Author: INQUIRER.net

Yassi Pressman has nothing but pride for her younger sister Issa for allowing herself to be open about her vulnerability, after the latter spoke about her battle with depression in a recent interview.

Issa made headlines after openly discussing her battle with depression, anxiety, and self-harm in an interview with Karen Davila earlier this month. She also spoke about how her relationship with James Reid and closeness with Yassi were her biggest sources of strength.

“She is one of the reasons why I’m still alive. I’m so proud of her, sobra. As in,” an emotional Yassi said at a junket for “Roja” when asked about her younger sister’s interview with Davila. “I think it took a lot of time for her to be that vulnerable and strong. And she eventually talked about it.”

Yassi said Issa’s “bravery” to discuss her mental health battles is a reminder that people go through “silent battles” which would lead into “generational trauma.”

“Sana ma-pick up ng mga tao is how difficult times are when people are quiet and their silent battles. For me, I’m so proud of her for her bravery and how she grew up [from it],” she said. “Merong kang choice na mapuno ang puso mo ng galit at poot, at hinanakit forever. And that gives us generational trauma. But she had the bravery to cut it out.”

In Yassi’s eyes, Issa has “a beautiful light” and is brave enough to say she is “still growing.” The actress also confessed that she couldn’t live without her younger sister.

“She was brave to say that she is still growing… and she just has such a beautiful light. Hindi ko kayang mabuhay nang wala siya. Sana hindi mamatay ‘yung brightness and ilaw na meron siya. Once you get to know her, she’s such a beautiful person,” she said.

‘Misunderstood’ Issa

As an ate, Yassi is aware of what Issa had been through. This is why she hoped that the public would see her “sweet heart” and how she always remained kind to others.

“I know most of the things she has been through, of course. I tried to always be there. What I love about her is that she is always kind to others. She has the sweetest heart. And when she connects with you, she just wants to give. Sobrang bait talaga siya. Kahit minsan [tinatanong] ko siya kung gusto niya pang lumaban,” she said.

As much as Yassi believes that Issa is “misunderstood,” she found peace in the fact that she can’t keep explaining herself to other people.

“She is misunderstood. But to be honest, you really can’t keep explaining yourself sa ibang tao. Para sa’kin, as long as sinasabi mo katotohanan and after that, kayo na lang. I think it’s important that people know that bullying people for fun is not okay. It’s not,” she said. “Kapag sa totoong buhay, if a kid gets bullied, anong gagawin natin? She has my support.”

While Yassi and Issa entered the entertainment industry as an actress and singer, respectively, they were never insecure about each other.

“There’s not an inch of insecurity sa’ming dalawa magkapatid,” she said. “She has always supported me since Day 1. Ang gusto lang niya [is we will always be there for each other] as a friend.”

Yassi marked her Kapamilya comeback with “Roja,” an action drama that also starred Donny Pangilinan, Kyle Echarri, and Maymay Entrata. 

She was also one of the lead stars of the 2025 horror film “Isolated.”

Tonyboy Liao ushers in a new era in the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) after being elected president of the national federation.

And his first important task will be to restore order to the Alas Pilipinas program after the women’s team continues to cram in its preparation for the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand next month.

Liao succeeded former president Tats Suzara after the PNVF elections and general assembly on Friday.

Dr. Arnel Hajan was appointed chairman. Yul Benosa was named vice president and Otie Camangian was named secretary general. Ricky Palou will serve as treasurer, while Roger Banzuela will be the federation’s auditor. The other board members are Charo Soriano, Fr. Vic Calvo, Michael Angelo Vargas, Sherwin Maganda, Danilo Cong-o, Edward Lee and Ma. Socorro Calleja.

Liao said the federation has already submitted a 14-strong final lineup in time for the September deadline.

But there are still questions as to whether that lineup will get enough preparation time after reports that the national squad hasn’t had a complete practice yet and that there have been days when as few as two players would train.

Liao named former national team captain Jia De Guzman, Angel Canino, Shaina Nitura, Eya Laure, Vanie Gandler, Bella Belen, Dell Palomata, Alleiah Malaluan, Leila Cruz and Dawn Macandili-Catindig as among those in the roster.

Even Brooke Van Sickle was part of that submitted list despite her ongoing transfer of federation process from USA Volleyball to PNVF.

Despite electing a new set of board members from 2025 to 2028, Liao said that they will discuss the upcoming SEA Games campaign of their national teams with the outgoing officials.

“They started it. It just so happened that we had elections,” Liao said in Filipino. “So we have to represent the PNVF.”

