and been granted—approval to leave LIV. Jon Rahm, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter and Tyrrell Hatton are among other high-profile players to separate from LIV. AP
some huge changes and is fortunate to be pushing through. Initially scheduled as part of LIV Golf’s International Series, With the closure of LIV and the pulling out of title sponsors, the tournament needed some determined organizers and needed funding for it to push through. Thankfully, the Philippine Sports Commission through its chairman Patrick “Pato” Gregorio stepped in and gave the much-needed sponsorship. And in another twist, the Asian Tour’s scheduled final event in Saudi Arabia was scrapped due to security concern, making the Philippine Open the final tournament in the Asian Tour’s 2026 season. In less than two weeks, Manila Southwoods will be the venue for another historic Philippine Open. Local hopefuls like Miguel Tabuena, Clyde Mondilla, Sean Ramos, Justin delos Santos and Angelo Que will be trying to wrest the trophy back from defending champion Julien Sale of France. It should be an exciting week as the gusty Masters course is known for its slick greens, swirling winds and penal hazards. Here’s to hoping for a successful Philippine Open and maybe another local champion.
L
IV Golf didn’t generate this much suspense at tournaments when the music was blaring, the Saudi cash was flowing freely and players from the Cleeks and Majestics headed off in carts for the shotgun start. Every day, there’s more speculation. Who’s leaving? Who’s staying? Weren’t these the same questions four years ago? It was May 31, 2022, when a group of golf writers out to dinner in Ohio received emails announcing the field for the inaugural LIV Golf event— Dustin Johnson and 12 other PGA Tour members—and had to leave before the creme brulee arrived. And now another waiting game, not for the launch but whether LIV survives. LIV Golf is working through Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a pledge of $300 million from BC Partners Credit, a far cry from the $5 billion the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia dropped in four years before abruptly pulling the plug. Key to the “LIV 2.0” version—at least 10 tournaments, player equity and prize money half of what it used to be—is getting a “critical mass” of players to buy into the plan. How many players comprise a critical mass is unclear. And while LIV officials don’t plan to announce each decision piecemeal, players are doing that for them. Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia have court-approved separations from LIV and are free to go. Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, Tom McKibbin and Adrian Meronk have said they are leaving. Graeme McDowell added his name to the list Monday with a succinct message on social media. Adding a wrinkle to the immediate future of LIV was a report by The Athletic that Johnson was among more than 10 players seeking severance deals from PIF worth more than $100 million in contract payments. Johnson’s attorney suggested a deal was tied to players sticking with LIV 2.0. “The decision to release potential claims against the PIF and join LIV 2.0 will be influenced largely by how the PIF manages the windup of LIV 1.0,” David Cornwell told The Athletic. An amended restructuring agreement approved by the New Jersey bankruptcy court indicates LIV no longer has a hard deadline for players to decide. The hope was to have a decision by the end of the month. LIV remains bullish about a 2027 season. That won’t be the end of the drama, however, and it would seem the golf landscape is still a long way off from being stitched back together, if it ever can be. The PGA Tour has yet to say whether defectors—currently banned for one year from the date of their last LIV appearance—have a place. It’s not a high priority as the tour seeks to fill out its lucrative “Championship Series” schedule in 2028 and find sponsors for the second tier. The European tour, meanwhile, delivered a strong ultimatum when CEO Guy Kinnings said anyone staying with LIV need not apply for membership for the commercially known DP World Tour. DUSTIN JOHNSON is among more than 10 players seeking severance deals from PIF worth more than $100 million in contract payments, according to a report. AP
BusinessMirror
November 1, 2026
Halloween costumes and their spooky environmental impact Swaps are a way to reduce waste and recycle
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BusinessMirror NOVEMBER 1, 2026 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com
KEEPING THE LOVE ALIVE
YOUR MUSI
Air Supply serenades thousands of Manila fans anew
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Story and photos by Ada Pelonia
