CPBRD: Headwinds put GDP goal beyond reach By Justine Xyrah Garcia
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NAVIGATING GLOBAL TIES Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro of the
Philippines speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York on Saturday, September 26, 2026. Lazaro has represented the Philippines in high-level discussions on maritime security, multilateral cooperation, development and migration during the UNGA’s High-Level Week. AP/HEATHER KHALIFA
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HE Philippine government’s bid to grow the economy by 3.5 percent this year is looking “increasingly elusive” amid persistent headwinds, according to the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD). “Evaluating the growth figures of the first half of 2026 against the present macroeconomic context strongly suggest that achieving even the lower-end of the downgraded government’s full-year [gross domestic product] growth target of 3.5 percent seems highly unlikely,” the
CPBRD stated in its new report. The congressional research arm’s assessment adds to a growing number of think tanks that have forecast Philippine growth below the government’s target range of 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent for the year. The economy needs to grow by at least 4.4 percent in the second half to hit the lower end of the target, after expanding by just 2.6 percent in the first half. According to the CPBRD, the economy is being squeezed from both the demand and production sides, while elevated financing costs continue to weigh on activity.
On the demand side, households and businesses are becoming more cautious, with weaker consumption and investment appetite limiting the economy’s ability to generate momentum. Official data showed gross capital formation, a measure of investment, contracted by 9.2 percent in the second quarter, marking its fourth consecutive quarterly decline. Household consumption, meanwhile, grew by just 2.8 percent, its slowest pace outside the pandemic period in more than a decade. The CPBRD linked this to persistent inflation, high borrowing costs, and uncertainty that are
discouraging spending and new investments. “All of these factors, in turn, suggest that the growth potential of the Philippine economy is sorely constrained throughout the near-term,” it added. The weakness is also spilling into production, particularly industry. The CPBRD pointed to the sharp downturn in construction and mining, which contracted by 13.9 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively, as major drags on growth. Services, meanwhile, are no longer providing the same lift they did earlier in the recovery. The See “GDP,” A2
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Monday, September 28, 2026 Vol. 21 No. 349
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By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto @reine_alberto
HILE the national government trimmed its borrowings in August, liabilities could rise again in the coming months as it moves to secure its remaining financing needs and ramp up spending to support economic growth, according to experts. Latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that gross borrowings reached P141.266 billion in August, down by 72.22 percent from P508.527 billion in the same month last year. The sharp decline in borrowings was due to a high base effect from last year, when the government issued its 31st tranche of Retail Treasury Bonds and raised P507.16 billion, which drove up
domestic financing that month. Consequently, domestic borrowings plunged by 74.32 percent to P127.925 billion in August from P498.213 billion a year ago. This consisted of P125.160 billion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds (Tbonds) and P2.765 billion in net Treasury bills (T-bills). The drop in domestic borrowing more than offset the See “PHL debt,” A2
‘NATIONAL STANDARD TO SET PHL UBE APART FROM RIVALS’ By Ada Pelonia
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@adapelonia
HE government will work on establishing a national standard on fresh purple yam (ube) in 2027 as part of efforts to strengthen the tuber’s Philippine identity given the massive demand of the domestic and international markets for the crop. Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (BAFS) Chief Science Research Specialist Alpha Lanuza told the BusinessMirror that it targets to include the creation of a Philippine National Standard (PNS) on fresh purple yam in the pipeline next year. BAFS, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), is mandated to
“formulate and enforce standards of quality in the processing, preservation, packaging, labelling, importation, exportation, distribution, and advertising of agricultural and fisheries products.” “We’re still waiting for the FDC’s [Food Development Center] research on color and flavor as well as the BPI’s [Bureau of Plant Industry] molecular characterization so these can be included in the PNS,” Lanuza recently told this newspaper. She noted that establishing a national standard on purple yam proves crucial at a time when global demand for Philippine ube grows at breakneck speed, owing to its expanding popularity that has muscled its way into overseas cafes See “Ube,” A2
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PHL JOINS NETANYAHU WALKOUT Delegates leave the United Nations General Assembly hall as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (inset) begins his address in New York on Thursday, September 24, 2026. The Philippines joined the mass walkout over the Gaza humanitarian crisis and concerns about actions undermining prospects for a future Palestinian state. The move came against the backdrop of longstanding Philippine-Israeli ties: the Philippines provided safe haven to some 1,300 Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust in Europe, voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 181 on the partition of Palestine in 1947, and established formal diplomatic relations with Israel in 1957. Netanyahu told departing delegates: “If there are any other moral cowards who have not yet left the hall, please do so now.” Story on page A45. UN PHOTOS
BSP: Consumers less gloomy in Q3 By Andrea E. San Juan
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@andreasanjuan
ILIPINO consumers may have become more upbeat about the country’s economic prospects in the third quarter due to expectations of higher earnings, additional sources of income and more stable employment, but they expect inflation to accelerate faster. Based on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) Consumer Expectations Survey (CES) Report for the 3rd Quarter of 2026, the overall Consumer Confidence Index (CI) improved to -29.8 percent in the third quarter, compared to the -42 percent in the second quarter. The CES showed better overall consumer confidence indices across all reference periods—the current quarter, next quarter and next 12 months. However, the CI is still in the
negative territory, which means more respondents are pessimistic than optimistic. The central bank said the overall consumer outlook index is computed as the average of the three component indices, namely: overall economic condition, family financial situation, and family income. The survey showed that the economic condition index improved to -59.4 percent in the third quarter of 2026 from -71.1 percent in the previous quarter. Family financial situation index was also better in the third quarter of 2026 at -20.3 percent from the -36.2 percent in the second quarter. Consumers’ family income index improved to -9.7 percent in the third quarter period from the -18.7 percent in the second quarter of 2026.
Purchases
THE CES showed that Filipino con-
sumers’ sentiment turned less pessimistic for the next quarter as the confidence index improved to -0.8 percent from the -16.3 percent in the second quarter of 2026. Filipino households, meanwhile, have become more upbeat about the next 12 months as the index improved to 9.1 percent from the 0.2 percent index in the second quarter of 2026. “Consistent with the more favorable outlook for the year ahead, more households indicated that they were likely to purchase bigticket items, such as real estate and motor vehicles, over the next 12 months,” the central bank said in a statement. Meanwhile, stronger saving prospects, coupled with weaker spending plans for day-to-day household expenses and lower borrowing intentions, suggest that households remain “prudent” in managing their finances, the BSP said.
The consumer expectations survey also revealed that consumers expect inflation to reach 4 percent in July to September, higher than their 3.3-percent inflation expectation in the second quarter of 2026. This exceeded the BSP’s 3-percent inflation target for 2026 but remained within the 4-percent tolerance ceiling. Consumers expecting higher inflation cited the following concerns: perceived limited measures to mitigate price pressures, rising food and utility prices and tighter supply conditions. The BSP said it continues to monitor developments in the Middle East and their potential effects on business and consumer sentiment, spending, and investment. “These indicators are among those considered in the BSP’s monetary policy decisions,” the central bank said.
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 62.7560 n JAPAN 0.3952 n UK 82.9446 n HK 8.0025 n CHINA 9.3515 n SINGAPORE 49.0626 n AUSTRALIA 43.9857 n EU 71.4101 n KOREA 0.0459 n SAUDI ARABIA 16.7144 Source: BSP (September 25, 2026)
News
BusinessMirror
A2 Monday, September 28, 2026
GDP…
Continued from A1
sector continues to expand, but the CPBRD noted a broad moderation across several service activities during the second quarter. Data showed growth in wholesale and retail trade slowed to 4.6 percent from 4.7 percent in the previous quarter, while transportation and storage eased to 3.8 percent from 5 percent, accommodation and food services to 1.7 percent from 4.8 percent, real estate to 1.3 percent from 3.1 percent, and other services to 1.4 percent from 2.9 percent. “Considering prevailing expectations near-term regarding commodity prices and borrowing costs, these trends can be expected to persist throughout the near-term,” it noted. Agriculture could provide some support, but the CPBRD cautioned that its recent improvement may be difficult to sustain as weather disturbances and rising input costs threaten to weigh on farm output in the succeeding quarters. Compounding these pressures are high borrowing costs, which could further weaken household borrowing and private investment and delay a recovery in demand, according to the think tank. The CPBRD also warned that rising interest rates in developed economies could push Philippine rates higher, further squeezing private investment. “As private demand is already flagging from persistently high inflation, further declines in the appetite for both consumption and investment would push the economy deeper into the doldrums.”
www.businessmirror.com.ph
House subpanel ready to scrutinize national budget
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By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz
HE proposed P7.2-trillion national budget for 2027 will move to the next stage of legislative review after the House of Representatives completed its nine-day plenary deliberations on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 General Appropriations Bill. Following the completion of the lineby-line scrutiny of House Bill 10858— the proposed FY 2027 General Appropriations Bill—the Budget Amendments Review Subcommittee (BARSc) will review proposed amendments, revisions, and adjustments to agency budgets before the measure proceeds to third reading approval scheduled on October 9. The House concluded its nine-day plenary deliberations last Friday, completing the examination of the government’s proposed P7.2-trillion spending plan for 2027. From September 15 to 25, lawmakers conducted extensive reviews of the proposed appropriations of 245 departments, agencies, attached agencies, and
government-owned and controlled corporations, as well as 113-state universities and colleges. Discussions focused on their funding requirements, implementation capacity, program priorities, and alignment with national development goals. The deliberations covered major sectors, including education, agriculture and food security, higher education, social protection, health, energy, transportation, and infrastructure. Among the key issues raised were funding requirements for basic education, agricultural support and irrigation amid climate risks, the budgets of the Commission on Higher Education and State Universities and Colleges, social welfare programs, health ser-
vices, energy resilience initiatives, mass transportation projects, and stronger evaluation and accountability mechanisms for infrastructure spending. House Committee on Appropriations Chairperson Rep. Mikaela Angela B. Suansing said the House would continue strengthening safeguards in crafting the 2027 General Appropriations Act, particularly in setting clearer rules and standards for the evaluation and utilization of government funds. “Having successfully abolished the ‘Small Committee’ and constituted the Budget Amendments Review Subcommittee, or BARSc, last year, the BARSc will once again deliberate on amendments to the 2027 national budget in a manner that is open and transparent to the public,” stressed Suansing. She also emphasized the need for stronger reportorial requirements and continued coordination with the Department of Budget and Management, including matters involving the Local Government Support Fund. She assured that projects included in the House General Appropriations Bill and eventually in the General Appropriations Act would comply with the same documentary standards required by the Department of Public Works and Highways. She further highlighted the importance of climate preparedness and fiscal responsibility, assuring lawmakers that the proposed budget was being reviewed with consideration for possible climate-related challenges and fiscal constraints. “The 2027 budget is El Niño ready. We will do our best; I give you my assurance,” Suansing said. Under the 2027 national budget, the government has proposed around P45.67 billion for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (NDRRMF) to provide additional fiscal support for El Niño and other disaster-related emergencies. Suansing also cited the lower level of unprogrammed appropriations under the 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP), saying the proposed amount represents the lowest unprogrammed appropriations-to-
total-expenditure ratio in decades. “It is also noteworthy that the current level of unprogrammed appropriations, as reflected in the 2027 National Expenditure Program [NEP], represents the lowest ratio of unprogrammed appropriations to the total expenditure program. This is the lowest level of unprogrammed appropriations in a long time. This is also the view of the Department of Budget and Management [DBM]: if an item is programmable and identifiable, it is placed under programmed appropriations rather than unprogrammed appropriations,” she said. The Department of Budget and Management has proposed P111.984 billion in unprogrammed appropriations for 2027, equivalent to around 1.6 percent of the Total Expenditure Program. This represents the lowest proposed share since 1991 and the lowest proposed amount at the NEP level since 2019. Suansing said the national budget must serve not only as a financial document but also as a framework for responsible public spending. “Our goal over the course of these deliberations is to craft a 2027 budget that would accelerate growth despite this challenging fiscal landscape, which would give due consideration and prioritization to the pressing needs of our most salient social and economic sectors,” she said. The House is also coordinating with the Senate to once again open the bicameral conference committee proceedings on the national budget to the public for the second consecutive year. At P7.2 trillion, the proposed 2027 national budget is about 6 percent higher than the P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026 and is equivalent to approximately 21.7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. By sector, social services continue to receive the largest share of the proposed budget at P2.456 trillion, or 34.1 percent of the total expenditure program. Economic services account for P1.833 trillion, followed by general public services at P1.317 trillion, debt burden at P1.143 trillion, and defense at P452.4 billion.
PHL debt…
geopolitical risks, said Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. However, global bond yields are on the rise and could stay high into 2027, putting upward pressure on local bond yields, said ANZ Research in a note. This could make borrowing costs for the government more expensive, as the research arm of Australia-based ANZ Banking Group Ltd. said the Philippines is particularly “most exposed” to this external pressure in the near term. “The 2027 budget proposals recently released in Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea and the Philippines offer little respite, with refinancing needs, energy support measures and investment programs keeping issuance elevated,” ANZ Research said. “Higher US dollar/peso exchange rate and local/global interest rates since the war on Iran/ Middle East started since February 28, 2026 could [also] lead to higher debt servicing costs,” Ricafort added. The Treasury is set to offer on Tuesday its 32nd tranche of RTBs to retail investors, providing an avenue to park their funds while helping to fund the government’s programs and projects. This is part of the government’s full-year borrowing plan of P2.733 trillion, of which P1.918 trillion will be sourced from domestic lenders while P815.505 billion will come from external sources.
Continued from A1
29.34-percent increase in external financing, mainly project loans, during the month, which rose to P13.341 billion from P10.314 billion a year earlier. Despite the steep decline in its borrowings during the month, the government’s gross financing in January to August was broadly unchanged from a year earlier. During the eight-month period, the government’s total gross borrowings reached P2.254 trillion, just 0.52 percent lower than the P2.266 trillion raised a year ago. Domestic financing, accounting for the bulk of the government’s borrowing, stood at P1.675 trillion, 8.91 percent lower than the P1.839 trillion raised in the same period last year. This was made up of P1.282 trillion in T-bonds and P393.666 billion in net T-bills. External borrowings, meanwhile, rose by 35.65 percent to P578.197 billion from P426.232 billion a year earlier. This came after the government raised P314.371 billion in dollar-denominated global bonds and received P106.219 billion in project loans and P157.607 billion in program loans. Borrowings could increase in the coming months as the government catches up on spending to pumpprime the economy and boost economic growth to cope with
Ube…
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and restaurants. “The standard will provide clear and consistent requirements for the safety, quality, grading, handling, and marketing of fresh ube, supporting regulation and strengthening the competitiveness of Philippine ube in domestic and international markets.” Furthermore, Lanuza pointed out that the PNS on purple yam could safeguard the identity of Philippine ube. This, as the DA flagged existing bottlenecks in domestic purple yam production that choke off supply, including fragmented supply chains and inconsistent quality standards. “The standard can also provide a recognized technical basis for identifying and distinguishing Philippine fresh ube, including its molecular characteristics and unique flavor and color attributes,” Lanuza said. “This can help protect and strengthen the identity and market position of Philippine ube while supporting its development as a high-value agricultural commodity.” The DA recently slapped an indefinite ban on exports of fresh ube to safeguard the country’s planting material given the stiff competition among producers to meet booming global demand. (See: https:// businessmirror.com.ph/2026/09/11/phl-bansexports-of-purple-yam-as-global-demandsoars/). The move excludes value-added products, such as powdered ube, ube halaya, and paste. Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. told the BusinessMirror that the temporary ban would protect the country’s planting material from a potential wave of poaching among other nations. Ube is propagated by cutting a whole tuber into small pieces. “We don’t want to export planting material. We severely lack it ourselves and other countries might use it to compete with us,” he said. The DA noted that its strategy is centered on building an ample stockpile in the domestic market before ramping up exports of the crop as local production lags behind soaring demand. To boost output, the government has introduced a swath of interventions, including expanding production of planting materials through tissue culture, community-based nurseries, and the mini-sett propagation technique.
Rice harvest… Continued from A45
For the next 12 months, the index declined to 17.1 percent in August from the 20.8 percent in July.
Inflation expectations
WHILE firms have pegged a lower inflation expectation for the next 12 months, they are expecting the rate to linger above 4 percent—the upper bound of BSP’s inflation target range—due to continued oil price hikes, uncertainty over the resolution of the Middle East conflict and decreasing purchasing power. Based on the report, Philippine businesses now see inflation for the year ahead averaging at 5.4 percent compared to their 5.6 percent forecast in July. “The BSP continues to monitor developments in the Middle East and their potential effects on business and consumer sentiment, spending, and investment. These indicators are among those considered in the BSP’s monetary policy decisions,” the central bank said in a statement over the weekend.
Tieza…
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District Rep. Ma. Bernadette Escudero-Quirante was the sponsor of the DOT’s budget. (See, “DOT budget gets HOR backing,” in the BusinessMirror, Sept. 9, 2026). There is an ongoing P100-million eco-tourism project funded by Tieza in the Dinagat Islands from which Dagooc hails. The project, signed between the provincial government and Tieza in July, involves the construction of a boardwalk and related structures leading to watersports areas in the Gaas Inlet. The House of Representatives has already passed a measure on the lifting of the travel tax, but the Senate has yet to pass its own version. While lawmakers earlier vowed they will get funding for Tieza projects under the General Appropriations Act next year, Tieza received zero allocation in the NEP 2027, imperiling multi-year projects. Tourism officials and private stakeholders had already expressed serious concerns of the removal of the travel tax as it may disrupt many multi-year infrastructure projects. (See, “Tourism competitiveness at risk in travel tax junking,” in the BusinessMirror, Feb. 23, 2026.)
www.businessmirror.com.ph
Monday, September 28, 2026
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Comelec stands down PHL pushes stronger security on BSKE preparations PNP to use additional time
By Mary Jade Jadormio & Rex Anthony Naval
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HE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has halted preparations for the 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) after President Marcos signed the law that moved the polls to November 2028. Comelec Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia said the Commission en banc has stopped election-related activities after confirming that Republic Act 12326 had been signed and published, making it immediately effective. “A commission en banc session earlier decided to stop the activities related to our preparations for the November 2, 2026 Barangay and SK Elections,” Garcia said. RA 12326 moves the next regular BSKE from Nov. 2 to the second Monday of November 2028, with succeeding polls to be held every five years. The Comelec said the filing of certificates of candidacy, which was scheduled from September 28 to October 5, will no longer proceed. “There will no longer be filing of certificates of candidacy starting Monday, September 28 until October 5,” Garcia said, explaining that the law signed by Marcos had already been verified as published in the Official Gazette. Garcia said the postponement could also mean the eventual cancellation of activities that the Comelec had already scheduled for the Nov. 2 elections, with the Commission expected to issue a formal resolution covering the matter. Garcia said the postponement could affect election preparations already undertaken by the Comelec, although some election materials may still be preserved and used for future polls. However, under the Comelec’s latest action, the ongoing printing of additional ballots, accountable forms and voter lists will continue until the allocated quantities are completed, while pending procurement of BSKE forms and supplies will also be finished. Election materials already printed or procured for the 2026 BSKE will be secured, properly stored and preserved for future use, the poll body said.
THE National Police (PNP) on Sunday announced that it will use the time gained by the suspension of this year’s barangay elections to “refine its election-security planning, strengthen coordination with partner agencies, and incorporate lessons from recent electoral exercises” for the 2028 BSKE. For the PNP, the new law provides the basis for adjusting its future security planning and coordination with the Comelec, local governments, and other concerned agencies. “The PNP’s role in election security is likewise anchored on existing election laws, including Section 261(r) of the Omnibus Election Code, which provides for the deputation of law-enforcement agencies for the protection and security of the electoral process,” it added. Likewise, the PNP can also build on its recent experience during the September 2026 BARMM parliamentary elections, which the PNP assessed as generally peaceful and orderly, while maintaining coordination with Comelec and other concerned agencies. The PNP chief, Gen Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., said the additional time will allow the organization to prepare based on actual security conditions and lessons from previous elections. “We can look at what worked, what needs to be improved, and what new concerns we need to prepare for. By the time the elections come, our people should already know their roles and our coordination should already be in place,” he added. Nartatez said the w ill continue rev iew ing election-securit y ex periences and emerging local conditions as part of its preparations. Coordination with Comelec and other stakeholders will help ensure that police support is aligned with the actual security requirements of the 2028 BSKE. Rather than limiting preparations to election day, the PNP will continue monitoring developments that may affect the security environment before and during the electoral period.
for seafarers, intl cooperation
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By Malou Talosig-Bartolome
HE Philippines called for stronger maritime security and greater international cooperation to safeguard critical maritime infrastructure, arguing that threats to seafarers and commercial shipping have become direct threats to global trade, supply chains and human security.
Addressing the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Foreign Affairs Secretary Maria Teresa Lazaro underscored the contribution of migrant workers and seafarers to the global economy while calling for stronger protection of their rights and welfare. Lazaro noted that nearly 90 percent of world trade is transported by sea and supported by close to
two million seafarers worldwide, more than 25 percent of whom are Filipinos. “They are essential workers, yet increasingly vulnerable to conflict and attacks at sea,” Lazaro said, citing a recent incident in the Strait of Hormuz that claimed the lives of Filipino seafarers and injured others. “Their tragedy reminds us that maritime security is human secu-
rity,” she added. The Philippines has become increasingly vocal on maritime security as Filipino seafarers continue to bear the human cost of conflicts in some of the world’s most critical shipping routes. Across the Red Sea, Strait of Hormuz and Black Sea, at least nine Filipino seafarers have been killed in recent maritime security incidents linked to armed conflicts and geopolitical tensions, government reports indicate. Lazaro said that for the Philippines, an archipelagic and maritime nation, the safety of ships and seafarers cannot be separated from supply chains and global commerce. “Open and secure seas, free from interference and coercion, are vital to our security, our economy and our people,” she said. Lazaro reaffirmed the Philippines’ commitment to international law, describing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) as the “constitution of the oceans.” She noted that 2026 marks a decade since the landmark 2016
Davao City mayor, former senator PNP to acquire to testify in Sara impeachment trial more motorcycles By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie
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AVAO City Mayor Sebastian Duterte and former senator Antonio Trillanes IV are expected to testify in Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s impeachment trial this week as House of Representatives prosecutors continue presenting evidence related to allegations of unexplained wealth, business interests, and financial transactions. The Senate Impeachment Court will resume hearings with prosecutors scheduled to complete the testimony of Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) Division Chief Rendell Sopeña before calling
additional witnesses. Following Sopeña’s testimony, prosecutors are ex pected to call Mayor Duterte, lawyer Gary Samonte of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Phi lHea lt h) Reg iona l Of f ice XI Bids and Awards Committee Secretariat and Maj. Joe Rickson Sanggalang of the National Police (PNP) Firearms and Explosives Office. Sopeña previously testified about gover nment cont rac ts awarded to Gencorp Industries Inc., a company that Vice President Duterte declared as a business interest in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs). PhilGEPS records showed that Gencor p received 49 gover n-
ment contracts worth a combined P35.878 million during Duterte’s vice presidency. These included contracts from Davao City, PhilHealth Region XI, and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Region XI. The prosecution said these transactions are relevant to its allegation that Duterte did not fully separate herself from business and financial interests after assuming the vice presidency. Prosecutors cited Article VII, Section 13 of the Constitution, which restricts certain officials from participating in businesses or having financial interests in government contracts while in office. See “Sara,” A4
Solons set to ask Ombudsman to probe Senator cites need for fair verdict in impeach case claims Duterte got ‘suitcases of cash’
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HE House of Representatives impeachment prosecution panel is set to seek an investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman into allegations that Vice President Sara Duterte received more than P2 billion in cash-filled suitcases Impeachment trial spokesperson and adviser Ace Barbers said the allegations should be examined by the proper government agency, even if they may no longer be included as part of the ongoing impeachment trial against Duterte. “We will probably seek the intervention of the appropriate agency. In this case, this is the Ombudsman, who has to conduct the investigation and file the charges if it merits the filing of such charges against the respondent,” Barbers said in an interview over the weekend. The House prosecution panel official said the allegations require serious scrutiny and that an investigation would also provide an opportunity for those accused to respond and clear their names. “This should not be ignored. It should be thoroughly investigated so that the truth will come out,” Barbers said. The allegation was raised by police Cpl. Rodulfo Gracioso Jr., who claimed that he served as the former security head of then-Speaker Lord Allan Velasco. Gracioso alleged that he delivered cash-filled suitcases to Duterte more than 20 times on Velasco’s orders, with the total amount exceeding P2 billion. Gracioso also claimed that he delivered money to former President Rodrigo Duterte and Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is currently reviewing his sworn affidavit and other information submitted to investigators. Vice President Duterte has denied knowing Gracioso or receiving money from him. Her lawyers said they are waiting for an official copy of his affidavit from the NBI before pursuing possible legal action. Barbers said Gracioso’s claim that he had ties to a former House leader known to be close to the Duterte family was among the reasons the allegation should be investigated. “The information came from someone who was reportedly trusted by the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, who is known by the public to have been very close to the Duterte family,” Barbers said. He also denied that the House prosecution panel had any involvement in Gracioso’s disclosure, saying the information would have been included earlier in the impeachment proceedings if it had been available. See “Probe,” A4
South China Sea Arbitral Award, which remains final and legally binding and demonstrates how international law provides peaceful means for states to clarify rights and settle disputes. “The Philippines stands firm in its conviction that disputes must be resolved through diplomacy and law, not violence and might,” Lazaro said. She also called for efforts to protect maritime security to extend beyond shipping lanes to critical maritime infrastructure, including undersea cables, strategic sea lanes, ports and offshore facilities that underpin global trade and connectivity. Rather than waiting for threats to emerge, states should work toward a framework anchored on Unclos that establishes clear rules, rights and obligations governing critical maritime infrastructure, she said. The proposal comes amid growing concerns over attacks on commercial vessels and the vulnerability of maritime infrastructure crucial to global commerce, energy flows and digital communications.
By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
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FAIR decision on the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte— one that is based on evidence— will bring much-needed stability to the country, Senator-Judge Panfilo M. Lacson said over the weekend. Lacson made the statement in response to a question from organizers of the Philippine Constitu-
tion Association (Philconsa)’s 65th anniversary celebration in Makati City, on what kind of decision would help bring stability to the country’s politics and democracy. “A fair decision will bring stability to the country... As long as the decision is fair and based on evidence as presented without any political color, then it will bring stability to the country,” he said. But Lacson pointed out that the trial has not reached the stage for
a decision, because the defense has yet to present its side. “Hind i pa complete, because the defense has not yet presented their evidence. We only hear one side of the story. We need to hear the other side [It is not yet complete. The defense has not presented its evidence. We only hear one side of the story. We need to hear the other side,” he said. See “Impeach,” A4
‘Marcos drive vs corruption more serious than before’
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HE Marcos administration’s fight against corruption, particularly in public works, is more serious and extensive than that of the previous administration, according to a legal professor and activist. “If you look at it now in the Marcos time, tingin ko mas serious iyong accountability, mas serious ang transparency kasi mas marami siyang napakulong, whether kaibigan niya or kamag-anak,” lawyer Howard Calleja said in a recent television interview. Calleja said corruption was also uncovered in the Department of Public Works and Highways during the time of former
President Rodrigo Duterte but nothing was done about it. “So I think we have to look at the records, what happened during those six years of Duterte? Hindi ba dineclare na nga niya na maraming corruption sa DPWH, maraming corruption sa Customs, etc, pero may napakulong ba sila at that time?” Calleja said. In contrast, President Marcos himself exposed the corruption in flood-control projects and ordered a deep and thorough investigation leading to the filing of charges against several contractors and government officials, including the former Speaker.
Calleja also noted that then-Ombudsman Samuel Martirez, a Duterte appointee, even prevented access to statements of assets and liabilities (SALN) of top government officials. He recalled that while Duterte ordered lifestyle checks on government officials, Martirez declared: “The SALN is just a paper. Hindi ko nga ilalabas iyan.” “So ang tanong din during the time of Ombudsman Martirez, may nagawa ba? May nakulong ba? Mayroong nakulong noong panahon ni P-noy [former President Benigno Aquino], pinakawalan pa nila,” Calleja added.
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HE National Police (PNP) on Sunday said that it is enhancing its mobility capabilities with the acquisition and deployment of additional motorcycle units. In a statement, the PNP chief, Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., said the move aims to cut response time to emergency calls and crime incidents across the country aside from improving frontline services, particularly in areas where police personnel need faster access to communities during emergencies. “Gone are the days when policemen are being portrayed in movies as always the last to arrive in an emergency situation. The prevailing mindset now is pro-active, quick response and crime solution efficiency. And when it comes to crime prevention and quick response, a sufficient and appropriate number of mobility assets really matter,” he added. And when it comes to crime prevention and quick response, a sufficient and appropriate number of mobility assets really matter, Nartatez added. He emphasized that the PNP is expanding the deployment of motorcycles in regions where terrain and distance often affect response operations, noting that far-flung police offices are among the priority recipients of future acquisitions. He also emphasized the practicality of motorcycles as back-up mobility assets in urban areas with daily traffic woes and narrow alleys. The procurement will come with motorcycle-riding training programs for police personnel. A total of P2 billion has been allocated under the PNP Capability Enhancement Program, which supports the procurement of mobility assets and other operational requirements of the police force. The PNP chief noted that while the organization continues to benefit from support provided by other government agencies, the acquisition of operational assets remains a key component of the PNP’s modernization and resource program. Rex Anthony Naval
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Land transport riders to pay higher fares starting Monday M
Metro Manila minimum wage hike takes effect By Mary Jade Jadormio
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OMMUTERS will pay more for jeepney, bus, transport network vehicle (TNV) and airport taxi rides starting Monday, aS the Department of Transportation (DOTr) approved fare adjustments for public utility vehicles (PUVs) that had been suspended since March. Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez approved the recommendation of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to implement the adjustments, citing the continued rise in fuel prices and its impact on the transport sector. “The existing PUV fares are the fares from before the fuel crisis. That is why they are no longer enough for our drivers and operators to earn a decent income. This fare increase is timely so we can ensure there are enough PUVs on the road and our commuters have rides,” Lopez said in Filipino. Under the approved rates, the minimum fare for traditional jeepneys rises 7.7 percent to P14 from P13 for the first four kilometers, while the rate for every kilometer thereafter climbs 11.1 percent to P2 from P1.80. Modern jeepneys will charge a minimum fare of P17 for the first four kilometers, up 13.3 percent from P15, and P2.40 for every succeeding kilometer, up 9.1 percent from P2.20.
For city buses, the minimum fare for ordinary units increases 15.4 percent to P15 from P13 for the first five kilometers, with the succeedingkilometer rate rising 10.7 percent to P2.49 from P2.25. Air-conditioned city buses will charge P18 for the first five kilometers, up 20 percent from P15, and P2.98 per succeeding kilometer, up 12.5 percent from P2.65. Provincial buses also get higher rates. The minimum fare for ordinary units rises 9.1 percent to P12 from P11 for the first five kilometers, while the succeeding-kilometer rate climbs 15.8 percent to P2.20 from P1.90. Per-kilometer rates for other classes increase as follows: Air-conditioned: 16.7 percent to P2.45 from P2.10; Deluxe: 15.6 percent to P2.60 from P2.25; Super deluxe: 14.9 percent to P2.70 from P2.35; and Luxury: 15.5 percent to P3.35 from P2.90. Transport network vehicle services (TNVS) receive some of the steepest increases. Rates for hatchbacks rise
57.1 percent to P55 from P35, sedans 44.4 percent to P65 from P45, AUVs and SUVs 36.4 percent to P75 from P55, and premium units 13.8 percent to P165 from P145. A pick-up fare of P15 per kilometer was also approved. Airport taxis will charge P115 for the first 500 meters, up 53.3 percent from P75, while the P4 rates for every 300 meters and every two minutes remain unchanged. Point-to-point (P2P) bus services were granted a 15-percent increase on existing fares. Traditional UV Express units can start charging P2.60 per kilometer, up 8.3 percent from P2.40, and modern units, P3 per kilometer, up 20 percent from P2.50. For regular taxis, the DOTr approved a 30 percent increase to P65 from P50, premium silver taxis 60 percent to P80 from P50, and premium gold taxis 58.3 percent to P95 from P60. The DOTr and LTFRB had consulted with various transport groups before the rates were first approved in March. “We thank our transport groups as well as our commuters for your understanding while we studied these fare adjustments. Any decision the agency makes really has to be balanced. You are our top priority in all the programs we implement at the DOTr,” Lopez said. PUVs must post their updated fare matrices in their units before charging passengers the new rates. The complete matrices can be downloaded from the LTFRB website.
Lopez also ordered PUVs to keep granting the mandatory 20-percent fare discount to students, senior citizens and persons with disabilities. The National Federation of Transport Cooperatives said the approval recognizes the real costs borne by drivers and operators amid the continued rise in oil prices, and asked the public to understand the change. “The additional peso is not just a number, but food, school allowance and payment for the promise of every family that depends on driving,” the group said in Filipino. Bus operators Victory Liner and Genesis Transport Service Inc. issued identical statements saying that the “fare adjustment provides essential support for operators to continue dispatching safe and roadworthy buses, maintain routes, protect jobs and serve communities throughout the country.” The bus operators said they recognized that the increase adds to the burden of passengers already coping with a higher cost of living. “It is not a reason for celebration, but a necessary measure to help preserve the public transport service on which millions of Filipinos depend,” they said. TN VS Community Philippines (TCP) said in a statement that the adjustment “is not only financial help amid economic challenges; it is a major recognition of the value and dignity of every TNVS driver and operator who strives every day to deliver safe, reliable and quality service.”
@llectura
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HE Philippines has introduced the most fossil fuel and renewable energy (RE) policies in the region from February to July this year. Citing a report from research group Zero Carbon Analytics, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said the Philippines has introduced the most energy policies since the start of the Iran conflict, with 22 in total, leading in both fossil fuel and renewable energy policies. “This is likely due to its declaration of a national energy emergency on March 24, 2026,” Garin said. The policies are a combination of immediate oil procurement and price controls with long-term clean energy acceleration. “The declaration included a list of emergency relief measures, such as
directly procuring oil and increasing government control over fuel prices, as well as longer-term steps to accelerate renewables, EVs and energy efficiency across all sectors,” she added. The report indicates that the Philippines leads in the total number of renewables and electrification policies released, at 13. The DOE aims to increase renewable energy’s share in the power mix to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040, focusing on solar, wind, and geothermal projects. Also, EV sales have accelerated sharply, supported by the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act promoting sustainable transport adoption. “Our analysis found that more of the renewable energy and electrification policies introduced since the war focus on long-term change, with
implementation periods of roughly three years or more, while more fossil fuel policies focus on temporary measures, to be implemented in less than six months,” the Brussels-based group said. It also noted that renewables and electrification are seen as long-term solutions for future energy systems, while fossil fuel policies were primarily focused on temporary relief. The Philippines introduced at least seven solar power policies since the start of the war. The proposed Sariling Kuryente Act, for instance, aims to make solar and battery energy storage system installation easier for households by removing permitting requirements and utility-applied charges, while the DOE fast-tracked net-metering applications to help lower electricity bills. “These measures align with the
Philippines’ overall ramp-up of solar in the past year: during the first five months of the war, the Philippines imported more than double the amount of solar capacity from China compared to the same period last year,” it said. Besides the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand have released the most clean energy policies, at seven and six, respectively. Both countries have issued policies that aim to restructure the current energy system. “These findings indicate that governments of Southeast Asian countries, many of which have abundant renewable energy resouces, are looking to renewables and electrification as the long-term solution to fossil fuelrelated power crises,” it said. Conducted in August, the analysis covered the six-month period from February to July 2026 during the Iran crisis.
