government scaled back its debt servicing in the first seven months of the year as amortization eased, but upcoming large bond maturities could push payments higher in the coming months.
According to the Bureau of the Treasury’s (BTr) latest data, the government paid a total of P876.164 billion for some of its debt from January to July. This plunged by 35.76 percent from P1.367 trillion in debt servicing during the same period last year. The bulk, or 59.47 percent, of the debt servicing was for inter-
est payments, while 40.53 percent paid off amortization. Interest payments jumped by 14.09 percent to P521.040 billion as of end-July, up from P456.660 billion in the same period a year ago. Of the amount, P382.743 billion went to service domestic obligations, such as interest worth
TBy Lenie Lectura @llectura
HE Department of Energy
(DOE) has formally declared the prioritization of indigenous natural gas over imported natural gas via the issuance of a department circular over the weekend.
“Procurement and utilization of indigenous natural gas, including
without limitation, by gas-fired power plants, shall be prioritized over imported natural gas. All users of natural gas shall first utilize available quantities of indigenous natural gas,” DOE DC 2025-09-13 stated.
The pricing of indigenous natural gas shall be based on a sixmonth averaging of indices and quarterly price adjustments. If and when this will result in higher
prices compared to imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), users of the natural gas may opt to temporarily purchase imported LNG for not more than three consecutive months. The DOE said it will evaluate and review the temporary purchase with due regard to the government’s share in the production of indigenous natural gas. Mentioned in the circular is the gas aggregation scheme, in which
the gas aggregator procures the LNG volumes and indigenous natural gas through supply and/ or financial trade contracts, and sells the blended and consolidated gas to buyers in the Philippines or abroad.
“The DOE shall declare the need for aggregation and issue the necessary guidelines to regulate the development of
By Malou Talosig-Bartolome
THE Philippine Embassy in Rome and Italian fashion school Maiani Accademia Moda (MAM) turned their “Bianchi Contaminati” runway on September 4 into a moving homage to the late Giorgio Armani, who that early morning. Against the early-20th-century Art Nouveau backdrop of Villino Pacelli—a 1906 Libertystyle villa serving as the Philippine Embassy headquarters since 2022—40 white-themed designs by MAM students celebrated both Filipino textile
heritage and Armani’s legacy of purity and restraint.
“The passing of Giorgio Armani is a great loss to the fashion world and to Italian culture. He was one of Italy’s finest cultural ambassadors and we honor him today with our own fashion show at the embassy, knowing his legacy lives on,” Philippine Ambassador Nathaniel Imperial said.
The runway spotlighted a quartet of luxury organzas rooted in Filipino heritage. Pure piña—hand-extracted from pineapple leaves and recognized
Asia’s Modern Hero Awards fetes ALC Group for ‘malasakit’-driven
THE ALC Group of Companies was recognized with the Modern Hero of Compassion and Service Award at Asia’s Modern Hero Awards, held on September 5, 2025, at the Grand Ballroom of Okada Manila. The award celebrates organizations that go beyond business to serve the greater good, something the ALC Group has quietly and consistently done for decades.
Representing the ALC Group of Companies at the awarding ceremony were Chairman D. Edgard A. Cabangon’s daughters: Giannina Eunice A. Cabangon, Operations Executive of Isuzu Gencars group, and Dannica Nicole A. Cabangon, Operations Executive of The Eternal Group.
C hairman Cabangon expressed deep gratitude to the award-giving
body, with special thanks to Dr. Ronnel Ybañez and the organizing committee of Asia’s Modern Hero Awards. “We accept this award with deep humility and pride, not just for the ALC Group, but for every Filipino we serve. We are deeply grateful and more inspired to continue the work we have started,” Chairman Cabangon shared.
These efforts are a reflection of the values instilled in us by our founder, my father, Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, whose legacy of malasakit lives on in everything we do,” he added.
The award recognizes the ALC Group’s commitment to social responsibility and nation-building. Over the years, the conglomerate has championed initiatives spanning health, education, humanitarian response, environmental pro -
tection, and spiritual development. At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ALC Group was among the first to promptly respond to the government’s urgent call for help by converting 10 of its hotels in key cities, including Manila, Pasig, Mandaluyong, and Puerto Princesa, into quarantine facilities. Offered free of charge for over a year, these spaces provided safe refuge for frontliners such as doctors and nurses from the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and other nearby hospitals, as well as individuals requiring isolation, playing a vital role in the national pandemic response.
In addition, the Group has maintained a strong partnership with the Philippine Red Cross, regularly organizing blood donation drives and other public health
activities. In education, the ALC Group collaborates closely with the Department of Education, supporting students and teachers through various programs and outreach efforts.
The Group also partnered with Caritas Manila by donating Isuzu Traviz utility vehicles to assist with the organization’s logistics, along with relief goods and cash assistance to support communities affected by natural disasters. Moreover, the ALC Group participates in environmental initiatives such as clean-up drives and tree planting. Equally unwavering is its dedication to the Church and the broader community, demonstrated through its vital role in the Catholic Mass Media Awards and other religious and civic programs.
GIANNINA EUNICE A. CABANGON (center) and Dannica Nicole A. Cabangon (right) proudly accept the Mod-
Award
BIANCHI CONTAMINATI: A
aggregation, the requirements to be an aggregator, the minimum percentage of indigenous natural gas for a aggregation, and the pricing mechanism for aggregated gas,” the agency said.
The DOE will create the Indigenous Gas Prioritization—Review and Evaluation Committee (IGPREC) to review and pricing formula adopted by the suppliers.
“An indigenous gas supplier shall offer its gas at a uniform price to all qualified or prospective gas customers. Upon acceptance of such offer, the available gas shall be allocated on a pro-rate basis according to the respective power generation capacities of the purchasing customers, under transparent and competitive terms, and with due regard to technical and operational considerations; and provide open access to midstream infrastructure to all gas customers,” it said.
The committee will be led by a DOE official from its Energy Resource Development Bureau and Oil Industry Management Bureau, and legal department.
“An indigenous natural gas supplier and/or aggregator shall provide fair and open access to its natural gas supply in a non-discriminatory and transparent manner through physical supply, administrative or financial contracts, or any arrangements allowed by the DOE,” the circular stated.
The DOE circular was signed by Energy Chief Sharon Garin last September 1 and was posted on the DOE website over the weekend.
Japan’s PM Shigeru Ishiba resigns after poll setback
By Erica Yokoyama, Sakura Murakami and Shoko Oda
JAPANESE Prime Minister Shige -
ru Ishiba said he will step down, following weeks of calls for his departure in the aftermath of a second national election setback.
“Having seen the US trade negotiations through, I felt that now is the right time to stand down and give way to my successor,” he said in a press conference in Tokyo on Sunday. He will stay on as prime minister until his successor takes over.
Ishiba’s resignation brings to an end a tenure marked by humiliating election results that stripped the ruling coalition of its majorities in both chambers of parliament and left investors unsure of Japan’s fiscal plans. His departure is likely to fuel uncertainty in markets over the coming weeks until the Liberal Democratic Party chooses its next leader.
The risk of further instability could weigh on the yen and longer-term bonds when trading opens Monday in Asia. Japan’s currency was one of the weakest performers among its Group of 10 peers last week, while yields on longer-term Japanese government debt reached fresh multidecade highs.
The LDP was set to hold a vote Monday if it should bring forward a leadership election by two years, but that had looked increasingly likely to turn into a vote of no confidence in the premier. The vote will now be canceled, Ishiba said.
“I have felt that as LDP leader, I must take responsibility for the election results,” Ishiba said, when asked why he decided to stand down.
Lawmakers jockeying to position themselves as the next premier will need at least 20 other members of parliament to support their candidacy in order to enter the race.
Whoever emerges top in the party contest will then have to win a vote in parliament to become prime minister in a fractured Diet. Despite losing its majority, the LDP’s ruling coalition still holds the most seats in the lower house, positioning its candidate for premier as the most likely to win, though not guaranteeing that outcome.
Potential candidates within the ruling party include Sanae Takaichi, a former internal affairs minister who finished second to Ishiba in an LDP leadership race last year. She favors stimulus measures and would likely prefer the Bank of Japan to take a more cautious view on interest rate hikes.
Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koi-
zumi, the son of a former prime minister will also likely step into the fray, and could give the LDP a fresher look that appeals to a younger generation. Koizumi met Ishiba on Saturday and urged him to step down, according to a Nikkei report.
A priority for the LDP’s next leader would be restoring support for the ruling coalition. The July election defeat followed a setback in the lower house last October, shortly after Ishiba took office. As a result, the LDP has been forced to govern without a majority in either chamber of parliament for the first time since its
End-July…
P267.292 billion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds, P82.835 billion in retail Treasury bonds and P25.741 billion in Treasury bills.
Interest payments to local lenders increased by 18.36 percent from P323.360 billion last year. Meanwhile, P138.297 billion was used to settle interest incurred from foreign debts. Interest payments on foreign debt inched up by 3.74 percent from last year’s P133.300 billion.
In contrast, amortization plummeted by 60.85 percent year-on-year to P355.124 billion, significantly lower than the P907.301 billion recorded a year earlier.
This is because amortization disbursed to domestic creditors sharply dropped by 77.47 percent to P170.635 billion from P757.618 billion last year.
Amortization paid to external debt sources, meanwhile, grew by 23.25 percent to P184.489 billion from P149.683 billion a year ago.
Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, said that while debt payments remain lower year-on-year, this could climb in the coming months due to larger debt maturities.
About P800 billion worth of government securities are set to mature between August and September, which would require the government to shoulder hefty principal repayments.
Ricafort said that the peso’s depreciation, at P56.91 currently, has also raised the cost
and
of servicing foreign debt, covering both principal and interest payments.
Still, Ricafort said the anticipated reduction in policy rates by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the US Federal Reserve could help temper debt servicing costs through lower interest payments.
“Wider budget deficits could also increase short-term NG borrowings and debt servicing for the rest of the year, but the government still prefers to tap longterm borrowings to finance the budget deficit and to make new borrowings to hedge and manage maturing debts,” Ricafort added.
In July alone, the government’s debt payments totaled P108.055 billion, higher by 33.11 percent from P81.174 billion settled in the same month last year.
Almost all, or 98.3 percent, of the debt service was for interest payments at P106.219 billion, while P1.836 billion was allotted for amortization.
Year-on-year, interest payments expanded by 33.72 percent from P79.432 billion, while amortization inched up by 5.39 percent from P1.742 billion.
As of end-July, the government has cleared 42.74 percent of its P2.050-trillion debt service bill for this year.
About P1.202 trillion will be allotted for amortization, while P848.031 billion will be for interest payments, both mostly for domestic lenders.
The national government’s outstanding debt climbed to a new record of P17.563 trillion as of end-July, 11.9 percent higher from P15.689 trillion a year ago.
as Unesco heritage—offered an exquisitely sheer, ivory-hued base. Piña silk blended those delicate fibers with silk threads for a lightweight fabric that drapes softly yet holds a subtle sheen. Piña-jusi married piña’s translucence with the smooth strength of jusi, while pure jusi provided a sturdy, lustrous textile born of abaca or silk blends. Balancing these ethereal organzas were robust, sustainable weaves. Cotton hablon showcased handwoven cotton in each length’s unique pattern, weaving Filipino craftsmanship into every yard.
Abaca, known as Manila hemp, lent its world-renowned tensile strength and saltwater resistance in fine, lightbeige threads. And cotton abaca fused cotton’s softness with abaca’s durability and natural sheen, creating breathable yet long-lasting fabric ideal for contemporary, eco-minded fashion. Echoing Giorgio Armani’s vision of refined minimalism—where tone-ontone palettes and natural materials define timeless elegance—“Bianchi Contaminati” channels his ethos through its focus on white organzas. At the same time, the show advances a key Philippine initiative to globalize piña and allied fibers. By showcasing Unesco-heritage piña and complementary fabrics on the lawns of the Philippine Embassy, the event leverages diplomatic channels to position Filipino textiles as competitive luxury materials. This strategic effort aims to open new markets, promote sustainable crafts, and sustain the livelihoods of the rural artisans at the heart of production.
Models as cultural storytellers MORE than mannequins, the models brought the “Bianchi Contaminati” vision to life through a series of standout ensembles that ranged from sculptural drama to ethereal translucence. One look saw a full-length white gown transformed into a cloud of three-dimensional floral appliqués— pom-pom clusters that swallowed the sleeves and skirt in a voluminous, dreamlike silhouette, topped by a sheer organza veil obscuring the face. On the same runway, a pair of highneck jumpsuits explored transparency: one in pure white with vertical rows of raised embellishments cascading down the torso, the other echoing the motif with pale pink accents, each playing with skin-revealing layers and linear texture.
Equally compelling were structured contrasts elsewhere. A billowing, floorskimming skirt framed a cropped top studded with oversized circular cutouts, its soft volume juxtaposed against an architectural sheer ensemble complete with elbow-length gloves. In another tableau, a strapless dress blossomed with giant butterfly- and petal-shaped appliqués in white and powder blue, softened by a single sheer drape across one shoulder and punctuated by sleek hair and graphic makeup. The climax arrived in a translucent gown featuring a towering, ruffled collar and an abstract chest piece that read like a stylized mask—geometric, futuristic, and utterly theatrical, underscoring fashion’s power as a universal language.
geographical location of the Philippines and the cancellation of the electronic visa system for China. (See, “DOT cites e-visa nixing, geography for missed goal,” in the BusinessMirror, Sept. 5, 2025.)
53% obligation rate
THE DOT and its immediate attached agencies have a proposed total budget of some P3.72 billion for 2026, 4.6-percent less than its GAA 2025 allocation. Of this, P3.14 billion will be allocated to DOT-Office of the Secretary (Osec).
As of August 2025, DOT-Osec has utilized 60 percent or some P1.5 billion of its allotted P2.5 billion funds for the period, which the agency said was proof that it had increased its absorptive capacity. The total appropriations for the office for the year is P3.2 billion.
The Department of Budget of Management (DBM), which pre -
pares the NEP, recently named the DOT-Osec specifically among the agencies with the lowest budget utilization. A low budget utilization rate often leads to cuts in an agency’s budget the following year. Its officials have said that government agencies should have utilized 80 to 90 percent of their current budgets before they ask for higher budgets in the following year. According to DBM’s Annual Performance Review of agencies on their budget utilization for 2024, DOT-Osec received an “unsatisfactory” rating of 2.89 out of a perfect score of 5. Overall, DOT and its attached agencies received a satisfactory rating of 3.2.
Earlier, the Commission on Audit had told DOT to use P78.41 million in available funds for tourism development, accumulated from 2019 to December 2023. (See, “Use tourism development fund, COA tells DOT,” in the BusinessMirror, Dec. 19, 2024.)
Voices of support: Diplomacy and local government
AMBASSADOR Nathaniel G. Imperial praised the spirit of cooperation: “This evening showcased the synergy between memory and innovation, Filipino craftsmanship and Italian design education. We look forward to deepening this partnership and strengthening ties through creative exchange.”
Rome’s Deputy for Tourism, Sport and Fashion, Alessandro Onorato, added: “Supporting emerging talent is vital. Projects like this highlight Rome’s role as a global cultural capital and give young designers the platform to carry our fashion legacy forward.” This high-profile collaboration spotlights the export potential of Philippine textiles. By pairing embassy diplomacy with Italian design education, the initiative opens pathways for piña, abaca and allied fibers into luxury markets. Future workshops in Manila will further integrate Italian designers with rural weaving cooperatives, ensuring these traditions continue to thrive.
founding in 1955. With assistance from Brett Miller, Issei Hazama
Aya Wagatsuma /Bloomberg
JAPANESE Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba
GALAXY AI: THE FOLDABLE UI THAT ANTICIPATES YOUR NEXT MOVE
By Vincent Peter Rivera
FOLDABLE phones broke the mold in a market filled with lookalikes. Now, a new generation features AI that works behind the scenes, anticipating your needs and enhancing your lifestyle.
Samsung, a leading technology provider and frontrunner in mobile innovation, consistently pushed the boundaries of mobile phone design. After pioneering the Galaxy Note “Phablet” series and the iconic “Edge” display, the company introduced its latest innovation: the Galaxy Z series in 2019, a line of foldable phones designed to offer new form factors and user experiences.
But more than just a new form factor, what truly sets these smartphones apart is Galaxy AI, which offers ambient intelligence that works with the device’s hardware to create intuitive, predictive experiences that anticipate user needs before they’re even expressed.
I think one thing that we believe in with Samsung, which really sets Galaxy AI apart, is our hardware and software integration, which includes our exclusive chipsets on our foldable devices right now,” said Jun Guevarra, Head of Mobile Experience at Samsung Electronics Philippines. “With the bigger space and enhanced multitasking capabilities, the foldables unlock many more possibilities with our Galaxy AI.”
Samsung’s slimmest and lightest Fold yet, the Galaxy Z Fold7, integrates AI features directly into its powerful hardware. Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, it offers seamless live translation with Interpreter and generative photo editing with Photo Assist. You can easily remove objects with Suggest Erases or fill in backgrounds with Generative Edit. Productivity is enhanced with Note Assist for summarizing long notes and Audio Eraser for removing background noise
from recordings. The expanded cover and main screens make multitasking with these Galaxy AI tools intuitive and effortless.
The ultra-compact Galaxy Z Flip7 is a powerful AI device that fits in your pocket.
Its larger FlexWindow is optimized for AI, so you can use Gemini Live for voice commands without opening the phone. For photos, the ProVisual Engine uses AI to get stunning shots, while features like Auto Zoom and Portrait Studio enhance your selfies. The AI Select feature suggests the best AI tools for your tasks, putting smart features at your fingertips.
The Galaxy Watch8 series extends the Galaxy AI ecosystem to your wrist, acting as a proactive wellness assistant. It provides a more comfortable and accurate fit with its new “Dynamic Lug System” for better health tracking.
The watch provides useful health insights such as the Antioxidant Index, which measures nutritional health, and Vascular Load, which offers insights into cardiovascular stress. It also uses AI to provide personalized Bedtime Guidance based on your sleep patterns and an updated Running Coach to develop custom training plans.
‘Easy and natural’
The goal behind the new Galaxy Z series is to make the user experience as easy and natural as possible. According to Jun Guevarra, the strategy is to enhance the familiar experience users already know without drastic changes.
A key part of this is the integration of the Galaxy AI, which accomplishes complex tasks through natural conversation and voice commands. The system
recognizes your natural voice and accent, enabling seamless interactions across all applications.
Th is shifts the experience from being app-based—where you have to open and navigate different apps—to an agent-based one, where the AI works across applications to manage things for you. This powerful capability simplifies everyday tasks, making everything from editing photos to messaging friends feel more intuitive and less intimidating.
“ We believe that AI is the new UI, right? Meaning it’s the new user experience, it’s the new user interface,” Guevarra explained, clarifying the shift in the user interface for their foldable devices. While UI was traditionally defined by a phone’s visual design, such as its icons and layout, the new UI is defined by intelligence, marking a fundamental change in how users interact with their devices.
Secured data and privacy
For Samsung, the journey into ambient intelligence is built on a strong foundation of user privacy and security with an extensive emphasis on the users’ private data.
The company’s approach begins with on-device processing, which ensures that sensitive, personal information is processed directly on the device rather than in the cloud—providing a firm layer of security, keeping private data with the user.
“For instance, when you use a video feature to remove background noise like conversations, that whole process is processed on the device,” Guevarra mentioned, emphasizing the safety of any information gathered in the process of utilizing a Galaxy AI feature.
For tasks that do require cloud processing, user control is the
next layer of protection. Guevarra iterated that the company gives users the explicit option to share their data or not, stating, “anything that you do want to get shared to the cloud, you have the option to allow or not allow that as a user.”
The ultimate layer of protection is Knox Vault, a hardware-based solution from Samsung. Guevarra describes it as “a physical barrier between your sensitive information and the rest of your phone in the hardware.”
Th is dedicated, secure processor serves as a vault for the most sensitive data, like biometric information and credentials. It’s not just about encryption; it’s a physical isolation that makes it significantly more difficult for hackers to access.
A leadership founded on user-driven innovation
Beyond pioneering ambient intelligence and new form factors, Samsung values users and their experience more than anything else. We strive for relentless pursuit of excellence and anticipating the needs of our consumers in the future,” said Guevarra. “We use this information so that we always deliver meaningful innovations that enhance the everyday life of today’s consumers.”
Th is involves a constant feedback loop: “listening to our consumers and what they need,” releasing new technology, observing how it’s used, and then using those insights to inform future innovations.
B y consistently listening to its users, Samsung’s usercentric approach has directly influenced the evolution of the Galaxy Z series. This focus on consumer feedback, particularly from fast-paced, always-connected markets like the Philippines, led to innovations in key physical changes to the Galaxy Z Flip and Fold.
A s Jun Guevarra explains, the latest Galaxy Z Fold is the company’s “thinnest and lightest foldable phone,” now more durable with a wider cover screen and updated aspect ratio, all because Samsung realized users want the phone to be “just as powerful and functional as when it’s closed.” Dialogues with consumers, combined with technological advancements, have resulted in a design that feels like a traditional phone when folded, making it more comfortable and practical. Th is user-driven philosophy is also evident in Samsung’s democratization of technology; the company is rolling out key Galaxy AI features to the Galaxy A series, ensuring users “can get the best of these AI advances and features without the premium price tag.” In essence, Samsung’s strategy is to move beyond AI as a feature in the phone but to make it a fundamental part of the mobile experience. Through powerful hardware, unique form factors, and a dedication to user-centric innovation and privacy, Samsung is not just creating new devices— it’s championing the foundation for a more intelligent, intuitive, and seamlessly connected world.
Editor: Angel R. Calso
Lacson names DPWH official who ‘called’ lawmakers to make early budget insertions
ABy Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
N undersecretary in the Department of Public Works and Highways
(DPWH) allegedly called up and invited at least one lawmaker to make early insertions in the proposed national budget for 2026, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson said on Sunday. Lacson said a caller claiming to be “Undersecretary Cabral” called up a staff member of Senate Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III shortly after the May senatorial elections
and asked them to propose what they want to insert in the National Expenditure Program for 2026.
“One ‘Undersecretary Cabral’ called Sotto’s staff and told them to insert what they wanted to insert. If Senator Sotto was one of those called by that executive, who else could have been contacted similarly and submitted their proposed insertions?” he said in Filipino in a radio interview.
“Senator Sotto told me he did not submit anything because we are advocating transparency and good governance. The question now is, how many members of
War of words over flood control funds breaks out between two congressmen
By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie
AWAR of words has erupted between Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco and Party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin
of Ako Bicol over billions of pesos in flood control allocations, with both lawmakers accusing each other of double standard and questionable funding practices.
Tiangco, in a statement, urged Garbin “not to divert the issue” amid questions surrounding alleged congressional insertions. He insisted he could not have made any insertions since he was not part of the bicameral conference committee, which finalized the budget.
Tianco, a cousin in law of President Marcos, said the P529 million allotted for Navotas was approved by the Bicam after requests for floodcontrol funding, stressing that such projects were crucial given Navotas’ vulnerability to flooding as it sits downstream of the Tullahan River and is below sea level.
“Flooding is the number one issue that needs to be addressed in Navotas. It affects safety, health, livelihood, education, and business,” Tiangco said, adding that his office never meddles in the bidding of projects and that if irregularities were found, he would be the first to file a complaint. “Anong mapapala ko d’yan, eh, hindi naman ako ‘Cong-tractor’?” he quipped.