“We need to talk with them. What do we do now? We’re in charge. Of course, there will be a discussion—are we still going to run this, or will you? We’ll know once we talk.”

“We can’t just ask them to leave and say we’ll take care of things from here. They put the program together [and] … we will talk to them [to see] if they want to talk with us [then] we’ll discuss this.”

BELEM, Brazil — United Nations climate talks in Brazil reached a subdued agreement Saturday that pledged more funding for countries to adapt to extreme weather’s wrath. But the catch-all agreement doesn’t include explicit details to phase out fossil fuels or strengthen countries’ inadequate emissions-cutting plans, which dozens of nations demanded.

The Brazilian hosts of the conference said they’d eventually come up with a road map to get away from fossil fuels working with hard-line Colombia, but it won’t have the same force as something approved at the United Nations conference called COP30. Colombia responded angrily to the deal after it was approved, citing the absence of wording on fossil fuels.

The deal, which was approved after negotiators blew past a Friday deadline to wrap up, was crafted after more than 12 hours of late night and early morning meetings in COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago’s office.

READ: Fire stalls final stretch of COP30 climate talks

Do Lago said the tough discussions started in Belem will continue under Brazil’s leadership until the next annual conference “even if they are not reflected in this text we just approved.” Do Lago has said a fossil fuel transition plan will be in a separate proposal issued later by his team.

Deal gets mix of lukewarm praise and complaints

Many gave the overall deal lukewarm praise as the best that could be achieved in trying times, while others complained about the package or the process that led to its approval.

“Given the circumstances of geopolitics today, we’re actually quite pleased with the bounds of the package that came out,” said Palau Ambassador Ilana Seid, who chaired the coalition of small island nations. “The alternative is that we don’t get a decision and that would have been a worse alternative.”

“This deal isn’t perfect and is far from what science requires,” said former Ireland President Mary Robinson, a fierce climate advocate for the ex-leaders group The Elders. “But at a time when multilateralism is being tested, it is significant that countries continue to move forward together.”

Some countries said they got enough out of the deal.

“COP30 has not delivered everything Africa asked for, but it has moved the needle,” said Jiwoh Abdulai, Sierra Leone’s environment minister. What really matters, he said, is “how quickly these words turn into real projects that protect lives and livelihoods.”

U.K. Energy Minister Ed Miliband said the agreement was “an important step forward,” but that he would have preferred it to be “more ambitious.” He added: “These are difficult, strenuous, tiring, frustrating negotiations.”

Swift final push prompts complaints

The deal was approved minutes into a plenary meeting open Saturday to all nations that were present.

After the main package was approved and gaveled in by do Lago — to applause by many delegates — angry nation after angry nation took the floor to complain about other parts of the package and about being ignored as do Lago as moved quickly toward approval. The objections were so strong and uniform that do Lago temporarily halted the session for more talk to try to calm things down.

Colombia’s Daniela Duran Gonzalez objected to sections on helping nations cut emissions and reaching worldwide temperature limits that were previously agreed upon. She blasted the conference’s president for ignoring her, saying: “The COP of the truth cannot support an outcome that ignores science.”

One of the areas that usually gets less attention became a big point of contention after a text was approved. The gaveled-in deal established 59 indicators for the world to judge how well nations are adapting to future climate change. Before the Belem conference, experts crafted 100 precisely worded indicators, but negotiators changed the wording and cut the total.

Country after country – including Panama, Uruguay, and Canada – said they had severe problems with it, calling it unclear and unworkable. They complained that they tried to object, raising flags to be noticed so they can speak, but were ignored.

Do Lago said he was sorry he didn’t see the flags.

How major issues were handled

A handful of major issues dominated the talk. Those included coming up with a road map to wean the world from fossil fuels, telling countries that their national plans to curb emissions were inadequate, tripling financial aid for developing nations to adapt to extreme weather and reducing climate restrictions on trade.

“COP30 gave us some baby steps in the right direction, but considering the scale of the climate crisis, it has failed to rise to the occasion,” said Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa.

Even though most nations proclaimed themselves somewhat but not wholly satisfied with the major package, critics complained there was not much to the deal.

“It’s a weak outcome,” said former Philippine negotiator Jasper Inventor, now at Greenpeace International. “Strip away the outcome text and you see it plainly: the emperor has no clothes.”

Panama negotiator Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez railed against the deal.

“A climate decision that cannot even say ‘fossil fuels’ is not neutrality, it is complicity. And what is happening here transcends incompetence,” Monterrey Gomez said. “Science has been deleted from COP30 because it offends the polluters.”