Land alone won’t seal the deal for investors–FPIP By Bless Aubrey Ogerio
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NDUSTRIAL investors are looking beyond available land when choosing where to locate, with i n f r a st r uc t u re, sk i l le d work ers and established supplier networks increasingly shaping decisions on where to put up manufacturing operations, First Philippine Industrial Park (FPIP) said. Ramon A. Carandang, FPIP vice president and head of marketing, external relations and communications, said investors need an industrial en-
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“We have nothing to do with this. If we had known about this earlier, it should have already been released and included among the Articles of Impeachment or among the
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Lacson previously stressed that speeding up the proceedings should mean maximizing the limited hearing
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Lorenz S. Marasigan
PHL introduces most fossil fuel, RE policies in 2026 By Lenie Lectura
INIMUM wage earners in the National Capital Region (NCR) started receiving a P60 daily wage increase on September 26, as Wage Order NCR-28 took full effect, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) said. The increase raised the minimum wage for nonagricultural workers to P755 per day from P695, while workers in agriculture, small retail and service establishments, and small manufacturing establishments now receive P718 from P658. Dole said about 1.1 million minimum wage earners in Metro Manila are covered by the wage adjustment. The new rates cover workers in agriculture, as well as retail and service establishments employing 15 workers or less and manufacturing establishments regularly employing fewer than 10 workers. Labor Secretary Francis N. Tolentino in announcing the wage increase said, “This
vironment that is already capable of supporting their operations rather than simply a vacant site. “We keep strengthening that environment, not just adding space, so it stays ready for whoever comes next,” Carandang said during a visit by international investors to the industrial estate in Batangas earlier this month. The delegation was part of a program organized by the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) to promote the Luzon Economic
Corridor (LEC) initiative. The estate’s supplier network links manufacturers with supporting industries and service providers, allowing companies to source some of their requirements within the surrounding industrial ecosystem. FPIP is a 600-hectare industrial estate in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, with more than 80,000 employees working across aerospace, electronics, motor vehicles, food and other advanced manufacturing sectors. Collins Aerospace, one of FPIP’s aerospace locators, operates one of its
largest international facilities at the estate, where it manufactures aircraft interior products such as seats, galleys and galley inserts for the global aerospace market. FPIP’s location in Batangas also places the estate within the LEC, a government-backed economic corridor linking Subic, Clark, Metro Manila and Batangas. T he cor r idor i s i nte nde d to strengthen industrial and logistics connections among the four areas and attract investments in manufacturing and other industries.
issues being pursued,” Barbers said. He added that the allegation only surfaced recently because a witness may have decided to come forward and request an investigation. Barbers acknowledged that the allegation may no longer be introduced as evidence in the impeachment trial because the issues to be discussed were already
defined during the pre-trial conference and included in the impeachment court’s trial order. “The impeachment court is discussing the matters agreed upon during the pretrial conference, and the trial order issued by the clerk of court guides the proceedings,” Barbers said. Despite this, Barbers maintained
that government agencies should still investigate the allegation because of its significance. Barbers rejected claims from Duterte’s allies that the timing of Gracioso’s disclosure was meant to influence the impeachment proceedings, saying witnesses should be allowed to come forward when they decide to reveal information. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz
The House lead prosecutor, Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, pointed to Duterte’s own declaration of Gencorp in her SALNs as part of their argument. “The admission came from the respondent herself,” Luistro said, referring to Duterte’s disclosure of the company as a business interest. Luistro also emphasized that the allegation involving unexplained wealth includes the issue of failing to divest from business interests. She said, “Please remember that the last part of Article II of the Articles of Impeachment involves the nondivestment of other business and financial interests.” Mayor Duterte has been subpoenaed to appear before the Impeachment Court from September 28 to 30. Prosecutors said they plan to question him about Davao City government transactions involving Gencorp. Luistro earlier said, “We hope he appears because his testimony will be significant.” House prosecution spokesperson Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia-ur Rahman Alonto Adiong said Mayor Duterte’s previous acknowledgement that Gencorp had transactions with the Davao City government strengthened the need for his testimony. He explained, “The prosecution’s position became stronger because his testimony will be essential for the court to fully understand the case being brought against the Vice President.” Trillanes meanwhile is expected to testify about financial information related to Duterte’s alleged unexplained wealth. Prosecutors said they intend to compare Duterte’s declared assets, lawful income, and financial records gathered from investigations. The prosecution has referenced A nti-Money Launder ing Counci l (AMLC) information involving 663 transactions connected to Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, with a reported combined value of about P6.77 billion. Prosecutors clarified that these figures represent total transaction values and do not automatically mean that the amount was owned or possessed by them at one time. Adiong said the prosecution has
shows the significance of the tripartite mechanism, where the government, employers’ groups, and employees’ groups come together to advance the dignity of Filipino workers.” Tolentino said the mechanism also demonstrates that cooperation among the three sectors can help promote a sustainable economy in the NCR. Wage Order NCR-28 was issued through the wagesetting process conducted by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-NCR and subsequently confirmed by the National Wages and Productivity Commission. With the order now fully effective, employers are required to implement the new minimum wage rates and reflect the increases in their payroll and compensation systems. Tolentino called on employers to strictly comply with the wage order, while Dole said it will continue to monitor its implementation and provide guidance to workers and employers.
time, not compromising the presentation of evidence. For Lacson, any eventual decision should be guided by the Constitution and the evidence presented during the trial, rather than political considerations or public opinion.
already presented witnesses from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and PhilGEPS. The SEC testimony involved corporate documents connected to businesses declared in Duterte’s SALNs, while the PhilGEPS witness authenticated government procurement records involving Gencorp. He explained that company sales and government contracts do not automatically represent personal income or prove wrongdoing. “What we presented are documents that the court can examine alongside the Vice President’s declarations and the constitutional restrictions that apply to her position,” Adiong said. The prosecution expects the defense to cross-examine the PhilGEPS witness before moving to its remaining witnesses. Adiong said, “We expect there will be a cross-examination of the witness we presented from PhilGEPS.” He also discussed the Impeachment Court’s ruling on the voting requirement for conviction. Adiong said the decision did not reduce the constitutional requirement but maintained the two-thirds rule based on senator-judges who are legally and factually able to participate when judgement is made. Vice President Duterte’s impeachment trial must continue even if some senator-judges choose not to participate, according to the prosecution. Adiong said, “That is one possibility we are considering, but from the prosecution’s side, this process must continue.” Adiong added that the Senate has already taken jurisdiction over the impeachment case and must resolve the charges. “The Senate has already accepted jurisdiction over the impeachment case, so there are no other options except for the Senate to decide on the Articles of Impeachment,” he said. The possibility of a boycott emerged after six minority senator-judges did not participate in the court’s vote regarding the conviction threshold. The senators involved were Alan Peter Cayetano, Pilar Juliana Cayetano, Christopher Go, Imelda Josefa Remedios Marcos, Robin Padilla, and Camille Villar. Despite disagreements over the ruling, the prosecution maintained that the impeachment proceedings should move forward.
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DA: Law allows temporary pork import curbs By Ada Pelonia
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@adapelonia
HE Department of Agriculture (DA) is pinning its hopes on a petition to impose a staggered hike in pork tariffs to trigger a time-bound quantitative restriction (QR) which could help arrest the slide in liveweight hog prices. Agriculture Secretar y Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the DA petition is seeking to slap higher duties on pork cuts with the Tariff Commission (TC) to limit imports within a certain time span, if deemed necessary. This petition is separate from
the agency’s bid to reclassif y pork jowl, whic h wou ld a lso raise tariffs on the key ingredient for the popular dish “sisig.” Government data showed that the average farmgate price of hogs plunged to P150 per kilo last month from P215 per kilo in June
2025. The August figure means that raisers, who continue to grapple with the ill effects of African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks, are already incurring losses. However, the Philippines cannot simply impose a QR on imports of pork, as the country is bound by the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), of which it is a member. “We found a provision in the law which provided that once we file the request for an increase in tariff with the TC...after two months of submission, we have a window of 200 days where we can impose a ‘quantitative restriction’,” the DA chief recently told reporters in a chance interview. “Once that is triggered, depending on the situation at that time, if needed, we will implement it.” Under Republic Act 8800, the
BUSINESSMIRROR FILE PHOTO
government may set a quantitative restriction as a provisional safeguard measure if the “tariff increase (is) not sufficient to redress or to prevent serious injur y to the domestic producer or producers.”
The government may set the QR at around a month’s worth of shipments from abroad, according to the DA chief. He said the agency has already lodged a petition with the TC, where it seeks to raise tariffs on
pork in a staggered basis starting next year—initially by 25 percent in-quota and 35 percent outquota—before returning to 30 percent and 40 percent in 2028. Pending this, he said the agency is also looking at tightening the transport permit of imported meat across one province to another to monitor the f low of inbound meat shipments across the country and ensure food safety. “We have certain rules for live pork. The rules for the imported should be the same, since we can’t favor one against the other.” Pork shipments rose by 5.16 percent to 602,655 metric tons (MT) in January to August from 573,091 MT a year ago, based on Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) data. The bulk of the imports were pork cuts and offals at 254,524 MT and 182,969 MT, respectively.
Farmers incur more than ₧6B in losses due to El Niño
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A FARMER collects grain from a combine harvester during a wheat harvest on a farm in Drew, Mississippi, US. PHOTOGRAPHER: RORY DOYLE/BLOOMBERG
Grains slump as Trump-Xi summit lacks details on US-China trade deals
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RAINS tumbled in Chicago after the presidential summit in Washington offered few immediate details on the United States-China trade agreements that markets had been primed for. Commodities markets are looking for specifics on trade in agriculture and energy between the two powers, including Chinese purchases of US crops and natural gas. So far, details haven’t materialized, leaving traders awaiting further statements from Washington and Beijing. US President Donald Trump is hosting his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for a state visit, which was capped by dinner at the White House on Thursday. Earlier in the day, Trump said the two leaders had made “tremendous strides” on expanding access to the Chinese market for US farmers under the newly-created Board of Trade. But some found the lack of new information disappointing. “It is not great for the farmers and bulls who were looking for additional grain and oilseed purchase announcements,” said Joe Davis, a director of commodity sales at Futures International LLC. The US and China have discussed cutting tariffs on certain goods. Traders expect more Chinese purchases from the US if duties on energy products like gas, and crops such as soybeans, corn and wheat, are removed. Soybeans in Chicago declined as much as 1 percent, extending losses to a fourth day in the longest losing streak since June. Corn and wheat both fell to onemonth lows, dropping as much as 1.8 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. In Kuala Lumpur,
palm oil futures slid as much as 2.2 percent, tracking weakness in US soyoil markets. The lack of fresh news led Chicago soybean futures to waver, with some investors “selling on the apathy,” AgResource Co. wrote in a note. Chinese state-owned buyers have stepped up purchases of US soybeans, and are over halfway toward Beijing’s target to import 25 million tons annually, a pledge that runs through 2028. But progress on a wider goal to buy at least $17 billion of US agricultural products has been slower. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News just before the summit that China had been “very fulsome” in fulfilling its soybean pledge, but was “a little behind schedule” on the broader commitment. Bessent also announced a two-month extension to the trade truce between the two countries. The American Soybean Association said in a statement it hopes further progress can be made. “Soybean farmers want to see this momentum continue with strong purchases of US soy and a lasting trade partnership with China,” said President Scott Metzger. In the energy sector, traders have been anticipating that China could scrap its 15% tariff on US liquefied natural gas. For Beijing, LNG is seen as a relatively minor concession and a useful one, with traffic still constrained around the Persian Gulf and one of China’s largest suppliers, Qatar, all but cut off. For the Trump administration, it would be an obvious win, given that LNG contracts typically span decades, at a time when US producers are expanding and in need of fresh commitments. Bloomberg News
L Niño has begun wreaking havoc on local farmlands, with the value of losses due to the dry spell surging to more than P6.8 billion, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA). In it s l atest bu l let i n, t he DA noted that El Niño ravaged crops across various plantations worth P6.87 billion. The weather phenomenon affected 223,214 farmers. Nearly 250,000 hectares of land have been damaged by the dry spell, with 77 percent or 192,766 hectares still having a chance to recover. Production losses were already pegged at 163,812 metric tons
(MT) across 14 regions, with the corn sector suffering the brunt of the dry spell’s impact, damaging 126,883 MT of output worth P4.9 billion. This was followed by rice at 25,196 MT, with losses valued at P1.53 billion. High-value crops also recorded damages at 11,720 MT worth P396.93 million. The domestic livestock and poultry industry was not spared by El Niño, as it affected 6,394 heads of various animals worth P36.94 million. Citing state weather bureau Pagasa, the DA noted that the ongoing El Niño phenomenon would continue until the first half
of 2027. It is projected to reach a “very strong” state by the end of this year. To address the dry spell’s effects on the farm sector, the agency said it has rolled out P10.96 billion worth of interventions for the affected farmers. This includes P10.53 billion worth of assistance for production support, such as farm inputs like seeds, fertilizers, and soil conditioner, among others. It also distributed 23,459 native chickens to 78 groups of farmers and 246 farmer individuals through the Philippine Native Animal Development (PNAD) Program and Animal Production and
Distribution (APAD). The DA said it conducted cloud seeding operations in collaboration with other government agencies in agricultural and watershed areas in Cagayan Valley, including Magat Dam. It also installed 338 water pumps to enhance water supply in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol Region, Western Visayas, and Zamboanga Peninsula. The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) has also allocated indemnification checks worth P427.07 million to 42,383 farmers as compensation. Ada Pelonia
NFA banks on PO system to improve operations
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HE National Food Authority (NFA) is implementing a new scheme that aims to provide registered farmers with assured market access and enhance the food agency’s palay procurement operations. NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said the agency launched for the first time a purchase order (PO) system, a procurement arrangement between the grains agency and farmers. “We started this season the purchase order system, wherein the NFA can already issue a PO to farmers while they’re still planting. They just have to wait for the harvest and then bring it to the (warehouses),” Lacson told reporters. He added that the respective POs issued
by the grains agency include the date and the estimated volume of unmilled rice the farmers will deliver to the NFA. Eligible farmers include those listed in the registry system for basic sectors in agriculture (RSBSA). Under the rules, farmers who submit and comply with PO requirements will be prioritized in scheduling and procurement arrangements. Despite this, Lacson noted that the mechanism would not replace its existing procurement procedures; rather, it seeks to improve the agency’s current practices and tackle operational challenges. “That’s on top of our regular procure-
ment, which is on a first-come, first-served basis. We also have a fast lane wherein small farmers with 70 bags and below have their own line for faster processing.” The NFA said the PO system’s implementation would address “persistent” operational and market-related concerns that tend to beset farmers. This includes long delivery queues and congestion in warehouses; uncertainty in procurement schedules and acceptance capacity; price manipulation and dependence on private traders. Also included in the bottlenecks that the grains agency aims to address are delays in payment processing due to incomplete
or unprogrammed deliveries; and limited coordination between farmers and NFA procurement units. Through the system, the grains agency said accountability and traceability in procurement transactions would be strengthened. This also ensures that palay purchased by the NFA complies with stipulated quality standards, it added. “This is the first time that we implemented the PO system, because then at least, we’ve already programmed the entry of palay since we know the date of delivery and volume. This would help in properly managing the incoming unmilled rice,” Lacson said. Ada Pelonia
Report highlights forests’ role in food security, nutrition
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ORESTS and trees play a crucial role in providing nutritious food, and more than 5 billion people worldwide rely on them to some extent for their livelihoods. Yet their contribution to food security and nutrition remains largely overlooked in national statistics and policy frameworks. A global report published recently by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and developed jointly with the Landscape Alliance, highlights the importance of forests in reducing hunger and poverty and calls on countries to include them into agrifood system policies. “By working together and fully integrating forests into national, regional and global strategies, we can build agrifood systems that are more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable. We must do so – because conserving and sustainably managing forests is fundamental to nourishing people, sustaining the planet and improving the wellbeing of present and future generations,” FAO Director-General QU Dongyu wrote in the report’s Foreword. The report, titled “Forests for food: Nourishing people, sustaining the planet,” comes at a critical moment. According to the latest UN report on the State of Food
Security and Nutrition in the World, around 645 million people experienced chronic hunger in 2025. At the same time, forests worldwide continue to face challenges. Over the last decade, the world lost an average of 10.9 million hectares of forest each year. Deforestation and forest degradation reduce biodiversity, weaken ecosystem services and can ultimately undermine agricultural productivity and access to nutritious food.
Key contributions
THERE are strong links between forest cover and dietary quality. For example, a study in Africa found that children living in areas with greater tree cover tend to have more diverse and nutritious diets. Forests and trees support food security and nutrition (FSN) by providing fruits, nuts, tubers, mushrooms, edible insects and wild meat. More than 50,000 wild species are used for food, medicine and other purposes, including at least 10,000 species consumed directly as food. In some forest-dependent communities, forest foods can supply up to 80 percent of daily protein requirements. Forest fruits are rich in minerals and vitamins, while seeds and nuts contribute
calories, oil and protein to diets. Edible roots and tubers are sources of carbohydrates, and mushrooms provide important nutrients such as potassium, selenium and vitamins. Wild leaves are rich sources of protein and micronutrients, including vitamin A, calcium and iron, which are often lacking in the diets of nutritionally vulnerable communities. Forests also contribute to health. More than 1 billion people worldwide rely on medicinal plants sourced from forests, including remedies for illnesses that can affect nutrient absorption and overall wellbeing. Beyond food and health, forests provide fuel (around 1.8 billion people rely on woodfuel for cooking), income and employment, while supporting biodiversity, soil fertility, water resources and climate change mitigation. Such benefits are complemented by forests’ wider contributions to economic resilience and the ecosystem services that sustain communities, cities and productive landscapes: Forested watersheds provide freshwater to more than 85 percent of major cities and support agriculture, livestock production and fisheries through critical ecosystem services, including water
regulation, soil protection, nutrient cycling, pollination, pest control and biodiversity conservation. In many regions, forests also generate up to 20 percent of rural household income and act as indispensable safety nets during periods of food insecurity and economic hardship. The report highlights regional differences in the contribution of forest foods to FSN. In parts of Africa, some communities obtain up to 80 percent of their daily protein from wild meat. In the Amazon, fish account for 44 percent of total food consumed by weight, alongside wild meat, Brazil nuts and açaí berries. Asia has the highest number of wild forest species used for food. In Europe, a survey covering 28 countries found that 90 percent of respondents consume at least one forest food each year, while more than one-third eat game meat annually. In North America, wild meat is used more for recreation than subsistence. The report also reviews progress in implementing the Committee on World Food Security’s 2017 Policy Recommendations on Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition through case studies from China, the Dominican Republic, Morocco, Türkiye and Uruguay.
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Pope Leo draws 800,000 people to central Paris for open-air Mass on iconic square Rival other non-religious moments of celebration
POPE Leo XIV arrives to celebrate mass at Place de la Concorde, Paris, on September 26. AP/GREGORIO BORGIA
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By Nicole Winfield, Samuel Petrequin, Sylvie Corbet & John Leicester The Associated Press
ARIS—Hundreds of thousands of people packed Paris’ iconic Champs-Élysées avenue to attend an open-air Mass with Pope Leo XIV on Saturday, a sign of the Catholic Church’s enduring appeal in the once staunchly Catholic but officially secular country.
The Vatican estimated that 800,000 people attended— about 200,000 more than the number who had registered in advance. The turnout testified to the church’s lasting influence in France despite declining attendance and secularizing trends that have emptied churches across Europe. The American pope greeted the flag-waving, cheering throngs from his popemobile during a 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) parade along the grand boulevard leading to the Place de la Concorde for Mass, essentially the heart of Paris and a symbol of the French republic. In his homily, Leo asked the crowds not to keep their faith to themselves, but to instead “let it overflow, so that those you meet may be refreshed and their thirst satisfied.” “From this beautiful city of Paris, I pray fervently that the living water of the Holy Spirit
may flow throughout France,” he said. Although a security blanket shut down central Paris to road traffic, the partylike atmosphere drew people of multiple faiths and no faith at all. The fervor spanned generations. People brought dozens of babies and young children from the crowd for Leo to caress on the head as he rode slowly past aboard the popemobile. “The message of Pope Leo goes well beyond Catholic people; he speaks about social justice, for example,” said Leontine Joseph, 42, a fervent Catholic who came with two friends of Moroccan origin who grew up in Muslim culture.
An appeal to persevere against the trends
LEO has sought to encourage French Catholics to persevere in their faith “even amid the thorns” of a secular world during his four-day visit.
It began on Friday with his arrival and prayer at the restored Notre Dame, the first by a pope since the cathedral’s devastating 2019 fire. It continued Saturday night when Leo arrived in Lourdes in southern France, one of the Catholic Church’s mostvisited shrines. At the Catholic Institute of Paris on Saturday morning, the pope said he was surprised by the number of new converts in recent years. “We must recognize, welcome and protect the small flame that the Holy Spirit has kindled in the darkness of the night, the tiny seed that strives to grow even amid the thorns,” he said. Adult baptisms in France each year have tripled since 2016, hitting 13,000 this year. But statistics and experts caution that the uptick, which has also been recorded in secular Spain, doesn’t counteract the overall downward trend. In 1980, there were 513,000 baptisms in France; in 2024, a total of 186,000.
The pope is a crowd-puller
THE rivers of people who crammed central Paris and their joyful enthusiasm rivaled other communal but non-religious moments of celebration that marked France in recent decades. Huge crowds celebrated on the Champs-Elysées when France won the soccer World Cup in 1998 and again in 2018. See “Pope,” A23
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Russia’s FM Lavrov rejects German calls to ease off ‘dangerous’ escalation toward the country By Edith M. Lederer, Jennifer Peltz & Jamey Keaten The Associated Press
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NITED NATIONS—Russia’s top diplomat rejected German calls to ease off its “dangerous path of escalation” toward the country, instead accusing Germany of being Ukraine’s main sponsor and seeking to be a leading military power in Europe. “Does Berlin understand what this could lead to?” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asked in his speech at the UN General Assembly’s annual gathering of world leaders. “Didn’t they not learn the lessons of World War II?” Lavrov was dismissive after the German and Russian foreign ministers met Saturday on the sidelines of the meeting, holding what’s believed to be the first such tête-à-tête since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. “He simply reiterated his official public position condemning Russia,” Lavrov said. “You can judge for yourself whether that counts as dialogue or not.” The meeting, at German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul’s request, came just before Lavrov addressed world leaders, where he also criticized the militarization of Japan. He made clear that Russia will veto any attempt by Germany and Japan for permanent seats on the Security Council, the UN’s most powerful body. The two nations fought Russia, Britain and the United States in World War II. A German delegation official said that during their meeting, Wadephul called on Russia to abandon its “dangerous path of escalation” toward Germany, Europe and the NATO alliance. Ties between Russia and Germany have soured in recent weeks, following an attempted drone attack last month at Leipzig airport — Germany has blamed the incident on Russia—and tit-for-tat responses that followed it. Wadephul expressed openness to a better relationship but said it required a genuine willingness from Russia’s leadership to end the war in Ukraine, according to the official.
After his speech, Lavrov brushed off the Germany meeting
LATER, Lavrov told a UN news conference that “nothing new came from that initiative of the foreign minister.” He challenged Germany to name one commercial vessel in the Black Sea that was damaged or targeted by Russian strikes, asserting that “there are no such cases.” As for the claimed attempted drone strike at Leipzig Airport, he called it “an unclaimed drone” that Germany immediately said was Russian. Lavrov denounced the West in his speech and at the press conference, saying it “aspires to inflict strategic defeat on Russia—but these aspirations will result in the war mongers being led into a strategic dead end.” He recalled last year’s 80th anniversary of the Allied victory “over German Nazism and Japanese militarism” in World War II. And he made a point of blasting the notion of Germany or Japan gaining a permanent seat on the powerful UN Security Council. The United States has long supported permanent seats for those countries and India. Japan’s deputy UN ambassador Mikanagi Tomohiro responded to Lavrov at the end of the assembly meeting, stressing that his country is “peace-loving” and that “freedom, democracy and fundamental human rights remain unshakable foundations of Japan’s every decision and action.” In his attacks on the West, Lavrov also claimed, “the US has destroyed the European security system and created a Russophobic regime in Kyiv.” Russia believes an agreement on ending the Ukraine war was reached at the August 2025 meeting in Alaska between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lavrov said, “and we continue to remain ready to return to it.” “A fairer, multipolar world order is emerging before our very eyes,” said Lavrov, whose country is part of the BRICS group of leading developing nations and other organizations that he portrays as more forward-looking and constructive.
Russia emphasizes that it’s still a strong global player
MOSCOW has repeatedly sought to stress that it maintains a strong position on the global stage despite its four-and-a-half-year war on Ukraine and isolation from the West. Writing on her personal Telegram channel, Maria Zakharova, chief spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, said that “tens of diplomats” had come to meet Lavrov to “shake his hand and thank Russia.” An overwhelming majority of General Assembly member nations have repeatedly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as Wadephul noted in his own address to the assembly Saturday. “Russia’s war targets the lives of millions of innocent people, the existence of the Ukrainian state and culture and the European peace order,” he said, urging Russia to negotiating toward ending the fighting. Lavrov’s speech came amid an intensifying aerial war. With front-line positions largely unchanged since last year, Russia has hammered Ukraine with cruise and ballistic missiles, powerful glide bombs and jet-powered drones in recent months, while Ukraine’s long-range drones have targeted Russian oil refineries and businesses. Ukrainian officials said Russian attacks killed four people Saturday, as Russian authorities said a Ukrainian drone attack killed three. Since Russia launched the war—which Moscow describes as a “special military operation” intended to ensure Russia’s security and the rights of Russian speakers—Western analysts have estimated that over 500,000 Russian troops have been killed. Ukraine has recorded more than 500,000 military casualties, including up to 140,000 deaths. Neither country discloses its own casualty totals.
The Ukraine war reverberates globally
THE war has had global repercussions for fuel, fertilizer and grain shipments— and for geopolitics, widening divisions between Russia and the West. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used his assembly speech Wednesday to press other countries to keep choking Russia’s revenues and impede its war efforts, and he echoed that message on social media Saturday morning. “It is essential that our partners not forget: Russia is escalating every single day,” he wrote, adding that “the world must choose stronger responses to keep the war from spreading further.” US lawmakers passed a powerful sanctions bill aimed at Moscow last month. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law last week but hasn’t enacted the measures yet. Now back in Ukraine, Zelenskyy told reporters in voicemail messages Friday that Washington is pushing for three-way technical talks involving delegations—but not top leaders—from the US, Ukraine and Russia. He said Ukraine is waiting for the United States to propose a date.
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Fuel price spike squeezes baguette makers in France bakers as heating oil costs soar
BAKER KEVIN Luce makes bread in Saint-Just-en-Chaussee, France, on September 24. AP/JOHN LEICESTER
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By John Leicester The Associated Press
AINT-JUST-EN-CHAUSSÉE, France—As the lights of their small bakery flicker on in the early morning darkness, Kevin and Sandrine Luce’s oven is already cranked up to 270 degrees Celsius (518 degrees Fahrenheit) to give their latest batch of baguettes a crunchy crust.
When the couple first fired up the oven in their store in Saint-Just-en-Chaussée, a small town about 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of Paris, in March, they paid €2,230 ($2,540) for 2,000 liters (528 gallons) of the heating oil that it burns. Last week, they spent almost the same amount on just 1,200 liters (317 gallons). Fuel prices that have spiked since the start of the Iran war on February 28 are dealing a hard blow to the couple and other small businesses across Europe. “Originally, it was a good deal, because initially, a fuelheated oven is more economical than an electric one,” Kevin Luce said. “That is until the price [of fuel] increased by 50 percent. So, yes, now it’s not a good deal.”
people who live in the countryside—about a third of the French population—often rely on cars to get around, because public transportation is limited. Rural areas make up nearly 90 percent of France’s territory. The so-called yellow vest protest movement, which rocked French President Emmanuel Macron’s government during his first term in office, put down wide roots in rural towns and villages, with protesters setting up camps on roundabouts. The demonstrations, some violent, gripped France for months. Fuel prices were one of the triggers of the anger then, a painful memory for Macron’s ministers that hangs over them now, as they wrestle with renewed angst and fury about soaring costs.
Soaring fuel prices hit hard in rural areas of France
France’s government is trying to help, but it may not be enough
THE Luces aren’t alone. There are more than 34,000 bakers across France churning out around 6 billion baguettes each year, according to the national federation of bakeries and patisseries, which says that about one quarter of them use oil- or gas-fired ovens. As customers filed through the bakery for their morning baguettes, croissants and other pastries, Luce told The Associated Press that “all this superfluous expenditure on energy represents a loss of earnings. It’s salary we can’t take, it’s salary increases we can’t give to our employees. It’s investments we can’t make.” Although inflicting pain globally, the energy crisis is biting particularly hard in the rural expanses and communities of the European Union’s largest country by area. The roughly 21 million
THE French government responded this week with its latest aid package— worth an estimated €450 million(around $512 million)—for people and industries battered by the eye-watering prices at the pumps. It includes subsidies for people who commute at least 15 kilometers (9 miles) to work, and support ranging from €48 to €277($54 to $315) to assist 5.8 million families with their winter energy bills. Martial Realland sold his home to help realize his longheld dream of owning a food truck that he drives from village to village in the l’Oise region of northern France, selling savory ham and cheese pancakes, fries and other snacks. Filling the truck with diesel costs €200 (around $228), compared to €120($136) before the Iran war, he said.
“It really hurts,” he told the AP. “It’s catastrophic.” And as the fall and winter loom, he’s also bracing for a skyhigh heating bill, because the home that he rents is warmed with heating oil. “I’m scared” of that bill, he said, estimating that filling his 1,500-liter (396-gallon) tank could cost €2,500 ($2,847). “Last year, it cost €1,600.” With that in mind, he may not fill the tank at all this year. Realland said he is already turning down work that requires a long drive, because the diesel that his truck burns wouldn’t make it worthwhile financially.
A far-right lawmaker sounds the alarm in her rural region
CHRISTINE LOIR, a lawmaker from the National Rally party of far-right presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen, said that more than 10 percent of homes in L’Eure, the Normandy region she represents in the National Assembly, use heating oil. The prices for the fuel are soaring, and Loir said that many can’t afford to install other heating systems or better insulate their homes. She is lobbying the government to lower taxes on heating oil, which is more commonly used in rural areas, both in homes but also by enterprises, including in some bakers’ ovens. She said some constituents have told her that this winter they’ll have to choose between heating and food. “People are extremely worried,” Loir told the AP. “People say that if fuel prices don’t come down, they’ll stop going to work, they can’t cope.”
This baker won’t raise prices for his customers’ daily bread
THERE is at least one crumb of comfort for customers of the Luces’ bakery in Saint-Just-enChaussée who come not just for bread and cakes but often for a chat, too. Their prices: €1 (about $1.14) for a basic baguette and €1.10 ($1.25) for a “traditional” baguette, which takes longer to make, aren’t rising in line with fuel prices. “I won’t change my price,” he said. “It wouldn’t be of any help. It wouldn’t soak up the lost revenue and it would be counterproductive, because our customers would feel betrayed. They shouldn’t have to pay more. They’re already paying enough at home.”
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87-year-old’s eviction a rallying cry for protest of Spain’s housing crisis
PEOPLE gather during a protest following the eviction last Wednesday of 87-year-old Maricarmen to demand stronger laws to protect renters at Puerta del Sol in Madrid, Spain, September 26. AP/MANU FERNANDEZ
By Alicia León & Suman Naishadham The Associated Press
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ADRID—Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Madrid on Saturday to protest against Spain’s housing crisis and ask for protective measures for tenants, antifraud rules, and a ban on evictions without alternative housing. The protest came in reaction to the dramatic eviction on Wednesday of an 87-year-old woman from the Madrid apartment she had lived in for decades. “We’re here because housing is a problem that already affects all of society, all ages and classes,” said protester Dora Garcia, a 55-year-old nurse. “And we can’t keep maintaining this. Housing is a right and we don’t have it.” Taken out of her home on a stretcher in the upscale Retiro neighborhood, María del Carmen Abascal was greeted by protesters and supporters as she was loaded into an ambulance. Spanish media reported that Abascal’s father first rented the property in 1956 and she continued as the tenant after her parents died, during which time there was a rent cap. The building changed ownership in 2018, and Abascal was offered the opportunity to buy the apartment but could not afford it, according to the Madrid Tenants’ Union, which organized Saturday’s protest. Urbagestión, an investment fund that later bought the unit, raised her monthly rent from €500 ($570) to €2,650. It subsequently lowered the rent to €1,650, which Abascal still could not afford on her pension, the union said. Courts blocked three previous attempts to evict her. Extensive media coverage turned Abascal into a symbol of Spain’s housing crisis. “This whole housing situation is heartbreaking. Maricarmen has been, in a way, the last straw that sparked this social unrest, but we’ve been dealing with this whole issue for a long time now,” said protester Simón de la Riva, 43, a teacher. “It’s unacceptable that vulture funds are buying up homes, that people can’t afford to live, that entire families are being evicted, and that an elderly woman has been evicted.” At the end of the march, protesters sat down in the Puerta del Sol plaza with apparent plans to stay put. Some even pitched tents to stay at least the night—or until police forcibly removed them. Rising costs and a housing shortage are pricing many Spaniards out of the market, despite strong economic growth in Europe’s fourth-largest economy. Incomes have not kept pace. Analysts say tourism and immigration-driven population growth in cities have placed further pressure on the limited housing supply. The Bank of Spain estimated that the country had a shortage of about 550,000 homes last year, with Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia accounting for a substantial share. Spain ranks near the bottom of countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development for public rental housing, which represents less than 2 percent of its available supply. The European Union average is 8 percent. Spain previously built homes with public funds that were later sold into private ownership, removing them from the public housing stock. “I haven’t managed to defend my home, but I have fought so that others can learn to fight for what’s theirs,” Abascal said in a video shared on Friday by the tenants’ union. The video was recorded from her hospital bed after the eviction.
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Venezuela releases dozens of prisoners following meeting between Trump and interim leader
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By Manuel Rueda The Associated Press
OGOTA, Colombia— Human rights groups in Venezuela said that significant numbers of political prisoners were released in the South American country on Saturday, though the total number of those freed has still not been determined. The prisoner releases follow a meeting Tuesday between Interim President Delcy Rodríguez and President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. In her speech at the UN, Rodríguez said Venezuela, whose government has been widely accused of jailing dissidents, stealing elections and stifling freedom of speech, has “begun a process of democratic transformation.” In a message posted on X, the Venezuelan human rights group Clippve said seven political prisoners were released from a prison on the outskirts of Caracas on Saturday morning, including Wilder Vasquez, a university student who had been sentenced to five years in prison for participating in a 2018 plot to kill former President Nicolás Maduro. Vasquez has long claimed he was innocent. His sentence had
expired in 2023. In another X message, the human rights group Justicia Encuentro y Perdon said that 29 people were released from Venezuelan prisons Saturday, including 12 inmates who were on its list of political prisoners. “Seventeen of those freed were not in our database of political prisoners,” the organization said. “Our team continues to verify information to update our registry.” Venezuela’s government did not make any statements on Saturday’s events. Rodríguez’s administration denies the country is jailing dissidents. However, it has said it is making an effort to release people who have been investigated or condemned for committing crimes that include attacking the nation’s institutions, as it seeks to promote national reconciliation. Hundreds of people have been released from Vene-
zuela’s prisons since Maduro was captured in January in a US military raid and taken to New York, where he faces drug trafficking charges. But human rights groups argue that Venezuela continues to hold political prisoners. In a message posted on Friday, Justicia Encuentro y Perdon said that there are still 450 political prisoners in Venezuela, including 20 foreigners. In a speech at the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Rodríguez said that there “will be elections in Venezuela” but did not say when. Democracy activists and human rights groups have been calling on Venezuela’s government to hold new elections that would grant legitimacy to its institutions and express the will of the Venezuelan people. After Maduro was removed, Rodríguez, who was his vice president, stepped in as interim leader, and was given a sixmonth mandate by the nation’s supreme court. That mandate has now expired, raising questions about Rodríguez’s legitimacy. At least 1,800 people were arrested in Venezuela in a crackdown that followed the nation’s 2024 presidential election, which Maduro was widely accused of stealing. Dozens of opposition activists went into hiding to avoid arrest and some also left the country, including opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who smuggled herself out of Venezuela last year to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Machado has been threatened with arrest by the Rodriguez administration if she returns to the country.
Gunmen target ambulance in Pakistan after suicide bombing at checkpoint killed 12 By Ishtiaq Mahsud & Munir Ahmed The Associated Press
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ERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan—Gunmen opened fire on an ambulance attending the scene of a suicide bomb attack at a roadside police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan that killed at least 12 people on Saturday and wounded about 35 others, officials said. The attack involving an explosives-laden vehicle occurred in Dera Ismail Khan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the provincial emergency service. Local police chief Safdar Baloch said most of those killed and wounded were security personnel and passersby. The blast destroyed the sprawling checkpoint, and witnesses said gunshots were also heard after the attack. Faizi said gunmen opened fire on an ambulance as emergency crews transported victims to a nearby hospital, killing a rescue worker and wounding two others. Two women and a child were among those killed in the suicide bombing, he said.
The Pakistani Taliban, formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack. Pakistan has experienced a surge in militant violence in recent years, much of it claimed by the TTP and the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist group primarily active in neighboring Balochistan province. The TTP is separate from but closely allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban, which returned to power in 2021. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack, offered condolences to the victims’ families. Zardari described the targeting of civilians and law enforcement personnel as “highly condemnable” and called for intensified action against the Pakistani Taliban, which he accused of carrying out “heinous and brutal acts” with foreign support. Pakistani officials have repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of allowing TTP members to operate from Afghan territory and have demanded that Kabul prevent cross-border attacks. Afghan au-
thorities deny permitting their territory to be used for attacks against other countries. Saturday’s bombing came two days after fighting along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border killed at least 13 Afghan Taliban fighters, according to Pakistan’s government. The clash followed Pakistani strikes this week on suspected militant hideouts inside Afghanistan. The renewed hostilities threaten mediation efforts by China, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia aimed at securing lasting peace between the neighboring countries. Dera Ismail Khan is near South Waziristan, a former militant stronghold where Pakistan’s military has conducted several operations in recent years. Militants frequently target security forces in the region. In December 2023, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the main gate of a police station in Dera Ismail Khan, killing at least 23 security personnel in one of the area’s deadliest attacks. Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan, a small militant group believed to be an offshoot of the TTP, claimed responsibility.
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Iran says won’t soften demands after Trump rejects Hormuz proposal
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By Eltaf Najafizada & Courtney Subramanian Bloomberg News
RAN said it’s awaiting a definitive US response to a seven-day proposal for reopening the crucial Strait of Hormuz but won’t soften its conditions, after President Donald Trump voiced his rejection. The Islamic Republic is aware of Trump’s remarks though has yet to receive anything from mediators Qatar and Pakistan, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was cited as saying by state-run broadcaster IRIB late Saturday. “The US president has made some good remarks as well as many contradictory ones, which unfortunately we hear from him frequently,” Araghchi said. Only a “negotiated solution” can resolve the impasse over the global energy bottleneck, he added. US and Iranian negotiators had been exploring a deal that would see Tehran reopen the strait and Washington lift a blockade of Iranian ports, according to a person
familiar with the matter. The pact would have been similar to the memorandum of understanding the two reached in mid-June, which led to a fragile ceasefire that soon collapsed. “They made a proposal but I rejected it,” Trump said Saturday as he departed the White House, referring to Iran. “They want to make a deal where they open the strait immediately because they’re losing so badly.” Saudi Arabia’s capital came under attack from Houthi militants in Yemen on Saturday—the latest sign of Iranian-backed groups stepping up hostilities against US allies in the Middle East. Saudi-backed coalition forces in Yemen said air defenses inter-
cepted two drones launched by the Houthis toward Riyadh, as well as a ballistic missile targeting the southern border area of Khamis Mushait. About a week ago, air-raid alerts were issued for Riyadh’s residents for the first time since the height of hostilities during March and April. Air-defenses intercepted missiles headed toward the Saudi capital. Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported Trump expects to resume the bombing campaign against Iran after US midterm elections in early November and is skeptical about Iran’s willingness to meet his demands. Trump declined to answer a question about whether he would resume bombing after the midterms. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week, said his country wouldn’t allow freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz while sanctions and a US blockade remain in place. Tehran wouldn’t give up the right to develop nuclear technology for economic purposes either, he added.