The exchange has highlighted growing tension in the House over budget allocations and the controversy surrounding “insertions,” with both camps calling for accountability but accusing the other of benefiting from the very system they denounce.
But Garbin swiftly fired back, accusing Tiangco, the son in law of a sister of former First Lady Imelda Marcos, of hypocrisy for railing against alleged “insertions”by other lawmakers while flood-control funds in the billions flowed into his small district.
He questioned why contractors identified in the President’s so-called “Top 15” list of companies accused of cornering P100 billion worth of projects were allowed to handle major works in Navotas.
Garbin blasted Tiangco for “sanctimonious grandstanding,” pointing out that Navotas had been awash with flood-control funds for years but remained submerged in water.
“I could not have made any insertion because I am not a member of the Bicameral Conference Committee,” Tiangco said. “P529 million was the amount approved in the Bicam from the requests for additional funding for Navotas. All I can do is make a request, and the Bicam decides. So isn’t it more questionable why Zaldy Co was able to insert P13.8 billion into some districts that did not even ask for it?
Or how Ako Bicol Party-list [group] managed to insert P2.295 billion and the Barangay Health Wellness Party-list [group] P2.064 billion when other party-lists are limited to P100 to P150 million? ”
He also emphasized that requests for funding of flood control projects are openly communicated to Navoteños and are not done in secrecy. “But since the national budget is limited, funding is released only partially and in phases,” he explained.
The lawmaker clarified that his office does not interfere with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in terms of preparing programs of work or awarding bids to contractors. “I don’t even ask who the winning bidders are,” he said, noting that the only times he inquired with the district engineer were to verify if contractors flagged by President Marcos had projects in Navotas and to confirm that all ongoing projects in the city were aboveboard. Tiangco, the son of a retired general who is member of Philippine Military Academy Class of 1957, said he would be the first to file a complaint if irregularities were discovered in flood control projects.
CICC flags dark web trade in deepfake porn
By Bless Aubrey Ogerio
PORNOGRAPHIC deepfakes are proliferating in the dark web, with organized criminal groups financing the spread of artificial intelligencegenerated content, the country’s anticybercrime watchdog has warned.
Aboy Paraiso, acting executive director and undersecretary of the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), said these materials differ from manipulated political videos that typically appear on mainstream platforms and can be reported for swift removal.
“They respond fast when it comes to deepfakes...We saw this during the election,” Paraiso said in Filipino during a media briefing on Friday.
Yet, he added, “The problem is with pornographic deepfakes. They are not on our social media platforms; they are on the dark web, where criminals transact. That is the haven for these kinds of things.”
In March, the government launched a National Deepfake Task Force and rolled out AI-powered detection tools to guard against manipulated media, particularly during elections.
However, Paraiso said the production and distribution of pornographic deepfakes are being driven by syndicates that reinvest profits from other illicit operations.
“This technology is definitely not cheap,” Paraiso said in a mix of English and Filipino.
“We are seeing criminal organizations merging. The funds they get from scams and illegal gambling, they reinforce into other ways of making money, like creating AI-generated [artificial intelligence] pornography.”
While CICC’s threat monitoring center can analyze suspect content in real-time, Paraiso admitted that fully automated detection systems remain out of reach.
“Deepfakes are harder to detect,” Paraiso said. “We can analyze and say if it is a deepfake or not. But the automated detection—that is the tool we need to really suppress this threat.”
The dangers of deepfake abuse recently came under Senate scrutiny. Actress Angel Aquino testified before the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, chaired by Sen. Anna Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros, recounting
the House and Senate made insertions?” he added.
The DPWH website, according to Lacson, lists Maria Catalina E. Cabral as Undersecretary for Planning, Public-Private Partnership, and Information Management Services.
The 2026 NEP was already being prepared before President Marcos called out lawmakers in his State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 28, Lacson noted. The budget call started January 2025, and likely ended in June, in time for its submission to Congress within 30 days after the President’s Sona.
The senator has asked for the relevant records of the DPWH. He said he has seen hundreds of “distinct” entries, including 660 items for identical P100-million projects without stationing or descriptions.
Also, Lacson lamented that such collusion between agencies like the DPWH and lawmakers may have rendered useless the checks and balances for the budgeting process.
This, he pointed out, could be one factor in Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin’s statement urging the House of Representatives to heed the public demand for full
accountability and “clean [its own] house first.”
Bersamin at the weekend had dared Congress to clean its act first before pinning the blame on the Executive department for a shoddy National Expenditure Program (NEP).
This, after House leaders said that a thorough review of the NEP was first needed to weed out portions that were haphazardly prepared.
“Safeguards will be rendered useless if there is collusion. If there is collusion, all safeguards will be disregarded, as seen in the briefing of the Development Budget Coordination Committee
where there was collusion between legislators and the DPWH in the drafting of the NEP,” Lacson said.
This alleged collusion is seen as one reason why public cynicism is high over the ongoing congressional hearings on the corruption behind billions in flood-control projects, a scandal that forced the resignation of DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonuan. Lawmakers have come under fire as well for pinning all the blame on the Executive branch, boosting calls for a separate independent commission to do that investigation.
DFA defends visa screening for Chinese tourists
By Malou Talosig-Bartolome
THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) over the weekend defended its visa screening process for Chinese nationals, stressing that documentary requirements are in place to ensure the entry of legitimate tourists and uphold national security protocols.
In a statement on Saturday, the DFA responded to recent remarks by Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco, who cited the suspension of the electronic visa (evisa) program for mainland China as a key factor behind the Philippines’ failure to meet its 2024 foreign arrivals target. (See related story: DOT cites e-visa nixing, geography for missed goal)
The country welcomed 5.95 million international visitors last year—well below the 7.7 million goal and nearly 30 percent short of pre-pandemic levels.
The DFA’s statement did not address the e-visa suspension directly. Instead, it reiterated its support for
the DOT’s tourism goals and clarified that visa requirements are designed to facilitate—not hinder— legitimate travel.
“Visa requirements do not serve to prevent the entry of legitimate tourists; instead, they are intended precisely to assist the country in ensuring that legitimate travelers are given visas to enter the Philippines,” DFA spokesperson Angelica Escalona said.
In a separate budget hearing at the House of Representatives, the DFA reported that it had issued 89,111 visas and e-visas from January to July 2025, underscoring its operational capacity to process travel documents and respond to demand.
As part of its streamlining efforts, the DFA confirmed that effective July 30, the Philippine Embassy in Beijing and consulates across China have removed the requirement for Chinese nationals to submit their Chinese Social Insurance Record Certificate when applying for a 9(a) Temporary Visitor’s Visa. The move is
expected to ease documentation burdens, especially for younger or self-employed applicants who may not be covered by China’s formal employment system.
Chinese nationals applying for a 9(a-2) tourist visa must still submit a comprehensive set of documents, including a copy of their national ID (for mainland Chinese citizens), bank statements showing six months of transactions, and proof of financial capability. Chinese citizens based in the United States are also required to submit a residence permit or proof of legal status in the US.
Meanwhile, Asean neighbors have seen a surge in Chinese arrivals.
Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore each welcomed over two million Chinese tourists in 2024, with Thailand alone receiving an estimated 3.5 to four million.
In contrast, the Philippines recorded just over 300,000 Chinese arrivals—far below
its pre-pandemic record of two million.
Visa accessibility played a major role: Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore offered visa-free entry to Chinese nationals, while the Philippines maintained stricter screening protocols and suspended its e-visa rollout.
“All our Posts are able to meet the current demand for visas. Should the demand increase, the Department is ready to meet any increase in demand,” Escalona said. “The DFA looks forward to continue working with the DOT, as well as with other relevant government agencies and the private sector, in enhancing tourist arrivals and facilitating the growth of the country’s tourism sector,” she added.
As the DOT seeks a P3.72-billion budget for 2026—including funds for its “Love the Philippines” branding campaign—both departments are expected to recalibrate strategies to attract more foreign visitors, particularly from highpotential markets like China.
Teodoro to attend Seoul Defense Dialogue
SECRETARY of National Defense (SND) Gilberto Teodoro will represent the Philippines at the Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD) and the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Command (UNC) that will take place on Monday and Tuesday. In a statement Sunday, the DND said these events will be held at Seoul, South Korea. It added that Teodoro’s at -
tendance is in-line with President Marcos’s direction to advance the Philippines’ defense engagements and promote a secure and stable Indo-Pacific Region.
“Secretary Teodoro is scheduled to deliver his remarks during Plenary Session 1: ‘Mitigating Geopolitical Rivalries and Restoring Strategic Stability‘’ at the Opening Ceremony of the SDD 2025.
On the sidelines of the SDD, Teodoro, together with senior officials of the DND, will engage in a series of bilateral meetings with counterparts from various countries.
These discussions will center on enhancing defense cooperation and addressing key regional and global security issues.
“The Philippines’ participation in the SDD and UNC anniversary
reaffirms the country’s commitment to a rules-based international order and its resolve to foster peace and stability in the IndoPacific,” the DND said. Hosted annually by the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of National Defense, the SDD is a leading multilateral forum that brings together defense ministers, senior officials, and experts to discuss pressing security challenges.
Vietnam War vintage helicopters to fly again?
WITH escalating tensions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and worsening natural calamities brought by climate change, a lawmaker has proposed a cost-effective measure to boost the Armed Forces’ (AFP) capability in maritime patrols and disaster response—by recommissioning decommissioned but still serviceable military helicopters and aircraft.
Most these decommissioned aircraft are Vietnam War-vintage UH-1H “Huey” helicopters that have been phased out of production.
House Deputy Majority Leader Luigi Villafuerte, a former Camarines Sur governor, said the Department of National Defense (DND) and AFP should seriously consider restoring mothballed air assets to strengthen the country’s defense posture and disaster preparedness amid budget con -
straints.
“In support of the AFP and its modernization program, the 20th Congress should consider new legislation that aims to put back into service decommissioned military helicopters and other aircraft as the country’s immediate response to fill the urgent gap during natural disasters, maritime patrols, border security, and humanitarian assistance,” Villafuerte said.
“This is because even with the AFP’s continuous and increasing budget for modernization, acquiring new aircraft is expensive,” he added, plus the fact that our Armed Forces has been operating on a limited budget.”
Filed as House Bill 1363, or the Military Air Asset Rehabilitation and Modernization Act, the measure directs the DND to launch a Military Air Asset Rehabilitation Program (MAARP) that would conduct a full inventory of decommis -
sioned aircraft nationwide, carry out technical inspections and feasibility analyses, and prioritize assets for repair based on costeffectiveness and strategic value.
The bill provides an initial P5 billion for the program, to be sourced from unprogrammed funds, with succeeding appropriations to be included in the annual national budget.
Aside from recommissioning, the program aims to reduce dependence on foreign procurement, support local aviation industries in manufacturing and retrofitting, enhance the AFP’s combat and disaster response, and recycle materials from old aircraft.
Villafuerte cited the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (Easa), which places the average lifespan of an aircraft at 25 to 40 years. While decommissioning is often done for safety and economic reasons, he said restoring certain
air assets remains feasible and practical.
“Considering the current issue in the WPS, recommissioning decommissioned aircraft will help increase our military presence in contested waters and better prepare the AFP for future operations,” Villafuerte added.
The bill also authorizes the DND to enter into public-private partnerships with local and international aerospace contractors for specialized repairs, provided national security is safeguarded.
To ensure accountability, the measure creates a Congressional Oversight Committee on Military Asset Modernization (Cocman) to monitor implementation. The DND will be required to submit an annual report detailing the number and type of assets rehabilitated, cost per aircraft, deployment assignments, and budget utilization. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz
Legislator raises concern over duplicate fundings in 2026 NEP
By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie
AS House leaders agreed to give the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 10 days to address “mangled” entries in the proposed 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP), a vice chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations has raised concerns over duplicate funding and allocations for projects that were already completed.
Marikina Rep. Marcelino Teodoro, the panel vice chairman, made the statement as Public Works Secretary Vivencio Dizon said they will check if there are anomalies or suspicious flood control projects included in the 2026 NEP of the Department of Public Works and Highways.
According to Teodoro, he discovered that flood control projects in Balantay Creek, barangay Santo Niño, in Marikina, were included in the NEP despite being finished in 2023.
“As a former mayor, I am familiar with the area. The slope protection works there were completed two years ago, so I was surprised to see additional funds allocated for a project that is already done,” Teodoro said. He added that Malaya Street in barangay
Malanday was also given repair funds, even though the road remains in good condition.
According to Teodoro, the allocation was identified by the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) district engineer.
“These entries show why it is important to carefully examine the NEP. We must ensure that only necessary and urgent projects are funded,” he stressed.
Teodoro also lamented that while some finished or non-essential projects continue to receive allocations, critical infrastructure remains underfunded, such as the drainage system along Sumulong Highway, which remains incomplete owing to budget shortfalls.
“The budget for the drainage is not enough. Even if it gets funding this year, it still won’t be finished,” he said.
The Marikina lawmaker called for closer coordination among the DPWH, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and local governments to ensure that allocations match on-the-ground realities and address pressing needs like flooding.
“We must consult our local governments because they are the first responders during floods and know the real situation in the communities. Their input, combined with scientific validation of water behavior, is essential in designing effective drainage and flood-control systems,” Teodoro emphasized.
‘Land lease extension to make PHL more appealing to foreign investors’
By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
WITH the enactment of a law that extends their land lease contract to 99 years, more foreign investors will look at the Philippines as an ideal investment destination, Senate President Francis G. Escudero said on Sunday.
The new law, principally authored by Escudero during the 19th Congress, was signed into law by President Marcos on September 3 and amended Republic Act 7652 or the Investors’ Lease Act of 1993 in order to extend the lease contracts of foreign investors from the former maximum of 75 years.
“Foreign investors have long complained about the prohibitive provisions of our laws regarding the ownership of land by non-Filipinos. Businesses will never place their funds in destinations where there is uncertainty in laws and regulations. This law will go a long way in addressing these concerns,” he said.
The ownership of land, he noted, is always a crucial consideration of investors when choosing where to set up shop because no one will put in so much money, only to be evicted after a short period of time.
Escudero pointed out: “We may be strategically situated geographically, have a predominantly English-speaking workforce, and have among the hardest working people in the world, but unless there is stability in the investment environment, none of these advantages we have will help us in
competing for investors.” He said under the law, the leased property should be utilized only for the purpose of the approved and registered investment.
Failure by a lessee to commence its investment project within a period of three years from the signing of the lease contract may result in the revocation of all entitlements granted under this law.
The lease contract is renewable upon the mutual agreement of the parties concerned.
The registered lease cannot be subject to collateral attack. It cannot be altered, modified or cancelled except in a direct proceeding in accordance with law.
Unless specifically prohibited in the lease contract, the lessee may sublet the property with the consent of the lessor.
The law provides for stiff penalties for lease contracts that exceed the 99-year period; for the use of the leased premises for a purpose contrary to existing laws, public order, public policy, morals, or good customs; and if the agreement results in the lease of land in excess of the approved area.
These acts will result in the voiding of the contract and a fine of P1 million to P10 million or imprisonment of six months to six years upon the discretion of the court for both contracting parties.
Escudero thanked Marcos for supporting the bill. “With the entry of more investments into the country, not only will more jobs be created but we will also gain from technology transfer that can be utilized to grow local enterprises and make them more competitive in the global stage,” the Senate chief said.
PHL rice stockpile increases by 450,000 MT in August
THE Philippines’s rice stockpile rose by over 450,000 metric tons (MT) in August, with the National Food Authority (NFA) and households posting bigger inventories.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that rice stocks jumped by 24.5 percent to 2.32 million metric tons (MMT) as of August 1 from the previous year’s 1.86 MMT. This indicated an increase of around 456,000 MT.
The state statistics agency also noted that last month’s stock inventory was 16.8 percent lower than the 2.79 MMT recorded in July.
It noted that 36.1 percent or 836,890 MT was stored by households, while 44.4 percent or some 1.03 MMT of rice was held by commercial entities.
The PSA added that rice stocks in the NFA warehouses as of August 1 reached 452,740 MT, accounting for 19.5 percent of total inventory during the reference period.
“This month’s rice stocks inventories
His remarks come amid growing scrutiny of the government’s flood control budget. Several local leaders, including Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, have also raised alarm over questionable projects, while Sen. Panfilo Lacson earlier delivered a privileged speech exposing alleged corruption in floodcontrol programs.
Review
THE House of Representatives will not return the proposed 2026 NEP to the executive branch, Appropriations Committee chairwoman and Nueva Ecija District Rep. Mikaela Suansing recently clarified. Suansing clarified that the matter has already been settled, emphasizing that the House will not send the National Expenditure Program (NEP) back to the executive branch. She explained that although some House party leaders earlier recommended sending the NEP back to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the chamber’s leadership ultimately decided against it. House Deputy Speaker and Antipolo Rep. Ronaldo Puno previously flagged the NEP for allocating funds to infrastructure projects already completed, while certain ongoing flood control initiatives were left without funding.
Laguesma tosses wage-setting debate back to Congress
By Justine Xyrah Garcia
‘YOU are the ones who can change the system if you want to.”
This was the reminder of Labor Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma to lawmakers on Friday as debates intensified over whether to retain the current wagesetting framework or pursue wage-setting reforms such as a legislated across-theboard increase or a single nationwide minimum wage.
At the House budget deliberations, Laguesma stressed that the system in place—handled by the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) and the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs)—exists because Congress mandated it.
“Fixing minimum wages is always a difficult, thankless job, especially for the members of the [RTWPBs]. But having said that, we have a mandate granted by Congress...You are the ones who can change the system if you want to,” he said.
Laguesma explained that the adequacy of wages is “always relative” and that the tripartite wage boards were designed to embed representation of both workers and employers.
“Perhaps what we need to do is look into what improvements can be made to the mechanism,” he added.
The labor chief said Dole acknowledges the many bills filed to amend the wage-setting system but emphasized that the department’s role is limited to implementation once Congress enacts a law.
registered annual increases from the NFA depositories by 207.6 percent and from the households by 51.6 percent. On the other hand, an annual decrease was noted from the commercial sector by 11.5 percent.”
“In comparison to the July 2025 rice stocks levels, decrements were noted from the commercial sector by 23.3 percent, and from the households by 18.2 percent. Meanwhile, rice stocks inventory from the NFA depositories increased by 6.9 percent.”
Meanwhile, the state statistics agency said the total corn inventory as of August 1 declined by 11.2 percent to 590,720 MT from 665,070 MT last year. The corn stockpile last month also shrank by 5.4 percent from the 624,400 MT recorded in July.
PSA data showed that the corn inventory in commercial entities reached 512,170 MT, while corn stocks in households were at 78,550 MT.
“Rice,”
“As I always say, the right and authority to propose and pass laws belong to Congress. We recognize and respect that. Our role is to implement once it becomes law,” he said. “We are always ready to provide input in these discussions. We do not categorically oppose proposals.”
Laguesma also reminded lawmakers that the Philippines’ system is not unique, pointing out that the tripartite approach is recognized in international labor conventions and is practiced in other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) member states. Under Republic Act 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act, the RTWPBs must consider several criteria for wage adjustments per region. These include the demand for living wages, changes in the consumer price index and cost of living, workers’ and families’ needs, and encouraging rural industry investment.
Monday, September 8, 2025
What Congress is deflecting blame to Palace?–Ridon
THE chairman of the House Committee on Infrastructure on Sunday countered the statement of Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin, saying Congress is not deflecting blame to Malacañang over alleged anomalies in flood control projects but is merely raising legitimate concerns on the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP).
House Committee on Infrastructure Chairman Terry Ridon clarified, in a radio interview, that neither Malacañang nor President Marcos had been blamed in connection with flood control projects.
Instead, Ridon pointed out that the controversial “ghost projects” inspected by the President in Bulacan originated from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
“The first ghost project in Baliuag,
Bulacan was an executive proposal from the DPWH itself. In fact, [former DPWH official Henry] Alcantara admitted that the proposal came from him,” Ridon said. “On the other hand, in the Plaridel, Bulacan project, we saw that it was indeed a congressional insertion. So there’s no deflection here— we’re being transparent about where these issues came from.”
Bersamin earlier called on lawmakers to “clean their own house first,” accusing some of them of trying to shift the blame for irregularities in the 2026 NEP onto the Palace. He warned that the Executive branch would not tolerate attacks on its integrity or attempts to hold the budget process hostage.
But Ridon, the nominee to the House of Representatives of the party-list group Bicol Saro, argued that Bersamin’s charge
SC justice to aspiring lawyers: Finish strong
SUPREME Court (CA) Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, chairperson of the 2025 Bar Examinations, on Sunday urged the more than 11,000 aspiring lawyers to “finish strong” at the start of the three-day exams. At a press briefing held at the University of Santo Tomas, the National Headquarters (NHQ) for the 2025 Bar Examinations and one of the 14 designated testing centers, LazaroJavier said a total of 11,437 examinees or 86.7 percent showed up during the first day of the exams out of the 13,193 law graduates who were cleared to take the Bar.
Out of the examinees admitted, Justice Lazaro-Javier said 5,215 were first-time takers, 239 were repeaters, and 1,984 were refreshers. She added that there were also senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and medical conditions and pregnant women who took the exams.
Aside from UST, the other testing centers in Manila include San Beda University on Mendiola Street in Manila; New Era University in Quezon City; Manila Adventist College in Pasay City; San Beda College-Alabang in Muntinlupa City; University of the PhilippinesBonifacio Global City in Taguig; and Ateneo de Manila University School of Law in Makati.
The testing centers in other parts of the country are: Saint Louis University in Baguio City; University of Nueva Caceres in Naga City; University of San Jose-Recoletos in Cebu City; Central Philippine University in Iloilo City; Dr. V. Orestes Romualdez Educational Foundation in Tacloban City; Ateneo de Davao University in Davao City; and Mindanao State UniversityIligan Institute of Technology in Iligan City.
The New Era University registered the most number of examinees with 1,698 followed closely by the University of San Jose-Recoletos in Cebu with 1,264 and Saint Louis University in Baguio with 1,253.
The examinatins are being held in a digital format across the country, a system aimed at making the process more accessible and efficient for aspiring lawyers.
The second and third day of the 2025 Bar Examinations will take place on September 10, and 14, respectively, covering six core subjects: Political and Public International Law (15 percent); Commercial and Taxation Laws (20 percent); Civil Law (20 percent); Labor Law and Social Legislations (10 percent); Criminal Law (10 percent); and Remedial Law, Legal and Judicial Ethics with Practical Exercises (25 percent). Joel R. San Juan
of deflection was misplaced, stressing that lawmakers’ complaints on the NEP were substantive.
“It’s not just one congressman raising concerns. There are repeated line items— like a Classroom A project already funded under the 2025 budget, yet reappearing in the 2026 NEP,” he explained.
Ridon also challenged Bersamin to substantiate his accusations during the upcoming budget hearing for the Office of the President.
“Tomorrow [Monday], we expect Executive Secretary Bersamin to be specific. Who are the corrupt congressmen he’s talking about? What corruption is he referring to? He has to be able to say that to our face,” Ridon declared.
In pushing to return the proposed 2026 NEP to the DBM, Deputy Speaker Ronaldo
Puno of Antipolo branded the budget plan as “poorly made,” citing allocations for infrastructure projects that were already completed.
However, instead of sending the NEP back, House leaders agreed to give the DBM and the DPWH 10 days to correct what they described as “mangled” entries in the spending plan.
