MANILA, Philippines — Britain’s King Charles III sent his sympathies to Filipinos affected by Typhoon Tino and Super Typhoon Uwan.
In a message posted by the British embassy in Manila, King Charles expressed deep concern over the devastation caused by the successive natural disasters.
“My wife and I have been deeply concerned by the news of the typhoons and floods that have affected the Philippines in recent weeks and are profoundly saddened to hear of further loss of life,” he said.
Acknowledging the compounding effects of two major earthquakes in October, the monarch added that his heart goes out to all those “so cruelly affected by these catastrophic natural disasters.”
British Ambassador Sarah Hulton said the United Kingdom is helping deliver support to victims of Super Typhoon Uwan and Typhoon Tino.
Other nations, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, the United Arab Emirates and the European Union, also expressed sympathy and condolences.
The US announced $1 million in immediate life-saving assistance for those affected by Typhoon Tino and the Cebu earthquake, while Canada said it is coordinating with partners to help address urgent needs and support recovery efforts.
China likewise pledged $1 million in cash to assist areas ravaged by Tino and Uwan.
Beyond financial aid, the Chinese embassy will also provide 10 million RMB worth of in-kind donations “in the spirit of humanitarianism and out of the friendship between the Chinese and Filipino communities.”
MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is pushing for greater regional economic integration through enhanced digital payment connectivity, emphasizing its role in driving financial inclusion, efficiency and resilience across Asian economies.
BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. highlighted the transformative potential of digital payment systems during the 61st South East Asian Central Banks (SEACEN) Governors’ Conference held in Bali, Indonesia from Oct. 28 to 29.
“Digital payments connectivity is not merely a technological advancement but a strategic enabler of economic efficiency, financial inclusion and systemic resilience,” Remolona said.
“It lays the foundation for deeper trade, investment, financial and capital market integration across economies,” he said in his remarks at the panel session titled Empowering Economic Integration through Digital Payment Connectivity.
The session, which he chaired, was part of the broader conference theme “Asian Financial Integration to Navigate Geoeconomic Shifts: Unlocking Growth and Innovation.”
Experts from the region discussed the opportunities and challenges of linking payment systems across borders to support economic growth.
The discussion concluded with a joint call to promote interoperability and standardization of payment systems to ensure seamless cross-border transactions across the region.
The discussions came as the Philippine central bank tackled uncertainties amid a wave of monetary easing and a soft domestic growth outlook.
The BSP delivered a 25-basis-point cut in October, bringing the total rate cuts to 175 basis points since it began its easing cycle in August 2024. This was to support the country’s gross domestic product, which was at just four percent in the third quarter while inflation remained below-target at 1.7 percent in October.
Remolona also took part in the 45th SEACEN Board of Governors’ Meeting, where members approved the 2026 work plan and budget, as well as discussed the ongoing formulation of SEACEN’s strategic business plan for 2026 to 2030.
SEACEN is composed of 19 member central banks from across the region, with its research and training initiatives managed by the SEACEN Research and Training Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
MANILA, Philippines — Axelum Resources Corp. saw earnings surge from January to September, with the company’s revenue trajectory for the year headed to a record high.
The listed integrated manufacturer and exporter of premium coconut products delivered a net income of P636 million from January to September, an 88-percent spike year-on-year.
The company’s strong profitability was boosted by higher sales, which expanded by 48 percent to P7.6 billion.
Axelum’s sales for the nine-month period, which already eclipsed full year 2024 topline, was fueled by robust volume growth and higher average selling prices across major product categories.
The company saw sales of the white meat segment, mainly comprised of desiccated coconut, sweetened coconut and coconut milk/cream, soar by 122 percent, 20 percent and 78 percent, respectively, as a result of booming consumer demand for natural and plant-based food choices.
Axelum said that coconut water also continued to deliver double-digit volume growth, increasing by 10 percent year-to-date and is on track to achieve record high performance for 2025.
Sustained growth across key export markets was also recorded during the period, led by the United States, Europe and Australia, while domestic sales rose by 58 percent due to a wider distribution footprint, new product innovation and an expanding institutional business.
1“We managed to outperform in spite of formidable headwinds particularly tight local supply and broader tariff-related impacts in our largest export base,” Axelum president and chief operating officer Henry Raperoga said.
Axelum said it implemented strategic pricing adjustments to partially cushion the effects of higher raw material costs and defend margins.
“From a long-term view, we are positive about our growth prospects as we continue to invest in building capacity and upgrading technology to meet rising demand,” Raperoga said.
“For the balance of the year, we are strongly positioned to close 2025 on a high note,” he said.
The company, which is 34.8-percent owned by a subsidiary of Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp., said it remains focused on its strategic priorities to further strengthen competitiveness amid a challenging operating environment including peaking coconut oil prices, global supply shortfalls and current US tariff policies.
MANILA, Philippines — Lopez-led First Gen Corp. reaped the rewards of its hydropower investments, which fueled its earnings growth from January to September and cushioned the impact of a softer gas segment.
The company reported an attributable net income of $215.4 million in the three quarters, up by four percent compared to last year’s $207 million.