Serb president to resign, in power transition to premier echoing Putin By Jan Bratanic & Jasmina Kuzmanovic Bloomberg News
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MBATTLED Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was expected to resign on Sunday in a well-telegraphed move as he seeks to transition to the role of prime minister as a way of staying close to power in the Balkan nation. Parliamentary Speaker Ana Brnabic, his ally, would take over the presidential role for an interim period. Meanwhile, Serbs head to a snap election on October 25 that seeks to resolve almost two years of anti-government protests that have evolved from an irritant to a threat for Vucic. Still, he’s confident his Progressive Party will prevail, extending the grip on power it’s held since 2012, even as polls are mixed.
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Many on Saturday didn’t identify as Catholics, but came to hear the pope’s message. “People are seeing a lot of really terrible images. This kind of event reminds people of what is really important in life,” said Thierry Chen, a 40-year-old Parisian startup entrepreneur who is not Catholic. “You see a lot of different people here, so it’s not just about one race, religion or nation, but about a common belief in humankind.” Sylvane Le Goff, 68, who lives in the Paris region, came with her 10- and 12-year-old grandchildren to “give them unforgettable memories.” Le Goff, who was raised Catholic but is not practicing, said she wanted to open her grandchildren’s minds. “It’s not only about seeing the pope but it also is about his message of peace and unity, values I’d like to share with them,” she said. Leo has clearly been impressed by the numbers and enthusiasm, espe-
Vucic’s plan to switch to the premier’s role echoes that of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who stayed in power by spending a four-year stint as prime minister to dodge presidential term limits. Vucic spoke with Putin on Saturday, informing the Russian leader about preparations for the election, the Kremlin said in a statement. Both sides stressed the need to block outside interference in the electoral process, according to Russia. For Vucic’s plan to work, the Progressive Party needs to beat one of its strongest political adversaries ever, the Student List, which promises to undo the president’s total control over public institutions, including judiciary and media, while ensuring accessible housing and healthcare. The student-led movement grew out of mass protests started in 2024 after a canopy collapse at a newly refurbished railway sta-
tion in Novi Sad killed 16 people, sparking public outrage amid accusations of corruption in the awarding of contracts, and incompetence among the ruling elites. During Vucic’s more than nine years in office, Serbia has tried to keep alive its stalled bid to join the European Union while also maintaining friendly relations with Moscow and attracting outside investment. He’s also turned the landlocked nation of about 6.5 million people into a key gateway for China into Europe, plowing billions of dollars into Serbian industries from mining to humanoid robots. Vucic, 56, has notably failed to mend ties with neighboring Kosovo, a key requirement for proceeding toward EU membership. The president has denied allegations of voter intimidation, ballot box tampering and other irregularities that opponents say have marred previous elections.
cially at a Friday night vigil that kept the 71-year-old pope out until nearly 11 p.m. after a packed first day. Some 80,000 young people filled the national stadium for an extravaganza of fireworks and a theatrical retelling of French Catholic history. “Thank you for your courage! Thank you for your presence,” Leo said to raucous cheers, speaking off the cuff in French. “Thank you for your faith. You are the saints of France!”
it a blast of modernity, using it for break dance, skateboard, BMX and 3X3 basketball events. Organizers of the Mass said it was the only area in central Paris that could accommodate such crowds. But the choice was criticized by supporters of France’s strict form of secularism in public life based on a 1905 law separating church and state. They argued that the site represents the Republic, and that other places such as the Invalides, a complex of buildings where Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass with 240,000 people in 2008, would have been more appropriate. Leo’s Mass came as a birthday present for Jean-Claude Farnabe, who turned 63 on Saturday and spent the morning securing a spot. A lifelong Catholic, Farnabe attends Mass in the Paris suburb of Suresnes every Sunday. “There are more and more converts,” he said. “Many youngsters are interested in faith and in God. Every Sunday, I see new people, people aged between 25 and 40, who are getting baptized.”
Mass adds a new chapter for historic Paris square THE imposing stage erected for the Mass, capped with a golden cross, and rows upon rows of choir singers, clergy and others who prayed under the pope’s gaze on Place de la Concorde marked a new chapter for the history-steeped square. It was an execution site during the French Revolution. Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were guillotined there. For many in France, it embodies the Republic and traditionally stages Bastille Day celebrations. In 2024, the Paris Olympics gave
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US hiring appetite is healthy as economy powers ahead By Vince Golle & Craig Stirling
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Bloomberg News
S hiring probably remained solid for a second month in September as economic momentum builds, even in the face of mounting cost pressures.
Economists estimate the jobs report due Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics will show nonfarm payrolls rose about 90,000 after climbing in the prior month by the most since March. The unemployment rate is seen remaining at a one-year low of 4.1 percent. The catalyst for recent stronger hiring has, unsurprisingly, been the economy itself. Demand metrics highlight an extended and feverish pace of capital spending as well as improved consumer spending. That backdrop has allowed the Federal Reserve to turn its policy focus squarely toward inflation. A separate report on Wednesday is forecast to show a 0.5 percent increase in August inflation-adjusted personal spending, which would be the biggest advance in just over a year. That release will also include the Fed’s preferred inflation gauges. Both the personal consumption expenditures price index and the core measure— which excludes energy and food—are projected to quicken in August from a month earlier. Investors will look to the report to reassess bets on whether the Fed will follow up this month’s interest-rate hike with another at their October meeting. Currently, odds favor a quarter percentage point increase next month.
What Bloomberg economics says:
“WITH two months of data in hand, it appears consumers remained resilient in the third quarter, with real consumption on track to grow more than 3 percent annualized. Personal income probably accelerated 0.5 percent (vs. 0.4 percent prior), supporting consumers.”—Anna Wong, Andrew Sacher and Eliza Winger Also on Wednesday, the BEA will issue revisions to second-quarter gross domestic product as well as annual updates to national GDP as far back as early 2021. Methodological updates will also be made for consumer spending data and the PCE price index. The busy calendar also includes August job openings figures on Tuesday and the Institute for Supply Management’s September manufacturing survey on Thursday. In Canada, July growth is forecast to have stagnated as manufacturing and retail sales weakened. An advance GDP estimate for August will offer early insights into the economy as trade talks with the US collapsed. Bank of Canada officials Toni Gravelle and Carolyn Rogers will speak during the week. Elsewhere, inflation data from the euro zone to Indonesia, monetary decisions in Australia and Colombia, and Brazilian data ahead of the upcoming presidential election will be among the highlights.
What’s coming up in the global economy. • Asia
ASIA’S central banks and inflation outlook will take center stage as policymakers confront a tough mix of higher global borrowing costs, volatile energy prices, and gathering weather risks. The Reserve Bank of Australia decides on monetary policy on Tuesday, with markets watching for another rate increase as officials grapple with stubborn inflation and the fallout from the Fed’s latest hike. The decision will test how far policymakers may need to lean against price and currency pressures, even as higher borrowing costs sap economic activity and threaten growth. Australia’s inflation report follows Wednesday. Price data elsewhere will show whether similar pressures are building, especially as the Middle East conflict keeps crude prices near $100 a barrel and El Niño climate pattern starts to hit food supplies. Indonesia releases inflation data Thursday, while prints from South Korea and Vietnam are announced on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Manufacturing PMIs will provide a key reading on regional demand that’s gotten a lift from the artificial-intelligence upcycle, particularly in Taiwan and South Korea. China’s factory activity shrank in August, but the official gauge is expected to rebound this month to above the 50 level, the line that separates expansion from contraction. South Korean exports will offer further clues on whether Asia’s industrial economies can hold up as the global bond selloff tightens financial conditions and geopolitical and weather risks push up input costs. Japan’s Tankan survey is expected to show sentiment at the nation’s largest manufacturers improving to the most optimistic level since December 2017.
• Europe, Middle East, Africa
EURO-AREA inflation will hit its highest level in three years, according to forecasts ahead of data due on Friday, with the median forecast anticipating an outcome of 3.7 percent. Separate gauges from Germany, France, Italy and Spain come out earlier in the week. Similar quickening is predicted, driven by energy costs. Such results would add to the case for a third rate hike this year by the European Central Bank. Among several of its officials speaking in the coming days, President Christine Lagarde kicks things off with testimony on Monday to a European Parliament panel in Brussels. In the UK, a number of Bank of England appearances are on the agenda, including one by Governor Andrew Bailey at a conference celebrating former policymaker Charles Goodhart. The central bank’s Decision Maker Panel survey will come out on Friday. A final look at GDP in the second quarter, featuring expenditure components, is scheduled for Wednesday. Minutes from Sweden’s Riksbank, which on Thursday shifted further toward a possible hike, will be released on Wednesday. In Switzerland, the Swiss National Bank will publish a tally of its foreignexchange interventions during the second quarter. The central bank has dialed down its language threatening such action to curb gains in the franc after a meaningful weakening in the currency. See “ US, ” A37
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Palestinian death toll in Gaza war rises above 74,000 since the war began
WOMEN and children walk along a street surrounded by tents sheltering displaced Palestinians, in Gaza City, September 26. AP/JEHAD ALSHRAFI
By The Associated Press
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HE Palestinian death toll from the nearly three-year IsraelHamas war has surpassed 74,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. While a ceasefire that took effect last October 10 has halted the heaviest fighting, Israeli strikes have continued in what the military has said are responses to threats or attacks. Gaza’s Health Ministry on Saturday said the Palestinian death toll has risen to 74,016 people, with 175,068 wounded. The war erupted on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage. Since the ceasefire, 1,145 Palestinians have been killed, said the ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government. It maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and international organizations. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants, but says women and children make up around half the toll. Meanwhile, seven Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire. Other aspects of the US-brokered ceasefire remain largely stalled. Israeli forces now control over half of the Palestinian territory, Hamas has not disarmed, a new Palestinian government has not arrived and reconstruction has not yet begun. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli forces will not withdraw until Hamas disarms. Meanwhile, Israel’s leading Jewish opposition parties promised to join efforts to beat Netanyahu’s coalition in next month’s “critical elections,” in a statement Saturday evening. The parties have been criticized for infighting. The vote, the first since the October 7, 2023, attacks, is largely seen as a referendum on the security failures that led to the attacks. The meeting was attended by Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief seen as Netanyahu’s main challenger; Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, two former prime ministers running together; Yair Golan, head of the center-left party, and Avigdor Lieberman, who heads a hawkish opposition party. They said they would work together to increase turnout, “combat fake news and smear campaigns” and to formulate the basic principles of the next government. “We recognize that these elections are critical to the future of the state,” the joint statement said.
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Australia’s deputy PM defends data security after OpenAI hack By Ainsley Thomson
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Bloomberg News
USTRALIA’S sensitive government data is kept in a “fortress,” Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said Sunday, seeking to reassure the public after revelations last week that an OpenAI model hacked a government website. Marles said Australians should have confidence in the Australian Signals Directorate, describing the intelligence agency as one of the world’s leading organizations and responsible for safeguarding information held by the government. “The kind of national security, really sensitive information, that we have as a nation, we keep inside a fortress,” Marles said in an interview with News24’s Sunday Agenda program. “When you look at that sort of data that we hold in a secure way, we are confident about the security that we have around that is getting attention and is being probed constantly, but that security is being able to be maintained,” he added. Since Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the hack last week, OpenAI has revealed that its AI models have accessed publicly available information from US government websites, including those of the Census Bureau and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company also said it had notified “dozens” of organizations, including governments and universities, whose websites may have been affected by visits from its models. Another of its agentic AI systems that was being trained in what was supposed to be a secure, internet-free environment was able to gain access to the web to reach an external, third-party chatbot. Marles said the incident in which an AI system gained unauthorized access to files on an Australian government website for reporting healthcare statistics was a “significant warning.” “We need to be engaging here. I mean, this technology is coming. There is no putting your head in the sand,” Marles said. “This is a moment to seek to lead the world and to be there to try and shape the technology as best we can.”
Cost pressure MARLES also used the interview to try to reassure Australians struggling with cost-of-living pressures, saying they would see “light at the end of the tunnel.” “But right now, you know, what we’re facing is an internationally inflationary environment, essentially stemming out of the conflict in the Middle East. And that’s what we are seeking to manage,” he said. His comments come ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s meeting on Tuesday when it is expected to raise its key interest rate to 4.6 percent. Marles ruled out another cut to fuel excise tax after a government discount on the charge introduced earlier this year expired in August.
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With that move having stoked import costs, the SNB moderately raised its inflation forecasts. The latest reading of price growth on Thursday is anticipated by economists at 1%, which would be the fastest in two years. SNB President Martin Schlegel said in an interview broadcast on Saturday that the central bank is in a “comfortable situation” on inflation. Romania is on the schedule of S&P Global Ratings for a potential credit-score update on Friday. The country, roiled by months of political turmoil, is at the lowest investment grade and in danger of a cut to junk. Turning to Africa, external spillovers from the Iran and Ukraine wars could see Mozambique keep its rate steady at 9.25 percent on Wednesday as officials assess the risks to their inflation forecasts. Disinflation in Zambia will likely force a fourth successive cut in borrowing costs.
• Latin America
BRAZIL’S October 4 election is about to take center stage with opinion polls suggesting the presidential race—pitting 80-year-old incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva against 45-year-old right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro—will advance to a run-off on October 25. Preceding the vote, both personal and government finances are front of mind for Brazil’s electorate as well as investors, who’ll be looking closely at the government’s August debt totals, budget balances, debt-to-GDP ratios. Latin America’s No. 1 economy will also post reports on the current account, foreign direct investment, lending, unemployment and job creation along with the central bank’s market readout. The highlight of the week’s reports from Chile will be August economic activity. July’s negative 1.7 percent tumble owed much to deadly rainstorms that halted some mining operations, but followed on from a dismal first half. Citing concern that the “weakness may prove more persistent than anticipated,” Chile’s central bank cut its forecast for economic growth this year to between just 0.25 percent and 0.75 percent. In Mexico, August trade, lending, the public balance and remittances are on the agenda, as well as the central bank’s monthly survey of economists. US and Mexican officials on Sept. 23 said they’d agreed to delay the fourth round of talks on the USMCA trade agreement revision, scheduled for September, until next month. Colombia’s central bank is the lone major monetary authority in the region setting interest rates in the coming week, and the early consensus is for BanRep to hold at 12 percent for a second straight meeting. Inflation numbers for August came in higher than expected, though analysts see peso appreciation and weakening activity and domestic demand persuading a majority of the bank’s board to hold fire.
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Four ECB scenarios sketch succession for post-Lagarde era
PABLO HERNANDEZ DE COS (left) and Klaas Knot. LINA SELG/BLOOMBERG
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By Mark Schroers & Craig Stirling Bloomberg News
CHANGING of the guard at the European Central Bank helm looks ever likelier to emerge soon, but its choreography remains guesswork.
That much is clear after Isabel Schnabel’s resignation last week set the ball rolling toward the selection of successors for her job running markets, and for those of President Christine Lagarde and Chief Economist Philip Lane. As horsetrading kicks off between capitals for what Greece’s premier calls “a grand bargain,” the key contenders for the top role remain Spaniard Pablo Hernandez de Cos and his Dutch rival Klaas Knot. The possibility of another candidate emerging can’t be ruled out, not least given the three-dimensional chess that characterizes European Union decision-making. Lagarde herself has yet to announce her own much-speculated early departure. But with the race already in full swing, even if the finishing line is hard to make out, here are four scenarios for what could unfold. They plot out how Knot or de Cos could clinch the presidency, with alternatives in the event of a stalemate. Whether one transpires or even if another result materializes, three principles stand out: France and Germany must agree, the region’s big countries all need a seat on the six-member board, and at least one of those should be a woman. Knot, formerly chief of the Dutch central bank, would bring pedigree to the ECB as one of the longest-serving Governing Council members. As one-time chair of the Financial Stability Board, he is also a man with a nose for a crisis at a time when bond turmoil never seems far off. His past hawkish tendencies may win points with Germany, whose Bundesbank has long burnished that stance. But to make it to the top, Knot would need not only backing from Chancellor Friedrich Merz, but also his help. That’s because of the French aspect: President Emmanuel Macron is said to want one of his people to clinch Lane’s job, and has good female candidates including former OECD Chief Economist Laurence Boone and
Bank of France Deputy Governor Agnes Benassy-Quere. So Berlin would not only once again pass on the ECB presidency, but also on the chief economist position it covets. Germany might end up replacing Schnabel in the key markets portfolio, which could be pivotal in the event of a crisis, to pave the way for Knot. Then there’s the Spanish angle. To avoid two Dutch Executive Board members, Frank Elderson would need to resign. That would cede his role, which includes vice chair of the ECB’s banking watchdog, to a candidate proposed by Madrid—potentially a woman. Opponents to a Knot presidency might argue the Netherlands already had the job once when Wim Duisenberg took charge at the birth of the euro, so it’s someone else’s turn. Long memories of Knot’s tough stance during the Greek debt crisis and a hawkish reputation could hurt his chances too. De Cos’s credentials are similarly impressive. The general manager of the Bank for International Settlements and a former governor of the Bank of Spain, he would also be the first ECB president to have served there at staff level. No Spaniard has held the job before, which counts strongly in his favor. This outcome still allows either France or Germany to get the chief economist role too. Berlin might have a better chance of winning here if countries object to a president and chief economist duo from two highly indebted countries, France and Spain, whose officials have previously had dovish tendencies. Another bargaining chip for Berlin would be the prospect of Bundesbank chief Joachim Nagel, a former BIS official, succeeding de Cos at its helm. Merz would need to actually want such an outcome, for instance to clinch a Bundesbank chief more closely aligned with his CDU party. Knot himself could be a fit for the BIS. But for either him
or Nagel to win the job, its governors from outside Europe would have to play ball, with the risk of the region losing the spot. The prospect of France failing to get the chief economist could be enough on its own to scupper de Cos’s chances, and his prior image as a dove might draw opposition too. With EU governments tending toward the center or right of the spectrum, reluctance to help the socialist premier of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, might also emerge. Lagarde’s nomination for the ECB by Macron in 2019 came almost out of nowhere during an impasse over several appointments. The same could happen again if a stalemate forces a compromise. When quizzed, officials at euro-zone finance ministries speaking on condition of anonymity don’t have an easy list of candidates at hand. One possible tie-breaker, if gender emerges as an issue, would be Sanchez proposing Nadia Calvino instead. The former Spanish finance minister currently leads the European Investment Bank. David Marsh, chairman of Omfif, suggested this month that former Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau would make a good compromise candidate, though detractors might balk at the prospect of France getting a third ECB presidency when most countries have had none. Finland’s Governor Olli Rehn, a former European Commissioner who previously tried both for the ECB presidency and its No. 2 spot, might be another option. However, that would force one of the bigger countries to give up their seat on the board. While the EU mostly manages to cut deals within its membership, some matters such as budgets have previously been far harder to resolve. If a stalemate persists long enough to last beyond the French presidential elections in April and May, and current front-runner Marine Le Pen then wins, the bloc might enter new territory. She is EU-skeptic and her indebted country is in the sights of bond investors, so the ECB leadership could plausibly become a bargaining chip at a time of market sensitivity. While this scenario does allow for a compromise to emerge similar to the above one, it also raises the prospect of a power vacuum at the central bank just when it might need strong leadership.
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Tensions run high in Northern Ireland after contentious parade given go-ahead
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By Pan Pylas The Associated Press
ONDON—British Prime Minister Andy Burnham called for calm in Northern Ireland on Sunday after a contentious parade was given the go-ahead by the High Court in Belfast in a late-night sitting.
Thousands of protesters, many wearing balaclavas, gathered to block the marchers from the Orange Order, a group hugely supportive of Northern Ireland being part of the UK, from proceeding down a street in the town of Portadown where many favor unification with the Republic of Ireland. Fireworks were set off nearby about five minutes before its 8 a.m. start time, and protesters were notified on a loudspeaker that they will be liable for arrest for taking part in an unlicensed counter parade. Burnham appealed for “calm on all sides” over the parade, saying there have been “big gains made in Northern Ireland,
ties in Northern Ireland, which remained in the United Kingdom when the rest of Ireland won independence a century ago. Irish nationalists in the north—most of them Catholic—seek union with the Republic of Ireland, while largely Protestant unionists want to stay part of the UK. Mary Lou McDonald, the president of Sinn Fein, the party historically linked to the Irish Republican Army, said the people of Garvaghy Road would “not be drawn back to the past.” “This is madness,” she said. “This, in fact, is primitive treatment of any community in the year 2026. It is intolerable, and it will not be tolerated.” Gavin Robinson, the leader of the Democrat Unionist Party, the largest pro-UK party in Northern Ireland, called out Sinn Fein leaders for inflaming the situation. “The rule of law cannot apply only when Sinn Fein likes the outcome,” he said. “Our institutions are founded on respect for the police, the courts and the rule of law.” The march was given the final go-ahead at a court hearing which concluded at 2:15 a.m. Sunday.
PROTESTERS hold banners ahead of a Portadown District Loyal Orange Lodge No 1 march in the first parade for almost 30 years, after the parade was given clearance in a late-night hearing, in Portadown, Northern Ireland, September 27. PETER MORRISON/PA VIA AP
and we don’t want to see things go backwards.” Sunday’s march marks the first time in almost 30 years that an Orange Order parade has been allowed to go down Garvaghy Road. The road was a notorious flashpoint before the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 largely ended bloodshed that left 3,600 people dead, some 50,000 wounded and thousands bereaved. In the years before the agreement, there were violent clashes on Garvaghy Road over several summers and requiring major security operations. Ending the Troubles meant balancing competing identi-
Voters in Switzerland decide on right-wing party’s proposal to tighten neutrality rules By Jamey Keaten The Associated Press
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ENEVA—Voters in Switzerland are deciding Sunday on a proposal to strengthen the country’s vaunted neutrality. The referendum is supported by a right-wing populist party that insists the Swiss government has gravitated too close to the European Union and NATO, notably over Russia‘s war in Ukraine. Backers of the plan championed by the Swiss People’s Party want Switzerland to reinforce its commitment to neutrality that has been enshrined in the constitution since the mid-19th
century and has faced years of debate over what that neutrality really means. The party, which has the most seats in parliament and counts some members with pro-Russia leanings, has bristled over the Swiss federal government’s decision to join EU sanctions against Russia over what the government calls Russia’s “war of aggression” against Ukraine. The measure would prohibit the government from joining sanctions against any belligerent country except sanctions approved by the United Nations. Russia wields a veto on the UN Security Council as one of its five permanent members.
Switzerland is not a member of any military alliance. Passage would bar the Swiss government from cooperating with any alliance—as it has with NATO for three decades, including through joint exercises—except in cases of threat. Supporters say Switzerland’s commitment to neutrality must be reaffirmed and defended in light of every conflict, and claim that the government has moved “dangerously close” to the EU and NATO in ways that threaten Switzerland’s security and independence of action. Opponents, including the federal government and parliament, say the constitution already
gives the federal government the leeway it needs to protect national interests. In Swiss democracy, voters typically cast ballots four times a year as a way to give the public a direct say in policymaking. The Swiss government is led by an executive branch whose seven members come from across the political spectrum and make decisions by consensus. The Swiss presidency rotates each year among its members and the largely ceremonial role of president, currently Guy Parmelin of the Swiss People’s Party, is considered a first among equals.
Separate mass shootings in S. Africa townships leave at least 27 people dead By Gerald Imray The Associated Press
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APE TOWN, South Africa—Eight gunmen with AK-47 rifles and pistols opened fire at patrons at a bar in the first of two separate mass shootings in South African townships in the space of a few hours that left at least 27 people dead, police said Sunday. The first massacre occurred late Saturday night near Johannesburg. The second happened in the early hours of Sunday near Cape Town. No arrests had been made in the two shootings, which came just five days after another mass shooting in a township near the city of Durban killed at least 11 people. The South African Police Service said 17 people were killed Saturday night when eight suspects armed with AK-47 rifles
and pistols opened fire at a bar in Wedela township, southwest of South Africa’s biggest city of Johannesburg, around 9.30 p.m. The suspects shot at patrons outside the bar, then moved inside to continue the killing. The victims included 13 men and four women. At least 15 others sustained gunshot injuries, according to police, who said the gunmen searched some of the patrons and took their mobile phones before escaping in two vehicles. Around four hours later, 10 people were killed and 11 were wounded in a mass shooting after 1 a.m. at a store in Lwandle township near Cape Town, South Africa’s second biggest city. Police said they were searching for multiple suspects, though they didn’t give an exact number. On Tuesday night, 11 people were killed, including a pregnant woman, in an attack by multi-
ple gunmen at a house party in KwaMakhutha township south of Durban. Police have not reported any arrests. South Africa has struggled with high rates of violent crime for years, but the series of mass shootings this week were shocking even to a country used to some of the highest homicide rates in the world. A high rate of killings is a longstanding problem for Africa’s most advanced economy, but the phenomenon of mass shootings is becoming more common, according to experts, with recent killings often being carried out by multiple gunmen. The homicides mostly affect South Africa’s poorest communities and police have linked some to criminal gangs. Other recent mass shootings include one in June in a poor neighborhood of Johannesburg that killed 12 people, and
two in the space of two weeks in December that left a total of 21 people dead. South Africa’s violent crime problem prompted President Cyril Ramaphosa to deploy soldiers on the streets in March in a yearlong operation to combat crime in some of the country’s worstaffected areas. The deployment included high-crime areas around Johannesburg and Cape Town, as well as other areas. Announcing the deployment, Ramaphosa said crime by organized gangs was the biggest threat to South Africa’s democracy and economic development. Some critics viewed the use of soldiers on the streets as an admission that police were failing. There were 5,427 homicides in South Africa in the latest threemonth period between April and June at an average of nearly 60 homicides a day, according to official police statistics.
UK police evacuate homes near air base used by US, detain men on explosives By The Associated Press
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ONDON—Police evacuated homes Sunday near an air base in England used by the US and arrested several men over suspected explosives offenses. The Gloucestershire Police force said Sunday that residents of “a number of properties” in Whelford, western England, have been taken to a nearby leisure center and that the situation is “contained.” That is close to RAF Fairford, a base that American forces have used for strictly limited strikes during the war with Iran. After the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28, the UK government allowed the American military to use the Fairford base to strike Iranian missile sites.
Police said several men have been detained on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act, and army bomb-disposal experts are examining several vehicles. Police did not confirm the arrests were linked to the base. “A cordon is currently in place but we’d like to reassure people that we believe this incident is contained,” the force said. A spokesperson for the US Air Force said its personnel based at RAF Fairford “remain vigilant” but would not discuss specific force protection measures for security reasons. “We constantly assess a variety of factors that determine what measures we institute or modify to protect our installations, our people and their families,” the spokesperson said.
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Pope urges protection of weakest at French shrine at Lourdes known for miraculous cures By Nicole Winfield
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The Associated Press
OURDES, France—Pope Leo XIV doubled down on his opposition to euthanasia and medically assisted dying during a visit Sunday to Lourdes, the French Catholic shrine associated with miraculous cures and now also a place of healing for survivors of clergy sexual abuse. Leo denounced the “current trends that seek to redefine the value of human life in illness, suffering and old age,” during a Mass on the Lourdes prairie before some 150,000 people, many of them in wheelchairs. “Here, no one is turned away due to their frailty,” Leo said in his homily. Leo traveled to the foothills of the Pyrenees on the second leg of his four-day visit to France, the once staunchly Catholic but officially secular country. The visit has been marked by huge crowds—800,000 at Leo’s Mass on Paris’ iconic Place de la Concorde—and his messaging against legislation allowing assisted dying that was recently approved in France and several other countries. Lourdes became a major pilgrimage destination after the Catholic Church officially recognized visions of the Virgin Mary reported here by a young girl in 1858. The site near the Spanish border draws millions of pilgrims each year, especially sick and disabled believers hoping for a cure from the famed spring water in the Lourdes grotto where the visions purportedly occurred.
Leo arrived in Lourdes from Paris on Saturday night and immediately prayed inside the Grotto of Apparitions and drank from the spring. “He has given a message of hope for France, a message of hope and greatness for France, and renewal for France,” said Paris pilgrim Pierre Caziljc.
Pope delivers a message about life while in France
IN France, Leo has repeatedly called for a renewed respect for life in keeping with Catholic teaching that all human life must be protected and defended from conception until natural death. The teaching translates into firm opposition to abortion, euthanasia and medically assisted dying. France’s National Assembly in 2024 enshrined abortion as a constitutional right and recently gave final approval to a bill allowing adults with incurable illnesses to receive lethal medication. In Lourdes, where the church has recognized 72 “miraculous” cures as authentic, the question of respecting even the most frail, sick and vulnerable is particularly acute.
PILGRIMS arrive for a Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, France, on September 27. AP/LAURENT CIPRIANI
“Your crutches, your wheelchairs and your hidden tears are not obstacles; instead, they are the very place where you are fully respected and welcomed,” Leo said. “Lourdes is blessed as a place for professing the beauty and sanctity of life, for life is welcomed here as a precious gift from God.”
Survivors visit Lourdes as part of their healing process
MORE recently, Lourdes has also become a place of healing for survivors of clergy sexual abuse. Leo was to meet with seven survivors on Sunday, including one who was abused as an adult, in recognition of the new frontier of the abuse crisis facing the church. The French church has endured a brutal reckoning with its legacy of abuse. An independent report in 2021 estimated 330,000 children had been abused over 70 years by some 3,000 priests and
church workers. Despite criticism of the report’s methodology and conclusions, French bishops put in place an independent system of compensation for victims that to date has recommended the church pay out more than €20 million ($22.7 million). During a meeting with French bishops on Sunday morning, Leo praised their response to victims and urged them to continue. But he also acknowledged that the cratering in priestly vocations in the French church is related to the scandal, given the priesthood is now sometimes viewed with suspicion. “For priestly vocations to flourish, the priest must be welcomed, accepted, and loved,” Leo said. On the day Leo arrived in Paris, a group of victims wrote an open letter asking him to acknowledge the church’s responsibility and
criticizing that the seven survivors were chosen by the church, not victims’ groups. “The Church must relinquish its position as both judge and party to the proceedings,” they wrote in the letter published by French newspaper Liberation. Monsig nor P ier re -A ntoi ne Bozo, spokesperson for the bishops’ conference, said two of the seven had actually been proposed by victims’ groups and that Leo intentionally wanted to keep the group small to facilitate an intimate encounter. “When it comes to listening to them, you can’t have 50 people in front of you,” he said. “So I think that’s really what the pope chose: to listen so that we can act and respond more effectively.”
Mosaics are a painful reminder of alleged abuse
IN Lourdes, Leo was also reminded
of a prickly abuse case inherited from Pope Francis. The façade of one of the Lourdes basilicas was designed by the Rev. Marko Rupnik, one of the Catholic Church’s most famous mosaic artists. Rupnik is currently on trial in a Vatican court, accused by more than two dozen women of having psychologically, spiritually and sexually abused them starting in the 1990s, including during the creation of his artworks. His case was covered up for three decades by his Jesuit superiors, and even Francis was suspected of having protected his fellow Jesuit. In response to a media outcry, Francis ordered a canonical trial in 2024, which is ongoing. The Rupnik case posed the question of what to do with his mosaics, which adorn basilicas around the world. In 2024, Lourdes Bishop JeanMarc Micas decided to no longer illuminate the façade of the Notre Dame du Rosaire Basilica at night. He subsequently ordered the decorated doors covered, and more recently decided to cover the façade’s mosaics entirely. He reasoned that abuse victims who come to Lourdes for healing shouldn’t be forced to see them. In a letter to Leo ahead of his trip, five women who say they were abused by Rupnik praised Micas’ decision to cover the mosaics but criticized the Vatican’s treatment of their case and the three decades it has taken for them to be heard. “This prolonged and loud silence has been experienced by us, the victims, as a further, continuous violence,” they wrote. Bozo also praised Micas’ decision to cover the works. “It creates such a heavy symbolic burden for the victims,” he said. “For them, I think this had to be done.”
Thousands of victims, millions in reparations: How France handled mass church sex abuse By Sylvie Corbet
The Associated Press
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ARIS—As Pope Leo XIV prepares to meet Sunday with survivors of sexual abuse by clergy in France, an independent body created to address decades of church abuse is wrapping up its work and taking stock. France’s Independent National Authority for Recognition and Reparation (INIRR) announced this week that about 2,000 people who reported being sexually abused by priests or other church representatives have sought reparations. France’s Catholic bishops’ conference agreed to provide compensation after a 2021 report estimated some 330,000 children were sexually abused over 70 years by priests or other church-related figures in France. The report described a “systemic” cover-up by church officials and urged the French Catholic Church to respect the rule of law. Here’s a look at how France addressed the abuse, by the numbers:
1,184 decisions
OVER 1,184 decisions granting financial or other reparations from the church have formally been made by the INIRR. Hundreds of other cases are still awaiting a decision. Some 183 people reached out to the independent body this year.
The INIRR closed to new submissions on August 31, after completing its scheduled mandate, but is still accompanying victims until the end of next year. It is to be replaced by another body, meant to be permanent and focusing on restorative justice, long-term guidance, and support for victims of sexual violence within the church.
1 letter
AFTER completing the process, survivors receive a “letter of recognition” that formally acknowledges the sexual abuse and details the financial compensation. “The letter was a shock wave for me,” said Cécile Reneaume, 34, who received reparations from INIRR after she was abused as a young child by the leader of a Catholic community, who has since died. “I was expecting a very small amount of financial compensation—that’s how I had imagined it. But when I read the letter, it said: ‘The church acknowledges these specific failings,’” she described. “It meant that the little girl who once had been unable to speak was finally believed. It gave weight and credibility to what happened to me as a child,” Reneaume said. The Associated Press generally doesn’t identify victims of sexual assault or abuse unless they come forward publicly or give their consent to be identified.
€36,892
SURVIVORS who went through the process were awarded an average of €36,892($42,186) each. Once the INIRR approves the financial compensation, the case is sent to a special fund financed by the church for payment. “My first reaction was violent,” said Eric, 55, who didn’t want his last name to be public, when he was informed of the amount. “I felt
anger, disbelief. Am I worth this?” Eric was raped by a priest when he was between ages 8 and 14. “It took me time to understand that it wasn’t me who was being assessed, nor was it about putting a price on what I had suffered, because you can’t put a price on a childhood,” he said. The compensation is intended to financially support the healing process.
56 years on average
PEOPLE reaching out to INIRR last year were aged 56 on average, about two-thirds were men and one-third were women. Among them, Philippe Gomes was 49 in 2023 when a session of therapeutic hypnosis helped him remember he had been a victim of sexual abuse by two priests from age 7 to 12. Survivors may experience complete or partial loss
ACTIVISTS fighting child abuse stage a protest near the home of a former Catholic priest suspected of sexually assaulting dozens of children, in Etrechy, outside Paris, on September 16. Placards read from the left: “330,000 victims of child sexual abuse, never again” and “Delfosse, the church knew.” AP/THIBAULT CAMUS
of memory due to the traumatic events. “I reached out to the INIRR and that was a real shock, because the first thing I was told was: ‘I believe you,’” Gomes said. Gomes said the therapy he is undergoing has helped him say he was raped without crying. “I’m not ashamed, I’m not the one who should be ashamed,” he said. Reparations also may include nonfinancial support. Requests have included help for victims to write down their stories, organizing meetings with local church representatives, or installing a plaque in memory of victims. The pope will meet privately with seven survivors on Sunday, at the Catholic pilgrimage site in Lourdes. A group of victims asked Leo to acknowledge the Catholic Church’s responsibility in the widespread abuse. In an open letter published Friday by French newspaper Liberation, they called themselves survivors of sexual violence “from members of your community,” and expressed fears that Leo’s visit “will change nothing.” “Because once again you will address, as in Lourdes, victims who have been carefully selected in ‘complete confidentiality’ and, faced with crimes committed within your ranks, you limit yourself to asking us for forgiveness,” they wrote.
TheWorld
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Monday, September 28, 2026 A43
Bus with Filipino tourists in Germany overturns, killing 2
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ERLIN—A bus carrying tourists from the Philippines veered off a highway west of the German city of Munich and
overturned, killing at least two people and injuring at least eight others, the German news agency dpa reported on Sunday.
The coach left the road on a highway near Buchloe in the Ostallgäu region around 6 a.m. local time, dpa reported, citing German officials.
Investigators were looking into the cause of the crash, which was not immediately clear. The agency reported that the bus was traveling from
the Swiss city of Zurich toward Milan in Italy. A police spokeswoman cited by dpa said about 40 to 50 people were on board, all of
whom were Filipino nationals. The crash comes just weeks after a Dutch tour bus crash in eastern Switzerland, killing five people. AP
Russian strikes kill 2 in Ukraine after Moscow rejects German calls to ease off escalation
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YIV, Ukraine—Russian strikes on Ukraine killed at least two people overnight into Sunday, officials said, hours after Moscow rejected German calls to ease off its escalation toward NATO. Russia’s top diplomat on Saturday brushed off what’s believed to have been the first tête-à-tête with his German counterpart since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The meeting was held during the UN General Assembly’s annual gathering of world leaders, as an intensifying aerial war between
Russia and Ukraine shows no sign of slowing. Ties between Russia and Germany have soured in recent weeks, following an attempted drone attack last month at Leipzig airport that Berlin blamed on the Kremlin. W it h f ront - l i ne p os it ion s largely unchanged since last year, Moscow has hammered its
neighbor with cruise and ballistic missiles, powerful glide bombs and jet-powered drones in recent months. Meanwhile, Kyiv’s long-range drones have targeted Russian oil refineries and businesses. In Kyiv, a man was found dead after a Russian drone hit a nonresidential building overnight, according to Ukraine’s emergency service. Another drone struck a singlestory vehicle repair shop, leaving firefighters battling the blaze into early Sunday, the emergency service said. Russian forces also struck Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, which surrounds the country’s main Black Sea port, multiple times overnight into Sunday, killing one per-
MEDICS inspect a body of a woman killed in a Russian strike on residential neighbourhood on Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on September 26. AP/KATERYNA KLOCHKO
son and injuring two others, according to the head of the local military administration, Oleh Kiper.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was dismissive after the meeting in New York, which
was held at German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul’s request. Lavrov said that Wadephul “simply reiterated his official position condemning Russia”. “You can judge for yourself whether that counts as dialogue or not,” he said. Wadephul expressed openness to a better relationship but said it required a genuine willingness from Russia’s leadership to end the war in Ukraine, according to a German delegation official. An overwhelming majority of U.N. member nations have repeatedly condemned Moscow’s invasion. The Kremlin describes the war a “special military operation” intended to ensure Russia’s security and the rights of Russian speakers.