Many nations and advocates wanted something stronger because the world will not come close to limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since the mid 1800s, which was the goal the 2015 Paris agreement set.

The financial aid for adapting to climate change was tripled to a goal of $120 billion a year, but the goal was pushed back five years. It was one of several tough issues to dominate the late stage of talks. Vulnerable nations have pressed the wealthier countries most responsible for climate change to help out with money to rebuild from damaging extreme weather and to adapt to more of it in the future.

“COP30 was a failure for the communities on the front lines of the climate crisis,” said the disaster charity Mercy Corps’ policy lead Debbie Hillier. “While the COP30 outcome includes a new commitment on adaptation finance, it is deeply disappointing. It includes no baseline year, no clarity on the actual target, and no mechanism defining who is responsible for delivering the tripling.”

Pushing back the goal leaves “vulnerable countries without support to match the escalating needs,” Adow said.

UNITED STATES — As health officials investigate more than 30 cases of infant botulism linked to ByHeart baby formula since August, parents who say their children were sickened with the same illness months before the current outbreak are demanding answers, too.

California public health officials confirmed late Friday that six babies in that state who consumed ByHeart formula were treated for botulism between November 2024 and June 2025, up to nine months before the outbreak that has sickened at least 31 babies in 15 states.

At the time, there was “not enough evidence to immediately suspect a common source,” the California Department of Public Health said in a statement.

Even now, “we cannot connect any pre-August 1 cases to the current outbreak,” officials said.

READ: Cuba battles chikungunya outbreak despite shortages of food, medicine

Parents of at least five babies said that their infants were treated for the rare and potentially deadly disease after drinking ByHeart formula in late 2024 and early 2025, according to reports shared with The Associated Press by Bill Marler, a Seattle food safety lawyer representing the families.

Amy Mazziotti, 43, of Burbank, California, said her then-5-month-old son, Hank, fell ill and was treated for botulism in March, weeks after he began drinking bottles filled with ByHeart formula.

Katie Connolly, 37, of Lafayette, California, said her daughter, M.C., then 8 months old, was hospitalized in April and treated for botulism after being fed ByHeart formula in hopes of helping the baby sleep.

For months, neither mother had any idea where the infections could have originated. Such illnesses in babies typically are caused by spores spread in the environment or by contaminated honey.

Then ByHeart recalled all of its products nationwide on Nov. 11 in connection with growing cases of infant botulism.

As soon as she heard it was ByHeart, Mazziotti said she thought: “This cannot be a coincidence.”

ByHeart officials this week confirmed that laboratory tests of previously unopened formula found that some samples were contaminated with the type of bacteria that leads to infant botulism.

Marler said at least three other cases that predate the outbreak involved babies who drank ByHeart and were treated for botulism, according to their families. One consumed ByHeart formula in December 2024. The other two were sickened later in the spring, he said.

An official with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said federal investigators were aware of reports of earlier illnesses but that efforts are focused now on understanding the unusual surge of dozens of infections documented since Aug. 1.

READ: Explainer: What to know about lyme disease

“That doesn’t mean that they’re not necessarily part of this,” said Dr. Jennifer Cope, a CDC scientist leading the probe. “It’s just that right now, we’re focusing on this large increase.”

Because so much time has passed and because parents of babies who got sick earlier may not have recorded lot numbers of product or kept empty cans of formula, “it will make it harder to definitively link them” to the outbreak, Cope said.

Connolly said it feels like her daughter has been forgotten.

“What I want to know is why did the cases beginning in August flag an investigation, but the cases that began in March did not?” Connolly said.

Cope and other health officials said the strong signal connecting ByHeart to infant botulism cases only became apparent in recent weeks.

Before this outbreak, no powdered infant formula in the U.S. had tested positive for the type of bacteria that leads to botulism, California health officials said. The number of cases also were within an expected range. A test of a can of open formula fed to a sick baby in the spring did not detect the bacterium.

Then, beginning in August and through October, more cases were identified on the East Coast involving a type of toxin rarely detected in the region, officials said. More cases were seen in very young infants and more cases involved ByHeart formula, which accounts for less than 1 percent of infant formula sold in the U.S.

Earlier this month, after a sample from a can of ByHeart formula fed to a sick infant tested positive for the germ that leads to illness, officials notified the CDC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the public.

Less than 200 cases of infant botulism are reported in the U.S. each year. The disease is caused when babies ingest spores that germinate in the gut and produce a toxin. The bacterium that leads to illness is ubiquitous in the environment, including soil and water, so the source is often unknown.