Accept
AT the same time, Las Piñas Rep. Mark Anthony Santos urged Public Works Secretary Vivencio Dizon to accept the resignations of agency officials as part of efforts to clean up the department.
Santos said the controversial head of the Las Piñas-Muntinlupa District Engineering Office (LPM-DEO) Isabelo Baleros has filed his resignation, following allegations that
P450 million in infrastructure funds had “disappeared” under his watch.
Santos also urged Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to place Baleros on the immigration lookout bulletin to make it easy for investigators to track him down in case he leavesthe country amid allegations of irregularities in the handling of major multi-million-peso infrastructure projects in Las Piñas.
Former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan last month reassigned Baleros to the DPWH Metro Manila Third District Engineering Office after he failed to respond to Santos’ inquiry on the whereabouts of the P450 million funds.
BI appeals RTC’s release order for Sy
THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Sunday has yet to release Ferronickel Holdings Inc. chairman Joseph Sy from its custody despite the grant of his petition for habeas corpus by the Regional Trial Court in Taguig City (RTC).
BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said the bureau has appealed the trial court’s release order issued last Friday before the Court of Appeals (CA).
“The BI is appealing this to the Court of Appeals...A notice of appeal has already been submitted electronically,” Sandoval said when asked why Sy has yet to be released.
Sandoval also explained that they were supposed to file the appeal before the trial
court but were told by its legal unit to elevate the matter directly before the CA.
In a statement issued on Saturday Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado confirmed the receipt of an order dated September 4, 2025 signed by Judge Paz Esperanza Martelino Cortes regarding the deportation case of Sy, also believed to be Chen Zhong Zhen, a Chinese national.
The said order grants the petition for habeas corpus filed by Chen’s camp and orders his release from the BI’s custody, citing lack of jurisdiction.
While it respects the order, the BI maintains that there is strong evidence against Chen, supported by BI biometric records.
ACONSUMER advocacy group over the weekend warned Filipinos against bringing electronic cigarettes, or vapes, into Singapore, a popular tourist destination in Southeast Asia.
“If you pack a vape or e-cigarette in your luggage, you are risking heavy fines, deportation and maybe even jail time,” said Martin Cullip, an international fellow at the Consumer Center for The Taxpayers Protection Alliance.
“Relative to the inventory level in July 2025, decreases in the volume of corn stocks were noted from the commercial sector by 5.7 percent and from the households by 3.3 percent.”
“From the same month of the previous year’s level, corn stocks inventory from the commercial sector recorded an annual decrease of 18.6 percent. On the other hand, an annual increase of 116.7 percent was noted from the households.”
“Incredibly, in a country that openly sells deadly cigarettes on every corner, choosing the safer option could land you with severe punishment. This treatment of citizens trying to quit combustible cigarettes with less harmful products flies in the face of science and common sense,” said Cullip, an advocate for tobacco harm reduction.
Tobacco harm reduction involves the use of safer nicotine products such as vapes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouch to reduce the harm from smoking cigarette alternatives. Scientific studies show that it is the process of combustion, and not
nicotine itself, that causes diseases among smokers.
Cullip issued the warning as Singapore announced a crackdown on vaping, which includes stiffer fines and tougher penalties. Authorities have also stepped up enforcement, conducting spot checks on trains at bus terminals and in public parks.
“For Filipino tourists or overseas workers passing through, this isn’t just a heavy-handed policy. It’s a potential trap,” said Cullip.
Cebu Pacific airline earlier reported that about 700,000 Filipinos traveled to Singapore in 2023, making the Philippines the sixthlargest source of tourists for the country.
Cullip highlighted the contradiction in Singapore, where cigarettes are legal despite being proven to kill half of their long-term users, while vapes, which are designed to help smokers reduce risk, are treated as dangerous narcotics.
“By doing this, Singapore isn’t protecting health. It’s protecting the cigarette trade and cementing the false belief that vaping is just as harmful, or even worse, than
“The BI, with guidance from the Department of Justice, has submitted its appeal on this order to the Court of Appeals, and will be awaiting its resolution,” Viado said.
“We trust that the courts will continue to review and resolve this case with utmost diligence and integrity, to ensure the protection of national security and the rule of law,” he added.
Sy has been in the custody of BI following his arrest last August 21 upon his arrival from Hong Kong for reportedly holding fraudulent Philippine documents.
The BI maintained that the 60-year-old Sy and Cheng Zhong Zhen are one and the same person.
Sy’s real identity, according to the agency,
Santos said Balero could be held liable for multiple administrative and graft charges if he fails to account for the P450 million funds that were transferred from his district office to the DPWH Regional Office–NCR in July this year. Santos added that, to this day, it remains unclear whether the nearly half-a-billionpeso funds originated from the 2025 General Appropriations Act or were congressional insertions made by his predecessors in the national budget.
“We cannot let these funds disappear into thin air while our communities wait for real infrastructure. Accountability is not optional—it is mandatory,” Santos said.
Santos urged Dizon, who had ordered the courtesy resignations of DPWH officials from undersecretaries down to district engineers nationwide, to dismiss Baleros from service and file charges against him over the missing P450 million funds allocated for Las Piñas.
was established through the assistance of government intelligence sources which prompted the BI to dig deeper into his immigration records.
The BI said the photos, as well as the biometric information and data of Sy and Chen matched, thus confirming them to one and the same person. Sandoval said based on their review of Cheng’s records, he obtained a long-term visa through Republic Act 7919 or the Alien Social Integration Act of 1995, and was able to establish a business.
However, Sandoval said there was no proof to show that he went through the Philippine process for naturalization.
She added that the naturalization process would involve the Office of the Solicitor General and Congress. Joel R. San Juan
Filipino tourists warned vs bringing vape to Singapore
smoking,” he said.
Cullip said this Singapore policy tells people who smoke not to switch, but to keep smoking instead. “And given the sinister threats contained in the legislation, no one would risk using a vape in Singapore. Smokers who might otherwise switch to a safer option will be forced to stick with cigarettes, which can only cause more harm,” he said.
He said a global body of evidence suggests that restricting safer nicotine products hinders the reduction of smoking rates and encourages people to continue smoking.
By blocking a healthier alternative, he said, Singapore has created a “perverse situation” where the only certain outcome is an increase in disease and death.
Cullip said Singapore is also moving in the opposite direction of other countries. He noted that the US Food and Drug Administration has authorized several vaping products as “appropriate for the protection of public health.”
“In the UK and New Zealand, public health authorities actively promote switching to vaping as a safer alternative for smokers,” he said.
Cullip said a traveler from New Zealand,
They must also account for improvements in living standards, prevailing wages, employers’ capacity to pay, fair returns on capital, effects on employment and family income, and fair income distribution.
her experience as a victim of deepfake pornography.
Meanwhile, vlogger Queen Hera also told the panel that her child’s photo had been used in sexual abuse materials circulated online.
Paraiso stressed that the Philippines lacks clear legal provisions covering such content, unlike other jurisdictions where deepfake pornography is often considered “victimless” because of its artificial nature.
“The solution is to create a law…one that classifies it as mala prohibita [wrong because it is prohibited], whether you
where doctors and government health agencies endorse vapes, could land at Changi Airport and suddenly find themselves criminalized for doing exactly what their health system told them to do. Vapes have become “delivery devices” for drugs, Singapore claims, and its crackdown is necessary. But Cullip said the issue is one of enforcement, not health.
“Criminalizing all nicotine vapes is like banning kitchen knives because someone once used one in a crime,” he said. “It’s policy madness that punishes ordinary smokers who are simply trying to protect their own health, while doing nothing to solve the problem of illicit substances.” He said the warning for Filipinos could not be clearer. “Don’t bring a vape to Singapore. You risk punishment far worse than the so-called ‘crime’ of switching away from cigarettes. But the bigger tragedy is what this says about Singapore’s public health priorities. Instead of encouraging safer choices, it crushes them. Instead of reducing harm, it creates it. And instead of setting an example for Asia, it has become a cautionary tale of how prohibition breeds more harm, not less,” he said.
The 19th Congress has tried but failed to legislate a national wage increase, with the House approving a P200 across-the-board hike in June 2025 and the Senate passing a P100 hike in
manufacture, share, distribute, or possess videos containing artificially recreated pornographic materials,” he said. A proposal to address this gap is pending in Congress. House Bill 10567, or the “Deepfake Accountability and Transparency Act” filed in July 2024, seeks to impose disclosure requirements on individuals who use AI to create or distribute deepfakes online.
CICC, meanwhile, urged the public to report cybercrimes and online harms through its hotline, official website and social media pages, noting that a 24-hour feedback mechanism is in place. Globally, the threat continues to grow. A study by Security Hero on the “State of Deepfakes” found a 550 percent increase in deepfake videos since 2019.
Editor: Angel R. Calso
The World
Russia assaults Ukraine with over 800 drones and decoys, the largest such attack in the war
By Samya Kullab
The Associated Press
KYIV, Ukraine—Russia hit Ukraine’s capital with drone and missiles Sunday in the largest aerial attack on the country since the war began, killing at least two people and leaving smoke rising from the roof of a key government building.
Russia attacked Ukraine with 805 drones and decoys, officials said.
Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Force, confirmed to The Associated Press that Sunday’s attack was the largest Russian drone strike since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. Russia also launched 13 missiles of various types.
Ukraine shot down and neutralized 747 drones and 4 missiles, according to a statement from the Air Force. There were nine missile hits and 56 drone strikes in 37 locations across Ukraine. Debris from downed drones and missiles fell on eight locations.
Associated Press reporters saw a plume of smoke rising from the roof of Kyiv’s Cabinet of Ministers Building, but it was not immediately clear if the smoke was the result of a direct hit or debris, which would mark an escalation in Russia’s air campaign. Russia
has so far avoided targeting government buildings in the city center.
The building is the home of Ukraine’s Cabinet, housing the offices of its ministers. Police blocked access to the building as fire trucks and ambulances arrived.
Ukrainian officials said two people were killed and at least 17 injured in the attack.
“For the first time, the government building was damaged by an enemy
attack, including the roof and upper floors,” said Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. “We will restore the buildings, but lost lives cannot be returned.”
“The world must respond to this destruction not only with words, but with actions. There is a need to strengthen sanctions pressure — primarily against Russian oil and gas,” she said.
The two people killed were a moth -
Undersea cables cut in Red Sea, disrupting Internet access in Asia and Middle East
By Jon Gambrell The Associated Press
UBAI, United Arab Emir -
Dates—Undersea cable cuts in the Red Sea disrupted Internet access in parts of Asia and the Middle East, experts said Sunday, though it wasn’t immediately clear what caused the incident. There has been concern about the cables being targeted in a Red Sea campaign by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, which the rebels describe as an effort to pressure Israel to end its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But the Houthis have denied attacking the lines in the past.
Microsoft announced via a status website that the Mideast “may experience increased latency due to undersea fiber cuts in the Red Sea.” The Redmond, Washingtonbased firm did not immediately elaborate, though it said that Internet traffic not moving through
the Middle East “is not impacted.”
NetBlocks, which monitors Internet access, said “a series of subsea cable outages in the Red Sea has degraded Internet connectivity in multiple countries,” which it said included India and Pakistan. It blamed “failures affecting the SMW4 and IMEWE cable systems near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.”
The South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4 cable is run by Tata Communications, part of the Indian conglomerate. The India-Middle East-Western Europe cable is run by another consortium overseen by Alcatel-Lucent. Both firms did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Pakistan Telecommunications Co. Ltd., a telecommunication giant in that country, noted that the cuts had taken place in a statement on Saturday.
Saudi Arabia did not immediately acknowledge the disruption and au -
thorities there did not respond to a request for comment.
In the United Arab Emirates, home to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Internet users on the country’s state-owned Du and Etisalat networks complained of slower Internet speeds. The government did not immediately acknowledge the disruption.
Subsea cables can be cut by anchors dropped from ships, but can also be targeted in attacks.
The lines being cut comes as Yemen’s Houthi rebels remain locked in a series of attacks targeting Israel over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Israel has responded with airstrikes, including one that killed top leaders within the rebel movement.
In early 2024, Yemen’s internationally recognized government in exile alleged that the Houthis planned to attack undersea cables in the Red Sea. Several were cut, but the Houthis denied being responsible.
er and her 3-month-old child, whose bodies were dug out of the rubble by rescuers, said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s city administration. Initially Tkachenko said the child was 1 year old. At least 10 locations in Kyiv were damaged in the attack, he added.
Russian drones struck a nine-story residential building in Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi district and a four-story residential building in Darnytskyi district, according to Mayor Vitallii Klitschko. Tkachenko said these were direct hits.
Sunday’s attack is the second mass Russian drone and missile attack to target Kyiv in the span of two weeks, as hopes for peace talks wane.
The attack comes after European leaders pressed Russian leader Vladimir Putin to work to end the war after 26 of Ukraine’s allies pledged to deploy troops as a “reassurance force” for the war-torn country once the fighting ends.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is ready to meet Putin to negotiate a peace agreement, and has urged US President Donald Trump to put punishing sanctions on Russia to push it to end the war.
On Sunday morning, the Houthis’ alMasirah satellite news channel ack nowledged that the cuts had taken place, citing NetBlocks.
From November 2023 to December 2024, the Houthis targeted more than 100 ships with missiles and drones over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. In their campaign so far, the Houthis have sunk four vessels and killed at least eight mariners.
The Iranian-backed Houthis stopped their attacks during a brief ceasefire in the war. They later became the target of an intense weekslong campaign of airstrikes ordered by US President Donald Trump before he declared a ceasefire had been reached with the rebels. The Houthis sank two vessels in July, killing at least four on board with others believed to be held by the rebels.
The Houthis’ new attacks come as a new possible ceasefire in the IsraelHamas war remains in the balance. Meanwhile, the future of talks between the US and Iran over Tehran’s battered nuclear program is in question after Israel launched a 12-day war against the Islamic Republic in which the Americans bombed three Iranian atomic sites.
Police arrest over 400 at London protest supporting banned group Palestine Action
By Sylvia Hui & Jill Lawless The Associated Press
LONDON—British police scuffled with protesters outside Parliament on Saturday as they arrested more than 400 demonstrators who gathered to defy a ban on the group Palestine Action, which has been deemed a terrorist organization by the government.
Defend Our Juries, the campaign group organizing the protest, said 1,500 people took part in the London demonstration, sitting down and holding signs reading “I oppose genocide, support Palestine Action.” Within minutes, police began arresting the demonstrators, as bystanders chanted “Shame on you” and “Met Police, pick a side, justice or genocide.” There were some scuffles and angry exchanges as officers dragged away demonstrators who went limp as they were removed from the crowd.
Eight hours after the protest started, police said they had arrested more than 425 people, more than 25 of them for assaulting officers or public order offenses and the rest under the Terrorism Act.
“In carrying out their duties today, our officers have been punched, kicked, spat on and had objects thrown at them by protesters,” said Deputy Assistant Com -
missioner Claire Smart, who called the abuse directed at police “intolerable.”
Defend Our Juries said aggression had come from police officers and dismissed claims that protesters had been violent as “frankly laughable.” More than 700 people were arrested at earlier protests, and 138 have been charged under the Terrorism Act. Mike Higgins, 62, who is blind and uses a wheelchair, was arrested last month but returned to demonstrate on Saturday.
“And I’m a terrorist? That’s the joke of it,” he said. “I’ve already been arrested under the Terrorism Act and I suspect I will be today.
“Of course, I’ll keep coming back. What choice do I have?”
Direct action protests THE government proscribed Palestine Action in July after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and vandalized planes to protest against what they called Britain’s support for Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza. The activists sprayed red paint into the engines of two tanker planes and caused further damage with crowbars.
Proscription made it a crime to publicly support the organization. Membership of, or support for, the group is punishable
by up to 14 years in prison.
Palestine Action has carried out direct action protests in the UK since it formed in 2020, including breaking into facilities owned by Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems UK, and has targeted other sites in Britain that participants believe have links with the Israeli military.
The group has targeted defense companies and national infrastructure, and officials say their actions have caused millions of pounds in damage that affect national security.
Banning the group, then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said, “The assessments are very clear, this is not a nonviolent organization.”
Palestine Action has won approval from the High Court to challenge the ban, a ruling the government is seeking to overturn. The case is ongoing, with a hearing scheduled for Sept. 25.
Supporters say the ban stifles free speech
THE UN human rights chief has criticized the British government’s stance, saying the new law “misuses the gravity and impact of terrorism.”
The decision to designate Palestine Action as a terrorist group “raises serious concerns that counterterrorism laws are being applied to conduct that is not ter-
After largely ignoring suffering in Gaza, Israeli media start to report on Palestinian hardships
TBy Melanie Lidman The Associated Press
EL AVIV, Israel—The war in the Gaza Strip is starting to look different these days on the Israeli news.
For most of the past two years, television stations in Israel have paid little attention to suffering in Gaza, giving viewers a steady stream of stories about Israeli heroism, the agony of hostages’ families and the deaths of soldiers in combat.
But that is changing. In recent months, some Israeli stations have begun to share graphic images of malnourished children and a few deeply reported stories about the difficulties of daily life for Palestinians.
This subtle shift comes as Israel faces unprecedented global outrage over the ongoing war, and it reflects deep divisions over whether the military offensive should be halted, though the growing protests and the media coverage have had little effect on Israel’s policies.
“It’s not just truly caring about the situation in Gaza, but also from an Israeli perspective, are we acting correctly in a way that serves the aims of this war?” said Eran Amsalem, a communications professor at Israel’s Hebrew University.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has largely ignored a mass movement calling for an end to the war that is focused on returning the hostages. After the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas and two years of regional fighting, appeals on behalf of Palestinians have even less traction.
The shock of Oct. 7
THE first images from the war were of Hamas-led militants storming the border and marauding through Israeli army bases and farming communities. Footage out of Gaza showed people celebrating as hostages were paraded through the streets, bloodied and beaten.
rorist in nature, and risks hindering the legitimate exercise of fundamental freedoms across the UK,” Volker Türk warned.
He added that according to international standards, terrorist acts should be confined to crimes such as those intended to cause death or serious injury or the taking of hostages.
Huda Ammori, Palestine Action’s co-founder, has condemned the government’s decision to ban it as “catastrophic” for civil liberties, leading to a “much wider chilling effect on freedom of speech.”
The group has been supported by prominent cultural figures including bestselling Irish author Sally Rooney, who said she planned to use the proceeds of her work “to keep backing Palestine Action and direct action against genocide.”
Israel—founded in part as a refuge in the wake of the Holocaust, when some 6 million European Jews were murdered— vehemently denies it is committing genocide.
Britain’s government stressed that proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist group does not affect other lawful groups—including pro-Palestinian or pro-Israel voices—campaigning or peacefully protesting.
About 20,000 people, by a police estimate, attended a separate pro-Palestinian march in London on Saturday.
Around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed, and 251 taken hostage. Forty-eight remain in Gaza, around 20 of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefires or other deals.
It was the worst attack ever carried out on Israel’s home front and still dominates local newscasts. In the early months, Israelis rallied around the flag after what some referred to as their 9/11, while international media quickly shifted focus to the invasion of Gaza.
“During most of the war, the Israeli media really reported very little on the suffering in Gaza or the hunger or destruction,” said Raviv Drucker, a prominent Israeli news anchor. “If they did report it, it’s only from the Israeli perspective,” he explained, in terms of how effective it was in destroying Hamas.
Israel has barred international journalists from Gaza since the start of the war, outside of visits organized by the military. The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists says it’s the deadliest conflict for reporters the group has ever documented, with at least 189 Palestinian journalists killed by Israeli fire.
“It’s a strange war, because it’s the 21st century, and everyone has a phone to broadcast,” Drucker said. “But there’s no one on the ground, so
you can’t say, ‘There’s someone on the ground that I trust.’”
The perils of highlighting Gaza suffering SOME newscasters who have highlighted the humanitarian catastrophe have faced backlash.
Yonit Levi, a prominent news anchor known for her cool demeanor, made an uncharacteristic comment during a report in July about international media coverage of the famine.
“Maybe it’s time to understand that this is not a failure of public diplomacy, but a moral failure, and to start from there,” she said. Levi, who declined to speak to The Associated Press, was called a “Hamas spokesperson” by an analyst on the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14, and a right-wing activist accused her of “spitting in the face of Israeli soldiers.” Commentators from right-wing outlets, including Channel 14, regularly cheer the killing of Palestinians and the demolition of their homes, saying there are no innocent civilians in Gaza and that the military should act with even greater force. The offensive has killed over 64,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. Its figures are seen as reliable by UN agencies and many independent experts. Israel disputes the figures but has not provided its own.
Zvi Yehezkeli, an Arab affairs correspondent for Israel’s i24 TV, welcomed the killing of five journalists in an Israeli strike on a hospital last week, accusing them—without evidence—of working with Hamas to disseminate fake news harmful to Israel. “Better late than never,” he said. The Israeli military has said none of the journalists, including Mariam Dagga, who worked for the AP and other publications, were suspected militants, and it denies targeting them.
Signs of change STILL, the coverage has slightly shifted in recent weeks, with some longer stories about Palestinians appearing in major outlets.
Israeli journalists have given more airtime to the starvation crisis fueled in part by Israel’s 2 1/2 month ban on all humanitarian aid—including food and medicine—earlier this year. Mainstream TV news programs now feature a few interviews with Palestinians in Gaza, though digitally altered to preserve the safety of those who speak to Israeli media despite pressure from Hamas. But those stories are still far outweighed by a focus on domestic issues.
Nir Hasson and his colleagues at Israel’s left-leaning Haaretz newspaper have reported extensively on the Palestinians both before and during the war, in articles that are frequently critical of Israel’s conduct. But it’s an outlier in the current media landscape.
“After Oct. 7, there’s no doubt that something was broken, and it became completely illegitimate to deal with the pain of the other side,” Hasson said.
“But I think the Israeli public is more mature than the media gives them credit for,” he added. “I think the public has an ability to listen. I think the media is censoring itself too much.”
SMOKE rises from the Cabinet of Ministers Building after a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. AP PHOTO/EVGENIY MALOLETKA
Large-scale ICE raid targets Hyundai EV plant, detaining hundreds of South Korean nationals
By Hallie Golden
The Associated Press
HUNDREDS of federal agents descended on a sprawling site where Hyundai manufactures electric vehicles in Georgia and detained 475 people, most of them South Korean nationals.
This is the latest in a long line of workplace raids conducted as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda. But the one on Thursday is especially distinct because of its large size and the fact that it targeted a manufacturing site state officials have long called Georgia’s largest economic development project.
The detainment of South Korean nationals also sets it apart, as they are rarely caught up in immigration enforcement compared to other nationalities.
Video released by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Saturday showed a caravan of vehicles driving up to the site and then federal agents directing workers to line up outside. Some detainees were ordered to put their hands up against a bus as they were frisked and then shackled around their hands, ankles and waist. Others had plastic ties around their wrists as they boarded a Georgia inmate-transfer bus.
Here are some things to know about the raid and the people impacted: The workers detained
SOUTH Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Saturday that more than 300 South Koreans were among the 475 people detained.
Some of them worked for the battery plant operated by HL-GA Battery Co., a joint venture by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution that is slated to open next year, while others were employed by contractors and subcontractors at the construction site, according to Steven Schrank, the lead Georgia agent of Homeland Security Investigations.
He said that some of the detained workers had illegally crossed the US border, while others had entered the country legally but had expired visas or had entered on a visa waiver that prohibited them from working.
But an immigration attorney representing two of the detained workers said his clients arrived from South Korea under a visa waiver program that enables them to travel for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa.