t wasn’t unusual to witness a crowd gathering at every nook and cranny in Gateway on a Monday evening, being that it’s a literal gateway to and from anywhere in the Philippines, as the running joke goes. But individuals hawking their flickering merchandise to long queues of people stoked and abuzz with glee in front of Smart Araneta Coliseum’s famed gates always meant something huge would occur inside, something impossible to overlook. Sure enough, Australian soft rock duo Air Supply gathered more than 8,000 fans in their sold-out Manila concert last October 26, maintaining their musicianship’s grip on Filipinos since they held their first concert here in 1981. Coincidentally, Graham Russell and Russell
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Hitchcock opened their “A Matter of Time” concert with “Sweet Dreams” recorded and released in that year, when it conquered charts the same way it did to fans in the arena more than four decades later. Donning sparkly attire that caught the lights and showed off a deep luster, the duo performed “Even the Nights Are Better” followed by “Just As I Am” where Hitchcock’s powerful vocals reverberated through the big dome. They then sang “Every Woman In the World” and “Here I Am” where fans harmonized with Russell and Hitchcock, belting out the lyrics in joyful abandon. The duo continued by performing “Chances” and “Goodbye.” As with every situation, Russell recalled when they had their fair share of worries: “But we kept going because we didn’t want to quit.” ”So, we say to you now: whatever you’re doing in life, don’t stop, don’t give up because whatever you want in life will come to you, it’s just a matter of time,” he added, before the hair-raising melody of “A Matter of Time” started. With Hitchcock taking a quick break, Russell introduced their touring band members before serenading the fans with “Just Between the Lines,” a song about friendship, which he explained they decided to include in their set list just hours ago during sound check. Then, before performing “Two Less Lonely People,” he reminisced about their first meeting that thrust the duo to their decades-long prominence. ”In my head I heard a voice say: you need to meet this guy and you need to work with him,” Russell said. “At the end of the rehearsal I introduced myself […] so, we decided to form a band together because we want to work together.” ”We thought maybe we could be together for six months or a year—that was 51 years ago,” he added, which was followed by a round of applause from the audience as Hitchcock entered the stage again. For his part, Hitchcock shared a brief recollection of when they met in 1975 and praised Russell who composed most of the band’s signature hits. “It’s really hard to put into words how wonderful it is to be with you tonight but thank you once again for coming. We do love the
Philippines, we love you people for coming to see us and supporting us for so long,” he added. The band’s remaining set list included their biggest hits “Here I Am,” “Lost In Love,” “Making Love Out of Nothing At All,” and “Without You,” much to the fans’ delight as archival footage of
Air Supply
the duo’s younger years projected on the screen Despite concluding their concert with “All Out of Love,” Air Supply left thousands of fans filled with warmth and comfort, some even playfully requesting for an encore, a reminder of their songs’ long-lasting hold on Filipinos.
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soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | NOVEMBER 1, 2026
BUSINESS
THE EPITOME OF LOVING
Silent Sanctuary celebrates 24 years with milestone concert
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Story and photos by Charlou T. Mabanta
here it is again, the powdered gravel in nicks of worn-out soles, sweat sipped by paper thin sandos, and laughter tuned from growing pains bearing the Jeepney’s exhaled fumes and squeaky plastic seats. I am transported back to the body of a teenager who had only known life to revolve around crushes and homeworks—teasing classmates with, ‘Sige na please, ‘wag nang mainis, bumalik ka na sa ‘kin,’ every time their mood swings get the best of them. At the Mall of Asia Arena, I wasn’t the only one recalling the sweet, playful innocence that being a high schooler brings. Fans have dressed up in school uniforms, embodying, for at least a single night, the age where being carefree peaked. Some have even taken their long gowns and suits as if the concert is theirpromnight—provingthatinSilentSanctuary’s 24yearsinthemusicindustry,myhighschooljourney isn’t the only one they bore witness too. Their songs encompass generations of student life. Their Gabi ng Lambing concert last October 25, their day 2 reverse, showed that the act of lambing isn’t only meant for lovers but rather a movement towards memories that ring close to one’s heart.