CNN says it was left off Air Force One for Trump’s trip to a college football game By Sarah Rankin & Hallie Golden The Associated Press
STAFF members transfer a cage holding giant panda Ping Ping at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, southwestern China’s Sichuan Province, September 2. XU BINGJIE/XINHUA VIA AP
2 giant pandas set off to Atlanta zoo from China after Xi-Trump summit By HUIZHONG WU The Associated Press
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ANGKOK—Two giant pandas departed Chengdu in southwestern China early Sunday for their new homes in Atlanta as part of an agreement between the Chinese and American governments. While in Washington for a three-day summit with US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that the pandas would arrive in Atlanta in the coming days. The loan of the pandas to the Atlanta zoo was one of the few concrete outcomes to come out of the state visit, which saw expressions of goodwill between the leaders, but no fixes to any of the long-standing differences between the two countries. Atlanta said farewell to its last pandas
in 2024, leaving the zoo without the bears. The new agreement was announced back in April, but without any dates. Ping Ping and Fu Shuang are the two adult pandas that will be on loan to Zoo Atlanta for 10 years as part of the agreement. Both pandas were born in 2020 and were kept at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Ping Ping, the male, has dark black circles around his eyes, while Fu Shuang, the female, has a forehead that protrudes a bit, according to the Xinhua News Agency. China has long used the pandas as part of its diplomacy globally, deploying the bears in loan programs as expressions of goodwill and letting loan agreements lapse when tensions arise. Xi had said the loan program was an example of “friendship between the Chinese and Americans.”
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HE White House left CNN off Air Force One for President Donald Trump’s trip Saturday to a college football game in Tennessee, marking the latest media restriction from the administration in an ongoing dispute with First Amendment implications. CNN, a member of the US network video pool that rotates duties shooting and sharing video coverage of the president, reported it had been scheduled to fly aboard the president’s plane Saturday for a visit to a midday game between the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and the University of Texas. But White House guidance issued Friday night instead included Real America’s Voice, a conservative outlet. The White House guidance was issued after journalists from CNN, along with MS NOW and Politico, which Trump banned last week from the White House grounds, returned to the executive complex with TV cameras in hand after a judge handed the organizations a reprieve. US District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily struck down the president’s ban in an overnight ruling early Thursday, but his decision dealt with “hard passes” to the White House grounds and didn’t directly address pool duties. The judge’s temporary order also said
nothing directly about Air Force One. The spot meant for CNN on the flight has long been saved for a member of the U.S. network video pool; Real America’s Voice is not a part of that group. The White House did not respond to emails from The Associated Press requesting comment about the decision.
CNN declined to comment.
A WRITTEN pool report Saturday morning confirmed there was “no TV pool” for the travel, though Real America’s Voice celebrated its inclusion in the trip and said it would make feeds available to other news outlets. “CNN is not here; we have taken over that responsibility. We are so excited to be here,” correspondent Taylor Mitchell said in a video that the outlet posted on social media. On Saturday morning, the president addressed the broader debate in a post on social media, writing: “FAKE NEWS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED IN THE WHITE HOUSE!!! IT HAS GONE ON FAR TOO LONG, AT A TREMENDOUS COST TO OUR COUNTRY.” Fans at the game caught a low-altitude flyover as Air Force One came into town while the teams were warming up. The president’s motorcade arrived just as the national anthem was being sung, and the president was later shown on a jumbotron and greeted with cheers, according to a text pool report.
Media organizations believe the court decision covers the ‘pool’
THEODORE BOUTROUS JR., an attorney for CNN, MS NOW and Politico, did not respond to phone calls or emails Friday evening or Saturday morning. Earlier Friday, on “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” Boutrous said the plaintiffs believe the recent court ruling also covers the issue of pool access. For a while Friday, the US network video pool for the White House was back in operation for the first time since Trump banned the three news outlets in an extraordinary showdown over media access. At noon on CNN, viewers could see Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping touring the National Archives, along with Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan, Xi’s wife. The banner along the bottom of the screen read: “Trump and China’s Xi Visit National Archives.” It was a routine report from a state visit—except that CNN had not aired live video of Trump in several days. “As of now, all systems are go,” said a person familiar with the pool, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the fluidity of the situation.
Pool participants showed solidarity this week
THE TV pool consists of five major US broadcast outlets. When the White House banned CNN from the White House grounds, along with MS NOW and Politico, the other four pool providers declined to participate in a show of solidarity.
CNN did not comment directly Friday, referring instead to its editorial coverage. It did the same Saturday. But Brian Stelter, the network’s media analyst, posted on X Friday that CNN had a pool assignment at the National Archives event and that the White House had approved the network’s credentials. The outlet on Saturday covered its exclusion from Air Force One, writing that the move “represents the Trump administration’s latest salvo against CNN and the broader White House press corps.” Throughout his second term, Trump has increasingly targeted media outlets whose coverage irritates him, taking administrative or legal action against several. Early last year, he banished AP reporters from White House events because the organization wasn’t abiding by his executive order changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” The AP’s guidance says to acknowledge the new name when relevant. The case is on appeal after a federal district judge ruled in AP’s favor. The press pool was created decades ago by the White House Correspondents’ Association, a group of journalists who cover the president, to make sure a rotating roster always travels with the president. The pool distributes in-person reports and imagery to the broader press corps and is designed to hold the nation’s chief executive accountable on behalf of the American public.
PM Burnham brings good vibes to Labour’s annual conference but tough choices are coming By Jill Lawless
The Associated Press
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IVERPOOL, England—British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been in the job for two months, and so far his party isn’t demanding his head. These days, that’s an accomplishment. The governing Labour Party opened its annual conference beside the River Mersey in Liverpool on Sunday, with Burnham pledging to turn the page on a decade of economic and political turmoil that has made him the UK’s seventh prime minister since its 2016 vote to leave the European Union. He said his message in a keynote speech
on Tuesday will be: “It’s time for Britain to have hope again.” “We’ve had a decade since Brexit and it’s been a decade of too much drift, too much division, and we need to draw a line on that,” Burnham said as he arrived in Liverpool on Saturday. His message is aimed at both the British public and a center-left party that is hopeful but nervous — ready to embrace his promise of better times, but worried about economic damage rippling out from conflict in the Middle East. University of Manchester political science professor Rob Ford said Burnham’s difficult task is to win over “a skeptical electorate”
eager for change, “while at the same time doing that within the constraints of a very difficult economic and fiscal situation.” In short: “How do you serve people a bowl of cold porridge and convince them it’s a pepperoni pizza?”
Upbeat Burnham replaced unpopular Starmer
BRITAIN’S main political parties all hold conferences in September and October, combinations of pep rally, social gathering and policy forum that set the political tone and agenda for the year ahead. Last year’s Labour gathering was gloomy, as members despaired about Prime Minister
Keir Starmer’s deep unpopularity, little more than a year after winning power in a landslide, and the seemingly unstoppable rise of the anti-immigration opposition party Reform UK. Burnham, then the popular mayor of Greater Manchester, was followed around Liverpool by journalists as speculation grew that he would challenge Starmer. Events came to a head months later when a panicky party forced Starmer’s resignation and his replacement by Burnham as party leader and prime minister in July. Now, Labour is seeing a “Burnham bounce” driven by the new leader’s upbeat talk and modest moves to put money in vot-
ers’ pocketbooks by cutting tax on electricity bills and capping bus fares. Meanwhile, Reform is facing parliamentary and police investigations over its finances—though it also recently received a whopping 72 million pounds ($95 million) from two cryptocurrency billionaires. Burnham has already set out some priorities, including handing more power to local leaders in order to generate “good growth in every post code.” He says he’ll reform Britain’s privatized utilities, especially the expensive, leaky and polluting water network, and will tackle the soaring cost of housing with measures including a government-backed loan plan to help
people buy their first homes. While the party is relatively united behind Burnham, he faces a divisive decision about whether to approve new oil drilling in the North Sea—opposed by environmentalists but backed by trade unions—and pushback over plans agreed under Starmer to make it harder for immigrants to settle permanently in Britain. The next general election does not have to be called until 2029, but Labour’s revival has sparked talk of a snap election—something Burnham denies he’s considering. “All of this speculation on an early election, I can knock that dead,” Burnham told broadcaster ITV on Friday.
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‘OFW pool to be dominated by careerists, long haul guardians’
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By Andea Louise San Juan
HE pool of overseas Filipino workers is expected to be dominated by “Family lifelines” and “Long-haul guardians”—the archetypes which are less about exploring and more about being able to consistently send money back home, according to one of the authors of Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) “The Filipino Abroad” report.
While BCG noted that the number of “self-builders”—the archetype of OFWs that aim to explore and develop their careers—has been growing, the consulting firm pointed out it expects duty-driven Gen X OFWs and millennial breadwinners to dominate the pool of Filipinos working abroad. The Long-haul Guardian, as described in the report, is the “emotionally depleted duty-driven Gen X OFW who stays abroad to prevent disrupting lives in the Philippines.” Meanwhile, the Family Lifeline is the “self-sacrificing millennial breadwinner whose life abroad exists to keep the family back home afloat.” “We met a lot of self-builders, which are the archetype of the OFWs that aim to really explore, see the world and develop their careers, they’re not sure about re-
turning. But we do know and we do expect that actually most of the OFWs will actually belong more to the family lifeline type clusters or the long-haul guardian type clusters,” Jaimie Bawalan-Lim, a coauthor of “The Filipino Abroad” told the BusinessMirror in an interview. Bawalan-Lim said these archetypes are coming from specialist industries such as the construction and agriculture sectors. She said these are areas where Filipino workers are looking “to really just have a good amount of money come back home monthly.” “We expect those archetypes to be the most represented across the board and I think this is supported by the fact that these archetypes are also the ones that dominate the U.S. as well as the Middle East corridors which we know are also making up a lot of our OFWs,” she added.
Long-Haul Guardian
THE top three industries where t he long-h au l g u a rd i a ns a re employed a re: Const r uc t ion, D ome s t ic c a re s e r v ic e s a nd Healthcare. The report also noted that over 60 percent of their income is being remitted to their families back home. The core driver of this Gen X OFW is “legacy building” while the ultimate concern of this archetype is the health of family members in the Philippines. “For Long-Haul Guardians, migration has become a life structure rather than a phase,” the report noted. The BCG study pointed out that these Gen X workers are “older, more settled, and shaped far more by duty than by any lingering curiosity about what the world might offer.” Moreover, many have already spent years doing the hard work of providing. Thus, the question they sit with is no longer simply “how do I send enough home?” “It is beginning to shift into something harder: what does all of this add up to, and what comes after?” the report said.
Family Lifelines
THE top three industries where family lifelines work are: Construction work, Agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and Transportation and logistics. Similar to the chunk of money sent home by long-haul guardians, Family lifelines part ways with 60 percent of their income. It is worth noting that this type
of Filipino worker is being fueled by sacrifice for family. Family lifelines fret over being far away if something serious happens to their family back home. “Family Lifelines sit closest to the emotional center of what the OFW story is actually about,” the report noted. The study of BCG explained that their migration is about provision and not just exploration. “Nearly all are married with children, and life abroad is organized entirely around the family in the Philippines,” the report stressed. The cost of that arrangement, the study said, is “measured in missed moments, in tiredness, in a kind of permanent low-frequency worry, is the highest of any group.”
Self-builders
THE report said this archetype is the “autonomy-seeking” younger millennials who prioritize building their own life abroad. As such, self-discovery and independence are their core drivers. “Self-builders are the youngest cluster in orientation, pulled abroad more by possibility than pres s u re. I nte r n at ion a l work experience, personal independence, a life that feels larger than what was available at home— these are the gravitational forces shaping their migration,” the report noted. According to BCG, while family still matters for this type of Filipino worker, it is not the sole reason they left and it does not carry the same urgency as it does for other groups.
Villanueva flags ₧9.8-B cut to free tuition fund
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SENATOR warned on Friday that a P9.757-billion decrease to the government’s free tuition subsidy could undercut the implementation of a reform law he authored, as the Commission on Higher Education’s overall budget fell by more than a quarter for 2027. CHED’s proposed 2027 budget stands at P35.453 billion, down P12.916 billion or 26.7% from its 2026 level. Inside that reduction, the allocation for Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education, the government’s free tuition fund, falls from P37.547 billion to P27.790 billion, Sen.
Joel Villanueva said. The cut lands as Republic Act 12325, the law enhancing the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, moves toward implementation. “We must also prepare for the implementation of Republic Act 12325, enhancing the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, the I authored and cosponsored,” Villanueva said during the CHED and SUCs budget briefing. Only 12.6 percent of Tertiary Education Subsidy grantees in the first semester of Academic Year 2025-2026 came from 4Ps
households, a gap RA 12325 was designed to close by directing subsidies more precisely toward disadvantaged learners. “I authored this reform because the subsidy was not reaching the students who needed it most. A smaller budget makes that job harder, not easier,” Villanueva said. He took note of other CHED programs that received additional funding allocations, with the commission;s Student Financial Assistance Programs having a proposed P3.185 billion budget for 2027 from this year’s P2.154 billion, which will allow it to expand beneficiaries from 42,128
to 49,243. Villanueva expressed relief that the Doktor Para sa Bayan program, or the Medical Scholarship and Return Service Program, received ample funding for next year. With an allocation of P1.232 billion, the program will support 4,557 continuing scholars and provide scholarships to 700 incoming medical students. “Take note of the increase in our scholarship and financial assistance programs. More of our students are getting help, and we intend to keep pushing that number up,” Villanueva said. Butch Fernandez
BCDA opens Clark water project to Swiss challenge By Henry Empeño
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L A R K FR EEPORT—T he B a s e s Conve r s ion a nd Development Author it y (BCDA) has opened the New Clark City (NCC) Water Supply and Wastewater Project for comparative proposals or Swiss Challenge, setting the stage for a 90-day bidding process to challenge the original proponent for the P14.8-billion development venture. In an advisory published on the website of the Public-Private Partnership Center of the Philippines on Friday, the BCDA invited interested parties to pre-qualify and bid against the original proposal from the consortium of Korea Water Resources Corp. (K-Water) and Maynila Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad), which gained Original Proponent Status (OPS) for the project on August 28. K-Water and Maynilad presented an unsolicited proposal
on January 29 this year for the NCC Water Supply and Wastewater Project under a joint-venture agreement with a concession period of 25 years and subject to extension, the BCDA said. The project aims to establish an efficient and modern water supply and wastewater facility at the NCC that meets international standards and improves water services in the area. BCDA said the project includes the construction, operation and maintenance of non-public utility project assets by a joint venture (JV) special purpose corporation (SPC). The JV-SPC will also construct public utility project assets to be leased out to a duly qualified company for operation and management. The project assets will then be transferred to the government at the end of the concession period, BCDA added. The Swiss challenge involves a 90-day, two-stage bidding process
commencing from the issuance of the comparative challenge documents. Under this scheme, each challenger will have to pre-qualify before being issued a request for comparative proposal. The BCDA Pre-QualificationQualifications, Bids, and Awards Committee (PBAC) will first evaluate qualification documents to assess the challenger’s legal, technical, and financial qualifications to undertake the project. Challengers who meet qualification requirements will then participate in the opening of technical proposals, and those passing the technical assessment will then join in the opening of the financial proposal. The challenger submitting the lowest initial tariff for the first 12 months upon the start of the operation and maintenance period will be declared as the challenger with the most superior compara-
tive proposal, the BCDA said. With this, K-Water and Maynilad will be given the right to match or better the financial proposal of the most superior comparative proposal within 30 calendar days. In case the BCDA PBAC determines the proposal of the original proponent to be superior or more advantageous to the government, or if there is no challenger, the PPP contract will be given to the original proponent. The BCDA said interested parties may download and review instructions and comparative challenge documents from the official websites of BCDA and the PPP Center starting September 28. Challengers may participate upon paying a non-refundable participation fee of P1 million. BCDA has set the deadline for submission of qualification documents on October 20, 10:00 a.m., at the BCDA Corporate Office in Bonifacio Global City.
Lapu-Lapu City officials seek clearer commitments from DUs on power supply By Carmel Pedroza
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EBU CITY—Lapu-Lapu City officials are seeking clearer commitments from power agencies on when the electricity supply situation will improve, while the Cebu Provincial Government is set to resume a four-day workweek beginning September 28 as part of its energy conservation efforts. During the Lapu-Lapu City Sangguniang Panlungsod’s session last week, representatives of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and Mactan Electric Co. (Meco) were asked to explain the continuing supply shortage, rotational brownouts and rising electricity bills affecting consumers. Vice Mayor Celedonio Sitoy, who presided over the Question Hour, said NGCP could not provide a definite timeline for the end of rotational brownouts, citing insufficient generation capacity and several power plants that remain unavailable. “NGCP discussed the problem, and we really have a shortage in power supply. They suggested adding more power plants. They said some power plants have broken down and can no longer be repaired,” Sitoy told reporters in Cebuano. The Visayas grid was again placed under yellow alert on Sunday due to scant contingency reserves. Sitoy said he did not expect the supply problem to be resolved within the next two months, citing the need for additional generation capacity. “The problem is really the lack of generation power. We need a larger generation capacity,” he said.
Power costs
ASIDE from interruptions, the Lapu-Lapu City Council raised concerns over electricity bills and the various charges passed on to consumers. Meco explained that as a distribution utility, it has limited control over generation and transmission costs that form part of consumers’ bills. These include generation charges paid to power suppliers, transmission wheeling charges collected by NGCP and ancillary service charges used to maintain backup reserves for grid stability. The council has adopted several measures in response to consumer complaints. Resolution 17-2233-2026, approved on July 15, asked the Department of Energy and ERC to conduct a review and audit of generation, transmission and other mandatory charges collected from Meco consumers. It also sought an examination of MECO’s power supply agreements, meter reading, bill computation and billing procedures. On Sept. 7, the council approved Resolution 17-2518-2026, urging Meco to provide timely, feeder-specific brownout schedules identifying affected barangays and areas,
the expected duration of interruptions and projected restoration times. A third measure, Resolution 17-25242026, approved on Sept. 16, formally invited NGCP, ERC and Meco representatives to the Question Hour. The session was attended by officials from the three agencies, including NGCP Assistant Vice President Neil Modina, ERC Attorney III Mary Elizah D. Castillo and Meco Chief Financial Officer Julito O. Gultiano Jr. Sitoy said the ERC had yet to present a concrete action plan addressing the concerns raised by the council. He said he would coordinate with Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Ma. Cynthia King-Chan on possible measures to assist consumers affected by the power disruptions and higher electricity costs. At the national level, Lapu-Lapu City Rep. Junard Chan is among the principal authors of House Resolution 1430, filed Sept. 7, seeking a congressional inquiry into ancillary service charges, the availability and actual delivery of backup reserves, and the status of generation, energy storage and transmission projects in the Visayas.
Four-day workweek
THE Cebu Provincial Government will again implement a four-day workweek beginning Monday, Sept. 28, as part of efforts to reduce electricity consumption. Under a Sept. 23 memorandum issued by Gov. Pamela S. Baricuatro, provincial government offices and departments are encouraged to adopt a Monday-to-Thursday schedule, with working hours from 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The arrangement will remain in effect until further notice. The measure was issued pursuant to Executive Order 16, series of 2026, which cited the need to reduce energy consumption. The provincial government had previously adopted a four-day workweek in March amid rising fuel prices. The latest move comes as Central Visayas continues to experience electricity supply constraints, while petroleum prices are also rising. The provincial government said the compressed workweek is intended to manage energy consumption while allowing essential government operations and frontline services to continue. Several offices, however, will retain their regular operating schedules. These are the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Cebu Provincial Health Office, Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office, Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, and Cebu North and South Bus Terminal. The Provincial General Services Office, Provincial General Office and Provincial Treasurer’s Office have also been encouraged to assign personnel who will maintain regular Monday-to-Friday office hours.
DILG expands Unified 911 response assets, boasts of 96.15% efficiency
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HE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said it is expanding the Unified 911 emergency hotline’s response assets and strengthening the capacity of emergency personnel to ensure faster and more reliable assistance during crucial situations. The DILG said the Unified 911 emergency hotline hit a 96.15 percent efficiency rate from January to August 2026, handling 12.7 million calls nationwide. “To sustain the system’s performance, the DILG is expanding response assets and strengthening the capacity of emergency personnel to ensure faster and more reliable assistance during critical situations,” the DILG said. As part of the continuing rollout, 163 Unified 911 emergency response motorcycles were recently turned over to local governments (LGUs) and regional police offices in Regions V, VI, VIII, and the National Capital Region (NCR), providing responders greater mobility, particularly in congested and hardto-reach areas. The Department also intensified capacity development for Emergency 911 National Call Center personnel. Telecommunicators and team leaders underwent training on standardized call handling, dispatch coordination, and the consistent delivery of emergency assistance.
“With these upgrades in place, the Unified 911 will be more adaptive and responsive in catering to more diverse and urgent emergencies,” the DILG said. Calls received from January to August covered emergencies requiring police assistance, fire suppression, ambulance services, search and rescue, and other forms of emergency response. In Caloocan City, first responders were dispatched within four minutes after a concerned citizen reported a bomb explosion, allowing an injured individual to be immediately brought to the nearest hospital. In Mangatarem, Pangasinan, municipal and barangay rescue teams responded to a call involving a family stranded on the roof of their home as floodwaters rose. The family was safely evacuated and brought to an evacuation center. The DILG said these actual responses demonstrate the importance of an integrated emergency system that connects calls for help with responders on the ground. The DILG reaffirmed its commitment to further strengthening the Unified 911 system through continued investments in emergency response assets, personnel training, and closer coordination among LGUs, the police, fire, rescue, and other emergency response units to ensure timely and reliable assistance to Filipinos during emergencies.
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TIEZA: TOURISM INVESTMENTS REACH OVER P4.6B IN JAN-AUG By MA. Stella F. Arnaldo Special to the BusinessMirror
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OME P4.63 billion in investments in the tourism industry have been registered with the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza) from January to August this year. According to lawyer Karen Mae G. SarinasBaydo, assistant chief operating officer of Tieza, these investments are already 80.6 percent of the total registered investments in full-year 2025, which reached P5.74 billion. She added that this year’s committed investments are projected to create 522 jobs, while last year’s total were supposed to create 1,039 jobs. Tieza, a government-owned and -controlled corporation, is the infrastructure arm of the Department of Tourism (DOT). She told the BusinessMirror that these projects are “mainly hotels, but we do have wellness establishments, an events center, farm tourism sites, and recreational facilites as well.” Also, she said, “Tieza is currently processing eight ongoing applications representing approximately P2.56 billion in proposed investments and 569 potential jobs.”
Investment promotion agency
OF the eight registered projects, “five with about P1.07 billion in proposed investments and 256 jobs, have target opening dates within 2026. The remaining three applications represent approximately P1.49 billion and 313 jobs, with opening dates in 2027,” said Sarinas-Baydo. Under recent tax reform laws, Tieza has been appointed as the premier tourism in-
vestment promotion agency of the government, and can grant tax-free privileges and income tax holidays to registered projects. From 2021 to August 2026, Tieza registered 34 projects under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) and CREATE to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE) Acts, representing approximately P14.5 billion in committed investments and 2,826 committed jobs. Projects registered in 2025 until August 2026 alone accounted for P10.37 billion, or about 71.5 percent of total registered investments since 2021, “underscoring the continued strength of tourism-related investment commitments in the last two years,” said Sarinas-Baydo. As this developed, a House legislator urged that a budget for Tieza be allocated next year, in the light of the impending removal of the travel tax, which funds vital tourism infrastructure projects.
Appeal for funds
“I WOULD just like to manifest for the budget of Tieza. I hope the honorable sponsor [of the DOT budget] can push for an additional budget for Tieza, even if it’s not the full amount because I believe infrastructure is really needed even more than branding funds to attract tourists,” said APEC Partylist Rep. Sergio Dagooc. The lawmaker made the appeal during the September 22 Plenary hearing on the proposed P5.5-billion budget of the DOT and its attached agencies under the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2027. Sorsogon First See “Tieza,” A2
Monday, September 28, 2026 A45
PHL biz mood improves on holidays, rice harvest—BSP
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By Andrea E. San Juan
HILIPPINE business sentiment became less pessimistic in August due to higher demand for essential commodities, loan products and construction activities, results of the latest Business Expectations Survey (BES) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed. However, the business confidence index remained in negative territory during the month. Based on the report, the overall Business Confidence Index (CI) improved to -10.9 percent in August 2026, from the -20.3 percent in July 2026. A negative CI means that more respondents are pessimistic than optimistic about the economy. “The improved sentiment of firms in August 2026 was attributed to higher demand for goods and services,” the survey noted. Respondent firms noted that financial condition was less tight in August compared to July as the con-
fidence index, albeit still negative, improved to -24.9 percent from the -31.4 percent in July. Financial condition, the central bank said, refers to the firm’s general cash position considering the level of cash and other cash items and repayment terms on loans. However, the report noted that firms flagged the “slightly tighter” access to credit, with the index marginally declining to -7.2 percent in August, from the -7 percent in July. According to BSP, access to credit refers to the availability of credit in the banking system and other financial institutions. Meanwhile, firms said there was
an uptick in average capacity utilization in industry and construction, with the business confidence index improving to 69 percent, slightly higher than 68.6 percent in July. However, the top business constraints flagged were stiff domestic competition, insufficient demand, and high interest rates.
Outlook
FIRMS have become more optimistic for the next three months, as their confidence index for this timeframe improved to 24.6 percent compared to July’s 3.7 percent, as businesses expect an uptick in business activities by November due to the holidays and rice harvest. Philippine businesses are also pinning their hopes on stronger demand for consumer and financial products and services in the next three months. For the next 12 months, firms have also become more sanguine as they expect consumer spending in tourism, construction, education and financial activities to improve. The optimistic outlook of Philippine firms also rests on their expectation that the rise in the prices of goods and services or inflation
is expected to ease in the next 12 months. Other reasons behind the more sanguine outlook of businesses in the year ahead anchor on the possible resolution of the Middle East conflict, “enhancement” in business operations, and “improved” investor confidence. Meanwhile, employment prospects were “more favorable” as the share of businesses planning to hire more workers both over the next three- and 12-month periods increased. Based on the BES report, the business confidence index on employment outlook in the three-month period improved to 13.4 percent in August from the 11 percent in July. As for the 12-month horizon, businesses’ confidence index surged to 30.7 percent in August from 9 percent in July. In contrast, the share of industry firms intending to expand operations declined both over the threeand 12-month periods. Over the three-month horizon, businesses’ confidence index for expansion plans dipped to 12.4 percent in August from the 13.6 percent recorded in July. See “Rice harvest,” A2
PHL joins walkout during Netanyahu’s UN assembly speech By Malou Talosig-Bartolome
T
FOREST PARTNERS FOR WATER SECURITY The Forest Foundation Philippines (FFP), National Power Corporation (Napocor) and WWF-Philippines conduct a one-day learning trip inside the Angat Watershed Forest Reserve, culminating in a tree-planting activity with various organizations and stakeholders. The initiative aims to build partnerships and encourage volunteers to support watershed conservation and reforestation for Metro Manila’s water security. BERNARD TESTA
Gig workers ask DICT chief to resign By Lorenz S. Marasigan
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ECH leaders and gig workers are calling for the resignation of Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Aguda and Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) Executive Director Renato Paraiso over the government’s brief blocking of Discord, which critics described as “indiscriminate” and “poorly executed.” The block, imposed after the deadly shooting at a school in Banga, South Cotabato, drew fire from the IT and freelance sectors, where virtual assistants, developers and gig workers rely on Discord for day-to-day work. Initial reports suggested the suspect had been groomed on the platform. The government reversed the ban within hours, with CICC Director Aya Macalma admitting that authorities were unaware of the app’s broader professional uses. Scam Watch Philippines Co-Founder Art Samaniego Jr. said the episode had damaged the standing of the agencies involved.
“The most damaging consequence of the Discord block is the blow to the credibility of both the DICT and the CICC,” Samaniego said. “The fatal flaw was underestimating the users.” Former DICT Undersecretary Jeffrey Ian Dy is preparing to bring the issue to the Supreme Court, questioning the executive branch’s power to block digital platforms on its own. Working with civil society and tech advocacy groups, including BetterGov.PH and Democracy.Net.PH, Dy said demand letters had been sent to the DICT, the CICC and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) seeking an end to arbitrary platform blocking. “This drama has to stop, especially when the economic and civil rights of people are being violated,” he said. “This is no longer about Discord. This is already about our freedom on the internet, which, for some of us, brings food to the table.” Aguda, in a video message, acknowledged the outcry but defended the government’s decision, saying access to Discord was restored only after the platform committed to concrete child-safety measures.
“I saw the comments. I saw the memes. And I understand why people are asking: why restrict access to Discord only to restore it shortly after? To those who were inconvenienced, we hear you,” Aguda said, speaking partly in Filipino. “These concrete commitments gave government the basis to restore access to Discord because the restriction itself was never the end goal. Accountability and cooperation were,” he added. Aguda said Discord and Reddit have committed to closer coordination with Philippine authorities and stronger safety measures for young Filipino users. These include a dedicated “green lane” that gives authorities a direct channel to flag serious threats and expedite the review of illegal and harmful content, “including grooming networks and activities that exploit or endanger children.” He said government agencies had been pressing for stronger accountability, faster coordination and clearer mechanisms against online threats to minors even before the restriction was imposed. “Responsible governance means knowing when government must act and knowing when
access should be restored once the concerns that prompted that action are being addressed,” Aguda said. The DICT chief said the government’s focus now shifts to implementation, and that it will closely watch whether the platforms’ pledges lead to faster action and real protection for children. “Your access matters, and we recognize the disruption this caused,” he said. “We have restored access, but accountability does not end there. Our children deserve to enjoy everything technology makes possible with the protection they need and deserve.” The CICC, an attached agency of the DICT, earlier gave Discord and Reddit 24 hours to establish a Philippine presence following the shooting at Banga National High School. The agency cited a Nihilistic Violent Extremism (NVE) group allegedly recruiting and grooming teenagers on the platforms, which is suspected to have links to the September 18 shooting that killed three students. The CICC extended the deadline only for Reddit, leading to the Discord ban, which took effect Wednesday evening and was lifted the following day after Discord representatives met online with CICC and DICT officials. Paraiso has since apologized to users affected by the disruption.
HE Philippines, one of Israel’s longest-standing allies in Asia, joined more than 70 countries in a mass walkout during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Thursday, according to Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations Enrique Manalo and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). As Netanyahu approached the rostrum, the General Assembly chamber erupted in a mix of applause, boos and coordinated walkouts. Scores of diplomats filed out of the hall, leaving large sections of the chamber noticeably empty. “Order in the hall, please,” General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman repeatedly appealed as delegates exited. Netanyahu responded defiantly. “If there are any other moral cowards who have not yet left this hall, please do so now,” he said. While the UN’s live television feed showed numerous empty seats throughout the session, camera angles did not fully capture the section where the Philippine delegation was seated. Asked by BusinessMirror whether the Philippines had joined the walkout, Manalo replied simply: “Yes,” declining to elaborate further. The DFA later confirmed the move, saying it was consistent with the Philippines’s position on the Middle East peace process and its concerns over developments in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. “Yes, the Philippines joined the walkout in global solidarity for peace in the Middle East and the call for all parties to desist from unilateral actions that erode the conditions for peace and undermine the viability of a future Palestinian state,” DFA spokesperson Analyn Ratonel told the BusinessMirror. “The Philippines is deeply concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and notes with alarm Israel’s efforts to advance the E1 settlement plan and the continued rise of settler violence in the West Bank. These actions are detrimental to finding a just, lasting and comprehensive solution to the Middle East conflict. The Philippines has always supported the two-state solution as the viable path to peace in the region.” The Philippine participation in the walkout was notable given the historically close ties between Manila and Jerusalem. The Philippines was among the few Asian countries that welcomed Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution during World War II under President Manuel L. Quezon. In 1947, it became the first Asian country to vote in favor of United Nations Resolution 181, which recommended the partition of Palestine and paved the way for the creation of the State of Israel. The two countries have maintained warm relations for decades, with Israel often describing the Philippines as one of its closest friends in Asia. The special relationship has also been reflected diplomatically. For several years, the
Philippine ambassador served as dean of the diplomatic corps in Israel, representing the collective interests of foreign envoys accredited to the Israeli government. Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu reported that countries participating in the walkout included Türkiye, Palestine, Tunisia, Syria, Algeria, Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran, Qatar, Lebanon, Malaysia, Indonesia and Kuwait. Delegations from Spain, Brazil, Peru, Cuba, Nigeria, Ghana, Libya, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Oman, Niger, Madagascar, Botswana, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Cabo Verde and several other countries also either walked out or remained absent from the session. The Iranian delegation reportedly left a photograph of Qassem Soleimani, the slain commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, on its table before departing. According to Anadolu, the United States, Germany, Argentina, Hungary, Serbia, Ukraine, Czechia and Greece remained in the chamber during Netanyahu’s address. Delegations from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which normalized relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords, also stayed in their seats. China, which has repeatedly criticized Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, was represented by a lone diplomat. Other countries present during the speech included Australia, Austria, Canada, Portugal, Poland, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Iceland, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Kenya and El Salvador. Al Jazeera separately reported that Ethiopia, Italy, Finland, Senegal, Mozambique and Somalia also remained represented in the hall. The walkout left visible gaps across the General Assembly chamber and underscored Israel’s growing diplomatic isolation as the Gaza war enters its third year and international divisions over the conflict continue to deepen. Despite the walkout, the Israeli leader pressed ahead with his address, dismissing allegations of genocide as “the biggest lie of the century” and defending Israel’s military operations against Hamas and Iran. “In defending itself, Israel is also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall,” Netanyahu said. “In fact, I want you to know that many of their leaders even thank us privately for taking out Iran’s nukes.” Netanyahu argued that the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, which killed about 1,200 people in Israel, left his government with no choice but to wage war against the militant group. The Israeli leader also defended attacks against Iran, predicted the eventual collapse of the Iranian government, and dismissed criticism over Israeli settler violence in the West Bank. His appearance came after days of speeches by world leaders condemning Israel’s conduct in Gaza and accusing his government of undermining prospects for a Palestinian state.
A46 Monday, September 28, 2026 • Editor: Angel R. Calso
Opinion BusinessMirror
www.news.businessmirror@gmail.com
editorial
The growth mirage: Economic promise meets hard reality
T
HE numbers do not lie, and last week they delivered a devastating verdict on the Marcos administration’s economic stewardship. With S&P Global Ratings, the Asian Development Bank, and now the International Monetary Fund all slashing their 2026 growth forecasts for the Philippines, the country faces an uncomfortable truth: this will likely mark the fourth consecutive year that the government misses its own economic targets. The “Bagong Pilipinas” promise of prosperity is colliding with the concrete reality of contracting investment, anemic consumer spending, and policy paralysis. (Read the BusinessMirror story: “S&P, ADB cut growth forecast for PHL in 2026,” September 24, 2026).
The magnitude of these downgrades demands attention. S&P’s cut from 4.1 percent to 2.9 percent signals a fundamental reassessment of the country’s growth narrative. When the economy expanded by just 2.6 percent in the first half of 2026, less than half the pace of the previous year, it became impossible to ignore the structural weaknesses that have accumulated beneath the surface of official optimism. At the heart of this crisis lies a collapse in investment that should alarm policymakers. Gross capital formation contracted by 9.2 percent in the second quarter, continuing a disturbing trend that has seen investment shrink for four consecutive quarters. Fixed investment plummeted 13.7 percent. These are not minor fluctuations; they represent capital flight in slow motion, a vote of no confidence by domestic and foreign investors who see better opportunities elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The government’s infrastructure spending—a cornerstone of its economic strategy—has become a case study in bureaucratic dysfunction. The 40.8 percent collapse in infrastructure outlays during the first half of 2026 reveals a troubling pattern of execution failure. While the administration speaks grandly of “Build Better More,” the Department of Public Works and Highways has been paralyzed by tightened validation requirements and audit procedures. The intention to prevent corruption is laudable, but when procedural caution strangles project implementation, the cure becomes worse than the disease. Household consumption, traditionally the backbone of Philippine growth, has also faltered. At 2.8 percent growth, consumer spending registered its weakest showing since the pandemic lockdowns. Elevated inflation has eroded purchasing power, while weak consumer confidence reflects genuine uncertainty about economic prospects. When families tighten their belts, the ripple effects cascade through retail, services, and employment. The external environment offers little comfort. The IMF’s warning about the Middle East conflict’s impact on oil prices highlights the Philippines’ persistent vulnerability to energy imports. Meanwhile, the approaching El Niño threatens to disrupt agricultural production and reignite food inflation, which the ADB already expects to remain elevated at 5.9 percent through 2026. Yet amid these gathering clouds, the administration’s response appears inadequate. The IMF’s call for “greater revenue mobilization” and fiscal consolidation amounts to diplomatic language for a stern reality: the government cannot simply spend its way out of this slowdown while maintaining a fiscal deficit near 5.4 percent of GDP. The recommendation to broaden the VAT base and impose excise tax on luxury goods represents a roadmap for sustainable financing. The path forward requires uncomfortable choices. Streamlining procurement processes must become a priority, not merely an aspiration. The proposed Philippine Budget Code, languishing in legislative limbo, needs immediate adoption. Tax amnesties that undermine long-term compliance must end. Most critically, it would do well for the administration to restore business confidence through consistent, predictable policy rather than reactive crisis management. Four consecutive years of missed growth targets would represent more than a statistical embarrassment—it would constitute a lost half-decade for Philippine development. The Marcos administration still has time to change trajectory, but only if it abandons the illusion that rhetoric can substitute for results.