Attorney Charles Kuck said one
of his clients has been in the US for a couple of weeks, while the other has been in the country for about 45 days, adding that they had been planning to return home soon.
The detainees also included a lawful permanent resident who was kept in custody for having a prior record involving firearm and drug offenses, since committing a crime of “moral turpitude” can put their status in jeopardy, Lindsay Williams, a public affairs officer for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Saturday.
Williams denied reports that US citizens had been detained at the site since “once citizens have identified themselves, we have no authority.”
Hyundai Motor Company said in a statement Friday that none of its employees had been detained as far as it knew and that it is reviewing its practices to make sure suppliers and subcontractors follow US employment laws. LG told The Associated Press that it couldn’t immediately confirm how many of its employees or Hyundai workers had been detained.
The South Korean government expressed “concern and regret” over the operation targeting its citizens and is sending diplomats to the site.
“The business activities of our investors and the rights of our nationals must not be unjustly infringed in the process of US law enforcement,” South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jaewoong said in a televised statement from Seoul.
Most of the people detained have been taken to an immigration detention center in Folkston, Georgia, near the Florida state line. None of them have been charged with any crimes yet, Schrank said, but the investigation is ongoing.
Family members and friends of the detainees were having a hard time locating them or figuring out how to get in touch with them, James Woo, communications director for the advocacy group Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, said Saturday in an e-mail.
Woo added that many of the families were in South Korea because many of the detainees were in the United States only for business purposes.
Raid is the result of a monthslong investigation
THE raid was the result of a monthslong investigation into allegations of illegal hiring at the site, Schrank said.
In a search warrant and related affidavits, agents sought everything from employment records for current and former workers and timecards to video and photos of workers.
Court records filed this week indicated that prosecutors do not know who hired what it called “hundreds of illegal aliens.” The identity of the “actual company or contractor hiring the illegal aliens is currently unknown,” the US Attorney’s Office wrote in a Thursday court filing.
The sprawling manufacturing site
THE raid targeted a manufacturing site widely considered one of Georgia’s largest and most high profile.
Hyundai Motor Group started manufacturing EVs at the $7.6 billion plant a year ago. Today, the site employs about 1,200 people in a largely rural area about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Savannah.
Agents specifically honed in on an adjacent plant that is still under construction at which Hyundai has partnered with LG Energy Solution
to produce batteries that power EVs.
The Hyundai site is in Bryan County, which saw its population increase by more than a quarter in the early 2020s and stood at almost 47,000 residents in 2023, the most recent year data is available. The county’s Asian population went from 1.5 percent in 2018 to 2.2 percent in 2023, and the growth was primarily among people of Indian descent, according to Census Bureau figures.
Raid was the ‘largest single site enforcement operation’
FROM farms and construction sites to restaurants and auto repair shops, there have been a wide array of workplace raids undertaken in this administration. But most have been smaller, including a raid the same day as the Georgia one in which federal officers took away dozens of workers from a snack-bar manufacturer in Cato, New York.
Other recent high-profile raids have included one in July targeting a legal marijuana farm northwest of Los Angeles. More than 360 people were arrested in one of the largest raids since Trump took office in January. Another one took place at an Omaha. Nebraska, meat production plant and involved dozens of workers being taken away.
Schrank described the one in Georgia as the “largest single site enforcement operation” in the agency’s twodecade history.
The majority of the people detained are Koreans. During the 12-month period that ended Sept. 30, 2024, only 46 Koreans were deported during out of more than 270,000 removals for all nationalities, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Community members and advocates have mixed reactions KEMP and other Georgia Republican officials, who had courted Hyundai and celebrated the EV plant’s opening, issued statements Friday saying all employers in the state were expected to follow the law.
The nonprofit legal advocacy organization Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta described the raid in a joint statement as “unacceptable.”
“Our communities know the workers targeted at Hyundai are everyday people who are trying to feed their families, build stronger communities, and work toward a better future,” the statement said.
AP reporter Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida contributed to this report.
‘God’s influencer’: Carlo Acutis becomes first millennial saint
By Nicole Winfield The Associated Press
VATICAN CITY—Pope Leo XIV was set to declare a 15-year-old computer whiz, Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint on Sunday, giving the next generation of Catholics a relatable role model who used technology to spread the faith and earn the nickname “God’s influencer.”
An open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square, the first saint-making ceremony of Leo’s pontificate, was expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people and was also set to canonize another popular Italian figure who died young, Pier Giorgio Frassati.
Both ceremonies were scheduled for earlier this year, but were postponed following Pope Francis’ death in April. Francis had fervently pushed the Acutis sainthood case forward, convinced that the church needed someone like him to attract young Catholics to the faith while addressing the promises and perils of the digital age.
Like Francis before him, Leo has expressed concern about the risks of technology, particularly artificial intelligence, and about online relationships replacing human ones.
Acutis was born on May 3, 1991, in London to a wealthy but not particularly observant Catholic family. They moved back to Milan soon after he was born and he enjoyed a typical, happy childhood, albeit marked by increasingly intense religious devotion.
Acutis was particularly interested in computer science and devoured college-level books on programming even as a youngster. He earned the nickname “God’s Influencer,” thanks to his main tech legacy: a multilingual website documenting so-called Eucharistic miracles recognized by the church, a project he completed at a time when the development of such
sites was the domain of professionals. Acutis was known to spend hours in prayer before the Eucharist each day. The Catholic hierarchy has been trying to promote the practice of Eucharistic adoration because, according to polls, most Catholics don’t believe Christ is physically present in the Eucharistic hosts.
In October 2006, at age 15, Acutis fell ill with what was quickly diagnosed as acute leukemia. Within days, he was dead. He was entombed in Assisi, which known for its association with another popular saint, St. Francis.
In the years since his death, young Catholics have flocked by the millions to Assisi, where they can see the young Acutis through a glass-sided tomb, dressed in jeans, Nike sneakers and a sweatshirt.
Acutis has proven enormously popular with young Catholics, who see in him a relatable, modern day role model.
“It’s like I can maybe not be as great as Carlo may be, but I can be looking after him and be like, ‘What would Carlo do?’” said Leo Kowalsky, an 8th grader at a Chicago school attached to the Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish.
Kowalsky said he was particularly excited that his own namesake — Pope Leo — would be canonizing the patron of his school. “It’s kind of all mashed up into one thing, so it is a joy to be a part of,” Kowalsky said in an interview last week.
Frassati, the other saint being canonized Sunday, lived from 19011925, when he died at age 24 of polio. He was born into a prominent Turin family but is known for his devotion to serving the poor and carrying out acts of charity while spreading his faith to his friends.
AP visual journalist Jessie Wardarski contributed from Chicago.
By María Teresa Hernández The Associated Press
YUNGAS, Bolivia—Tomas Zavala performs a ritual ahead of each workday in his coca field.
Deep in the lush green mountains of Bolivia’s Yungas region, the 69-year-old farmer closes his eyes, faces the soil, and asks Mother Earth for permission to harvest coca leaves.
“The coca leaf is the core of our survival,” Zavala said. “If we work the land without permission, it gets ruined.”
Outside Bolivia, the green leaf is best known as the main ingredient in cocaine. But within the South American country it is widely considered sacred, present in both rituals and everyday life.
“The coca leaf allows us to send our child ren to school and put food on the table,” said Zavala, who relies on harvesting coca leaves for income. “It’s useful for everything.”
The practice that fuels Bolivia’s workforce
BOLIVIA recognizes the coca leaf as part of its cultural heritage, allowing cultivation within designated areas. According to the country’s Coca Producers Association, its production employs more than 45,000 people nationwide.
Most Bolivians use coca leaves for “boleo,” a practice recognized as an intangible
cultural heritage since 2016. The word has no English translation. It means placing a compact wad of leaves inside the cheek.
Many refer to it as chewing, but the leaves are rarely treated like gum. Instead, people let them slowly release their active compounds. The alkaloids act as stimulants, though producers and government officials insist their effects remain mild—far from those of processed cocaine.
“It slows down our fatigue and takes away our hunger,” said Rudi Paxi, secretary of the producers association. “You’ll always watch the people from Yungas doing boleo as they head to work.”
Neri Argane, 60, works at a coca plantation in Yungas for 11 hours a day, six days per week. “We do this no matter the sun, the rain or the cold,” Argane said.
She eats bananas, rice and corn tortillas to keep up her strength. But only boleo enables her to endure long hours crouching in the fields, she says.
Families pass down coca fields like heirlooms BOLIVIA’S government has made several attempts to highlight how the coca leaf is intertwined with its people’s cultural traditions.
Even as coca’s global reputation remains linked to drug trafficking, President Luis Arce sought to highlight its cultural roots. Earlier this year, he performed a public
boleo to mark National Coca Chewing Day.
“Our government values the coca because it is a cultural symbol,” he said. “It represents our identity and sovereignty. It has medicinal and ritual values, and is a source of social cohesion.”
In the Yungas region, where Zavala lives about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the capital city of La Paz, the heritage of dozens of families is tied to these hardy leaves.
“I watched my parents working the land since I was 8,” he said. “Luckily, they entrusted it to me. So I could survive.”
Mónica López also inherited her parents’ coca fields in a neighboring town. “I have been a farmer for as long as I can remember,” she said.
Raising healthy coca leaves is demanding. All work is done by hand, without machinery or animals to help. Farmers prepare the soil by October, sow the land by December and harvest the crops around February.
Most fields are handled by family members. On any given day in Yungas, it’s common to spot children next to their mothers and grandparents while they clean the leaves.
“I’ve been in the coca fields since I was 2 and I can tell you this work is hard,” said 22-year-old Alejandra Escobar. “But the coca leaf brings us plenty of benefits. When we have no money, it’s what we consume.”
Bolivians from rural areas regularly drink coca leaf tea to heal headaches and stomach
inflammation. Elsewhere in the country, people use it for pancakes, ice cream and beer.
“The coca is everywhere,” Paxi said. “It unites us as families. It’s our company.”
Coca leaf nourishes both body and spirit THE coca leaf also plays a key role in Bolivians’ spirituality. “It’s used to start most of our rituals,” said anthropologist Milton Eyzaguirre. “Before you start a new job, for example, you set up a ‘mesa’ (or table) and coca leaves around.” In the worldview of the Aymara, the region’s Indigenous people, ‘mesas’ are offerings for Pachamama (Mother Earth). Built from wooden logs, they are arranged by spiritual leaders who pray for wealth, protection and good health.
“The coca leaf helps us see,” said Neyza Hurtado, who was hired by a family to perform a ritual ahead of the recent Pachamama month. “By deciphering a coca leaf, you can know how a person is.” Personal rituals with coca leaves are common. According to Eyzaguirre, bricklayers
“People
Imported fertilizers, coffee costlier in August
TBy Ada Pelonia @adapelonia
HE international prices of commodities that the Philippines buys or sells continued to rise in August, based on the World Bank’s latest report.
World Bank data showed that the average price of the arabica coffee variety jumped by 40.28 percent to $8.08 per kilo in the reference month from $5.76 per kilo last year.
Despite this, the international organization expects the price of arabica variety this year to settle at $8.50 per kilo, higher than its 2024 average price of $5.62 per kilo.
The average quotation for cocoa also went up by 10.47 percent to $7.60 per kilo last month from the previous year’s $6.88 per kilo. This was slightly higher than the average price of $7.33 per kilo recorded in 2024.
Fertilizers like DAP and urea, which are crucial farm inputs
FAO reflects on peace-driven development in BARMM
COTABATO City, Philippines—The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) marked its 80th anniversary in Cotabato City with a day of reflection, dialogue, and celebration alongside the Bangsamoro people, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) government and cooperatives from adjacent regions in Mindanao.
The event brought together parliamentarians, ministers, development partners, and community leaders to recognize past achievements and chart future pathways for sustainable and inclusive agrifood systems in BARMM.
Lionel Dabbadie, FAO Representative in the Philippines, highlighted that anniversaries are not only moments of celebration, but also moments of reflection.
“When FAO was created in 1945, famine, poverty, and conflict were scarring the world. Yet our founders, among them the young Filipino state, carried a profound hope: that peace and prosperity could be built on the foundations of food security. Eighty years later, we can see how far we have come, but also the challenges that remain,” he said.
The story of the Bangsamoro people mirrors both FAO’s successes and the new challenges ahead. Early work of FAO in the region focused on ensuring food security. Over the decades, conflict and disasters impacted the region. Through all this, FAO supported displaced families by rebuilding livelihoods, advancing agribusiness value chains, and empowering women and youth. FAO’s work in BARMM has long illustrated how agriculture can be a foundation for peace.
“BARMM is the best example of what peace-driven development can achieve, and this is what we wanted to highlight and reflect upon during the celebration of our 80th anniversary in Cotabato City,” added Dabbadie.
Through the support of many international partners including the Government of Australia, Belgium, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, the European Union, and others, FAO has conducted capacity building activities and provided necessary infrastructure to support development in the region.
“FAO’s presence in BARMM has not only supported our fisherfolk, it has helped rebuild lives, restore dignity and reimagine what is possible in communities long affected by conflict and poverty. FAO has been a steadfast partner in our journey towards food security, inclusive growth, and peace,” said Minister Abunawas Maslamama of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform of BARMM.
“Here in BARMM, a plow is more than a tool: it is a bridge between communities. A fishing net is more than a gear: it binds dignity and solidarity. Agriculture here is not only about food, it is about peace,” added Dabbadie. More gender-equitable BARMM
PARTICIPANTS representing government, parliament, civil society, and local partners shared their insights on the way forward for BARMM agriculture and fisheries. In addition, former FAO project beneficiaries who have since become independent rural entrepreneurs showcased and sold their products during the event, demonstrating how capacity building has fostered lasting economic opportunities and sustainable livelihoods across the Bangsamoro region and its neighboring provinces.
These discussions unfolded through three thematic sessions, each interwoven with traditional dance performances that featured the rich culture of the Bangsamoro People.
“We are very grateful for all of the support that you have extended on our agriculture and fisheries and of course in helping our cooperatives scale up from mere production to value adding,” said Member of the Parliament Attorney Suharto M Ambolodto, MNSA of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority. Ambolodto also underscored the emphasis on social protection for FAO projects in the region.
Through the sessions, participants reflected on the achievements and future aspirations in three priority areas: strengthening agriculture enterprises, empowering women and youth, and in ensuring farming heritage is incorporated in agricultural innovation.
Associations and cooperatives such as Bai the Best, Midsayap Cacao Producers Association (MIDCAPA), Tereken Aquaculture Producers Cooperative, Unlad Rice, Rural Improvement Club as well as representatives from T’Boli and Ubo indigenous groups from Lake Sebu, took turns in sharing their insights. Recurring themes in the discussion point to the importance of women leading initiatives in agriculture and fisheries, as their active role in their communities proved to be beneficial in ensuring food security and nutrition.
“Going overseas used to be our only hope, but with the project of FAO, we were empowered to earn for ourselves through the products we are selling,” said Salha Salik, who now leads a women’s cooperative in Shariff Saydona Mustapha. Salik graduated cum laude and is now ready to pursue a career in education alongside running her food enterprise.
This level of empowerment was also felt by Rosalia Oagdan, now President of MIDCAPA and part of the Indigenous Arumanen-Manuvu community of the nearby province of North Cotabato.
“Indigenous women are usually stereotyped as stay-at-home mothers and wives. Because of the training of FAO we were able to level up,” said Oagdan, recalling how FAO helped changed their mindset.
imported by the Philippines, were more expensive in the reference month.
The price of DAP went up by 45.62 percent to $795.1 per metric ton (MT) from $546 per MT, while urea climbed by 48.23 percent to $507.7 per MT from $342.5 per MT last year.
World Bank figures indicated that the average quotation for coconut oil, the country’s top farm export, surged by 75.73 percent to yet another all-time high of $2,845 per MT in August from $1,619 per MT a year ago.
The international organization expects the average quotation for coconut to settle at $1,800 per MT this year due to the sustained rally of the tropical oil, which is higher than the average price of $1,519 per MT recorded last year.
Of the metal prices, aluminum posted a 10.79-percent increase to $2,597 per MT in August from last year’s $2,344 per MT.
Copper and tin quotations also posted an uptick during the reference period to $9,670 per MT from $8,972 per MT and $33,834 per MT
from $31,492 per MT, respectively.
Meanwhile, international quotations for several commodities, including rice, declined in August.
For one, the price of 5 percent broken rice variety plunged by 36.33 percent to $375 per MT from
$589 per MT last year.
Industry groups cited leading rice exporter India’s bumper crop and growing stockpile for the decline in global prices of the staple grain.
The quotations for coffee’s cheaper counterpart, the robusta variety, also fell slightly to $4.39 per kilo from $4.73 per kilo in the previous year.
Global prices of soybean meal, a crucial ingredient in animal feeds due to its high protein content, also dropped by 18.81 percent to $354 per MT in the reference month from $436 per MT last year.
Among the metals, nickel quotations maintained its slide in the reference month as it dropped by 8.24 percent to $14,949 per MT from $16,292 per MT a year ago.
DA tweaking rules for accessing competitiveness fund
THE proposed budget for a measure aimed at cushioning the impact of increased imports on domestic industries for 2026 declined as previous policy hindered disbursement, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. confirmed to the BusinessMirror that the DA had yet to use the fund earmarked for the competitiveness enhancement measures fund (CEMF) in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
Because of this, the DA chief said the agency did not request an additional budget for CEMF for next year.
Under the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the CEMF was allocated only P25 million, or a tenth of the P250 million allotted in the previous NEP. In the 2025 GAA, the fund is at
P1.25 billion.
“The previous policy on how to avail of [CEMF] was complicated, and the amounts were small. So, we’re fixing it to make the policy simple and easier for [farmers] to apply,” he told this newspaper.
The CEMF is established under Republic Act 8800 or the Safeguards Measures Act to boost the competitiveness of domestic industries injured by increased imports through agricultural and fisheries programs.
Under RA 8800, 50 percent of revenues collected from fees, charges, and safeguard duties on imported goods would be earmarked for this fund.
The special safeguard (SSG) duty is a trade mechanism that a country can impose on imported products that fall below a trigger price.
Additional duties computed based on the difference between
the value of the imported product and the trigger price are slapped on a commodity to protect domestic output against unfair competition.
The DA chief said the agency will release the revised rules on CEMF by the end of September.
Agriculture Undersecretary Cheryl Marie Natividad-Caballero said the fund is also crucial for the high-value crops development program, which she said has “the least allocation” among the national programs despite its importance.
Budget documents stipulated that the CEMF should bankroll projects, including the development and accreditation of nurseries for plants and the establishment of postharvest facilities.
It should also be tapped for organizing farmers into cooperatives and associations, especially those engaged in coffee farming, and the distribution of site-specific planting
varieties, among others.
“Starting point is to support massive establishment of seedlings production areas through the gulayan sa bayan and community-based nurseries to provide available, accessible, and quality planting materials to farmers or growers and plantation developers,” Caballero told the BusinessMirror.
She said this will align production catch-up with increasing demand, including non-traditional crops such as ube, turmeric, moringa over and above coffee, cacao, pineapples, and bananas.
“Second is to establish FDAcompliant processing facilities at the community level to provide value-adding and give farmers’ higher income from converting their fresh produce to semi-processed product through tolling services in shared service facilities.”
Ada Pelonia
‘Credit-worthy farmers will revitalize PHL agri sector’
TBy Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
HERE is an urgent need to institutionalize reforms to make farmers more creditworthy—an indispensable move in revitalizing the country’s agriculture sector and ensuring food security, according to the chief of the Senate agriculture committee.
Speaking at the open forum at the Harvard Kennedy School alumni meeting last September 5, Senator Francis Pangilinan lamented that while there is credit available, the problem lies with the credit-worthiness of the farmers or borrowers.
To do this, farmers have to organize themselves as cooperatives, he said, lamenting that only 10 percent of the 26 percent of
Filipino farmers’ cooperatives are financially viable.
“So, we need to organize, strengthen our extension service, and get our farmers capacitated, so that they become credit-worthy, so that they get economies of scale, so that they can do bulk buying and the like.”
Neighboring Thailand and Taiwan, the senator said, have most of their farmers in cooperatives, allowing them to buy in bulk and purchase their own equipment and facility for post-harvest.
In the Philippines, the senator—who heads the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform—believes that farmers need about three to five years of “hand-holding” interventions.
“The norm in the country is
still subsistence farming. So, you need three to five years to bring them from subsistence farming into farm enterprise management. That’s what we need to do.”
He cited, as an example of an empowered farmers’ cooperative, the case of the Kalasag Farmers Cooperative, which partnered with Jollibee Foundation to supply the country’s top fastfood chain with onions and other crops.
In seven years, he said the cooperative was able to grow their deliveries tenfold—from 50 tons sold initially to Jollibee in 2008, it increased to 500 tons in 2015.
“When the microfinance groups found out that Jollibee was buying onions from them, they said ‘that’s Jollibee.’ Then, they’re now creditworthy,” the senator said. “Then, they’re willing to lend to them.”
This access to credit enabled the Kalasag Farmers Cooperative to fund a cold storage facility in San Fernando, Pampanga, where they store their crops during postharvest, reducing instances of postharvest loss which is far too common in agricultural production. Pangilinan has filed two separate bills aimed at capacitating farmers: Senate Bill No. 1182, or the Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Act of 2025, to renationalize the Department of Agriculture’s extension services; and Senate Bill No. 1183, or the Act Ensuring the Development, Promotion, and Protection of Agricultural Cooperatives, which will create the Bureau of Agricultural Cooperatives to provide funding and boost the productivity of cooperatives.
Cargill halts cocoa processing in Ivory Coast over bean quality
CARGILL Inc. has halted cocoa grinding in Ivory Coast as poor-quality beans with unusually high levels of waste material curb yields and risk damaging machinery, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The pause, which started a month ago, is the first such move by the US company outside of routine maintenance, the people said, asking not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak on the matter.
The company declined to comment.
Bad weather has affected the quality of beans being harvested in the world’s top grower this mid-crop season, which the country reserves
for local processing into products like cocoa butter, key to producing chocolate.
Cargill’s rare decision to stop grindings is likely to add to the pressure in an already tight global market.
The mid-crop, the smaller of the country’s two crop cycles, usually produces tinier beans compared with the main-crop season. However, this year the beans are unusually small and the consignments aren’t well-dried. They also contain foreign matter like twigs as farmers rush to clear out stock before the next main-crop season starts on October 1.
There are also concerns about the size of West Africa’s next harvest. Despite better weather than in previous seasons, structural problems—such as aging trees and crop diseases—may continue to limit output and keep prices high.
Cargill’s plant in the West African nation can annually process about 160,000 tons of beans into liquor, butter, cake and cocoa powder for domestic use and exports. The company plans to resume grinding when the new crop season starts, the people said.
The company decided to halt processing because clients abroad demand the same product quality as during the main-crop, the people said, adding that the only way to achieve that currently was by adding extra butter. That would mean additional costs at a time when yields from processing are already low, the people said.