The way young ones love
The band’s opening was like flipping a scrapbook only a teen can conjure. With the song, “Hay Naku,” the stage was filled with elements of flowing lights and uneven cut-out stickers for IMAG screens. The whole band composed of Raymund “Sarkie” Sarangay as their vocalist and guitarist, Anjo Inacay for the cello, Allen Calixto for the drums, Kim Mirandilla-Ng as their violinist, Ronnie Ropal for the bass guitar, and Poch Villalon for synthesizers and backing vocals, wore school uniforms, emanating the energy of a band performing for a school festival. Then, the performance is followed by “Rebound,” “Sa Piling Mo,” “Paalam,” “Pink 5ive.” The line-up captures the fickleness of a love so young. It goes into the cycle of disappointment from fondness that dissipated in a snap, to promises of lifetime commitment, to goodbyes, and then, there goes admiring a person again—encapsulated by the beats of drums, jumps rattling the stage, and lights of pink and yellow scavenging the grounds for smiling faces. Just like the visuals of a rollercoaster during “Pink 5ive,” whose turns hoops in wide circles and heights go on uncharted, the affection that adolescentheartshaveisonethatmovesatthespeed of the moment and the thrill of heights.
The maturity of adoration
Love has the ability to mold people in ways unaccounted for. It is forever impossible to fall and engageinrelationshipswithsomeonewithoutbeing dented by them, in some shape or form. By the sixth track, “Pasensya Ka Na,” comes in feelings of self-realization and respect especially with the woeful vocals of Sarkie. The VCR played their music video and the IMAG screens with the static of an old TV—signaling the blur of memories from loving and moving on alone. “Kismet,” comes along to show how love in its maturity is about being raw and vulnerable, this comes along with the simplicity of the stage display—the stage becomes only lit with white light and the IMAG screen focused only on Sarkie’s face with a black and white effect while the strings make their way too, adding a layer of mellow and solemnity. Through songs such as “Sandali Lang,” and “Hiling,” the emotion transforms into a regret that cuts more with the accompaniment of the orchestra. The Manila Symphony Orchestra did not stop there. With an arrangement of Silent Sanctuary’s hit songs like “Rebound,” “Bumalik Ka Na Sa ‘kin,” and “Ikaw Lamang,” the feeling becomes surreal even more when the crowd starts singing the lyrics along in a quiet, almost lullaby way. Love, then and there, becomes tangible.
The commitment to forever
“Sa ‘yo” reverberates throughout the arena, ring box held by cold and sweaty hands, burrowing a hollow through pockets—few men braved the night, kneeled on one knee, and asked for their partner’s hand for marriage. The spotlight is on them withpeople’sflashlightssurroundingthemlikestars. Romance lingers in the air and even during the final song, “Ikaw Lamang,” one man happily pointed out his wife’s belly and another proposed at the VIP Area. At that moment, Silent Sanctuary’s Gabi ng Lambing proved that their music holds not only the rendezvous of high school playful moments but can be a gateway for exciting new chapters.
Silent Sanctuary
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Halloween costumes and their spooky environmental impact Swaps are a way to reduce waste and recycle By Dorany Pineda
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swaps for back-to-school, prom season, winter coats and other high-consumption, single-use times of year. Washington University in St. Louis has its own version going. Its thrift store is stocked with clothes and items collected during student move-outs when many items get left behind, including Halloween costumes and accessories. For the second year, it organized an on-campus pop-up where the campus community could buy used Halloween costumes for a low price. Cassie Hage, the university’s assistant director at the Office of Sustainability, said this year’s selections included Austin Powers and kiwi outfits, a demon from the hit TV show Stranger Things and matching platypus onesies that delighted a group of friends who stumbled upon them. “They were kind of dancing around” in them, she said. “That was just a really fun moment to watch.”