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N 2012, a Filipino teenager could walk up to a sari-sari store and buy a stick of cigarette for pocket change. Back then, a stick cost about a peso. Then Congress passed the Sin Tax Reform Law, and the country ran one of Asia’s most successful public health experiments. The results are no longer up for debate. The share of current tobacco users fell from 28.3 percent of the population in 2009 to 23.8 percent in 2015, and to 19.5 percent by 2021. The Department of Health’s budget jumped 57 percent in a single year. The industry warned that smuggling would swallow those gains. It didn’t. A 2023 performance review of the reforms concluded that the Philippine experience shows illicit trade cannot justify blocking tobacco tax increases. Fourteen years later, the same argument is back, this time aimed at vapes.
As the House Ways and Means Committee weighs the ProGRESS tax package, some legislators want to fold the vape tax into a single, lower rate, again citing illicit trade. Consider what that would mean for children. In the 2019 Global Youth Tobacco Survey, 14.1 percent of Filipino students aged 13 to 15 were current e-cigarette users. About a quarter had tried vaping, twice the 12 percent recorded in 2015. These are children who cannot legally buy the product. The most reliable barrier between them and a vape is price. Young people have the least money and the most years of addiction
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Our lawmakers do not need to look abroad for a model. The 2012 Sin Tax Reform Law already showed what works: steep tax increases, one uniform rate so no product becomes the cheaper escape, automatic yearly increases, and revenue earmarked for health. That formula cut smoking and funded health coverage for millions of Filipinos. Congress should apply the same formula, undiluted, to vapes and sweetened beverages.
ahead of them. For a 14-year-old, a cheap vape is where the harm begins. The Department of Finance has proposed a unified P72.90 excise rate for all e-cigarettes from 2027, plus a new P150 tax on each device. Congress should treat that as the starting point and build upward from there. Sweetened beverages tell a subtler story. The 2018 TRAIN tax worked at first. Consumption fell by about 6.5% on average, with powdered drinks dropping 25 percent. Then its effect began to fade. Finance officials say consumption has been
climbing again since 2022 because, unlike tobacco, the beverage tax was never indexed to rise yearly. A tax frozen in pesos is a tax that loses its effectiveness. The exemptions matter too. Think of the Filipino breakfast table. As one legislator pointed out in hearings, a single sachet of 3-in-1 coffee holds four to five teaspoons of sugar, around a third of the WHO daily limit. So, exempting it makes little sense. Britain’s soft drinks levy, tiered by sugar content, forced the industry to change. Between 2015 and 2024, the average sugar content of covered drinks fell by 47.4 percent, even as sales volume rose 13.5 percent. But reformulation is not the same as a healthier product. Much of that sugar was simply swapped for artificial sweeteners. In 2023, the World Health Organization advised against using non-sugar sweeteners for weight control, citing links to type 2 diabetes and heart disease with long-term use. Filipino endocrinologists have warned that artificially sweetened drinks carry their own risks of obesity and hypertension. Mexico has already drawn this lesSee “Rojas,” A47
Beyond the LGSF controversy: Why equalization matters more than the amount
Lourdes M. Fernandez
Lorenzo M. Lomibao Jr., Gerard S. Ramos Lyn B. Resurreccion, Dennis D. Estopace Angel R. Calso, Dionisio L. Pelayo
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T. Anthony C. Cabangon
Senior Editors
Chairman of the Board President Advertising Sales Manager Group Circulation Manager
Some of the cheapest things in sari-sari stores can make you sick
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OR decades, we have asked local governments to stand at the front lines of public service. When the river rises, it is the mayor who must evacuate families. When the health center runs short, it is the municipality that hears the complaint. When a farm-to-market road becomes impassable, when a bridge gives way, when drinking water becomes scarce, Manila can seem very far away.
Responsibility has long been decentralized but resources have not always followed. That is the more useful context in which to examine the controversy surrounding the proposed P58.53-billion Local Government Support Fund for 2027. And what Executive Secretary Ralph Recto is set to do is to prove that the fund can be accessed fairly, monitored properly, and used for projects that communities can actually feel. In this respect, Executive Secretary Recto’s role in translating presidential direction into an operational
system is crucial. The Philippines has more than 1,700 local government units and over 42,000 barangays. Yet the words “local government” conceal enormous differences. A prosperous city with office towers, shopping centers, subdivisions and a large tax base possesses revenuegenerating capacity that a fourthor fifth-class municipality simply does not have. A remote agricultural town may confront typhoons, damaged roads, inadequate water systems
Responsibility has long been decentralized but resources have not always followed. That is the more useful context in which to examine the controversy surrounding the proposed P58.53billion Local Government Support Fund for 2027. And what Executive Secretary Ralph Recto is set to do is to prove that the fund can be accessed fairly, monitored properly, and used for projects that communities can actually feel. In this respect, Executive Secretary Recto’s role in translating presidential direction into an operational system is crucial.
and distant health facilities while drawing revenue from an economy barely large enough to support them. Thus,the unfinished business of Philippine decentralization under the Local Government Code is to recognize the entitlement of local governments to a share in national revenues as per the MandanasGarcia ruling. That is where a Local Govern-
ment Support Fund can perform an important function. Not as political largesse. As equalization. The distinction matters. The expanded LGSF launched earlier this year was built around the proposition that local governments are closest to the problems of their communities. The proposed 2027 allocation of P58.53 billion would continue support for local infrastructure and social-development requirements, particularly in areas where regular local resources are insufficient. The Department of Budget and Management says requests for financial assistance are submitted directly by LGUs through its Ugnayang Bayan Portal and evaluated according to prescribed requirements. DBM also says it deals directly with local chief executives rather than intermediaries. Those safeguards are important. But in the present atmosphere, the government should go further. If the administration wants to demonstrate that the LGSF is an instrument of development rather than patronage, then sunlight should become part of its architecture. Publish the applications as well as See “Gagni,” A47
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Opinion BusinessMirror
Monday, September 28, 2026 A47
Why I oppose the postponement of the November 2026 BSKE
We become the words we choose to believe
W
F
Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.
THE PATRIOT
By Atty. Romulo B. Macalintal
E, the electorate, were originally scheduled to elect our new barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials in December 2025. However, this was pushed back to November 2026 through Republic Act No. 12232, enacted in August 2025. This resulted in a one-year postponement of the BSKE and a corresponding one-year term extension for incumbent officials.
Now, a new enrolled bill awaiting action from President Marcos proposes to postpone the November 2026 elections further to November 2028. This translates to a staggering two-year postponement and another two-year term extension. Combined, this gives us a total of three years of postponement and a three-year unauthorized term extension for incumbent officials. This means three long years where we, the electorate, are stripped of our fundamental right of suffrage. It means three years of being governed by local officials who were not chosen by the ballot, but effectively thrust upon us through what amounts to a legislative appointment. This constitutes a grave violation of the Constitution, which empowers Congress to fix the term of office of barangay officials, but not to indefinitely prolong or extend their tenure without a genuine mandate
from the people. The Supreme Court, in the landmark cases of Macalintal v. Comelec (2023) and Macalintal vs Senate (2025) and subsequent jurisprudence, firmly established that while Congress has legislative discretion, the postponement of elections cannot be done arbitrarily. It requires urgent, substantial, and compelling reasons—and must never be “unreasonable and unduly long.” A cumulative three-year postponement devoid of any valid, pressing justification is manifestly unreasonable, unduly long, and deeply unconstitutional. We must uphold the rule of law and protect our sacred right to choose our grassroots leaders. Editor’s Note: This article was submitted on the eve of President Marcos signing into law the bill postponing the November 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) to 2028. The author is an election lawyer.
Thai PM Anutin’s support drops in latest poll as pressures rise By Suttinee Yuvejwattana
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UBLIC support for Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and his Bhumjaithai Party has plunged, according to an opinion poll, as his government confronts rising oil prices and a court ruling that may threaten its hold on power. Only 13.8 percent of people polled backed Anutin as prime minister in September, compared with 21.7 percent in June, according to a September 18 to 23 nationwide phone survey of 2,500 adults by the National Institute of Development Administration. Bhumjaithai’s rating declined to 12.1 percent from 17 percent over the same period, pushing it into third place behind the opposition People’s Party and coalition partner Pheu Thai, the survey, released on Sunday, showed. The decline in support comes as higher global energy costs squeeze Thai households and businesses. The government has extended costof-living assistance introduced after the Middle East conflict pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel, threatening faster inflation and weaker economic growth. Anutin’s government faces its biggest political test yet on Monday, when the Constitutional Court is due to rule on a challenge to the validity of the February election that brought Bhumjaithai to power. The case centers on allegations that codes printed on ballot papers could have compromised voting secrecy. If the court invalidates the election, Thailand could be required to hold a new vote. The latest poll was held before severe flooding hit Bangkok, adding another challenge for the government. The capital declared all 50 districts disaster zones after nearly 300
Rojas. . .
Continued from A46
son: since January 2026, it taxes “zero” and “light” drinks too. Congress should keep the Philippine tax on all sweetened beverages, whether sugar or substitute, and add higher rates and automatic indexation so the goal is less sweetness overall. Our lawmakers do not need to
The latest poll was held before severe flooding hit Bangkok, adding another challenge for the government. The capital declared all 50 districts disaster zones after nearly 300 millimeters (11.8 inches) of rain fell over about 48 hours, swamping major roads and disrupting businesses and transportation. millimeters (11.8 inches) of rain fell over about 48 hours, swamping major roads and disrupting businesses and transportation. Opposition leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut remained the most popular named choice for prime minister in the poll, although his support slipped to 24.7 percent from 26.1 percent in June. The share of respondents who couldn’t identify a suitable candidate nearly doubled to 19.8 percent from 10.2 percent. Pheu Thai’s Yodchanan Wongsawat placed fourth overall with 11.3 percent, little changed from 11.6 percent in the previous survey, while former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s support fell to 9.60 percent from 11.8 percent. The People’s Party retained a commanding lead in party preferences, edging up to 35.4 percent from 34.8 percent. Pheu Thai rose to 18.4 percent from 16.8 percent, while the Democrat Party declined to 9.8 percent from 12.7 percent. Bloomberg
look abroad for a model. The 2012 Sin Tax Reform Law already showed what works: steep tax increases, one uniform rate so no product becomes the cheaper escape, automatic yearly increases, and revenue earmarked for health. That formula cut smoking and funded health coverage for millions of Filipinos. Congress should apply the same formula, undiluted, to vapes and sweetened beverages.
OR now, the Senate has decided to exclude incumbent senators who are detained, in hiding, or medically incapacitated from the voting process. As a result, these senators are not counted in determining what constitutes two-thirds of all members of the Senate. Even before and immediately after the resolution, some legal pundits transformed themselves into constitutionalists. Legal discussion is healthy, but lawyers should distinguish analysis from advocacy. Some have been quick to declare that the conviction of Vice President Sara Duterte is practically secured because the number of votes supposedly needed has been reduced. Others have been quicker to say that the votes have already been predetermined along political lines. But one thing remains beyond debate: the Senate has the sole power to try and decide impeachment cases. Armed with this constitutional authority, the Senate may resolve procedural matters as part of its impeachment function. It may make its own rules. But that authority does not give it license to interpret the Constitution with reckless abandon. This is why the impeachment court resorted to amicus curiae, or friends of the court who offered different interpretations, although some appeared more persuasive than others. Except for Justice Adolfo Azcuna, these former Supreme Court Justices opined that “all members of the Senate” refers only to those who can actually participate in the impeachment trial. They applied the spirit
and purpose of the provision rather than relying solely on the literal meaning of “all members.” I can only anticipate that the sitting Supreme Court justices may themselves have differing opinions as well. For every law that is written, there is an intent that serves as its backbone. Words tell us the what; intent tells us the why. Words may appear to mean one thing, yet the purpose behind them may not always be completely captured by their literal language. And that is where division and confusion begin. The same thing has happened with a simple Gospel message which has been interpreted in different parts of the world by different “experts.” There is only one Gospel message but it has been explained, qualified, expanded, and sometimes distorted through the centuries. Three fundamental words: died, buried, resurrected. And why did He do it? The Bible provides the answer: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) The reason for saving sinners is love. Yet
For every law that is written, there is an intent that serves as its backbone. Words tell us the what; intent tells us the why. Words may appear to mean one thing, yet the purpose behind them may not always be completely captured by their literal language. And that is where division and confusion begin.
some have overlooked that reason and have required additional conditions before salvation can be accepted. The apostle Paul himself encountered such distortion: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all.” (Galatians 1:6–7) Whether in the laws of man or the law of God, the distortion of words can arise from convenience, self-interest, or a desire to achieve a predetermined result. Whether the framers of the Constitution intended “all members” to mean every incumbent senator regardless, remains for the Supreme Court to determine. Likewise, whether salvation is a gift of grace or something that must be earned continues to be debated in some religious circles. We should not lose sight of the underlying reason behind each law. The constitutional provisions on the accountability of public officers were written to provide a mechanism for addressing serious violations of public trust. Impeachment is both legal and political in character, but its constitutional purpose is straightforward: public officials who breach the public trust may be subjected to a process for their removal. The Gospel speaks of something far greater.
It speaks of salvation. The Christian message is that God is both just and merciful. Sin carries the penalty of death, yet God, because of His love, provided salvation through Jesus Christ. Salvation is not a reward earned through prayers, alms, good deeds, or religious performance. It is a gift received through faith. The Gospel is not complicated: Christ died. He was buried. He was resurrected. Those who believe are called not merely to recite those words but to live them and allow that belief to manifest itself in their words and actions. People may attempt to control outcomes by interpreting words according to their interests. Lawyers may argue over what “all members of the Senate” truly means. Religious people may add requirements to a Gospel that was meant to proclaim grace. But words should not become servants of our desired conclusions. We may choose what words to believe. And when we do, we act on such belief. The Constitution must be interpreted according to its text and ultimate purpose of justice. The Gospel must be understood according to its message of grace and love. The real question is what happens to those who presume that sovereignty and destiny are theirs to control. Siegfred has a diversified set of education and experiences which has made him a game changer and a servant leader in organizations. 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. His corporate experiences include stints as general counsel for the country’s flag carrier, a food exporter with manufacturing plants in Davao and in Laguna, and a sports distributor company. Siegfred is a former soldier and a lawyer by profession, a teacher and inspirational speaker by passion, and a book author and a writer with a mission.
OpenAI’s models accessed public US census, SEC data By Rachel Metz, Jeff Stone & Jake Bleiberg
the company said it had notified a range of groups about cases in which its software may have bypassed an online service’s security controls or hampered its availability, or in situations where a misaligned AI model may have “negatively impacted” a website or service outside of OpenAI. The company discovered these incidents while expanding a probe it began after its AI inadvertently hacked Hugging Face several months ago. OpenAI said the websites that were affected include ones run by governments, universities, public agencies and other groups. In a statement, OpenAI spokesperson Liz Bourgeois said, “We’re conducting an extensive review of misaligned model activity and notifying organizations when we identify potential impacts to their systems. We expect to make additional notifications as that work continues. Most of the activity we’ve reviewed so far involved routine research tasks, such as accessing public web content to answer questions.” Only days ago, OpenAI acknowledged that its AI models hacked
an Australian government website earlier this year, marking one of the first known AI cyberattacks on a government database. The company said in a statement that the breach occurred while it was evaluating its models. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said this week that OpenAI’s technology had gained unauthorized access to a government website used for reporting healthcare statistics. The hack, on June 18, didn’t appear to compromise Australians’ personal information, he said. OpenAI said a post on social network X on Friday that most of the actions it has reviewed involved AI models carrying out “mundane research tasks,” like getting answers to questions from websites. The
company said it expects it to take months to finish its review. In a post on X Friday, OpenAI chief Sam Altman said the company has not worked as fast as it would like, but that it is balancing transparency with the need to find information in huge amounts of data in activity logs and then work with the companies that were impacted. “We are prioritizing as best as we can based on severity, and adding resources,” Altman said. Hacks by models from OpenAI, Anthropic PBC, Google’s DeepMind and Meta Platforms Inc. have resulted in widespread cybersecurity concerns for major companies. Cyber vendors typically provide products that monitor for known strains of malicious software, or detect and block anomalous behaviors. Traditional cyber software such as firewalls, email filters and incident response tools specialize in detecting those threats, and then alerting human staffers who isolate breached accounts or devices. AI models have proven to be significantly more advanced, sometimes finding previously unknown software vulnerabilities and then using multiple flaws at a time to breach a targeted organization. Such compromises are harder to stop, and could provide malicious attackers with deep access to infected systems while remaining hidden from cybersecurity staffers. Bloomberg
received with similarly situated municipalities elsewhere. A journalist should be able to determine whether assistance consistently follows measurable need—or political geography. That would change the argument. The question would no longer be whether somebody in Manila favored one mayor over another. The numbers themselves could answer it. There is an even larger principle at stake. Decentralization should not mean transferring responsibilities downward while keeping opportunity concentrated upward. A municipality cannot build a water system with autonomy. It cannot
repair a bridge with constitutional language. It cannot equip a health center with a mandate. Eventually, somebody has to provide the resources. And because the economic geography of the Philippines is profoundly unequal, the national government will sometimes have to place more resources where local capacity is weakest. That is not necessarily patronage. Properly designed, it is what equal citizenship requires. The child living in an isolated municipality should not inherit poorer public services merely because businesses, tax revenues and infrastructure accumulated somewhere else. Neither should the farmer be con-
demned to a broken road because his municipality lacks the fiscal muscle of Makati, Cebu or Quezon City. This is why the debate over the Local Government Support Fund should not end with whether P58.53 billion is too large. The more consequential question is whether every peso can be made traceable from the national treasury to the community it was meant to help. That is what Executive Secretary Ralph Recto aims to do. Keep the support. Remove the mystery. And perhaps decentralization will finally begin to mean not merely bringing government closer to the people, but bringing opportunity closer as well.
O
PEN AI’s artificial intelligence models accessed publicly available information from US government websites, including those of the Census Bureau and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company’s agentic AI systems interacted with SEC.gov and Investor.gov, as well as publicly available data from Census.gov, people familiar with the situation said, asking not to be identified discussing private matters. OpenAI separately confirmed that its models accessed publicly available information from the websites during training and evaluation of the technology. Earlier Friday, the company said it had notified “dozens” of organizations, including governments and universities, whose websites may have been hampered by visits from its AI models during evaluations of the technology. OpenAI has said it’s carrying out an in-depth review of incidents of “misalignment” during training and testing, which will take months to complete. The company’s efforts to work out exactly what its AI agents have done underscores one of the biggest concerns among cybersecurity experts about these incidents: The systems have carried out these tasks largely without the companies that created them knowing in real-time. In an extensive blog post Friday,
Gagni. . .
Continued from A46
the criteria and the approvals and rejections. Publish the amount received by every province, city and municipality, the project for which it was requested, the date the money was released, the project’s implementation status and, eventually, what the money produced. Then put the information on a dashboard that any citizen can inspect. A farmer in Pangasinan should be able to see what his municipality requested. A teacher in Samar should be able to compare what her town
OpenAI has said it’s carrying out an in-depth review of incidents of “misalignment” during training and testing, which will take months to complete. The company’s efforts to work out exactly what its AI agents have done underscores one of the biggest concerns among cybersecurity experts about these incidents: The systems have carried out these tasks largely without the companies that created them knowing in real-time.
A48 Monday, September 28, 2026
Sports BusinessMirror
Editor: Jun Lomibao
TWO BRONZES SAVE PHL FROM DRY DAY By Jun Lomibao
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AGOYA—Olympian hurdler John Cabang Tolentino and Sibol clinched an esports bronze medal to help the Philippines avert a medal drought in the Aichi-Nagoya 20th Asian Games on Sunday. Cabang Tolentino poured it all in the sprint after the final hurdle to salvage bronze in 13.48 seconds behind gold winner Chen Yuanjiang (13.15) of China and Rachid Muratake (13.29) of Japan. “I’m very happy. It was just a lot 20TH ASIAN GAMES AICHI-NAGOYA 2026
MEDAL TALLY R
Country
G
S
B
T
1
People’s Republic of China
119
48
38
205
2
Japan
37
61
58
156
3
Republic of Korea
20
23
39
82
4
Uzbekistan
10
17
11
38
5
Kazakhstan
9
10
21
40
6
Thailand
9
7
10
26
7
Bahrain
8
2
3
13
8
Islamic Republic of Iran
7
14
8
29
9
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
6
5
4
15
10
Malaysia
6
2
8
16
11
Hong Kong, China
5
12
15
32
12
India
4
16
17
37 27
13
Chinese Taipei
3
7
18
14
Indonesia
2
5
17
24
15
Singapore
2
5
3
10
16
Philippines
2
2
8
12
17
Qatar
2
2
1
5
17
Tajikistan
2
2
1
5
Bagunas urges Alas to limit errors after opening defeat
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AGOYA—The Alas Pilipinas Men yielded to South Korea, 16-25, 25-27, 22-25, to open its campaign in the Aichi-Nagoya 20th Asian Games on Sunday at the Park Arena Komaki. It was a loss so close team captain Bryan Bagunas described as one of the challenges they’ll have to overcome in the games. “We had a lot of errors,” Bagunas said. “We really need to manage our errors if we want to get deeper in the Asian Games.” There was indeed a big gap in errors with the Filipinos committing 23 to the Koreans’ only seven miscues. And those errors prevented Alas Pilipinas from closing out sets that they had opportunities to dominate. “It’s in finishing, that’s where we had the most mistakes,” added Bagunas after the onehour and 21-minute match at the Park Arena Komaki. Bagunas had 15 points with four digs, Joshua Magalaman garnered 13 points and Leo Ordiales 11 points for Alas Men which takes on formidable China next on Monday. “It’s also about our
JOSH YBANEZ, Owa Retamar, Leo Ordiales, Peng Taguibolos, Marck Espejo, Bryan Bagunas and the rest of Alas Pilipinas try to bounce back against China. POC MEDIA POOL
of self-pressure, and I just did it,” an emotional Cabang Tolentino said. Sibol settled for a bronze medal after a 0-2 loss to Indonesia in the semifinals of the Pokémon UNITE esports event on Sunday at the Aichi Sky Expo Hall on Sunday. “The breaks favored our opponents in Hame 1,” Camp said. “If you will notice, our rivals were all low health, it’s just that we couldn’t endure.” Camp added: “But still, we’re so happy and in awe, because it’s our first time here and all of us will cherish this medal our entire life.” As of early evening here on Sunday, the Philippines stood at No. 16 in the medal tally with the two golds won by Carlos Yulo in gymnastics, two silvers and eight bronze medals, with China solidly unreachable at the top with 117 gold, 47silver and 38 bronze medals with still a week of competiton before the closing ceremony on Sunday. Host Japan was a far second with a 37-60-57 gold-silver-bronze haul but looking comfortably ahead of South Korea (20-23-38), while Thailand was the best-performing Southeast Asian country so far with eight gold medals at No. 6 on board, followed by Indonesia with six at No. 10 and Indonesia and Singapore also with two golds each but with more silvers and bronzes than
Team Philippines. On Monday, all eyes will be on global tennis sensation Alex Eala, who steps on to the center court of the Nagoya City Higashiyama Park Tennis Center bringing with her games best world ranking No. 18 against world No. No. 510 Patcharin Cheapchandej in a women’s singles match. Eala endured two delays flying into Japan and arrived at 7 p.m. Saturday instead of her original ETA of 12 noon but was up and about on Sunday afternoon for a training session also in the competition venue. Eala is coming off a disappointment in Singapore where she lost to world No. 180 Tatiana Prozorova, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, in a WTA500 event only last week. “I think I have as big a chance as any other person on the
draw (in the Asian Games),” said Eala following her Singapore loss. “I think once you compete and, like I said, once you’re in the draw, you have a chance so I’ll do my best.” The other Philippine best in women’s singles, Tenny Madis, bowed out following a 1-6, 0-6 setback to Japan’s Himeno Sakatsume on center court on Sunday. The Alas Pilipinas Men also made its debut on Sunday and yielded to South Korea, 16-25, 25-27, 22-25. “We had a lot of errors,” Bagunas said. “We really need to manage our errors if we want to get deeper in the Asian Games.”
Junmilardo Ogayre, meanwhile, suffered a 0-5 beating to Uzbekistan’s Abdumalik Khalokov to crash out of the men’s 60 kgs division, leaving Olympic medalists Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio as the country’s last hopes for the gold medals in boxing. Olympian Lauren Hoffman’s quest for an Asian Games medal also came to an end after finishing fourth in the women’s 400-meter hurdles at 57.94 seconds. “Disappointing. Missed it by one spot,” said Hoffman of the missed podium finish. “The time wasn’t very good, the execution wasn’t very good.” Philippine hopes in athletics are now on Filipino-American Victoria Bossong whose personal best in the women’s 800 meters that will be ran Monday at sub-2:00 are the games’ best. Cabang Tolentino dedicated the historic triumph to his core support system—his coach, his family, girlfriend and the entire nation and with an Asian Games bronze and a SEA Games record in his grasp, he’s looking forward to 2028. “I’m going to go for the LA Olympics,” he said.
JOHN TOLENTINO ends up just 0.33 seconds off the winner and 0.19 from silver. AP
Madis makes early exit from Asian Games
serves and we’ve been training for two days only with Owa [Joshua Retamar],” he added. Versatile setter Ratamar is on furlough from Ordu Sports Club, his club in the Azerbaijan league, and arrived here two days before the competition. Lim Sungjin led the Koreans with 13 points, followed by Im Donghyeok and Jeong Hanyong with 11 points apiece. Bagunas also said that he’s been reminding the younger players to use the Asian Games as an opportunity to gain exposure, particularly on the possibility of playing overseas in the future. “I told my younger teammates that the Asian Games will help them progress in their volleyball careers, this is a great exposure for them,” he said. “I try to motivate them.” Jun Lomibao
N
AGOYA –Tenny Madis bowed out of the women’s singles at the 20th Asian Games on Sunday following a 1-6, 0-6 setback to Japan’s Himeno Sakatsume in tennis’s first match on center court of the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center. Sakatsume, ranked No. 119 by the Women’ Tennis Association, proved too much for Madis and dictated the pace from the first serve. “I need to train harder, not double
time, but maybe 10 times more,” Madis said. “I need to get stronger, build more muscles, my physique.” The pride of M’lang in North Cotabato, Madis said she relished the opportunity to play on center court against a formidable opponent in these games where Team Philippines’ participation is supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee and Philippine Sports Commission. “I was excited but at the same time jittery at center court,” she said. “But
it was an opportunity for me to play center court against a strong player from Japan.” The 19-year-old said her training with the University of Hawai’i in Manoa helped prepare her and women’s doubles teammate Stefi Aludo for the Asian Games. “We’ll do our best, we’ll scrape bottom tomorrow,” said Madis, who thanked the PSC and Philippine Tennis Association. “I’ll always thank God for this opportunity.” Jun Lomibao
Bossong steps into the spotlight, goes for gold in 800-meter final
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AGOYA—Going by the numbers, Filipino-American Victoria Bossong is a legitimate gold medal contender on the track in the Aichi-Nagoya 20th Asian Games. Bossong makes her individual Asiad debut in the women’s 800 meters on Monday with the fasters personal best among the contenders at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium. A Harvard Neuroscience graduate last year, Bossong boasts a career-best time of 1:58.52, a blistering mark that easily surpasses by nearly 5 seconds the 2023 Hangzhou gold-medal winning time of 2:03.20 by Sri Lanka’s Tharushi Karunarathna at the 2023 Hangzhou Games. Bossong’s career-best time is also faster than the long-standing 12-yearold Asian Games record of 1:59.02, established by Kazakhstan’s Margarita Mukasheva at the 2014 Incheon Games. With two sub-2:00 clockings under her belt, Bossong enters a competitive
BOSSONG takes the spotlight at the Nagoya track. POC MEDIA POOL 14-woman field in the 800 meters starting at 7:30 p.m. (Manila time) as one of only three runners to have ever broken the elusive two-minute barrier. But her path to the top of the podium will feature some opposition. Bahrain’s formidable Nelly Korir holds the field’s fastest personal best at 1:57.69 alongside a season’s best of 1:58.26. Also in the hunt is home-favorite
ALEXANDRA EALA hits reset after a setback in the pro tour. POC MEDIA POOL
Eala seeks tonic in Japan after Singapore slip
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AGOYA—Alexandra “Alex” Eala launches her quest for her first Asian Games gold medal against Thailand’s Patcharin Cheapchandej in a Round of 16 on Monday at the Nagoya City Higashiyama Park Tennis Center. If the Women’s Tennis Association rankings are the basis, Eala, 21, is a clear favorite as world No. 18 over the Thai who’s No. 510 on top of having defeated the 31-yearold Thai, 6-3, 6-4, at the 2022 International Tennis Federation Thailand 05A event. Eala, however, is coming off a disappointment in Singapore where she lost to world No. 180 Tatiana Prozorova, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, in a WTA500 event only last week. “I think I have as big a chance as any other person on the draw (in the Asian Games),” said Eala following her Singapore loss. “I think once you compete and, like I said, once you’re in the draw, you have a chance so I’ll do my best.” Cheapchandej advanced to the second round following a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory over Pakistan’s Mahin Aftab Qureshi. Eala is aiming to build on her bronze medal from the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games and contribute to the Philippines’ gold tally, which currently stands at two following gymnastics star Carlos Yulo’s achievements. She will team up with Shaira Hope Rivera in women’s doubles, opening against Hong Kong’s Lai Ching Laam and Kallista Liu. Jun Lomibao
Rin Kubo of Japan, who owns a personal best of 1:59.52 and a season’s best of 2:01.54. Despite the mounting pressure to deliver a breakthrough podium finish for the country, Bossong, whose mother Dr. Catalina Yaco Atienza is from Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, remains unbothered, drawing momentum from her initial outing in Nagoya. On Thursday, Bossong anchored the Philippine 4x400 mixed relay team, alongside Kaylia Johnson, Michael del Prado, and Gabriel Borado, to the finals while shattering the national record with a time of 3:19.68. Bossong’s signature performance came on June 6, 2026, with her sub-2:00 masterpiece at the USATF Lone Star Grand Prix in College Station, Texas. Before that, Bossong’s first sub-2:00 feat came on April 13, 2024, when she clocked a 1:59.48, while finishing second at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Florida. Jun Lomibao
Companies BusinessMirror
Editor: Jennifer A. Ng
Monday, September 28, 2026
B1
Regulator to penalize telcos A for poor broadband service
$1B Taiwan bet adds heft to NCC’s tech
T
By Lorenz S. Marasigan
@lorenzmarasigan
HE National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) announced last Sunday it has prepared show cause orders (SCOs) against the country’s three mobile network operators, imposing a daily penalty of P100,000 each after its latest round of speed tests found no measurable improvement in their mobile broadband service in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The penalties, which started on September 25, will run until the identified service deficiencies are
fully fixed, the regulator said. The orders cover Dito Telecommunity Corp., Globe Telecom
Inc., and Smart Communications Inc. (Smart). The NTC said its September 2026 mobile speed test revalidation showed that poor mobile broadband signals recorded earlier “remain substantially unchanged” compared with the results of its validation activities in the first and second quarters of the year. This was despite the chance given to the operators to carry out urgent corrective measures, the agency added. For Globe, the areas of concern in the September revalidation were Manila, Makati, and Quezon City. For Dito, these were San Juan, Pasay, and Las Piñas. For Smart, the regulator flagged Parañaque, Manila, and Pasig. The NTC said it will conduct biweekly re-testing in the affected areas to verify whether the telcos have put in place the necessary network
improvements. It will also continue monitoring other parts of the NCR to assess the quality and availability of mobile broadband services. The regulator cited Section 17(a) of Commonwealth Act (CA) 146, or the Public Service Act, as amended by Republic Act (RA) 11659, which authorizes it to investigate and enforce compliance with any standard, rule, regulation, order, or other requirement of the commission. “The NTC commits to take decisive action in enforcing compliance with quality-of-service standards,” the agency said. The NTC said it regularly conducts performance monitoring as part of its oversight of telecommunications service quality, in line with its commitment to deliver reliable, adequate, and quality mobile broadband services to the Filipino public.
TAIWANESE technology company has signed an agreement to establish a roughly $1-billion manufacturing facility in New Clark City, according to the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA). BCDA President and Chief Executive Officer Joshua M. Bingcang confirmed that an advance payment has been received from the investor to secure its planned site, although the company’s identity remains undisclosed at the owner’s request. “Nagpirmahan na kami (We have already signed [the agreement]),” Bingcang told reporters on the sidelines of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the
Filinvest joins Pag-IBIG as more leading developers support Marcos’ Expanded 4PH
Eternal Gardens Memorial cites devotion to Saint Lorenzo Ruiz M
THIS photo collage shows art works at parks of Eternal Gardens Memorial Park Corp. that celebrate the life and martyrdom of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz. CREDIT: ETERNAL GARDENS MEMORIAL PARK CORP.
S
AINT Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino saint, is remembered for his deep faith, courage, and ultimate sacrifice. His life reminds us of resilience and trust in God, even in difficult times. Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, once reflected on this legacy, noting that the saint’s life is an open invitation to all: “He continues to call us to live out our Christian faith, to cling to our faith in Christ in the face of suffering and death to make our lives an offering to God and neighbors,” Cardinal Tagle has said. Eternal Gardens Memorial Park Corp. honors this call to faith by keeping the memory of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz alive through its parks and community initiatives.
From simple beginnings to martyrdom
BEFORE his canonization, Lorenzo Ruiz lived a simple life as a husband, father, and altar server in Binondo, Manila. After being falsely accused of a crime, he sought refuge aboard a ship carrying Dominican missionaries to Okinawa, Japan. At the time, Christians in Japan faced severe persecution and could be put to death for refusing to renounce their faith. Ruiz was arrested and severely persecuted, but he refused to renounce his faith. Before his martyrdom, he declared that he was a Catholic ready to give his life for God, a powerful testament to his faith.
Eternal Gardens and its Sacred mission
WHEN Saint Lorenzo Ruiz was beatified, the milestone inspired a spiritual awakening across the Philippines. Among those deeply moved was the late Ambassador An-
tonio L. Cabangon Chua, founder of Eternal Gardens. For the Ambassador, witnessing the beatification of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz by Pope John Paul II in Manila was not just a historical event, but a profound, personal spiritual moment. To honor the saint, Eternal Gardens commissioned bronze monuments created by the renowned sculptor Florante “Boy” Caedo. These statues were placed in Eternal Gardens parks and donated to various parishes as places for prayer and remembrance. Central to the company’s services are its columbariums. Designed as peaceful spaces, they offer grieving families a quiet environment to find solace and remember their loved ones. A notable example is the three-story columbarium named in his honor, which combines practical memorial care with spiritual significance.
Numerous Eternal Gardens parks, including those in Baesa, Caloocan City; Biñan City, Laguna; Balagtas, Batangas City; Lipa City; Naga City; and Dagupan City, feature plazas and columbariums dedicated to Saint Lorenzo Ruiz. These sacred locations provide serene environments where families can commemorate their departed loved ones in the presence of the saint who understood the deepest forms of love.
A continuing tradition of devotion
EVERY September 28, Eternal Gardens observes the feast day of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz. By maintaining these monuments and sanctuaries, Eternal Gardens helps ensure that the story of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz remains a source of inspiration for families remembering their loved ones.