Raw sugar prices RAW sugar futures hit the lowest level in more than two months as investors bet there will be abundant supplies from top shipper Brazil. The most-active contract fell as much as 1.1 percent on Friday, to the lowest since July 3. Futures are heading for a second straight weekly drop. Bloomberg News
ROASTED coffee beans CHRIS RATCLIFFE/BLOOMBERG
Corruption in public works: 30 groups call for investigation and prosecution
IN a powerful united front, 30 business and civil society groups have articulated a pressing concern: the pervasive and insidious nature of corruption in government public works projects. Their joint statement not only condemns corrupt practices but also acts as an urgent call for accountability and justice. As the nation grapples with the ongoing implications of corruption, it becomes increasingly vital to prioritize transparency, integrity, and the rule of law. (Read the BusinessMirror story—“30 business, civic groups to government: Punish the corrupt,” September 5, 2025)
The groups have rightly noted the disconnect between the government’s rhetoric and the reality on the ground. While President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has publicly admonished corrupt officials, the fear remains that many will escape accountability, continuing to enrich themselves at the expense of the Filipino people. Their actions are not just unethical; they betray the public trust and undermine the very foundations of democracy.
The six-point action plan proposed by these organizations provides a roadmap for meaningful reform. Key among these recommendations is the proposal to “blacklist” notorious businessmen and contractors who collude with corrupt politicians. This step is crucial, as it targets the root of the problem: a symbiotic relationship between corrupt officials and unscrupulous private sector actors. By severing these ties, the groups aim to disrupt the cycle of graft that has plagued governance for far too long.
Moreover, the call for thorough investigations by an independent body underscores the need for impartiality in the fight against corruption. This independence is essential to ensure that justice is not only done but also seen to be done. The groups’ insistence on gathering evidence against corrupt officials, specifically within the Department of Public Works and Highways and local government units, highlights the importance of a systematic approach to accountability.
The Integrity Pledge initiative is another commendable step towards fostering a culture of ethical business practices. By encouraging business leaders to commit publicly to refraining from bribery, the groups are promoting a shift in mindset that is desperately needed in a landscape often marred by unethical behavior. This proactive stance can serve as a deterrent to potential wrongdoers and inspire a new generation of leaders committed to integrity.
Additionally, the emphasis on financial institutions to collaborate in uncovering money laundering and unexplained wealth is a critical aspect of the action plan. The role of banks and regulatory bodies in this fight cannot be overstated; they are key players in the integrity of the financial system and must be engaged in rooting out corruption.
Citizen and voter education campaigns are also essential. Empowering the public with knowledge about the “evils of corruption” is vital in fostering an informed electorate capable of making discerning choices at the ballot box. This grassroots approach ensures that the fight against corruption is not merely top-down but involves active participation from all sectors of society.
The collective outrage expressed by these 30 groups is not just a reflection of their discontent but a potent reminder of the urgent need for change. Corruption is a disease that undermines economic growth, social stability, and public trust. At this pivotal moment for the country, the urgent demand for a full investigation and prosecution of corrupt officials cannot be ignored. The moment to act is now; the people deserve justice, accountability, and a government that genuinely represents their interests.
Opinion BusinessMirror
Sparking hope on National Literacy Day
IRISING SUN
NTERNATIONAL Literacy Day began as a collective vision— UNESCO established the celebration in 1966 and first observed it in 1967—to bring the transformative power of reading and writing to every community worldwide.
In the Philippines, this global movement found a local anchor in Proclamation No. 1886, signed in 1979, declaring September 8 as National Literacy Day. The proclamation affirms that literacy is not only a personal milestone but a cornerstone of national economic, social, and cultural development.
Today, the country’s basic literacy rate sits around 93 percent, yet a stricter measure—functional literacy, which demands true comprehension and practical application—shows the rate closer to 70 percent. That means nearly three out of 10 Filipinos struggle to unlock the
deeper value of reading: understanding ideas, solving problems, and participating fully and confidently in civic life.
The pandemic magnified these challenges. As classrooms closed and learning shifted online, gaps widened—particularly for children in rural barangays and densely populated urban neighborhoods. Recent National Achievement Test results confirm what many teachers and parents have suspected: too many young Filipinos cannot read and understand grade-level material. These children are not just statistics—they are future workers, voters, and com-
munity leaders whose full potential remains just beyond reach.
On National Literacy Day and the entire week it covers, classrooms and communities across the nation come alive with book parades, reading challenges, poster and slogan contests, and storytelling marathons. In cities like Sta. Rosa, Laguna, public officials hand out books and read aloud to crowds of eager students.
Organizations such as the Reading Association of the Philippines and publishers like Adarna House donate reading materials and host workshops, while local government units partner with educators to ensure that programming touches even the most remote schools.
New energies focus on digital literacy. As more lessons move to screens and devices, teachers, private organizations, and advocacy groups press for greater access to reliable Internet and technology. But what will it take for the Philippines to close the gap and build a truly literate nation?
First, the country must target its efforts—bringing books, reading materials, and trained literacy coaches into underserved communities. Mobile libraries and culturally
diverse resources can help ensure that indigenous groups and linguistic minorities are included. Professional development for teachers remains vital; frontline educators need tools and support to foster not just basic, but truly functional literacy. Families and local communities are essential partners. When parents participate—reading at home, modeling a love for stories, or joining community-based reading clubs —children encounter literacy not as an academic hurdle but as a daily joy. Technology, too, must be embraced wisely: digital learning platforms and AI-powered reading apps offer new promise but only if connectivity and resources reach every corner of the country.
Finally, progress depends on compassion and endurance—on refusing to settle for numbers and instead crafting meaningful stories of change. International Literacy Day is more than a date on a calendar; it’s a shared invitation, a reminder that possibility blooms wherever reading is rooted. When every Filipino child can grasp the words that shape a dream, the entire nation draws closer to the future it deserves.
A straight path: Vince Dizon’s mission to restore integrity at DPWH
THERE is a sense of nationhood one finds in the way former DOTr Secretary Vince Dizon carried out his duties. It is no wonder, then, that he has now been called once again—this time to lead the Department of Public Works and Highways, the very agency that has drawn national outrage for being riddled with corruption.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself lifted the lid on ghost floodcontrol projects, certified “complete” yet never built, with billions siphoned into private pockets. Against this backdrop, Dizon’s appointment is more than a reshuffling. It is a test of will at a crucial moment in our history, where phantom infrastructures have drained not just the coffers but also the people’s trust.
www.businessmirror.com.ph
Dizon steps into DPWH with the reputation of a troubleshooter. Barely a month before his new assignment, he resolved the right-of-way impasse that had stalled the Ortigas station of the Metro Manila Subway Project. In partnership with Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto, he hammered out a win-win formula that unlocked construction after years of delay.
This decisive streak marked his stint as DOTr secretary. His was a leadership that wasted no time. He
pushed cashless payments across transport systems, doubled train capacities with China-made Dalian coaches, and suspended the controversial PUV modernization program for review. He cut rail fares for students, seniors, and PWDs. He abolished the antiquated luggage weight limit on Metro trains. Even the reckless racing of sports cars on public roads drew his swift intervention.
At the height of typhoon relief operations, Dizon could be found not behind a desk but at the command center, sleeves rolled up, asking hard questions about logistics and making sure aid got to those who needed it most. His presence gave urgency; his decisions gave direction.
It is this pattern of clear-eyed, action-oriented leadership that the President now wants to harness
against the entrenched culture of corruption in DPWH. Mission number one: clean house. Dizon wasted no time. He demanded the resignation of ranking DPWH officials and froze the practice of internal “selfinvestigations” that never produced accountability. His blunt response— “Hindi ito katanggap-tanggap” —was not rhetoric but resolve.
It was a rare moment of visible anger from a man known for being economical with words. But it was also a signal: that this time, the rules have changed. Contractors and district engineers who fattened themselves on phantom projects will no longer be tolerated.
The appointment has lit a spark of hope, fragile but real. For too long, DPWH has been mocked as a playground of scalawags, where roads led nowhere and flood projects existed only on paper. Ordinary Filipinos have seen the mansions, the SUVs, the ostentatious wealth built from stolen public funds.
Now, with Dizon at the helm, there is at least the possibility of reversal. He is no miracle worker, but his record suggests a man unwilling to be paralyzed by the scale of rot. His leadership is not about eloquence but about action. And that, in this time of cynicism, is perhaps what we need most.
To call him an archangel wielding the sword of good against the devil’s machinery may sound like exaggeration, but symbolism matters. In a bureaucracy where corrup -
tion has been normalized, Dizon’s presence offers both deterrence and inspiration. His example reminds us that public service, when stripped of excuses, can be swift, direct, and effective. The fight at DPWH will not be won overnight. Ghost projects will not vanish with a single executive order. But the template Dizon brings —transparency, accountability, urgency—could set a precedent for how other agencies should be run. Dizon’s path is straight: confront corruption, demand results, restore trust. His appointment is not just about fixing DPWH. It is about proving that the government can still serve the people honestly. The challenge is immense, the enemies entrenched. But if there is anyone in today’s leadership bench with the blend of grit, decisiveness, and focus to take the bull by its horns, it is Dizon. And so, what began as a reflection on nationhood comes full circle. Vince Dizon’s appointment is not only an answer to corruption at DPWH but also a test of our collective character as a people. Nationhood is not abstract; it is built, block by block, project by project, on trust restored and promises kept. If Dizon’s straight path holds, then perhaps the structures he erects will not only be of steel and concrete, but of something more enduring—a renewed faith that this nation, scarred by ghosts of betrayal, can still rise with builders who put the country above themselves.
Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua
Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II
LITO GAGNI
Turning a deluge of investigations into a stream of justice
TFlight is an evidence of guilt
Joel L. Tan-Torres
DEBIT CREDIT
Part one
HE ongoing flood control controversies and anomalies now occupy center stage in governance discussions, highlighting not only project irregularities but also tax leakages, weak oversight, and the need for coordinated accountability. What makes this scandal unique is not just the irregularities themselves but the heightened awareness and publicity these elicited. Public attention has been focused on the various stories surrounding the blatant and glaring misdeeds that will not taper down and continue for the months to come.
I temporarily veer from my ongoing series of “Plugging the Tax Leaks in Public Works Flood Control Leaks” and discuss, in the next few columns, the deluge of government investigations on this flood control mess.
There is an extraordinary number of government investigators now swarming over the issue. This great number of investigative agencies creates both an opportunity and a danger: an opportunity to finally unearth systemic corruption, and a danger of diffused responsibility, overlapping efforts, politicization, and wasted efforts not leading to the desired results of penalizing all the guilty parties.
At the center of this unfolding saga is the Office of the President. Malacañang’s directives and budget priorities have long shaped which infrastructure projects are funded. In this case, the Palace not only instigated the spotlight on flood control projects but also set in motion the barrage of probes now undertaken by the various agencies.
This Malacañang instigation and intervention sends a message that corruption will not be tolerated. However, it also raises concerns about coordination and independence. When investigations are triggered from the top, the risk is that they may serve political ends rather than systemic reform. For accountability to be credible, Malacañang must provide support without micro-managing or politicizing the outcomes. It should leave the indepth investigations to government agencies, which should then ensure that meaningful results are attained rather than a barrage of publicity and hollow headlines.
The cast of possible culprits is wide. The various investigators should be able to pursue within their ambit of responsibility the probes into the government and private parties involved in this flood control mess over the past years. These offenders are the following:
n Contractors, their officers, and beneficial owners who have committed various public works anomalies, underreported taxes, submitted fake invoices, or used dummy firms.
n Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials who plan, bid out, and implement the “ghost” or low-quality projects.
n Members of Congress who push for budget insertions in their favored districts often go beyond technical priorities.
n Local government unit officials (LGUs) who are involved in the irregular issuance of permits, monitoring, acceptance, and right-of-way clearances.
n Accreditation government agencies, such as the Philippine Construction Accreditation Board and the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS), which may have issued clearances and accreditation approvals for erring contractors and suppliers of procured services.
n Commission on Audit (COA) auditors who sign off on documents yet miss or ignore red flags of projects that have been audited.
This Malacañang instigation and intervention sends a message that corruption will not be tolerated. However, it also raises concerns about coordination and independence. When investigations are triggered from the top, the risk is that they may serve political ends rather than systemic reform. For accountability to be credible, Malacañang must provide support without micro-managing or politicizing the outcomes. It should leave the in-depth investigations to government agencies, which should then ensure that meaningful results are attained rather than a barrage of publicity and hollow headlines.
n Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) examiners who gave tax audit clearances despite disparities in the tax declarations of contractors who have been investigated.
n Engineers and technical professionals who certify substandard work or connive with contractors.
n Auditors and accountants who dress up contractor books to conceal anomalies and issue clean audit opinions.
n Members of the family of the contractors, some of whom openly display extravagant lifestyles on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or blogs—posting luxury trips, designer goods, and expensive parties. While flaunting wealth online is not a crime in itself, it may demonstrate disproportionate affluence compared to declared income, strengthening the government’s case for tax deficiencies or unexplained wealth under the Anti-Graft Law.
The wheels of justice have begun to turn, and it is now imperative that the multitude of investigators—from Congress to the Ombudsman and the various agencies of the Executive branch—move beyond headlines and hearings toward real accountability. Each agency must seize this momentum, coordinate its efforts, and act with urgency so that the flood of inquiries becomes a focused stream of justice. The Filipino people deserve not another drawn-out spectacle but concrete results—swift sanctions for the guilty, recovery of public funds, rehabilitation of the “ghost” and damaged infrastructure, and institutional reforms that will finally plug the leakages in our flood control and public works projects.
To be continued
Joel L. Tan-Torres was a former Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. He has also held various positions, including Dean of the University of the Philippines School of Business, Chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy, Tax partner of Reyes Tacandong & Co., and SyCip Gorres and Velayo & Co., and director of various corporate boards. He is a
JURISPRUDENCE
Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.
THE PATRIOT
has long established that the flight of an accused can lead to an inference of guilt “for a truly innocent person would normally grasp the first available opportunity to defend himself and to assert his innocence.” Why escape when there is nothing to escape from? This is the logic behind this rationale. Even resignation can serve as a way out, allowing a person to avoid further responsibility or liability.
Sadly, in the Philippine setting, the long arm of the law is not long enough to prevent persons liable for certain offenses from fleeing the country. Of course, the Constitution guarantees the right to travel “except in the interest of national security, public safety, or public health, as may be provided by law.” (Article III, Section 6. 1987 Constitution). Prior to the Aquino administration in 2010, the Department of Justice (DOJ) had the authority to issue Watchlist Orders (WLO), which theoretically had the same effect as Hold Departure Orders (HDO) duly issued by the courts, upon proper application of the prosecution.
Since such authority was challenged, former Secretary Justice Leila de Lima came up with an ingenious alternative known as the ILBO or the Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order, which had the same intent as the HDO or WLO but had different application in practice.
Immigration officers at ports of exit are neither empowered nor authorized to prevent the travel of persons subject of an ILBO but are instructed to simply be on a “lookout” and report to the DOJ those who are exiting the country for whatever reason.
What seems alarming though is the fact that it took days before the DOJ issued these ILBO against some of the personalities involved in the ghost flood control projects exposed by no less than the Presi-
dent. It even took the new secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Vince Dizon to “request” the DOJ for the issuance of these ILBO when it could have been issued by the DOJ on its own inasmuch as the exposé and/or the investigative hearings that came after it were made public. After all, basic investigative tools include the monitoring of the possible suspects to the crime. Hence, before they can be prosecuted or charged with any criminal offenses, some of those implicated in the flood control anomalies have left the country for some questionable reasons, as in the case of Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co, who is the alleged co-author of the many budget insertions in the National Budget in his capacity as former Chairman of the Appropriations Committee.
Co was reported to have developed a “heart condition” that requires medical intervention abroad, just as speculation is building up that he may be summoned by an investigating body. Co’s blood pressure reportedly requires medical tests in the United States. Such an act may be taken as an evidence of guilt in the court of law, if ever cases against people behind this legislated corruption in the form of unauthorized budget insertions reach the courts.
Some Filipino lawyers like me remain hopeful that there will be prosecution but not optimistic when it comes to any imprisonment
Sadly, in the Philippine setting, the long arm of the law is not long enough to prevent persons liable for certain offenses from fleeing the country. Of course, the Constitution guarantees the right to travel “except in the interest of national security, public safety, or public health, as may be provided by law.”
given the track record of some supposed plunderers in the country who remain free until this day. Back to Rep. Zaldy Co, whose participation in the 2025 National Budget has come into focus because of the uproar over flood-control projects. Critics want him to explain as well how Sunwest Inc., the conglomerate he recently founded with his brother Christopher, secured 79 government flood control projects worth more than P10 billion. I will not be surprised if there are more personalities who fled the country out of fear of any incriminating investigation or eventual prosecution.
Justice in this country can be elusive, typical of developing countries whose prosecutorial and judicial processes are challenged and sometimes affected by outside influences by those with power and money. Whether truth or perception, those who follow the law find it unfair if those who do not follow it get some special treatment.
I know of some Filipino pessimists who have also tried to flee our country, not to evade justice but to find a home where justice can be better served. The rising number of golden visa applicants of late and the gradual increase of dual citizenship applications are indicative of this hopelessness.
While justice coming from the law of the land can be denied outright due to these earthly manipulations, believers should be comforted that justice from the law of the Lord can never be evaded.
Confronting corruption: A call to conscience for the Philippines’ future
By Henry Go
CORRUPTION is the enemy. Conscience is the cure : Every bribe, every vote sold, every act of plunder fuels the cancer. Only conscience can stop it—before it destroys us all.
More than a century ago, our National Hero, Dr. José Rizal, warned of “a cancer so wicked that the mere touch sets it inflamed and burning.”
He spoke of a society eaten from within, sickened not just by foreign rule but by its own internal decay. Today, that cancer has a name: corruption. And it is destroying the Philippines from the inside out.
Corruption is not just about stolen money. It is about stolen lives. Every peso stolen by corruption takes away people’s dignity, weakens their hope, and closes doors of opportunity. It traps the poor in poverty, makes the rich even richer, and weakens our bond as one people under one country. It breaks trust, bends justice, and slows down progress. Corruption does not only damage government— it damages our future. This cancer touches almost every Filipino family. It forces parents to leave their children just to work abroad, because opportunities at home are stolen. It drives away our most talented/skilled sons and daughters, because dishonesty is rewarded more than hard work. In the end, it robs our beloved country of its brightest minds and its deepest hope. But here is the harshest truth: we let it happen. Too many admire the corrupt because they are rich. Too many envy their power. Too many vote them back into office, again and again, despite the scandals and the theft. We glorify the very thieves
who rob us blind—and in doing so, we allow the cancer to spread.
This is not only the fault of politicians. The culture of corruption has poisoned us all.
n Some citizens sell their votes for cash or favors, forgetting that what they trade away is their children’s future.
n Some business leaders pay bribes to “move faster,” instead of demanding fair and transparent systems.
n Some Church leaders stay silent when they should speak, turning the pulpit into comfort instead of conscience.
n Some of our youth learn early that cheating is easier than working hard, and that dishonesty is a ticket to success.
If we do nothing, this cancer will only grow.
That is why the fight against corruption must begin now—and it must begin with us. This is not just the duty of government. It is the duty of every Filipino who dreams of a progressive country.
n Citizens: Stop selling votes. Stop excusing theft because “everyone does it.” Demand honesty, even when it is costly. Refuse to admire the corrupt. Refuse to be their accomplices.
n The Church: Speak truth from the pulpit. Do not stay silent for fear of offending donors or politicians. Remind leaders and faithful alike
Corruption is not just about stolen money. It is about stolen lives. Every peso stolen by corruption takes away people’s dignity, weakens their hope, and closes doors of opportunity. It traps the poor in poverty, makes the rich even richer, and weakens our bond as one people under one country. It breaks trust, bends justice, and slows down progress. Corruption does not only damage government—it damages our future.
that corruption is sin, plain and simple. A society that tolerates theft will never be righteous before God.
n Business: Say no to bribes. Build wealth with integrity. Prove that the Filipino entrepreneur can succeed without cheating. Choose nation over profit, because a corrupted system may enrich a few but it destroys the ground on which all businesses stand.
n The Youth: Refuse to inherit this culture. Do not accept “ganyan talaga” as your fate. Lead with courage. Embrace honesty over shortcuts, and merit over dishonesty. If corruption has been the legacy of the past, make integrity the banner of your generation and for generations to come. This struggle will not be simple and easy. The cancer runs deep. It is nourished by habits, by excuses, by generations of submission. But corruption is not our fate. It is a choice —a choice we make every time we vote, every time we make a deal, every time we remain silent in the face of wrongdoings.
Echoing what DOJ Secretary Remulla said, this hysteria can lead to chaos, something this country does not need at this point. As much as those escape artists might like to think that they can escape the notso-long arm of the law, believers should be comforted that nothing can be hidden from our Almighty God. The justice due to anyone and everyone does not escape the law of the Lord.
Siegfred has a diversified set of education and experiences which has made him a game changer and a servant leader in organizations such as the Philippine Army, Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Malcolm Law Offices, a US based software development company called Infogix Inc, University of the East, Bureau of Immigration, Philippine Airlines, SM Prime Holdings, Franklin Baker Company of the Philippines, and SONAK Corporation. His professional degrees came from the United States Military Academy at West Point in New York, Ateneo Law School, and University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA. Siegfred is a former soldier and a lawyer by profession, an educator and inspirational speaker by passion, and a book author, writer, and radio broadcaster with a mission.
Believers understand that “The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.” ( Proverbs 15:3). In Biblical history, Hagar fled since Sarai (then Sarah) began mistreating Hagar for bearing a child (eventually named Ishmael) with Sarah’s husband Abram (then Abraham). Yet, Hagar was found by God, right there in her hurt and in her need. Believers who think that they are abandoned and neglected should find comfort that God’s eyes observe every action, whether good or bad. He is aware of the oppression of people and the hidden aspects of all deeds, especially the bad ones. Unlike courts of justice in the law of the land, God serves as the ultimate judge who will bring every work into His perfect judgment, with no room for outside influences. There is no need for some violent reactions from believers, such as barging through people’s houses, although some angry protesters have done so and will continue to do so unless they see something substantial movement in terms of prosecuting the people behind these substandard and ghost projects.
Rizal’s warning was not poetry. It was prophecy. He saw the danger of a people numbed into acceptance, where corruption was tolerated until it devoured the nation. And now, more than a century later, it is our burden to answer that prophecy. The Philippines cannot flourish with corruption pulling it down. No investment, no infrastructure project, no slogan, no promise will save us if corruption remains. The solution isn’t in one law, or one person, or one election. The solution is in us—our strength, our solidarity, and our refusal to honor the corrupt anymore. To the Filipino people: this is our conscience wake up call. We should not wait for a white knight to save us from corruption while it systematically destroys our country. We cannot build a country of justice while tolerating injustice. We cannot hope for prosperity while rewarding plunderers. The time has come to break the cycle. To say, “Enough.” To demand honesty from leaders, and to practice it ourselves. To refuse to sell our votes. To refuse to pay the bribe. To refuse to stay silent. Together, we rise—or together, we fall to corruption. This article does not list acts of corruption—there are simply too many, and many more remain hidden. Instead, it seeks to awaken our patriotism, to remind us of our duty to fight corruption, or at the very least to lessen it. Let conscience speak. Have mercy on your people. Have the decency to feel shame. The answer will decide not just the fate of this generation, but of every Filipino child yet unborn. Rizal gave us the warning. History has given us the lesson. Now, the duty is ours.
Monday, September 8, 2025
Backing fight vs illegal fishing a key plank of US aid to PHL
By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
ASHINGTON is boost-
Wing Manila’s efforts to overhaul the Philippine food policy and veer away from its reliance on tariffs in stabilizing domestic prices by fortifying its defenses against illegal fishing, according to an official of the United States government.