Attributable recurring profit rose by three percent to $212 million from $205 million, while revenues slipped by three percent to $1.79 billion from $1.85 billion.
“As a whole, we were happy to see First Gen’s net income steadily increase this year. This was despite industry dynamics of lower electricity prices and softer demand,” First Gen president and COO Francis Giles Puno said.
From January to September, the hydro platform’s contribution soared by 65 percent to $23 million from $14 million a year ago following robust results from the 132-megawatt (MW) Pantabangan-Masiway plant.
The growth was mainly attributed to a higher starting water elevation and irrigation that resulted in increased volume of electricity sold.
The 165-MW Casecnan plant, which the group took over in February 2024, also generated sales, chipping in $11 million in recurring earnings.
In the natural gas business, First Gen posted an eight-percent drop in recurring earnings to $138 million from $149 million.
The company’s 1,000-MW Santa Rita, 500-MW San Lorenzo and 97-MW Avion gas plants all recorded robust results. The depressed income from the 420-MW San Gabriel plant, however, weighed on the portfolio.
San Gabriel’s supply agreement with power utility giant Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) expired in February last year.
Currently, only the Santa Rita and San Lorenzo plants have existing supply deals with Meralco.
“We also continue to negotiate with Meralco for an extension of the Santa Rita power purchase agreement, as the plant is critical to the country’s energy security,” Puno said.
As for subsidiary Energy Development Corp. (EDC), recurring income contribution went down by 36 percent to $38 million from $60 million.
The geothermal portfolio managed by EDC was said to have generated lower sales and operating income due to a decline in spot market prices.
Through EDC, First Gen owns the largest geothermal portfolio in the Philippines, operating at least 13 plants with a combined capacity of about 1,200 MW.
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is ranked as the seventh country most affected by storms, floods and heat waves in 2024, based on Germanwatch’s latest Climate Risk Index.
Between 1995 and 2024, the Philippines experienced 371 extreme weather events, causing 27,500 fatalities and over $35 billion in economic losses, the report noted.
Over 832,000 people died worldwide due to more than 9,700 extreme weather events in the same period, resulting in $4.5 trillion in economic damages, it added.
Key findings in the report have been presented at the 30th United Nations climate change conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil.
“Countries such as Haiti, the Philippines and India – all of which are among the 10 most affected countries – face particular challenges. They are hit by floods, heat waves or storms so regularly that entire regions can hardly recover from the impacts until the next event hits,” said Vera Künzel, co-author of the study.
“When more funding to address loss and damage is negotiated here at COP, the focus is on countries like these. Without more long-term support, including for adapting to the climate crisis, they will face insurmountable challenges,” she added.
Negotiators at COP30 face mounting pressure to set clear targets for climate adaptation, secure reliable financing for vulnerable nations and take decisive steps toward advancing climate action globally.
Consecutive typhoons in the Philippines preceded the Germanwatch report’s release.
Aksyon Klima national coordinator John Leo Algo said Super Typhoon Uwan’s wrath “places a lot of pressure on the Philippine government delegation at COP30 to deliver concrete outcomes.”
The Philippines should ensure that developed countries deliver on their promise of mobilizing $300 billion in climate financing for developing nations, Algo emphasized.
Around 40 percent of people worldwide live in 11 countries most severely affected by heat waves, storms and floods over the past 30 years, the report said.
“Global emissions have to be reduced immediately… and adequate climate finance must be provided,” Climate Risk Index co-author David Eckstein maintained. — Christine Boton
MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos doesn’t want his officials to just “chill” during natural calamities, Malacañang said yesterday as the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is set to launch a probe on local executives who traveled abroad at the height of the devastation of Typhoon Tino and Super Typhoon Uwan.
“First of all, the President, he doesn’t like this. He doesn’t like the leadership to just chill. So, work should really be for the people because the people rely on the government, especially in these kinds of situations and conditions,” Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said at a press conference.
Castro bewailed that some officials had pushed through with their foreign trips, in apparent defiance of DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla’s order for them to cancel their travel plans in anticipation of Tino’s and Uwan’s destructive nature.
“We can’t just say that it’s just chill all the time because it should be work, work, not vacation. Although I’m not saying they’re on vacation, I’m still just saying, let’s avoid leaving the country. Respond to the situation of our countrymen especially when there’s a disaster or calamity like this,” she said.
Castro said the concerned officials are expected to submit their written explanations to Remulla.
Isabela Gov. Rodolfo Albano III was in Germany when Uwan devastated his province.
In November 2024, Albano admitted his absence when six successive typhoons hit Isabela, saying he almost got suspended for traveling abroad while his province was being battered by cyclones.
Albano had said he was in Switzerland then buying a rice fortification machine when his province was ravaged by successive typhoons. Tropical cyclones Kristine, Leon, Marce, Nika, Ofel and Pepito successively entered the province in a span of three weeks in the latter part of 2024.
Malacañang, meanwhile, defended the book launch and concert hosted by First Lady Liza Marcos amid criticisms from netizens that the events took place at the height of Typhoon Tino.