Officials at the California Infant Botulism Treatment and Prevention Program track reports of botulism and the distribution of the only treatment for the illness, an IV medication called BabyBIG.

Outside food safety experts said the CDC should count earlier cases as part of the outbreak if babies consumed ByHeart formula and were treated for botulism.

“Absolutely, yes, they should be included,” said Frank Yiannas, former deputy commissioner for food policy and response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Why wouldn’t they be included?”

Sandra Eskin, chief executive of STOP Foodborne Illness, an advocacy group, agreed.

“This outbreak is traumatic for parents,” she said. “They may have fed their newborns and infants a product they assumed was safe. And now they’re dealing with hospitalization and serious illness of their babies.”

Connolly and Mazziotti said their babies are improving, though they still have some lingering effects. Botulism causes symptoms that include constipation, poor feeding, head and limb weakness and other problems.

After months of uncertainty about the potential cause of the infection, Connolly said she “became completely obsessed” with the link to ByHeart formula. Now, she just wants answers.

“We deserve to know the data that can help us understand how our babies got sick,” she said.

MANILA, Philippines — For many Filipino kids, a visit to the shopping mall isn’t complete without a pit stop at Timezone, the family entertainment center that has become a staple of local mall culture since opening its first Philippine branch in 1998.

Originally from Australia, the arcade chain has expanded to over 50 venues across the Philippines, making it one of the group’s fastest-growing markets.

Its formula is simple: build communities that Filipinos feel familiar with.

“Timezone builds spaces for social connecting, for people to play together, not to be by themselves and not to be lonely at home,” says Caroline Leong, chief customer officer of Timezone Group. “When you come to the Philippines, you really see that experience resonates in our guests here.”

“Culture and community are really our biggest learning from the Philippine market,” she adds.

Disruption

That sense of community was abruptly disrupted when the pandemic shut down malls. For a business built on foot traffic, the country’s long lockdowns were especially painful.

READ: Oh no, Timezone is selling their games right now

However, when restrictions eased, Filipinos returned with pent-up enthusiasm.

“When we reopened, our numbers almost doubled already in revenue. Of course, with that comes a doubling of foot traffic,” recalls Rafael Prats Jr., the longtime president and general manager of Timezone Philippines.

Timezone now attracts approximately 2.5 million visitors every month across its 47,000 square meters (sq m) of retail space nationwide.

This year, Timezone is counting on this year-end rush to lift what has otherwise been a flat year, weighed down by disruptions such as typhoons and earthquakes.

Nostalgia

Timezone prides itself on being the company that introduced Dance Dance Revolution to the Philippines.

The cult classic debuted at its Glorietta 4 branch in Makati, then a compact space of under 1,000 sq m.

That nostalgia guided the major revamp of the same branch, one of the first Timezone sites in Metro Manila, launched just 11 months after it had debuted at Ayala Center Cebu.

READ: Ayala Malls: More than just a shopping haven it’s a lifestyle destination

The updated branch features virtual reality zones, bowling alleys, billiard tables, claw machines, party rooms alongside more than 100 games and attractions in an expanded 1,361 sq m space.

Two more locations are slated for a revamp this year, with eight more scheduled for next year.

Prats says Timezone’s move to a “multi-attraction” model is guided by the need to keep reinventing itself.

“We wanted to attract a wider base and give a more complete entertainment center,” he says.

“We felt it was time to evolve the business. And it’s still evolving as we speak.” INQ

MANILA, Philippines — LenderLink, a fintech startup that gives real-time access to credit data, was named “Startup of the Year” at the 2025 KMC Startup Awards.

Earning praise from judges for addressing critical access gaps in lending and setting new standards in user-first financial services, LenderLink led this year’s roster of gold awardees.

Aside from winning the gold prize for Startup of the Year, it also ruled the Customer Experience Excellence category.

For the third consecutive year, KMC Solutions, the country’s leading provider of flexible office spaces and offshore solutions, recognized the country’s best and brightest startup companies at a gala night held on Nov. 13.

READ: PH more attractive in eyes of fintech players, says alliance

The event forms part of the 2025 Philippine Startup Week, the annual nationwide celebration of Filipino innovation and entrepreneurship.

This year’s competition received 140 entries from different startups nationwide, culminating in 24 finalists bringing home gold, silver and bronze distinctions across eight major categories. Each category celebrated a different aspect of innovation, growth and leadership within the startup ecosystem.

8 major categories

Lithos Manufacturing captured the gold for Culture and Community Excellence, recognized for its strong employee-first workplace practices and commitment to local industry development. The company produces nonmetallic industrial mineral products such as zeolite, bentonite and calcium carbonate.