Philippines event in Taguig last week.The company will operate as a locator in the area and establish a manufacturing facility focused on technology-related products, he added. The Taiwanese firm is separate from other foreign companies that have expressed interest in taking up space in New Clark City, including a South Korean company and a Singaporean investor. Per the BCDA chief, the Taiwanese company has expressed interest in securing a site larger than the 250 hectares sought by the Korean firm and the 300 hectares being considered by the Singaporean investor. However, all proposals remain preliminary.Bless Aubrey Ogerio
ORE Filipino workers will have greater access to quality homes at more affordable prices as Pag-IBIG Fund expands its housing partnerships under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s Expanded Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program, with Filinvest Land Inc. joining its network of partner developers. The partnership opens select Filinvest residential projects to Pag-IBIG Housing Loan financing and allows qualified members to access preferential pricing and other benefits, further widening the housing choices available to Pag-IBIG members. Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Secretary and Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees Chairperson Jose Ramon P. Aliling said the partnership builds on gains already achieved under the Expanded 4PH Program as the government continues to work with the private sector to expand access to affordable housing. “Under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s Expanded 4PH Program, we have already made significant gains in bringing more affordable housing opportunities within reach of Filipino families, and we are building on this momentum. By working more closely with the private sector and bringing more of the country’s leading developers into this shared effort, we can open even more opportunities for our people. With more reputable companies now partnering with Pag-IBIG Fund, Filipino workers will have more housing choices supported by affordable financing and better opportunities to own a home,” Aliling said. Aliling witnessed Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Marilene C. Acosta and Filinvest Land President and CEO Tristan Las Marias sign a memorandum of understanding formalizing the partnership in Quezon City. The signing was also witnessed by Pag-IBIG Fund Deputy CEO Alexander Hilario G. Aguilar and FLI Residential Business Head Mary Averose Valderrama. Under the partnership, qualified Pag-IBIG Housing Loan borrowers may enjoy preferential pricing on select units in participating Pag-IBIGaccredited Filinvest projects. Prospective homebuyers can also benefit from Pag-IBIG Fund’s increased housing loan limit of up to P10 million, the subsidized interest rate of 3% per annum for qualified socialized housing borrowers under Expanded 4PH, and promotional rates of 4.5% per annum for loans up to P4.9 million and 5.75% per annum for loans above P4.9 million and up to P10 million. Las Marias said the agreement brings together Filinvest Land’s residential developments and Pag-IBIG Fund’s housing finance programs to
provide qualified homebuyers with more options toward homeownership. “Our partnership with Pag-IBIG Fund allows us to help more Filipino families move closer to owning a home by giving qualified buyers access to financing options and incentives across select Filinvest Land developments. Through this collaboration, we also hope to support the Expanded 4PH Program by widening access to quality and affordable housing and giving more Filipinos the opportunity to build a home of their own,” Las Marias said. The partnership will also bring housing opportunities and Pag-IBIG services closer to prospective homebuyers through home-matching activities, housing fairs, property exhibits and information activities. Pag-IBIG Fund will provide housing loan orientations and assistance to interested members, while Filinvest Land will identify participating projects and available units that members may consider, subject to applicable program guidelines. Acosta said having Filinvest Land as a partner allows Pag-IBIG Fund to pair its affordable financing with more housing choices and preferential offers for members. “With Filinvest Land as our partner, we can bring together affordable Pag-IBIG financing and quality homes at better prices for our members. Pag-IBIG Fund has raised its housing loan limit to P10 million and introduced lower promotional rates, and we hope to complement these with preferential prices and meaningful offers from Filinvest. By working together, we can give our members more choices and more practical means to take that next step toward owning a home,” Acosta said. The agreement with Filinvest Land is part of Pag-IBIG Fund’s continuing effort to strengthen partnerships with the country’s leading developers and expand the range of homes available to its members. In recent weeks, Pag-IBIG Fund has also partnered with SM Development Corp. and Ayala Land residential brands Avida Land and Amaia Land, further widening private-sector participation in support of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s Expanded 4PH Program. Other Pag-IBIG Fund officials in attendance were Acting Deputy CEO Atty. Marcial Pimentel Jr., Senior Vice President Fermin A. Sta. Teresa Jr., and Acting Vice Presidents Atty. Jose Robert Po and Tina Marie Gabiosa. Also present from Filinvest Land were Operations Head Reynaldo Juanito Nieva II, Chief Marketing Officer D’Artagnan Aguilar, Residential Sales and Marketing Head Wilbert Serrano, and Government Financing Head Malene Pe Benito.
B2
Companies BusinessMirror
Monday, September 28, 2026
Mynt investor line-up features GCash’s ‘strong fundamentals’
T
By VG Cabuag
@villygc
HE lineup of over 20 domestic and foreign institutional investors for the P92.32-billion in initial public offering (IPO) of Mynt Inc. highlights the firm’s solid longterm fundamentals, according to fund managers.
According to Eric Jurado, SeA (Southeast Asia) Focus Portfolio hedge fund manager, the involvement of these portfolio managers signals that experienced international investors have finished their due diligence and determined that Mynt presents a compelling investment case. “For an international asset manager investing in a new market, committing cornerstone capital means putting its investors’ money behind
a company it believes offers an attractive long-term opportunity. It does not guarantee that the investment will succeed. No institutional investment can do that,” Jurado said in a research note. “But it does indicate that professional investors have conducted their own due diligence and concluded that the potential long-term return justifies committing capital at the IPO.” “An investment in Mynt is, in part, an investment in the contin-
ued digitization of the Philippine economy,” he said. Jurado said the commitment to invest serves as “a belief that the company can continue to grow, that digital financial services in the Philippines have significant room to expand, and that the resulting growth can ultimately translate into meaningful returns for shareholders.” Mynt earlier announced that international funds including Albizia Capital Pte. Ltd., Amundsen Investment Management and HSBC Global Asset Management (UK) Ltd. are making their first cornerstone investment commitment in the Philippines. Meanwhile, Ninety One North America Inc. and Ninety One UK Ltd. are participating as cornerstone investors in Southeast Asia for the first time. “These institutions are not buying GCash simply because it is a famous Philippine brand. They are investing because they see the possibility that the value of the business can grow meaningfully over time… The cornerstone investors cannot guarantee that outcome. But their
commitments provide something every IPO needs: a powerful early indication that some of the world’s most sophisticated investors see GCash not merely as the Philippines’ largest finance super app, but as a potential long-term Philippine growth and compounding story,” Jurado said. Mynt said these commitments effectively fill the entire 70 percent allocation designated for qualified institutional investors. The offering consists of a baseline size of 8.027 billion shares, split into 1.61 billion primary shares and 6.42 billion secondary shares, an a greenshoe over-allotment option for an extra 1.2 billion secondary shares. The said shares will have an indicative price of P10 apiece, though reports indicated that funds were initially eyeing shares around the P6.50 apiece. Pricing of the shares is scheduled on October 1, while public offering is from October 6 through October 12. Trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange is slated to begin on October 20 under the ticker symbol GCASH.
www.businessmirror.com.ph
PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS
September 25, 2026
Net Foreign Stocks Bid Ask Open High Low Close Volume Value Trade (Peso) Buy (Sell) FINANCIALS
ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK COMMERCE BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PB BANK PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE COL FINANCIAL FIRST ABACUS FERRONOUX HLDG MANULIFE NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE VANTAGE
49 114 10.06 96.8 52 10.26 61.95 6.91 14.66 75.4 50 21.7 62.1 21.9 0.48 1.46 0.51 3.66 2,600 1.33 208 4,900 1.39
49.5 114.2 10.3 97.15 52.45 10.3 62 7.01 14.78 75.45 50.85 22.95 62.3 21.95 0.52 1.47 0.73 3.99 2,650 1.34 210 4,950 1.4
47.5 111.3 10.18 95.7 52.8 10.18 61.5 6.98 14.78 76 50.5 22.5 61.95 21.95 0.475 1.5 0.51 3.8 2,650 1.31 208 4,900 1.39
49.5 114.2 10.3 97.15 52.8 10.46 62.15 7.01 14.78 76 50.85 22.5 62.8 21.95 0.52 1.5 0.52 3.8 2,650 1.34 210 4,900 1.4
47.2 111 10.1 95.45 51.4 10.16 61.05 6.91 14.78 74.4 50 22.5 61.8 21.8 0.475 1.47 0.51 3.8 2,650 1.31 206 4,900 1.39
49.5 114 10.3 97.15 52.45 10.3 62 7.01 14.78 75.4 50.85 22.5 62.1 21.95 0.52 1.47 0.52 3.8 2,650 1.33 210 4,900 1.4
68,700 2,246,400 67,600 2,106,470 512,050 136,600 2,164,370 17,000 100 599,190 3,540 30,200 32,990 4,100 150,000 43,000 60,000 7,000 10 473,000 3,860 5 497,000
3,270,145 253,668,638 683,688 203,086,792 26,658,170 1,395,670 133,948,554 118,798 1,478 45,097,757 177,273 679,500 2,051,489 89,945 75,400 63,860 31,000 26,600 26,500 623,590 802,540 24,500 693,070
-5,317,708 -84,924,380 -1,346,976 1,078,612 -33,312,561 9,674 9,084,705 -7,126 -193,500 -211,879 -2,180 -24,800 282,000 381,800 20,910
INDUSTRIAL ACEN CORP 2.69 2.7 2.65 2.7 2.62 2.7 4,904,000 13,087,630 4,979,440 1.2 1.21 1.2 1.23 1.15 1.2 4,327,000 5,144,690 1,222,870 ALSONS CONS 0.66 0.67 0.67 0.67 0.63 0.67 160,000 104,410 ALTERNERGY HLDG ABOITIZ POWER 45.6 45.7 45.2 45.85 45.2 45.7 2,456,200 111,808,555 17,456,175 RASLAG 1.06 1.05 1.07 1.06 1.04 1.05 154,000 160,710 0.104 0.106 0.108 0.108 0.104 0.106 2,310,000 241,560 10,700 BASIC ENERGY 4.58 4.75 4.8 4.58 4.8 36,000 170,090 -47,500 CITICORE RE 4.8 19.7 19.74 19.4 20.45 19.4 19.7 807,700 15,990,972 3,238,043 FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG 87.5 87.9 89.55 89.55 86.85 87.5 46,990 4,126,453 310,361 MERALCO 443 444.2 448 454.8 440.2 444.2 344,390 153,910,266 41,516,216 33.5 33.65 33.5 33.75 33.4 33.5 1,614,400 54,111,165 -463,415 MANILA WATER 16.94 17 16.7 16.6 17 1,531,300 25,886,046 3,471,888 MAYNILAD 17.02 2.29 2.3 2.25 2.25 2.29 253,000 574,230 -227,210 PETRON 2.29 PETROENERGY 5.05 5.05 4.85 5 4.89 5.05 713,000 3,496,599 -34,230 PRYCE CORP 15.7 15.7 15.6 15.7 15.7 15.7 300 4,710 9.46 9.71 9.62 9.63 9.62 9.63 1,500 14,441 -2,889 REPOWER ENERGY 15.28 15.42 16 16.02 15.14 15.28 2,901,500 45,105,840 1,628,488 SEMIRARA MINING 22.85 22.9 21.8 23.2 21.35 22.9 1,708,900 38,320,645 7,736,230 SYNERGY GRID SHELL PILIPINAS 8.22 8.25 8.2 8.3 8.04 8.25 1,117,000 9,219,273 -2,963,726 SPC POWER 9.3 9.35 9.4 9.4 9.35 9.35 3,800 35,585 938 1.17 1.18 1.17 1.18 1.16 1.18 5,863,000 6,859,580 -2,732,730 SP NEW ENERGY 1.68 1.69 1.67 1.69 369,000 620,570 -1,690 TOP LINE 1.69 1.69 19.02 20.3 20.3 20.3 20.3 500 10,150 VIVANT 20.25 AXELUM 2.77 2.75 2.76 2.76 2.75 2.75 140,000 386,100 0.285 0.295 0.28 0.295 0.28 0.295 40,000 11,400 -200 BALAI FRUITAS 32.95 33 33.2 33.35 32.7 33 1,012,800 33,477,730 -16,475,320 CENTURY FOOD 3.41 3.52 3.4 3.41 3.4 3.41 3,000 10,210 3,400 DEL MONTE 3.4 3.42 3.46 3.46 3.39 3.42 279,000 952,520 -546,780 DNL INDUS EMPERADOR 15.58 15.58 15.38 15.5 15.26 15.58 448,500 6,962,220 -405,144 SMC FOODANDBEV 44.4 44.4 43.7 43.9 43.1 44.4 40,700 1,774,710 -590,380 0.66 0.67 0.66 0.66 0.64 0.66 304,000 200,220 -80,520 FIGARO GROUP 0.4 0.405 0.4 0.44 330,000 133,000 4,050 ALLIANCE SELECT 0.44 0.44 0.66 0.67 0.65 0.66 0.65 0.66 197,000 130,000 -50,160 FRUITAS HLDG 215.6 215.6 GINEBRA 214 213.6 210.2 215.6 24,510 5,221,468 1,903,516 JOLLIBEE 145 145 144 140.5 140 145 244,250 34,939,033 1,320,692 1.82 1.85 1.82 1.86 1.81 1.85 2,373,000 4,351,710 239,220 KEEPERS HLDG 21.1 22.5 22.95 22.95 22.95 22.95 200 4,590 LIBERTY FLOUR 2.03 2.07 2.08 2.08 2.01 2.01 78,000 158,160 MAXS GROUP MONDE NISSIN 6.14 6.18 6.03 6.01 6.01 6.14 2,750,500 16,805,745 2,349,351 SHAKEYS PIZZA 5.14 5.15 5.15 5.16 5.15 5.15 6,300 32,446 14,420 3.12 3.2 3.04 3.27 3 3.12 488,000 1,518,190 -97,900 ROXAS AND CO 5.14 5.15 5.09 5.18 5.08 5.15 222,700 1,142,026 -345,118 RFM CORP 0.052 0.053 0.053 0.053 60,000 3,180 SWIFT FOODS 0.053 0.053 UNIV ROBINA 58.8 59.2 59 59.9 58.7 59.2 1,363,790 80,749,728 -21,454,163 VITARICH 0.495 0.51 0.5 0.51 0.495 0.51 69,000 34,570 1.9 1.91 1.91 1.91 1,000 1,910 1,910 1.91 1.91 VICTORIAS 0.39 0.405 0.39 0.4 0.39 0.4 750,000 296,500 ATN HLDG A 0.385 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.39 330,000 128,700 ATN HLDG B CONCRETE 58.85 58.85 52.8 58.85 58.85 58.85 10 589 1.17 1.18 1.2 1.2 1.15 1.18 2,003,000 2,337,430 309,720 CONCREAT HLDG 1.9 1.91 1.92 1.92 1.91 1.91 60,000 115,110 -63,360 EEI CORP 5.29 5.3 5.4 5.2 5.3 1,408,300 7,486,444 255,725 MEGAWIDE 5.25 14.1 14.5 14.5 14.5 100 1,450 PHINMA 14.5 14.5 SUPERCITY 40.3 35 37.3 40.3 37.8 37.8 1,600 63,695 1.86 1.89 1.86 1.9 1.86 1.86 19,000 35,720 CROWN ASIA 1.2 1.21 1.21 1.19 1.2 44,000 52,820 1.23 EUROMED 10.62 10.8 10.8 10.82 5,000 54,016 -10,800 CONCEPCION 10.82 10.82 0.144 0.144 0.145 0.14 0.145 740,000 105,930 GREENERGY 0.145 INTEGRATED MICR 6.9 6.95 6.8 7.07 6.4 6.9 3,716,800 25,101,844 -3,991,260 IONICS 3.69 3.68 3.72 3.78 3.45 3.68 3,984,000 14,397,170 -483,100 7.05 7.2 7.2 7.2 100 720 PANASONIC 7.2 7.2 1.52 1.53 1.5 1.59 1.5 1.53 4,729,000 7,277,220 -1,069,880 CIRTEK HLDG 1.95 2 2 2 2 6,000 12,000 STENIEL 1.99
HOLDING & FRIMS
STOCK-MARKET OUTLOOK LAST WEEK
SHARE prices fell last week following economic growth downgrades of the Philippines to 2.9 percent from S&P Global and to 3.3 percent by the Asian Development Bank. The lingering post-FTSE foreign selling in Ayala Corp. and SM Investments Corp. also weighed on the market. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index fell 29.94 points to close at 5,825.97 points. The main index also reached its lowest for the year on Thursday, closing at 5,730.02 points before paring down its losses the next day. Volume for the week remained low, with average value of P5.75 billion, with foreign investors, who cornered 46 percent of the trades, were net sellers at P816.32 million. Most of the sub-indices ended on the red, led by the broader All Shares index that fell 31.59 points to close at 3,246.21 points. The Financials index declined 9.24 to 1,811.39 while the Industrial index retreated 205.19 to 7,597.74. The Holding Firms index rose 5.87 to 4,143.01 while the Property index shed 37.63 to 1,760.37. The Services index was up 28.44 to3,192.41 and the Mining and Oil index plunged 1,259.40 to 20,600.79. For the week, losers outnumbered
gainers 138 to 83, and 26 shares were unchanged. The top gainers were LFM Properties Corp., Pacifica Holdings Inc., Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corp. A and B shares, Supercity Realty Development Corp., Ionics Inc., Alliance Select Foods International Inc. and Seafront Resources Corp. The top losers, meanwhile, were Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc., Metro Alliance Holdings and Equities Corp., PAL Holdings Inc., Semirara Mining and Power Corp., Geograce Resources Philippines Inc., ABSCBN Corp. and Prime Media Holdings Inc.
THIS WEEK
SHARE prices may go up this week, but mainly on bargain hunting. Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, senior research analyst at Philstocks Financials Inc., said that while current levels are considered bargains and fundamentals remain intact, the bearish case remains strong as other markets move unfavorably against local equities, while overall macroeconomic conditions remain discouraging. Tantiangco also noted that both Washington and Tehran have shown last week that they are holding their respective grounds but at the same time expressed willingness to return to the negotiation table. However, he said that, ultimately, the situation between the US and Iran remains uncertain leaving oil prices at elevated levels. The benchmark Brent crude remains above the $100 per barrel mark, Tantiangco noted. Broker 2TradeAsia said eyes will be on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas September inflation outlook and on the US Federal Reserve, especially with the latest payrolls print. Consensus is building for possible 25 basis points rate hike before year-end, according to the broker. “Underweighting risk assets is warranted, as cash/short-dated fixed income, which essentially pay money to wait, are significantly more compelling,” said 2TradeAsia. The broker advised to tilt toward US dollar earners like ports and infra, and toward large-cap banks, where higher rates support margins. 2TradeAsia said that, for now, brace for potential range tightness in the 5,500- to 6,000 points zone of the main index.
STOCK PICKS
BROKER RCBC Securities Inc. gave an “overweight” rating on the country’s Philippine water players West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. (PSE: MYNLD) and East Zone concessionaire Manila Water Co. Inc. (PSE: MWC). The broker said that the country’s water sector is poised for steady, defensive growth this year, driven by aggressive
capital deployment in water security and infrastructure. “Volume growth across both concessions will be catalyzed by capacity expansion, specifically Maynilad’s ongoing NRW (non-revenue water) recovery program and Manila Water’s commissioning of major treatment facilities (Wawa, East Bay), effectively translating enhanced raw water availability into sustained billed volume gains,” RCBC Securities said. MYNLD closed at P17 apiece, while MWC were last traded at P33.50 apiece. Meanwhile, RCBC Securities maintained its “hold” rating on the stock of Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (PSE: SCC), after the government issued an advisory formally
MUTUAL FUNDS
terminating the 2026 coal bid round under the “Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program,” directly impacting the auction for Semirara Island. By citing continuing water seepage as a primary justification for the cancellation, the government has placed the site’s escalating hydrological and geological risks under a spotlight. “This puts pressure on SCC to commit substantial capital toward dewatering, safety and environmental compliance, driving up long-term opex (operational expense) while the government simultaneously seeks a larger revenue share,” it said. SCC closed last Friday at P15.28 apiece.
September 25, 2026
NAV ONE YEARTHREE YEAR FIVE YEAR Y-T-D PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES (SHARES) ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC. -A200.97 -6.54% 0.31% -1.9% -2.89% -6.13% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNIT Y FUND, INC. -A 2.2874 10.69% 16.82% 7.9% 4.85% 5.82% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUIT Y OPPORTUNIT Y FUND, INC. -A 2.6966 -6.31% -0.7% -2.42% -4.62% -5.42% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUIT Y INVESTMENT FUND CORP. -A N.S N.S N.S N.S N.SN.S FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND, INC. -A 0.481 -16.03% -9.21% -9.16% N.A -13.5% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUIT Y FUND, INC. -A 4.1009 -8.37% -2.61% -3.95% -2.79% -6.22% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A 0.6109 -6.23% -2.5% -3.84% N.A-4.93% MBG EQUIT Y INVESTMENT FUND, INC. -A 65.65 -23.22% -8.9% -7.45% N.A -26.61% PAMI EQUIT Y INDEX FUND, INC. -A 39.8878 -4.41% -0.77% -2.59% -2.6% -3.56% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 421.31 -6.72% -0.1% -2.4% -2.73% -6.28% PHILEQUIT Y DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC. -A 1.5249 1.92% 10.28% 4.29% 1.6% -2.33% PHILEQUIT Y FUND, INC. -A33.9166 -1.54% 2.07% -0.49% -0.95% -1.49% PHILEQUIT Y MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A 0.8979 1.96% 3.61% 0.21% N.A 1.15% PHILEQUIT Y PSE INDEX FUND, INC. -A 4.3232 -3.51% 0.27% -1.55% -1.73% -3.28% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 711.82 -3.83% -0.09% -1.86% -1.9% -3.15% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 0.6817 -1.66% 1.91% -0.69% -2.93% -2.91% SUN LIFE PROSPERIT Y PHILIPPINE EQUIT Y FUND, INC. -A 2.9715 -10.28% -2.26% -3.98% -3.42% -7.42% SUN LIFE PROSPERIT Y PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC. -A 0.7971 -4.04% -0.52% -2.23% -2.17%-3.26% UNITED FUND, INC. -A3.48595.22% 5.62% 1.31% 0.07% 6.03% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES (UNITS) COL EQUIT Y INDEX UNITIZED MUTUAL FUND, INC. -A 0.9998 -3.72% -0.06% N.A N.A -3.2% COL STRATEGIC GROWTH EQUIT Y UNITIZED MUTUAL FUND, INC. -A 0.998 -5.28% N.A N.A N.A-4.36% PHILEQUIT Y ALPHA ONE FUND, INC. -A 0.8541 -9.5% -4.06% -4.81% N.A -9.55% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 859.27 -3.78% -0.28% N.A N.A -3.07% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (SHARES) ATR FAMI PHIL. EQUIT Y EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC. -A,C 97.1263 -3.55% 0.12% -1.54% -1.5%-2.88% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENC Y SECURITIES (SHARES) ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUIT Y FUND, INC. -B $1.2619 25.88% 16.51% 1.63% 3.25% 23.17% SUN LIFE PROSPERIT Y WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC. -A $2.4625 14.24% 17.14% 6.32% 8.96% 10.71% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENC Y SECURITIES (UNITS) PHILEQUIT Y GLOBAL FUND, INC. -A,2 1.0836 N.A N.A N.A N.A N.A BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES (SHARES) ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.1199 -0.94% 0.36% -0.87% -1.14% -0.95% ATRAM UNICAPITAL DIVERSIFIED GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 1.6909 5.03% 5.53% 0.24% -0.71% 3.34% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.4302 -2.06% 0.03% -1.64% -0.82% -1.29% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN F.O.C.C.U.S. DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 0.2233 -3.04% 5.87% 2.59% N.A-3.71% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC. -A,1 1.9327 -0.63% 0.53% -0.31% 0.07% -3.49% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC. -A3.6233 -2.77% 2.06% -0.33% -0.59% -4.4% PHILAM FUND, INC. -A15.3106-4.6% 0.79% -1.47% -1.15% -4.37% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC. -A2.0473 -2.08% 1.52% -0.09% -0.37% -2.52% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERIT Y BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 3.2917 -5.42% 0.25% -1.69% -1.52%-3.85% SUN LIFE PROSPERIT Y DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 0.8632 -6.57% -0.07% -0.98% -1.31% -5.22% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES (UNITS) BPI WEALTH BUILDER MULTI-ASSET MUTUAL FUND, INC. -A,3 10.73 N.A N.A N.A N.AN.A SUN LIFE PROSPERIT Y ACHIEVER FUND 2028, INC. -A 0.9763 0.48% 2.09% -0.19% N.A -0.26% SUN LIFE PROSPERIT Y ACHIEVER FUND 2038, INC. -A 0.8252 -2.23% 0.7% -1.86% N.A -1.97% SUN LIFE PROSPERIT Y ACHIEVER FUND 2048, INC. -A 0.7928 0.19% -2.37% -2.59% N.A -2.27% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENC Y SECURITIES (SHARES) COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC. -A $0.03345 -1.33% 1.66% -2.72% -0.74% -2.48% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC. -B $1.1566 -4.78% 10.33% 1.5% 2.13% -4.41% SUN LIFE PROSPERIT Y DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC. -A $5.6649 8.44% 12.47% 3.54% 5.82% 6.12% SUN LIFE PROSPERIT Y DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC. -A $1.2051 2.85% 7.37% 0.34% 2.37%1.83% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES (SHARES) ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 425.04 2.29% 3.22% 2.62% 2.52% 1.2% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC. -A 1.99 2.32% 1.29% 0.62% 0.38% 1.61% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 3.6096 1.48% 3.1% 2.18% 3.18% 0.28% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND, INC. -A 2.4389 0.27% 2.88% 1.49% 1.38% -0.56% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 2.5015 -2.09% 1.11% 0.5% 1.11%-2.63% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC. -A4.5034 -1.59% 2.33% 0.09% 0.66% -2.31% PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 1.5461 2.75% 4.5% 3.22% 2.94% 1.72% PHILEQUIT Y PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 4.3273 1.1% 2.88% 1.65% 1.87% 0.33% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. -A1.1307 1.83% 2.85% 1.74% 1.69% 0.91% 3.4453 SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERIT Y BOND FUND, INC. -A -2.52% 2.09% 1.38% 1.94% -2.69% SUN LIFE PROSPERIT Y GS FUND, INC. -A 1.8309 -2.24% 1.8% 0.93% 1.36% -2.84% CORPORATE DEBT VEHICLE (UNITS) ATRAM UNITIZED CORPORATE DEBT FUND 2 -A,5 1.0164 N.A N.A N.A N.A N.A PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENC Y SECURITIES (SHARES) ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $532.6 1.53% 2.84% 1.74% 1.91% 0.67% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. -A Є222.1 -0.39% 1.69% 0.14% 0.47% -0.75% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.048 -2.95% 0.82% -2.78% -0.73% -2.51% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $0.0253 -4.17% 1.63% -0.7% 0.08%-4.53% PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.0471 -1.76% 7.94% 0.02% -0.54% -1.22% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $2.3888 -3.2% 3.06% -1.1% 0.39% -3.68% PHILEQUIT Y DOLLAR INCOME FUND, INC. -A $0.0628874 -2.07% 1.25% -0.02% 1.02% -2.42% SUN LIFE PROSPERIT Y DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC. -A $2.8645 -2.42% 2.84% -2.19% -0.74%-2.32% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES (SHARES) AIB MONEY MARKET MUTUAL FUND, INC. -A 1.1891 2.76% N.A N.A N.A 1.95% ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 153.06 4.07% 4.1% 3.2% 2.87% 2.81% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.2272 3.44% 3.79% 3.06% N.A2.46% SUN LIFE PROSPERIT Y PESO STARTER FUND, INC. -A 1.5179 3.48% 3.6% 2.99% 2.77% 2.46% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES (UNITS) ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 117.26 4.04% 4.3% N.A N.A 2.9% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENC Y SECURITIES (SHARES) SUN LIFE PROSPERIT Y DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC. -A $1.197 2.48% 3.3% 2.49% N.A 1.76% FEEDER FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES (UNITS) ALFM GLOBAL MULTI-ASSET INCOME FUND, INC. -A 47.5421 4.78% 3.9% N.A N.A 3.1% MBG ASIA FRONTIER FEEDER UMF, INC. -B,4 1.8411 N.A N.A N.A N.A N.A SUN LIFE PROSPERIT Y WORLD EQUIT Y INDEX FEEDER FUND, INC. -A 2.5867 26.46% 23.31% 14.35% N.A19.2% SUN LIFE PROSPERIT Y WORLD INCOME FUND, INC. -A 1.1904 9.39% 6.88% N.A N.A 6.7% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENC Y SECURITIES (UNITS)
ABACORE CAPITAL 0.305 0.31 0.305 0.31 0.305 0.31 1,640,000 503,150 62.95 62.7 62 62.95 481,830 30,310,992 772,405 ASIABEST GROUP 63.55 63.55 492 493 500 503.5 490.2 492 280,120 138,854,317 -88,378,593 AYALA CORP ABOITIZ EQUITY 37.75 37.85 38 38.05 37.55 37.85 2,830,700 107,209,575 23,158,185 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 8.98 8.99 8.9 9 8.85 8.99 517,900 4,620,171 69,652 16.62 16.7 16.7 16.6 16.6 800 13,350 ANSCOR 16.98 1.4 1.41 1.46 1.47 1.4 1.41 1,082,000 1,530,730 6,720 ANGLO PHIL HLDG 7.41 7.42 7.45 7.5 7.2 7.41 685,200 5,052,826 -2,953,873 COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG 7.9 7.9 7.75 7.65 7.48 7.9 2,052,700 15,833,983 -1,530,367 FILINVEST DEV 3.9 4.05 3.86 3.9 3.86 3.9 32,000 124,750 50,740 2.53 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.6 10,000 26,000 FJ PRINCE A 435.2 437 430 438.6 422 437 114,640 49,761,904 -1,714,792 GT CAPITAL 19 19 18.8 19.1 810,500 15,332,534 -2,519,174 JG SUMMIT 19.1 19.1 LODESTAR 0.455 0.435 0.43 0.48 0.425 0.455 670,000 295,550 -18,400 LOPEZ HLDG 5.37 5.37 5.31 5.37 5.31 5.33 69,400 369,685 -48,526 15.36 15.4 15.3 15.46 15.2 15.4 3,579,400 54,950,416 10,639,078 LT GROUP 0.9 1.14 1.15 1.15 1.15 1.15 13,000 14,950 PACIFICA HLDG 0.98 1.07 1.01 1.01 0.98 0.98 9,000 8,910 PRIME MEDIA SOLID GROUP 1.15 1.2 1.13 1.22 1.12 1.2 213,000 252,860 508.5 510 500 515 496.2 510 627,330 317,324,133 -154,364,288 SM INVESTMENTS 61.55 62 62.35 62.35 61 62 50,180 3,107,872 -586,075 SAN MIGUEL CORP 2.21 2.38 2.22 2.22 2.22 2.22 1,000 2,220 SEAFRONT RES 51.5 52.95 51.3 51.5 51.3 51.3 2,390 122,807 -41,753 TOP FRONTIER ZEUS HLDG 0.077 0.077 0.071 0.077 0.077 0.077 130,000 10,010 PROPERTY AYALA LAND 15.1 15.12 14.94 15.22 14.94 15.12 9,455,500 142,288,074 -15,922,660 1.12 1.15 1.14 1.15 1.12 1.15 184,000 209,070 92,170 AYALA LAND LOG 0.27 0.29 0.27 0.29 0.265 0.29 70,000 18,900 ARANETA PROP AREIT RT 36.55 36.8 36.9 37.3 36.5 36.55 2,089,600 76,505,255 9,540,025 A BROWN 0.81 0.83 0.81 0.84 0.79 0.83 119,000 95,820 0.58 0.59 0.58 0.6 0.58 0.58 18,184,000 10,546,760 10,544,400 CITYLAND DEVT 0.088 0.089 0.09 0.09 0.089 0.089 2,350,000 209,160 CROWN EQUITIES 1.98 1.99 1.96 2 225,000 447,760 -3,920 CEB LANDMASTERS 2 2 CENTURY PROP 0.62 0.62 0.6 0.61 0.6 0.62 953,000 583,090 -1,220 CITICORE RT 2.89 2.9 2.9 2.91 2.88 2.9 2,139,000 6,195,250 -2,158,830 11.7 11.7 11.74 11.64 11.7 362,100 4,230,514 -1,261,776 DOUBLEDRAGON 11.72 1.02 1.03 1.03 1.04 1.02 1.03 1,811,000 1,863,760 -625,210 DDMP RT 4.7 4.83 4.75 4.75 4.7 4.7 41,000 193,150 DM WENCESLAO EVERWOODS 0.026 0.027 0.026 0.027 0.026 0.027 300,000 7,900 0.105 0.105 0.103 0.104 0.102 0.105 100,000 10,390 7,280 EMPIRE EAST 2.85 2.86 2.86 2.87 2.84 2.86 611,000 1,746,080 -677,820 FILINVEST RT 0.68 0.68 0.68 0.68 148,000 102,030 -4,100 FILINVEST LAND 0.7 0.7 0.59 0.63 0.59 0.59 0.59 0.59 87,000 51,330 GLOBAL ESTATE JACKSTONES 1.82 1.82 1.69 1.8 1.8 1.82 5,000 9,040 1.19 1.2 0.75 1.24 0.7 1.2 952,828,000 1,041,465,330 -616,630 PNB HLDG 2.15 2.17 2.11 2.18 2.11 2.17 5,972,000 4,910,460 MEGAWORLD 12,868,530 0.67 0.69 0.68 0.69 0.66 0.69 30,922,000 20,994,380 21,780 MRC ALLIED 13.64 13.66 13.76 13.76 13.52 13.64 300,400 4,079,534 -444,330 MREIT RT OMICO CORP 0.102 0.103 0.102 0.102 0.102 0.102 2,500,000 255,000 0.159 0.161 0.161 0.162 0.16 0.16 880,000 141,430 1,610 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.38 0.415 0.38 0.385 0.38 0.385 110,000 41,850 -3,850 PHIL ESTATES 1 1.01 1 1.01 79,000 79,220 PREMIERE RT 1.01 1.01 6.46 6.5 6.56 6.58 6.43 6.46 7,749,700 50,142,678 10,694,457 RL COMM RT ROBINSONS LAND 17 17 16.72 16.7 16.56 17 511,100 8,646,116 362,974 PHIL REALTY 0.115 0.115 0.108 0.106 0.106 0.115 180,000 19,320 2.63 2.64 2.68 2.56 2.64 117,000 306,230 36,860 2.64 ROCKWELL 2.99 3.03 3.04 2.99 3.04 233,000 698,910 369,000 SHANG PROP 3.04 1.82 1.89 1.88 1.89 1.84 1.89 19,000 35,270 STA LUCIA LAND SM PRIME HLDG 15.96 16 16 16.18 15.84 16 8,613,700 137,488,998 -54,594,212 SUNTRUST RESORT 0.41 0.41 0.39 0.385 0.38 0.41 60,000 23,550 -4,100 SERVICES ABS CBN 2.6 2.61 2.6 2.61 2.6 2.61 82,000 213,470 3.49 3.5 3.6 3.6 3.49 3.5 844,000 2,956,560 GMA NETWORK 0.6 0.61 0.61 0.61 0.59 0.61 3,529,000 2,115,580 88,880 DITO CME HLDG GLOBE TELECOM 1,548 1,550 1,532 1,565 1,532 1,550 35,485 55,087,715 17,479,670 PLDT 1,124 1,118 1,119 1,115 1,109 1,119 77,530 86,689,485 -27,578,115 0.0058 0.006 0.0059 0.0059 0.0058 0.0058 92,000,000 535,500 APOLLO GLOBAL 9.1 9.09 9 9.22 2,069,800 18,926,446 1,148,138 CONVERGE 9.22 9.22 0.62 0.65 0.63 0.63 0.62 0.62 3,000 1,870 DFNN INC ISLAND INFO 0.125 0.129 0.125 0.126 0.125 0.126 1,490,000 187,130 0.385 0.405 0.385 0.41 0.385 0.41 280,000 111,050 -23,400 NOW CORP 0.115 0.118 0.115 0.119 0.113 0.118 1,970,000 225,950 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.87 0.85 0.85 0.89 335,000 293,990 -16,020 CHELSEA 0.89 0.89 19.9 19.92 20.95 20.95 19.9 19.92 569,900 11,471,589 -9,878,788 CEBU AIR INTL CONTAINER 920 920 905 887 883 920 999,010 903,546,585 154,624,425 LBC EXPRESS 8.06 8.21 8.1 8.22 8.06 8.22 6,000 48,648 0.64 0.69 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.64 1,000 640 LORENZO SHIPPNG 3.51 3.51 3.5 3.51 289,000 1,014,560 63,210 MACROASIA 3.52 3.52 0.57 0.61 0.55 0.63 0.55 0.61 53,000 31,870 METRO ALLIANCE PAL HLDG 2.99 3 3.45 3.58 2.98 3 10,090,000 33,103,780 16,913,130 HARBOR STAR 1.56 1.57 1.48 1.58 1.48 1.57 1,323,000 1,994,880 430,290 1.45 1.53 1.54 1.54 1.54 1.54 5,000 7,700 ACESITE HOTEL 0.03 0.031 0.03 0.032 0.03 0.03 1,300,000 39,300 3,000 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.183 0.189 0.192 0.192 0.181 0.189 1,970,000 368,300 48,000 PH RESORTS GRP WATERFRONT 0.45 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42 20,000 8,400 14.64 14.8 14.56 14.56 14.56 14.56 100 1,456 CENTRO ESCOLAR 802 803 800 803 800 802 220 176,050 FAR EASTERN U 6.74 6.92 6.97 6.97 6.92 6.92 1,400 9,693 IPEOPLE 1.28 1.3 1.28 1.29 1.28 1.29 16,000 20,500 15,340 STI HLDG BELLE CORP 1.1 1.1 1.09 1.09 1.09 1.1 77,000 84,100 15,814,400 1.93 1.95 1.93 2 1.92 1.93 8,091,000 -2,123,670 BLOOMBERRY 1.55 1.67 1.55 1.55 1.55 1.55 1,000 1,550 PACIFIC ONLINE 8.47 8.5 8.4 8.2 8.5 3,845,000 32,514,532 14,974,370 DIGIPLUS 8.54 14.2 14 14.3 13.66 14.28 3,612,800 50,472,132 13,531,902 PHILWEB 14.28 1.06 1.06 METRO RETAIL 1.05 1.06 1.05 1.05 120,000 126,490 40.85 40.1 40.05 40.95 39.85 40.85 1,048,300 42,232,580 28,580,795 PUREGOLD 30.9 31 31.75 31.75 30.8 30.8 224,600 6,963,255 -25,605 PHIL SEVEN CORP 2.03 2.07 2.02 2.08 2 2.07 233,000 466,900 196,000 SSI GROUP 0.78 0.79 0.79 0.79 0.77 0.79 25,000 19,650 UPSON INTL CORP WILCON DEPOT 5.6 5.64 5.6 5.66 5.58 5.6 867,900 4,882,316 -70,280 APC GROUP 0.105 0.105 0.102 0.105 0.105 0.105 20,000 2,100 -2,100 1.96 2.07 1.96 1.96 1.96 1.96 1,000 1,960 IPM HLDG 0.226 0.23 0.226 0.226 0.226 10,000 2,260 MEDILINES 0.226 1.62 1.62 1.62 1.61 1.61 35,000 56,680 PHILCOMSAT 1.65 SBS PHIL CORP 3.05 3.18 3.05 3.2 3 3.18 52,000 162,110 -70 MINING & OIL APEX MINING 18 18.08 17.54 18 17.42 18 2,535,600 44,880,418 -5,871,558 19.98 20 19.98 19.98 19.2 19.98 2,407,100 47,531,190 15,477,826 ATLAS MINING BENGUET 7.29 7.05 7.3 7.3 7 7.04 4,000 29,010 -1,459 DIZON MINES 4.3 4.78 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3 3,000 12,900 0.335 0.34 0.345 0.345 0.335 0.34 70,000 23,650 EC VULCAN 2 2.03 2 2.04 1.92 2 925,000 1,835,030 726,050 FERRONICKEL 0.079 0.082 0.08 0.082 3,760,000 302,940 GEOGRACE 0.082 0.082 LEPANTO A 0.239 0.24 0.23 0.239 0.226 0.239 14,220,000 3,316,410 0.228 0.24 0.23 0.244 0.23 0.244 630,000 152,180 -82,960 LEPANTO B 0.0085 0.0088 0.0085 0.0085 0.0085 0.0085 2,000,000 17,000 MANILA MINING A 0.0083 0.0092 0.0093 0.0093 0.0093 0.0093 62,000,000 576,600 MANILA MINING B 0.77 0.77 0.77 0.77 468,000 361,610 MARCVENTURES 0.78 0.78 NIHAO 0.54 0.54 0.55 0.54 0.54 0.54 69,000 37,260 4.01 4.07 3.98 4.08 3.9 4.07 1,116,000 4,442,270 -352,590 NICKEL ASIA 35.5 35.55 35.6 34.8 35.5 390,800 13,781,605 7,431,685 OCEANAGOLD 35.65 0.57 0.6 0.6 0.6 6,000 3,600 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.6 0.6 12.16 12.2 12.1 12.16 11.48 12.16 10,727,900 125,485,276 27,825,778 PX MINING UNITED PARAGON 0.0089 0.009 0.0089 0.0092 0.0087 0.0089 48,000,000 420,800 3.3 3.8 3.6 3.6 3.4 3.4 3,000 10,600 -3,400 ENEX ENERGY 0.016 0.017 0.016 0.017 0.015 0.017 19,800,000 319,400 ORNTL PETROL A 0.016 0.017 0.016 0.016 0.016 0.016 1,000,000 16,000 ORNTL PETROL B 0.0099 0.01 0.0098 0.0099 18,300,000 181,530 PHILODRILL 0.01 0.01 PXP ENERGY 3 3.07 3.1 3.18 3 3 668,000 2,024,630 -312,660 PREFFERED AC PREF B3R 1,901 1,912 1,912 1,912 1,912 1,912 205 391,960 1,905 1,919 1,916 1,920 1,901 1,905 505 967,050 19,160 AC PREF B4R 452.2 493 487 487 487 487 100 48,700 ALCO PREF F BRN PREF C 100.1 102 102 102 102 102 220 22,440 23.5 24.45 24 24.5 24 24.5 4,200 102,250 44,100 CEB PREF 97.05 99 96.7 96.7 96.7 96.7 30 2,901 CPG PREF B 94.6 95.4 95.35 95.45 94.55 95.4 10,350 985,364 19,080 DD PREF 94.2 96 96 96 96 96 300 28,800 EEI PREF B GLO PREF BNV 1,926 1,980 1,980 1,980 1,980 1,980 15 29,700 1,000 1,010 999.5 999.5 999.5 999.5 100 99,950 GTCAP PREF B 99 101.3 99 99 99 99 10 990 MWIDE PREF 7A 99.65 100 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 10 999 MWIDE PREF 7B 986 993 993 993 993 993 50 49,650 PCOR PREF 4C PCOR PREF 4E 985 987 987 987 985 985 90 88,790 72.05 74.55 74.3 74.55 74.3 74.55 60 4,471 -743 SMC PREF 2P 74 74.8 74 74 74 74 7,000 518,000 SMC PREF 2S 75.25 76 76 76.2 75 75.25 48,260 3,635,741 SMC PREF 2V 78.8 79 78 79 78 79 110 8,590 SMC PREF 2W SMC PREF 2X 78.6 78.95 78.3 78.95 78.3 78.95 2,190 172,617 13,379 TOP PREF A1 99.8 99.85 99.7 99.8 99.7 99.8 660 65,852 100.5 101.1 100.5 101 100.5 101 1,060 107,050 TOP PREF A2
PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR
WARRANTS
AGI WARRANT
ALFM GLOBAL MULTI-ASSET INCOME FUND, INC. -A $0.7896 -3.68% 0.86% -4.42% N.A -2.52% A - NAVPS AS OF THE PREVIOUS BANKING DAY. B - NAVPS AS OF TWO BANKING DAYS AGO. C - LISTED IN THE PSE. 1 - EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 1, 2025, ITS FUND MANAGEMENT IS WITH BPI WEALTH. 2 - LAUNCH DATE IS FEBRUARY 2, 2026. 3 - LAUNCH DATE IS DECEMBER 18, 2024. MEMBERSHIP WITH PIFA WAS OFFICIALLY APPROVED ON SEPTEMBER 12, 2025. 4 - MEMBERSHIP WITH PIFA WAS OFFICIALLY APPROVED ON MARCH 26, 2026. 5 - LAUNCH DATE IS APRIL 17, 2026, AND IT REPRESENTS THE SECOND TRANCHE OF THE ATRAM UNITIZED CORPORATE DEBT VEHICLE, INC. “While we endeavor to keep the information accurate, the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) and its members make no
2.38 2.46 3.23 3.89 3.96 3.96 3.96 3.96 1,000 3,960 1.05
SM A L L, M ED I U M & EM E R G IN G HAUS TALK ITALPINAS LFM PROP MAKATI FINANCE XURPAS
warranties as to the correctness of the newspaper’s publication and assume no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions. You may visit http://www.