In a recent briefing, Jonathan Fritz, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said the fight against illegal fishing is one of the priorities of Washington’s development assistance to the Philippines.
“One of our key focus areas is going to be on fisheries. I know that the fisheries industry here in the Philippines is an important part of the economy. It also provides a huge amount of protein. But there are some neighbors, and some more than others, that I know are basically stealing the fish resources of the Filipino people,” Fritz said.
“And so one of the key areas where we will be focusing our foreign assistance program going forward is helping the Philippines better monitor illegal fishing and basically being aware of vessels from non-Philippine fishers that are here taking resources of the Philippine people without their permission,” he added.
Based on the Philippines Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing Assessment Report for 2023, IUU fish catch in mu -
nicipal waters reached 107,176 metric tons (MT) in 2022-2023. This translates to a P5.4-billion income lost for Filipino fishermen during the period.
Fritz said the United States intends to focus its efforts to help prevent illegal fishing in the Philippines exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The IUU assessment noted that the EEZ is where 90 percent of potential foreign fishing occurs.
He said the US government is looking forward to working with Local Government Units (LGUs) and Filipino fishermen, who are considered to bear the brunt of illegal fishing in the Philippines. Fritz noted that these efforts will also include the protection of the environment, particularly with regard to the destruction of habitats, coral reefs, and fish stocks.
“The idea is to use them [fishermen] as sort of the frontline eyes and ears and make sure that what they’re seeing in real time can be transmitted back to local governments and then to the national government here so that there is more real-time information about what’s going on in Philippine waters,” Fritz said.
Apart from illegal fishing, Fritz said the United States also intends to place a focus on the energy sector which includes nuclear and renewables as well as health financing where, Fritz said, the US will continue to be a “very reliable and forward-leaning assistance partner.”
The US official also said the Trump administration’s develop -
ment assistance will focus on improving the business and economic environment through the Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC).
On the LEC, Fritz said, the work is a trilateral effort between the United States, Japan, and the Philippine governments. These efforts aim to improve the investment climate through better transportation and logistics.
In July, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Washington will be extending at least P3 billion or $60 million in foreign assistance to the Philippines. This includes P825 million or $15 million to boost private investment in the LEC.
Fritz noted that this made the Philippines the first recipient of US funding support after the realignment of foreign assistance undertaken by the Trump administration starting in January.
“Those are not the last assistance dollars that we see coming into the Philippines. Far from it. I think the message that we want to convey to our Filipino friends is you guys were the first recipients of new assistance funding, and I think that will sort of set a mark, and the Philippines will continue to be one of our closest partners in this space going forward,” Fritz said.
Overhaul
DEPARTMENT of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan recently said the national government intends to develop solutions beyond adjusting tariffs to address
price stability issues while ensuring that agriculture continues to be remunerative for farmers.
Balisacan admitted that adjusting tariffs is not a solution enough to meet three policy goals: making farming remunerative; helping protect farmers from sharp swings in commodity prices; and ensuring that the public has access to affordable food.
He said that while the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is tasked with price stability, the rest of the government can better address price stability issues, particularly those coming from supply side concerns.
“In economics, in optimization theory, if you have two policy goals, you must have at least two instruments to achieve those goals. So here, you have three goals but you just have one instrument,” Balisacan told reporters, speaking partly in Filipino, at the sidelines of a Senate Finance Committee hearing.
“[If that were a] simultaneous system of equations, [that is] unsolvable because you have three endogenous variables, but one instrument, the equation system cannot be solved,” he explained. Balisacan said high prices, particularly food and especially rice, are crucial for Filipinos. This has been addressed through the adjustment of tariffs of rice and even other commodities. (See: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2025/09/02/ government-looking-beyondtariffs-to-deal-with-price-stability-issues/).
By Justine Xyrah Garcia
THE Philippines will put just transition and green jobs at the center of its chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) next year, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) confirmed on Sunday.
DOLE Undersecretary Carmela I. Torres said the country will use its chairmanship to highlight labor market resiliency as a core part of climate action.
“Our [Chairmanship] will focus on implementing the Framework and Action Plan for Green Jobs that will emerge from this forum born from a shared understanding that green jobs must be firmly rooted in the principles of decent work, social justice, inclusivity, and genuine social dialogue,” Torres told BusinessMirror
She noted that the Philippines is one of only four “pathfinder countries” in Asean on just transition, alongside Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
This gives Manila the chance to share its experiences in linking climate action with social protection, while pushing other member states to adopt similar measures.
Torres outlined several priorities the Philippines will advance during its time as head of the regional bloc, where it is one of five founding members. These include documenting and sharing good practices across Asean; benchmarking policies that integrate green jobs into national development, labor, and climate plans; and mainstreaming these approaches in regional strategies
She said youth employability will also be pushed higher on the agenda, with emphasis on enterprise-based training and digital and green skills for both emerging and transitioning sectors.
The country is also expected to advocate for stronger labor market information systems to enhance regional data sharing, harmonized definitions, and joint research.
“Promoting data sharing, harmonized
Lawmaker pushes restoration of ₧6-B tourism roads budget
By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo Special to the BusinessMirror
ALAWMAKER has urged his colleagues to restore the budget for tourism roads next year to help boost arrivals to tourism destinations especially in out-of-the-way provinces.
During the budget hearing of the Department of Tourism (DOT) at the House Committee on Appropriations on September 2, Cagayan de Oro Second District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said: “How can we continue to be able to develop our tourist sites in the different parts of the Philippines, not only in Luzon or Metro Manila? We’re talking of bringing out all of this development to the regions, especially in Mindanao. So [at] the proper time, Madam Chair, I would be asking that this committee...recommend to the plenary the restoration of at least P6 billion for the roads leading to tourists destinations.” Rodriguez is vice chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations.
During the budget presentation, Frasco cited the P6.1-billion budget for tourism roads allocated under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) 2025 to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) under its Tourism Road Infrastructure Program (TRIP) convergence program with the DOT. Under the proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2026, however, only P3.55 billion was allocated for this purpose.
For Frasco, support for continuing and new tourism roads under TRIP is important so as not to “stagnate the development of
definitions, and joint research on green jobs across the region [will enable] evidencebased policymaking and targeted interventions,” Torres said.
The Asean Green Jobs Forum next year will provide the venue to carry these priorities forward.
Torres said discussions will revolve around skills development pathways, comprehensive definitions of green skills, and social protection for workers and communities affected by climate transition. She added that gender-responsive strategies and the use of artificial intelligence in labor market forecasting will also be on the table.
Regional hub for green jobs
THE Philippines will also push for the creation of an Asean Green Jobs Centre of Excellence, first floated under Malaysia’s 2025 chairmanship.
The proposed center is meant to act as a regional hub for research and policy dialogue, where governments and social partners can measure progress and confront the challenges of shifting to low-carbon economies.
It is envisioned to consolidate policy advice, research, and capacity-building across member states, while also coordinating the Asean Green Jobs Forum and similar platforms to sustain social dialogue.
Torres said the center would help embed just transition principles into concrete programs and allow Asean to benchmark how green jobs are being integrated into national and regional labor agendas She added that during the Philippines’s term as Asean chair, “we will continually anchor our efforts on the [International Labour Ogranization’s] Guidelines for a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all.” Globally, the ILO projects the transition to a green economy to generate as many as 24 million jobs by 2030.
Around three million of these could be created in the Philippines alone.
destinations and unnecessarily quell opportunities for emerging destinations to be discovered, highlighted and promoted.”
Largest allocations to Luzon roads
YET, details of DPWH’s proposed NEP 2026 indicated that regions in Luzon and those close to Metro Manila will still receive the lion’s share of the TRIP budget. The National Capital Region (NCR)Central Office got the bulk of the 2026 allocation at P929.5 million. It was followed by the Bicol Region, at P803.5 million; Calabarzon, P235.5 million; Cagayan Valley, P217 million; and the Cordillera Administrative Region, P117.3 million.
Other regions received less than P100 million in next year’s proposed TRIP budget, with the lowest, at P30 million, going to the Caraga Region in Mindanao.
In the same briefing, the DOT reported that 882.28 kilometers of tourism roads “were completed from 2022 to 2024, enhancing connectivity, driving inclusive growth, and unlocking the full potential of Philippine destinations.” Frasco emphasized that there are no allocations for the construction of new tourism roads.
Last year, just 5.95 million international travelers visited the Philippines in 2024, some 23 percent less than the DOT’s target of 7.7 million. The agency highlighted though that there were 134.14 million domestic trips taken last year, topping other Southeast Asian countries in domestic tourism. Frasco blamed the missed arrivals target last year on the
RESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is set to finally announce next week the composition of the three-person independent commission which will look into the alleged anomalies in the flood control projects (FCP) of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). The chief executive made the statement in the first part of the fourth episode of his video blog posted in the social media page of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) last Sunday. He declined to name the members of the commission, but had earlier said the commission may include a forensic investigator, a justice, and prosecutor. The commission, he said, will be completely “separate from the government,” be given “considerable power” and can probe anyone, including lawmakers as well as his friends and family.
“They can—they will have the authority to investigate anything and anyone,” Marcos said in Filipino.
“Otherwise, then, what will—they will have... They will say, there is a sacred cow again or someone is being protected because it is part of politics, whatever. When that happens, their investigation will also—be meaningless,” he added. However, he noted that the power of the commission will be limited to making recommendations of the charges to be filed against those who they investigated to the Department of Justice of the Ombudsman.
The President said he hopes the commission can also give inputs on what reforms to implement to prevent such anomalies in public works from reoccurring.
“If...it requires legislation, if it requires restructuring the government, all that needs to be done, those are what we will do. But we must first find out how those [anomalies] happened,” Marcos said.
The chief executive opted to launch a crackdown against problematic FCP after observing that parts of the country continue to suffer from heavy flooding due to rains before his fourth State of the Nation Address last July. Last month, the government launched its sumbongsapangulo.ph website, where the public can report anomalous FCPs. Since its launch, Marcos said the website already has over 12,000 reports of not only
but also other
Editor: Jennifer A. Ng
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Monday, September 8, 2025
Tighter genco oversight sought
By Lenie Lectura @llectura
THE Department of Energy (DOE) wants to enforce stricter oversight on power generation companies (gencos) to ensure sufficient, reliable, affordable, and secure power supply.
The proposed policy, according to the draft circular, is meant to “uphold the highest standards of accountability” for all gencos.
For instance, all the reports submitted by the gencos to the DOE must also be forwarded to the market operator, system operator, and their contracted distribution utilities (DUs) every quarter.
These reports are meant to be used as evidence in legal proceedings, the DOE said. Non-submission of reports may lead to administrative penalties and will form part of the evaluation of a genco’s application for renewal of their certificate for
endorsement (COE) and certificate of compliance (COC).
The DOE is also inclined to conduct a special audit if the genco’s facilities fail to provide the contracted capacity for the last three months and if there are sustained increase in frequency load dropping during a three-month period. Government agencies in the power sector will take on more responsibilities to ensure that all activities in the generation sector are proactively monitored.
The DOE, for instance, will inspect and validate the submission of gencos during the middle
THE Department of Energy (DOE) is studying the possibility of relaxing the coal moratorium policy.
term of the COE and prior to the renewal of the COE. It will immediately notify the gencos which failed to submit the mandatory reportorial requirements for at least two consecutive months.
It will also refer to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) any possible violations and noncompliance of erring gencos for proper investigation.
The ERC, for its part, will pursue investigations, initiate the necessary cases and impose penalties against erring gencos.
The National Electrification Administration (NEA), meanwhile, will assist in the monitoring of the performance of all gencos in their respective franchise areas.
The National Power Corp. (NPC) will also exercise administrative supervision of gencos in all off-grid areas.
The NPC may blacklist a specific genco operating in off-grid areas for a certain period, withhold universal charge-missionary electrification (UCME) entitlements in case of failure to rectify errors or to implement an action plan and disqualify
you want a cheap source of energy, not connected to the grid, there are requests for that, and we’re still evaluating that,” said DOE Secretary Sharon Garin.
an off-grid genco to UCME in case of substantial breach in its obligations.
It will study the necessary private sector participation in off-grid areas and implement measures to encourage additional generation facilities from the private sector.
The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) will be tasked to craft a mechanism with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines for the validation of energy transfers of gencos vis-à-vis actually deliveries from the plant to the grid or traded in the wholesale electricity spot market.
The distribution utilities, meanwhile, must monitor, coordinate, and enforce all provisions of their power supply agreement with their contracted gencos.
“This policy shall likewise not absolve, condone or exempt any noncompliances or violations committed by gencos…prior to the issuance of this circular. Pre-existing offenses shall remain punishable under the laws, rules, regulations in force at the time of their commission,” the draft circular read.
Govt mulls over easing ban on coal projects SteelAsia
“There is a move that some companies are asking if it’s their own use. For example, if you have manufacturing and
Though nothing is definite, Garin said discussions with interested parties are ongoing. “This has been discussed
Dalso at the time of Secretary (Raphael) Lotilla and we’re still discussing. Because we are really pushing for renewable energy, and we’re trying to find also, we want to be fair, not just clean, but also affordable. So, that’s a dilemma that we have always. Lenie Lectura
SBy Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan
TEELASIA Manufacturing Corp. said it is on the road to recovery from the pandemic as its rebar sales could reach a 6-year high of 4.1 million metric tons (MMT) due to public infrastructure expansion and the real estate sector’s resurgence.
Rafael Hidalgo, the company’s chief operating officer, told reporters on the sidelines of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) factory visit last Thursday that the worst may be over for the country’s flagship steel maker.
“You know, the previous years were bad because of Covid-19, inflation and the banning of POGOs [Philippine offshore gaming operators]. The property developers adopted a wait-and-see stance so they paused (their projects),” he said.
“This year, the worst may be over (for SteelAsia), but (sales) may hit prepandemic levels next year.”
He said the 4.1-MMT rebar sales projection is almost 10 percent higher than the previous year’s sales.
“The highest demand we’ve seen, based on our own study, was around 4.4 million tons of rebars in 2019.”
He said rebar demand fell by as much as 40 percent during the pandemic. He also noted that rebar demand in the Philippines plateaued in 2022 to 2024.
Kinetix Lab’s Miguel Baldovino:
Growth drivers for this year, Hidalgo said, is the expansion of public infrastructure and the increasing construction activities of the private sector.
“A lot of it is still infra but I think the property developers will be back.” Hidalgo said the Philippines has a “multi-decade” potential of growth because of its current low steel intensity, compared to its neighbors in Asean.
“Our steel intensity, or the use of steel, and the use of steel is usually urbanization and industrialization, mababang-mababa pa, we are around 80 to 90 kilograms per capita.”
The Philippines’s steel use pales in comparison to Vietnam’s 200 kilograms per capita, Thailand’s over 200 kg, and Malaysia’s 300 kg. Hidalgo said a country may be considered developed when its steel use is the same as that of Japan and Taiwan, which recorded 500 kg to 800 kg per capita. “But we are only one third, meaning our steel consumption is still very low, meaning we’re not building what should be building for the size of our population and for the kind of population that we have.”
Banking on the untapped potential for the steel industry, Hidalgo remained optimistic, saying: “It’s good news because we’re looking at decades of growth. Multi-decade. That’s why we keep building new mills.”
‘It’s never
too late to start your fitness journey’
By Francine Medina
ieting and cardio exercises aren’t enough to achieve optimum fitness. Strength training should be part of one’s regimen for added health benefits.
In a recent episode of Business Mirror’s digital show, “Freshly Brewed,” Kinetix Lab Fitness Manager Miguel Baldovino takes a break with host and Business Mirror Sports reporter Josef Ramos to talk about the importance of strength training to the importance of strength training.
Kinetix Lab is a gym specializing in strength and conditioning for all genders and ages. It has four branches, namely, UP Town Center; Examiner Street in West Triangle, Quezon City; the Podium building in Mandaluyong City; and One Ayala building in Makati City.
“We have professional coaches who are all graduates of Sports Science. So, basically, our gym focuses on evidence-based approaches. Our clients go to the gym because they know our coaches have that background, and that’s what has been making our gym thrive these past
years,” explained Baldovino, a BS Sports Science graduate from the University of Sto. Tomas, with nine years of experience in the industry.
Before embarking on a fitness program, Baldovino said that clients go through three assessment tests: the baseline fitness level test, physical therapy assessment (to find out if the client has any injury or illness), and nutritional assessment (where the eating habits and diet of the client are assessed). The results of these tests will be used to create a personalized program that aligns with the client’s fitness goal.
Baldovino warns against being lured into thinking that well-muscled male bodies or super-trip figures posted on social media are the standard pegs for fitness.
On the contrary, the Kinetix Lab fitness manager advised, “Yes, those images can be your
inspiration. But at the end of the day, that might not be the peak form that your body can achieve. At Kinetix, we stay true to our roots in strength training, which will trickle down to everything—including helping you mentally and physically.”
According to Harvard Health Publishing: “Resistance training (also known as strength training) consists of doing upper- and lower-body exercises using free weights (like dumbbells, kettlebells, or barbells), weight machines, resistance bands, or just your own body weight.”
Baldovino explained that strength training covers most fitness needs, “If you want weight loss or to gain muscle, resistance training can help you achieve your goal. My golden rule, however, is to get a medical check-up before starting a
strength training program.”
Getting a clearance from your medical doctor is important, especially for those who are over 40 years old, have a history of injury, are overweight, or have a medical condition.
AI
tool versus human fitness coach
During the lockdowns in early 2020, virtual workouts became the new norm for people to be physically fit while battling against isolation. Today, AI personal trainers are on the rise, and building an exercise program can be personalized with the help of ChatGPT.
While AI tools provide convenience and affordability, Baldovino observed that nothing beats human connection when it comes to looking after clients during training. “A face-to-
face session in the gym means there’s a coach who will be responsible for your progress and who will check your form.
At the same time, scheduling physical meetings will also make the client more likely to attend the gym.
“I have received feedback from clients who tell me that they feel motivated when there is a fitness coach to guide them through the exercise routine.”
Food as fuel
Whether engaging in regular exercise or training for a sports competition, Baldovino also suggested eating nutritious foods to get enough energy to perform a workout.
According to him, “Food is the body’s gasoline. A car won’t run without gasoline, and highoctane fuel lets engines operate
more efficiently. It’s the same thing with the human body. The quality of food that you consume will affect the quality of your workout as well.”
Poor-quality foods, such as highly processed ones, may cause tiredness and make a person prone to injury. A well-balanced diet consisting of whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, and protein facilitates quicker recovery after workouts and generates energy to last the rest of the day.
No perfect formula
To encourage more women, especially mothers, to embrace strength training, Kinetix Lab launched the Strong Moms campaign. Baldovino explained, “It’s not about aesthetics but achieving strength. Being strong is beautiful.”
There is no such thing as the perfect formula when it comes to training, however, he added.
“The most important thing is to start your journey properly. I’ve heard clients who say they were traumatized by their gym experience. Don’t force yourself to work out until you’re exhausted.
“Proper progressions are important, and variable volume and training intensity should be considered, too.”
At Kinetix Lab, clients get back on the fitness track with the help of the gym’s team of fitness coaches, nutritionists, and therapists. “The best day to start your journey is today. It’s never too late to be fit,” he encouraged.
“It’s for you to decide whether you want to start now or not. Our team will be here to help. Every small movement counts. Even walking is already the start of one’s journey.”
• For the full conversation, watch“FreshlyBrewed”onBusiness
Miguel Baldovino, Fitness Manager of Kinetix Lab
Josef Ramos, sports reporter of BusinessMirror
Miguel Baldovino, Fitness Manager of Kinetix Lab, talks about the benefits of strength training to women with Josef Ramos, sports reporter of BusinessMirror.
Banking&Finance
DBM
released nearly
96% of 2025 national budget
THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released 95.5 percent of this year’s P6.326-trillion national budget as of the end of August.
Latest data from DBM showed that the budget releases from January to August this year reached P6.041 trillion.
The amount is higher than the P5.589 trillion disbursed during the same period a year ago.
Still, the release rate of last year’s budget was faster, when 96.9 percent of the P5.767-trillion allotment had been distributed by August.
DBM data showed 93.2 percent or P3.923 trillion of the P4.211 trillion under the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) has been made available.
Of the amount, P3.529 trillion, or 95.9 percent of the P3.529-trillion allotment for line departments, has been released to line departments.
Releases for special purpose funds amounted to P394.862 billion, representing 74.6 percent of the P529.595-billion allocation.
Meanwhile, automatic appropriations totaled P1.904 trillion, or 90 percent of the P2.115 trillion funding.
This includes P68.549 billion in retirement and life insurance premiums for government workers, fully disbursed in January, along with an additional P8.202 billion released by August.
The entire P1.034 trillion in national tax allotments has also been completely distributed as of January, as well as the P83.421-billion block grant.
In addition, P480,000 worth of pensions of former presidents or their widows, P37.352 billion under the special account in the general fund and P14.5 billion in tax expenditures fund, were all remitted in February.
However, releases for interest payments and net lending stood at 75 percent or P636.023 billion and P21.525 billion, respectively, as of end-August.
The DBM has yet to release the
remaining P212.007 billion for interest payments and P7.175 billion allocated for net lending this year.
Further, other releases amounted to P213.003 billion, of which P58.594 billion went to other automatic appropriations, such as grants or donations, the AFP Modernization Program and special account in the general fund.
Continuing appropriations from last year reached P19.797 billion, while unprogrammed appropriations stood at P134.611 billion.
Unprogrammed appropriations serve as a standby authority allowing agencies to have additional obligations for priority programs or projects once revenue collections surpass targets or when extra grants or foreign funding become available.
Broken down, P99.984 billion was allotted to support the foreignassisted projects of the departments of Agrarian Reform, Finance, Health, Social Welfare and Development, Public Works and Highways and Transportation.
The Philippine Competition Commission and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority were also provided funding for the same purpose.
Meanwhile, the Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture also received P9.894 billion and P8.853 billion, respectively, as assistance for government infrastructure and social programs, while the National Food Authority was granted P6.269 billion in budgetary support.
The Department of Transportation was also allotted P9.609 billion for the government’s counterpart for foreign-assisted projects.
A total of P285.271 billion in the 2025 national budget remains in the balance for the DBM to release in the coming months.
For next year, the national budget is proposed at P6.793 trillion, which is equivalent to 22 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and 7.4 percent higher than this year’s budget. Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
Junk debt seen as safe as investment grade
JUNK debt is about as safe as investment-grade now, at least according to prices in credit markets. The gap between risk premiums on the highest-rated US junk bonds and the lowest-rated investment-grade notes was hovering around 0.80 percentage point this week, not far from the lowest since 2019. As money managers brace for the Federal Reserve to start cutting rates, they’ve grown willing to accept lower and lower yields compared with government debt. Risk premiums, or spreads, are tight across the corporate credit curve now as money managers pile into corporate debt. Investment-grade spreads are close to their tightest since the late 1990s, and the difference between many spread levels is close to the tightest on record, according to Bloomberg index data.
“Spreads are compressed everywhere. The market is really reacting to a lot of strength on the demand side,” said Stephanie Doyle, portfolio manager for investment grade corporate strategies at JPMorgan Asset Management.
Markets can underestimate risk, and sometimes severely. Spreads could blow out for a host of reasons now: A series of tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump pushed spreads wider in April, and geopolitical risk has hardly disappeared. US job growth cooled in August and the unemployment rate rose to the highest since 2021, a report said on Friday, potentially signaling economic trouble ahead.