Castro maintained that the events attended by Marcos were not personal unlike the activities of Vice President Sara Duterte shown on social media.
“The events attended by the First Lady were not personal parties. This was not attending or going to a resort to swim. This was not wearing a costume like Snow White to party. These were recognitions for our fellow Filipinos while the President and other Cabinet secretaries were responding to the needs of our countrymen,” Castro said.
“When we say book launching, this is a recognition of the past first ladies of the country. This is a recognition of the talents, skills that our fellow Filipinos have contributed,” Castro added.
Duterte recently trended online as photos and video circulated showing her dressed as Snow White for Halloween while dancing to Taylor Swift’s latest hit “Fate of Ophelia.”
A resort in Quezon province also posted a picture of her and companions enjoying while Typhoon Tino was wreaking havoc on the Visayas region.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Tuesday that
Moscow is prepared to discuss US concerns regarding reports of a
resumption of nuclear testing, Azernews
reports.
Speaking in a hybrid interview with Russian media…
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Tuesday that
Moscow is prepared to discuss US concerns regarding reports of a
resumption of nuclear testing, Azernews
reports.
Speaking in a hybrid interview with Russian media, Lavrov denied
that President Vladimir Putin had ordered preparations for nuclear
tests, and said Russia is “alarmed” by the claims from Washington.
He noted that Moscow has not yet received clarification from the US
and reminded that tests not involving a nuclear reaction are
permitted under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
Lavrov also stressed that the ongoing discussion about nuclear
testing should not be linked to the planned US-Russia summit,
saying: “I sincerely don’t see a connection here.”
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Death toll rises to 27 as search continues in waters off Malaysia and Thailand
…
Death toll rises to 27 as search continues in waters off Malaysia and Thailand
A Malaysian rescuer provides food to Rohingya migrant Iman Sharif, days after his boat carrying migrants from Myanmar capsized near the Malaysia–Thailand border, at a jetty in Langkawi on Nov 11, 2025. (Photo: Reuters)
LANGKAWI, Malaysia – The death toll from the sinking of a boat carrying members of Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority climbed to 27 on Tuesday, as a survivor recalled a harrowing journey that left him floating for days in the Andaman Sea.
“I saw one person die. They drowned,” Iman Sharif told reporters shortly after he was rescued on Tuesday and taken into custody by Malaysian authorities.
Iman said he was aboard a large boat for eight days before being transferred to a smaller one with around 70 people. But the vessel sank shortly after and he clung on to wreckage for days before washing up on a Malaysian island.
Malaysian and Thai authorities have widened a search for dozens of people still missing in the waters near the border between the two countries.
Nine bodies were recovered on Tuesday, including one in Thailand, officials said.
For years, many Rohingya have embarked on rickety wooden boats to try to reach neighbouring countries, including Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia as well as Thailand, bidding to flee persecution in Myanmar or overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.
Thirteen other survivors have been found in Malaysian waters since Saturday and 12 bodies, Romli Mustafa, regional director at Malaysia’s maritime agency, said on Monday.
Romli earlier said his counterparts in Thailand had found nine bodies, though a Thai official in Satun province later told Reuters that six had been recovered.
Buddhist-majority Myanmar denies abuses against the Rohingya in Rakhine State in the country’s west, but claims the minority are not citizens but illegal immigrants from South Asia.
Iman said he was from Rakhine, where violent clashes between a powerful ethnic army and the country’s ruling junta have escalated in recent years, driving thousands of Rohingya towards other countries for safety.
Malaysian authorities have said about 300 people boarded a vessel bound for Malaysia two weeks ago, and were transferred onto two boats on Thursday. The smaller boat sank, while the fate of around 230 people on board the other vessel remained unclear, officials said.
Malaysian authorities are expected to continue search operations until Saturday, while a Thai rescue worker said on Tuesday that teams will widen their coverage around Koh Tarutao, where most of the bodies were found.
More than 5,300 Rohingya boarded boats to leave Myanmar and Bangladesh between January and early November of this year, and more than 600 of them have been reported dead or missing, the United Nations Refugee Agency and the International Organization of Migration said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
The two organisations offered their support to local authorities to assist the survivors and called for greater international cooperation to achieve a political solution to the crisis and end hostilities in Myanmar.
“Until the drivers of onward movement and the root causes of forced displacement in Myanmar are resolved, refugees will continue to undertake dangerous journeys in search of safety,” they said.
The frequent arrival of Rohingya on boats operated by people smugglers has been a source of frustration for the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN, with Malaysia and Indonesia in particular criticising Myanmar for the way it treats the minority.
Malaysia, which does not recognise refugee status, has in recent years begun to turn away boats and detain Rohingya as part of a crackdown on undocumented migrants.
Joe Freeman, a Myanmar researcher from Amnesty International, called on the region’s governments to address the issue of Rohingya boats at sea.
“We would hope that these governments in the region, Malaysia, Thailand, others, allow Rohingya to land, that they coordinate search-and-rescue operations if they’re in distress, and absolutely under no circumstances push them back out to sea where they would face obviously more dangers and risks,” he said in an interview.