pifa.com.ph to see the latest NAVPS/NAVPU.”
1.37 0.56 0.027 1.88 0.21
1.08
1.05
1.05
1.05
1.05
3,000
3,150
-1,050
1.4 0.59 0.029 2.08 0.217
1.38 0.59 0.033 1.85 0.22
1.42 0.59 0.033 1.86 0.222
1.35 0.59 0.027 1.85 0.21
1.42 0.59 0.027 1.86 0.21
92,000 1,000 8,900,000 6,000 280,000
126,720 590 272,900 11,110 59,470
-34,500 -590 2,000
EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS ATR FAMI ETF
99.9
-
100
98.1 99.9 98 99.9 6,910 677,730 5,886
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Banking&Finance BusinessMirror
Transforming individual actions into a collective movement
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DISCARDED food container or a piece of litter left on the street often may seem inconsequential. Small actions are often dismissed because they appear insignificant on their own, raising an important question: How much harm could these actions possibly cause? The increasing incidence of extreme flooding due to clogged drainage systems and bodies of water being contaminated by waste highlights the consequences of improper waste disposal. These challenges do not emerge overnight but are often the result of countless small actions that compound over time. This same principle also applies to positive change. By taking responsibility for our own waste and making conscious choices, we can transform individual actions into a collective movement. The rapid growth of waste generation has become a significant global challenge, particularly as efforts to manage and reduce waste become increasingly important. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), municipal solid waste generation is projected to increase from 2.3 billion tons in 2023 to 3.8 billion tons by 2050. As economies develop, growing industrialization, urbanization, and consumption, along with greater access to consumer goods, contribute to an increase in municipal solid waste generation per person. As the volume of waste continues to rise, the pressure on existing waste management systems also increases, making effective waste collection, treatment, and disposal difficult. The implications of this growing waste burden extend beyond the capacity of waste management systems. Beyond its environmental impact, poor waste management also poses significant social and public health risks. The Institute for Environmental Research and Education (IERE) highlights that waste contributes to the depletion of natural resources, biodiversity loss, and climate change through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Inadequate waste disposal practices can also create conditions that facilitate disease transmission and generate air pollutants that negatively affect respiratory health. These consequences emphasize the importance of effective waste management strategies in mitigating the impacts of growing waste generation and safeguarding both environmental sustainability and public well-being. From a local perspective, waste management continues to be a growing environmental challenge in the Philippines. According to the World Bank, the country produces 14.6 million tons of municipal solid waste annually. The consequences of improper waste disposal become particularly evident during extreme weather events, when waste builds up in waterways and drainage systems. Recently, heavy rains and flooding in Metro Manila caused significant waste buildup in local waterways, prompting the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-National Capital Region (DENR-NCR) to intensify cleanup operations and remove approximately 1,255 sacks of waste. This event shows the importance of responsible waste management in protecting communities, reducing flood risks, and preserving environmental quality. The adverse effects of improper waste management stress the importance of individual and collective responsibility in protecting the environment. By adopting sustainable habits such as proper waste segregation, recycling, and responsible consumption, we can help reduce waste generation and minimize its impact on our communities. Every 20 September, people from around the world come together for World Cleanup Day. A global initiative that encourages communities to take action against the growing waste problem, with this year’s theme being “From Clean Plates to Clean Cities.” The initiative began in 2008 when 50,000 volunteers in Estonia
participated in a nationwide cleanup campaign that later inspired similar activities worldwide. Ten years later, the first official “World Cleanup Day” was held uniting millions of participants across countries in a shared commitment to a cleaner environment. The event aims to raise awareness and promote everyday practices that help reduce waste, while encouraging responsible production, purchasing, and consumption behaviors. In 2025, more than 25 million people across 190 countries and territories united in support of a cleaner and healthier planet, representing 86 percent of UN member states. This global effort demonstrates that collective action, no matter how small, can contribute to meaningful and lasting change. Even the smallest actions can create a ripple effect, influencing communities, the environment, and future generations. While recognizing that individual responsibility remains important, addressing waste management challenges also requires coordinated action at a broader level. In response, the Philippine government, through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), has implemented various policies and programs to improve waste management practices nationwide. Together, these efforts contribute to a cleaner and more sustainable future. Environmental challenges are interconnected with economic and social outcomes. Hence, waste management is a sustainability imperative that supports long-term community resilience. The growing waste crisis serves as a reminder that environmental sustainability is a shared responsibility. At R.G. Manabat & Co., we support clients in identifying and implementing opportunities to reduce waste through circular economy principles. By optimizing resource use across the value chain through improved product design, reuse, recycling, and regeneration, organizations can enhance operational efficiency, reduce environmental impacts, and advance their decarbonization goals. Sustainability assurance provides stakeholders with confidence that an organization’s reported sustainability information is accurate, reliable, and aligned with relevant standards and frameworks. In support of this objective, multiple fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies have engaged the firm to provide assurance over their “extended producer responsibility” compliance reports, with a particular focus on plastic footprint disclosures and waste diversion performance. Through these efforts, businesses can create long-term value while contributing to strengthening environmental resilience. The “World Cleanup Day” highlights the role of collective action in addressing environmental challenges and promoting more sustainable practices. The impact of waste can be increasingly visible in our communities, and meaningful change depends on the willingness of individuals and organizations alike to adopt more responsible and sustainable practices. © 2026 R.G. Manabat & Co., a Philippine partnership and a member firm of the KPMG global organization of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Ltd., a private English company limited by guarantee. All rights reserved. This article is for general information purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice to a specific issue or entity. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent KPMG International, R.G. Manabat & Co. or the BusinessMirror. For more information, you may reach out through ph-kpmgmla@kpmg.com, social media or visit www.home.kpmg/ph.
Editor: Dennis D. Estopace • Monday, September 28, 2026
B3
PHL debt level ‘eerily’ like Marcos Sr. regime—FDC
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By Reine Juvierre Alberto
@reine_alberto
S the Marcos Jr. administration saw the national government’s outstanding debt balloon to record highs, exacerbated by an oil price shock, the Philippines is experiencing a déjà vu of the debt buildup under his father’s, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., regime.
“There are many uncanny, eerie similarities between the situation during the 1980s and the situation today,” Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) Secretary General Rovic Obanil during a forum on the national debt the organization organized last Saturday. “Let’s not forget that the person presiding over our economy and our surging indebtedness bears the same name as the person who presided over the debt crisis. That’s his father,” Obanil added. Infrastructure spending under Marcos Sr. contributed to the buildup of debt, partly to improve his image ahead of reelection, he went further. “Of course, we know that the funds were not used only for actual infrastructure. Much of that money ended up in the pockets of Marcos himself and his cronies,” Obanil said. Drawing a parallel between the 1980s debt crisis and the current environment, he said both Marcos
administrations saw increased reliance on borrowing, a surge in debt and a weakening economy. “It is really déjà vu,” said Mae Buenaventura, head of the Debt Justice program at the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), during the forum. In her presentation, Buenaventura said the Philippines suffered intense oil price shocks from the early 1970s through the 1980s under Marcos Sr. as the country was heavily dependent on imported oil. At the same time, the country’s external debt rose from $13.4 billion in 1979 to $20.9 billion in 1981 to finance infrastructure, energy and basic industries. Capital inflows were also largely loans, she noted. These conditions mirror those faced by his son, Marcos Jr., arguing that today’s debt problem is a recurrence of unresolved structural problems from the past. “The root causes of the problem
have not really been resolved until now. That is why it keeps recurring, recurring in different forms,” Buenaventura said. The national government’s outstanding debt climbed to P19.889 trillion as of end-July 2026. This is higher by 10.39 percent or P1.825 trillion than the P17.563 trillion recorded in the same period a year earlier. External debt rose by 15.12 percent, or P824.95 billion, year-on-year to P6.280 trillion from P5.455 trillion. Domestic debt grew to P13.109 trillion, up by 8.26 percent or P1 trillion, from P12.108 trillion. Obanil also noted that even the current economic managers echo what Cesar Virata, former Secretary of Finance during the Marcos Sr. administration, has said about the government’s debt—that there was nothing to worry about because economic growth would eventually outpace it. Former Finance Secretaries Benjamin E. Diokno and Ralph G. Recto and current Department of Finance Chief Frederick Go have said that the government’s outstanding debt remains manageable and sustainable, among other assurances. “But what would happen if the economic growth is slowing?” Obanil posed, noting in his presentation that the assumption that debt could be “outgrown” has begun to crumble as the economy stalls. The national government’s outstanding debt relative to the size of the gross domestic product (GDP) climbed to a 22-year-high in the second quarter to 66 percent, after the
economy grew disappointingly at 2.3 percent and the debt stock reached an all-time high of P19.065 trillion. For 2026, the administration plans to borrow P2.73 trillion, while it expects the total debt stock to climb to P21.48 trillion by the end of the year. About P2.045 trillion is also allotted for debt payments, equivalent to 30 percent of this year’s budget. “There are real consequences for our citizens because it creates fiscal pressure. If you are paying a large amount for debt [servicing], there is less left for the other things that the government needs to spend on, such as the programs and projects that it needs to implement,” Obanil said. “If that is the situation, the government will be forced and pressured to cut spending.” As debt continued to swell and could trigger another debt crisis, local debt watchdog FDC is calling for regular, periodic, comprehensive, transparent and participatory parliamentary debt audits with wide public involvement. The FDC is also seeking for the public disclosure of all details of loan proposals, contracts, supplemental and linked documents, as well as legislative reforms to build democratic, rights-based debt governance and management systems and structures that work for and not against people and the planet. Moreover, the organization is asking for the cancellation of illegitimate climate and energy debts and the rechanneling of debt payments to fund a rapid, equitable and just transition.
‘Maharlika fund seeded at expense of banks’ capital’
S
EEDING the Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC) came at the expense of capital from two state-run banks that could otherwise have generated higher dividends for the government, boosted bank earnings and expanded their lending capacity, according to an analysis by Geronimo Law. Russell Stanley Q. Geronimo, founder of the financial consulting firm, said through an article that the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) could have contributed a combined P17.84 billion in dividends to the National Treasury in 2022 had they not provided capital to the sovereign investment vehicle. The banks were reprieved from their mandated dividend contributions to the government to protect their capital positions and comply with capital adequacy rules after their combined P75-billion capital contribution to the MIC. Under Republic Act 7656, government-owned banks must re-
mit at least 50 percent of their net earnings to the National Treasury as dividends. LandBank earned P30.06 billion in 2022, which would have resulted in a P15.03-billion dividend under the 50 percent rule. DBP earned P5.61 billion, implying a dividend of P2.81 billion. Had the banks retained the P75 billion and invested in Treasury bills (T-bills), Geronimo estimated it would have earned about P4.5 billion in 2024 and P3.75 billion in 2025, as key policy rates were high at that time and the 364-day yield was roughly 5 to 6 percent. The MIC, however, earned only P2.68 billion in 2024 and P2.36 billion in 2025 from the funds. Geronimo said this was about P1.82 billion less than what the P75 billion could have earned in T-bills in 2024 and P1.39 billion less in 2025, for a total gap of about P3.2 billion over the two years. “Maharlika kept most of its money in bank deposits, so it took on al-
most no investment risk,” he said. “If a fund taking no real risk earns less than [T-bills], the government would have done better simply holding its own securities, or borrowing less, since it was issuing [T-bills] at those same rates during the period.” The P75 billion capital could have likewise generated about P9.5 billion in annual net income for the two banks, Geronimo said. MIC, meanwhile, generated an average of about P2.5 billion a year during 2024 and 2025, implying an opportunity cost of P7 billion a year, or P14 billion over two years, he noted. Furthermore, the banks’ capital infusion to MIC reduced their Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) and shrank the maximum volume of loans they can extend. Geronimo said the P75-billion reduction in the banks’ capital translated into P470 billion and P535 billion less in potential risk-weighted-asset capacity, based on the capital ratios at which the two banks operate.
The amounts are estimates of how much additional risk-weighted assets the banks could potentially have supported if they had retained the capital. “Bank rules limit how much a bank can lend based on how much capital it holds. Because the Maharlika investment is deducted from the banks’ capital under [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas] rules, it lowers the maximum amount the banks can lend,” Geronimo said. MIC was established in 2023 to mobilize and manage the Maharlika Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of the Philippines. The fund’s cumulative deployed capital reached P24.7 billion as of end-June, channeled into infrastructure, energy and logistics, among others. Deployed investments generated P2.09 billion in total portfolio returns from January to June this year through dividends, loan interest, realized gains and equity holdings. Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
ADB backs PHL geothermal assets via $170M funding By Justine Xyrah Garcia
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HE Asian Development Bank (ADB) is backing efforts to tap new geothermal resources in the Philippines as the country seeks to strengthen energy security and reduce its reliance on imported fuels. ADB Philippines Country Director Andrew Jeffries said the $170 millionworth Philippine Geothermal Resource Derisking Facility (PGRDF) is among the lender’s projects in the pipeline for the country, with implementation possible by the end of the year or early next year. “It’s working with the [Department of Energy] and [Land Bank of the Philippines] to provide funding to de-risk the drilling and exploration phase of geothermal energy. That has been approved by the [Investment Coordination Committee],” Jeffries told reporters in a recent interview. The PGRDF is designed to reduce the financial risk of exploring new geothermal sites, where developers have to spend heavily on drilling before knowing
whether an area contains a commercially viable resource. Under the facility, up to 50 percent of eligible exploration drilling costs can be financed through sub-loans. These will only have to be repaid if exploration confirms a commercially viable geothermal resource. If exploration fails, ADB said the financing will be written off and effectively converted into a grant. Such risk-sharing is expected to encourage more private investment and help bring new geothermal sites to commercial development. The DOE earlier said the PGRDF is expected to help accelerate geothermal capacity additions beyond the reference scenario under the Philippine Energy Plan 2023–2050 by making more geothermal prospects viable for development. (Related: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2025/12/17/ sovereign-loan-from-adb-to-funddoe-mechanism/) The DOE said the facility would help move geothermal projects from the exploration stage toward commercial development, expanding the pool of invest-
ible projects, while also strengthening the power system and reducing exposure to volatile imported fuel prices.
Financing projects
BEYOND geothermal development, the ADB is also working with the Philippine government on financing programs aimed at strengthening public financial management and deepening the country’s financial markets. One of these is the Public Financial Management Reform Program, Subprogram 2, which will support efforts to improve fiscal discipline, modernize government financial-management systems, and strengthen the delivery of public services. The lender said the program will also support fiscal decentralization and the devolution of public services, while encouraging local investments in climate resilience. It will include measures to strengthen public financial management in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm)
and help build its capacity for greater fiscal autonomy. The subprogram will also help the government develop a medium-term reform roadmap and corresponding action plans for public financial management, the ADB said. Another program in the pipeline is the Promoting Financial Market Deepening and Innovation Program, Subprogram 1, which seeks to expand the Philippines’ capital markets and reduce the economy’s heavy reliance on bank financing. The ADB said the program will seek to expand access to long-term financing for government infrastructure and private-sector investments by making it easier to issue capital-market instruments, broadening available financial products, and strengthening capital market supervision. It will also support reforms on sustainable finance, consumer protection, cybersecurity, and financial integrity as the government seeks to address regulatory gaps arising from digital and innovative financial services.
Explainer HORMUZ HURDLE BusinessMirror
B4 Monday, September 28, 2026
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Where things stand after Iran’s new pitch for a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz
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By Cara Anna The Associated Press
T’S been a busy week for Iranian diplomacy that may have come to nothing. Iran’s president and foreign minister visited New York for the UN gathering of world leaders and proposed a dealwith the Trump administration that would end the fighting and open the Strait of Hormuz in seven days. That’s if the US ends its military blockade of Iranian ports, releases frozen Iranian assets and waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales, among other conditions—none of them new. What’s different after past failed attempts is the speedier timeline. Iran’s pitch to President Donald Trump said a quick deal might help him in the midterm elections in November. On Saturday, Trump told reporters he rejects Iran’s proposal to reopen the strait. Hours earlier, the US president posted an image on social media calling the crucial waterway the “Trump Strait.” Around the same time, Iran’s state media reported that President Masoud Pezeshkian was on his way back to Tehran. Here’s where things stand as Iran and the US each try to outlast growing economic pain following seven months of war.
The two sides hold their first indirect talks in months THE US said its envoys and the Iranians held three hours of indirect talks via mediators Tuesday, their first since the countries’ previous agreement to end the fighting and launch nuclear talks collapsed within days of its signing in June. The latest talks were good and the US was open to more, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday. But Trump used his speech to the UN gathering on Tuesday to threaten to “annihilate” the Islamic Republic. In
A GULL flies overhead as a boy stands with his bicycle on a beach overlooking commercial vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. AP/VAHID SALEMI his own speech a day later, Pezeshkian said Iran would fight “until our last breath.” In the final seconds of his speech, however, Pezeshkian said Tehran remained open to diplomacy.
Behind closed doors, Iran describes a new proposal IN a private gathering Thursday on the sidelines of the UN meeting, Iran’s top diplomat described Tehran’s new proposal to the US The conditions for Washington largely echo the ones agreed to in the June deal that fell apart. At stake are the biggest sources of frustration for both sides.
Opening the Strait of Hormuz, over which Iran asserted control after being attacked by the US and Israel, would ease global markets and relieve some pressure on the US military, which has been guiding commercial ships through the waterway at risk of Iranian attack. Lifting the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, as well as waiving sanctions on oil sales, would allow Tehran to ship out more of its crude and help its battered economy as its currency hits record lows and inflation soars.
Iran makes another push before heading home IN a sign of Tehran’s apparent sense
of urgency, Pezeshkian hosted the prime minister of Qatar, the mediator in the indirect talks, early Friday before much of New York rolled out of bed. “The choice now rests with the United States,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told journalists Friday evening. On Saturday, Trump said Iran wants an agreement because they’re “losing so badly.” “They want to make a deal and I think that’s fine,” Trump said. “I’d like to make a deal, too. But that deal would not be acceptable.” Trump made the comments to reporters outside the White House be-
fore leaving for a college football game. Before his comments, the White House had said U.S. officials were having positive and constructive conversations with mediators. Tehran has spent long weeks in discussions with Oman, on the other side of the strait, on how to manage shipping traffic. Its new rush for a deal with Washington, analysts said, ref lects its eye on the midterms. Trump might decide an agreement has political benefits. But his rejection risks a return to fighting that would drive oil prices higher just as he needs happy voters. “Washington may believe that time is on its side: Maintain pressure
through November, avoid another major military escalation before the midterms, and reassess afterward. Tehran may reach precisely the opposite conclusion,” Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said on X on Saturday. Trump has said he’s in no rush for a deal as the US strains Iran’s economy with sanctions. The White House had yet to expand on his “Trump Strait” social media post overnight. As for Iran, there was no immediate sign its top diplomat had left New York. At home, Iran’s security forces have warned they still have targets left to strike.
Gulf nations have found ways to keep oil flowing through the Iran war, but the costs are mounting By David Mchugh The Associated Press
W
HEN Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz at the start of the war, choking off sea passage for some 15 million barrels of oil a day, many feared that prices would skyrocket, cratering the world economy. Instead, nearly seven months on, oil is expensive but not exorbitant, and analysts say there’s enough oil available to meet current global needs, even as the higher prices cause political problems for U.S. President Donald Trump and others. That’s because Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers quickly found alternative routes and reached for unused pipeline capacity. When Iran and its militant allies targeted those, the oil exporters and the US military found still other ways—workarounds for the workarounds—in an often clandestine game of whack-a-mole. With oil now at around $100 a barrel— higher than before the war but not as bad as feared—Iran has diminished leverage, while a US naval blockade and tightened sanctions smother its own economy. But the workarounds are expensive
and may not be sustainable. The drawing down of existing commercial oil stocks— especially by China—has also helped keep prices in check, but cannot continue indefinitely. And Iran could yet gain an edge with continued attacks on key oil facilities.
Pipeline backups were ready
IRAN began attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz in response to the U.S.-Israeli bombardment that started the war. In response, the Saudis turned to their EastWest pipeline that carries oil to their Red Sea port of Yanbu. From there, tankers headed out through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait toward Asia. Likewise, the United Arab Emirates used its pipeline cutting across neighboring Oman to Fujairah—a route that skirts the strait. Both pipelines had spare capacity, and the UAE’s state oil company ADNOC and Saudi Aramco used it to keep exports from collapsing completely during the first weeks of the war. Meanwhile, some oil leaked out of the Strait of Hormuz. In May, ship operators willing to risk Iranian attack started taking advantage of a US-supervised route
near Oman, defying Iran’s demands to use its own vetted route. They shuttled back and forth at night with location systems and mobile phones turned off, and offloaded to tankers waiting outside the strait. Flows from Kuwait, Iraq, and the UAE started to rise again. But Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen disrupted the Yanbu workaround in July by declaring a blockade of Saudi oil shipments, threatening the Bab el-Mandeb—a repeat of the Hormuz disruption. In response, the Saudis redirected Asia shipments northwest to the Mediterranean, either through the Suez Canal or—for tankers too big to use it—a pipeline across Egypt to another tanker. The oil then made a huge detour as it was shipped around Africa and back to Asia. Then the East-West pipeline was attacked earlier this month and forced to shut down, potentially for weeks.
The Saudis shift to the US-protected dark shuttle through Hormuz
WITH oil loading halted at Yanbu from Sept. 11, the Saudis shifted again, joining other Gulf producers sending oil through the US-guided corridor in the Strait of
Hormuz. On Monday, six supertankers loaded 12 million barrels at Saudi terminals on the Persian Gulf, according to shipping data company Kpler. US officials have touted the role of the southern corridor in keeping energy flowing while their blockade increases pressure on Iran. Adm. Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, said in a video on social media Saturday that US forces had assisted 2,000 commercial ship transits and the transport of more than 1 billion barrels of oil from Gulf partner nations over “the past couple of months.” Analysts estimate some 6 million barrels of oil per day or more have been passing through the Strait of Hormuz on the dark shuttle route on average—some 40% or more of prewar flows.
The workarounds keep the economy supplied, for now
RAHUL CHOUDHARY, vice president of upstream research at energy data firm Rystad Energy, did the math as follows: With 6 million or 7 million barrels per day now flowing through the southern route, plus 2 million barrels through the pipeline to Fujairah, fully 8 million or so of the
blocked 15 million barrels per day from before the war have been restored. That still leaves roughly 7 million barrels per day missing from prewar flows. But wait: About 3.5 million barrels per day are being drawn down from the globe’s abundant oil inventories. Meanwhile, demand has fallen by perhaps another 5 million barrels per day, due to the higher price and sluggish economic growth in key markets. Add in 500,000 to 700,000 barrels per day from other suppliers such as the US, and that pretty much evens out the global oil market. “Our take is that the market is very tightly balanced,” Choudhary said. “That is why you are not seeing exceptionally high prices for crude; they are still in the $100 range, and they have not touched $140-$150 per barrel — which could have been the case if there was a deficit of 5-6 million barrels.” In fact, Rystad foresees oil at $85-$90 per barrel in the last three months of the year, and falling to $80-$82 next year if Hormuz is reopened.
But the workarounds are costly—and not a permanent fix
THE workarounds are time-consuming
and expensive. Sending oil to Asia through the Suez Canal instead of the Red Sea can add as much as a month to the voyage. Meanwhile, the Hormuz shuttle trade involves expensive tankers waiting at least a day and a half in the Gulf of Oman for the ship-to-ship transfer. The demand for supertankers has sent charter rates—normally $30,000 to $50,000 per day—through the roof. Spot charter rates for Hormuz transits reached $1 million per day on Sept. 11, according to maritime data company Windward, equivalent to roughly $26 per barrel. That means shipping is a quarter of the cost, instead of the usual 1% to 3%. And markets are braced for further disruption. The attack on the East-West pipeline has shown pipelines can be vulnerable. Iran could try to disrupt the U.S. route through the Strait of Hormuz or target areas near the Omani coast where the ship-to-ship transfers are taking place. If that happens, the workaround would be to do the transfers farther away—taking more time and running up even bigger bills.
www.businessmirror.com.ph • businessmirror.lifestyle@gmail.com
Style
BusinessMirror
Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • Monday, September 28, 2026
B5
‘WALANG IMPOSIBLE’:
Joyce Pilarsky wins Mrs. Elite Elegante 2026 DR. JOYCE PEÑAS PILARSKY wins Mrs. Elite Elegante World International 2026; at her victory presscon (PHOTO BY EZEL JOHN); at the launch of her single “Walang Imposible” (PHOTO BY EZEL JOHN); at the I-conique Prestige Awards
EVER Bilena Coquette Le Petit Palette in cacao and lavender
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T a vivacious 72, Dr. Joyce Peñas Pilarsky is still unstoppable. After making a splash as the oldest Miss Universe Philippines local candidate in 2024, she finally clinched an international title. It’s a name as kilometric as her model-slender legs: Mrs. Elite Elegante World International 2026. Statuesque and talented, she easily captured the coveted grand title during the pageant’s coronation night in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in mid-August. On September 24, Joyce was honored as a “Timeless Icon: Legacy in Fashion, Beauty and Culture” awardee at the I-conique Prestige Awards produced by socialitephilanthropist Cecille Bravo at Novotel Hotel at Araneta City.
THE BEAUTY QUEEN
EVER Bilena Coquette Soirée Liquid Blush
PRETTY IN PINK: EVER BILENA DROPS ITS NEWEST COQUETTE COLLECTION
IT’S time to tap into your romantic and feminine side with all things lace, bows, and everything soft pink with Ever Bilena’s newest collection—the EB Coquette. This 25-piece lineup of products for eyes, lips and cheeks takes the brand’s “pink-girl” DNA, building upon favorites like the Airy Fudge Lip Tints and Face Wand Brushes. Every single piece, down to the packaging, was designed to evoke a romantic, nostalgic makeup aesthetic. “We wanted the EB Coquette Collection to feel as good as it looks. It’s easy to chase a trend, but we built every shade and texture in this collection to actually earn a spot in your everyday routine, not just to look pretty in a video,” shared Denice Sy, chief sales and marketing officer, Ever Bilena Cosmetics Inc. Without a doubt, every piece from this newest drop is a beauty lover’s dream: the Le Petit Palette, in Cacao & Lavender (P395), a 12-shade eyeshadow palette with the perfect mix of mattes and shimmers for that soft, dreamy coquette eye. For the lips, the Rococo Lipstick (P345) is the one to watch. This matte-finish comes in 6 shades that actually feels good on the lips. It offers full color payoff, smooth glide, and zero of that dry, flat feeling mattes usually give you. Your “fwee” blush-balm era just leveled up with Chiffon Blur Dip, 7 shades (P395). It features more pigment, is easier to blend, provides longer wear, and comes with a built-in applicator so your fingers stay clean. Enjoy a juicy stain without the sticky feeling on the lips with the glossy, buildable lip tint, the Bisou Juicy Tint, 6 shades (P395). Completing the collection is the Soirée Liquid Blush, 4 shades (P395), a lightweight liquid blush that seamlessly melts into your base, allowing for a buildable, streak-free flush that won’t disturb the makeup layered underneath. The EB Coquette collection is available now at all Ever Bilena counters and retail partners nationwide, as well as on TikTok Shop.
A VICTORY party and press conference for Joyce was held on August 23 at Hot Off the Press in Quezon City. At the event were Elegante World International founder Nicole Angel Butawan, co-founder Grachel Santos Suarez, Miss Elegante World International 2026 Third Runner-Up Joyce Miasol Peñas, and 2026 Brand Ambassador Faith Silva. At Mrs. Elegante, Joyce won Best in National Costume, Best in Talent with her performance of “Smile” by Natalie Cole, Mrs. Popularity 2026, and Best in Evening Gown Second Runner-Up 2026. Before she was crowned Mrs. Elite Elegante World International, Joyce had a colorful pageant journey. She was Ms. MBA Ateneo in 1982; Ms. Philippine Germany in 2000. She competed at Classical Ms. Asia International Global in Kuala Lumpur 2014; at Ms. Eco Tourism International in 2017; Ms. Mother of the Universe in South Africa in 2017; Ms. Eurasia in Bulgaria in 2020; and Miss Universe Quezon City representing Baesa in 2024.
THE FASHION DIVA
FOR a time, Joyce worked as a flight stewardess with Philippine Airlines and Saudi Arabian Airlines. She was also one of the fashion models for the famed luncheon shows at the Hyatt Regency Hotel Manila and Stargazer Holiday Hotel during their heydays in the 1980s. In a 2012 profile for this paper, Joyce admitted that Pinays have a relatively conservative approach to dressing, but she was changing this mindset: “I respect and understand when one is conservative. But in order to go forward, we need change. I would encourage people to try experimenting, to do something different to improve their looks and take an honest look at themselves. They will definitely be surprised to find their beauty coming out. Then they decide for themselves how to dress,” she suggested. Of her ladylike luxewear aesthetic, Joyce designs clothes for herself and for dynamic women. As such, she was cited as a Style Icon of the Philippines in 2013 and one of the Philippines’ Best Dressed aslo that year. She has won international fashion awards as well: 2015— Grand Prize Winner, Los Angeles Design Competition, and Second Prize, Fashion Week Brooklyn Royalty Collection; 2017—Grand Prize Winner, Coastal Fashion Week; and 2019—First Runner-Up, Britain’s Top Designer.
THE INSPIRING IDEAL
JOYCE has a Doctorate of Alternative Medicine and Doctorate of Naturopathy from Urdaneta University. She is a fashion designer, a musician, an author, and an international beauty title-holder. But what she hopes to be, she said at her victory presscon, is an inspiration to people to never stop pursuing
their dreams: “I still want to do a lot of music. I want to inspire a lot of people to follow their dreams. Because me, as a child, I dreamed of a lot of things. I dreamed of being a beauty queen one day, and I was able to achieve that. “But it takes a lot of hard work. So, I would like to encourage people to never give up. Because when I was a child, I always heard people saying, ‘You cannot be a beauty queen. Maybe a model, yes, because you’re so thin.’ And I also heard people say, ‘Oh, you don’t have any talent at all.’ “But I just pushed myself, and I said I’ll just do my best. If it’s not for me, it’s not for me. But I’ll try. So, the most important thing is for you yo try. There are so many things in your life that you don’t know you could do until you try. “I was really inspired by a lot of things in my lifetime. So, I want to continue that. And for me, music is really something you can’t lose. It’s part of our lives. We always listen to music, right? So that’s what I will continue. “I was already 69 years old when I joined MUPH Quezon City. I was very happy when the age limit was removed, that they gave me the chance. I was able to inspire a lot of people not only in the Philippines but around the world. “And they’re asking, ‘What’s the secret of your youth?’ They wanted to find out what they could do so that they could be as healthy as I am when they reach my age. I would like to continue that legacy. I would like to encourage everybody to really take care of themselves. “For me, I would like to encourage people to take care of themselves. And if you have a dream in your heart, go for
it. And never, never give up. That’s what I’m doing. And the music, and the book that I’m writing now which I hope I can finish this year.
THE CHANTEUSE
A DREAM that came true for Joyce is her collaboration with the renowned composer Vehnee Saturno, who wrote hit songs for Martin Nievera, Ariel Rivera and Sarah Geronimo. Together, Joyce and Vehnee recently launched their motivational song “Walang Imposible,” at Teatrino in Greenhills, San Juan, coinciding with Joyce’s 72nd birthday celebration. “I have so much admiration and respect for Vehnee. He is a very good person and very talented. I know there are a lot of songwriters and lyricists, but of course my heart chose Vehnee,” Joyce said. They talked about the concept of what they were going to write. Joyce mentioned to Vehnee that she recorded an album when she was in Germany. She did a lot of lounge music. She told him that she really wanted to sing. “Lounge music is totally different from pop music. It’s deep. She told me that she wanted to make a song that would suit her. I asked her, ‘How about a Spanish type?’ May galaw pero hindi masyadong malikot. Pwede sayawan ng katawan na medyo sexy ang dating,” Vehnee said. “And the lyrics were given to me by Joyce. It’s totally her idea of how we were able to come up ‘yung kwento ng lyrics. Kwento n’ya ‘yan. Siya ‘yung ‘Walang Imposible.’ That is Joyce Peñas Pilarsky.”