But investors are piling into corporate bonds to lock in yields that are high by the standards of the last decade, and have been falling for most of this year. The average US high-grade bond yield was 4.8 percent on Thursday, well above the mean of 3.8 percent for the last decade but down from 5.3 percent at the start of 2025.
For now, money managers are happy to allow the market to climb the proverbial wall of worry. Company earnings are still relatively healthy. And investors have been pouring money into credit
7-mo collection hints BIR to exceed tax take target
By Reine Juvierre Alberto @reine_alberto
THE Bureau of Internal Revenue
(BIR) is seen to surpass its excise tax target this year after collections climbed by double digits and reached P193.652 billion as of end-July.
According to BIR data obtained by BusinessMirror, excise tax collections from January to July this year rose by 15.10 percent to P193.651 billion from P168.241 billion in the same period last year. The seven-month collection exceeded the BIR’s original target of P189.494 billion for the period by 2.19 percent or P4.157 billion.
Excise tax is a tax on the production, sale or consumption of a commodity manufactured or produced in the Philippines for domestic sale or consumption or for any other disposition, as well as on imported items.
Tobacco products contributed the largest amount in excise taxes worth P94.458 billion. It also posted the highest year-on-year increase of 32.12 percent from P71.494 billion as of end-July last year.
Excise tax collections on alcohol products also grew by 4.12 percent to
P66.583 billion as of end-July from P63.950 billion a year ago.
Meanwhile, excise tax collected from mineral products jumped by 17.58 percent to P7.485 billion from last year’s P6.366 billion.
Collections of excise tax from petroleum products also rose by 10.77 percent to P94.74 million from P85.53 million in the previous year.
However, excise tax collections from miscellaneous products declined by 4.99 percent year-on-year to P25.029 billion from P26.343 billion.
Excise on non-essentials dropped by 37.35 percent to P165.58 million from P264.30 million, while collections from sweetened beverages dipped by 4.75 percent to P21.589 billion from P22.666 billion.
Excise tax collections from automobiles fell by 4.05 percent year-onyear to P3.263 billion, while revenues from cosmetic procedures slipped by
2.63 percent to P11.30 million.
According to economists, the BIR could hit its excise tax collection target of P328.898 billion this year, which makes up 10.21 percent of its P3.219-trillion full-year target.
Leonardo A. Lanzona, economist at the Ateneo de Manila University, told BusinessMirror that there seems to be no reason for the BIR not to reach its target for the whole year after it posted a 15 percent year-onyear increase in its total excise tax collections.
“Hitting the target is possible given the improving compliance and digital tax enforcement tools,” John Paolo Rivera, senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, told BusinessMirror.
Still, Rivera said it depends on the BIR’s collection efficiency, as well as the reduction of incidence in smuggling and tax evasion.
Rivera also noted that attaining the goal hinges on stable consumption patterns, particularly for “sin” and fuel products.
Some excise taxes, such as those levied on tobacco, alcohol and sweetened beverages, are “sin taxes” used to finance health programs under the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law.
“Although, revenue collection is hampered by the distrust of taxpayers in paying taxes due to the controversies surrounding utilization of taxpayers’ money,” Rivera added.
Meanwhile, Lanzona said the
government “seems to forget” that excise taxes, like all indirect taxes, are paid by the consumer in the form of higher prices.
“Hence, by increasing the target on excise taxes this year, the government is showing its insensitivity to consumer welfare,” Lanzona said. “This manifests its over-reliance on uniform indirect taxes which increases the burden on all consumers but mostly oppresses the marginalized groups.”
Based on the latest Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing, the target for excise tax collections this year will increase by 9.35 percent from last year’s P328.898 billion.
“The government has shown its intention of relying on the consumer. While the rich also pay these taxes, a much more substantial portion of the poor’s income is eaten away by these taxes,” Lanzona added.
Last year, the BIR raised a total of P304.279 billion in excise taxes. This is P8.799 billion short, or 2.89 percent lower than its target.
Internal Revenue Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr. said earlier that the BIR is expecting a narrower gap between the actual excise tax collection and the target it set for the year through increased compliance of vape sellers.
The BIR has also ramped up its efforts in running after illicit vape traders by filing criminal complaints for tax evasion and cracking down on warehouses.
Closed banks can now settle arrears via new system
By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
Tfunds, fueling more demand than the supply can fill.
“Corporate and household balance sheets are healthier than average, maybe way healthier, so that justifies it a bit. But then there is all the geopolitical and macro headwinds,” said Gordon Shannon, a portfolio manager at TwentyFour Asset Management. “It is the unrelenting technical of inflows driving it, and that is bubbly.”
Shannon is seeking safety in industries like utilities and telecoms to avoid potential market stress and deliver returns.
Investors’ drive for yield has been evident in the new issue bond market this week as sales returned after the summer slowdown. In the US, Australian mining company BHP Group Ltd. sold 30-year bonds this week at a spread of 0.83 percentage point, just 0.06 percentage point more than the 10-year spread in that offering. Generally, the gap between 10and 30-year spreads this week reached some of their tightest levels on record, according to Bank of America. Still, in Europe there have been some signs of investor price sensitivity to strong tightening. French food company Danone SA saw orders for its hybrid bond drop from €4.2 billion ($4.9 billion) at the initial pricing stage to only €1.25 billion when finalized. Orders faded as the offering priced with a coupon of 3.95 percent and the tightest spread over senior debt for a corporate hybrid bond ever, just 67 basis points, according to a person familiar with the matter. For now, many market watchers see more of the same coming. BNP Paribas strategists think US high-grade spreads could shrink to the 60 basis point range since the higher yields will continue to attract demand and can trade at that level before its extreme. On the question of why not just buy government bonds, “a common factor is that credit is generating strong returns and doesn’t appear to be very risky,” according to strategists led by Viktor Hjort. Bloomberg News
HE Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) and the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) have created a new payment option for closed banks to settle their arrears.
The new option, called the “Landbank Bulk Credit System,” or LBCS, was created after executives of the PDIC and the Landbank signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). This new payment option is expected to make settlement for closed bank creditors’ claims faster, easier, and
more secure.
“With LandBank’s support, PDIC can earn the continuing trust of the public, including closed bank creditors,” PDIC President and CEO Roberto B. Tan was quoted in a statement as saying.
“This initiative not only strengthens our operational capabilities but also reinforces our shared commitment to public service and financial inclusion,” Tan added.
According to the PDIC, the LBCS will serve as an additional settlement channel for creditors of closed banks under PDIC receivership. The PDIC added the system would replace the
“time-consuming manual processes with a streamlined, web-based platform capable of processing highvolume electronic fund transfers in a single transaction.”
Linked to the national payment systems such as PESONet and InstaPay, the PDIC said the facility enables same-day or even real-time crediting, eliminating the need for paper checks and cash handling while ensuring accuracy and transparency.
“With the new payment option in place, the PDIC and Landbank reaffirm their role as partners in safeguarding the financial system and ensuring that creditors of closed
banks receive what is due to them swiftly, securely, and seamlessly,” read the statement the PDIC issued on September 5. The LBCS marks the fourth claims settlement facility that Landbank has provided to the insurer, “progressively building a track record of innovation.”
The PDIC cited that the other innovative steps include the issuance of manager’s checks in 2012 to direct crediting to Landbank deposit accounts, the payment through theLink.BizPortal in 2023, and the Visa debit card facility introduced last year.
Hispanic consumers spend less over inflation, immigration fears
ONE of the fastest-growing groups of US consumers is hitting the brakes.
What started a few months ago with makers of beer brands like Modelo warning of a pullback among Hispanic customers as anxiety about immigration raids and tariffs set in has now extended to other parts of the economy.
Consumption by Hispanic families barely rose in the year through June, according to research firm Numerator. Spending by White and Black households, meanwhile, continued to grow, albeit at a slower pace than seen in 2024.
Hispanics—who account for almost 20 percent of the US population—have been a key engine powering consumer spending during the pandemic recovery, but the group is starting to bend after years of price increases and a cooling labor market.
From restaurant chains like Jack in the Box Inc. to discount retailer Ross Stores Inc., a growing number of companies that rely on that group for a sizable part of their business have noted the pullback on recent earnings calls.
Hispanics as a whole earn less than the national average, and lowerincome families—regardless of their ethnicity—have been struggling with higher costs of living.
“Hispanic households are expe-
riencing disproportionate financial headwinds,” said Shawn Paustian, an analyst at Numerator. “These consumers can no longer absorb rising costs—many are compensating by trading down to lower-priced brands or purchasing smaller pack sizes to manage budgets.”
Raids chilling effect
PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants has also had a chilling effect—even among the majority of Hispanics who are either citizens or have legal status.
“We are partying less, we’re gathering less, we’re using more delivery services, therefore we’re consuming less,” said Ana Valdez, president of the Latino Donor Collaborative, a nonprofit providing data and research on that community. “Latinos are feeling it and it’s impacting our consumption even if we’re completely, legitimately here.”
Constellation Brands Inc., the maker of Corona and Modelo, said this week that Hispanics, who make up about half of its beer customers, are buying less high-end beer than they used to. “Their shopping behavior has changed,” Chief Executive Officer Bill Newlands said at a conference.
GEN Restaurant Group Inc., a Korean BBQ chain, said it felt the im-
pact from immigration enforcement in areas including California, Texas and Nevada where many customers and workers are Hispanic.
Ross Dress For Less stores with a higher concentration of Hispanic consumers didn’t fare as well as other markets, the retailer said. And Jack in the Box, which also operates Mexican chain Del Taco, also singled out the pullback from Hispanic customers on an earnings call.
Angel Leston, who owns two restaurants in Newark, New Jersey, says demand has gone down this year, in part due to broader economic uncertainty but mainly because of “fear looming in the air” amid immigration raids.
“We always used to have tons of people walking through the streets at all times of the day. Now you’ll see it on a regular day and it’s almost empty,” said Leston, 38, who runs the Spanish restaurant Casa d’Paco. “The small business owners feel it, I feel it.”
President Trump is delivering on his mandate to enforce federal immigration law while growing the economy and tackling inflation, Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement.
“All Americans can feel confident the inflation from the Biden years is dropping and President Trump is pursuing policies that put American workers first.”
‘Terrible’ economy OVERALL, the pullback by Hispanic consumers mirrors that of lowerincome households who are feeling the brunt of inflation.
Four in five Hispanics say rising prices are making it harder to afford non-essential goods and services, higher than the US average, according to Numerator, which based its analysis on purchase data from more than 24,000 Hispanic households and a separate national survey with more than 1,660 respondents. Hispanics are also more likely to expect their financial conditions to worsen over the next year.
“The economy is terrible, specially food,” said Antonia Rivera, 58, a coffee-shop cashier who lives in the Miami neighborhood of Brickell. Rivera, who’s from Nicaragua, said she shifted to cheaper shops in a nearby neighborhood because the price of meats, cheeses and other goods has gone up so much at her grocery stores. Estefania Rosso, a 45 year-old domestic worker from Honduras, echoed her comments. “We’ve stopped buying some items and switched to others,” said Rosso, who lives with her son in Little Haiti, another Miami neighborhood. “And we don’t go to McDonald’s or fast food restaurants like we used to. I use that money to pay the electricity bill.” Bloomberg News
HOUSE OF CARDS: How Donald Trump is weaponizing the government to settle personal scores and pursue his agenda
Thursday, September 4, 2025, in Washington.
By Jonathan J. Cooper The Associated Press
PRESIDENT Donald Trump, once a casino owner and always a man in search of his next deal, is fond of a poker analogy when sizing up partners and adversaries.
“We have much bigger and better cards than they do,” he said of China last month. Compared with Canada, he said in June, “we have all the cards. We have every single one.” And most famously, he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in their Oval Office confrontation earlier this year: “You don’t have the cards.”
The phrase offers a window into the worldview of Trump, who has spent his second stint in the White House amassing cards to deploy in pursuit of his interests.
Seven months into his second term, he has accumulated presidential power that he has used against universities, media companies, law firms, and individuals he dislikes. A man who ran for president as an angry victim of a weaponized “deep state” is, in some ways, supercharging government power and training it on his opponents. And the supporters who responded to his complaints about overzealous Democrats aren’t recoiling. They’re egging him on.
“Weaponizing the state to win the culture war has been essential to their agenda,” said David
N. Smith, a University of Kansas sociologist who has extensively researched the motivations of Trump voters. “They didn’t like it when the state was mobilized to restrain Trump, but they’re happy to see the state acting to fight the culture war on their behalf.”
How Trump has weaponized the government TRUMP began putting the federal government to work for him within hours of taking office in January, and he’s been collecting and using power in novel ways ever since. It’s a high-velocity push to carry out his political agendas and grudges. This past month, hundreds of federal agents and National Guard troops fanned out across Washington after Trump drew on a never-used law that allows him to take control of law enforcement in the nation’s capital. He’s threatened similar deployments in other cities run by Democrats, including Baltimore, Chicago, New York and New Orleans. He also fired a Federal Reserve governor, pointing to unproven claims of mortgage fraud. Trump, his aides and allies
throughout the executive branch have trained the government, or threatened to, on a dizzying array of targets:
n He threatened to block a stadium plan for the Washington Commanders football team unless it readopted the racial slur it used as a moniker until 2020.
n He revoked security clearances and tried to block access to government facilities for attorneys at law firms he disfavors.
n He revoked billions of dollars in federal research funds and sought to block international students from elite universities. Under pressure, Columbia University agreed to a $220 million settlement, the University of Pennsylvania revoked records set by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and presidents resigned from the University of Virginia and Northwestern University.
n He has fired or reassigned federal employees targeted for their work, including prosecutors who worked on cases involving him.
n He dropped corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams to gain cooperation in his crackdown on immigrants living in the country illegally.
n He secured multimillion-dollar settlements against media organizations in lawsuits that were widely regarded as weak cases.
n Attorney General Pam Bondi is pursuing a grand jury review of
the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation and appointed a special prosecutor to scrutinize New York Attorney General Letitia James and U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff.
That’s not weaponizing government, says White House spokesperson Harrison Fields; it’s wielding power.
“What the nation is witnessing today is the execution of the most consequential administration in American history,” Fields said, “one that is embracing common sense, putting America first, and fulfilling the mandate of the American people.”
Trump has a sixth sense for power
THERE’S a push and a pull to power. It is both given and taken. And through executive orders, personnel moves, the bully pulpit and sheer brazenness, Trump has claimed powers that none of his modern predecessors came close to claiming.
He has also been handed power by many around him. By a fiercely loyal base that rides with him through thick and thin. By a Congress and Supreme Court that so far have ceded power to the executive branch. By universities, law firms, media organizations and other institutions that have negotiated or settled with him.
The US government is powerful, but it’s not inherently omnipotent. As Trump learned to his frustration in his first term, the president is penned in by the Constitution, laws, court rulings, bureaucracy, traditions and norms. Yet in his second term, Trump has managed to eliminate, steamroll, ignore
or otherwise neutralize many of those guardrails.
Leaders can exert their will through fear and intimidation, by determining the topics that are getting discussed and by shaping people’s preferences, Steven Lukes argued in a seminal 1974 book, “Power: A Radical View.” Lukes, a professor emeritus at New York University, said Trump exemplifies all three dimensions of power. Trump’s innovation, Lukes said, is “epistemic liberation”—a willingness to make up facts without evidence.
“This idea that you can just say things that aren’t true, and then it doesn’t matter to your followers and to a lot of other people ... that seems to me a new thing,” at least in liberal democracies, Lukes said. Trump uses memes and jokes more than argument and advocacy to signal his preferences, he said.
Trump ran against government weaponization CENTRAL to Trump’s 2024 campaign was his contention that he was the victim of a “ vicious persecution ” perpetrated by “the Biden administration’s weaponized Department of Injustice.”
Facing four criminal cases in New York, Washington and Florida, Trump said in 2023 that he yearned not to end the government weaponization, but to harness it. “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Aug. 4, 2023.
“Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents— something I know something about,” Trump said in his second inaugural address.
A month later: “I ended Joe Biden’s weaponization soon as I got in,” Trump said in a Feb. 22 speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington. And 10 days after that: “We’ve ended weaponized government, where, as an example, a sitting president is allowed to viciously prosecute his political opponent, like me.”
Two days later, on March 6, Trump signed a sweeping order targeting a prominent law firm that represents Democrats. And on April 9, he issued presidential memoranda directing the Justice Department to investigate two officials from his first administration, Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor. With that, the weaponization has come full circle. Trump is no longer surrounded by traditionbound lawyers and government officials, and his instinct to play his hand aggressively faces few restraints.
“If I happen to be president and I see somebody who’s doing well and beating me very badly, I say, ‘Go down and indict them,’” he said in a Univision interview on Nov. 9, 2023. And given a chance by a friendly Fox News interviewer to assure Americans that he would use power responsibly, he responded in December that year that he would not be a dictator “ except on day one.” He largely backed off those threats as the election drew closer, even as he continued to campaign against government weaponization. When he won, he declared an end to it.
PRESIDENT Donald Trump points to a reporter to ask a question during a dinner in the State
Dining Room of the White House on
AP/ALEX BRANDON
Ladies who launch a thousand charities
WE are not lacking in awesome women worthy of emulation. As these four formidable ladies prove, honest hard work pays off. And, they are doubly blessed because they are more than willing to give back.
LYNN BAUTISTA
THE businesswoman and Noble Queen of the Universe 2024 grew up in a fashion school in Ilocos, surrounded by her fashionable grandmothers who taught her how to wear gowns and jewelries.
On August 19 at the Victoria Sports Tower 2 Cinema in Quezon City, Lynn hosted an exclusive special screening of Huwag Mo Akong Salingin (Touch Me Not), a short film by award-winning director Jay Altarejos, which she produced and starred in.
In perhaps a Philippine first, the short film merges couture, culture and cinema in an 18-minute visual feast. Lynn portrays Rizal’s heroines Sisa, Maria Clara and Salome not as tragic characters but as empowered women. Throughout the film, the trailblazing Lynn was clad in haute jewelry by Mila Imson, and couture creations by Renee Salud, who said: “On behalf of the fashion industry, I would like to extend a sincerest gratitude for having this kind of filming of fashion. This has never been done before. I have been in the business for 50 years, and this is the first time I saw how you acknowledge, how you give credit to fashion as a cultural exposure, or I would call as reaffirming our culture and our traditions. You are one of a kind, and I hope that some people will follow suit.”
VIVIAN CARAMBA
THE Glamour on Wheels event on September 3 at BGC was a birthday celebration and victory party for Vivian, who was crowned Mrs. Universe Philippines 2025 in August. For her achievement, her husband Bernie gave her a Lexus LM with “Mrs. Universe Philippines” emblazoned on its doors.
As a woman of both substance and style. Vivian’s business savvy is inspiring. She is the CEO of PMS Primepower Manpower Network Inc., an industry leader with thousands of employees nationwide; and the owner of Interpro Management, a loans and financing company, and Primeshield Healthcare Management Services.
“I entered pageantry because I wanted to show that success is not only in business. It gives inspiration to our fellowmen, especially to our women,” she shared. “True beauty is kindness and confidence that radiate within. The beauty of a person is that they have a good heart, kindness, and honesty that never fades away.” What advocacy is nearest to her heart? “I raise my voice to help end and stop domestic violence. Because every woman deserves to feel safe, secure and loved. And to offer jobs to our community. Through our companies, we have, as of now, 25,000 staff nationwide. So, we can help people who need jobs. And not only that, we also have resorts in Laguna,
CLÉ de Peau Beauté is a beauty brand that is out of my tax bracket but it has been part of my routine twice in my life. The first time was when my Japanese boss’ wife gifted me with a moisturizer and the second time was when I received a loot bag after attending a beauty event and it contained some de luxe samples from the brand.
I am not surprised that I like Clé de Peau Beauté because it’s part of the Shiseido group, and Shiseido is my go-to brand for skincare.
Cle de Peau Beauté was founded in 1982 with the mission of forging new frontiers in advanced skin
La Union, Bulacan and Quezon. And we also have gasoline stations. So, through these, we can provide jobs to those in need. Nagpapasalamat kami kay Lord na ginawa kaming channel of blessing para marami kaming matutulungan na kababayan natin na walang hanap-buhay.”
MARITES IDEA NOVIS
AFTER Emma Mary Tiglao was crowned Miss Grand Philippines 2025 on August 24, she shared a proud moment with Marinova owner and CEO Marites Idea Novis, who chose the Kapampangan as the face of her beauty brand. Emma receives a roundtrip ticket to Australia, P100,000 cash gift, and one-year supply of Marinova products as the brand’s newest ambassador.
“Through Emma Tiglao’s ambassadorship, we want the public to see that luxury skincare is no longer exclusive—it’s for everyone. We want to educate consumers about the benefits of clean technology, probiotics and nanotechnology, and how these innovations can transform skincare routines. Most importantly, we want to send a message
cell science and “become the key that unlocks skin’s most radiant potential.” The products are made from
“meticulously curated and engineered ingredients.”
Key Radiance Care is Clé de Peau Beauté’s threestep skincare regimen designed to improve skin’s texture, tone and contours through its unique Skin Intelligence approach. When used over four weeks, Clé de Peau Beauté found that Key Radiance Care’ increases smoothness by 31 percent, a healthy glow by 33 percent, and firmness by 32 percent.
The line includes lotions and moisturizers, now enriched with Radiant Lily Extract to support skin barrier recovery and moisture levels.
Each step in the Key Radiance Care routine features Skin Intelligence with The Serum for smoothness and skin texture, the lotions for tone and nurturing resistance to drying damage, and the moisturizers for refining contours. The thing with this routine is that it starts with The Serum, which makes all the difference. Most skincare routines start with a toner or lotion.
I have mentioned Skin Intelligence several times already, so what is it? Clé de Peau Beauté believes that “like the mind, human skin is smart,” meaning it can
of confidence, inclusivity and empowerment— because when you feel good in your skin, you feel unstoppable,” Marites said in a statement.
In a Facebook post, Marites shared a nugget of wisdom: “I’ve learned that true wealth isn’t measured in currency, but in character—and the people who stood by you before the titles, accolades, or success arrived. Loyalty born from love, faith and shared struggle is priceless. Having walked my own journey with my family and true friends who believed in me when I had little to offer except vision and determination.”
MILA IMSON
MILA, a renowned jewelry designer, is tapping the aforementioned fashionable ladies for the Ruby (40th) anniversary of the Meycauayan Jewelry Industry Association (MJIA) this November at the Makati Shangri-La, to be directed by Raymond Villanueva, Together with other glamorous and generous women, they will wear jewelries by MJIA members
discern between good and bad stimuli to maintain its best condition.
What makes Clé de Peau Beauté a keeper as a skincare brand is that all its products were created based on intensive research. Of course, all brands do a lot of research before coming out with new products but Clé de Peau Beauté’s approach is very unique and, as the brand says, “unparalleled.”
Clé de Peau Beauté’s Skin Circadian Rhythm Research is based on the skin’s circadian rhythm, which are approximately 24-hour internal cycles that regulate biological processes across all organs, including the skin. Skin’s circadian rhythms are influenced by clock genes present in both the epidermal and dermal cells.
Clé de Peau Beauté’s main focus was on the clock genes in dermal fibroblasts because the brand believes these play a crucial role in maintaining skin firmness and elasticity. Based on these studies and Clé de Peau Beauté’s experience and knowledge, it has developed solutions tailored to meet the skin’s specific daytime and nighttime needs. The feel of Clé de Peau Beauté’s products on the skin is incredible and spells the difference between merely expensive and luxury.
and evening gowns by Renee Salud at the gala night, which aims to raise funds for the education and training of young goldsmiths and silversmiths.