Serbiz earned “Tech Innovator of the Year” for its solutions that streamline field service operations and empower grassroots workers through technology.

International shipping service provider ZendEase was hailed as this year’s “Growth Champion” for its rapid scale-up locally and globally.

Philippine Coding Camp took home the “Innovation in Marketing” award for its creative education campaigns that drive digital literacy among Filipino youth.

Kredit Hero Inc. rounded out the gold awardees with the “FutureTech Leadership” prize, a testament to its contribution to next-generation financial technologies.

Silver winners

On the other hand, the silver winners are:

– Mylo Speech Buddy (Startup of the Year, Growth Champion, and Innovation in Marketing) – Flying Tigers Express’ CEO Dave Overton (Breakthrough Leader of the Year)

– Rezbin (Culture and Community Excellence)

– Pili AdheSeal Inc. (Tech Innovator of the Year)

– NextPay (Customer Experience Excellence) and

– Serbiz (FutureTech Leadership).

Meanwhile, the bronze winners include:

– Rezbin (Startup of the Year)

– BCremit’s cofounder Jose Angelo Calma (Breakthrough Leader of the Year)

– Bambuhay (Culture and Community Excellence)

– Twala (Tech Innovator of the Year)

– Jia Financing Inc. (Growth Champion)

– Dehusk (Innovation in Marketing and Customer Experience Excellence) and

– Rezbin (FutureTech Leadership).

Platform for stronger connections

Co-presented by OneCFO, in collaboration with Ideaspace | QBO, MAIN.PH, Founders Launchpad, Kaya Founders and Uniquecorn Strategies, the event aims to recognize outstanding startups from different sectors, as well as foster relationships in the startup community.

Michael McCullough, cofounder of KMC Solutions, urged new ventures to use the awards as a platform to foster strong connections between Filipino startups.

“At KMC, we remain committed to supporting this community — to building an environment where founders and teams can think boldly, work together, and grow,” McCullough says.

READ: Emerging startup trends in the Philippines

First inaugurated in 2023 by KMC Solutions, a premier business services company that once was a startup itself, the KMC Startup Awards program was born out of a desire to spotlight innovators who are transforming industries.

“What began in 2023 as a way to shine a light on emerging founders has grown into a movement — one that recognizes imagination, resilience, and the determination to turn ideas into reality,” says McCullough.

With this year’s theme, “Innovation Without Limits,” the cofounder further encouraged startups to look for fresh ideas and break boundaries.

“We believe that meaningful solutions can start anywhere, and that progress comes from the courage to create what has not existed before,” he says. INQ

MANILA, Philippines — From bamboo-based turbines to an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that helps parents track their children’s development, Quezon City is positioning itself not only as the Philippines’ Film City, but also a rising hub for startups.

These ventures, along with five others, make up the fourth cohort of the StartUp QC Program, a city-led initiative that awards each selected startup P1 million in seed funding to help refine and scale their services.

Apart from funding, the program also provides mentorship, training and exposure to investors and clients.

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte says the program strengthens the city’s bid to become a competitive startup center while keeping public service at its core.

“Innovation is not just about technology—it is about empathy, service and equity,” Belmonte says. “Through StartUp QC, we are proving that governance and innovation can work hand in hand, that a local government can be both visionary and inclusive.”

Real needs

This year’s seven grantees were chosen from nine finalists for their “innovative, scalable and socially attuned solutions.”

Many address real-world challenges, such as finding work and navigating property ownership.

Among the awardees are Briyo, which builds modular and bamboo-based wind and hydro turbines; Kazam On-Demand Services, a platform that connects households with part-time help; Laro, a sports and recreation booking and community app; and Soolok, which helps simplify the home-buying process and accelerate acquisition to as fast as 45 days.

AI-led

AI tools also play a strong role in this year’s batch.

Agap.ai offers an AI-aided developmental screening tool for parents outside clinical settings.

Hireable, meanwhile, uses AI to match freelance workers and employers based on skills and performance.

Xamun.AI converts business requirements into functional applications in weeks.

“Together, these startups show that innovation in Quezon City is practical, socially aware and designed to improve lives while contributing to broader conversations on sustainability and technology,” the city government says.

To further strengthen its startup scene, Quezon City is preparing the Business Investment and Trade Incentives for Startups Ordinance, which will provide fiscal incentives and encourage entrepreneurs to scale.

The planned measure is part of the city’s broader “Invest With QC” campaign. INQ