Sunnies Studios renews partnership with Erwan Heussaff
SUNNIES Studios has announced the renewal of its partnership with brand ambassador Erwan Heussaff for the second straight year. The new campaign, “Everyday Erwan. Everyday Sunnies.” offers a closer look at Erwan’s life as a chef, digital content creator, collaborator and entrepreneur. Erwan’s work has earned international recognition, including a James Beard Award, while establishing him as one
of the authentic Filipino voices bringing local food and culture to a global audience. His continued partnership with Sunnies Studios reflects a shared journey of mastering Filipino creative excellence on the global stage. Both Erwan and Sunnies are homegrown talents whose reach include audiences in other countries. Founded in 2013 by Bea Soriano-Dee, Eric Dee, Georgina Wilson, and Martine Ho, Sunnies began as an eyewear label before expanding into cosmetics, lifestyle accessories, and cafe concepts. Sunnies World entered the Thai market in 2025 (where Thais love the customizable Sunnies Flask) and Sunnies Face can now be seen on Sephora shelves. Erwan started as a content creator on YouTube and a restaurateur. He is now considered an authority on Filipino cuisine as he explores different parts of the country in search of good food. He is also considered a health and wellness advocate. The partnership is a significant milestone for Sunnies Studios, which was recognized as the No. 1 Optical Brand in the Philippines, according to Euromonitor International for
three consecutive years, from 2023 to 2025. The recognition comes as the brand continues to expand, with more than 300 stores across the Philippines and over 10 branches in Thailand. This regional growth includes the grand opening of Sunnies World in Central Park, Bangkok, the brand’s first international flagship store, earlier this year. Sunnies’ growing international presence reflects the ambition of a homegrown brand finding its place on the global stage. Sunnies Studios is committed to making eyewear more accessible, from everyday prescription needs to lens options designed around different lifestyles. Optical packages start at P1,595, inclusive of an eye exam with a licensed optometrist, frames, and prescription lenses, with different lens packages available. Screen Safe provides blue light protection for daily screen use, while Sun Adaptive uses photochromatic technology to transition from clear indoors to dark under the sun. Sun + Screen combines blue light and sun protection in one lens, while Ultrathin offers thinner lenses for a lighter feel and is recommended for higher prescriptions of -3.00 and above.
ERWAN HEUSSAFF wears Octavio in locket PHOTO FROM SUNNIES STUDIOS
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Monday, September 28, 2026
Kantar BrandZ 2026: Being known is no longer enough to win Filipino consumers
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n an increasingly crowded marketplace, being familiar or highly visible may get a brand noticed, but it may no longer be enough to secure Filipino consumers’ preference.
The latest Kantar BrandZ Spotlight on Philippine Brands 2026 finds that brands best positioned for growth are those that go beyond salience to build meaningful difference: staying relevant to consumers while offering a compelling reason to choose them over competitors. At the heart of this year’s findings are three connected realities for brands operating in the Philippines: salience without relevance is just noise; relevance evolves with meaningful value; and relevance without difference stalls growth. These insights come as Filipino consumers become increasingly selective about the brands they choose, challenging businesses to continuously demonstrate why they matter and what sets them apart. “Growth is not just about being present. It’s about making deliberate choices—staying consistent in your positioning, responding to emerging opportunities, and focusing resources on what really matters,” said Jose Mari Villabroza, Chief Client Officer of Kantar. Across six categories studied by Kantar BrandZ, the findings illustrate different dimensions of the battle for consumer relevance and preference. In banking, for instance, changing expectations and the rise of digital challengers demonstrate how relevance can shift as consumers encounter new ways of managing their finances. In communication providers, meanwhile, the risk is not declining relevance, but diminishing distinction. As connectivity has become essential infrastructure for modern Filipino life, the challenge is no longer to provide access, but to establish a uniquely valuable role in helping Filipinos progress. The general retail category demonstrates how meaningful difference can disrupt established markets, whether a brand operates online or offline. In automotive, being different must be coupled with consumer desire and trust, while the health supplement category
Kantar’s Chief Client Officer Jose Mari Villabroza kicks off the launch of Kantar BrandZ 2026 shows how relevance, difference and desirability can work together to make brands feel “worth it” to consumers. Beer, meanwhile, illustrates both the strength and limitations of salience within a category facing market pressures. The findings point to a broader implication for marketers: familiarity can open the door, but brands need to continually earn their place in consumers’ lives. “All the learnings that we’ve gotten across those different categories is that relevance is essentially not owned. It is earned, it evolves, and it is also distinguished,” said Briggs Bondad, Associate Director and Client Partner at Kantar. Reflecting these shifts, BDO, Shopee, Globe, Red Horse, Centrum and Toyota emerged as Kantar BrandZ’s Most Meaningfully Different Brands for 2026 in their respective categories. The brands were ranked based on demand power, a Kantar BrandZ metric reflecting consumer preference and predicting a brand’s potential market share based on consumer perceptions. Kantar BrandZ also identified brands demonstrating significant potential for future growth. Maya, TikTok, and GAC were named Breakthrough Brands, based on their Future
Power scores, which estimate their likelihood of growing value share in the future. The results suggest that category leadership is not static. Established players must continue evolving their relevance, while emerging brands can create new growth opportunities by offering a compelling point of difference. Maya Philippines Chief Marketing Officer Pepe Torres also shared the brand’s experience in achieving breakthrough success in banking during the Kantar BrandZ 2026 gathering. “Being a challenger brand really requires something much bigger than having a point of view and identifying the category conventions,” said Torres, “It requires courage more than creativity. The hardest part of a big idea isn’t having it, it’s approving it.” Meanwhile, Red Horse and BDO were recognized amongst the Kantar BrandZ Top 30 Most Valuable Southeast Asian Brands 2026. The 2026 findings reinforce Kantar’s Meaningful, Different and Salient framework and its Blueprint for Brand Growth, which holds that brands grow by being Meaningfully Different to More People, Predisposing More Consumers, Being More Present and Finding New Spaces for growth. For Philippine businesses, the implication is particularly relevant as brands compete not only for attention but for consumers’ willingness to choose—and potentially pay more for—the value they provide. “Being different will get you noticed. Being meaningful will get you chosen. So be placeable, not interchangeable because the middle is not a safe position. Earn your relevance, evolve it early from a position of strength, and own your space completely,” said Eva San Gabriel-Claravall, CX and Brand Leader and Head of Growth at Kantar. Kantar BrandZ’s 2026 Philippine study surveyed 400 respondents in each of six categories: Banking, General Retailer, Communication Provider, Beer, Healthcare Supplement and Automotive. Since 2006, Kantar BrandZ has helped researchers, planners and strategists understand and improve brand performance. The global brand equity study draws on more than 4.6 million consumer interviews covering 22,392 brands across 545 categories in 54 markets. For Philippine marketers, the message from 2026 is clear: visibility may help brands get noticed, but Meaningful Difference is what helps turn attention into preference, and preference into growth.
PLDT, Smart extend disaster resilience training to manufacturing partner Green Cross Inc.
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OR Manuel Manimtim, Managing Head for Plant and Operations at Green Cross Inc.’s (GCI) Makiling Plant in Calamba, Laguna, even decades of overseeing plant operations had not fully prepared him for the basics of surviving an emergency. That changed after PLDT and Smart brought their Individual Preparedness Caravan to the plant, where he and his colleagues learned how to assemble survival kits, secure communication links during emergencies, and put together the tools needed to respond when disaster strikes. “I learned a lot, primarily how to have this kit and prepare ourselves for any kind of emergency,” he said, adding that he plans to bring the lessons home to his family. Manimtim’s experience reflects the broader goal behind the caravan. Recognizing the important role of private sector collaboration in building safer communities, PLDT and Smart extended their disaster resilience training module to essential manufacturing partner GCI. The activity, which forms part of the PLDT Group’s #KonektedforResilience advocacy, reflects PLDT and Smart’s continuing commitment to fostering a culture of preparedness among employees, communities, and partners . Facilitated by the PLDT Group’s longtime partner Emergency Management Center (EMC) and held at GCI’s Makiling Plant, the session enabled GCI employees to gain practical emergency response and personal preparedness skills. It also guided participants through the “rule of threes” for surviving without air, water, and food. Edward Sanchez II, the plant’s Safety Officer, said the caravan revisited simple but essential preparedness practices, such as using cloth to filter water. He
Louie Domingo of Emergency Management Center, Inc discussing individual preparedness said he hoped PLDT and Smart would continue partnering with other companies and organizations to spread awareness on emergency preparedness. For Russel Vinuya, Plant Superintendent, the session’s emphasis on preparing a “go bag” containing essential documents and tools stood out as a practical takeaway that ordinary individuals, not just specialists, can apply. He described the initiative as one he hoped to bring to the broader community. All three GCI officials noted that the training arrived at a timely moment, as plant personnel juggle daily operations with the need to stay ready for unexpected emergencies. They said the caravan served as a refresher on preparedness fundamentals
that are easy to overlook amid routine work, and expressed hope that PLDT and Smart would continue extending similar sessions to other private sector partners. The Individual Preparedness Caravan is one of PLDT and Smart’s capacity-building initiatives under #KonektedforResilience, alongside network readiness, mobile solutions, and Communications as Aid, helping communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. The initiative also supports the PLDT Group’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), particularly SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities and SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.
DSWD AWARDS PROGRAM The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), through its KALAHI-CIDSS National Program Management Office, successfully conducted the National Bayani Ka! cum Tatak KALAHI-CIDSS LGU Awards on September 22, 2026, held at the SMX Sky Hall, Bacolod City A major highlight of the event was the official launching of the Performance-Based Grant for Sustainability (PBGS), led by DSWD Undersecretary for Operations Pinky Romualdez. The PBGS provides direct grant funding to highperforming Local Government Units (LGUs) to maintain community infrastructure, strengthen participatory governance, and enhance local disaster resilience. Joined by DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, the ceremony also recognized outstanding community volunteers and partner LGUs across two main tracks which are Bayani Ka! Awards, which recognized extraordinary community volunteers and local leaders in categories such as Gender and Development, Environmental Protection/DRRM, Indigenous Peoples Welfare, Senior Citizens, and Volunteerism; and Tatak KALAHI-CIDSS LGU Awards which honored top-performing municipal, barangay, and provincial LGUs – including Lopez Jaena (Misamis Occidental), Claveria (Masbate), and Zamboanguita (Negros Oriental) – for co-funding sub-projects and institutionalizing Community-Driven Development (CDD).
GSIS allots almost P8B in emergency loan for 318K members, pensioners in 16 areas
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HE Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has increased its emergency loan assistance to almost P8 billion, benefiting 317,721 active members and old-age and disability pensioners in 16 areas affected by widespread flooding and other impacts of Typhoons “Luis,” “Maymay,” and “Neneng,” and the enhanced Southwest Monsoon (Habagat). The expanded emergency loan program covers qualified GSIS members and pensioners working or residing in affected areas in Luzon and Mindanao, with application deadlines ranging from September 20 to November 16, 2026, depending on the area. Qualified members and pensioners in Hagonoy in Bulacan, and Masinloc in Zambales may apply until September 20; Bulacan (except Calumpit and Hagonoy), Bataan, Zambales (except Olongapo City and Masinloc), and La Trinidad, Benguet until September 26; and Nasugbu in Batangas and Paluan in Occidental Mindoro until September 27. For other municipalities in Benguet (except Baguio City and La Trinidad), Tarlac, and Pangasinan (except Dagupan City, Mangaldan, and Sta. Barbara), the filing deadline is on October 2; Imelda in Zamboanga Sibugay on October 3; Occidental Mindoro on October 7; and Olongapo City in Zambales on October 9. In the province of Cavite, and Rodriguez in Rizal, application deadlines are on November 12 and 16, respectively. The affected areas experienced flooding, property damage, and disruptions to normal community activities following the combined effects of the weather disturbances, prompting the concerned local government units to declare their respective areas under a state of calamity. In response, GSIS ensures access to essential social insurance services by providing timely financial assistance
through its Emergency Loan Program to qualified members and pensioners whose homes, livelihoods, and communities have been affected by the disasters. Under the GSIS Emergency Loan Program, qualified active members and old-age and disability pensioners may avail of a P20,000 emergency loan. Those with an existing emergency loan account may avail of up to P40,000, with the outstanding balance of their existing emergency loan deducted from the proceeds. The emergency loan carries an interest rate of 6 percent computed in advance, payable over 36 monthly installments. The monthly amortization is P655.56 for a P20,000 loan and P1,311.11 for a loan of up toP40,000. To qualify, active members must be bona fide employees of an agency located in or residents of the declared calamity area; must not be on leave without pay; must have paid the required three-month premium contributions within the prescribed six-month period; must have no unpaid loans for more than six months; must have no pending administrative or criminal case; and must maintain the required minimum take-home pay of P5,000 after loan availment. Old-age and disability pensioners must be residents of the declared calamity area and retain at least 25 percent of their basic monthly pension after emergency loan availment. Members and pensioners may apply for the emergency loan through the GSIS Touch mobile app. Loan proceeds will be directly credited to the borrower’s accredited eCard or UMID card. For more information on the GSIS Emergency Loan, visit the GSIS website and official social media accounts, email gsiscares@gsis.gov.ph, or call the GSIS Contact Center at 8847-4747 in Metro Manila; 1-800-8-847-4747 for Globe and TM subscribers; or 1-800-10-847-4747 for Smart, Sun, and TNT subscribers.
Vikings Luxury Buffet - Tagaytay is now open
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ET against the cool and scenic backdrop of Tagaytay, Vikings Luxury Buffet Tagaytay brings together grand dining and unforgettable gatherings in one destination. Inspired by the charm of a French garden pavilion, the newest Vikings venue offers an elegant setting for celebrations, weddings, reunions, corporate events, and other special occasions. As the Philippines’ largest buffet venue, Vikings Tagaytay can accommodate up to 1,200 guests, featuring six ballrooms, three VIP rooms, and a Garden Room designed for different types of gatherings. Guests can also enjoy the venue’s outdoor garden, offering a picturesque view of Taal Volcano and a beautiful setting for celebrations and wedding ceremonies.
At the heart of the experience is Vikings’ signature feast, featuring an expansive selection of local and international flavors. With its elegant spaces, scenic surroundings, and world-class buffet, Vikings Luxury Buffet Tagaytay invites guests to come together, celebrate, and create memorable moments—all in one grand destination. Vikings Luxury Buffet Tagaytay is located at 1 Tagaytay Laurel Road, Aguinaldo Highway, Maharlika West 4120, Tagaytay City. Its operating hours are from Monday to Sunday, lunch is from 11 am to 2:30 pm and dinner is from 5 pm to 9 pm. For inquires contact 0917 702 2888 / (02) 8845 4647. Book your table through https:// bit.ly/reserve-vikingstagaytay
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Monday, September 28, 2026 B7
Why we will always love Dolly Parton
aged to follow their dreams. She was loyally married for almost 60 years to Carl Dean, who she nursed during his last days. Her funeral was intimate, including family and close friends, because “she wanted it that way.”
n NATIONAL ARTIST KIDLAT
TAHIMIK CHAMPIONS FILIPINO STORIES AS CREATIVITY BEYOND THE BRIEF
THERE’S a particular kind of creativity that begins neither with a brief nor a budget, platform, production deck, or the latest technology. It begins with looking closely at the world and paying attention to what’s already there. For National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts Kidlat Tahimik, that attention can lead somewhere deeply personal, including the indigenous communities, ancestral knowledge, the Filipino landscape, and stories that have long existed outside narratives imposed by others. Closing the 2026 Kidlat Creative Festival, Kidlat offered a characteristically nonlinear reflection on creativity, culture, and identity. Rather than delivering a conventional conclusion, he moved between memories, films, indigenous knowledge, technology, and the experience of returning home, eventually arriving at a simple propositio to emphasize that creativity begins with being human.
Looking at the overlooked
KIDLAT began by acknowledging a feeling
he sees everywhere around him, anger. “Sometimes when I look at the world, I see a lot of anger,” he said. “But on the right side of this world—there is something else. I want us to look at that side.” That “something else” led him to one of the recurring cornerstones of his work: the indigenous knowledge and cultures that risk being overlooked, forgotten, or erased. For him, looking at these cultures is not an exercise in exoticism, but an act of remembering. “We need to fight for our indigenous people,” he said. “We have all the time of our life to do this—but we keep taking it for granted.” He cited the Ifugao rice terraces as an example of knowledge that has survived for thousands of years. Its existence, he suggested, represents a form of engineering and collective intelligence that does not require validation from imported frameworks. “Three thousand years. No budget instructions. No outside control. They are still working, three thousand years later.” The terraces have become, in Kidlat’s telling, more than a cultural landmark. They are evidence of an indigenous methodology that has endured because as they belong to the people who created and maintained it. “Ayan na, tingnan mo, hanggang ngayon gumagana sila,” he said. [See? Look at them. They’re still at it to this day.] “Wala silang budget instructions, wala
AP PHOTO/ANDRES KUDACKI, FILE
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HEN Dolly Parton, American singersongwriter, actress, businesswoman, and philanthropist recently passed away at the age of 80, US President Donald J. Trump ordered flags at half-mast. the British Royal Family not only sent tributes, but her iconic Nine to Five Song was played at the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. There is even a move to have the Nashville, Tennessee Airport named after her. Tributes poured from all over—world leaders, celebrities, and those who simply loved her music. Why did someone who was born into a large, impoverished family in a one-room cabin in rural East Tennessee touch so many lives? In an article in Inc.com, Mark Berman says that in over six decades, “Parton transformed her songwriting and performing talents into a global entertainment career. She became one of the bestselling artists in music history, wrote songs that became standards, starred in major films including 9 to 5 and Steel Magnolias, and built a brand that is beloved and instantly recognizable.” For someone who according to Agence France Presse, “sang her first songs to chickens outside the cabin,” her work ethic was astonishing. She launched publishing and music production companies, a radio station and restaurants. She even wrote a best-selling novel with co-author James Patterson. She connected with the younger generation through her Instagram page which, with 8.6 million followers, became an online phenomenon. At age 75, she unveiled a new fragrance called “Dolly.”
In 1986, Parton partnered to transform the existing Silver Dollar Theme Park in Pigeon Forge Tennessee into Dollywood. It became, according to Berman, “an entertainment destination built around Dolly’s Appalachian roots, storytelling, and personality.” As communicators, we can learn much from her if we want to build legacy companies and brands. This he shares with us in Berman’s article The Incredible Business Strategy that made Dolly Parton an American Icon. n Create a brand people believe in and let it grow over time “PARTON’S songwriting was the foundation of her business empire,” says Berman. “She didn’t’ simply perform songs. She understood the value of her creative work, and found ways to extend its life.” But” she never treated music as her finish line. She treated it as the beginning, and she used it as a springboard into multiple business endeavors, continually expanding her creative assets into movies, television, publishing, merchandise, live entertainment, and other ventures.” That, he adds, is entrepreneurial thinking: “Create something valuable, retain ownership when pos-
silang control. Tingnan mo—they’re still working, 3,000 years.” [They had no budget instructions and no one controlling them. Look at them—they’re still working, 3,000 years later.]
Telling stories that are ours
THROUGHOUT his filmmaking career, Kidlat used the medium to examine the forces that shape creativity, culture, and the human experience. He referenced films and stories about the rice terraces, Vietnam, and cultures across Central and Southeast Asia because they form part of a larger cultural conversation about identity. “Not because they are exotic, but because they are ours,” he said. “And they deserve stories.” That conviction also informed one of his more direct challenges to the creative community, uplifting the idea of not forgetting Filipino cultural narratives. “Forget about sex in paradise. Forget about Godzilla,” he said. “Let’s do our own stories—about the great people of our culture. Let’s forget the imported narrative and tell our own.” The point was not necessarily to reject outside influences altogether, but to question why Filipino storytelling so often looks outward for its subjects, references, and validation when there are already generations of stories at home waiting to be explored. Kidlat also emphasized that telling those stories does
sible, and understand that its value can grow over time.” n Know your audience ANOTHER lesson from her career? Simply know your customer. Parton understood what people wanted from Dolly Parton. “They wanted the songs. They wanted the humor. They wanted the glamour,” says Berman. “They wanted the smiles, the love, the warmth. They wanted to believe that the woman behind the enormous hair and rhinestones was still connected to the little girl from Tennessee.” She remained relevant across generations because she was willing to evolve, abandoning her core identity that made her successful in the first place. The lesson for communicators and building a legacy brand: “Be willing to evolve, but don’t lose sight of what you are.” n Be authentic BEFORE “personal branding” became a business buzzword, authenticity was perhaps her greatest asset. “She turned her humble beginnings, distinctive appearance, humor music, and Appalachian heritage into her brand so naturally and effortlessly.”
not require an enormous production apparatus. “I didn’t always know how to tell stories,” he admitted. “I started with humble technology. And we can still do it that way.” He then urged the audience to reconsider the assumption that sophisticated tools are prerequisites for meaningful creative work. “We can tell stories with our own humble technology,” he said. “We don’t need the Iron Flex of Samsung Galaxy or Sony to tell a story that matters. We can do it our own way.” Ultimately, after a full day of listening to conversations about creativity, technology, and the future of the industry, Kidlat ended with a quieter proposition, saying that creativity begins with attention. “I was listening all day. To everyone. And as a human—the thing that’s happening outside, the way you love the people you love—that is where creativity begins. Not in a brief. Not in a prompt. In attention. In love. In the stories we owe our people,” he concluded. n PROSE ON PIXELS LAUNCHES
MALAYSIA STUDIO TO SCALE CREATIVE ACROSS ASIA PACIFIC
PROSE on Pixels (POP), Havas’ AI-powered global content-at-scale network, has launched a new studio in Malaysia, establishing a regional production and adaptation hub designed to help brands
Despite her amazing success, Dolly remained incredibly humble. She earned a Kennedy Center award, one of the highest art accolades in 2006, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November 2022, after initially turning it down. In 2021, she revealed she had declined the Presidential Medal of Freedom, saying she did not want to travel to Washington during the Covid pandemic. Michael Mathes of Agence France Presse quotes her as saying to NBC, “It’s nice but I’m not sure that I even deserve it. But it’s a nice compliment for people to think that I might deserve it.” This is so refreshing at a time when narcissism reigns. n Family always came first AS the fourth of 12 children, Dolly always remained close to her family. In 1971, she released the spare and gorgeous Coat of Many Colors, a Bible-themed track about her mother overcoming poverty. Her nephew was in charge of her security, and her cousin Richie Owens collaborated with her, and helped her produce multiple albums. While she did not have children of her own, she remained close to her siblings, nieces and nephews, and grandkids, whom she encour-
scale creative ideas consistently across Asia Pacific. Bringing together creative, production and AI-enabled capabilities under a single integrated model, the studio will support clients across Southeast Asia and the broader Asia-Pacific region through content production, creative adaptation, localization, transcreation, asset management and AI-enabled content operations. The capability will be led by Jacqueline Chin, Business Unit Director, Prose on Pixels who will report to Joris Knetsch, EVP APAC. As campaigns increasingly need to travel across markets, brands face growing pressure to maintain creative quality while managing operational complexity, tighter budgets and increased demands for efficiency. The Malaysia studio addresses this challenge by combining specialist talent, structured workflows and technology-enabled production capabilities to help clients adapt, localize and deliver content at scale without losing the original creative intent. “Today’s best ideas are rarely built for a single market,” said Joris Knetsch, EVP APAC, Prose on Pixels. “Brands don’t just want their campaigns translated, they need them to actually work in each market. That’s the gap our Malaysia studio closes and we’re already adapting work for clients across several categories like lifestyle, tech and FMCG, turning single ideas into campaigns
n Big hair, big music, big heart MOST remarkably, Dolly always gave back without much fanfare. In 1995, she launched her Imagination Library in her home country of Tennessee, inspired by her father’s inability to read or write. The program began by providing free books to young children and eventually expanded internationally, says Berman. The Dollywood Foundation also launched educational initiatives in her hometown. One offered $500 to students who graduated high school, helping reduce dropout rates among participating classes. “Parton used the success she created to create opportunities for other people too. That is something one can learn about legacy building: Success can be measured by more than the size of a company’s bottom line, says Berman. With her authenticity, Dolly Parton “turned her humble beginnings, distinctive appearance, humor, music, and Appalachian heritage into her brand”. It is about kindness, relatability, and personifying good. Dolly Parton did that over six decades. And “her business legacy— and cultural legacy—will always be celebrated and never forgotten.” 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. For more insights and updates on public relations, follow PR Matters by IPRA Philippines on Tiktok, Youtube, Instagram and Facebook.
that feel native everywhere they run.” The choice of Malaysia reflects the country’s unique strengths as a regional operating hub. With its multicultural environment, multilingual workforce, strong creative talent base and cost efficiencies, Malaysia offers the ideal conditions for testing, adapting and scaling campaigns destined for diverse audiences across Asia. Nizwani Shahar, CEO, Havas Malaysia said, “Malaysia reflects the realities of modern marketing in Asia. Its diversity, talent and regional connectivity make it an ideal location for solving one of the industry’s biggest challenges: how to deliver world-class creative work consistently across multiple markets. What works here can be scaled across the region.” The launch reflects growing client demand for marketing solutions that balance creativity with operational efficiency. As brands seek greater scale, speed and consistency, production is becoming an increasingly strategic enabler of business performance. Prose on Pixels’ borderless model brings creative, production and technology teams together from the outset, helping brands design ideas that perform effectively across markets, formats and audiences. The launch marks Prose on Pixels’ continued investment in Asia Pacific and strengthens its ability to support clients with scalable content production and adaptation across the region.
Monday, September 28, 2026
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Groups push policy reforms to curb exposure to EDCs Marcos orders aid to Banga By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga
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HE Ateneo Center for Research and Innovation (Acri) and the EcoWaste Coalition on Thursday pushed for urgent policy reforms to address the problem posed by endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), such as phthalates and bisphenols that are leaching from everyday plastics. At the 2026 State of Nature Assessment (Green Sona) organized by Green Convergence in Indang, Cav ite, in par tnership w it h t he Cavite State University and other entities, with the theme “Green Actions for a Sustainable Tomorrow,” resource person Anna Beatrice Enriquez, senior research associate of Acri, shed light on two families of endocrine-disrupting plastic chemicals, phthalates and bisphenols, that are known to disturb hormonal balance, damage hearts, impair developing brains, and compromise fertility. “EDCs like phthalates and bisphenols disrupt our hormones, which act as the body’s chemical messaging system for growth, development, and reproduction,” said Enriquez. “They don’t act like typical poisons that make you sick right away. Instead, even minute exposures can cause serious harm that may only
manifest decades later.” “Plastics bring hazardous chemicals, like phthalates and bisphenols, into our homes and bodies, and we are not being told, warned, or protected from it,” said Anna Beatrice. Manny Calonzo, EcoWaste Coalition campaigner, noted “the limited controls our nation has do not offer real-world protection, especially to children, women and workers, who are most vulnerable to the harmful effects of these hidden toxic chemicals.” Phthalates are plasticizers added to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic to make it soft and f lexible, such as vinyl curtains and f looring, f lexible hoses, medical devices, toys, raincoats, and other plastic consumer goods. Some are used for non-plastic purposes, such as personal care and cosmetic products. They are not chemically bonded, and they leach out continuously. Also known as the “everywhere and everyone chemicals,” phthalates have been detected in sampled individuals. Bisphenols are monomers, or building blocks, used in a wide range of plastics, including polycarbonate, and found in some baby bottles, epoxy resins, food packaging, eyewear, medical equipment, water bottles, toys, and other applications. Like
phthalates, bisphenols can be found in sampled persons, with concentrations typically higher in infants and children. In a report published in 2026 by Acri, Arugaan, EcoWaste Coalition, and the Interfacing Development Interventions (Idis), with support from the International Pollutants Elimination Network (Ipen), the groups commented that regulations on phthalates and bisphenols in the Philippines exist, but are “narrow, outdated, and poorly enforced,” stressing that “the majority of high-exposure products are entirely unregulated for these chemicals. For e x a mple, De pa r t ment of Health Administrative Order 20090005-A, adopted in 2011, restricts six phthalates to a maximum of 0.1 percent in children’s toys, while FDA Circular 2019-004, adopted in 2019, bans BPA only in baby feeding bottles and sippy cups. Numerous everyday items, including food packaging, building materials, medical devices, thermal receipts, and children’s products except for toys, remain unregulated under both rules. Even when bans are enforced, manufacturers may substitute one hazardous chemical for another, as bans are limited to specific chemicals and exclude
“chemica l cousins” w it h simi lar hormone-disrupting risks. In general, the groups see the need to 1) regulate phthalates and bisphenols not as individual chemicals but as chemical groups, 2) address the full uses and not only partial uses of these chemicals, and 3) ensure chemical transparency and traceability to uphold the people’s right to know and promote compliance monitoring and accountability. Specifically, the groups seek a broader regulation of phthalates in food- contact materials, medical devices, building materials, and children’s products, including school supplies. Understanding the unique vulnerability of children, the groups call for a PVC ban in children’s products, noting that phthalates are used to plasticize PVC. As for bisphenols, the groups seek to extend the limited ban on BPA in baby feeding bottles and sippy cups to all food contact materials, regulate BPS, BPF, and all analogues, and phase out bisphenol-containing thermal receipts. The groups also advocate for mandatory chemical composition disclosure, a unified interagency chemical safety body with a real mandate, and a national biomonitoring program for EDC exposure.
shooting victims, families
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RESIDENT Marcos has directed government agencies to immediately provide assistance to the victims and families affected by the shooting incident at Banga National High School in South Cotabato. In a statement, the Palace said the directive covers the release of financial assistance for individuals who were injured and the families of those who lost their lives in the attack as part of the government’s response to the incident. Marcos ordered acting Executive Secretary Ralph G. Recto to ensure that the necessary support reaches the victims and their families without delay. Following the President’s order, Recto directed the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Finance and Administration to facilitate the immediate processing and release of financial assistance in accordance with existing laws and government regulations. Recto also ordered the office to submit an initial progress report within five days from receipt of the directive and provide succeeding
updates every five days until the assistance has been fully delivered. The government’s action came after the shooting incident at Banga National High School in South Cotabato, which resulted in fatalities and injuries among members of the school community. Earlier, Marcos ordered a thorough investigation into the incident to determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting and ensure that appropriate actions are taken. The President also directed authorities to provide medical assistance to those injured in the attack and extend support to affected individuals. Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) provided immediate assistance to the families affected by the incident and extended psychological first aid to teachers of the school. The government said the continuing response aims to support the victims, address their immediate needs, and ensure coordinated assistance from concerned agencies following the South Cotabato school shooting.
Savèa Bay City Manila GM Geraldine Gomez: ‘Domestic market is the biggest and steadiest’
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By Francine M. Marquez
Filling the gap
ravel today is about more than reaching a destination. Whether for business or leisure, travelers seek meaningful experiences, personalized service, and memorable stays. As the hospitality industry evolves, hotels are finding new ways to meet these changing expectations while conveying the distinct warmth and excellence of Filipino hospitality. In the latest episode of “Freshly Brewed,” BusinessMirror’s weekly podcast, Geraldine “Gel” Gomez, Admiral Hospitality Management Inc. assistant vice president and Savèa Bay City Manila general manager, sits down with John Eiron Francisco, BusinessMirror multimedia producer, to discuss the latest trends shaping the hospitality industry and how the hotel is creating exceptional guest experiences in the heart of Bay City. Gomez, a seasoned hotelier, has assumed various roles in the industry, handling sales and marketing, hotel management, and multiproperty portfolio development. As AVP of the hospitality group, Gomez brings her broad expertise to the proverbial table. “We make sure that each employee or manager will have exposure in each department—we call it cross-training—so that everyone is aware of what’s happening in each department,” noted Gomez. She disclosed that today’s workplace is diverse, multigenerational, and inclusive. She
noted, “This is why creating a culture in every organization is very important, especially in addressing the workforce now, which consists of millennials to the younger Gen Z.” Keeping employees engaged is key to ensuring that the team feels valued. She added, “You have to be on the ground. You have to be with them, talk to them, and have lunch with them. Be open with them. You have to make them understand and explain your vision. Everyone should be on the same board as you.”
Changing expectations
TRAVELER expectations are now shifting toward sustainability, individualized guest journeys, and seamless digital experiences. For its part, the Admiral hospitality group stays agile as it adapts to these changes. “Travelers now are more informed, so even before they check into the hotel, they already read the reviews and compared the hotel rates. Each traveler knows what they want, and when they step into their hotel, they already know what to expect. But still, you have to keep on surprising them,” commented Gomez. According to Gomez, this shift in guest
Geraldine "Gel" Gomez, Assistant Vice President of Admiral Hospitality Management Inc. and General Manager of Savea Bay City Manila, talks about how the hospitality industry is evolving and how Filipino hospitality continues to make its mark, with John Eiron Francisco, expectations motivates the group to raise the bar and continue innovating. “Having this type of clientele will always help us not to be complacent but to always be competitive and offer not only Filipino hospitality but a global standard of service as well,” said Gomez.
Digital innovations
SAVÈA Bay City Manila takes digitalization a notch higher with intuitive technology. Rooms use smart digital locksets that support keyless and secure entry. Doing away with landline phones, room services can now be accessed digitally via a QR code that guests can scan using their mobile phones. The scanned QR code connects guests to services ranging from luggage assistance and laundry to airport transfers. Guests can also request extra amenities, order in-room dining, and contact the front desk. The digital QR interface supports eight languages, including English, Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Dutch. Connectivity is also efficiently provided by the hotel.
Urban oasis Geraldine "Gel" Gomez, Assistant Vice President of Admiral Hospitality Management Inc. and General Manager of Savea Bay City Manila
John Eiron Francisco, BusinessMirror's Multimedia Content Producer
YET, amid its digitalization, Savèa Bay City Manila is rooted in the group’s mission to offer guests the warmth of Filipino hospitality. This goal is conveyed in the hotel’s name, “Savèa,” derived from the Latin words
“salvere” and “via,” which mean to be well during one’s journey. “Savèa Bay City Manila is anchored on wellness. For us, even if you are traveling, at the end of the day, you want to relax and recharge.” The hotel is situated along Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard in Aseana City, a business and entertainment district in Parañaque City known for its luxury casino resorts. “Savèa Bay City Manila serves as an urban oasis in the entertainment city, which is a bustling city,” explained Gomez. “We have a very good entertainment location, and yet, when you enter the hotel, you will feel cocooned with the wellness services that we offer,” she added. The hotel has 140 rooms and suites, as well as amenities including a gym, swimming pool, wellness center, all-day dining services, and two function rooms. Soon, the hotel will also offer a game room and karaoke room. The second phase of the hotel will add another 140 rooms and a function room that can accommodate 200 people. Different room types cater to guests’ varying needs, stressed Gomez. “When we launched the different rooms, each type is intentional. Everything is thoughtfully curated.” The compact and functional Bay Suite Studio is best for business travelers. The 31.20-square-meter Bay Suite Deluxe
Room is suited for guests with two young children, while bigger families can stay in the 38.20-square-meter Bay Suite Family Room, which has two queen beds and a sofa bed. The Two-Bedroom Corner Suite, which has two bedrooms and a spacious living and kitchen area, is best for larger families and extended stays.
Wellness center
TRUE to its name, a highlight of a stay at Savèa is the Staywell campaign of the wellness center, which offers activities such as Savèa Moves, complimentary Pilates classes for guests, and Savèa Soothes, a partnership with Hilomnan that offers variations of the traditional Filipino massage therapy called hilot. At the moment, a complimentary 15-minute hilot session is offered in the hotel lobby. A place for unwinding, especially after a busy evening, the hotel also attracts concertand theatergoers watching shows at nearby venues, Gomez disclosed. Located near major convention and function halls, Savèa’s biggest market is the MICE group. Its wellness packages and wellappointed rooms also attract staycationers, while foreign guests, particularly Koreans, avail themselves of golf packages prepared by global travel management group Island Resort Club Tour Services Inc. in partnership with Savèa Hotel.
IN the hospitality industry, where women make up half of the workforce, they remain underrepresented in upper management and senior executive roles. To women who aspire to be leaders in the industry, Gomez advised them to remain purposeful despite the gaps, challenges, and pressures of the job. “Have the courage. Being a woman doesn’t translate to leadership automatically, unlike for men. You need to have the courage to be there, to ask for the position, to really work for it, and really claim the position if you think you deserve it.” With hybrid roles and automation in the workplace, Gomez said this is the best time to be a leader since women are naturally multitaskers. “It’s innate in women to be giving and to be responsible in whatever department they’re in. We produce and we give results,” she said.
Filipino pride
ANCHOR Land Holdings Inc. (ALHI), a notable high-rise luxury real estate developer in the Philippines, is the parent company of the Admiral hospitality group. A wholly Filipino-owned hotel, Savèa also aims to promote Filipino heritage through its Savèa Soothes and, soon, through Savèa Savor, which will highlight Filipino flavors alongside international and Asian cuisines. Guests can relish the best of regional cuisine at the hotel’s Bay Table by Casa Brasa, with Chef Kenneth Alfonso at the helm. This is just the beginning for the Admiral hospitality group, which is also setting its sights on exploring destinations such as Boracay, San Vicente, and Coron in Palawan. With expansion waiting on the horizon, Gomez said she is hopeful that the industry will continue to grow and thrive. “I’m very positive about the future of hospitality. And for those who want to be in this industry, you just have to have the heart and the integrity, and everything will follow. “You have to have a burning passion to be in this industry. “And for all our guests, please do support all the hotels and destinations in the Philippines. The domestic market is one of the biggest and steadiest markets in the country. So we would like everyone to stay in the hotels and to stay well,” she concluded. • Watch the full interview on BusinessMirror’s YouTube channel. Catch new episodes of “Freshly Brewed” every Monday at 10 a.m. on BusinessMirror’s YouTube channel, Facebook page, and website