“MJIA started in 1985 as a nonprofit organization engaged in the jewelry business. Its purpose is to develop the jewelry industry in Meycauayan and make it the jewelry center not only in Central Luzon but the whole Philippines,” explained Mila. “MJIA has delivered different projects and programs for the continuous development of our jewelry sector, thereby making our products world-class,”
Still an unabashed probinsyana, Mila always goes back to the Bulacan of her childhood when she designs her jewelry: “I like to do leaves and flowers, things from nature,” she said. But what inspires her no end is the cross. “I can never veer away from it. Whenever I would create something, with no definite design in mind, the materials would just be arranged in such a way that the finished piece would form a cross.”
DLSU profs among the world’s top scientists
Three De La Salle University professors and Society of Fellows members are once again included in Research.com’s World’s Best Scientists 2025 in their respective fields. The said ranking uses a Top 1 percent by-discipline cut-off.
Vice President for Research and Innovation, NAST Academician, and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Fellow Prof. Raymond Tan is ranked No. 1 in Best Engineering and Technology Scientists in the Philippines.
Vice President for External
Relations and Internationalization and concurrent Sustainability Adviser Prof. Anthony SF Chiu, is also ranked No. 1 in Social Science in the country. He is recognized for his environmental policyoriented research papers.
Prof. Allan B.I. Bernardo, also NAST Academician and TWAS Fellow, is ranked
No. 2 in the list of outstanding scientists in the field of Psychology in the Philippines. The Research.com ranking of top researchers was created using data consolidated from various data sources including OpenAlex and CrossRef. For more information, visit: Research.com
Singlife Philippines is Title Sponsor for the Philippine Marathon Majors
SINGLIFE Philippines, the country’s leading digital life insurer, takes center stage in the world of running as the Title Sponsor for the Philippine Marathon Majors (PMM) 2026, a groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind nationwide series that officially puts the Philippines in the league of international marathon majors.
As Overall Title Sponsor, Singlife secures naming rights for the entire PMM series, now officially called the “Singlife Philippine Marathon Majors,” and will headline five of the eight marquee races across key cities in the country: Iloilo, Davao, Clark, Cagayan de Oro, and Cebu.
This historic partnership not only cements the Philippines’ presence in the global running calendar but also introduces an innovative twist: registered PMM participants will have access to Singlife’s insurance coverage as part of their race registration. Coverage will start even before race day, with runners also gaining access to exclusive post-event offers, underscoring Singlife’s commitment to helping Filipinos protect
themselves while pursuing their passions. This includes Singlife Credits, digital credits registered PMM participants can use to pay for insurance premiums or top-up existing policies within the Singlife Plan & Protect App, and special rewards for podium finishers.
The sponsorship also marks a major step in Singlife’s goals for geo-expansion, catapulting the Singlife brand across the Philippines through the nationwide marathon series. By bringing the Singlife name to thousands of runners and spectators from different regions, the partnership expands reach and strengthens brand visibility beyond Metro Manila.
“Running is more than a sport. It’s discipline, preparation, and a lifestyle,” said Lester Cruz, CEO of Singlife Philippines. “Being part of the Philippine Marathon Majors allows us to champion the health, resilience, and aspirations of every runner, no matter where they are in the country, while also sparking important conversations around financial independence. Through this partnership, we aim to reposition
insurance and financial protection as a fun, relevant discovery and a true necessity in people’s lives, woven naturally into the things Filipinos are most passionate about. It’s a proud moment for the country, and for us, to be part of this historic milestone that brings the marathon experience to more Filipinos nationwide.”
“This is a milestone for Philippine running,” said Rio de la Cruz, President and CEO of RUNRIO Inc, the team behind Trilogy Run Asia. “With Singlife as our Title Sponsor, we’re not just staging races. We’re elevating them to worldclass status, with the added security and peace of mind of having insurance coverage built into every runner’s journey.”
With this landmark partnership, Singlife strengthens its commitment to the running community, ensuring a lasting presence in Philippine and global marathon history. The Singlife Philippine Marathon Majors 2026 is set to inspire not just faster finishes, but stronger, more financially empowered lives.
MPTC, Mizuho Bank Win Prestigious Trade Finance Award for its Cross-Border Deal
METRO Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), the Philippines’ leading toll road operator, and Japan-based banking giant, Mizuho Bank have been recognized by The Asian Banker with the Best Corporate Trade Finance Deal in Asia Pacific for their successful execution of a landmark cross-border acquisition of a stake in Indonesia’s Trans-Java Toll Road in November 2024.
To complete the deal, MPTC partnered with Mizuho Bank in navigating the intricacies of a multi-jurisdictional trade finance arrangement. One of the crucial requisites to the transaction was the issuance of a Standby Letter of Credit (SBLC) which had to comply with strict regulatory requirements in both the Philippines and Indonesia.
Both parties demonstrated their expertise in handling cross-border compliance, ensuring the deal’s successful and timely execution. They also managed the transaction’s legal and operational complexities including duallanguage documentation and differing SBLC frameworks with strict timelines.
This highlights MPTC’s move to expand its regional footprint and cement its commitment to improving mobility infrastructure across Southeast Asia.
“This recognition from The Asian Banker reflects MPTC’s growing capability to execute inter-regional strategic investments,” said Emlyn Amaya, AVP for Corporate Finance and Treasury of MPTC. “We are honored to be part of a transaction that sets a benchmark
The Mall
l NUSTAR Cebu bags 3 major awards at property awards
Tcreating spaces that are as iconic as they are meaningful to the communities they serve.
“As one of our tenants remarked, The Mall at NUSTAR is by far the most beautiful mall in the country and this award affirms that,” said May Adolfo, General Manager of The Mall | NUSTAR Cebu. The PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards, now in its 13th year, is regarded as the gold standard of real estate excellence in the country, celebrating the nation’s most distinguished developments across design, innovation, and sustainability. For The Mall | NUSTAR to secure three wins in highly competitive categories underscores the project’s unmatched quality and vision. The Mall | NUSTAR Cebu continues to reshape the luxury shopping experience in the Visayas and Mindanao. The awards signal Cebu’s growing stature as a center for luxury, design,
British Chamber, Shell Energy PHL Highlight Clean Energy Transition
THE British Chamber of Commerce Philippines (BCCP) in partnership with Shell Energy Philippines Inc. (SEPH) and BusinessMirror as media partner, are set to host the event titled “Powering Progress: A Look into the Philippine Clean Energy Transition” on September 18, 2025 at the Colliers Head Office. The event will delve into the public and private sector’s insights on the current developments of the Philippines’ momentum towards achieving its clean energy transition and objectives. The country has previously set its commitment to achieving a minimum of 35 percent renewable energy share in the country’s power generation mix by 2030, with a longer-term goal of reaching 50 percent by 2040, as indicated by its National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) 2020–2040.
NREP has identified key action points to achieve its goal, particularly through institutionalizing wider application of renewable energy technologies and encouraging greater private investments in the sector.
In an interview, BCCP Executive Vice Chair Chris Nelson said that, “Lots of the priority areas as part of this partnership are in infrastructure as well as clean
energy. These are things that the UK has a huge expertise in, hopefully, there is going to be lots more investments from the UK. Even where there is investment from other countries, we love to work closely [with other countries] to make sure that our expertise and some of these really critical infrastructure projects can help to support its successful implementation.”
Meanwhile, British Embassy Manila Deputy Head of Mission Mike Welch, cDa a.i. also previously noted that, “Our shared goal is to align with international best practices, optimize current structures... One that boosts domestic confidence, fosters healthy competition and builds a strong pipeline across offshore wind projects, supporting the clean energy transition.”
According to BloombergNEF’s 2024 Climatescope report, the Philippines ranked as the second most attractive market for renewable energy investments, reinforcing the investment opportunities for both local and foreign companies to support the country’s shift toward clean energy.
Interested participants may register through this link: https://britcham.org.ph/events/trade-connect-cleanenergy/.
Prof. Raymond Tan Prof. Allan B. I. Bernardo
Prof. Anthony SF Chiu
How to stay relevant amidst AI
THIS column completes our initial foray into AI, which inevitably is here to stay. Earlier, we explored how we can apply AI as communicators—for networking and if it can make us more creative.
Now, with the help of Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Katrina Berg, we discuss how we can remain relevant as AI continues to evolve. After all, they say in an article in Fast Company, “the question is no longer whether AI will automate aspects of your job. It’s whether you’ll have the initiative and creativity to out-evolve the automation.”
They add that a recent survey by Deloitte found that while 94 percent of executives believe AI will dramatically shift work models, only 17 percent have a clear plan for what the shift actually looks like. This gives us a “golden opportunity to reimagine our job.” Here, they share with us 10 Ways to Avoid Losing Your Job to AI:
1. Reinvest time saved by AI into higher value, human centric tasks WE do save a lot of time using AI. And we can benefit by using it wisely. Spend that freed-up time by deepening client relationships, monitoring col -
IMAGINATION PEOPLES THE AIR: PHL BRINGS UNIQUE NARRATIVES TO THE BIGGEST GLOBAL BOOK FAIR
MANILA, PHILIPPINES—Over 400 Philippine delegates—official and independent authors, illustrators, artists, creatives, and publishers—will travel to Frankfurt, filling the halls of the world’s most important book fair with a Philippine perspective rich in unique stories and imagination.
The 2,000-square-meter Philippine Guest of Honour Pavilion (PHL GOH), with the theme The imagination peoples the air, is a living, immersive stage brimming with Filipino creativity, rather than just a static exhibition.
Curated by Patrick Flores and designed by Stanley Ruiz, the Pavilion highlights the integrity of Philippine materials and technologies, conversing with industrial elements, and the ingenuity to repurpose and refunction. The open communal space, with modular rattan and bamboo seating, offers visitors a flexible setting to explore 500 Philippine book titles on display. The translucent walls double as a canvas for works
leagues, or solving problems that require empathy or judgement.
2. Bridge communication gaps ACT as the translator between technical and non-technical teams. AI still struggles with nuance, humor, and reading the emotional temperature of a room.
3. Combine skills in unique and strategic ways BE a generalist with spikes— someone who blends multiple competencies across fields, forming a professional footprint that’s hard to duplicate.
4. Make yourself unpredictable ENGINEER viability into your
by Gary-Ross Pastrana, Mervin Malonzo, and seminal artist David Medalla.
The PHL GOH Pavilion will feature over 100 talks, readings, and performances curated by Karina Bolasco, exploring urgent global issues, including human rights, democracy, climate change, geopolitics, children’s literature, religion, race, queer stories, and more, from the perspective of our diverse culture and multiple languages.
A distinctive element of the Philippine GOH program is that conversations end with performances that echo the topics. An example is the discussion How Do We Write About Climate Change? featuring poet Marjorie Evasco, with Maria Paz Luna and Red Constantino that ends with a performance of National Artist Ryan Cayabyab’s song Paraiso by The Philippine Madrigal Singers and Song Weavers Philippines.
Panels on human rights and democracy are extensive: Framing Stories: Art and Film Resist, Philippine Media: Struggles for Freedom, and West Philippine Sea: Ecology and Assertion, among others.
Poetry for Freedom, Justice, and Peace will run twice a day to present readings and performances as expressions of solidarity with Gaza and Ukraine, and
all other struggles in the world.
A Solidarity for Hope will feature National Artist Virgilio Almario, Turkish writer and President of PEN International Burhan Sönmez, and Indonesian author Ayu Utami.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Maria Ressa and trauma journalist Patricia Evangelista will hold talks at the Philippine GOH Pavilion, as well as central stages. Performers span traditional and contemporary sounds: Morobeats (hip hop), violin duo Justin and Janna Texon, Kuwerdas Filipinas (symphonic rondalla), and Akayu (Kalinga music), to name a few. National Living Treasure Rosie Sula joins the worldrenowned choir The Philippine Madrigal Singers and Song Weavers Philippines.
Beyond the PHL GOH Pavilion, the Philippines extends its presence at the book fair with the Philippine Stand, the Asia Stage, and the Comics Stand. The Philippine Stand serves as the central hub for business and rights negotiations, bringing together 52 major, indie and academic publishers. They will present titles under the genres of fiction, graphic novels, children’s books and young adult, nonfiction, poetry and new adult.
The Asia Stage (co-sponsored by Rex Education and FBM) hosts hourly B2B talks on the Southeast
tasks. Experiment. Cross disciplines. Add complexity that AI can’t duplicate. After all, routine and predictability are blueprints for automation.
5. Strengthen emotional intelligence CULTIVATE empathy, persuasion, adaptability, and the ability to resolve conflicts. These are core human capabilities that are still beyond AI’s reach.
6. Own niche domain knowledge YOU can do this by carving expertise in verticals where context and nuance matter—areas where even the best AI stumbles due to real-world grounding.
Asian market, covering topics like censorship, comics, and generative AI in universities. Across the three venues, there will be 65 sessions of talks, workshops, and discussions.
Outside the fairgrounds: Across Germany and beyond THE Philippines has joined the Frankfurt Book Fair since 1998 and yearly since 2014, but its Guest of Honour role brings greater visibility and demands a broad literary and cultural program across Germany and Europe.
The country partnered with leading German institutions and museums to represent Philippine art, scholarship, and exhibitions on topics such as ethnographic collections, photography, architecture, folklore, comics and graphic novels, and Rizal’s ties to Heidelberg, alongside film screenings, concerts, performances, and publications.
The offsite literary program features readings and signings by translated authors, conversations, discussions and workshops, and participation in German and Swiss literary festivals. Highlights include Jose on the Go: A Rizal Stroll with Ambeth Ocampo in Frankfurt and Booked at Zentralbibliothek: Filipino Plot Twists with writers Jose Dalisay and Beverly W. Siy.
At Romanfabrik, Komiks Live!
7. Invest in your personal brand WRITE, speak, and share your thinking. Visibility creates optionality. People hire and retain people they know, not templates they can replace.
8. Master AI tools in your domain DON’T compete with AI—promote it. Be the go-to person for AI literacy in your field.
9. Be the human in the loop AI often needs human oversight—editing, refining, validating. These judgement calls are increasingly valuable.
10. Stay curious and adaptable TREAT this era not as a tech shift, but as a cognitive revolu -
brings graphic novels to life. In Hanau, Liwaliw at Kulturforum offers Filipino games, food, and music. For the full schedule and exhibitions, see the digital press kit or website.
The Philippines as a creative hub in Asia
THE Philippines enters Frankfurt with one of Asia’s fast-growing creative economies, valued at PhP 1.94 trillion in 2024—7.3 percent of Philippine GDP1. It covers industries such as media, digital services, advertising, publishing, music, visual arts, traditional culture, and cultural events. While publishing’s contribution is small in terms of numbers, publishing plays a key role in visibility, opening markets for film, music, design, and tourism. In 2023, enterprises registered with the NBDB reported sales of P13.76 billion, an uptick from 2020’s all-time low sales of P4.97 billion. Central to the GOH presentation is the NBDB’s Translation Subsidy Program, which has supported the translation of 173 titles sold across languages and genres since 2024.
A visionary and a dream realized IN 2015, Anvil Publishing Manager Bolasco sought Legarda’s support for a modest 60-square-meter stand at the Frankfurt Book
tion. Your ability to unlearn and relearn will be more important than any other static skill set.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (IPRA), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie Dizon, the Senior Vice President for Marketing and Communications of SM, is the former local chair.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.
Fair. Legarda later envisioned a bolder goal for the Philippines to become Guest of Honor—only the second Southeast Asian nation to do so. Legarda aligned cultural agencies, secured funding, and rallied institutions behind the cause. Today’s Guest of Honour participation would not have been possible without the visionary leadership, dogged determination, and unrelenting passion of Senator Loren Legarda, the primary moving force of arts and culture in the Philippines. The vision is executed by PHL GOH co-directors: NBDB’s Executive Director Charisse Aquino-Tugade and NCCA’s Aurea Brigino Lopez. In support is a core team composed veteran players in publishing and creatives themselves— Bolasco, Ani Almario, Kristian Cordero, Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz, and Nida Ramirez, alongside a broad coalition of cultural workers and partners. The PHL GOH is a project of the National Book Development Board (NBDB), the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and the Office of Senator Loren Legarda. The book fair will run from October 15 to 19, 2025. For updates, visit philippinesfrankfurt2025.com and buchmesse. de.
Concepcion targets redemption, Jahns marked man in Negros golf
Fin the
Services Inc. Negros Occidental Classic starring Tuesday at the Negros Occidental Golf and Country
With his game trending upward in recent Philippine Golf Tour stops, Concepcion, 29 and a Southern Utah University product, is eager to finally capture that elusive first win.
T he P2-million event at the storied Marapara layout draws the Tour’s top guns including back-toback leg winner Keanu Jahns.
After finishing seventh at Forest Hills, Concepcion climbed to fourth at Caliraya Springs, where he battled toeto-toe with Jahns and Angelo Que in a high-stakes final round shootout, only to falter under mounting pressure. But Concepcion isn’t the only one with redemption on his mind. Jahns, on the other hand, remains the marked player in the 72-hole championship having won the last two legs with poise and consistency.
A lso in the hunt this week are Aidric Chan, Tony Lascuña, Tae Won Ha, Reymon Jaraula, Russell Bautista, Carl Corpus, Collin Wheeler, Michael Bibat and Sean Ramos.
Adding firepower to the already stacked field is Justin Quiban, who returns to local action after overseas stints.
A three-time winner on the local circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc., Quiban tied for fifth at Caliraya Springs but skipped the Bacolod leg—where he previously triumphed in 2018 after a breakout win at Luisita in 2017.
Quiban ended a five-year winless drought with a dramatic four-hole playoff victory over Marvin Dumandan at South Pacific in 2023, and has since set his sights on international success. He tied for 37th at last week’s Indonesia Open on the Asian Tour, but now turns his focus back to home soil, aiming to capitalize on his momentum.
O thers expected to contend include
Alex Eala: Champion!
LEXANDRA EALA
Aweathered a match marked by dramatic momentum shifts and became the first Filipina to win a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) event, edging out Hungary’s Panna Udvardy, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, in the Guadalajara 125 Open on Saturday in Mexico.
T hings looked bleak early with Eala dropping the first set, but she shook off the sluggish start and leveled the match with the world No. 134 Udvardy in a nip-and-tuck second.
The 20-year-old Filipina, a bronze medalist in the Southeast Asian Games, took control in the third and sealed the win in two hours and 30 minutes.
Eala’s WTA 125 crown is the first singles title in the Open era for a Philippine tennis player.
Fil-Am Treat Huey won eight Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) doubles titles, including three in ATP 500 series events. Huey’s last title was with
EW YORK—Aryna
NSabalenka was two points away from what eventually would be a second consecutive US Open title when she had what should have been a routine—easy, even overhead smash.
Instead, while backpedaling, she dumped the ball into the net, giving her opponent, Amanda Anisimova, a break chance.
After that excruciating miss Saturday, Sabalenka dropped her racket on the blue court and smiled a rueful smile.
She began to feel the sort of emotions that got the better of her during losses in the finals at the Australian Open in January and French Open in June bubble up. She tried to compose herself.
Forest
Mondilla,
leg winner
Josh
Valk and former Marapara champions Ira Alido and Rupert Zaragosa. With a championshipcaliber field assembled and momentum building for players like Concepcion, all eyes now turn to Marapara—where every shot counts, no lead is secure and the playing field is wide open.
“I just let the doubt get into my head,” Sabalenka explained. “But then I turned around and I took a deep breath in, and I was like, ‘OK. It happens. It’s in the past. Let’s focus on the next one.’”
of) sportsmanship in stands
Juan Sebastian Cabal of Colombia in the 2015 Los Cabos Open in Mexico.
Fil- Am Eric Taino won the men’s doubles title in the 1999 Singapore Open, an ATP International Series level event, with Max Mirnyi of Belarus. However, Taino competed under the American flag. He would go on to play for the Philippines in 2005.
World No. 75 Eala is projected to rise to around 70th spot when the rankings are updated this week.
Eala defeated Arianne Hartono of the Netherlands, 6-2, 6-2 in the Round of 32 before beating Varvara Lepchenko of the US, 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 6-3.
T he Filipina rising star eliminated Nicole Fossa Huergo of Italy, 7-6(2), 6-2, at the quarterfinal stage and stopped Kayla Day of the US, 6-2, 6-3, in the semifinals.
Eala is expected to see action in another WTA 125 event, the Sao Paulo Open in Brazil, which features home bet and world No. 22 Beatriz Haddad Maia
and No. 47 Hailey Baptiste of the US. A former world No. 2 junior and US Open girls champion in 2022, Eala earlier third year made it to the semifinals of the WTA 1000 Miami Open.
Eala bowed to Jessica Pegula in three sets in the Roud of Four, ending a dream run that included victories over three Grand Slam titlists—Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys and world No. 2 Iga Swiatek.
PBBM: History has been written PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. congratulated Alex Eala in her recent trail-blazing win against Hungary’s Panna Udvardy in Mexico.
“Hist ory has been written by Alex Eala as
S o everything was fine from there? Well, no. “She broke me,” Sabalenka said with a loud laugh. “I was
able to kneel on Arthur Ashe Stadium›s court while covering her face with her hands after beating Anisimova, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
T hat made Sabalenka the first woman to earn the trophy at Flushing Meadows in consecutive years since Serena Williams in 2012-14.
“I truly really admire her,” said No. 8 seed Anisimova, a 24-year-old American who heard raucous support from the 24,000 or so spectators. “She puts in a lot of work, and that’s why
like, ‘OK.... Reset.” It took another 15 minutes to complete the job, but the No. 1-seeded Sabalenka did reset, unlike at those earlier title matches in 2025, and was
she’s where she is.”
S abalenka, a 27-year-old from Belarus, earned her fourth Grand Slam trophy—all on hard courts—and avoided becoming the first woman to lose three major finals in a season since Justine Henin in 2006.
S abalenka was the runner-up to Madison Keys at Melbourne Park and to Coco Gauff at Roland-Garros Those defeats helped on Saturday. “After the
Australian Open, I thought that the right way would be just to forget it and move on. But then the same thing happened at the French Open,” said Sabalenka, who showed up at her postmatch news conference with a bottle of Champagne and a pair of dark goggles atop her head. “So after French Open, I figured that, OK, maybe it’s time for me to sit back and to look at those finals and to maybe learn something, because I didn’t want it to happen again and again and again.”
snatched away a hat intended for a child by his compatriot Kamil Majchzak who just won his match. After being lambasted online,
Szczerek offered an apology online. Before he did, he met up with the boy’s family to personally apologize and return the hat.
W hile his grabbing the hat was in poor taste, he did admit that he got caught up in the emotion of a Polish player’s win.
But a day ago, he hired a security team to protect his family and himself from trolls and sensationalist photographers who have been hounding him. He
A s Anisimova kept making things close again, and the crowd kept getting loud, Sabalenka reminded herself to focus on herself. It worked. When Anisimova trailed Sabalenka 2-0, 30-love as Saturday’s match began, some fans might have wondered: There’s no way there’s going to be a repeat of the Wimbledon, right? That’s because Anisimova’s first major final, in July at the All England Club, ended with a 6-0, 6-0 shutout against Iga Swiatek. AP
ALEX EALA winning the Women’s Tennis Association 125 crown in Guadalajara, Mexico, is the first singles title in the Open era for a Philippine tennis player. GDL FACEBOOK