The Associated Press
OS ANGELES— Braddock Sandoval perused tables with wigs, a Darth Vader mask, a black tutu and other items and garments on an unusually sizzling day in Los Angeles. He found a Hawaiian flower necklace and a shark costume and tried them on. The chemistry professor at Occidental College heard about a campus swap where he could pick out a free Halloween costume with the goal of keeping it from being thrown away. Curious and in need of one, he swung by to see what he could find. “I think there’s too much cheap plastic waste in this world. So, the idea that people are recycling costumes is fantastic, both for budgets, like me, but also just for the planet,” Sandoval said with a laugh. He planned to attend a Halloween dance party dressed as a great white shark eating a tourist—a costume inspired by the freebies he found at the swap. Every Halloween, costumes get their big moment. But every year, millions end up in a landfill after a single use, and many are made from synthetic plastics that don’t easily break down, contributing to environmental pollution. In Southern California and across the U.S., Halloween costume swaps and thrift stores are keeping costumes from going to waste. People can donate clean costumes and pick a new one, reducing waste and the resources and emissions required to make new ones. This year, the National Retail Federation estimates Americans will spend some $4.4 billion on Halloween costumes. In 2018 alone, they discarded about 11.3 million tons (10.25 million metric tons) of textiles, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. When shopping sustainably, experts say, keep three principles in mind: Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
The spooky side of Halloween costumes
SHELIE MILLER, a University of Michigan professor who studies the environmental impacts of products, said Halloween costumes, like fast fashion, are often made cheaply from plastic materials. They tend to fall apart, she said, and are “not really intended to stick around for a very long time.” And there are other environmental impacts. Clothing accounts for 4 percent to 10
THIS year, the National Retail Federation estimates Americans will spend some $4.4 billion on Halloween costumes. In 2018 alone, they discarded about 11.3 million tons (10.25 million metric tons) of textiles, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. PHOTO BY KASHAWN HERNANDEZ ON UNSPLASH percent of global carbon emissions, she said, while textile dyeing contributes about 20 percent of wastewater emissions from industrial sources worldwide. Synthetic fibers used in clothing, including many costumes, can shed microplastics during washing and end up in water sources, she said. Microplastics have been found in the ocean, air, food and water, as well as a range of human tissues. Growing evidence suggests they can pose risks to human health. Many of these materials are made from oil, which emits pollutants when burned, driving climate change and fueling extreme weather. “The process of making these, the Halloween costumes, it’s incredible,” said Zack Bowersox, a senior lecturer in political science at Washington University in St. Louis who teaches a class on fast fashion and the environment. Rather than being stitched together, costumes are often heat bonded, with the plastic melted at the edges to join pieces. “After the season, they’re not meant to even be thrifted or returned, they’re just meant to be thrown away. And that’s where most of them end up, it’s in the landfill. Something like 80 percent of those suits end up in the landfill,” Bowersox said. Miller said there are many ways to enjoy Halloween without buying a one-off costume. “Whenever we buy anything, we’re not just buying the one thing, we’re buying all of the environmental impacts of everything that went into making that product,” Miller said. “So, whenever we’re using any sort of single-use product, whether we’re talking about single-use plastic or single-use costumes, we really have to be thinking about is this really
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how we want to spend our time, money, resources, and is there a better way?”
How one fashion lover launched a Halloween costume swap
SUSTAINABLE fashion advocate Lexy Silverstein founded the Ultimate Halloween Swap last year after realizing how much money and material went into a costume that might be worn only a few hours before being dumped. As an avid Halloween fan who loves donning costumes, she was forced to reflect
How to reduce, reuse, recycle
THRIFTING, attending clothing swaps and raiding friends’ and family members’ closets are all ways to avoid buying new costumes. You can assemble a Halloween costume from clothes and accessories you or a friend already own, or modify existing pieces to create a new look. Silverstein also suggests renting costumes by looking through websites like Facebook Marketplace, Depop and Poshmark. If you have to buy something, Bowersox suggests buying costumes or accessories made of plant-based materials such as cotton or linen. Licensed products can cost more, he said, but can offer greater trans-
“After [Halloween season, costumes are] not meant to even be thrifted or returned. They’re just meant to be thrown away.” — Zack Bowersox, a senior lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis on her own consumption and waste. “That’s a lot of costumes that I’m buying and wearing once and getting rid of,” she told herself. And she began thinking of other seasons that encourage people to buy new things, like back-to-school time. Last year, the swap collected hundreds of costume donations, including 10 boxes from the LA Clippers basketball team. It was such a success that she decided to do it again and has since expanded across Southern California, including at Occidental College where Sandoval found his shark suit. Now, Silverstein is hoping to organize NOVEMBER 1, 2026
parency over how and where they’re made. Alison Linder, assistant sustainability coordinator at Occidental College, which has a thrift store of its own with Halloween costumes in stock, encouraged people to organize their own swaps with neighbors, friends or school classmates. “It’s just as easy as asking your friends for a loan and offering to share what you have,” she said. “And just by doing that simple thing, you save money and you’re helping the environment.” n Cover photo by Adriana Sidor on Unsplash